Gypsy Girl and Horse Lovin' Boys

by K. D. Kinney

  “I’m sure those feelings will go away soon. Or I’ll be replaced with someone else once I leave.” I held onto his hand so he wouldn’t pull away. Even I wanted to cringe at my attempt at sounding practical. I didn’t want to be practical either. I was trying to convince myself as much as Noah. “Girlfriends aren’t meant to be forever, not until you’re older. Friendships can last forever, though. I want something with you that will last forever.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “Being far away pining for each other isn’t going to be good for either one of us. And you need to not let your mom dictate so much of what you do.”

  “Having a long distance girlfriend would be easiest, really it would.” Noah rested his head on mine.

  “I’m a girl and I’m your friend. Refer to it whatever way you want. I won’t complain. I want to be friends with Josh too. You need him as your friend even more than you need me. That has to stay the same.” I stole Noah’s hat and put it on my head. He took it back.

  “I need a haircut,” he said, running his hand through his hair before putting the hat back on. “If we were at the Caravan, I would let you wear it all you want.” He picked up his phone and took another pic as he kissed me.

  “Are you going to let Josh see these?” I asked.

  “Knowing Josh, if he wants to see them he will find a way. I don’t think he will. He was the one that said we should do this. He got a picture kissing you as well. So, you know, it’s all even.”

  “I don’t know about that.” It was our turn to get off. “You got a lot more compared.”

  Noah laughed. “I told you I wanted to make sure that if this is our last night together, that it would be something we would remember.”

  “It has been.” I started to reach for his hand and held onto his arm instead. “Soon we need to shift back to being friends so saying goodbye for real won’t be so hard.”

  “Will it be hard for you to say goodbye?” Noah asked.

  “Of course. Really hard. I’ve never had a better boyfriend or boy that was a friend before.” I leaned my head against his shoulder. I liked the feel of him way too much.

  When we met up with Josh and Cessie, the little stinker wouldn’t stop yawning.

  “I think we need to call it a night,” I said, disappointed.

  Noah and Josh didn’t argue as we headed back to the Caravan together. Cessie went right inside.

  I lingered by the door with the boys.

  “If you have time, you should come to the horse barn in the morning,” Noah said. “If you’re brave enough, we need to put you on a horse before you go.”

  “I think that was always your plan and something Cessie wanted to do. I don’t remember that being on my list of things to accomplish before I leave.” I leaned against the Caravan.

  “You’ve come so far. You even went into a stall with a horse on your own. You should at least try before you go.” Josh leaned on the wall next to me.

  “Don’t go ganging up on me.” I folded my arms.

  “Come on,” Noah said.

  “At least come tomorrow morning and make up your mind then. I’ll give Cessie a ride on Shasta if you want to ride Ezra. Your sister would think you were amazing, you know,” Josh said.

  I stared at my feet. “I’ll think about it.”

  22

  Friday

  Just the mention of another horse ride was incentive for Cessie to rise with the sun.

  I pushed the incessantly eager kid out of the way to check the time. “I’m not getting out of bed at six. They won’t be there until eight.”

  I never fell back asleep, dreading what the day might bring: More horses, a horse ride, saying goodbye to my friends, never seeing Peppy again. It all ran through my head jumping from one train of thought to the next. I sighed when it finally hit seven-thirty. Giving up on sleep, I climbed out of bed. Cessie joined me, changing her clothes immediately. If only a little of her excitement would rub off on me.

  Maybe if I wore my gypsy clothes to take more pics with Noah to taunt his mom then I wouldn’t have to ride the horse. Dressing up was worth a try even though we had plenty from the night before. I braided my bangs in with the some of the longer parts of my hair and tied a few feathers around the end. I left the back long and chalked up the rainbow strands so the colors were more vibrant, totally playing up the gypsy look.

  Even though I applied heavy pancake stage makeup to cover the scratches on my face, no matter how well I covered them, the scabs still wrinkled my skin funny and were noticeable.

  There was a knock at the door. Millie squawked to answer back. Cessie and I froze. Neither one of us moved to open the door. I climbed the ladder to my bed and pressed my face against the portal window. I struggled to catch a glimpse of who was there. I could only see dark hair from the back of someone’s head.

  I slowly and silently unlatched the window to crack it open.

  “Who is it?” Cessie asked.

  I waved her hand to shush her up and shrugged that I didn’t know.

  When mom opened the door, I turned my ear to the window so I could hear.

  “Can I help you?” she asked. “Wait, you’re the one that’s caused us all this hell. What do you want?” Her tone of voice changed from friendly to furious real quick.

  I covered my mouth even though no one could see me smile.

  “I’m here to apologize,” Kelly said.

  “Apologizing isn’t going to fix this mess you’ve created,” Mom said.

  “Wait, I … I have been trying to fix it. I didn’t know the monkey was training to be a service animal. I’m trying to make things right. I’ve already talked to the fair officials and told them what I did. They aren’t happy with me at all. I told my parents too, and they’re livid. However, they are helping by looking into what it would take to get Peppy released. I don’t know if it will help him remain in the service program since he attacked your daughter, but my parents are willing to do what they can to fix my mess. They also told me I have to go home as soon as this is resolved and I have to give up my awards.” Kelly’s voice wavered. “I had more shows today and I won’t be in them. You might let your daughter know. I think she’ll be happy for her friend.”

  I wished I could see Kelly’s face.

  “I think you can tell her yourself. If you’re really apologizing and mean it, she should probably hear it too.”

  Maybe I should be more careful for what I wished for.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “At least you have some manners.”

  Mom’s sandals click-clacked to my room and I still jumped when she opened the door.

  I slowly shut the window as quietly as I could.

  “Sera, someone is … You’re already dressed?” Mom asked in disbelief. “Cessie too?”

  “Noah was going to let her ride the horse again this morning in case we had to leave today.” I wrung my hands.

  “Oh … That girl is here and has something to say to you.”

  I was not eager to see Kelly at all. Of all the stupid things to wish. Watching her out the window was preferable. I scooted over to the edge of the bed slowly and climbed down the ladder extra careful. Mom waited for me, tapping her foot by the door.

  When I looked at Mom again and followed her to where Kelly was waiting, I could tell it wasn’t really impatience with me. It was the stress of having the source of all our troubles standing at our doorstep.

  I stepped down the steps to the grass in front of Kelly. For once she wasn’t confident, arrogant, or calling me names. She obviously hadn’t slept much. Her hair was flat, her clothes wrinkled, and her eyes were quite swollen. She shifted her weight, folded her arms, and wouldn’t even look at me. She wasn’t eager to start talking even though I was there waiting and the silence made us both even more uncomfortable.

  “My mom said you wanted to say something to me.” My confidence suddenly soared as I took control.

  “Yes,” she said and drew in a deep breath, holding it for a second. “I�
��m sorry. I can be a real terrible person sometimes and I don’t know why I do it. You were right. I was on the path to making sure I had no friends when I left here. I know apologizing won’t fix anything I’ve done at this point. But I am very sorry for all the trouble I caused. I didn’t know that the monkey wasn’t just a performing pet. You know, your mom should mention what you all are doing with him in the show. It would create more awareness for what goes into training working animals like him. I know it’s hard work and it takes loads of dedication. Had I known, I wouldn’t have done what I did. I wish we could start over. All you had to say was your mom trained monkeys for Handy Helpers from the start and I would have wanted to be your best friend.”

  “I doubt that,” I said scrunching up my face at Kelly.

  “Yeah, you’re right. I still would have been a snot. But not as bad though. After I talk to the fair board members, I’ll probably have to go home. So you won’t have to put up with me anymore. Noah will probably be given the first place ribbons he deserved. I know the last one should have been his and not mine.” She kicked at the grass and looked at the ground with her hands on her hips. “I’ll do everything I can to bring your monkey back. I’m sorry about scaring you with the horse. Now that I’ve had time to see how awful I’ve been, I realize you were genuinely scared of horses and that it wasn’t for attention. If you see Noah and Josh can you tell them I’m trying to fix things?”

  Kelly looked legitimately sorry, but it would be too easy for me to help her out with the boys when she was so awful to me all week. I wasn’t going to do it.

  “I want to know if you were responsible for the carnie attacking me. That part was far worse than being mean and calling me names. That could have ended much worse than it did.” My hands went to my hips.

  Kelly’s face turned red and she wouldn’t look at me. “I didn’t know he was going to do that. I thought he would just flirt with you and leave you alone if you told him to bug off. I was talking to Noah at the time trying to hold him up so maybe he would see you with the carnie. But I had no idea he was a psycho.”

  “I appreciate that you took the time to apologize, that you’re trying to get Peppy back and clear my mom’s record so she can keep making a living this way. However, an apology doesn’t quite fix all the crap you put me through.” I pointed to the scratches on my face and then motioned all over the rest of my body before opening the door so I could end our conversation. “Cessie? Are you ready?” I held the door open.

  “I understand.” Kelly turned and slowly walked away.

  I watched her as I waited for my sister wondering if she really was sorry. However, I wasn’t ready to let her off that easy and I wasn’t going to dwell on all of Kelly’s wrongdoings for long. Mom was right about a few things. The words Kelly called me were just words and didn’t change the opinions of the people that mattered to me. I had already let go of some of the humiliations Kelly created. At least they weren’t on Facebook anymore. I was the one with friends and she was finally dealing with the consequences. Those ribbons meant a lot to Kelly and they would have earned her some approval from her father, and maybe her mother too. Instead, she had to tell them what she did, give up the awards, and go home. So she was definitely getting what she deserved. Maybe, just maybe, I could let it all go and accept Kelly’s apology before I left.

  In the meantime, I had a horse to visit. Riding was possibly too much for me. It would be an amazing accomplishment though if I could do it.

  I hesitated at the mouth of the horse barn. I walked in there alone the day before alone. I just needed to do it again while I wasn’t running away from the world. Clenching my fists, I led the way with Cessie staring up at me in amazement.

  “Do I know you?” Cessie asked as a smile spread across her face.

  “I might surprise you and become the horse scared sister again in two seconds. Hopefully not.” I was almost to Ezra’s stall and I made it without a crisis. Noah stepped out of the stall just as I got to the door. I attacked him with a hug. Never mind that I was trembling. I did it.

  “Good morning.” Noah squeezed me tight against his chest.

  “Hey!” Josh said as he left his horse’s stall.

  I pulled away from Noah and gave Josh a quick hug to be fair. “You’ll never guess who stopped by the Caravan this morning.”

  “Was it someone from the fair board saying you could stay?” Josh asked.

  “No. It was Kelly. She apologized and said she went to the board to try to straighten things out. She told her parents and as soon as the board makes their decision, she’s going home.” I grabbed Noah’s shirt. “She won’t be competing today.” I didn’t want to tell him the rest. Kelly could tell him that she had to give up her ribbons or it would be a nice surprise for him.

  Noah started to smile. “The only thing with her being there is it really makes me try harder.”

  “Well, try hard for the rest of us,” I said.

  “Are we going to get to ride horses this morning or do we just talk about everything else so there’s no time left?” Cessie asked, tapping her toes.

  “Why, yes, your highness. I was just getting my horse ready for you because Noah is determined to get your sister on his horse today.” Josh looked right at me.

  Everything I had been able to keep under control started to stir and unravel in my gut. It twisted until a wave of anxiety shot through me, jolting my heart making it pound. I inhaled then exhaled slowly. The smell of horse poo helped nothing.

  “No hurry though. I’m not throwing you on Ezra right away.” Noah squeezed my arm.

  I nodded. His hand slid to mine and he pulled me gently towards the stall while Josh took ecstatic Cessie to Shasta.

  “How much help do you want from me?” Noah asked.

  “I don’t know yet.” I looked up at Ezra wide-eyed. The horse was saddled-up and ready to go.

  “So there are a few ways you can do this. Only do what you are most comfortable doing though. You can stand near her for a while until you want to put your foot in a stirrup. When you do that, you can try standing up without sitting in the saddle yet so when you want down, you can jump off. Or just go for it and sit in the saddle. We won’t leave the stable until you are calm and ready to go. If you aren’t ready at all, we stay here.” Noah rubbed my back. I leaned against his chest.

  “All right. Let me stop shaking and I’ll figure it out.” I rubbed Ezra’s neck cautiously. The horse blew air out her nose making me jump and I jerked my hand away.

  Noah stifled a laugh. He was getting good at that on my behalf. He took my hand and placed it on Ezra with his hand covering mine. Tucking his chin on my shoulder, he stood very close behind me. “I really like helping you with this. Do you mind?”

  I shook my head and let him guide my hand the way he did when I was still horribly terrified. This time it was nice, far more comforting, and my heart raced for better reasons than fear. I covered his hand on my stomach with mine. “You need to stop feeling so good to be around. You make this whole friend thing impossible.”

  “In that way, I’m a little bit evil because I don’t want to do the friend thing.” He kissed my neck.

  It gave me a shiver and I giggled. “Well, I guess it’s helping me get over my fear in a hurry.”

  “That was only part of the plan. The other part was just being evil.” Noah kissed me again. He pulled out his phone so he could take a picture of the two of us. “You sure worked up the gypsy look today. I really like your hair.” He ran his hand through my hair before he kissed me again. He handed me his phone. I took a couple of selfies as he kissed me several times. My face was on fire when he finished. Noah couldn’t leave my hair alone while we looked through the pics and snickered to each other. I suspected coloring up my hair that morning would not only bug his mom when she saw the pics, but that it would get Noah hot and bothered. I could be a little evil too.

  Cessie carried on non-stop out in the corridor while Josh led her on Shasta’s back out to the
arena. I decided it was time for me to get busy doing what I never thought I would do. I inhaled again as I gripped the stirrup with both hands.

  “Sometimes horses shift their weight when you start to get on them. So don’t be alarmed if she moves. That’s normal. It’s like me giving you a gentle push when you aren’t ready for it. She’s just getting ready for it to be heavy on one side.”

  I nodded. “This stirrup is awful high.”

  “It’s a stretch. You just hold the saddle horn and the back of the saddle. I’ll help you get your foot in the stirrup. Ready?”

  “In a second.” I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I placed one hand on the saddle horn and wondered if I would be able to stretch my leg up that far. It took a little adjusting until I was able to hold myself upright and steady in the stirrup, breathing so fast, not sure what to do other than hold on for my life when Ezra stepped side-ways.

  “At least you aren’t holding your breath. Now move the hand on the back of the saddle to the front and then you can swing your other leg over easily, if you’re ready for that.”

  “I don’t know.” I gripped the saddle tight even though Ezra wasn’t moving anymore. I had tears in my eyes for no reason. I wasn’t terrified but I was frozen, not sure how to remedy it.

  Noah’s hand rested on the back of my calf. “I can lift you off the saddle if you need me to.”

  “No, hold on a minute.” I blinked the tears away. What the heck were they there for? Once I was in charge again instead of my emotions, I quickly moved the hand on the back of the saddle to the saddle horn and swung my leg over. Noah held my leg in the stirrup so I didn’t slip off the other side, which I almost did with the gusto of being brave.

  I clutched the saddle horn with both hands. A rush of exhilaration, along with terror, flooded over me. Sitting perfectly still, I was astounded at what I had accomplished.

  “Are you all right?” Noah squeezed my knee.

  “Hmm?” I felt woozy.

  “You can get down now if you want,” he said.