"You guys are not gonna believe this!" Sarah and her best friend, Bailey, exclaimed as they ran to meet their other friends Ulma, Molly, Chloe and Zoey, who were in the stables, just finishing putting their horses away.
"Oh brother," Cloe rolled her eyes. "We don't have to spring clan the stables or something do we?"
"Way better," said Sarah.
"Will's arranged for us to have a big camp out with the horses, out in the forest!" Bailey through his hands in the air as he excitedly told the others of the news.
"And best of all, it'll be on Bailey's birthday, so we're going to have a bbig party to celebrate it!"
"A party?'" Zoey aced. Now even she and Chloe were interested. "Like, a big fancy dress up party with lot of dancing?"
"We must get some new clothes for this!" said Chloe.
"Well actually, nobodies decided what kind of party its going to be yet," Sarah told the girls. "We haven't even started planning it we've been so busy doing other things, plus we only just found out it's happening."
"We were actually kinda hoping everyone could help plan the party," Bailey asked the girls.
"Plan a party?" Ulma asked. "I don't know chica, it seems more of a Chloe and Zoey thing.
"She's right," Molly agreed. "Parties are fun, but I'm not much of a planner."
"Of COURSE she's right," Chloe exclaimed.
"Naturally then, Chloe and I will be the party planners as of now," Zoey smiled quite mischievously.
"Come now, let's get started right away, Bailey you're going to love us when you see your party," Chloe grinned.
"You mean he's going to love me," Zoey flipped her hair. The girls began to playfully argue as they left the stables and went up to the house where Bailey and his family lived.
"This could be interesting," said Sarah thoughtfully. The four of them laughed together happily and followed the girls up to the house for lunch.
"A PARTY?" Teeny the pig bounced around her good friends Shep the dog and Angora the cat. "Oh goody goody goody I LOVE parties! So much food, and people, and food, and food OOH I can't wait!"
"A good party with good friends is always great fun, don't you think Angora?" Shep asked the cat.
"I suppose so," she licked hair paw and began to clean her face.
"Hey Sarah, wanna go for a ride later?" Bailey asked.
"Sure thing Bailey! Molly, Ulma, do you two wanna come too?"
"Sorry Sarah, I have a school project I really need to finish for science, maybe another time," Molly told her.
"And I have to meet my father in town for a shopping trip, he promised he take me to that new horse shop and then get pizzas with me afterwards. So later chica okay?" Ulma apologised.
"That's okay guys, Bailey and I will still have fun, right Bailey?"
"Of course," he smiled, and they left the lunchroom to go to their horses.
"I just love being out in the fresh air, don't you Bailey?" Sarah smiled.
"Only think that makes just being outside even better, is being outside with the horses!" Bailey gave his horse, Aztec a pat on the neck and he responded with a happy snort.
"Your'e right Bailey, and I think they love it out here too! Just look at the way Scarlett pricks her ears forward like that, she really does love it." As if she understood Sarah, Scarlett nodded her head and whinnied. Suddenly, from the near distance a horse returned the call.
"That's strange," Bailey said. "I didn't think there would be anyone out here today."
"I wonder who it is?" Scarlett neighed again and then from a nearby trail bend appeared a palomino horse with a blonde guy mounted. "Will!" Sarah called out to their friend and she and Bailey galloped over to greet him. "What are you doing out here?"
"I could ask you two the same question," he replied sheepishly. "I just felt like taking Jimber he out for a ride, since the weathers so nice and all. Also thought if i found a nice place to go camping at, could come in handy."
"Hey, that sounds like fun! mind if we join in?" Bailey asked.
"Not at all,the more people looking for a spot the more likely we'll find a good one, right?" They laughed in agreement, and their horses neighed, almost as if they too were in on the fun. So the three of them set of, riding side by side, Bailey, then Sarah, then Will. They talked about the camp trip for a while, then about upcoming competitions and general horse topics. but as the hours went by the conversation began to drift a little deeper, talking about other animals. They talked of past horses that had come and gone, such as the wild horse Puma Sarah had helped Will tame, and Diablo, a horse that belonged to Sarah's friend Madison, and a horse Sarah had helped retrain to trust. Then they began to talk about Mosey, Sarah cat who had unfortunately passed away not too long ago. The incident had been very upsetting for Sarah, since Mosey was her and Scarlet's best friend, the three of them went everywhere together. The night Mosey died brought Sarah closer to both Bailey and Will. While talking about this sarah thought about that night. She thought about how she and Scarlett had galloped of in the middle of the night and how Bailey had followed them with Aztec. That night she realised how great a friend Bailey was. She knew that no matter what Bailey would be there for her, and she would do the same for him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt a little different with Will. Whilst she had been hiding her feelings with everyone else, Will had known she was really upset and when she lost it crying, he held her close, comforting her. He also then cheered her up at a later date with a small pig Sarah named little Mosey. Will was different to Bailey. Bailey would back her up, but Will seemed so..she couldn't figure out what was different about him. As the three of them change the subject once more and began to talk about the party, Sarah found herself staring at Will.
'What's wrong with me today?' She thought.
The next day, there was no sign of Chloe or Zoey.
"Where are those girls?" Bailey wondered out loud. Beep beep, Ulma's phone told her she had a text. It was from Chloe.
'Not coming to horseland today- Zoey and I are shopping for party supplies
"Well, I guess there's our answer," Molly giggled.
"Well, we'd better get to practice," Bailey said. "Will hate's it when we're late you know." So, they all took their horses over to the arena, where Will and Jimber where waiting for them.
"Alright gang, today we're working on some jumping. Now, I want you all, one by one, to jump over that fence over there," Will pointed to a small straight fence combo, with a very small gap in between. "Now when you jump the first jump, there isn't going to be enough time to get a stride in, so you need to push your horse fast enough to be able to jump again as soon as they land. I'm gonna do it first, just to show you how its done, alright?" the others nodded. Will gathered his reins and pushed Jimber on. He feared both jumps perfectly, and in perfect rhythm. Sarah found herself staring at Will again as he rode Jimber back over to them. "Alright Ulma, you ready? You're up first. ready as I'll ever be!" She cantered Button up to the first jump and cleared it. Unfortunately, she was going to fast and over jumped, landing too close to the second jump to be able to jump it. Button reared up just a bit and shook her head.
"Button!" Ulma cried. "I'm so sorry girl!" Ulma shook her head in embarrassment.
"That's okay Ulma, practise makes perfect," Will smiled reassuringly. "Okay Sarah, you're up next." Sarah snapped back to reality and gathered her reins. together she and Scarlett took of at a fast, but steady speed. Scarlett launched herself over the first jump, landed and launched herself again, easyly clearing the second jump too. Sarah grinned. 'Yes!' she thought. 'that will impress Will for sure!' she blinked. What did she just think? Why did she want to impress Will? there aren't even any upcoming shows for two months. 'Weird' shoe thought. She cantered back over to the group where her friend greeted her with cheers.
"Well done Sarah, you're a talented rider, and horseland is so lucky to have you here," Will smiled his million dollar smile at Sarah. She smiled as she went red and looked down.
"Thanks Will, I couldn't have don't it without an awesome person like you helping me!" Sarah went ever redder and she hoped none noticed. Will blushed a little himself and smiled gratefully at Sarah. Only Bailey noticed the two of them look so embarrassed. They continued the lesson for another hour and then all but Will, since he had to fill in some forms, decided to go on a trail ride.
They rode in pairs, Ulma and Bailey at the front, Molly and Ulma at the back. They had different conversations going and they laughed for hours. finally they began to drag themselves back to the stables. At this point, they switched spots, Sarah and Bailey now at the back, a few lengths behind the noisy Molly and Ulma.
"Hey Sarah," Bailey began.
"Yeah Bailey?" Sarah smiled.
"How long have you had a, you know,thing for Will?"
Sarah went red, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Come on Sarah, I saw the way you were staring at him in practise today. You totally like him!"
"Do not!"
"Do so!"
"Do not!"
"Do so!"
"Do not!….but….what if I did, what would I do?"
Bailey smiled, he knew it! "Well, Maybe you should confront him on how you feel?"
"Are you crazy? What if he doesn't feel the same? It could ruin everything!"
"It's worth the risk though, isn't it?"
Sarah though about it. "Maybe…"
"Come on slowpokes, time for a race!" Ulma called out to them and she and Molly began to gallop of.
"Hey no fair, you guys got a head start!" Bailey cried as he and Sarah galloped after them.
Sarah had been brushing Scarlet's mane for a whole hour when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Woah woah WOAH!" CRASH Scarlet and Sarah jumped. Sarah turned to find Will, buried beneath many bags.
"Will? What are you doing?" Sarah asked.
"Oh, hey Sarah, I was just organising all the supplies we'll need for the trip tomorrow,"
"Looks like you could use some help," Sarah helped him pick up some bags.
"Thanks Sarah," Will smiled. They began to pick up the bags together, when suddenly they both reached for the bag and their hands touched. They both looked at their hands and then gazed up, where their eyes met. They sat there for a moment, until Angora knocked over a bucket of water onto herself and snapped them out of it. They both giggled as they watched Angora try and shake herself dry.
After all the bags were packed for the trip, and all the horses where fed, Will, Sarah and Bailey sat inside the kitchen of Bailey's house, waiting for Sarah's father to come and pick her up, since he had called earlier and said he would be two hours late. The three of them had begun to joke about nonsense things when Bailey's phone rang and he left the house to talk to his friend Jesse about a new video game, leaving Sarah and Will alone.
"So….."Sarah began. "What's new?"
"You're seem a little nervous, are you okay Sarah?"
"Me? Nervous? I'm fine. Really, No need to worry." Sarah was a very bad liar. Will shook his head.
"There's something you're not telling me. Sarah, tell me, you can trust me I promise," then there it was again, his million dollar smile. Sarah took a deep breath and nearly told Will her feelings when her father arrived.
"Well Dad's her so I better get going," Sarah bolted out of the house, hugging Bailey goodbye on the way out. Once in the car she exhaled deeply.
"You okay Sarah?" her dad asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled awkwardly.
The next day was filled with hustle and bustle. Bags were being attached to people, people to saddles and saddles to horses. But finally, they were ready to go. They all rode to a quiet, peaceful clearing near a lake and began to set up camp. once camp was completely set up, fire and all, Chloe and Zoey got to work on setting up their party. The horses manes were braided, the girls were forced into very flashy clothes and the boys were forced to be neat. Once al ready for the party though,the fun really did begin. Everyone had a blast facing to music, especially Chilli and Calypso, though Pepper was quite the dancer, and even though it wasn't what they were expecting, Bailey, Sarah, Will, Molly and Ulma had a blast dancing to music.
After an hour of dancing, Sarah's began to feel thirsty. She went into one of the tents just to get some water, when Will came in behind her.
"Come for a walk with me?" he asked.
"Sure," Sarah gulped down some water and got up with Will. The two of them walked down to the lake and walked along the edge.
"Sarah, why did you run of so quickly the other day?" Will asked.
"It's so complicated."
"It doesn't have to be."
"You don't understand."
"Sarah, Bailey told me"
Sarah's eyes widened. "Told you what, exactly?"
"That you have been having a little trouble with Scarlett, but trust me you shouldn't worry you guys are doing fine."
"Oh…"Sarah's heart stopped beating so fast, and she had to admit she felt disappointed.
"If you're a little unsure of your talents just put in a little extra work, I think I'm falling for you, and you'll be fine."
"Okay sur- wait what?" did she hear him right? Will took Sarah's hand.
"I said, I think I'm falling for you." Will stared at Sarah. She stared back, their eyes meeting. Will took Sarah's hand. "I just keep thinking about you, and seeing you everywhere and-" Sarah cut him of with a kiss. Will was shocked at first, but he soon let go of Sarah's hands and put his arms around her. Suddenly, Bailey came out from the bushes, looking for them and spotted them kissing. Will and Sarah, startled, jumped away from each other, but seeing it was only Bailey, relaxed.
Bailey grinned. "You're welcome guys."
"Whadya mean?" Sarah asked.
"When you ran of the other day, I asked Bailey what was wrong, and he let it slip that he thought you may have had feelings for me," he smiled. "I knew you would never come forward so I knew I had to make the first move, and I'm so glad I did." He took Sarah's hand in his. "I-I've felt this way about you for a long time. You have no idea how long I've waited for you to feel the same."
Sarah smiled."I love you too," and with that, the two leant in for a tight hug, followed by a cute kiss. Bailey, feeling like an awkward third wheel went back to the party and told the others the news.
THE END