MSRA ⇢ Starting New

⇢ 6 ; back to work

i was gonna upload this after my lesson but i guess i'll do it before. you're welcome

After almost a week of not riding, I was eager to get back in the saddle. I was still stiff and a bit sore, but Dr. Amy gave me the okay to start riding again. I was only allowed to go to one class, cross country, but it was better than nothing.

"Slow down, Kat, it's not a race," Abby said as she struggled to keep up with me. For the past week Abby graciously rode Hope for me, but I was eager to get back on my horse. I reached the barn and began thoroughly brushing her, and soon I was completely tacked up. It was a bit early to head to the course, so instead I went into one of the sand arenas and warmed up over a few jumps. I had a slight bit of pain in my hip, but it was all completely manageable. When my fifteen minutes were up, I headed down to the course and happily took my spot next to Abby.

"Welcome back, Kathleen, how are you feeling?" Anne asked when I joined the group.

"Much better, thank you," I said.

"You ready to get back to work?"

"One-hundred percent," I smiled.

"Good," she beamed. "Today will be a fairly light day. We'll each go through the full course once, then we'll work a bit on stamina. Abby, I want you to start us out."

One by one, everyone in the group took turns completing the course. Anne saved me for last, and by the time it was our turn, Hope was restless.

"Go when your ready, Kathleen," Anne said, pulling her signature Vineyard Vines hat down a bit further.

I squeezed Hope into a canter and soon a slow gallop. We approached the first fence at a steady rate, and soon soared over it. We continued along the course, flying over jump after jump. Hope hesitated slightly before jumping into the water, splashing through it. Once we were out of the pond, I pushed her on a bit faster and we went over the next jump. She slightly clipped her hooves on it, but we still continued on at our consistent rate.

When we finished, we were both covered in sweat.

"Nice job, Kathleen," Anne said once we returned. "Everyone take a five minute break before we start stamina work."

Anne's 'stamina work' was just doing exactly what we did on the first day, slow cantering around the outside of the course until the horses were exhausted. After, I went back to the barn and hosed Hope off, then let her back out into the paddock by herself. She leaped around before rolling right underneath one of the trees, then heading to the hay pile.

When I got to my dorm, I took a nice long shower before settling into bed and doing all my homework fairly quickly. Right when I finished my homework, I closed my laptop and fell asleep

-

"How was your ride?" Noah asked.

"Good," I said. "I didn't get bucked off."

"That's always good," Bridget said. I was sitting with the crew while they did their homework together (as usual).

"I think I'm going to grab you guys some dinner, I'll be back," I said, lifting myself off the couch.

"I'll come too," Noah offered. "I just finished my work."

"Okay," I said. "Let's go."

I played with the end of my ponytail as Noah and I walked towards Student Support.

"Are you going to be at the show this weekend?" he asked, holding the door to the building open for me.

"What show?" I asked.

"The show jumping competition?" he said. "I think I told you about it."

"Oh, yeah," I thought for a moment. "I don't see why I wouldn't go."

"Good," he grinned. "Because Comet and I are gonna kick butt."

We collected a wide variety of food for the eight of us to pick from, ranging from salad to pasta to chicken. After we got our food, Noah decided I needed a break from walking so we found a bench outside and sat there.

I watched in wonder as gorgeous pinks, purples, and oranges swirled the sky as the sun dipped behind the horizon.

"This is so beautiful," I said to Noah, my eyes fixated on the sky. I looked over at him to see him staring at me. "What?"

"Sorry," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "I just think you're really gorgeous."

I smiled at him and looked away, not knowing what else to do.

"I shouldn't have said that," he said, laughing. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I said. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Suddenly, his lips were on mine and it was just the two of us. When we broke apart we just stared at each other.

"This wouldn't work," he said, shaking his head and standing up. "I'm sorr-."

"Wait, Noah," I stopped him. "What do you mean it wouldn't work."

"We're still settling in," he said. "Besides. We still barely know each other."

"Okay..." I paused. "How about... we come back to this in a few weeks? Maybe months?"

He stopped to think. "Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."

"Me too," I said, and I stood up and gave him a short hug. "Now let's get this food back to the others."

Noah and I headed back over to the dorm and we all started eating. I helped Amelia finish our creative writing assignment before going upstairs to relax and watch some Grey's Anatomy. At about eight, Bridget opened the door and slid into her bed.

"Spill," she said, looking over at me.

"Spill what?" I looked over at her as I paused my show.

"You and Noah were acting kinda strange after you got back," she said. "What happened?"

I just stared at her.

"I'll get it out of you eventually," she said, tossing a pillow at my face.

"Okay, okay, fine," I said, throwing it back at her. "We may or may not have kissed."

It was her turn to stare. "And?"

"And what?" I asked. "That's legit all that happened."

"Oh, that's all?" she frowned. "You just kissed and went on your merry way?"

"Um, pretty much," I said. "Well, actually, we talked about getting together."

"This is what I want to hear about,"Bridge said, propping herself up onto a pillow. "What'd you guys say?"

"We're gonna wait," I said. "Just until we get to know each other better and we're more settled in."

"You guys are boring," she groaned, flipping over so she was facing the ceiling. "Just make out already."

"And this conversation is over," I said, resuming my show.

Let's be real, we're all Bridget.