I PULLED ON MY GRAY V-NECK CASHMERE sweater and snuggled into the warm fabric. I wanted to ignore the slight rumble in my stomach, but it was time for dinner. Every dinner, every class still made me feel … confused. There was the yummy possibility of seeing Jacob Schwartz, my now official boyfriend, but there was also the chance of running into Paige or—even worse—Callie.
“Ready?” Brit asked. She tugged on a pair of black ankle boots over her skinny jeans.
I nodded, my mouth a little dry. Callie and I had spent an extremely uneasy two weeks passing each other in the Orchard hallway, sharing classes and eyeing each other in the caf.
Brit studied me. She’d most likely seen this look on my face often enough to know what was wrong. “Sash, it’s okay. You’re allowed to go out. If you run into Callie and she does want to talk about your birthday party, it’ll probably make things easier. But she hasn’t said a word to you yet, so I really doubt she’s going to bring it up right now.”
I took a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t think she’s ready to talk.” Maybe she’ll never talk to me again, I thought.
“It’s time to stop hiding,” Brit said. “You live here, we’re roommates, Jacob’s been amazing, and you’ve got Charm. Things are good.” She smiled, running a brush through her enviably silky black hair. Her almond eyes were a dark brown that complemented her smooth, coffee-colored skin tone. “The Callie sitch will work out. Promise.”
“You’re right.” I thought about what she said, letting the words sink in. “Things are good.”
I slipped my feet into studded black ballet flats and followed Brit out of our room. We closed the door behind us, the wreath of black bats and silver moons lifting my spirits.
“No one else has decorated yet,” Brit said as we walked down Orchard’s hallway. I loved the cranberry-colored walls that made it feel more like fall than ever. All of the doors had posters, GO CANTERWOOD CREST ACADEMY flags, or whiteboards. The two-story brick building felt more and more like home every day. We passed the common room, with the gas fireplace blazing. Several of the other Orchard residents studied on the cream-colored couches or the leather recliners. Soon, that would be Brit and me. Canterwood, notorious for tough teachers and insane amounts of homework, would keep us with our books open almost every minute we weren’t riding.
Brit pulled out her purple-encased BlackBerry. “Heather just texted me. The Trio’s on their way to dinner. Want to sit with them?”
“Definitely,” I said. “I know Jacob’s at football practice right now, so he won’t be there.”
Just saying his name made me smile. It gave me that supercliché butterfly feeling.
“Oooh,” Brit teased, elbowing me. “Someone’s thinking about her boyfriend. Are you imagining kissing him in the courtyard under the moonlight?”
I blushed, laughing. “No! Okay, well, maybe now I am.”
We giggled and pushed open the glass doors.
The mid-October air was crisp and chilly and I linked arms with Brit for warmth. We walked down the swept, winding sidewalk toward the cafeteria. I’d always had the hardest time deciding if campus was more stunning during fall or winter, but right now, I couldn’t stop admiring what was around me.
As a scared seventh grader over a year ago, when I’d first looked at the campus, I’d felt as if I hadn’t belonged here. It was as though Canterwood’s reputation for not only being a top-notch East Coast boarding school with rigorous academics but also a school known for having a tough equestrian program had made it a place where I shouldn’t have been allowed. The small-town girl in me had been overwhelmed by the prestige of the school. I looked over at Brit, watching her look around at the other students milling around the courtyard and heading to dinner.
Brit Chan.
No one would ever be able to tell that she, too, was from a tiny town.
“Hey, Brit,” a strawberry-blond girl called.
And there it was.
Unlike my transition, hers had been seamless and she’d become the new It Girl without being mean or vindictive or two-faced girl.
Brit waved back, now having the attention of people sitting on stone benches as we approached. Brit was dangerously close to dethroning the queen of our eighth grade—Heather Fox—and I couldn’t even begin to guess what a change in regime would mean for our school.
Brit and I kept walking up the sidewalk and I stared ahead, trying not to notice the younger students staring with wide eyes at Brit. Giant trees had dropped most of their orange, red, and yellow leaves, covering the still-green cropped grass. Black iron lampposts lit the darkening walk to the caf and warm lights glowed from different buildings.
“I’m starving,” Brit said, pulling open one of the caf’s heavy doors.
“Me too.”
When we reached the enormous cafeteria, as I’d been doing since my blowout with Paige, I scanned the room before entering.
Whew. I didn’t see Callie or Paige.
“Are you planning on moving or have you decided to become a permanent roadblock?”
I jumped, turning at the sound of Heather’s voice. Her two BFFs, Julia Myer and Alison Robb, flanked her. The girls smirked.
“You got me,” I said. “I decided to just stand here and have my food delivered.”
That made Alison smile. Her sandy brown hair was in soft curls and she looked ready for a dinner party instead of a regular Sunday night dinner. She wore thigh-high, camel-colored boots with a matching skirt, sheer tights, and a soft-looking white sweater.
“Let’s grab food before we starve while listening to your ‘jokes’,” Heather said, making air quotes.
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stop my smile. Heather’s biting attitude was nothing new. Plus, we’d become friends since I’d stayed with her during fall break. I’d chosen to stay in Heather’s Park Avenue penthouse instead of going home with Paige as I’d originally planned. And now I was still learning how to handle the fallout.
In the line, the five of us grabbed silver trays and got them loaded with steaming rosemary chicken and rice. In the dessert section, I took a small plate and placed a red velvet cupcake on it. The rest of the girls took cupcakes or tarts.
We took our usual table and I sat across from Brit and next to Julia. Even though the cafeteria wasn’t one of my top ten places to be right now because of my situation, I still loved being here. The tables—a mix of circular and rectangles—were angled differently throughout the room. My fave part was the giant bay window that gave a spectacular view of campus. Since the caf building was on an incline, it was a great spot to observe all of the activities going on around campus. But with the Trio and Brit, the most interesting part of the campus was what was going on at our table.
“How’s Apollo’s hoof?” Julia asked. She tucked a piece of her now-longer blond bob behind her ears, and picked up her fork.
Brit smiled at the sound of her horse’s name. She’d only been leasing the gray gelding for about six months, but they looked as if they’d been together since Apollo had been broken.
“It’s totally healed,” Brit said. “I’m still being careful with him and we’re not doing anything too rigorous. But Mr. Conner said the vet’s coming tomorrow to give him another checkup and, hopefully, clear us to get back to a regular training schedule.”
“Alison and I have to get more time in the arena,” Julia said. “I mean, I guess we got lucky that Mr. Nicholson got sick and couldn’t make our YENT testing two weeks ago, but …
“Now we’ve got an extra two weeks to worry,” she finished. She shoved rice around on her plate. She never acted worried about riding. But the YENT, or Youth Equestrian National Team, was the goal for every rider at Canterwood who dreamed of making it big on the show circuit—maybe even to the Olympics.
“We’d already have either been on the team or been told ‘no’ a long time ago if Jasmine hadn’t been involved,” Alison said, making a face.
I almost shivered depsite my warm clothes. Jasmine King, a former Wellington Prep student, had transferred to Canterwood—set to take out the Trio, Callie, and me. Jas had framed Julia and Alison, making it seem as if they’d cheated on a history exam. Thanks to Jasmine, they’d been kicked off the riding team and had missed their chance at the YENT. But their chance was coming. In two weeks.
“Enough talk about that Wellington witch,” Heather said, rolling her blue eyes. She’d dusted shimmery white powder in the corners of her eyes and it made her look even more tan—despite the fact that it was October.
“Agreed,” we all said, nodding.
“How are things with Jacob?” Heather asked.
She’d been the one who’d pushed us together—admittedly, by extreme means—over fall break. Heather had e-mailed Jacob all during break, pretending she was me. But it had been the push I’d unknowingly needed. After break, I’d met him in the courtyard and we decided we’d never had a shot at a real relationship. We had too much history to throw away everything now that we were both single—and unable to stay away from each other.
“We’ve been IMing, texting, and talking a lot,” I said. “I think … he’s going to ask me on a date soon.”
“Omigosh!” Alison said, clapping. “It’s about time. We’ve been back to school two weeks, so he better ask you on a date.”
“Ben and I are catching a movie tonight,” Julia said. “We’ve been together forever and it’s the first chance we’ve had time to go out since we got back to school.”
Heather nodded. “Things have been crazy. Troy and I …”
Heather stopped for a second, trailing off.
“What’s going on with you and Troy?” Brit asked. Her tone was gentle, not pressing.
I’d filled her in on how I’d managed to convince Heather to talk to Troy—her long-time crush—during fall break. Heather rarely let her front down, the act of being an alpha clique leader, but I’d seen her vulnerable side during fall break. She was afraid of rejection from guys she really liked, even though she went after (and got) almost every boy on campus.
“Troy and I are taking things slow,” Heather said. “We texted earlier and we’re going to groom our horses together tomorrow after lessons.”
“That sounds perf,” Alison said. “You’ll be super-comfortable in the stable. It’s the place you’ve seen each other the most before you even started like-liking each other.”
“That does sound great,” I said. “The weather’s supposed to be nice, so maybe tie the horses up near one of the pastures and get away from everyone.”
Heather took a bite of chicken. “That’s not, like, a horrible idea.”
For the rest of dinner, the Trio, Brit, and I talked about boys, riding, and classes. Our easy chatter and laughter made me forget to be on the lookout for Paige and Callie.