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Hey guys!
So with travelling done I've got until Chp 12 written, just need the pics and that won't take long I hope. I'd like to apologize in advance cause the pics aren't my best creation but hopefully I'll be able to get better ones for the next chp. Anyways thanks to all of you who've been reading, it really means a lot.
So with travelling done I've got until Chp 12 written, just need the pics and that won't take long I hope. I'd like to apologize in advance cause the pics aren't my best creation but hopefully I'll be able to get better ones for the next chp. Anyways thanks to all of you who've been reading, it really means a lot. The first thing that hit her was the smell; it was the dreaded smell of horse poop which Michael had warned her about earlier, she’d known it was going to be bad but “bad” was an understatement.
She’d never been at the Equestrian Center before, the building was relatively new and she’d never had a reason to go in so she hadn’t. That day however, she had a pretty good reason to be there and while she waited for Jason to appear she wandered around amazed.
After she got used to the odors of nature, Amy couldn’t help but take in the more interesting and appealing aspects of the center: the bustle of people going to and fro, the impressive building with its wooden beams and of course, the horses. Everywhere she looked she saw horses of every size, color and breed, all of them beautiful and larger than she’d expected. Out of the blue, she heard her name being called and looked over to see Jason walking over with a smile. He’d switched his school uniform for jeans and a green t-shirt that Amy couldn’t help thinking looked great on him.
“Hey, glad you could make it. Been here long?” he asked flashing his trademark grin.
“Nope, just got here a few minutes ago,”
“Great! I was beginning to worry that I’d leave you here for too long and you’d get bored.”
Amy smiled back, “Honestly I don’t think you could get bored around here, there’s so much going on!”
“That’s true, but come on; I want you to meet someone.” Jason led her outside onto the training ground and she decided that she liked it outside much better; there was a light breeze that played with her hair and brought to her the smell of pine trees that evoked distant and bitter-sweet memories, memories of picnics in the park and late nights around the campfire roasting smores, memories of her father chasing her and Connor around the trees and of her mother...
“Amy?”
Jason’s voice broke into her thoughts, returning her to the present day.
He looked at her concerned “You ok? You had a strange look on your face.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“Sure?”
She nodded and after a second Jason did too.
“I’ll be right back, ok?” Jason told her jogging off. She nodded again and looked around. It wasn’t long before something caught her eye; a young woman was going through the practice jump course with such speed and ease Amy could’ve sworn she was flying. She watched as horse and rider maneuvered the course entranced. As the rider slowed down her mount she caught sight of Amy and smiled.
She slipped off the horse and handed the reins to a young boy who took him to the nearby stables. Flipping her hair over her shoulder the rider strode over. “Enjoying the show?” she asked with a grin.
“Yeah, sorry. I’d never seen anything like it; you honestly looked like you were flying.”
The woman laughed, her chocolate brown eyes shone with amusement; she seemed to be a few years older than Amy, perhaps college age.
“I’m Jennifer”
“Amy”
“Well it’s nice to meet you. I’ve never seen you around, is this your first time here?”
“Yeah, a friend of mine convinced me to come, said it’d be fun.” Before Jennifer could say anything else Jason walked up to the girls smiling.
“Well, well, well, what a surprise. You seem to have a knack for finding those who are most lost around here, don’t ya, sis?”
“Sis?” Amy asked surprised.
“Yep, this is my annoying little brother Jason. Jason this is…”
“Amy Brennan. Yep, I know. I convinced her to come down here,”
“You guys know each other,”
“Yeah, we’re friends,” Jason said smiling at Amy.
Jennifer looked from her brother to a blushing Amy. She didn’t look like other girls she’d seen with her brother; Jason tended to date preppy, glamorous, swimming in money and more concerned about her appearance than about anything else kind of girls. Amy didn’t look like that kind of girl; she seemed rather nervous around her brother, almost shy. She was a pretty girl but not stunningly gorgeous and neither her hair nor her clothes screamed money. Nope, definitely she wasn’t the type of girl Jason tended to date; she liked her though, there was something about her. Her brother’s voice broke into her thoughts bringing her back down to Earth.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us, I’ve got to teach Amy some basic riding skills,” he said taking Amy’s arm gently.
As Jennifer waved them away Amy smiled at her nervously and she winked at her. Jason led Amy across the grounds with a confident stride and looking completely at ease. It was obvious to her that he spent plenty of time there as people smiled and greeted him as they passed.
“Do you come here often?” she asked curiously. Jason chuckled “You might say that, my parents own this place so I get to come here as often as I like,”
“Wow, I didn’t know your family was into the whole equestrian business,”
“Well, the company is my grandpa’s. He’s got the main headquarters at Appaloosa Plains. That’s where he organizes the mayor international competitions and breeds his star mares, trains them and all; then he ships them out to different locations worldwide. He’s got training centers like this one all over the country, distributed the main ones amongst his kids: my dad got the one here, my uncle went to Twinbrook and my aunt set one up in Sunset Valley. But my favorite one is in Champ Les Sims,”
“There’s one in France?”
“Yep, my grandma takes care of that one, she said she couldn’t stay in Appaloosa Plains anymore after some stuff happened to my cousin so they left for France and set up a center there,”
“Gosh, that’s a big organization,”
“Definitely, my grandpa moves millions a year selling and buying horses, it’s kind of cool,” “Have you ever been to France? I’ve always imagined it as this faraway romantic destination with rolling hills dotted with flowers and with a river snaking through. Like stepping into the past, you know? With old architecture and cobblestone roads, all quiet and peaceful…” she broke off gazing dreamily into space. “It’s just a childish fantasy but I don’t know, I like dreaming about stuff like that,” she quickly added blushing fiercely.
Jason laughed and gave her arm a gentle squeeze “You’re not too far off, though. It does have rolling hills, a river and an old village with cobblestone roads,” He then looked at her straight in the eyes, “And you’re right, it is quite romantic. You’d like it.” Amy hoped she wasn’t blushing as hard as she thought she was.
“Anyways, here we are.”
He let go of her arm, brushing his hand against hers and making her heart race as he walked over to two horses held by a girl and a boy who were waiting for them.
“Thanks guys,” Jason said taking the reins from them.
“No problem, see ya later Jason.”
The duo jogged off to help other riders and Jason beckoned Amy over. “Amy meet Pearl, she’s an Andalusian, real rare to find and very sought after. She’s kind of a wild girl, tends to go a bit too fast if you don’t keep her in check; I like her, she’s fun to ride.”
He laughed at her look of worry at the thought of riding a “wild girl.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not that mean. You’ll be riding Caesar; he’s a Lippizzaner, he’s still a fast breed of horse but this one in particular is really obedient so you shouldn’t have any problems with him.”
Amy nodded impressed by the sight of the horse but told herself to remain calm, he wouldn’t have given him to her if he thought she couldn’t handle him. Right? “Come on, I’ll help you up.”
He boosted her up onto the saddle before swinging himself up onto Pearl with the same grace and ease that his sister had.
“Ready to go?”
“I think so,”
“Then let’s go have some fun!” It didn’t take her long to get the hang of things and relax a bit. Besides, Jason had been right, Caesar was quite an obedient horse, it was as if he knew that she had absolutely no idea of what she was doing and had decided to give her a break.
As soon as he saw that she’d gotten used to Caesar, Jason led her away from the training grounds and through a trail in the forest. They rode for a long time, laughing, talking and just enjoy themselves to the point that they forgot about the time.
It was Jason who finally noticed the sun setting and cursed.
“What?” Amy asked surprised.
“Sorry, I just realized how late it is.”
She glanced at her watch and cursed herself before fishing out her phone. She cursed again as she realized she didn’t have connection,
“Stupid piece of junk,” she muttered.
“Try mine; it’s pretty good with signal.” She took it and quickly dialed Kate’s number.
“Hello?”
“Kate it’s me. Listen I need to ask you a favor,”
“Sure, what is it? And where are you?”
“Um, I’ll explain later but can you please use your AAS contacts and stall the wicked witch of the west?”
“Meaning get Michael, Lucy and Sarah and distract her so you’ve got time to get back here before she notices you’re missing,”
“Please…”
“Fine, fine but I want full details, missy,”
“Yes ma’am.”
In the background she heard Kate yelling at the others, telling them to prepare to launch Plan Macedonia.
“Ok, all ready to go, just get here as fast as possible, you might even make it before curfew it you’re not too far,”
“I’m pretty far,”
“Ok, just run, will ya?”
“Yep, thanks Kate.”
She handed the phone back to Jason who led her back to the training center taking the shorter route of their excursion. “Thanks for bringing me out here, it’s been amazing,”
“No problem, come on I’ll drive you home.”
Amy froze; she most definitely didn’t want him to drive her home, that would be too much explaining.
“Don’t worry, it’s not that far,”
“On the phone you said you where pretty far,” he said grinning.
She bit her lip uncertainly, cursing herself and her big mouth.
“Gotcha. Come on, it’s ok. I’d feel too bad if you got grounded for being late.” He led her to a fancy sports car which was far too expensive for any normal teen to have. Jason grinned at her stunned face.
“Hop in, I’ll get you home in a flash. This beauty is the fastest in the market.”
Amy got in still trying to find a way out of the mess; it didn’t take long for the solution to pop into her head.
“Ok, where to?”
“You know Alder Street?”
“Yep, hold on.” He wasn’t kidding when he said that he’d get her home in a flash, she’d never gone so fast in her life and she would’ve enjoyed the speed had it not been for the little nagging concern of Ms Angelista and curfew. 20 minutes later he parked the car in front of a small house on Alder Street.
“Thanks for the ride Jason,” she said smiling.
“No problem, come on, I’ll walk you up,”
“Thanks but I think I’ll be fine walking from the car to the front door.”
He was about to protest but on an impulse she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, quickly shutting him up.
“Good night, Jason.” Amy got out of the car and hurried up the driveway to the door. She watched the sports car zoom off and turn to face the door. Taking a deep breath she buzzed the doorbell and waited. A few moments later the door opened.
“Cutting it a bit close, huh kiddo?”
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2 Comment(s) posted so far
#1 On Aug 18, 2012 keishafeller wrote:
Lol @ Plan Macedonia!
#2 On Aug 18, 2012 belara wrote:
keishafeller
Yeah, I don't even know what it actually is myself