22 

AND … SEND

WHEN MIKE DROPPED US OFF US, HEATHER and I walked Brit back to Orchard. We’d talked her down on the ride over and had done the best we could to convince her that she’d done nothing wrong. Heather didn’t mention once that she’d won or that I’d come in third. It didn’t matter. We were both doing everything we could to calm Brit.

Heather pulled open the door to Orchard and I followed Brit inside. She reached her room and unlocked the door. Brit sat on the edge of her chair, her head in her hands.

“I should have felt it in the warm-up,” she said. “What kind of rider doesn’t feel it when their horse is that lame?”

“Brit, don’t,” Heather said. “It’s not your fault—don’t make me tell you that again. You pulled him up the second you felt something was off. If you would have had even the slightest feeling that something was wrong, you never would have shown him. Right?”

Brit nodded. “Right.” She took a shaky breath. “And thankfully, it’s a bruise. I know he’s in pain and I hate that, but it could have been something serious.”

“You’re right,” I said, sitting at the edge of her bed. “Callie’s horse bruised his hoof last year and he made a full recovery. Apollo will too. Trust me. Mr. Conner will be right there supervising his recovery all the way.”

That seemed to comfort Brit. She pulled off her show boots. “I can’t thank you guys enough. I would have been a disaster if I’d had to ride back alone or with people I didn’t know.”

“Of course we want to help,” I said. I got up and hugged her.

Heather nodded. “We’ll do whatever we can to help Apollo get better.”

Brit gave us a tiny smile. “Thanks, guys. I’m going to change and go put extra sawdust in his stall so it’s extra padded when he gets here.”

“I’m going to change and I’ll be right down,” I said.

“Me too,” Heather added.

We left Brit’s room and I headed to Winchester.

When I got to my own room, I opened the door and Paige was texting.

“You’re back superearly,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

“Brit’s horse went lame on course,” I said, tugging off my boots.

Paige covered her mouth. “Omigod. Is he okay?”

“It’s a bruise, so it hurts, but he’ll heal,” I said. “I’m going to the stable to help Brit get him settled.”

“That’s really nice of you, Sash. I’m sure she appreciates it.”

Paige’s phone buzzed, and she read the text, then snapped it shut. Her fair cheeks turned pink.

“What’s up?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”

Paige played with the ring around her index finger. “Yeah. Well. It was just Callie. We’re going to the movies in a few.”

I stopped pulling off my boot. “Oh. That’s good. But.”

“But what?”

I took a long breath. “You need to hear this from me. Callie’s probably not going to have a great night tonight.”

Paige looked at me, not saying anything. The way she was staring at me made me nervous. And words just started coming out.

“Paige, when I got back to school, I saw Jacob. And I didn’t tell you. I saw him the first day I got back, and I was so afraid that you’d think I was losing focus again or jumping too fast from Eric to Jacob. I met him in the courtyard, and we decided to try getting back together.”

I watched Paige’s face, waiting for her to look shocked or angry or something. But her expression was blank just like Callie’s had been whenever she’d talked to me this week.

“Jacob and I never got a chance to be together,” I said. “Heather messed it up for us and then Callie happened, which wasn’t her fault. And I did care about Eric—I still do—as a friend. But I have to try with Jacob, Paige. I have to.”

I took another quick breath, wanting to say everything before Paige could get out a word.

“And that’s why Callie’s going to be upset tonight. She’s going to need you as a friend because Jacob’s going to tell her the truth about my birthday party. He’s going to tell her that he tried to kiss me and I made him lie to protect her from being hurt. I can’t even imagine what Callie’s going to feel.”

I stopped, unable to take another breath or say another word. I just couldn’t.

Paige stared at me for what felt like hours. “Sasha,” she said. I braced myself. Waiting for her to tell me it was a bad idea. Waiting for her to say I had to stop Jacob from telling Callie.

“What?” I managed to get out.

“Callie already knows.”

Paige said the sentence without any emotion. Just … calm.

No. No-no-no. I said to myself. I had to have heard Paige wrong.

“You didn’t—you said—no. Callie doesn’t—no.”

“She knows,” Paige said. “Because I told her.”

I looked at my best friend as if I’d never seen her before.

“What?” I almost screamed. “How could you do this to me?”

“I’m her friend too,” Paige said. “She needed someone.”

“But you kept this from me. I’m your best friend. I-I don’t even know how you could do something like this and just not tell me!”

Paige half smiled. “Kind of like how you kept your meeting with Jacob from me.”

I almost fell off my bed. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t be losing another best friend. It was too much.

Without looking at Paige, I dug through my purse and grabbed my phone. My fingers shook as I typed a text.

Still need a roommate?

And then I pressed send.