by Ann Hunter
She met Hillary’s gaze and watched as she realized what Alex meant. She almost looked sorry for Alex. Hillary put a dish away slowly, and paused with the dishtowel in her hand as if contemplating how to parent her through this.
Alex went back to her room before she could figure that one out. “Night, Hills.”
SWEET SIXTEEN
October 18th,
“Happy birthday to you. You smell like horse poo.”
Laura’s singing made Alex groan awake.
“Yoooou have to get up now, cuz we got things to do!”
Something whacked Alex in the butt, then slid off to her side. Laura cackled and scampered down the stairs.
Alex sat up, squinting at the offending package. Blue wrapping paper with rainbow confetti printed on it lay before her. The white card attached simply said Happy Sweet Sixteen— Love, Cade, Hillary, and Laura, each individually signed. Alex rubbed her eyes, then opened the long, rectangular present. She pulled away the tissue paper folded inside to reveal her very own protective riding vest.
“It’s for your test,” Laura called from downstairs as if she knew Alex had opened the gift. A mix of thrill and dread ran through Alex all at once. Today she was sixteen. Tomorrow she’d test for her apprentice license.
But first she had to endure a day of antics, and probably some crazy party thrown by North. Laura had gotten one, why not the long-lost niece of North Oak’s owner? Or maybe someone had given him the memo that Alex hated social situations.
“Breakfast!” Hillary announced.
Alex smiled as the scintillating smell of bacon wafted into her room. She rushed downstairs, and everyone was all smiles.
“Happy birthday, Sport,” Cade said, sliding a plate of scrambled eggs before her.
“Happy birthday,” Hillary echoed from the stove, while she flipped pancakes.
Laura tucked into her cereal. “What they said,” she garbled with a full mouth.
Alex wanted to squirm, still not completely comfortable with all the attention. “Thanks,” she said quietly.
“You’re free to do as you please today,” Hillary said. “As long as you’re at North’s house by three.”
Alex squirted ketchup onto her eggs, and took four rashers of bacon. She’d call Carol. They would finally ride out to their grove. She decided it was the only thing she wanted to do today. She didn’t think Carol would turn her down. Not today.
She nodded. “Okay.”
Laura nudged her playfully. “You don’t even have to dress nice.”
“Clean clothes, please,” Hillary insinuated. “I’m banking on you ending up in a field somewhere, rolling with the horses. I don’t want you showing up with hay in your hair.”
“Yes, maaaaawm,” Alex said. She and Hillary instantly looked at one another, both a little taken aback. It had just slipped out. Mom.
Alex was so elated Carol said yes that she tacked up both of their horses on her own before Carol got there. Thorne nickered when he saw Carol, and Alex smiled over her shoulder.
“Happy birthday,” she said to Alex, offering Thorne a peppermint from a box near the wash stall.
Alex removed Approved from the cross ties. “Thanks.”
Carol followed suite. “To the grove, or the oak?”
“Not telling,” Alex sang. She used a big bolder outside the boarding stable to help get up on Approved. The tall nutmeg-colored gelding eagerly danced away as soon as she swung over. She gathered the reins, and waited for Carol.
Once they were off, she had to know what her friend had been up to. “So, tell me about this party I’m having. You must know something.”
“Only that I’m supposed to be there at three. Why?”
“Really? You’ve been over there a lot.”
Carol blushed. “I don’t know if I can tell you.”
“Of course you can tell me. We tell each other everything.” She had Alex’s interest now. They were planning something big and crazy for today. She thought feeling prepared would ease any social anxiety headed her way. “Is it a surprise?”
Thorne threw his head, wrenching the reins through Carol’s fingers. She looked tense. “You could say that.”
They picked up a canter. “C’mon, just tell me.”
The breeze swelled between them. “I’m not sure that you would like it,” Carol called back.
“How bad could it be?”
Carol put her heels to Thorne’s side and raced toward the grove. Thinking it was all in game, Alex made a kissy noise to Approved, encouraging him to chase after.
Going fast always gave Alex a drink of adrenaline. She loved it almost as much as what she felt for Carol. Approved seemed to enjoy it too, throwing a playful buck as his stride swallowed the distance of the unused field close to the grove.
They slowed once they crossed the tree line into the woods. Carol and Thorne had distanced themselves well ahead. Alex saw her dismount, and ground tie the seal bay gelding close to the creek. Approved trotted up to him. Alex slid from his back, and allowed him to groom his buddy.
Carol’s back was turned to her, looking like she was trying to figure out what to say.
“What’s up?” Alex asked gently.
“It’s not a surprise party if you already know about it.”
“Why else would you have been going there? Who else knows me better?” She tried to make a joke. “You told North I don’t like sardines on my pizza, right?” Alex rambled,“Remember when Dejado wanted that before the dance?”
“I’m dating John,” Carol blurted.
Alex felt the blood drain from her face down to her shoulders. “What?”
Carol turned to her, staring at her fiddling hands. “I’ve been going to the North’s because Johnathan and I are seeing each other.”
Alex staggered. “How could you?” After the way he had treated Laura, tossed her aside because she wanted to have friends and love. Alex’s voice crackled. “When?”
“Over the summer. We exchanged emails at the Belmont. I really like him.”
“Of course you do. He’s rich.”
Carol winced as though she’d been stung. “Alex. This is hard enough as it is.”
Of course it was, and now their sacred hideaway was tarnished by betrayal. Would John be as possessive with Carol as he was with Laura? Would he keep her from Alex? She didn’t know if her heart could take it.
Carol reached for her. “Please try to be supportive. I know you don’t like him, but I was supportive of you and Katie.”
Another knife to Alex’s heart. “You think Katie and I were a thing? We were just friends! I love… I— ”
The words wouldn’t come anymore. They just wanted to sit in her throat and choke her, egged on by the ache in her heart. She grabbed Approved. “I have to go.”
Alex raced back to North Oak. She wasn’t sure if the tears in her eyes were her own or the wind’s. Everything was a swirl of gold, red, and brown; a dying ember in the early autumn.
She couldn’t go to the party. She couldn’t bear seeing Carol and John together. Not right now. Not ever.
Brooke was hosing down the aisle of the boarding barn when Alex and Approved got back.
“Hey birthday babe,” Brooke said cheerily.
Alex dismounted. She lead Approved to the cross ties, and started undoing his girth. She pressed the back of her wrist to her nose, and cheek, trying to hide the offending tears.
Brooke came over to her. “Here, let me. It’s the least I can do today.”
She paused, about to take the saddle from Approved’s back, noticing Alex’s sniffles. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Alex said bitterly. She turned. “Allergies.”
Brooke set the saddle on a rack near the gelding’s stall. “Well, you let me take care of him, and you go get ready for the party.”
Alex nodded, but North’s manor was the last place she was going. Best to get the business with Brad over with before they noticed her missing.
***
“Thank
you for meeting me,” Brad said, looking almost relieved she was there. “I thought maybe you’d change your— ”
Alex folded her arms, cutting him off. “Speak.”
Brad rubbed the back of his neck, looking tense. He grimaced.
“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” she asked.
He started pacing. He was here before Alex arrived. Surely he would’ve had the entire thing rehearsed. Or maybe this was part of it.
Alex rolled her eyes and huffed. “I’ve got other places to be.”
He stopped short, as though he’d come to the end of his cage. “I know. I just…” Brad looked at her. “Okay. It’s like this.”
Alex cocked her head to one side.
“Imagine the pressure I’ve been under the last four years; to compete, to get good grades, to be the best at everything I do,” he said. “And if I don’t, there are consequences.”
Brad gazed at her, as though he expected her to understand what he was saying. Alex remained silent.
“The only thing I’ve ever wanted is control over my own life.” His expression hardened. His grimace turned into a sneer. “And then this tiny girl came along and took that away. You made me less in his eyes. In everyone’s eyes.” He gestured behind him, as though the entire school was gathering. Brad ran his hand through his hair, pacing again.
“I get pushed, and shoved, and beaten down if I’m anything less than the man he expects me to be. And if I don’t get back up again, I get kicked. Only to be punched when I’m back on my feet.”
He stopped before her, angry again. Yet confused. “I can’t escape those expectations he has of me. You humiliated me, Alexandra Anderson. And, yeah, I know your name. I haven’t forgotten it since day one. Not with the shadow of my father always breathing down my neck.”
Brad stepped close to her, his voice hoarse. “Do you have any idea what that’s like?” he whispered. “To live with a gun to your head.”
All Alex had to do was remember Haven. “Yes.”
It was like walking on dynamite while holding the match, dreading the smallest spark might light a fuse.
There was a moment where they stared one another down, Brad’s chin trembling. He broke down on her, shuddering in tears. Alex wasn’t sure what to do with him leaning on her, crying on her shoulder. She understood who he was now. He was human, and not that different than she was. But that didn’t make her feel sorry for him. Bullying must have been the only part of his life he had control over. She wanted to push him away.
“I hate you,” he hissed.
A thin, terrible quiver brushed against her neck. At first, she wasn’t sure what had just happened, until he grabbed her face and kissed her hard. “I idolize you.”
“You have everything I don’t,” he said when she wrenched her mouth away.
“Stop.”
He held her head so tightly, she feared her neck would snap if she pulled any harder. Brad kissed her again, forcing his tongue into her mouth. Alex’s throat tightened, her breath raced. He bit her lip ruthlessly, forcing more of his weight against her until he wrestled her down.
She flung her arms, desperately trying to punch him, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them into the sand. Rocks cut into her back as she writhed. She had to get him off her. Why didn’t she push him away when her gut told her to?
Alex tried to pull her knees to her chest to block him, but he was too strong. He shoved her legs apart, reached for the button and zipper of her jeans, and forced his way inside her.
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to destroy you the way you destroyed me.”
Alex screamed.
Brad backhanded her, grunting as he shoved against her. He moved his free hand to her throat, holding her down.
She coughed against the blood trickling into her mouth from her busted lip. The world went blurry from her tears. Her voice strained to yell again, but he covered her mouth.
Brad leaned in, snarling. “Everyone will know how queer you really are.”
Two more thrusts, and he left her lying in pieces on the beach. He wiped his nose and mouth, then tucked himself back in, jeering at her.
“Go to the police. I dare you.”
STAY TUNED FOR
NORTH OAK #6: DARK HORSE…
When life rides you hard, be the dark horse
Just when Alex could hardly stand waiting another second to test for her jockey license, a brutal life-changing incident sends her spiraling into a dark place. Her test is no longer the epic celebratory rite of passage she dreamed of. She throws herself into working with Venus Nights who prepares for her first race. Dejado desperately tries to pull Alex from her oblivion, with Carol’s support.
Brad Hopkins remains at large for his crime, but Dejado is determined to make him pay. Can Dejado convince Alex to face her attacker in order to frame Brad and get the police on him?
Find out in Dark Horse.
I wanted to say that bullying is never okay. And even if you're a good person, don't walk away from someone else getting bullied, thinking it isn't your business. IT IS! Step up. Do something.
A wise man once said our world would not fall apart because of the terrible people in it doing terrible things, but because of those good people who stood by and let it happen.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
Be who you are. Love everyone. The universe can always use more kindness.
And if you, or someone you know, has been a victim of rape or abuse, REACH OUT. Don't stay silent. There are always local centers willing to help. Know who they are, because they need you as much as you or a friend might need them someday.
I love you. I love the spirit and strength you readers give me. You keep me going. Tell the world about Alex. Because someone out there might be searching for her, hurting inside because their story is her story.
NORTH OAK
Thank you for reading North Oak #5: Far Turn
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About the Author
Multi-award winning author, Ann Hunter, grew up barefoot with a herd of Arabian horses. She fell in love with racing at the age of 9 when her aunt brought her a magazine from Saratoga with Hall of Fame Jockey Julie Krone on the cover.
Ann loves pedigree research, founded the Model Thoroughbred Racing Assocation, and dreams of one day building the real North Oak.
She likes cherry soda with chocolate ice cream, is a mom first and a writer second, has a secret identity, and thinks the Twilight movies are cheesier than cheez whiz (which is why they are her guilty pleasure!)
She lives in a cozy Utah home with her two awesome kids and epic husband.
Table of Contents
Contents
Copyright
Series Titles
TITLE PAGE
HOMECOMING
THE VIRUS
COLD PIZZA
DANCE IN PLACE
CHAUNCEY
HER BOYFRIEND
EPIDEMIC
DYING TO LIVE
MENDING HEARTS
#LIFEGOALS
ROMP
GUN SHY
TWITCH
BEFORE YOU GO
MILE HIGH CLUB
JERSEY GIRLS
INFAMY
MISS AUDACIOUS
GROUNDED
ONCE UPON A SUMMER
&n
bsp; METEORIC
THE SWAN
ALTERCATION
FOR KATIE
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
THIS KISS
SWEET SIXTEEN
DARK HORSE
Be the Change
Fan Ann
About the Author
