The Canterwood Crest Stable of Books
Page 31
I went to put my hands in my coat pockets, but they weren’t where they used to be. I looked at Eric and saw he was just in his rain-soaked shirt.
“This is your coat,” I said.
“I know where you live,” Eric said. He hunched his back against the cold. “I’ll get it back.”
I sighed.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s go.”
Eric put a steady arm over my shoulders and we started down the wet sidewalk.
After everything I’d said, I’d never get Jacob back. We were finished. Over. I leaned against Eric, fresh tears beginning to fall.
Behind us, the door banged open. I looked behind me, expecting to see Heather.
But it was him. Jacob stared at me and our eyes locked. He gripped the black railing with one hand, and in the other was my coat. He was furious. I’d never seen him look like this. Rain dripped off the overhang that shielded Jacob from getting wet. Jacob shook his head at the sight of me and Eric and stormed back inside.
Eric’s arm tightened around me. “Forget it for tonight,” Eric told me. “You’ve been through enough.”
But Jacob had come. Maybe he’d been about to forgive me, but after he’d seen me with Eric, he’d changed his mind. Maybe I’d never be able to convince him now how much I wanted to be with him—but maybe I could. I didn’t know. I brushed wet hair from my eyes and tears collected on my eyelashes.
I slipped out of Eric’s grip and took a step forward, but then stopped. I stood frozen between Eric and the building where Jacob had gone back inside. I could turn around and go to Winchester with Eric. I’d save myself the humiliation of trying to apologize to Jacob when he’d never forgive me. Or I could try and hope that even if he never talked to me again, Jacob would listen to my apology.
The drizzle turned to a downpour. It sent shivers down my back. I clenched my jaw together to keep my teeth from chattering.
I turned to Eric. His kind brown eyes blinked at me through the rain. He didn’t leave me to go inside and get warm—he was waiting for me. He’d probably sneak inside Winchester and stay with me until Paige got back.
Eric. Jacob. Comfort or apology.
This was my mess and I had to make it right. I had to choose.
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CANTERWOOD CREST
BEHIND THE BIT
May 2009
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE THIS GIRL. THE GIRL caught between two guys. The girl who stood outside on a rainy Valentine’s Day evening and had no idea what to do. Jacob, my first almost-boyfriend, had just slammed the ballroom door in my face. Eric, my friend and not at all boyfriend, took even breaths beside me. But that was Eric. Calm and comforting—the same as he’d been all night throughout this horrible mess.
My roommate, Paige, and I had been sooo excited when we’d stepped into the school’s ballroom earlier tonight for the annual seventh- and eighth-grade Sweetheart Soirée. Now everything was ruined.
Raindrops bounced off my shoulders and pinged against the sidewalk. The temperature had dropped, and the rain was beginning to change to sleet. I couldn’t look away from the door. He had to come back.
“Sasha?” Eric asked.
“Jacob’s not coming back,” I whispered. “I messed up everything!”
“Don’t say that. Come on, let’s get you inside. I’ll walk you back to Winchester.”
I finally tore my eyes away from the door and looked at Eric. Concern clouded his dark brown eyes and I realized, just then, how I must have looked. My once-pretty pink dress, now half-covered by Eric’s coat, was drenched with rain. My hair, which had been shiny, blow-dried straight, and perfect, was now dripping and frizzed at the ends. I didn’t even want to imagine how my face looked—probably puffy, red, and streaked with makeup.
Part of me wanted to stand here until Jacob realized that he needed to hear my apology. But the other part—the rational part—knew Jacob wouldn’t walk through that door again after the way I’d just accused him.
“Okay,” I said, nodding numbly. “Let’s go.”
Eric put an arm around my shoulders as we walked down the slippery sidewalk. I wiped the cold moisture from my face and tried to hold back tears. But it had been a long night. Eric glanced at me.
“When we get back to your dorm, I’m going to ask your dorm monitor if I can stay. Just until Paige gets back.”
I wanted to thank him, and to apologize for ruining his night too, but I couldn’t say anything. My brain felt fuzzy and overwhelmed.
Eric steered me toward Winchester, cutting through the slick grass.
Up ahead, two figures passed by under the streetlamp. The sleet blurred their faces, but as we got closer I saw that it was a couple holding hands. Crazy as it was, I still half expected it to be Heather and Jacob.
“Isn’t that—,” Eric started.
My breath stopped in my throat and I looked at Eric, wide-eyed.
It was Heather, holding hands with Ben. Julia’s Ben. Julia as in Heather’s best friend. Fifteen minutes ago, Heather had been tormenting me about Jacob. She’d had me convinced that they liked each other and that they’d even kissed. She’d obviously moved on already—to breaking up Julia and Ben. But that was what Heather Fox did, wasn’t it? I should have known better by now.
I almost laughed out loud, but I didn’t even have the energy for that. Fighting with my friends had exhausted me. In that moment, I couldn’t stand to look at Heather for one more second. Eric’s arm tightened around me. I raised my head as we passed Heather and Ben and forced myself not to look at them. Eric did the same.
We walked the final distance to Winchester. Eric opened the door and we stepped inside. I let the warmth of the dorm wash over me, shaking the rainwater off Eric’s jacket as I walked. Livvie, the Winchester Hall dorm monitor, poked her head out of her office.
“Sasha! What are you doing bringing a boy in here?” she asked, walking toward us and folding her arms across her chest. “You know the rules—” Her mouth closed when she got a better look at my face. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Can we talk about it later?”
Livvie nodded. “But you’re soaked! You should get into dry clothes before you catch cold.”
Eric cleared his throat. “Um, I’m Eric,” he said. “I’m a friend of Sasha’s. Is it okay if I wait with her in the common room until her roommate gets back?”
Livvie looked at me and then at Eric. “Okay, but just until Paige returns. And you’re to sit on separate couches. I’ll be checking.”
I was too tired to be embarrassed, or even to laugh. But Eric seemed to think it was funny.
“Okay,” Eric laughed. “Thanks.”
Livvie put her hand on my elbow. “Come find me if you need to talk, okay?”
“’Kay,” I whispered. “Thanks, Livvie.”
Livvie pointed Eric in the direction of the common room, and I headed for my dorm room to change. Once inside, I left the lights off and sat on the edge of my bed. I waited for a fresh wave of tears, but none came. Just numbness. I remembered that Eric was waiting for me. I was so glad—I didn’t want to be alone.
Ten minutes later, I’d pulled my damp hair into a sloppy ponytail, shed Eric’s jacket, and hung my rain-soaked clothes over the back of my desk chair to dry. I tugged on a soft, gray, velour hoodie and matching pants and scrounged up a pair of fuzzy pink socks for extra warmth.
The hallway was empty and quiet as I walked back to the common room. I realized that everyone on my floor was still at the soirée.
When I returned, Eric was standing at the counter, swirling spoons inside two steaming blue mugs.
“Hey,” he said, his tone soft. “I made us some hot chocolate.”
“Good idea,” I said, sitting down on the couch. “I’m still trying to get warmed up.”
I tried my best to conjure up a smile for Eric as he set a mug down on the table in front of me.
“I’ll sit way at the end of
this one,” Eric said, choosing the one that sat perpendicular to the couch I was on. “I’m afraid an alarm will go off if we sit on the same couch.”
“It might.” I almost laughed. I took a sip of my cocoa and Eric did the same.
For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. We stared at the fireplace across from the couch I was sitting on and watched as a log crackled and turned to ash. The flames cast dancing shadows on the eggshell-colored walls of the room. I drew my feet onto the beige couch and nestled against the arm, finally beginning to absorb the fire’s warmth.
“How could I have been so stupid?” I said finally, burying my face in my hands.
“Hey, you’re not stupid,” Eric said. “Anyone would have believed Heather. I haven’t known her very long, but she seems to be pretty good at causing trouble.”
“She is, but I still should have known better. Jacob would never kiss her. He’d never hurt me that way. I should have trusted him, but no. I had to listen to Heather! And now he’s never going to talk to me again. Jacob hates me and Callie’s mad at me because—” I looked at Eric and caught myself. “Because,” I improvised, “of something that isn’t even true. And Paige isn’t here yet!”
Oops. I’d just spilled my guts to poor Eric, who was probably ready to bolt for the door by now. Like he’d wanted to hear any of that!
“Sorry,” I said. “That was TMI.”
Eric smiled, shaking his head. “You’re upset. You’re allowed to rant, you know.”
“Eric, what should I do?” I asked. “Go find Jacob tomorrow and apologize? What if he won’t listen?”
“All you can do is try. If he doesn’t let you explain, then it’s his problem. He should at least give you a chance.”
I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly.
“Okay, maybe you’re right. I’ll try.”
“Good.” Eric got up from the couch and went back to the kitchen. He opened the cabinet doors and pulled out a bag.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Forgot the marshmallows,” he said.
He offered me the bag. I immediately had a flashback of my last time at the Sweet Shoppe—our on-campus café/bakery—with Jacob. He knew how much I loved marshmallows, and he’d spooned his into my mug when I’d finished mine.
A new wave of tears fell from my eyes. Eric, with a glance at the door for Livvie, stepped across the room and sat beside me.
“Hey,” he said gently, “did I miss something? Do you hate marshmallows that much?” His jet-black hair fell over one eye as he gazed at me with genuine concern.
“No,” I said. “They just … bring back some serious Jacob memories.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“You didn’t know.” I sniffled and tried not to start what Oprah called “the ugly cry.” The one with mascara tracks, red eyes, and a Rudolph-bright nose.
“Let me take those.” Eric plucked the bag from my hand. “I’ll find another snack, okay?”
I took more deep breaths and blew my nose while Eric looked through the cabinets and tried to find something that wouldn’t remind me of Jacob.
“So, I’ve got a problem with Luna,” Eric said. He found a bag of baked chips and poured them into a bowl.
“You do?” I sat up straighter on the couch. “What’s wrong?” Eric had listened to me enough. The least I could do was try to help with Luna.
He put the bowl on the coffee table and sat on the other couch.
“She wants to canter back to the stable after every lesson. I almost can’t hold her back from running right into her stall.”
“Uh-oh. She’s getting barn sour.”
“Barn sour?”
I nodded and plucked a chip from the bowl. “If you let her hurry back to the stable after a lesson, she’ll always rush. You have to make her walk back. If she gets headstrong, circle her until she calms down.”
Eric smiled.
“Don’t let her rush through a lesson just to get back to her cozy stall. The more eager she is to go back, the farther away you need to lead her. You have to be in charge.”
“Good idea. I’ll try it.” He picked up a chip and munched. “Where did you learn that?”
“When I was ten, my parents got me this giant guidebook to horses. I read it every—” I stopped and looked at Eric. “You’re trying to distract me with horse talk.”
“Is it working?”
“Yes,” I said, laughing. “It totally is.”
“Good. What else was in that book?” He leaned back on the couch as if preparing to be there a while.
“Well …”
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN MIX
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
Copyright © 2009 by Jessica Burkhart
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN, ALADDIN MIX, and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Library of Congress Control Number 2009922881
ISBN-13: 978-1-44244-311-2 (eBook)
ISBN-10: 1-4391-6428-2
Visit us on the Web:
www.SimonandSchuster.com
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1 IT’S OVER
2 SHUT UP AND GET ON YOUR HORSE
3 GUESS WHO’S COMING TO CANTERWOOD?
4 TRAIL RIDE = TROUBLE
5 AND SO IT BEGINS
6 GROUP C, F RIDE
7 SO NOT A DATE
8 AND BEST ACTRESS GOES TO…
9 CLICK
10 MEET THE BELLES
11 SPELL “EMBARRASSED”: S-A-S-H-A
12 GET THE HORSES A CHAPERONE
13 WITH US OR AGAINST US
14 MY NEW BFF
15 STRESS BUSTER FOR CHARM
16 THE BOY-STEALERS DESERVE EACH OTHER
17 RACE YOU!
18 I H8 SPAM
19 TRADING FRIENDS FOR GUYS
20 THANKS, BUT NO
21 MY EX-BFF HAS A BF
22 MY NUMBER-ONE GUY
23 HE WANTS TO BE WHAT?!
24 INITIATION
25 BANNED
26 CHEERS TO THE PLAN
27 MESSY—THE NEW HOT
28 DEAR MR. CONNER
29 A VERDICT
30 HEATHER—THE NEW MR. CONNER
31 DON’T BLOW IT
32 ONE CHANCE
33 TOO MANY DISASTERS TO COUNT
34 IT’S YOU
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Alyssa Henkin for your agent-y awesomeness. Can you believe we’re on book three?!
Thanks to everyone at Simon & Schuster, especially Jessica Handelman, Lucille Rettino, Venessa Williams, and Nicole Russo.
Monica Stevenson, thank you for snapping the gorgeous cover photo.
My parents and Jason, thank you for listening to my plot ideas in the middle of the night. Mom, thanks for baking me a cake whenever I finish a book.
Blog readers and friends, thanks so much for putting up with me and for sharing my enthusiasm about Canterwood.
Finally, Behind the Bit would be nothing without my super-talented editor, Kate Angelella. TYVM 4 being The. Best. Editor. Ever. I’ve learned so much from you, and you inspire me to work harder!
For Alyssa Henkin,
I’m so grateful that you searched
for those three magic words!
1
IT’S OVER
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE THIS GIRL. THE GIRL caught between two guys. The girl who stood outside on a rainy Valentine’s Day evening and had no idea what to do. Jacob, my first almost-boyfriend, had just slammed the ballroom door in my face. Eric, my fr
iend and not at all boyfriend, took even breaths beside me. But that was Eric. Calm and comforting—like he’d been all night, throughout this horrible mess.
My roommate Paige and I had been sooo excited when we’d stepped into the school’s ballroom earlier tonight for the annual seventh and eighth grade Sweetheart Soirée. Now, everything was ruined.
Raindrops bounced off my shoulders and pinged against the sidewalk. The temperature had dropped and the rain was beginning to change to sleet. I couldn’t look away from the door. He had to come back.
“Sasha?” Eric asked.
“Jacob’s not coming back,” I whispered. “I messed up everything!”
“Don’t say that. C’mon, let’s get you inside. I’ll walk you back to Winchester.”
I finally tore my eyes away from the door and looked at Eric. Concern clouded his dark brown eyes and I realized, just then, how I must have looked. My once-pretty pink dress, now half-covered by Eric’s coat, was drenched with rain. My hair, which had been shiny, blow-dried straight, and perfect was now dripping and frizzed at the ends. I didn’t even want to imagine how my face looked—probably puffy, red, and streaked with makeup.
Part of me wanted to stand here until Jacob realized that he needed to hear my apology. But the other part—the rational part—knew Jacob wouldn’t walk through that door again after the way I’d just accused him.
“Okay,” I said, nodding numbly. “Let’s go.”
Eric put an arm around my shoulders as we walked down the slippery sidewalk. I wiped the cold moisture from my face and tried to hold back tears.