Madison v.s The Horse Thief

Chapter Twelve: Thieves At The Door

The clock on my phone flicks to 9:01 on the fifth of March and I look up to see Lily still slaving away at her desk, tackling the rest of her school work. Not going to school and doing it from the comfort of my SEC bedroom is more enjoyable than I thought. I'm quite a bright student and have always handled my school work and riding time well but it was actually staying in sets of old, bricked buildings for long hours of the day that affected me.

I hardly had any friends at school and would just trail along with the biggest group of girls in my grade, that way if I felt like slipping away I wouldn't be missed. Now, doing school at home is a breeze since it only takes up about four hours of my day and I can start whenever I want. Lily knows this too but unlike me who starts school early so I can have extra free time, she tackles it later in the day.

"Ugh! Why did I decide to study chemistry?" groans Lily, slamming her laptop shut.

"Who knows. Being in Year Eleven must be so hard," I joke. 

Lily spins around on her desk chair and stares daggers at me. "Hey, you're two years away from this, and when you are struggling just like I am I will laugh in your face."

I start to cackle and roll in my bed, feeling Lily's gaze burn into my neck. "No, I'll be smart unlike you and do everything early, not start after dinner."

"Oh, whatever," Lily growls, turning back to her desk.

My laugh phases out and my body relaxes into my bed. Lily has been so kind and helpful to me these last couple of weeks. Each day we laugh over social media, go on trail rides where the gorgeous, grey, connemara mare Majesty and Virgo snuggle up to each other, or just have long conversations at night when the clubhouse is as quiet as a mouse and it feels like we are lost together.

She's told me a lot about herself but will always casually avoid questions about what she did before coming to SEC. I know she came from Sydney and she has some pretty crazy stories up her sleeves but other than that it's a mystery. I'm ok with it though because even though I've told her bits and pieces about the relationship with my mum and where I grew up, I try and keep as much to myself as possible. 

I roll over on my side and look over to the pictures on my bedside table. My hand carefully wraps around the one of Margo and I smiling when we were little with Mum and Dad standing behind us. I can't help but smile. Everything was so easy back then, everything was happy and exciting. I guess that's because it wasn't broken back then.

"How old is your sister anyway?" asks Lily, her back to me, covered in her flowing golden hair.

I drop the picture in a rush and sit upright. "What?"

"Oh, sorry. I always see you looking at that picture and the girl in it looks just like you so I've just always assumed she was your sister."

I look back down at the picture, picking it up again by its oak frame. Twelve-year-old Margo smiles brightly at me, her dark brown hair cut into its usual short bob and her eyes sparkling like a forest with Christmas joy. We did always look alike, but she always made everything her own.

"Right.... yeah, she's eighteen," I murmur, and clench Margo's necklace around my neck.

It wasn't technically a lie. If Margo was still alive she would have turned eighteen back in January. She isn't though and is stuck in time forever as fifteen while I must age each day without her. In a few weeks, I'll be fifteen as well. Why couldn't we have switched places?

A pen drops onto Lily's desk and she swings her head back. "Yes! I did it, all school work for this week is gone."

I give small claps to Lily, trying to get rid of the sad expression on my face, and Lily laughs. Our bedroom door suddenly swings open, startling us both. Mrs. Ramirez stands in the doorway, looking tired.