11 
11 Lauren
“AHHH!” KHLOE SAID, GRABBING MY arm. She had the famous Khloe look—like she had to talk or she would burst. “I was dying to talk to you guys, but I couldn’t say what I wanted to in front of the boys.”
Carina giggled. “Dying, huh? I had an idea that something was going on when you looked at me and kept blinking—like you were trying to send me a message in Morse code or something.”
Khloe nodded, her blond hair flying. “I was! Well, not in Morse code because I don’t know how, but I was trying to tell you that we needed girl time. I couldn’t say anything especially because of Zack.”
We wandered out of the arena and into a side yard. People and horses were everywhere. Volunteers were leading Thoroughbreds to and from the stable, catching and releasing them into paddocks, or grooming horses standing at tie rings. At least a dozen riders were exercising horses.
“Let’s go sit on the fence and watch the horses being exercised in that arena,” Brielle said. She tipped her chin toward a giant rectangle-shaped arena not too far away. “The boys aren’t there, and neither are Sasha and her friends.”
We walked to the arena, climbed the wooden fence, and settled ourselves on the top rail. I sat next to Khloe, with Ana on my other side. Four horses worked in the arena. A gray that reminded me of Whisper trotted in large circles in front of us. Two bays walked along the fence at the opposite end of the arena. In the center, a chestnut gelding fought his rider. The rider, an athletic-looking girl in a black wool coat, white helmet with visible scrapes, and worn-in paddock boots, struggled to hold the horse at a trot. The chestnut tossed his head and crow hopped, yanking the reins in the girl’s hands. The girl’s attention never wavered. The horse’s antics had captured the attention of all of us—no one said a word as we watched.
The rider, who looked about Charlotte’s age, refused to give in to the horse. She pushed her heels down and sat deep in the saddle. The gelding tossed his head again, seesawing the reins against his neck.
“Think we’ll get any horses like that to exercise?” Carina said quietly.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe only the volunteers who have been here for a long time get the really green horses. Or maybe our experience levels will be enough for us to be assigned a horse that isn’t quiet to work with.”
I hoped I’d get to ride a horse that needed some retraining. It would be a challenge and something that I could learn from. Khloe’s knee bumped into mine, and I remembered why we had chosen to separate ourselves from the guys.
“Spill,” I said, elbowing Khloe lightly. Each girl sitting on the fence turned her gaze from the unruly chestnut to Khloe.
“I couldn’t wait until we got back to your place, Laur, to talk about Sasha and Co.,” Khlo said, using the group’s nickname.
“Omigod! So crazy, right?!” Clare said.
“Seriously!” Ana added, shaking her head. “What are the odds that Sasha Silver ended up volunteering here too?”
“It really is like Sasha and her friends planned the same Christmas vacay we did,” I said. “We’ll probably see them again at Briar Creek, we know we’ll see them here, and Union isn’t very big. If we go out for dinner or grab coffee in the morning, we could run into them.”
“We, like, never see them at school, but we’ve run into Sasha so many times already since we’ve been in Union,” Bri said. “So weird.”
The other girls nodded. Hoofbeats approached us, and we fell silent as a tall, lanky bay walked past us. I didn’t want to talk until the horse was out of earshot, in case my voice spooked him.
“I’m so lucky to be dating Zack,” Khloe said once the bay and his rider were a safe distance away from us. “And no guy is cuter than him, but I have to say it: Sasha’s ex and her current BF are so cute!”
We giggled and nodded.
“I feel the same way about Drew,” I said. “But I agree with you, KK. Sasha’s so lucky! Jacob and Eric are the hottest guys in her grade. Does anyone know why Sasha and Eric broke up?”
I looked at Khloe, Clare, and Lexa, since they’d been at Canterwood longer than Brielle, Carina, and me.
The three girls shook their heads.
“I heard rumors,” Clare said. She brushed a red lock of hair out of her blue eyes. “Somebody in my art class told me that Sasha dated Jacob first, and then they broke up and she went out with Eric. Then they split, and Sasha went back to Jacob.”
Lexa nodded, leaning forward so I could see her from her spot farthest from me. “Jacob’s supposedly Sasha’s first love. It’s so romantic! Like a movie. I heard Sasha and Eric were really great together, but Jacob was always ‘the one.’ ” A dreamy smile came over Lexa’s face. “They were meant to be together.”
I sighed, loving Lexa’s story, and Ana made the same noise. I bumped my shoulder against hers and we both laughed.
“I don’t even go to Canterwood, but now I want to just for the gossip and stories like this!” Ana said. She played with the ends of her light-brown hair. “If I went, though, Jeremy would have to come with me.”
“Oh, Ana-Banana,” I said. “Remember the days when you were Miss Anti-Romance and all about your artwork?”
Ana shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lauren. You must be thinking of someone else.”
“Funny,” Bri said, tilting her head. “I seem to have the same memories that LT does. There was an Ana who swore off boys until this totally hot guy came up to her at the end-of-year dance.”
“Please keep talking about this cute guy,” Lexa said. “This is a good story!”
Ana, Brielle, and I laughed. It felt like old times—the three of us together and having fun.
“There were two best friends who practically dragged this girl to the dance,” I said. “Shocker—not—when the girl was asked to dance by one of the cuties, that made a lot of other girls crazy jealous.”
Ana, smiling, hung her head then lifted it. “You two are starting to jog my memory a little. This girl—who’s supposedly me—was maybe uninterested in boys. Or maybe the right guy hadn’t appeared until the dance.”
“Aww!” Carina said. “I’m guessing this guy is Jeremy, right? The one you would want to come with you to Canterwood?”
Ana did a little dance on the fence. “Okay, okay! You broke me.” She laughed. “Yes, the guy who asked me to dance was Jeremy. We’ve been dating ever since.”
“C’mon,” I said. “You can be more specific than that. How long exactly?”
“Seven months, two weeks, and one day!” Ana answered immediately.
Everyone laughed, including Ana.
“You’re so lucky,” Carina said. “You’ve got a boyfriend, Lauren has Drew, and Khloe’s with Zack. I’ve never had a BF before.”
“Welcome to the club,” Lexa said. She extended a hand to Carina, and they shook hands.
“Maybe we should wish for boys to appear under the Christmas tree this year,” Clare said.
“Not the tree,” Khloe said. “Wish for under the mistletoe!”
We stayed on the fence, laughing quietly and chatting about boys. My mind drifted to Brielle’s own boy-related past: a string of one-time dates at Yates Prepatory followed by a few dates with her longtime crush, Will, and finally, Brielle and Taylor. I waited to feel anger in the pit of my stomach about Bri’s betrayal, but it didn’t come. Instead, I kept giggling and talking with my friends, not one thought of Brielle and Taylor together coming to mind and dimming my happy mood.