New Strides || Canterwood Crest || Book 19

1 ↬ not your average september saturday

Briiiiiiiing! Briiiiiiiing! Briiiiiiiing!

The sound of my home alarm clock jostled me out of a peaceful sleep. Still groggy from last night's late drive home, I flailed my arm in a desperate attempt to slap the snooze button. Mid-flail, I paused, and suddenly remembered why I was at home instead of Canterwood on a typical September Saturday. Today, I was adopting a horse from Safe Haven for Thoroughbreds.

Last Christmas, my Canterwood friends and I had come to my hometown, Union, to volunteer at the SHT Holiday Adopt-a-Thon. At the time, the thought of getting to adopt a Thoroughbred from them was simply a dream of mine. To my surprise, my parents proposed to me that when the time was right, we could welcome a Thoroughbred (from Safe Haven!) into the family for me to ride and train. As my time as a ninth-grader began at Canterwood this year, I realized that I had finally learned how to balance riding, school, and other things (*cough* Jacob) in my life. In other words, we had decided that now was the time. The Time. Adopt-a-horse-from-safe-haven-time!!! So, I was home for the weekend for this special day. Eeeep!

Excitement bubbled through me as I bounded towards my closet, forgetting about how tired I was. Within seconds I pulled out and put on the outfit which I had brought home to wear, expresso-coloured breeches and a burgundy v-neck sweater - the perfect outfit for a chilly fall day. To complete the look, I secured my lucky charm bracelet around my wrist, swiped on maple berry lipgloss, tied my golden-brown hair into a low ponytail and slipped a cream-coloured infinity scarf around my neck. I practically skipped out of my room into the kitchen, where my riding helmet and boots were waiting for me alongside the purse which I had brought home with me from school (of course, it contained my entire lip-gloss collection). I was too excited to eat, but eventually forced myself to munch on a PB & J sandwich. I also stuffed an apple into my pocket - I figured my new friend would want a snack for the 2-hour ride back to Canterwood.

"Hey, kiddo," Dad shuffled into the kitchen wearing jeans and a hoodie.

"Hey, Dad. Almost ready to go?" I squeaked. Dad glanced at the clock.

"Sasha, it's only 7:30 in the morning. Our appointment isn't until 9:00, and it will take us about a half hour to get there, so we don't have to leave for an hour..." He trailed off. That was Dad, always looking at the mathematic reasoning in daily life. *sigh*.

"Sorry Dad, I'm just super excited."

Dad patted me on the back. "I know honey. You have every right to be!" he added with a chuckle. I smiled. Today was going to be amazing.

In desperate attempts to pass time, I wandered into the family room and sank into Dad's leather recliner. I pulled out my new iPhone (courtesy of Gram and Grandpa) and opened up Instagram. I had started my own account just last month, and already had 400 followers (eeep!!)! My posts were mostly of Charm, and I thought it was über cool to be able to share my equestrian journey online. Plus, Charm is the most adorable horse ever, so having him model for my Insta page had to have been helping attract followers. I thought of my chestnut Thoroughbred/Belgian gelding back at Canterwood. Even though I had only been away for a day, I missed him like crazy!

I totally wanted to share what I was doing today, so I pulled up a pic of charm that I had taken the other day after our lesson. He had his signature puppy-dog eyes on, and his lower lip hung down - he was super relaxed. Within a few seconds, I had a perfect caption, and the photo was posted.

sasha_n_charm: About to go adopt a horse from Safe Haven for Thoroughbreds! Can't wait :)

I let out a deep breath. I was about to shut off my phone when it buzzed with a notification. Someone had already liked and commented on my post!

laurbell_whisper: So happy 4 u! :):):)

I smiled. Last Christmas, Lauren Towers and her friends (all a grade younger than me) had also planned to spend the break in Union (Lauren's hometown as well) volunteering at Safe Haven! We'd become closer friends since, and it made me happy to hear from her. Minutes later, even more comments caused my phone to spazz uncontrollably.

gamerguy: Wishing u luck <3

fox_girl: have fun, Silver ;)

allison_sunstruck: So cool! Have fun!

brit_chan: Good luck! I know ur going to find the perf match!

I couldn't help but smile. Comments continued to come in from Paige, Callie, Eric, and even some of Lauren's eighth grade friends! Eventually, the notifications slowed down, and I started to go stir-crazy. If I had to wait any longer, I was so going to start bouncing off the walls!

♣ ♞ ♣

Seven coats of lip gloss later, it was finally time to go. As I climbed into my family's SUV, I couldn't stop repeating the words in my head.

I'm adopting a thoroughbred! I'm adopting a thoroughbred!