Elite Ambition (5 page)

“We're going to stick to flatwork this morning,” Mr. Conner said. “We have plenty of time before the schooling show to work on jumping. Brit will be joining us at the show, so we'll all be working together to get ready.”

This girl wowed me. It was her first week here
and
she was showing on Sunday.

Mr. Conner walked out of the center of the arena, standing off to the side. “Start your horses in large circles at a sitting trot,” he said. “After each rotation, make the circle smaller. Before you feel your horse start to strain, stop.”

Charm and I definitely needed practice with circles, especially on his left side. He was stiff sometimes and the circles helped him stretch and flex.

I asked Charm to trot and guided him in a large circle. Brit was in the middle of the arena with Heather off to the side. I didn't let myself focus on Brit or Heather—I had to keep my attention on Charm. We had to get the
most of every second of the lesson. Especially with the schooling show so close.

Charm's muscles felt loose as we completed our first rotation. I pulled the reins in slightly, guiding him into a circle that was a fraction smaller. As we turned toward the center of the arena, I noted the intensity on Brit's face and how her gelding seemed so in tune with her. Heather and Aristocrat were also completing a circle that showed off the beautiful Thoroughbred's movements.

I tightened the reins a notch and Charm's circle got smaller. Beneath me, I felt him start to lean a little to the side, but still keep his balance. He'd usually begin to have to work harder to keep a steady pace and even footing after a few more laps. I took him around twice more before I could sense the strain through his back. I let him into a big circle, then changed directions.

Charm moved much easier this way. He made two more rotations in this direction than he had in the previous.

Mr. Conner made us do a few more circles, then spirals, before raising his hand and signaling us to move our horses in front of him.

“Great start,” he said. He looked over to Brit. “I hope that you'll feel more comfortable with each lesson. Please don't
hesitate to come to me or any of my riders if you have questions.”

“Thank you,” Brit said.

“Have a good day back at class and see you at our next lesson,” Mr. Conner said.

Heather, Brit, and I dismounted and Brit followed Heather and me out of the arena and into the aisle.

Mike and Doug, the other stable groom, met us and smiled.

“We take care of the horses in the morning,” Mike said to Brit. “Your guy is all yours in the afternoon.”

“Thanks so much,” Brit said. She handed her horse's reins to Mike, and Doug took Charm and Aristocrat. We unsnapped our helmets, starting toward the tack room.

“What'd you think?” I asked Brit.

“Mr. Conner seems like a great instructor,” Brit said. “I know I'm going to learn a lot from him.”

“You definitely will,” I said. We entered the tack room and found Julia and Alison inside, dressed in yoga pants and hoodies.

“What're you guys doing here?” Heather asked.

“We heard there was a new transfer onto the YENT team,” Alison said. Her long sandy-brown hair was wavy and loose around her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Julia said. “We wanted to catch some of your lesson, but we overslept.”

Both girls didn't even look at Brit—they acted as if she was a regular, even though Canterwood was a fairly small campus.

“Hi,” Brit said, stepping forward. She smiled at Julia and Alison. “I'm the new student, Brit.”

Julia ran a hand through her short blond bob, her eyes widening when she looked at Brit.

“Oh,” she said, an edge to her voice. “So
you're
the YENT transfer?”

“She just said that,” Heather interrupted. “We need to get back to Orchard before we're late for class.”

“Orchard?” Brit asked, smiling. “That's where I live.”

“Walk back with us, then,” Heather said. She turned to me. “Later, Silver.”

Heather ignored the shocked glances from Julia and Alison and motioned for Brit to follow her. Brit flashed a smile at me.

“Nice to meet you, Sasha,” she said. “Maybe I'll see you in class.”

“That would be cool. See you around,” I said.

Heather, Julia, Alison, and Brit left the tack room with me staring after them.

 5 

SMALL-TOWN GIRL

BACK IN MY ROOM, I HURRIED TO SHOWER, dress and get to class. Paige had already left—a star-shaped sticky note on my bed said she'd had a meeting with Ms. Utz, our guidance counselor, this morning.

The morning's classes weren't any different from the classes before break. I'd had a fantasy that the teachers would suddenly become easier on us and would assign no or little homework on the first day.

So. Wrong.

By the time I got to math, my assignment notebook was full of so many things that I'd be up way after lights out.

I walked into math class and took my usual seat, opening the fifty-pound hardback textbook and trying to
remember the formulas I was supposed to have memorized over break. Callie was in this class, too, so I always kept my gaze on the whiteboard or my desk.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

I looked up and saw Brit gesturing to the desk across from me.

“Nope,” I said. “That's what's cool about this class. We can sit wherever we want.”

“Cool,” Brit said. “None of my teachers at my old school ever did that.”

I started to ask Brit where she'd gone to school, but my attention was caught by a purple notebook covered in glittery star stickers.

“Those are so cute,” I said. “I love stickers.” I closed the cover of my own notebook, showing her the horse and heart stickers that covered mine.

Brit leaned over, pointing to a sticker of a chestnut horse head. “That looks like your horse. What's his name?”

“Charm,” I said. “He's a sweet horse. I'll have to introduce you two at our next lesson.”

Brit grinned. “I'd love that.”

We smiled at each other. “So, where did you—”

I stopped talking when Ms. Utz, who also taught math,
walked in with Callie close behind. Callie slid into a seat near the door, not even looking in my direction.

“Welcome back, class,” Ms. Utz said. “Let's take attendance and get right to work. I know you've all missed math over break.”

The entire class looked around at each other. That was
so
untrue. For me, anyway.

I tried to pay attention, but my mind kept wandering to Brit. I'd been just about to ask her where she'd transferred from. She had the look of a girl who'd come from a fancy school like Heather, but there was something different about the way she acted. All of the seats filled around her, as if everyone wanted to get to know the new girl.

Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at her clothes. Dark blue skinny jeans tucked into black boots with a slight heel. Her dark brown three-quarters sleeve shirt had buttons down the front with a few ruffles. She looked like definite Trio material. But there was something about her that wasn't quite Trio-like.

Forty minutes later, Brit and I walked out of class together, long after Callie had disappeared from the classroom. We matched strides and walked out of the math building. As we walked down the hallway, everyone
smiled at her and they looked as if they wished they could join us.

“What class do you have next?” I asked Brit.

She pulled her schedule out of her bag and scanned it. “I have a meeting with the guidance counselor's assistant,” she said. “Then lunch.”

“I have lunch now,” I said. “The cafeteria is halfway to the admissions building. I can walk you toward there, if you want.”

“That'd be great,” Brit said, flipping her braid behind her shoulder.

We walked down the sidewalk, dodging other students who were rushing to class, and I enjoyed the light breeze and sun on my face.

“I was about to ask before Ms. Utz came in,” I said. “Where did you transfer from?”

“Charles Middle School,” Brit said.

“That's twenty minutes from where I went to school!” I said. “I'm from Union.”

“No way! Omigod, that's so cool,” Brit said, bouncing. “I thought everyone here would be from New York City or some other big place.”

“Not me. Small-town girl all the way.”

Brit smiled. “This is too awesome. Where did you ride?”

“Briar Creek Stable,” I said. “What about you?”

“Pemberton. I've heard of Briar Creek. We probably competed against each other at a local show and didn't even know it.”

“Probably.” It felt crazy to meet someone else who was from a small town. Brit was from a city that wasn't much bigger than Union, but she'd walked onto campus as if she'd moved here from New York or Los Angeles.

“I was sure you'd transferred from a private school,” I said. “Where did you go to ride in Charles?”

“My mom drove me an hour each way to Pemberton Stables,” Brit said. She shifted her backpack. “She probably spent more time in the car taking me to lessons or waiting for me than she did at home.”

Her tone was joking, but I could tell she was serious.

“I couldn't imagine two hours in the car to get to the stable,” I said. “How often did you go?”

“Every day,” Brit said. “I had to, if I wanted to make the YENT.”

We rounded the sidewalk and I reached the entrance to the cafeteria. If someone hadn't laughed loud enough to jostle me out of our conversation, I would have missed my stop and kept talking to her. It felt so good to talk to someone else who
got
it.

“The guidance office,” I said. “Is in the building straight ahead.”

“Thanks for walking with me,” Brit said. “It's so great to meet someone.”

“No prob,” I said. “Bye.”

Brit and I both walked away smiling. When I turned to look to see if she'd gone in the right direction, I saw a group of eighth-grade guys staring at her and whispering. They were all smiling, and they didn't stop watching her until she went inside.

While I waited for the lunch lady to serve my mac and cheese and ham sandwich, I kept going over our conversation in my head. Brit hadn't tried to hide where she was from—she was proud of being from Charles. And I had a feeling that once everyone—Heather included—found out where she was from, she would still be supercool Brit Chan.

 6