MSRA ↠ Back Again

2 ↠ boys

"I was lucky to only have had one bad fall last year," I laughed, patting Moose's neck as I sat atop his back.

"This one sure is a bucker," Bridget said, half halting her young horse again. He wouldn't stand still. "Isn't that right, Cisco."

He stomped in response and annoyance.

"How is your young boy so good?" Bridget asked. "He's younger than Cisco and he's acting like he's had ten years of training!"

"He's just a good boy," I said as I pat his soft brown coat once again. "He's my little project horse."

We had about a half hour left of riding time before it was too dark, so I did some cavaletti work while Bridget and Cisco worked on his headset. When we were done riding, we headed back to Acacia barn and untacked, then hosed them off and put them back in their stalls so they could eat.

We headed back to the dorm with food from Student Support, and ate with Ethan, Abby, and Noah.

"I can't believe he's not coming back!" Abby said, wiping some tears away. "He promised we'd see each other this school year, but he's not coming back to the academy!"

"Did he tell you he wasn't coming back?" I asked, scooping up some back and cheese.

"He told me two hours ago when I asked him why he wasn't here," she sniffled. "All I wanted to do was see him after a summer of being apart."

"I'm so sorry, Abby!" Bridget said, rubbing her arm. She just nodded and continued eating her dinner. We all ate in silence after that, not wanting to disturb Abby any more than she already was. When dinner was done, I let Bridget shower in our dorm and I brought my stuff over to Noah's dorm and showered in there. When I was done and changed, I dropped my dirty clothes off in my room and then headed downstairs, where Megan and Noah were sitting on the couch in the common room watching TV.

I cleared my throat as I walked in, making them both look up.

"Hey, babe," he said, and I walked around the couch to curl up almost on top of him, my head nestled on his chest. He put an arm around me and hugged me close. I just looked up at him, watching the colors of the TV flicker on his eyes. He looked down at me. "What?"

"I love you," I said as I gave him a small smile.

He leaned down and kissed me "I love you too."

We stayed together on the couch with Megan awkwardly third wheeling until lights out, when he walked me up to my dorm and we parted with a good night kiss.

-

When I woke up in the morning, I knew instantly things felt... off.

I sat up and looked around. Bridget was nowhere to be found. Weird. She always woke up late, and it was only eight.

I got up and changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt, and I wandered downstairs to the common room. No body was down there either.

I got a text from Bridget.

Get over to the barn asap

What's going on? I replied.

Just come quick!

I grabbed an apple and quickly rushed over to the barn, eating the apple on the way.

"Will you tell me now?" I asked Bridget, but she shushed me and pulled me to the back of the barn where Ethan was waiting. "I've had this weird feeling all morning. Will someone please tell me what's up?"

"I heard Noah get up early this morning, meeting someone at our door," Ethan explained. "It was a girl, and I thought it was you, so I jokingly texted Bridget saying 'Wow, Kat's up early!'."

"But you weren't even awake yet," Bridget said. "It was Megan."

"Megan?" I asked. "What's he doing with Megan?"

"I think he's cheating on you, Kat," Bridge said slowly. "I think he has been since the summer."

"What?" I exclaimed. "No, he can't be!"

"I don't know," Ethan frowned. "He spent all summer with Megan."

I thought about what they were saying. Noah was kind of asking tense around me last night. And Megan had posted a bunch of pictures of the two of them at shows, on trail rides, and at clinics together.

"What the fu-," I started, getting stopped by the couple as I started storming out of the barn.

"Hey, hey, hey," Bridge said, pulling me back. "You need to calm down before someone gets hurt."

"How would you react if Ethan was cheating on you with Abby?" I yelled. Bridget looked back at Ethan.

"You're not cheating on me, right?" she asked.

"Of course not!" Ethan exclaimed. "I'm not like Noah!"

"What do you mean 'like Noah'?" I asked. "Has he done this before?"

Ethan sighed. "He told me a story of how in freshman year, he dated this girl named Caroline. He was dating Caroline until last year."

"Continue," I urged.

"He only broke up with her after he asked you out."

"Wait, you knew about this and you didn't tell me?" Bridget asked, outraged.

"It wasn't my secret to tell!"

"Kat is my best friend and her heart just got broken," she said softly. "This would have been great to know before all of this happened."

"So he's pretty much just bouncing around from girl to girl," I nodded my head, choking back some tears.

"I'm so sorry, Kat," Bridget said, hugging me. "I know this must be hard for you."

"On that Florida trip, I opened up to him in ways I had never opened up to anyone else before," I said. "I thought he was different than that. But apparently not."

I turned away from them heading out of the barn. When I reached the barn doors, I looked back at them one more time.

"When he gets back, tell him I never want to see him again."