I hope you’ve all had a chance by now to be in contact with your partners and get to know each other.”
I’d forgotten all about that. Mr. Spellman had put Jacob and Eric in the same group. I still didn’t even know my group members—I’d have to ask Mr. Spellman who they were. I’d been in too much shock to pay attention after he’d said that Jacob and Eric would be partners.
“Let’s talk about the reading,” Mr. Spellman said. “Who wants to start our discussion?”
I raised my hand and Mr. Spellman nodded at me. I was beyond prepared for talking about the homework.
“I’ve read about the Industrial Revolution before,” I said. “But I didn’t remember how much it impacted
society in such a huge way.”
Mr. Spellman nodded. “Continue with that, Sasha.”
I talked for a few more minutes about how losing animal-driven power to machines had changed daily life for so many people. Mr. Spellman agreed with my answers and seemed pleased that I’d given such a detailed response.
And for the rest of class, I raised my hand every few questions. My participation grade was going to skyrocket after this class. Everyone already thought I was a backstabbing boyfriend stealer, so who cared if they thought I was a teacher’s pet, too?
SOMETHING REALLY INTERESTING
I LUGGED CHARM’S SADDLE DOWN THE AISLE—it felt heavier than I remembered. Sweat was already prickling along the back of my neck and I was tired before the lesson had even started. At least it was the middle of the week—I’d have the entire weekend to tackle things on my list.
Charm, sensing my mood, was quiet while I tacked him up. We walked outside to the outdoor arena. Heather and Jasmine were already on horseback and trotting in figure eights. Thankfully, the early evening sun wasn’t in our faces and the air was starting to cool.
I stuck my foot in the stirrup, hopping to keep my balance. That was lame! Mounting was so basic—I shouldn’t have had one second of a misstep. I looked up to see if Heather or Jas had noticed, but they were too focused to even care what I was doing. I mounted and gave Charm rein to move into a walk. He stretched his neck and ambled toward the fence.
We’d just finished warming up when Mr. Conner came into the arena. “Ready to work over jumps today?” he asked us.
We nodded.
“Good,” Mr. Conner said. “If all of your horses are warmed up, then you’ll each take turns jumping the three verticals and two oxers that are arranged at the other end of the arena. Jasmine, you’ll ride first.”
Jas tapped her heels against Phoenix’s side and the gelding moved easily from a walk to a collected trot. Jasmine circled him once and then urged him toward the first jump. Phoenix, a total pro, sailed over the first three-foot high vertical and stayed focused as Jas took him over the next two verticals and the oxers. Jasmine had finally taken Mr. Conner’s warnings seriously that he wasn’t going to tolerate her pushing Phoenix over every jump. She’d made a noticeable effort to become a softer rider and it showed.
Phoenix gathered himself before the last oxer, preparing for the spread, and surged into the air. He cleared it and Jas patted his neck once—a rare sign of affection from her.
“Excellent,” Mr. Conner said. “You were quiet and Phoenix stayed focused. You continue to impress me with your efforts to relax with Phoenix. It showed on these jumps. Please keep it up.”
Jasmine grinned. “Thanks.”
“Sasha, you can start whenever you’re ready,” Mr. Conner said.
I nodded and gathered the reins. I dropped my hands and sat deeper in the saddle, urging Charm into a trot. He bounded forward and I let him go to the first vertical. He rocked back on his haunches, tucked his knees, and cleared the rails. Six strides later, we reached the second vertical—this one a couple of inches higher with flower boxes on the sides. Charm approached the jump, pointed his ears forward, and launched into the air. He hit the ground a little harder than he should have and it made me wobble in the saddle. I was being ridiculous—first with the mounting and now this? I had to start going to the gym.
We cleared the final jumps and Charm tossed his head, proud of how he’d done. I patted his neck and stopped him beside Aristocrat.
Mr. Conner looked at me, smiling. “Nice ride, Sasha. You recovered your balance after losing it on that vertical and it didn’t affect the rest of the jumps. Good effort.”
I settled into the saddle, glad to be finished with my ride. Heather went next and Aristocrat took each three-foot jump as if it was tiny. He jumped without much effort and Heather stayed relaxed but solid in the saddle. I watched how focused she was and wished I could channel more of that.
Mr. Conner praised her ride, then asked us to take the course in reverse. When it was my turn again, Charm and I made it easily over the first oxer. He cantered toward the second jump and I signaled him to take off too late. Charm hit the rail with his knees and it tumbled to the ground. My face burned with embarrassment, but I didn’t lose focus and we had a good ride for the rest of the round.
Heather and Jasmine both jumped the course clean. Jasmine’s ride was particularly strong. She looked as if she’d ridden the course a million times and didn’t have to even think about the jumps. She was a consistent rider, which was something crucial to staying on the YENT. It was also something Charm and I didn’t have yet.
“Nice work, everyone,” Mr. Conner said. “See you tomorrow.”
I dismounted and my knees shook a little as I loosened Charm’s girth and led him out of the arena. I really had to start working out more—this was ridiculous. I’d known Mr. Conner’s YENT lessons were going to be rigorous and I had to be better prepared to handle them.
I led Charm away from Jasmine and Heather and we went to a deserted grassy lane near one of the big pastures. Horses dotted the field and some, far up on the hill, looked like specks of black, brown, and gray.
Charm seemed to like the change of scenery and he ambled quietly beside me. The sun was just starting to set and it dipped behind a cluster of trees at the far edge of campus.
“Things are kind of tough right now,” I confessed to Charm. He flicked an ear at me. “I don’t want Eric back—I hurt him too much—and I’m glad Jacob stayed with Callie. But … I’m on my own. I’ve got Paige, but she just won’t stop asking about everything I don’t want to talk about.”
Charm seemed to listen and take in my words.
“I hate being in my room because I can’t stand looking at Paige’s face when I keep refusing to answer any of her questions. And the common room isn’t much better because Jasmine always manages to show up.”
I fell silent, lost in my thoughts until I saw Alison jogging my way with Sunstruck, her palomino gelding, trotting beside her. The Arabian’s neck was arched. I could watch him move all day. There was a lightness and spring to every one of his moves that Charm, a Thoroughbred/Belgian mix, couldn’t replicate.
“Hey,” Alison said. She slowed Sunstruck to a walk, the gold chain links jangling on his brown leather lead line. Alison’s face was pink and she was sweating, even in shorts and a tank top.
“So you’re working him over the lanes, huh?” I asked.
Alison patted his neck and turned Sunstruck to follow Charm and me. “Yeah. Mr. Conner loved your idea—he thought it was a great way for me to keep my bond with Sunstruck and for both of us to work out together.”
“I know it’s not even close to riding,” I said. “But Sunstruck just wants to spend time with you—no matter what you’re doing.”
Alison nodded. “You’re right. He’s been an angel the entire time.”
We walked the horses, silent, for a few minutes.
“So, how are you doing with … things?” Alison asked, her voice soft.
I took a long, deep breath. I had nothing to lose by talking to her. “Honestly? Not so great. Callie. Eric. Jacob. The whole thing’s just a mess. And Jas has been her usual charming self and I feel like she’s stalking me in Winchester.�
��
Alison frowned. “I’m sorry. That’s not fun. It’s enough to deal with what happened, and of course she’s in your face.”
I looked at Alison. “But she did say something really interesting. We were in the common room and she accused me of trying to be the new ‘bad girl’ on campus.”
Alison scrunched her nose. “Why? Because of the Jacob thing?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to move past that part of the convo ASAP. “But she said she’d already done something much worse than I’d done and could ever think up.”
Alison sighed. “Julia would kill me for talking to you about this.”
“Up to you, but who am I going to tell?” I asked. “I have zero friends except for Paige, and even that’s weird right now.”
“Well, I just know Jasmine’s talking about what she did to Julia and me,” Alison said. “She framed us. I know it. I’m positive. I don’t know how, but I swear—Julia and I didn’t cheat on our history exam. Jas did something and now she’s bragging about it.”
“She’s too smart for that,” I said. “Even if she did frame you—she’s not stupid. She’d never brag about something that serious—she’d be expelled if she got caught.”
“I never said she was stupid. Just cocky. She thinks she can do whatever she wants and get away it.”
I hesitated. “If you’re really sure she framed you, then you’ve got to get proof. You, Julia, and Heather are all smarter than she is—figure out something and get back on the team.”
Alison nodded. “We will. Somehow, we will.” She checked her watch. “I want to jog him another half mile before it gets dark. See you in English?”
“Okay, bye.”
Alison turned Sunstruck back in the opposite direction and started jogging beside him. I led Charm down the lane and into the stable.
If Alison was telling the truth, then what Jas had said would make perfect sense.
FOR OUR HEALTH CLASS
I walked into my dorm room, smiling when I saw Paige typing on her computer and blushing.
“Let me guess,” I said. “IMing with Ryan?”
Paige ducked her head. “Yeah. But he was just asking me if I wanted to eat breakfast together sometime.”
“And you said yes, right?” I asked.
“I told him Friday would be fine.”
I walked over and gave Paige a high five. “Perfect. You weren’t like, ‘Omigod, tomorrow!’ You played it cool.”
“You think?” Paige asked.
“Absolutely. That was great.”
Paige closed her laptop. “How was your lesson? You look a little stressed or something.”
“It was kind of tiring,” I said. “But okay. I’m just gross and need to get cleaned up.”
“I’ve got the perfect solution to make you feel better,” Paige said, smiling. “A trip to the Sweet Shoppe. It is Wednesday, after all. I think they have new smoothie flavors.”
I’d really missed hanging out with Paige. And things had been so weird that this would be the perfect chance for us to chat and relax.
“That sounds great,” I said. And I didn’t want to, but I had to say it. “I’m serious, though, if you bring up the party—I’m going to leave. I really, really don’t want to talk about it.”
Paige half-shrugged. “Okay. I won’t say a word.”
“Give me fifteen minutes to shower and change, then I’m ready.”
After I got cleaned up, we grabbed our purses and I picked up my egg box off my nightstand. I’d left it in my room while I’d been riding. Utz would never know and the stable was, like, the least safe place ever for an egg. I’d take a pic of it with me at the Sweet Shoppe. If I had to do this dumb assignment, I was definitely going to get an A.
“Ugh,” Paige said as we stepped outside. “It’s disgusting out here.”
“Totally.” We both pulled on our sunglasses.
“But at least we’re going to be eating something amazing in five minutes,” I said.
We walked the short distance to the Sweet Shoppe and with each step, our tension eased.
“My math teacher is trying to kill my class,” Paige said.
I grinned. “What? How?”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Okay, get this: not only did he assign fifty homework problems for tonight, but he also told us we have a quiz on Friday and a test next week. During Homecoming. It’s so wrong.”
“That’s ridiculous. But focus on Homecoming and fall break. Those are exciting.”
As soon as I said “fall break,” I wished I hadn’t. I was staying with Paige in New York City, which had been perfect when we’d made the plans. Mom and Dad had agreed to let me go and then had decided to go on vacation while I was at Paige’s. Now Paige’s was only going to be fun if we fixed our shaky friendship.
“You’re so right! Homecoming and fall break,” Paige said. She almost bounced as she walked. “Forget about math. Those are awesome things to look forward to. We’re going to have so much fun over break.”
I nodded, glad that we were walking up the stairs to the Sweet Shoppe. I pulled open the door and stepped into the air-conditioned room. If Paige and I got through this without having any weirdness, then maybe she was finally taking me seriously about no party talk.
Paige and I both stared at the smoothie choices on the cute chalkboard hanging behind the counter. Colored chalk matched the drink flavor—so blueberry was written in blue, strawberry in red, and mango in orange. Everything about the Sweet Shoppe was fun—from the glass counter where we could see all of the ice cream tubs to the cupcake trees that were displayed on the counter with a zillion different choices.
“Oooh, so many!” Paige said. “Want to get two large ones, drink half, and swap?”
“Duh. I’m going to get peach mango.”
Paige scanned the choices. “And I’ll get … blackberry and strawberry.”
“Awesome.”
We stepped up to the counter and ordered our smoothies. The barista handed them to us and we found an empty circle-shaped table near the center of the shop. We sat and started sipping.
“So let’s talk fall break,” Paige said.
I took a huge gulp of smoothie and got a brain freeze. Owww. “Yeah,” I said. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
“There’s so much we didn’t get to do when you visi-ted me over the summer,” Paige said. “I mean, we stayed in Manhattan the entire time. There’s so much more.”
“Like what?” I asked. This felt right—Paige and me. No awkwardness. Just the two of us talking and enjoying our mid-week treat break.
“Like places that would horrify my mom if I told her we were going.” Paige grinned.
“Tell me!”
“Well,” Paige looked over her shoulder, as if expecting Mrs. Parker to suddenly appear. “A new train line started near my house. So … we tell my mom we’re going shopping and instead, we should sneak off to Coney Island.”
“The Coney Island? I’ve only seen that in pictures and movies. Omigod, that would be so cool.”
Paige nodded. “Some of the rides might be closed, but I just want to see the park. My parents wouldn’t take me and I’ve never been to Brooklyn.”
“Well, we’re going then. We’ll tell your mom we’re going to Saks or somewhere fancy and instead, we’ll be eating cotton candy at Coney Island.”
“We’ll even get our own MetroCards for the subway,” Paige said, sitting up straighter. “Like adults.”
I smiled. “I want my own MetroCard. That sounds awesome. How many times have you ridden the subway?”
Paige frowned. “Only twice. Both times it was when my uncle from Philly came to visit. He thought I needed to experience it instead of taking a cab everywhere.”
“Will we”—I paused—“get lost underground, Paige Parker?”
“No! Maybe! I don’t know!” Paige said, giggling. “Hopefully not.”
We laughed and swapped smoothies.
“If we do, I hope it’s on the way home
’cause at least we’d have cotton candy to eat.”
Paige took a drink. “Yeah, and—”
But her voice faded away when I saw Jacob walk past us and sit down. He had a frozen hot chocolate and as he sipped from his glass, I couldn’t stop the flood of memories. I flashed back to when we’d had hot chocolate together last fall. I’d eaten all of my marshmallows before I’d finished my drink, so Jacob had spooned some of his into my cup.
“Um,” I said to Paige. My voice sounded so weird. “Jacob’s here and I … need to get a pic of us with our egg. For health. For class. For our health class.”
“Okay,” Paige said. She gave me a sideways look, but didn’t say anything.
I reached into my purse for the egg and grabbed my phone. It was fine that I was going over to Jacob. Like I’d just told Paige, this was for class. And I wanted an A.
I stood and walked over to Jacob’s table. I stopped beside him, looking at my pink flip-flops and then at him. “Hi,” I said. “I brought the egg. Since we’re both here, I thought we could get a pic of us with it.”
Jacob nodded. “Hey, good idea.” He pushed his drink to the side and held out a hand for the egg box. I handed it to him and he set it in front of him and opened it. He took out the egg and held it between his index finger and thumb so the face was visible.
“Okay,” I said. I flipped open my phone and moved closer to Jacob’s shoulder. I leaned down so both of our faces and the egg were in the shot. My finger fumbled for the camera button and the second I clicked it, Callie appeared in front of us.
“What are you doing?” she asked. Her gaze flicked from Jacob to me.
Immediately, I jumped away from him, almost dropping my phone. “Nothing. Just taking a picture of our egg for health class.”
My voice rose with every word. I sounded so guilty!
Callie looked down at the egg and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Are you done now? I came here to meet my boyfriend.”
“We’re done,” I said. I started to apologize for making her upset, but I knew I couldn’t. There couldn’t be one crack in my I-really-did-try-to-steal-your-BF facade.
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