Fifteen-year-old Maria snapped her cell phone shut and gripped it tightly in her hand. Resisting the urge to hurl it against her bedroom wall, she stiffly laid it down on the dresser. This was the third date in a row Antonio had missed. The first time his mom had made him babysit his younger sister; the second he'd had a test to study for; and now his mom told him he couldn't leave the house until he cleaned his room. Yeah, right. A year ago when they began dating, Antonio would have invited her over to babysit or study and he would have sneaked out to see her before his chores were done. Had something changed when he became a junior? Was he suddenly not allowed to have a younger girlfriend?

Maria and Antonio had known each other for over seven years. They'd been best friends through grade school and junior high. Her fifth and eighth grade years, when Antonio hadn't been at her school, had been the worst years of her life. At the beginning of Maria's freshman year, he had asked her if she would be his girlfriend.

Maria glanced at her watch and sighed deeply. It was Friday night, and right now she should be at Six Flags riding the roller coasters with Antonio. She didn't have to go to school Monday, so it could have been a lovely long weekend with her boyfriend. Instead, it looked like she'd be spending it with her horse. Not that she didn't love her horse; it just wasn't the same. Oh, well, she thought. Starfire could use the exercise and I need to practice for the winter shows. She was already wearing jeans, but she changed out of her cute new blouse into a plain sweatshirt and pulled on her knee-high shiny black boots before leaving the house with a bag of carrots.

Looking longingly at her parents' Cadillac, Maria rolled her bike out of the garage. At least the stable was close. She buckled her riding helmet on and tossed her gloves and treats in the basket. Eight minutes later, she was locking it to the bike rack at the stable. Carrying everything in her hat, Maria practically ran into the barn, calling out the horse's name, "Starfire?"

Halfway down the aisle, a big black stallion stretched his head around the corner and let out a piercing whinny. Though she knew better, Maria jogged all the way to his stall, unbolted the door, and threw her arms around his neck. His very scent calmed her as she buried her face in his mane. Starfire turned his nose and nudged her. "No, of course I didn't forget." Laughing, she pulled a long, thin carrot out of the bag and took a bite, then offered it to the horse. He bit it in half and chewed it happily. Maria broke off another piece for herself and let Starfire have the rest. Girl and horse shared several more carrots in this way.

Maria slipped the halter on the stallion's head and cross-tied him in the aisle. He was clean, but she curried him anyway; and by the time she was done, his coat gleamed. She hoisted her saddle on his back and tightened the girth. After warming the bit in her hands, as she always did, Starfire reached out for it. The midnight-black horse standing there with a perfect pure white star on his forehead looked so beautiful with the fluffy white saddle pad, shiny black saddle and bridle, and the royal blue browband.

Unhooking him from the cross-ties, Maria put on her helmet and led her Thoroughbred to the indoor arena, which was thankfully deserted. She just didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. Starfire stood still for her as she climbed the mounting block and swung on. Maria loved that about him – he always behaved perfectly. Of course, being a young stallion, he would toss his head, prance, spook, and in general play around; but when Maria became serious, he immediately settled down to business. As a reward, she did little things for him like warm his bit and gallop him whenever it was safe.

For five minutes, all they did was walk around the arena. Both horse and rider needed this time to warm up and get comfortable. Then with an invisible signal, Maria asked Starfire to trot. His gait was smooth and fluid; once you'd ridden it, you would never again be happy with any other horse's trot. The canter was just as good, if not better. Half an hour later, Maria had completely forgotten about Antonio and was ready to work.

Since she had entered a three-day event that took place in two weeks, she decided to practice dressage first. Starfire was excellent in all disciplines, but dressage was his weakness, if you could even call it that. Maria positioned him perpendicular to letter A and halted. In a real competition, the gate would be open and she would begin outside the arena, but this was good enough for now.

To a bystander, it would appear the horse began trotting of his own accord when it was really an invisible signal from the rider. During the half-halt and halt at X, the same was true. Starfire executed beautiful circles, transitions, and lead changes seemingly on his own, as if the girl were only a passenger. There was some truth to this; Maria certainly didn't have to work as hard as others might. They completed the six-minute dressage course flawlessly.

The second day would be cross country; however, Starfire needed more practice on the show jumping to take place on the third day. Maria dismounted and led him outside where some jumps were set up in a ring. Dropping his reins to ground-tie him, she analyzed the arrangement and developed a course in her mind. She remounted using the fence as a block, then trotted the horse in a big circle around some of the more difficult obstacles.

Nudging him into a canter, she pointed him toward the first jump, a simple oxer. Next was a triple combination of verticals. Starfire cleared each one easily, from the four-foot vertical to the triple oxer to the brick wall. They rode the course several times, each time Maria pushing him to go faster. In competition, speed was not necessarily the key, but if she practiced going quickly and accurately, she could make up for lost time if she made a mistake or knocked down a rail.

It was beginning to get dark out; her wristwatch said 6:48. Knowing she didn't have much time left, Maria guided her stallion to a grassy plain behind the barn. No hills, nothing to jump, nothing that could hinder a rider from going as fast as their horse would run. Starfire took off like a rocket with Maria in a half-seat, a huge smile on her face, gripping handfuls of mane. His hooves pounded on the earth; his mane and tail streamed almost straight behind him.

The wind slashed across Maria's face and threatened to rip her from the saddle. Starfire should have been a racehorse! Maria had been riding all her life, and five years ago her parents offered to buy her a horse of her own. It took months before she found the pure black colt at a breeding stable for Thoroughbreds, and then they didn't want to sell him!

However, though Starfire's sire's line could be traced back to Shem, the King of the Wind; and his mother's to Justin Morgan, the farm's expert said the colt would never amount to much on the track. Even at ten, Maria knew the horse would be fast and strong, but she wasn't about to say anything that could hinder her chances of getting him.

She named him Starfire for the star on his forehead and his fiery spirit. He was only a yearling, and completely unbroken, so Maria trained him almost entirely by herself. She had been the first to get on his back, and to this day, any other rider who mounted him was definitely in for a wild ride – like something you might see at a rodeo!

No matter what happened, Maria always had her horse to comfort her. She thought little of the fact that he was prize jumper and could be a valuable racehorse. She only loved his personality, his temperament; it wouldn't have mattered if he were a Shetland pony or a Belgium draft. Unfortunately for her, not everyone felt that way. She was the envy of every rider in the area, and as a result, had few friends. People seemed to think that she was overprotective of her horse, when really she was protecting them. She didn't plan to have a stallion who just happened to be a one-girl horse.

By now the sun was setting, so Maria took Starfire back to the stable at a trot, then a walk to cool him down. She untacked him and gave him a long, well-deserved grooming. Afterwards, she led him into his stall and fed him a nice hot bran mash, and fresh, cool water.

Maria checked her watch, which read 7:23. And she still had to clean her tack! Using the phone in the office, because she had left her cell phone in her room, she called home and told her mom she'd be home in two hours. She said goodbye, picked up her saddle and bridle, and headed to the tack room in the back of the barn.

Maria pushed open the door with her foot and used her elbow to flip the light switch. She dropped the gear on a rack and left to get saddle soap and a bucket of water. She returned to see Antonio sitting there looking perfectly innocent.

Before she spoke, Maria put the cleaning supplies on the ground and took a deep breath. "What on earth are you doing here?" she asked, trying hard to control her anger and not doing a very good job of it.

Antonio put on an expression of hurt. "I tried to call you, but you never answered. I thought you'd be glad to see me."

"Yeah, if you hadn't just blown off our date!" Maria made no effort to suppress her fury. "It took you six hours to clean your room? I don't think so!"

"I told you; I had other stuff to do…" Antonio's voice trailed off when he realized she wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"Like what? Going on a date with another girl?"

"Maria, you know I wouldn't cheat on you."

"I thought I knew you, but now I don't," Maria was getting more hysterical with each word. "Every time I ask you for a date, you're busy. Don't you think I deserve a better explanation that that? Remember when we first met and you skipped football practice every Friday so we could be together?"

"Maria, hasn't that worn off now? Aren't we past missing practices and classes to be with each other?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we never see each other. How many times a day do we pass in the hall? Twice, maybe? And now that you're a junior, you have more homework. I get that. But you also have a girlfriend."

Antonio tensed, but he had to admit she had a point. "Okay, you're right. I'll call you next week." He glanced at his watch, "Whoops, I gotta go now. See you Tuesday." Standing, he laid his hands on her shoulders and stepped closer for a kiss. Maria dropped her head and pushed him away. As he left, he heard her muffled sobs from the tack room.

November 13, 2007

Dear Diary,

What's wrong with Antonio? I thought he loved me. Really loved me. Every time I ask him for a date, he's busy for some reason or another. Does he think I'm an idiot? Tonight he had the nerve to show up at the barn after blowing off our date because he supposedly had to clean his room. Like I said, does he think I'm that stupid? A year ago, he would have just come. He's changed and I don't like the new him. Oh, yeah, it was going great at the stable until he had to leave. Why? I don't know. He probably had to water the garden! What do I have to do to prove to him I'm worthy of his time? WHAT DID I DO WRONG?????

–Maria