I would like to dedicate this chapter to my dog Lily, who passed away on March 22. She died at the age of 3 because of a terrible diseases. I don't think I have ever cried more in my entire life. She was my best friend and the best therapist a girl could ever have. She was always there for me and never hurt me.
So Lily, this is for you and you will always be in my heart.
Beep Beep Beep My alarm clock shouted at my to wake up. Brit sat up, stretched , and then started to walk around, looking for cloths. I on the other hand pulled the covers over my head and tried to go back to sleep.
"Sasha, get up you lazy pants." Brit teased me. I moaned. I heard Brit walk over towards me. She grabbed my cover and ripped them off my bed.
"Hey!" I shouted. Brit laughed.
"You up now, So you should thank me." She replied with a smirk on her face.
"Yeah right!" I laughed. Reluctantly I got out of bed. I changed into a jean skirt and a purple halter top with a white button down sweater. Brit emerged out of the bathroom wearing skinny jeans and a PINK shirt on. She slid black ankle boots on her feet. She applied light makeup and braided her hair to the side. I pulled my hair in a high ponytail and slid my feet into black flats. Brit and I both grabbed our messenger bags and headed to the caf for breakfast.
Once we got into the caf I spotted Jacob, He was sitting with Andy, Troy,and some other guys I didn't know. He glanced up, smiled, and waved. I waved back and walked to line line. I picked two pancakes and a glass of orange juice. Brit grabbed a bowl of fruit and a glass of milk. We walked over to were Alison and Heather were sitting. We sat down and gossiped for a bit.
"I've got to go. I've got to talk to Ms. Utz about my schedule." Brit said. She go up to empty her tray and walked out the door. I immediately turned to Heather. "When are we going to tell her?" I asked. "Well, Mr. Conner told Brit that Apollo was getting picked up at 6:30 and Andy is going to hang out with her till then , so we wont have to worry about her coming early. I've got a bow and some ribbon to decorate him. Mr. Conner isn't having lessons today so that also covered. We can bath him and get him all pretty." Heather said.
"This day is going to go bye SO slow, I just know it." Alison said dramaticly. Heather and I nodded in agreement.
"Let's not be late for school now." Heather said as she got up. Alison followed and I was right after her. We dumped our tray and grabbed our bags. I turned to the history building. I had U.S history with Mr. Kelly. I loved him, he made history fun and easy to learn. I also had it with Jacob. I saw him walking into the building and jogged to catch up with him. He opened the door and looked back and saw me. I got to the door and smiled. "Why thank you." I said as he held the door for me.
"You are welcome." Jacob laughed as he took my hand. We chatted a bit until we reached our class room. I took my desk with was besides Jacob. Mr. Kelly walked into the room wearing a button down shirt. His short black hair was messy.
"Sorry guys, my alarm clock wanted to be nice and not wake me up this morning." He said and everybody laughed. "Ok, lets start. Pass up your homework and open your book to chapter 15. Today we'll be learning about women's rights, Ladies, you all better get a 100% on the test." He said and the rest of the class went on. The class seemed to take 15 minutes and that what I loved about his class. Jacob and I walked out of the class room hand-in-hand.
"Have fun in math class." I told Jacob as we parted ways. I watched him walk into the math building and disappear. I walked to the science building. Yay... My favorite class...joy...
The rest of the day went on with a blur. It was SO hard not to tell Brit at lunch but I reminded myself that it was going to be AWSOME to surprise her.
After school, I ran to my dorm to find Brit changing for her date with Andy.
"You are going to have so much fun tonight!" I said to Brit. I changed into black breeches and a green polo shirt. I tugged on my boots and headed to the stables.
When I got to the barn I found that Alison and Heather weren't there yet. I went into Apollo's stall and clipped his lead line to his halter.
"Hey boy. Let's get you all pretty for Brit." I lead him out if his stall and into the wash stall. I clipped him to the cross ties and went to grab his brushes. After I got his brushed I took the body brush and ran it over his body. After his body was clean I turned on the hose. I started with his legs and ran the hose over them. I got his whole body wet then grabbed a bucket and filled it with water and Mane and Tail Shampoo. I got a sponge dunked it into the bucket. I scrubbed Apollo's coat clean and then moved to his mane. I squirted some shampoo in my hand and massaged it into Apollos mane. I moved a comb threw his name, making it smooth. I did the same with his tail and then rinsed his body clean of soap. I redid this process with conditioner. I had just finished rinsing him off when Heather and Alison came it. I turned on the fans to help dry Apollo off. I looked at the time and saw it was 5:00.
"I hope he dries quickly." I said.
"Same, I have all of the decorations ready. I will braid ribbon in his mane and tail." Alison said.
Soon Apollo was dry and Alison was braiding green and gold ribbon in his hair. Heather was busy painting Apollos hooves and I was tying a big bow together.
"20 more minutes." Heather reminded us. She unhooked Apollos halter from the cross ties and lead him to the cross ties in front of his stall. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a treat and gave it to him. He had been a good boy. I grabbed gold ribbon and tied it around his neck. I attached the big green bow to the ribbon. He looked SO good Brit was going to flip out. Heather, Alison, and I hide behind the stall door. We had 5 minutes before Brit was supposed to get here. Every minute seemed to tick by so slowly. It seemed like 5 hours instead of 5 minutes. I heard Andy and Brit come in and was about to scream for excitement.
"Wait for my go." Heather whispered.
"What's going on?" A confused Brit asked. Heather nodded and we all jumped up and ran out of the stall. "SURPIRSE!" We shouted. Brit clamped a hand on her mouth in shock.
"What did you guys do?" Brit asked.
"I talked to Apollo's old owner and made an arrangement. He is yours now." Heather explained.
"Are you serious?" Brit asked.
"Yes, I am. Congrats, I know you worried about him finding the wrong home."Heather said pulling Brit into a hug. Brit walked over to Apollo and wrapped her arms around him. I saw a happy tear run down her face as she smiled.
"You guy's don't know how much this means to me! I can't thank you guys enough."
We all celebrated until it was almost lights out. Brit, Heather, Alison, and I made our way towards Orchard.
"Well at least you got Apollo in time for the show next weekend." Heather said.
"Omigosh! I completely forgot about that!" I exclaimed. Charm and I are going to have to work really hard for this show.
"Come on Silver get with the program. Wellington is going also, remember our trailer broke and we are trailering with them. I swear if Aristocrat is anywhere next to Phoenix I'm going to scream ." Heather said. We all laughed as we climbed the steps to orchard. Brit and I walking into our room and immediately Brit plopped onto her bed. "Today was the best day of my life!" She sighed.
"I'm so happy for you." I said as I changed into my pj's and settled into my bed to do homework. After awhile Brit and I turned off our light and drifted to sleep.
I woke up and threw on my clothes and ran to the stables. When I go the the barn I saw Heather riding Charm.
"Heather what are doing?" I exclaimed. She ignored me and kept cantering. Then out of no where she appeared next to me.
"Mr. Conner wants a real rider riding him." And that being said she cantered Charm over a huge fence that I knew he couldn't make. I let out a loud scream and started to run forward..
"Sasha! Are you ok?" Brit asked me as she knelt down by me. I perched myself on me elbows. I looked around and realized it was just a dream. I had fallen on the ground and had wrapped the sheets around my feet.
"Yeah just another bad dream I guess." I told her as I shook my head of the memory. From time to time I would have bad dreams like these but they pushed me to be a better rider. I got up and untangled myself. I walked into the bathroom to take quick shower and change. After I showed, blow dried , and straighten my hair, I tugged on a pale yellow sun dress and a white sweater. I walked out of the bathroom and saw Brit changed and almost ready to go. I slipped into my Jack Rogers and grabbed my messenger bag. Today was going to be a long day...
After school I changed into my riding clothes and walked down to the stables. Today was friday so only 1 more day until we left for the show. I felt that we were ready! When I got into the stables I quickly made my way to Charms stall and lead him to a pair of cross ties. I quickly groomed and tacked him up.
"Ok boy. This lesson has to be good ok?" I whispered to my horse as we walked to the indoor arena. I walked in a saw Brit and Heather trotting their horses side by side. I mounted Charm and walked towards them.
"How does it feel to be riding your own horse?" I ask with a giggle.
"Pretty much the same. I can't wait for the show!" Brit said practically bouncing up and down in the saddle. I noticed Callie trot in apon Black Jack and joined up.
"Same! This lesson needs to go good." As if on cue Mr. Conner walked in.
"Ok girl's today we will have a quick lesson. I want to tune somethings up and do some dressage then the rest of the night belongs to you, so you can braid your horses mane and tail. Also clean them up a bit." Mr. Conner said. We all nodded and he instructed to pick up a trot. I pushed my heels down and posted to Charm's trot. After going over some more flat movements Mr. Conner called us back into the center.
"So I am going to call out some dressage movements and I would like you to preform them quickly. Sasha you up first." I moved Charm to the wall and waited for my first instruction.
"Free Walk." I loosened my reins and pushed with my heels. Charm lowered his head and preformed a really good free walk.
"Leg Yield." I tightened us my reins and pushed my calf into Charm's side and he stepped forward. "Good Boy." I whispered.
After everyone went Mr. Conner dismissed us. Even though the lesson wasn't so hard I was still proud. Charm did really well. I walked him in circles until he was cool and then hooked him on the cross ties. I untacked him and lead him into the wash stall. I recently gave him a bath so all I had to do was hose him. I started at his legs and then hosed his whole body. I grabbed a couple towels and began to run them along his mane,tail, and coat. After he was dry I guided him back to his stall to braid his mane and tail. I tied his lead rope to one of the stall bars and grabbed my braiding kit out from my tack trunk. Then I got in to the familiar routine of braiding. After Charms mane and tail was braided to the best of my abilities I moved onto my tack. I sat down in the tack room and began to scrub my tack.
After I was finished I walk to Orchard. I lazily took a shower and went to bed. I was SO tired and I had to get up early. This show was going to go perfect I just knew it. " Night Brit."
"'night Sash."
The next morning Brit and I grabbed our show gear and walked to the stables. When we got to the stables Mr. Conner was in front of the stables. Heather and Callie were standing in front of him.
"There you are. Ok so this is how it is going to go today. The Wellington instructor will be here shortly to pick up the horses then we will follow them. So go get your horses and meet me out here." After he released us I jogged to Charm's stall. "Today's the day boy!" I almost shouted. I clipped his lead rope to his leather halter. I lead him out front to Mr. Conner.
"You put all your tack in front of your stall right for Doug and Mike to put in the trailer." Mr. Conner asked me. I nodded and heard a trailer drive up the long drive way. I saw the big trailer park out front of the stables and saw the driver hop out. A skinny blonde women came up to me.
"Hi, I'm Becky the instructor at Wellington." She told me and then flashed me a warm smile. "Do you know where Mr. Conner is?" As I was about to answer Mr. Conner came out from inside the stable. "Ms. Brown. Hello, and than you so much for helping us."
"Oh no problem, we had enough room anyways. Let's get these guys in the trailer." Becky motioned to the trailer.
"Heather you load up first, then Brit, Sasha, then Callie." We nodded and Heather walked Aristocrat into the trailer followed by Brit, Callie, and I. When I got inside I saw 2 horses from wellington. None of which were Phoenix. Heather, Callie, Brit, and I tied our horses and exited the trailer. After a few more moments Becky drove away with our horses. We all helped Mike and Doug pack up the truck. We all hopped in a drove away to the show. As soon as we hit the rode I started to drift off into sleep. About an hour into our ride I woke up.
"We aren't there yet?" I asked.
"No I think there was an accident a couple minutes look I think I see it... Oh my gosh..." Mike said. We all look to what Mike had saw. Tears started to blur my vision. The Wellington trailer was tipped to the side with a big mash in the side. Mike steered away from the traffic and started to drive on the grass. As soon as we got to a stop everyone jumped out of the truck.
"CHARM!" I screamed. Becky ran up to use sobbing.
"There was a huge semi truck. The brakes broke and it kept coming strait towards us. I don't know how the horses are. I just got out of the cab. I'm going to try and get them out now." We all ran to the trailer I could here blood curtailing cries for help from the horses. I hoped all of the horses were ok. I couldn't survive if Charm has gotten injured. Becky opened the side ramp and looked I look inside. I saw him immediately. The big blaze on his head was no longer white but blood red and he was thrashing around.
"Charm!" I called as I broke down into a sob.
How did you like it? R&R