Here's an excerpt from MASQUERADE which hits stores tomorrow! Yaaay! :)
Sorry about the spacing and some lettering being off. Blogspot isn't behaving . . . :/
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
MEET MY NEW BFF—JUDGE NELSON!
A SHINY, SILKY BLUE RIBBON GLEAMED FROM
Whisper’s bridle. The judge who’d pinned it there extended her hand to
me. I shifted Whisper’s reins to one hand and read the judge’s name
badge.
MS. NELSON. I leaned down and shook her hand. This did
not feel real.
“Congratulations,
Miss Towers,” Ms. Nelson said, smiling. The brunette in a navy suit had
appeared so intimidating when I’d ridden for her a short while ago. But
now, I kind of wanted to crown her as my new BFF! She
had given me a blue ribbon, after all.
“Thank you, Ms. Nelson,” I said.
My
head felt as though it was going to float away from my body and into
the cloudless sky. I truly hadn’t focused on a ribbon during my first
class with Whisper. My goal had been to do our best. ClichÉ, but true.
That
was New Lauren—a competitor who thought of riding well first and
placing later. Old Lauren, pre-Canterwood Lauren, would have accepted
the ribbon, added it to her collection, and started focusing on the next
show. The next chance to win.
But today . . .
My first show since my almost career-ending accident at Red Oak Horse Trials.
My first competition as a Canterwood Crest Academy student.
My first time riding in front of judges on
my own horse.
Whisper
and I had tried our hardest and had given everything we had in the
arena—that had been enough for me to be happy. The win was icing on a
trÈs yummy carrot I planned to give Whisper later. A snort from a horse around me pulled me out of my thoughts.
“Blue
looks good on you guys,” Lexa Reed said. Next to me, she had a red
ribbon on Honor’s bridle. Lexa, a close friend, was also on Canterwood’s
intermediate riding team with her strawberry roan mare.
“Thanks, Lex,” I said. “And congrats! We’re so celebrating tonight!”
“Um,
yeah.”
Lexa smiled, doing a quick dance in the saddle. She glanced around as
if looking to see if anyone saw. I tried to hold back a giggle, but it
escaped from my lips. Lexa couldn’t stop herself from dancing, and I
felt as if I’d had a little too much green tea.
The judges
motioned for us to exit the arena. Lexa and I followed a girl on a black
gelding who’d come in third. Honor and Whisper had each set a hoof on
the grass outside the arena when Lexa and I couldn’t hold it in for
another second.
“Number one and two!” Lexa said. “So awesome!”
Her smile was bright against her mocha-colored skin. A quick surge of
relief pumped through me. My mind had shifted back to Old Lauren’s for a
moment, and I’d worried that Lexa would be jealous of my win or mad
that I’d beaten her. But that wasn’t Lexa. She was a true friend, and
Lex was genuinely happy about our placements.
“We showed everyone how Canterwood riders compete,” I added. “To win!”
“Yeah,
we did.” Lexa’s happiness radiated to Honor, and the mare picked up on
it. Her neck arched and she half pranced. Whisper, watching Honor,
copied her. Her delicate gray head went high into the air as she lifted
each hoof a little higher than necessary.
We walked the horses
away from the arena and back to a quiet spot under a shady tree. The
campus was swarming with riders from four area schools, but Lexa and I
had been lucky enough to stake out a place to relax before our next
class. Khloe, my other BFF and roomie, had been cheering us on from
here, but she was gone.
“Did Khloe have a class?” I asked.
“Don’t
think so. She’ll prob be right back. Or maybe she’s off practicing, oh,
a mean girl, or a
competitive girl, or some other persona she might
need in her acting repertoire.”
Giggling, we dismounted and high-fived.
“Having an actor for a BFF keeps things interesting,” I said.
Lexa nodded. “Life in Khloe Kinsella’s circle is
never boring.”
We
turned our attention to the horses. I petted Whisper’s neck. “You were
the superstar, girl. I want to hug you like crazy, but we have trail
class left. I don’t want to mess up your braids or get covered in
Whisper hair and lose points for appearance.”
Lexa kissed Honor’s muzzle. The beautiful strawberry roan mare squeezed her eyes shut, clearly enjoying the affection.
We
loosened the horses’ girths and gave them tiny sips of water from a
shared yellow bucket. Mike and Doug, two of the stable grooms, were
doling out water buckets to the competing horses.
Whisper’s gray
coat was dry under her saddle pad, and she didn’t show any signs of
nerves from all of the action. She also didn’t exhibit symptoms of
fatigue—either from stress or our class.
“I couldn’t love you more,” I told Whisper. “You treated that class like any old lesson. Wait till we’re done for the day.”
Whisper
flicked an ear in my direction and lowered her trimmed, velvety muzzle
into my hand. I kissed it and scratched under her forelock.
“Laur! Lex!”
We looked up and a blonde bounced up to us, leading a bay mare.
“Ahhh!
Congratulations again!” Khloe said. She ground tied Ever, who reached
out her muzzle to say hello to Honor and Whisper. “I’m so glad that I
got to watch you both get your ribbons.”
“Thanks, KK,” I said. “It feels like . . . I don’t even know!”
“Awww,” Khloe said, winking at Lexa. “Our LT is in shock. Should we pour cold water on her?”
“Let’s
not
pour cold water on her,” I said, playing along. “Lauren would have to
retaliate in the middle of the night. Something involving glitter and
glue, perhaps.”
Lexa took off her helmet, full-out laughing. “I
kind of want this to happen so I can see whatever glitter idea you
have!” She ran a hand over her curly black hair. It was in a chic low
bun—not loose and down like Lex usually wore it. Natural reddish
highlights made her dark skin look even prettier, and a single coat of
mascara made her deep brown eyes look bigger.
Khloe shot Lex a pretend
I’m going to hurt you look. “I’d like to remain glitter
and glue free, thank you very much. So I’ll skip the cold water.”
Khloe’s
brown eyes had a playful look when they landed on me. She certainly
didn’t look like she’d been up since four this morning. Her tan,
freckle-free skin was sans makeup except for clear gloss. We’d both
woken instantly when the alarms had gone off hours ago. Adrenaline
during show day wasn’t something I could sleep through. If only it was
that easy to wake up on school mornings!
“Truce?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Truce.” Khloe shook my hand, looking serious.
I unsnapped my black velvet-covered helmet and clipped it to Whisper’s saddle.
“Here comes someone for Lauren,” Lexa said in a singsong voice.
“What? Who?”
I turned.
He
headed our way. Drew Adams. An insta-smile came to my face. Drew and
his blood bay gelding, Polo, hadn’t competed in the intermediate
dressage class. When I’d entered the ring, I wished Drew had been able
to see my ride. See me in my element. But when my name had been called
for a ribbon, I’d spotted Drew cheering for me. He’d been in the stands
the whole time.
“Hey,” he said, smiling at all of us before his gaze settled on me.
“Hi,” I said.
“Awesome ride, Lauren.” Drew stretched a hand to rub Whisper’s neck. “You and Whisper deserved first.”
I
felt my fair cheeks start to flush. I tried to think of
something—anything else but the cute guy standing in front of me—but my
mind blanked.
“Thank you,” I said. “I came out of the arena
feeling like we’d done our best, but I had serious competition. Like
Lexa.” I tipped my head in my friend’s direction.
“Sorry, Lex,”
Drew said. “I saw your ride too. It’s too bad there couldn’t have been a
tie. Honor executed those turns beautifully.”
Lexa waved her
hand. “Second place is what we deserve. Lauren and Whisper blew us away.
I’m so happy for her! Plus, it’s going to make Honor and me raise our
game.”
Lexa was such a great friend. Gracious, positive, but
still competitive. She was the best kind of teammate I could hope
for—someone who was there for her fellow teammates even when it came
down to individual ribbons.
“How does it feel?” Drew asked. He
stepped closer and patted Whisper’s shoulder. His sea-blue eyes were
soft. I could stare into them forever. They stood out against his black
hair and looked like gemstones against his pale skin.
He wasn’t
asking how it felt to win. “I feel like I can finally close the door on
Red Oak,” I said. “I needed this—a show—to be able to move a thousand
percent past what happened.”
Drew smiled, and I couldn’t help but do the same. “That’s great. I’m happy for you.”
“How’re you doing?” I asked. “You had cross-country, right?”
Drew shook his head. “Yeah, but we’re talking about
you. About your win.”
“Drew! I asked you! How’d it go? Tell me!” I lightly pushed his arm.
“Okay,
okay!” He laughed, holding up a hand in a conceding gesture. He reached
under his helmet, which was hanging on Polo’s saddle. There was a flash
of blue, and he produced a winning ribbon.
“Omigod! Congratulations!” I said, shaking my head. “I wish I could have seen your ride. Why didn’t you...
