Disclaimer: I do not own PS. I do own the plot.
Sam's thoughts are in italics
ENJOY!
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The Accident
Sam awoke to the sun shining brightly through her window. She looked over at her clock; the numbers told her that it was 8.
Shit! She thought .It can't be that late.
Sam leapt out of bed and rushed around gathering her clothes. If she didn't hurry she would be late for her ride with Jen. Today was the first day of summer vacation and she was looking forward to spending the day with Jen and her horse Ace.
After Sam was dressed and had brushed her teeth and combed her hair she walked downstairs to the kitchen. Gram was there making eggs and bacon.
She looked up and saw me. "Oh good morning Sam, I was just about to go and wake you up." she said in an overly cheery voice.
"Good morning Gram."
"Before you go do your chores have some breakfast." She put a plate full of eggs and bacon in front of her.
"Thanks Gram."
Gram loved cooking. It's her favorite thing to do on the ranch. Sam was fine with eating just toast but Gram loved cooking big breakfasts.
After Sam had finished eating she went outside to do her morning chores. She checked the chicken coop for eggs and collected them. She left the basket full of eggs on the front porch and knocked so Gram would know they were there.
Next she went into the barn to clean out Ace and Sweethearts stall. It wasn't hard so it didn't take long.
She looked at her watch. It was 8:30 already. Shit, Shit, Shit!!! No matter how fast she got Ace ready she was going to be late. She just hoped Jen would understand.
She ran to the barn and got Ace's saddle. As she was exiting the barn she heard hoofs on the bridge. She looked up and saw her best friend Jake Ely coming toward her on his bad tempered mare, Witch.
"Hey Jake," Sam called to him. "What's up?"
"Other than the sky, not much." Jake had always been a bit of a smart ass.
"Well I'm glad we got that all cleared up," she replied coolly.
She went back to focusing on Ace. He was with all the other horses in the 10 acre pasture. He looked up from his grazing when she called his name and trotted over.
"Hey Ace. You ready for a ride with Jen?" Sam asked him.
He bobbed his head up and down as if in agreement. She snapped a lead rope on his halter and opened the gate. Sam led him over to the fence and cross tied him. Ace was a good horse but he played tricks when he thought her mind was wandering.
Sam brushed Ace out before putting the saddle on him. While she got him ready she felt Jake staring at her. Finally having had enough she turned around.
"Did you need something Jake?" Sam asked heatedly.
"No," He replied.
"Then why are you staring at me?" she demanded.
"I wasn't. You're just being paranoid."
"Whatever," she replied turning back to Ace. After he was saddled up she got ready to mount. Just before she did, however, Jake spoke.
"Hey Brat, could we talk for a minute?" he asked sounding nervous.
That's weird Jake is never nervous. She paused a second and the nodded. They walked over to the front porch and sat. She waited for him to say something but he didn't.
"Jake, what did you want to talk about?" Sam asked him.
"It's just…….. I'm worried about you," he said.
That caught Sam off guard. She hadn't expected him to say that. Sam knew that ever since she had her accident that Jake had blamed himself. She knew that he wanted to protect her.
"Jake, it's been almost three years since the accident. I'm fine."
"Yeah I know that Brat."
"I've told you a million times not to call me that!" Sam said irritated.
"Sorry," he said not sounding sorry at all.
"Look if that's all you wanted to talk about, I'm gonna go. I'm already late meeting Jen," Sam said standing up.
"She's actually what I wanted to talk about," he said.
"Why?" Sam asked bewildered. Jake and Jen never got along so it made no sense for him to want to talk about her.
"I've just noticed how much she's changed since she started dating Slocum. She barely pays attention to you and when she does she's a bitch. I can see that it hurts you and that bothers me." Jake said all of this in a rush but with a lot of passion.
It took Sam a few seconds to recover from the shock of what Jake had said, but when she did she blew up at him.
"How the heck can you say those things Jake Ely?" she screamed at him. "She's my best friend! I know that you don't like her but that's no reason to say those mean things! You always act so high and mighty but you're still just a kid."
He stared at her for a second in shock, and then he snapped.
"She's a bitch Sam! She doesn't care about you like she used to. You mean nothing to her. Face it, she's turning into Rachel's clone and you know it! Stop acting like the things she says and does doesn't bother you because I can see how much she hurts you. Why the hell would you hang out with someone like that?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Sam retorted. "I'm not gonna just dump my best friend because she got a boyfriend. God Jake, I never thought you were as shallow as to judge someone that you don't even know. Get the heck over yourself!"
He laughed bitterly. "Get over myself? Why don't you get over yourself! You act as if you know what's right for everyone around you. You act like you understand everyone so well. Guess what Sam, you know nothing about us. You can't see past what you want to try to understand what we want. God, you're a bigger bitch than Jen is. You've changed Sam........... and I don't know if I want to be friends with the new you."
Sam felt as if she'd just been punched in the gut by a professional boxer. She took a couple of steps back as tears filled her eyes making it hard to see. That had hurt and Jake knew it would. She walked away from him toward Ace. She mounted him and looked back at Jake.
"It's nice to know how you really feel Jake," she choked out. "I'm glad to know what you want now so I can give it to you. Consider our friendship over. And you, Jake Ely, can go to hell."
She had said all of this while holding back sobs. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't hold them back for much longer. But before she completely broke down she looked him in the eyes. She saw how surprised he was. He'd never expected this from her.
"Goodbye Jake," she said before she galloped out of Riverbend Ranch.
As Ace galloped she cried. She couldn't seem to stop the tears. It finally became so hard for her to breathe and function that she stopped Ace. Sam just sat there and cried into Ace's mane. She kept on crying until she could cry no more.
Deep down Sam knew why she had cried so much. She didn't want to admit it, to herself or anyone else. But she knew she had to. She knew that if she didn't admit it that the pain would just keep coming back.
She sighed and thought the words that she knew she would never speak. I'm in love with Jake Ely, and it sucks.
She sighed again she had a major headache and was exhausted for a reason she couldn't, or didn't want to understand. But it didn't matter how tired she was. She had to go meet Jen.
Sam looked at her watch and swore. It was 9:15. She was really late and she knew Jen would be mad.
She urged Ace into a gallop once more and steered him toward War Drum Flats. She and Jen had agreed to meet there because they were going to head up to Arroyo Azul.
As she and Ace neared the meeting place she saw Jen. As Ace galloped closer she saw how pissed off she was. She was looking at Sam like she was scum on the sidewalk.
"Why the hell are you so late?" She demanded as soon as I got close enough.
"I'm sorry Jen. I woke up late and then me and Jake got into a huge fight, and I guess I'm just a mess right now."
"Oh, what did you guys fight about?" she asked curiously.
"I don't really want to talk about it right now. Can we just ride for a while?"
"Sure," she replied.
We urged the horses into gallops and made our way towards Arroyo Azul. We reached in about fifteen minutes. We slowed the horses to walks and made our way through the canyons, trusting our horses to keep their footing.
While we walked Jen asked me again what me and Jake fought about.
"Well, you actually." Sam said in a low voice.
"Me!" Jen exclaimed. "What about me?"
"Well he called you a bitch and talked about how much you've changed," Sam told her.
Jen laughed a cold laugh. She didn't laugh like that before. "He has no idea what he's talking about. He's just some hick that is jealous of all the time we spend together. Forget about him."
"I can't just forget about him Jen. He was my best friend."
"Was. As in past tense. He obviously doesn't care about you just get over it and move on already. No need to be a whinny kid."
Sam jerked Ace to a stop. Jen startled by the sudden stop almost ran into us.
"What the hell Sam!" she exclaimed. "Why did you stop?"
"Jake was right about you! You are not the best friend that you used to be. You haven't been the same since you started dating Ryan and quite frankly im sick and tired of you looking down on me!" Sam practically screamed at her.
Jen was taken aback by the sudden outburst but recovered quickly. "I'd rather be a bitch than a worthless baby that's afraid to ride!" she screamed back.
That was a low blow and she knew it. "Go to hell Jen!"
"I'll see you there!" she retorted. Then she turned around and galloped away.
Ace was skittish after all of the yelling. Sam was calming him when the when the loudest thunder she had ever heard boomed around them. It seemed to echo, bouncing off the walls, making it louder.
Ace reared and then bolted. Sam tried to hold on but she couldn't get a good enough grip, so she fell. The fall took seconds but to Sam it felt like hours. She hit the ground back first. Then her head slammed back and she felt horrible pain, and then the darkness took her.
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Should I continue the story? R&R Please.
Talk to me about any comments, questions or concerns.
