MSRA ⇒ Final Year (BACK IN PROGRESS)

⇒ seven

Bright and early the next day, Olive and I find ourselves back at Dr. Sharon's clinic. Today she had us go through and do TPR on a few of the school horses and tell her if their ranges were within normal. Luckily, they all were.

The rest of the school day was fairly unimpressive. I had a history with Noah and Ethan where we watched a short movie on Mesopotamia and early civilizations. That was followed up by advanced biology with Olive and Abby going over simple cell functions.

Things started to get exciting once Noah, Bridget, and I headed down to one of the dressage arenas for our lesson. As we rode up to the ring, the instructor leaned against a fencepost, shielding his eyes from the sun as he scrolled on his phone. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it...

"Mason?" Noah asked, halting Comet beside me. The instructor glanced up.

"Oh, hey, guys!" he smiled. "I know we've all met before, but please, remind me of your names."

Mason was an excellent dressage coach. He could word things and theories in a way that a baby could understand and replicate. He also happened to be Cami's fiancee the last time I saw her.

He was explaining something about lead changes to another student in the lesson, using his hands to demonstrate his point. At that moment, I saw it - the light grey wedding band. Bingo!

"Noah!" I whispered, my eyes getting big. "They got married!!"

"How do you know that?" he whispered back, squinting his eyes at Mason.

"He's wearing a ring. Plus, Cami had mentioned their engagement last time I saw her!"

Apparently, Noah was not as excited about this as I was, but I couldn't wait to tell Abby and Bridget. Cami and Mason were the most cliche, stereotypical equestrian couple, and we could not get enough of it.

During our lesson, Finn and I ended up working on some haunches- and shoulder-in to supple him and get him responsive off the leg. It was very beneficial for both of us, but the entire time I was holding back the urge to ask Mason about the ring.

I got done in the barn a bit later than usual, so I rushed up the stairs to my dorm to tell Bridget the news. When I opened the door, she wasn't in there, so I assumed she was with Ethan. I took a quick shower, changed into loungewear, and quickly finished up my schoolwork before making my way down to Abby's room. I knocked on the door and heard laughter from inside before Abby swung it open.

"Come in!"

I walked inside, and Bridget was sitting on the rug beside Olive's bed, and the two of them were pouring over the latest pop culture magazine. Neither of them noticed me walk in.

"What's up?" Abby asked before glancing over at the two girls with pursed lips.

I was a bit taken aback that Bridget was here, but nonetheless, I had tea to spill. "Cami and Mason officially got married."

"They did?" Abby exclaimed, jumping up and down. "How did you find out?"

"What happened?" Bridget asked, sitting up. Abby filled her in on the news.

"During dressage, I noticed that Mason was wearing a wedding band," I said. "I didn't ask or confirm, but that was enough proof for me."

After our little tea session, Abby and I headed to an early dinner. We invited Bridget and Olive, but they decided to eat a bit later.

"Don't you find it just a little bit odd?" Abby asked before taking a bite of her pasta.

"Hmm?"

"Bridget and Olive," she explained. "Like, you and Bridget are usually the inseparable ones. Have you really seen her lately?"

"Okay, I was going to say something but I wasn't sure if I was making it up," I said as I rested my spoon in my soup bowl. "I feel like I haven't seen Bridget at all. Don't get me wrong, I love Olive. But I can't help but feel like she's taking her away from me."

"It's okay to feel that way," Abby said. She mixed her tomatoes, chicken, and cheese around her pasta a bit more. "But, it's not okay for a total stranger to come and steal your best friend from you."

"What should I do?"

"Tell Bridget how you feel. Don't let it fester," Abby said as she gave me a pointed look.

"But I like festering," I frowned as I mindlessly mixed my soup around. "Okay, next time I have her alone, I'll talk to her."

Turns out, Bridget and Olive were inseparable. Bridge spent all her time either with Ethan or Olive. I barely even saw her in the dorm because she'd get back to the dorm so late. Friday morning before team practices, I finally had a moment alone with her.

"Bridge, can we talk for a moment?" I asked as I got my riding clothes on.

"What's up?" she glanced at me through the mirror as she braided her long dark hair up.

"Hey, so, I just wanted to get something off my chest," I said, taking a deep breath. "I can't help but feel like you have abandoned me for Olive."

"Abandoned you? Kat, do you hear yourself?" Bridge turned to face me. "I haven't abandoned you. You're still my best friend, not Olive. I think you're being a bit overdramatic."

That struck a nerve. "Overdramatic? Are you kidding me? We haven't hung out since Sunday. I barely see you, and we live together."

"Well, you've been hanging out a lot more with Abby," she retorted. "Way more than you used to."

"Because you don't hang out with me!" I exclaimed. I was getting a bit too emotional over this for my liking.

"Kat, are you jealous?" she stared at me. "What has gotten into you? This isn't a good look for you."

With that, she grabbed her tall boot bag and left the room. I took a couple of minutes to compose myself, even if it made me late to practice.

Jealous? Was she kidding? Of course I was jealous! The school year just started, and I've barely been able to see her this summer. I wanted to catch up and hang out and eat junk food with her, but I guess I just wasn't as important to her anymore.

After I dried my face of angry tears, I rushed out to the barn and quickly tacked up Finn, mounting at the barn and trotting down to the cross-country course. About halfway there, I found Abby aboard Mojo, walking down.

"Hey," she said once she saw me. "Did you get the chance to talk to Bridget?"

"Yep," I sighed. "She blew up on me and said I was being overdramatic."

"What?"

"Yeah. Then she said I was spending too much time with you," I rolled my eyes. "I don't know what to do now."

"Well, maybe she'll come around," Abby sighed. We approached the group of students all anxiously awaiting the team announcements. I was on the advanced team last year, and Abby was on the intermediate. I know how much it would mean to Abby to make advanced this year.

Thankfully, her wish came true. Both Abby and I made the Advanced Eventing team, and the icing on the cake was that Cami was going to be coaching us this year. This was perfect for me since Ann would be my general coach for Monday lessons, but Cami would be the one preparing and making decisions for our team regarding competitions.