Deception

nineteen*

His horse neighs and I lean forward to touch its mane. "For the record, you do really well for someone who rides rarely." He laughs at my statement and pats his horse in a loving manner. "I'm not that good. What about you?"

My cheeks turn slightly red in embarrassment. "It's been a while."

"I can help you." He offers and I contemplate my decision. This horse riding thing was supposed to be me and Brian's activity for today if he had not run off.

Glancing at Marcus, I shrug. "I don't see why not." He grins. "Great, let's go!" For about half an hour I spend my time with Marcus, and it feels like I've gotten the hang of it again. We are out in the middle of nowhere, or so it seems.

My hair whips behind me as the wind is coming in my direction. I love feeling the breeze. I love feeling the speed. I have certainly missed horse riding a lot.

"This is amazing!" I breathe out while taking a break. Marcus lies beside me on the grass. Our horses are tied together nearby a huge tree. "It sure is."

It almost feels like I am invincible when riding on a horse. Manny and I have become closer, I know I'll miss her when I leave. I wonder if I can come back again in the future. Speaking of this place, I wonder where Brian is.

I see Marcus turn his body to face me from the corner of my eyes. "What are you thinking 'bout?"

"My friend who came here with me." I shrug and answer as he sits up all of a sudden.

"Woah, woah. You came with someone and I just kind of stole you away?" I laugh at his panicked expression.

"Relax. He kind of went away with his horse. I think he would have come back but..."

Marcus extends his arm to me and I grab it without a thought. He pulls me to stand and I dust off whatever dirt or grass on my pants. "Do you have a phone or something? We should probably call this guy." I roll my eyes, shaking my head. "Don't you think I would have already done that if I had one? It's okay, he won't get lost."

"Right." Marcus replies flatly. I try to assure him with a smile. "No worries, he's experienced."

"It's nice to see you don't worry too much about me." Speaking of the devil, Brian emerges from behind the trees, narrowing his eyes at me.

I raise my hands in surrender. Brian comes towards us and stops right in front of Marcus. "I'm Brian, who are you?" His words are sharp and I give him a look.

Smiling nicely like the guy he is, Marcus introduces himself. They stare at each other as if it is a competition. Marcus' smile slowly fades away and looks forced now, his palms rubbing on his jeans uncomfortably.

I slap Brian's arm playfully. "Quit it out, be nice to him." Brian's 'harsh' facade went away, a pout on his lips. "How do you even know he's a nice guy?" he whines. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at his childish attitude.

Too occupied bantering with Brian, I don't even realize when Marcus releases his horse from the tree. "Hey Cassy, I'm going to go now. I had fun today. See you soon, hopefully!" He yells from a distance away and catches me off guard. I wave awkwardly and he winks.

What was that even for?

"I had fun today." Brian mimics in a girly voice childishly. I ignore him and grab Manny, attempting to get on it. Two hands behind me hoist me up by the waist and I bite my lip to refrain from saying anything. I look down at Brian who has a smug look. "You're welcome."

This time, we gallop together to the stables. No one talks and I enjoy the moment as though I am flying.

My feet lands with a thud on the ground. I spend a few minutes with Manny, petting it one last time before I put it back into its home. "I hope to see you again," I murmur and feed it the carrot Brian gave me.

Brian tugs my arm, indicating it is time to go. I tear my eyes from Manny, frowning. "We'll be back again, I promise." I sigh and follow him out of the barn. I collect my phone and head out.

3 missed calls and 5 messages.

My eyebrows knit together in confusion. Since when did I become so popular?

Keying in the passcode, my phone unlocks with a click and I see that all of them are from Kristiana. I call her immediately in case there is an emergency.

"Cassidy?" Kris' voice rings in my ear. "Is something wrong?" I ask, feeling concerned.

"What? What, no, no. I just wanted to know where you were. You didn't tell me you went out."

Oh.

My mind is jumbled up and I almost spew out the truth. "Oh, I'm just out with- I mean, um, I, uh, I'm at the grocery store." Please don't let her know I'm lying.

Of course, luck is not on my side today. Either I am a really bad liar or Kris is just really smart. "You went to the grocery store just two days ago." Silence comes from my side as I don't know what to say.

I hear a deep sigh. "Come back and we'll talk."

The call ends without another word and I stuff the phone back into my pocket. Brian stares at me and I shake my head. We don't talk about it and walk back to the area that we came from.

A random bench comes into my line of vision and I take a seat. Brian follows my actions and we sit quietly. "You really don't want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

"So about that guy." Brian draws out after a few moments of silence and I just give him another playful slap on the arm.

"Shut up." I say but I can't hide the smile on my face.

☯

Hey loves. Sorry about the late update but hopefully you guys enjoyed this sorta cute chapter ;))

We're not updating next week or the week after that, so no chapters for 2 weeks :( We've got exams so I hope you guys don't mind too much. At least we left with a cute ending!!

Love lots,
Lacy.

PS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 300 READS THIS IS CRAY