City Secrets

by Jessica Burkhart

  “Sorry,” I said. “Blake was a total jerk. I can’t believe she said all of those things.”

  “Who cares about Blake?” Heather said. “Some friend she was. They can think whatever they want about me. I really don’t care.”

  We were silent for a few seconds as we slow the horses to a walk.

  “Where should we practice now?” I asked. “Is there someplace else we can go, where they won’t be watching us?”

  Heather paused, thinking. “You know what? I think that was enough of a practice. This is break. Want to trail ride?”

  “Sounds perfect,” I said. “As long as you’re sure you don’t want to work on flatwork or anything.”

  “Nope,” Heather said. “We’ll still practice this week, but you know we’ll be riding all the time once we get back to Canterwood to prep for the schooling show. We deserve a little time off.”

  “Agreed.”

  This was so unlike Heather. Usually she was the one insisting we practice until we dropped. But maybe she was finally realizing that we didn’t have to ride until we were exhausted to be prepared. We worked as hard as we could, but I still wanted to have fun riding. And a trail ride in a new area sounded amazing. I only wished Charm were here since I knew how much he’d enjoy exploring the new trails.

  “C’mon,” Heather said. “I’m going to show you the coolest trail.”

  And, tossing quick smiles at each other, we let our horses walk side by side away from the stable, Blake, Emma, and all of their drama.

  Soon Chesterfield was well behind us, and Heather and I were relaxed in our saddles as we headed for a line of trees.

  “I love riding in the woods,” I said. “It feels so far away from everything.”

  “Me too,” Heather said. “I need to take more time to trail ride at Canterwood. You’ve probably found trails I haven’t.”

  “Probably,” I said, smiling. “I used to trail ride a lot with Callie . . .”

  For a second I wished I hadn’t brought Callie up. Just like I wanted to stop thinking about Paige. And just like I wanted to stop thinking about Jacob.

  Heather didn’t press me on the Callie comment. We entered the woods and let the horses amble at their own pace down a grassy path. A line of grass had been trodden by horses walking over the same area again and again.

  We started up a gentle hill and I leaned forward in the saddle, giving Limitless extra rein. He stretched his neck and took the climb with ease. Cora snorted and stepped sideways around a scary-looking clump of grass. Heather pressed her boot against Cora’s side, straightening her before she could bump into Limitless. The mare listened and eased sideways.

  The hill leveled, and Heather turned Cora between two oak trees.

  “Everyone else usually keeps going that way,” she said. “But I think this way is so much cooler.”

  A year ago, if Heather had asked me to trust her and follow her down a hidden trail, I would have refused, thinking she’d try to ditch me and get me lost in the woods. Now things had changed so much between us. She’d been a better friend than I’d expected, and we’d had a lot of fun together over break. I was actually kind of sad that break was almost over.

  We reached a wide but shallow creek, and I pressed my boots against Limitless’s sides to keep him moving forward. But he had no issues with the creek. He walked right through the clear water and his shoes clinked against the pebbles and rocks that lined the creek bed. Beside us, Cora walked through the water as easily as Limitless did.

  The horses maneuvered up the creek bed and reached a flat meadow.

  “If you want, we can gallop them to the other side of the field. It’s safe,” Heather said.

  “Definitely,” I said. I couldn’t wait to try riding Limitless at a gallop.

  “Then let’s go!” Heather urged Cora into a trot, and then a canter.

  I gave Limitless rein and we charged after them. We pulled even with Heather and Cora, and Heather and I traded looks. At the same second, we let the horses into gallops. Limitless stretched his neck, and I bent lower over his withers, encouraging him to move as fast as he wanted.

  His long legs carried us easily over the ground, and wind rushed in my ears and blew back my ponytail. Adrenaline kicked in and I hoped the field would stretch forever; I never wanted Limitless to stop galloping. It was such a rush!

  Beside us Cora kept up—not letting Limitless get an inch in front of her. But this wasn’t a race. Heather and I really were galloping our horses for fun, and no one was trying to outdo the other. It felt good to just ride. No competition. Just riding, and loving every second of it.

  A line of trees appeared in the distance, and I eased back on the reins. Limitless responded, slowing to a fast canter. Heather and I let Cora and Limitless canter for several more yards before we slowed them to a trot, then a walk, just before reaching the trees.

  “That was amazing,” I said. “I’d forgotten how much I love galloping.”

  “I know,” Heather said. “That’s the perfect place to do it.”

  We smiled at each other and I let out a happy sigh. This break was not like I’d anticipated it to be. It was way better.

  15

  CALL A HOTLINE

  LATER THAT NIGHT I WANDERED DOWN THE hall toward Heather’s room. We’d finished dinner, and Heather had invited me to come to her room to watch movies and talk about what we were going to do tomorrow.

  Heather was sitting cross-legged on her bed in flare-legged gray sweat pants and a baby-doll T-shirt. She was typing on her laptop, looking focused.

  “Ooh,” I said, folding my arms and grinning. “Are you e-mailing a certain guy?”

  Heather looked up as if I’d startled her. “What?”

  I headed for a chair. “Hmm . . . I wonder. Troy! Are you e-mailing him?”

  Heather closed her laptop lid. “No, I was IMing Julia.”

  “Oh. How’s her break going?”

  Heather got up and put her laptop on her desk. “Fine. She’s having fun. So let’s see what’s on TV before we start a movie.”

  “Sure.”

  I relaxed in the chair, putting my feet up on the ottoman. My dorm room was going to feel so small compared to this.

  Heather turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. The Food Network for Kids popped up, and Paige’s green eyes and red hair filled the screen.

  “And now,” Paige said, “I’m going to teach everyone how to make ten-minute quesadillas. They’re fast, fun, and supereasy to make.”

  I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. Just hearing Paige’s voice, even through the TV screen, made me sad and angry at the same time.

  “Nothing good on TV,” Heather said, switching on the DVD player. She glanced at me. “Has Paige texted you or anything since your fight?”

  “A bunch of times,” I said. “She keeps saying that she wants to apologize. I don’t know—I mean, she’s my best friend and I miss her. But I’m not ready to hear her apology yet. I know she’s sorry, but I need time first.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” Heather said. “What she said to you at the dance was awful. And this probably sounds harsh, but she needs to take some time too and come up with a really good apology.”

  “I agree,” I said. “I don’t want her to apologize if she doesn’t completely understand why I was so upset. I know she didn’t mean what she said, but she still said it. The fact that she would just makes me wonder if we’re not as close as I thought we were. And I really, really hope that’s not true.”

  “I think your friendship with Paige will be fine,” Heather said. “When you’re ready, you’ll listen to her apology, and then you can decide for yourself if whatever she says is enough.”

  I nodded.

  “Thanks for talking to me about it,” I said. “I’d probably go crazy if I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

  “We’re not making this, like, a regular thing,” Heather said, looking at me sideways. “Call a hotline if you need to
vent.”And the old Heather was back.

  16

  JUST PRETEND YOU DON’T KNOW ME

  I’D WOKEN UP EARLY, EXCITED ABOUT THE day. Heather hadn’t told me anything, of course, about what we were doing today. She liked playing tour guide more than she let on, and she was proud of her city. I slid my feet into my platform sandals and glanced at my outfit in the mirror. Black skinny jeans with one of my new shirts—the scoop-neck seashell-colored one. I grabbed my purse off the bed and walked to the foyer. At least we didn’t have to worry about a run-in with one of her parents this morning. Mr. Fox had left for work hours ago, and Mrs. Fox had gone a while ago to a spin class.

  Heather was waiting, arms across her chest. “When I said we were going at ten, I didn’t say it just because.”

  I turned and looked at one of the wall clocks. “It’s not even ten-oh-two,” I said. “Barely.”

  Heather pulled open the door, muttering something under her breath.

  We got in the car and Paul greeted us with a smile. I was going to miss him when we went back to school. I’d gotten used to seeing him every day, even though I hadn’t been here all that long.

  “Where to this morning, ladies?” he asked.

  “Central Park, please,” Heather said.

  I turned, grinning. “Central Park. Omigod, I can’t wait! I went there with Paige, and we ended up having to leave early. I was so sad that there wasn’t more time to explore.”

  “Jeez, calm down,” Heather said. “You’re going to be tired before we even start walking around. Did you see any of the Great Lawn?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “What’s there?”

  Heather checked her phone. “Like, a zillion things. Since we’re taking drama, I thought it would be cool to go because there’s tons of theater and Shakespeare stuff in that area.”

  “I’ve read about that,” I said. “It’s supposed to be amazing.” I knew I sounded like one of those dorks who read an NYC guide book from cover to cover, but I couldn’t help it.

  As Paul drove down the crowded streets, I stopped myself from pressing my nose against the window like a kid. It didn’t take too long to reach the park, and Heather told Paul she’d text him when we were ready.

  We got out of the car on Fifth Avenue and started toward the park. We walked down the sidewalk and I stared at a gorgeous sculpture.

  “Alice in Wonderland characters,” I said. “Wow. I love that book.”

  Alice sat on top of a huge mushroom, with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare nearby. I loved the Cheshire Cat over her shoulder. We kept walking, and it was as if I had lost track of time. There was so much to see, and with every step we wound our way deeper into the park. Heather and I walked up to a grassy hill, passing a beautiful stone archway. On the hill, people were sprawled out on the grass. Some were on blankets having a late breakfast, others were walking dogs, and some were reading.

  I loved the busyness of NYC, but it felt good to get away from the noise, crowds, and concrete. It was hard to comprehend that a giant park, with so much grass and so many trees, was in a place as metropolitan as NYC.

  We kept walking, not in any particular direction. We just walked, and I took in the quietness around us.

  “Omigod!” I yelped. I jumped sideways and crashed into Heather.

  “What?! Omigod! Sasha!” Heather grabbed my upper arm and righted herself before she fell over.

  My heart pounded as if I’d just run through the entire park. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “But that scared me!” I pointed up.

  Crouched on a rock was a statue of a panther. It looked ready to pounce, and the life-size cat had caught me by surprise. It looked so real. I wondered if the artist had spent time watching and studying panthers before making the sculpture.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Heather said, glaring at me. “You were just scared by a statue. That’s ridic even for you, Silver.” She glanced around. “I really hope no one saw that.”

  I held back a giggle. Now that my heartbeat was returning to normal, the whole thing was actually kind of funny.

  “If anyone asks you why your friend freaked out, you can totally say you don’t know me at all,” I said. “There.”

  Heather rolled her eyes and we started walking again. A few minutes later I stopped midstep.

  “Is that . . .” I started, but couldn’t finish my sentence.

  “Yep,” Heather finished. “It’s a mini-castle. In Central Park.”

  “Whoa,” I whispered.

  Heather, amused by my staring, smirked. “It’s called Belvedere Castle. They do tours and stuff, but we don’t have time today.”

  “It’s gorgeous,” I said. I’d never seen anything like it in real life. The Gothic-style castle made me feel transported to another time. I half-expected women in ball gowns and jewels to step out of the castle and wait for carriages to whisk them off to a fancy dance.

  “It is beautiful,” Heather said, twisting her hair into a low ponytail. “Whenever I’ve walked by it, I’ve always envisioned a stable behind it and girls our age riding their horses sidesaddle.”

  I could see what she was talking about. “They’d have cute stable boys rushing to their every need.”

  Heather laughed. “That sounds like a line from a romance novel.”

  We grinned at each other and kept walking. The September sun was directly overhead now, and I enjoyed the gentle breeze that blew through the park. With every step we took deeper into the park, the more birds and squirrels I noticed. And the squirrels didn’t seem to be afraid of anything or anyone. They perched on benches and took their time crossing in front of people on the sidewalk. And for the next few hours Heather and I wandered around the park, seeing where we’d end up.

  “I’m starving,” Heather said much later. “You ready to go?”

  “Agreed. Lunch sounds awesome.”

  Heather texted Paul, and I couldn’t wait to see where we were going next. Heather hadn’t picked one thing all week that hadn’t been awesome.

  “After lunch we’ll go back to my place, and then tonight I know exactly where I want to go for dinner,” Heather said.

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked.

  “Hmm . . .” Heather shrugged. “Why not? We’re going to a place I know you’ve heard of.”

  “Really? Where?”

  Heather grinned. “Oh, just a little place called Butter.”

  “No. Way. Nooo, seriously?! Butter?” I tried not to freak out in Central Park. Butter was the hottest restaurant that morphed into a celeb-packed club at night. It was only mentioned at least two or three times in every issue of gossip mags.

  “We could go somewhere else if that sounds, like, boring to you,” Heather teased.

  We both started laughing and were still giggling a couple of minutes later when Paul pulled up.

  17

  DON’T MAKE ME HEIMLICH YOU

  WE HAD TO LEAVE SOON FOR BUTTER—I never wanted to stop saying the restaurant’s name—and I was a mess. I couldn’t decide what to wear, my freshly washed hair was half up and half down as I straightened it, and I’d redone my eyeliner three times. My shaky hands had kept drawing squiggly lines.

  “Okay,” I said aloud to myself. “Stop and do one thing at a time. It’s just a restaurant and you’re going to be totally fine.”

  “I didn’t know a crazy person who talked to herself was staying with me,” Heather said, poking her head into my room.

  “I can’t decide what to wear and we’re leaving soon!”I said. “You’re ready to go and I’m not even close.”

  Heather was dressed just right for dinner in a deep red halter dress and black wedges. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she’d given it soft waves with a curling iron.

  Heather eyed the mass of clothes thrown on my bed. “Calm down, Silver. We’re just going out to eat. Do your hair so you don’t look like a weird poodle, and I’ll be back in a sec—I’ve got a dress you can borrow.�
� She waved her hand dismissively at my pile of clothes. “I don’t have to look through any of that to know you don’t have something for Butter.”

  She disappeared and I picked the flatiron up off the dresser and stared in the full-length mirror as I went back to smoothing my hair. Heather reappeared a few minutes later, just as I was unplugging the flatiron.

  She held out a dress to me. “What do you think?”

  It was a strapless black cocktail dress. Simple, but sophisticated at the same time. In this dress, I’d actually look as if I fit in at Butter.

  “Ooh,” I said. “It’s perfect! I can really borrow it?”

  “I have a zillion of them,” Heather said. “I won’t even care if you spill something on it.”

  I took the dress, making a face at her. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Heather walked back to the doorway. “Your hair is done and you have a dress. Finish your makeup and meet me in my room when you’re done. And make it fast.”

  I nodded and grabbed my makeup bag and Heather’s dress. I sprinted for the bathroom and got dressed, loving how the cocktail dress made me feel pretty and confident. Taking a breath, I started over on my eyeliner, and this time I managed to draw straight black lines. I dusted shine-absorbing powder over my T-zone and added peachy blush to my cheeks. Tonight I wanted the focus to be on my eyes, so I used clear gloss on my lips.

  There. Done.

  I left the bathroom and slipped my feet into my black kitten heels. Anxiety over getting ready melted into excitement. We were going to Butter!

  I hurried down the hallway to Heather’s room. She was on her laptop, sitting in one of her chairs.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  “Obviously,” Heather said. “One sec. Let me tell Alison we’re going and log off IM.”

  “Okay.”

  I rummaged through my purse and pulled out my phone. I hadn’t checked my e-mail in forever. I tried to log in and got an error message.