Jealousy (13 page)

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. There was a new BBM.

Taylor:

Survived first day. Um, u didn't tell me that I needed 2 prep 2 give up all free time bc of schoolwork!

I started down the gentle incline to the stable, typing as I walked.

Lauren:

Yay!
I knew u'd make it, Tay. The hw scared me 2, but it (somehow!) becomes part of ur routine. U'll be blowing thru it soon.

Taylor is writing a message
appeared.

Taylor:

Hope so. Thx 4 the confidence, Laur.
What r u doing?

Lauren:

Walking 2 the stable. Riding lesson then back 2 room 4 hw. And I'll prob be helping Khloe run lines 4 the play.

Taylor:

Say hi to Whisper 4 me. Good luck @ ur lesson. I'm gonna start hw now bc I wanna b 100% sure I finish everything. Not giving Dad 1 reason 2 make me come home.

Lauren:

U've got this, Tay. If u need help, BBM me anytime. Ur not going 2 mess up and ur dad's not going to take u home. I won't let him.

I reached the stable front and locked my phone. I went straight to the tack room, which was full of lower-grade and upper-class students. It took a minute for me to see an opening to squeeze through to grab Whisper's tack. I'd stored her grooming kit in the wooden trunk outside her stall so I'd have less to carry back and forth.

I scooted around riders in the aisles and deposited
Whisper's tack on her trunk. Lifting the ballerina-pink lead line from the hook next to her stall door, I peered inside.

“Hello, gorgeous!”

An automatic smile came to my face when my eyes landed on Whisper. She blinked at me with delicate lashes that framed her gorgeous dark-brown eyes. I opened the stall door and then slid it shut behind me. My boots sank into the clean, deep sawdust as I hurried to Whisper and threw my arms around her neck. One of the grooms had thrown one of Whisper's blankets across her back and secured the Velcro straps at her chest. The pink blanket matched her lead line.

“Chilly today, huh, baby?” I asked. “You're going to have fun during your lesson, and you'll forget all about being cold. I think we're going to be jumping today.”

Mr. Conner had e-mailed my class last night and instructed us to meet him near the outside large arena.

“Hey, girlies!”

A voice carried over the neighboring stall.

“Hey, Lex,” I called back. “Want to groom together?”

“Def.”

We led our horses out of their stalls and into the aisle. Both of us scanned the stable for a spot roomy enough for four.

“There,” I said, pointing to a spot where a dark-haired older guy untied a flea-bitten gray mare and led her down the aisle.

Lex and I, with Honor and Whisper in tow, scurried to grab the free ties. Lexa walked back to our stalls and grabbed both of our tack boxes.

She was unusually quiet as she took off Honor's royal-purple blanket. I undid Whisper's blanket, folding it but watching Lexa.

“You okay?” I asked. “You seemed really upbeat when you got here, and now you're really quiet.”

Lexa's face was hidden as she brushed Honor's neck. She flicked the body brush over the bay's coat a few times before turning to me.

“Lauren, I'm sorry. I
hate
being in this position. I have to tell you something, but I want to protect you and
not
say anything. You're one of my closest friends, though, so I feel like I'm lying if I don't tell you.”

“Lex, you're
really
scaring me,” I said. I ducked under Whisper's neck and stood in front of my friend. “Whatever it is, I'm not going to be mad at you. I get your instinct to protect me, but I need to know.”

“That's what Khloe and Clare said,” Lexa said, her voice soft.

“You told them something before you even told me?” I asked. “Why?”

Both mares lifted their heads at my loud voice.

“No.
No
,” Lexa said, shaking her head. “It's not like that at all. I swear. It's—” She stopped, and I stood motionless, staring at her.

“Lexa, please just tell me.”

Lexa played with the bristles on Honor's body brush before looking up at me. “I had class with Clare last period today. Clare had to see Ms. Utz about a volunteer program she wants to do over Christmas break, and I went with her.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Taylor was waiting to see Ms. Utz too. We sat next to him and talked to him for, like, two seconds before Ms. Utz called him into her office. When he got up, his BlackBerry was on the seat. It must have been in his pocket or something and fallen out.”

Whisper bumped my arm with her muzzle. She was doing the
hey Lauren don't forget I'm here
act. I rubbed her neck. “Please,
please
don't tell me that you guys went through his phone or something.”

I regretted my words the second they left my mouth.

Lexa's eyes widened. “Of course not! Lauren, you know us better than that.”

“Lex, I'm so sorry,” I said. I reached out and touched her elbow. “I
do
know better, and I'm really sorry I said that.”

Lexa gave me a tight smile. “Clare picked up Taylor's phone so no one else would grab it, and we were waiting for Taylor to come out. He got a text when he was inside. His phone wasn't locked, and the message was visible for a few seconds before the screen darkened.”

His dad. Something's happening with Mr. Frost that Tay's hiding from me.
I knew Taylor. Very well. So well that I'd been fighting the feeling that he'd been keeping something from me. I hadn't even admitted it to myself because I didn't want to think about what it might be. I'd chalked it up to Tay being nervous about Mr. Frost, since he'd been a little . . .
off
around me since day one. But now Lexa was about to confirm my worst fear.

“What did it say?” I asked. “I already know it was from his dad. Oh, poor Taylor. I'm going to have to find some way to talk to him about it. He must be so upset and—”

“Lauren, it wasn't his dad,” Lexa cut in. Her caramel-and-mocha-colored eyes locked with mine. “It was Brielle. She wrote, ‘I really miss you. You didn't call last night.' ”

I was silent.

“Laur?” Lexa asked after a few long seconds. “Are you okay?”

I stepped forward and gently shook my friend's shoulders.

“Lexa Reed!” I said. “You scared me! I thought it was something really serious!”

Confusion was all over Lexa's face. “Isn't it? Taylor got a text from another girl. One of your best friends. He didn't call her last night.”

“Lex, I'm sorry you were stressing over that. But it's nothing. Bri and Taylor are friends. They hung out all the time, and I know they text. I'm sure Bri just asked Taylor to actually ‘call her' last night, and he didn't for some reason.”

Slowly Lexa nodded. “Oh. I didn't know they were friend-friends. I'm so sorry! I feel really dumb right now.”

“Hey, don't,” I said. “I meant it—I'm sorry
you
got worried. You're such a good friend that you were looking out for me. It's not as though I talk about Bri and Taylor's friendship for you to have known that they are close. Please don't feel silly about anything.”

Lexa smiled. “Okay. Thanks, Laur. I've learned my lesson about reading other people's texts. It'll never happen again.”

I bumped Lexa's arm with my elbow. “Never say never.
I can't promise I won't read texts if I somehow stumble onto Lacey's phone.”

Lexa and I started laughing and went back to grooming our horses. Within minutes just being in Whisper's presence made me forget about everything else going on in my life. It was my horse and me.

MY INSTINCT THAT WE WOULD BE JUMPING
today was right on. Mr. Conner, Mike, and Doug added the last few oxers to a moderately difficult course in the largest outdoor arena while Drew, Cole, Lexa, Clare, and I warmed up our horses.

Whisper seemed happy to be out of the stable. I felt a little guilty that I hadn't spent nearly the amount of time with her as I normally did, but last week had been insane. I'd barely had time to brush my teeth. I looked down from Whisper's saddle at her shiny gray coat and felt all the more gracious toward Mike and Doug for grooming her when I couldn't and for keeping her company.

“All right, class,” Mr. Conner called. “Line up in front of me, please.”

We guided our horses to a stop in front of Mr. Conner. Whisper chewed her snaffle bit, ready to get out of line and start jumping.

“Each of you will take the course that has been set up for you. After your ride your classmates and I will critique your form.”

Clare and I exchanged
eek!
glances.

“And to keep you informed, I will be away this weekend. I'll be traveling with the eighth-grade advanced team to an out-of-state show. So, if you need to reach me for any urgent reason that cannot wait, my cell number is in the student directory. I'll send you all an e-mail with my number just in case you can't find your directory.”

A year ago I never thought I'd think it, but now I couldn't wait until I was one of the riders traveling out of town. I knew Sasha was on the eighth-grade advanced team, and I wondered how she'd do. Likely there would be a bunch of blue ribbons coming home with her. I'd have to wish her luck (in my head) later.

“Lauren, I'd like to see you and Whisper up first,” Mr. Conner said. “Please dismount, walk the course to get a feel for the distance, and then give it a try. There aren't any switchbacks or anything tricky. Instead I added more
combinations, and there are more jumps than most of your previous courses.”

Following Mr. Conner's instructions, I dismounted and handed Whisper's reins to Lexa. While I walked the course, Mr. Conner talked to everyone about the importance of walking a course and how to get the most of it.