There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse.
"Aiden," Mr. Conner said, his voice so low I had to lean forward to catch his next sentence. "That was probably one of the best rides I have ever seen at this academy." It took a second for it to sink in.
"Thank you, Mr. Conner," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"Obviously, I think you would do perfectly well on my advanced team. Your jumping was flawless, and you pulled up when you felt yourself beginning to lose focus." My head swam with thoughts.
"Thank you so much! You won't regret your decision," I said, looking him in the eye.
"I hope not. You can go and cool your horse down. Tomorrow I will be out of town, so your next lesson will be on Wednesday afternoon. Congratulations." He smiled at me before leaving the arena.
As I untacked Oliver I couldn't help but let my mind wander. I had gotten on the ADVANCED TEAM! Oliver, seeming to notice my absence, pawed the ground. I snapped back to attention and realized I had put his saddle pad on the stall door. Oops. I moved it on top of the arm and led Olly into his stall.
"Thank you so much," I murmured into his coat. He smelled amazing, like all horses should smell. I pulled away and wiped at my face, trying to get the tears off before anyone saw me. Ugh. Seeming to understand, Oliver nuzzled my hair and watched me leave before shoving his face in his haynet.
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In the room, I showered and changed into some comfy shorts and a pink tank top. I texted Brooke about the team before sitting down at my desk and beginning on some math problems. After about fifteen minutes, I finished it and stuffed it in my backpack along with my English assignments.
"AIDEN!" June came barreling into my room along with Mandi and they both hugged me.
"Congratulations! You totally deserved it. Oh, and BTW, your jumping? Amazing!" My roomie sang in a sing song voice. I grinned at both of them.
"Thanks! What did you guys get?" I asked.
"I'm on Advanced team A, and June's an Advanced team C," Mandi said.
"Yay! Congrats! We need to go celebrate," I said, beginning to stand up. June pushed me down in my swivel chair.
"Already done. We went and bought out the Sweet Shoppe today after our testing." I followed them into the living room and laughed. A cake and a wide variety of other deserts were on top of the glass coffee table. I picked up an iced mocha and took a sip. Perfection in a cup. We talked and laughed as June turned on some Once Upon a Time. Turned out that Mandi adored the show. As we watched, I couldn't help but smile. I had made true friends, and none of them pitied me. None.