The Dance: Part 2
It was the a few days after the dance was announced and after Chloe, Zoey and Andrea had their incidents with each other. Bailey had told the three girls that they were going to have a meeting in the lounge to settle things.
"I don't even know why we're here." grumbled Zoey.
"I know right, it's not like we did anything wrong." Said Chloe.
"Oh please," said Andrea, who sat on the other side of the room at a window seat. "You guys started all of this."
"Um, we're having a private conversation." Said Zoey. "Please, stay out of it."
Andrea rolled her eyes and looked out the window, watching her friends, Alma, Molly, Sarah and Noni riding in the practice ring. Will was out there as well. She sighed and put her hand on her chin. She'd rather much be riding Jupiter than being stuck in the same room as Chloe and Zoey. She felt extremely uncomfortable and outnumbered.
Bailey walked in the room. "My mom said she'll be here in a minute."
"Bailey, this isn't fair!" whined Chloe. "You know we didn't do anything."
"Chloe, I saw you bump Andrea out the way, making her fall off of her horse." Bailey said sternly. "She could have seriously been hurt."
"Well, maybe she needs to learn to hold on next time." Said Chloe.
"Yeah, a horse is only good as its rider, right Andrea?" said Zoey.
"And how many rails have you two knocked down combined in the past month?" said Andrea.
"That is enough!" Mrs. Handler's voice boomed inside the lounge. Silence fell around the four preteens. "Now someone tell me what happened."
"Chloe and I suggested nicely to Andrea the ideas we had for the dance," said Zoey. "We provided her with a list of what we wanted as well."
"Yeah, and then she ripped the paper and said our idea was stupid." Said Chloe.
"That's not true!" said Andrea. "First they come in and insult the way Molly, Alma, Sarah and I dress and then hand me this list of materials, like vases and glass marbles, knowing that we haven't even had a meeting to discuss even a theme with me or Bailey."
"I saw the list, mom," said Bailey. "Andrea is right."
"I even showed the list to Will and he shut their idea down as well." Andrea continued.
"But you didn't have to rip the paper in our face!" said Chloe.
"And you didn't have to use Chili to spook Jupiter and make me fall off!"
"Girls, girls!" said Mrs. Handler. "What about Andrea falling?"
"Sarah, Alma, Molly, Andrea and I went on one of the trails, then Chloe and Zoey came out of nowhere on their horses, bumping Jupiter out of the way, making him start rearing and Andrea falling off." Said Bailey.
Mrs. Handler turned to the girls, with her hands on her hips. "Is this true, girls?"
"It was only an accident." Said Chloe, looking rather guilty.
Andrea rolled her eyes. She's seen that look too many times to know that Chloe was lying just to save herself.
Mrs. Handler sighed. "Look girls, I want this dance to be fun for everyone." She turned and looked at Andrea and Bailey. "I need all four of you to be respectful towards each other and that means being open to each other's ideas. Am I being clear?"
"Yes, m'am." Said Andrea.
"Yes." Said Chloe and Zoey.
"Now apologize."
Andrea rubbed her arm, not wanting to be the bigger person. However, Chloe and Zoey were silent and not seeming to be the first ones to admit they were wrong.
"Okay, okay." Said Andrea, finally. "I'm sorry for not listening to your ideas."
Chloe and Zoey looked at each other, then Chloe said, "Sorry for making you fall off Jupiter."
"Yeah, it wasn't cool." Said Zoey.
Mrs. Handler clapped her hands together. "Good. Let's start with a clean slate from here."
"We should have a meeting after practice today." Said Bailey. "In here?"
"Wonderful." Said Mrs. Handler. "Now I don't want to hear any more problems from this point forward."
After practice, all the students were putting their horses back into their stall. All the girls were distracted with taking care of their horses, they didn't notice that Bailey had pulled Will aside.
"What's up, cousin?" asked Will.
"Well," Bailey began, feeling nervous. "I'm having a bit of… girl problems."
Will smiled and shook his head.
"Please, Will, I need your help asking her to the dance."
"Well, why don't you just ask her?" Will hopped off of Jimber. "Girls like honesty."
"I tried that but I got interrupted."
Chloe overheard Bailey talking to Will.
"I kind of want to try a more subtle approach." Said Bailey. "Like a note and chocolates?"
"A note might work." Said Will.
"Well how should I do it?"
"That's probably something you'll have to figure out on your own." Will and Bailey walked towards the barn. Chloe quickly tried to act like she didn't hear anything and continued to untack Chili. She bit her lip in disappointment because she knew that Bailey was going to ask Andrea and not her.
"Hey, Chlo," said Zoey. "I'm thirsty, let's get a soda before the meeting."
Suddenly, Chloe opened the stall door and dragged Zoey in.
"What the…?"
"Shh!"
"Chloe, what are you…?"
"SHH!"
Chloe waited until Bailey, Will and the other girls left the barn, not even noticing that Chloe and Zoey were gone.
"What is up with you?" Zoey said, pushing Chloe's hand off of her.
"I overheard Bailey asking Will on how to ask a girl to the dance." Said Chloe standing up. Chili snorted and nudged Chloe's shoulder. "What's with you, Chili?"
"Maybe he's trying to tell you to stop being a chicken and tell Bailey how you feel?" said Zoey, exiting Chili's stall. "Trying to sabotage Bailey asking Andrea out isn't going to work."
"What should I do though?" asked Chloe, following Zoey.
"Oh, I don't know," Zoey rolled her eyes. "Maybe being honest about your feelings?"
"But it's obvious Bailey doesn't feel the same way."
"Then if that's the case then maybe you need to move on from him because there's no point in trying to drag him away from a girl he likes."
Chloe hung her head down. "You're right, sis." She knew that Zoey was right. Chasing after a guy that clearly likes someone else is pointless. It was hard to hear but it was the truth.
Zoey noticed the change in Chloe's demeanor and put her around her shoulder. "Come on, let's get those sodas."
Shortly after Chloe and Zoey left, the horses started conversing amongst each other.
"What Chloe and Zoey did to Andrea was just plain awful." Said Scarlet, shaking her head.
"Well, I have to say," Jupiter said, "She has guts. Using Chili to spook me like that was not okay."
"Hey, Chloe is just a girl that doesn't back down." Said Chili. "I don't blame her for what she did."
"Why not?" asked Scarlet.
"She's liked Bailey even since her and Zoey started riding here." Said Pepper. "It's kind of not fair to have some new person to come swoop in and steal what is yours."
"Hey," Aztec barked, "Bailey isn't anyone's property, especially, not to these girls."
"But all is fair in love and war." Said Jupiter.
"That's something I can agree with you, Jupiter." Said Chili.
"Maybe if Chloe tells Bailey how she feels, it could change everything." Said Pepper.
"I doubt it," said Jupiter. "I remember the day we got here, Bailey couldn't take his eyes off of Drea."
"Oh, I remember that," said Calpyso in her thick, Caribbean accent. "He kept stumbling over his words."
"What can I say, the kid can't help over who he likes." Said Aztec.
Chili shook his head, "I will never understand humans and their emotions."
The sun was setting and it was beginning to get dark out. Sarah, Molly, Alma and Noni had already left and Bailey, Andrea, Chloe and Zoey had all had their first, successful meeting.
"Okay, are we finally settling on the 'night under the stars' theme instead of 'Hollywood' or 'glitz and glamour'?" asked Chloe, writing down on her note pad as they were walking outside of the house.
"Yup!" replied Andrea. "Bailey, make sure you ask your mom if we can have the dance outside instead of in the lounge so we can have more room."
"Got it." Said Bailey, giving her the thumbs up.
"I'll see if I can go get star confetti and other star-related things." Said Andrea.
"Sounds good, girls." Bailey said, heading to the stables.
"Wait, where are you going?" asked Zoey.
"I'm just going to go, um," Bailey was noticeably nervous. "Check on Aztec real quick." And with that, Bailey rushed away.
At that moment, a car pulled up and honked down near the barn.
"Oh, that's my mom." Said Andrea, starting to walk towards that way.
"Algernon should be here by now." Said Zoey, pulling out her cellphone. "I'll go call him."
Andrea turned back to Chloe and said, "I'm glad you, Zoey and I are getting along now."
"Um, yeah, sure." Said Chloe, smiling uneasily.
"Maybe, if we keep this up, we can be friends?" Andrea smiled. "I always did want to be your friend."
Chloe's eyes widened. She felt speechless.
"I admire your riding skills and I hope in the future, our competitions are friendly instead of negative." Andrea said, holding her hand out to shake Chloe's.
"Um," Chloe said, hesitating. Chloe's feelings for Bailey are strong and knowing that he likes Andrea is not easy to swallow. But she knows she was in a losing battle with trying to keep him away from her. She put her hand out and shook Andrea's hand.
The car honked again, this time more persistent and longer.
"Okay mom, I'm coming!" yelled Andrea. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Chloe nodded her head. She watched as Andrea got in the car and drove away.
Zoey eventually walked back and said, "Algernon said he's on his way."
"Good." Said Chloe, sounding a bit out of it.
"Um, you okay, sis?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Alright, well, let's go wait by the barn, okay?"
Chloe nodded and they walked down to the barn and sat on a bale of hay by the barn doors.
When Zoey sat on the bale of hay, Chloe said, "I'm gonna see if Chili is okay."
"Whatever." Said Zoey, looking at her phone, clearly texting.
Chloe slowly opened the barn doors, not to make a noise. She knew Bailey was still in here, but he wasn't near or in Aztec's stall like he said he would be. She saw that the tack room's door was ajar and peeked in. She saw Bailey sitting at the table with a pen and paper, clearly writing something. It had to be something for Andrea. She didn't want to make her presence known so she silently walked over to the other end of the barn where Chili was.
"Hey, boy." Said Chloe, rubbing Chili's nose. "I've been thinking about letting Bailey go, but I don't think I can."
Chili snorted.
"I know you probably don't really understand what I'm saying, but I can't talk to Zoey about it anymore."
Chili poked his head out the stall door and looked over at Jupiter, who was listening to what Chloe was saying as well. Jupiter shook his head.
"I just can't forget about the few days after me and Zoey started riding here and Bailey was going on and on at how good at riding I was and how he winks at me."
Then Chloe heard the tack room door close. She looked slightly over the stall door and saw Bailey walking towards her. She ducked and put her back against the door. She heard his footsteps getting closer but then stopping.
"Good night, Aztec." Said Bailey. He then continued walking.
Bailey's footsteps got closer and closer until Chloe heard him stop right near Chili's door. Chili was staring directly at Bailey.
Bailey laughed. "Good night to you too, Chili." He opened the doors and closed them.
Chloe sighed heavily. She got up and left Chili's stall.
"Good night Chili." Said Chloe. She walked back down to the tack room and opened it. Everything seemed normal, except for a piece of paper that was sticking out of Andrea's locker. She knew it wasn't right to invade people's privacy, but she can't help how she feels. She can't sit by and let Andrea date the guy she had wanted for so long.
Chloe took a deep breath and took the piece of paper and opened it up.
It read:
"Drea,
I know you haven't been here at Horseland very long but, I wanted to tell you that I really, really like you. Come to the lounge after practice if you wanna know how I feel completely.
-Bailey"
Chloe could feel her heart sink into her stomach. She couldn't believe what she was reading. It wasn't fair.
"What are you doing?" said Zoey, scaring Chloe out of her thoughts.
"Oh!" said Chloe trying to seem as normal as possible. "I'm, um, doing nothing!" She smiled nervously.
"What's that piece of paper for?"
"Oh this?" Chloe crumpled up the paper. "It's nothing, just trash."
Zoey raised her eyebrow at Chloe, who had a big fake smile on her face.
"Okay," said Zoey. "You're being super weird tonight."
"I don't know what you're talking about, sis." Said Chloe.
"Whatever, Algernon is outside."
"Great, I thought he'd never get here!" Chloe took the note, unrumpled it and folded it and put it in her pocket.
"Sorry, Andrea," Chloe said to herself. "But I can't let you have him."