Hailey's POV*
It was sunrise and I was tacking up Acorn to perfect a killer jump combo. I led him to the arena and set up the jumps to their appropriate level for the Junior Nationals. When I was done, I saw Alex, Gaby, and Callum make their way to the grass arena. I jumped the fence and met up with them. "Hey guys." I said as I rode up to them, Pin right behind me.
"Nice horses." Pin said to Callum as he rode up to us. I just realized that Callum was holding the reins of two different horses, none of them were his. One was a dark bay Irish Sport Horse and the other was a dapple grey Oldenburg.
Dapple Grey Oldenburg (Mercury)
"This is Jet and Mercury. I thought you two could try them out for the day. If you guys get along, he's yours. For Nationals. " Callum told us as I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You want us to ride different horses?" I asked in disbelief.
"Jet's an Irish Sport Horse and Mercury's an Oldenburg. Great matches for your skill sets. They are horses you can win on. Pure strength and muscle." Alex told us as I looked at Pin and he looked at me.
"Thanks, but I've got Elvis." Pin said, petting Elvis' neck.
"And I have Acorn." I said, also petting Acorn's neck. Pin and I rode off, but I could hear someone following us. "I can't believe they want us to ride different horses. I won the Olympics on Acorn. There's no way I'm riding a different horse." I fumed as Pin listen to me ramble on. Pin and I rode to Pin's house. We dismounted and tied off our horses as we walked into Pin's house with Gaby behind us. We walked into the attic, where Pin stays.
"Having a spring cleaning?" Gaby asked as Pin and I put everything he had from Bright Fields in a box.
"I don't need it now that I'm not with Bright Fields." Pin told Gaby as he put something in the box then went to pick up something else.
"So you got your money back." Gaby said, picking up the radio that Zoe got for him to help with the sick Moore pony. "What you gonna do with it?" Gaby asked him as she put it in the box.
"Paid my family's debts." Pin told her.
"That's...noble and boring." Gaby said, leaning against the table.
"Can't be free with that hanging over you." Pin said as he was gathering some more stuff.
"Well, somebody got into the academy." Gaby said, holding the acceptance letter to Hamilton Academy.
"Give that to me." Pin said, reaching quickly for it, but I pulled it out of her hands first.
"Dear Mr. Hawthorne, I'm please to tell you that you have been accepted to Hamilton Riding School." I read off the paper as I looked at Pin, but he didn't look at me. "Pin, why didn't you tell me you got in?" I asked him.
"It doesn't matter. I'm not going." Pin said, ripping the paper from my hands.
"Pin, it does matter! You got into the best riding school on the mainland!" I told him, angry.
"What would you know about the best riding school! You're an American." Pin yelled.
I blinked in surprise. "You're an American." I repeated slowly. I scoffed as I shoved through Pin and walked down the stairs.
"Hailey." Pin said, reaching for my wrist, but I pulled away.
"Don't talk to me." I said as I want downstairs and out the door. I untied Acorn and mounted him as I rode down the path, back to Holloway. The groom took Acorn, so I was free to do God knows what. I looked around and saw Callum sitting on the stone wall of the entrance gate. "Mind if I sit?" I asked, motioning to the spot next to him. Callum nodded as he scooted over and helped me up. I sat next to him and looked at him. "You ok?" I asked him.
"I think Susie's breaking up with me." Callum told me.
"Mia?" I questioned and Callum nodded. "Do you hear that?" I asked him as the two of us were quiet.
"Callum, it's not me, it's you. I mean, Callum, I think we should stop seeing each other. No. I mean, Callum, it's not you, it's not me, it's..." I heard Susie say when Callum jumped off the wall.
"It's Mia, isn't it." Callum said, walking to Susie as she turned around. "She wants you to dump me, for the good of the yard."
Susie sighed and looked at the ground. "Pretty much."
"Gonna go through with it? Break my heart?" Callum asked Susie.
"Are you guys actually this stupid?" I asked, jumping down from the wall. Callum rose an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to continue.
"Susie, just lie. Tell Mia you broke up when in reality, you didn't." I said, before I walked out of the stables. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Susie grab Callum's hand and the two run off somewhere. I later got a text from Callum to meet him at the beach. I put on black jeans, blue long sleeve shirt, and my white sweatshirt. I met up with the others and we walked to the beach. I was talking and laughing with Callum while Pin and Gaby were talking and laughing as well. We rounded the corner to see the riders from Bright Fields already there. "What are they doing here?" I asked the others.
"Uh, this is our part of the beach." Mia told Gaby as she walked up to Mia and the other riders.
"It's a free country. I think we'll stay." Gaby said to Mia.
"Fine, we'll go." Mia told Gaby.
"Wait, Mia. Look, we've had our differences, but if you think about it, we all want to same thing." Callum said, trying to rationally talk to Mia.
"A koala bear for a house pet!" Becky yelled as we all gave her blank stares. "Said no one ever." Becky said, rolling her eyes.
"Anyway, look Mia, you care about horses and so do we. We're all competitive, we're all really good." I told her.
"So, instead of being enemies, why can't we just---be friends?" Callum started and Susie finished.
"It's only for today." Susie said to Mia, trying to persuade her.
"Brought marshmallows." Alex said, grinning, trying to persuade Mia.
"Fine." Mia said, clearly agitated as she sat down on the sand dune. I went over to eat marshmallows with Pin and Alex. Pin went off to talk with Mia so I was talking to Alex about random crap like Holloway, England, and America.
About 20 minutes later, we were all standing or sitting by the fire when Gaby stood up. "Right. It is time to liven things up a bit with a game of spin the bottle." Gaby told all of us, picking up an empty bottle. "The rules are simple. Spin the bottle, kiss whoever it lands on, and move on. Ok, let's form a circle over here." Gaby said as most of us walked over to her and sat in a circle; I was sitting next to Pin and Callum. "I'll go first." Gaby spun the bottle and it landed on Pin. I looked at him and he looked at me as Gaby walked up to him. She touched his cheek and kissed him. I stood up and quickly left the circle and walked away. When I was out of sight. I ran to a small cove and leaned up against the sandy walls, not expecting anyone to follow.
"Hailey?" Callum asked, walking into the cove. I looked and saw Callum walking up to me. He stook out his hand and I grabbed it, helping me up. "You ok? That must have been hard, watching Gaby kiss Pin." Callum said to me.
"It did." I said, softly. "Honestly, I was expecting Pin to follow me, not you." I said, chuckling.
"Guess you're stuck with me." Callum joked as I let out a laugh.
"I have another question. Why didn't you want Mia on your team? She's one of the best in the yard." I asked him, actually interested.
"She wasn't good enough." Callum told me.
"She won the county show with a sprained ankle. Firefly has more rosettes than any horse on the island. Even more than Acorn. I know you pick your team by a group vote, so...who voted against her?" I asked him.
"I did." Callum told me.
"Why?" I asked him.
"Because I was worried about too many Bright Field distractions." Callum said, walking really close to me.
"Wait, I'm a distraction? To who?" I questioned him.
"To me." Callum said as he kissed me. I pushed him back and smacked him hard across the face.
"What are you doing!" I yelled. "You have a girlfriend. She's in love with you. I have a boyfriend. I'm in love with him." I told Callum, really mad.
"Susie's fun, but...maybe I can do better." Callum said, smirking at me.
"You absolute pig." I said with venom dripping in my voice before I ran off to find the others. I was sitting next to Pin with a drink in my hand. When Callum looked at me, I looked down and Pin raised an eyebrow at me.
"You ok?" He asked me.
"We need to talk." I said as I stood up and grabbed Pin's hand as I led him somewhere away from the group.
"What's up?" Pin asked me. My vision got teary and I hugged Pin, sobbing into his chest. "Hailey, what's wrong?" Pin asked me, wiping the tears from my face.
"Callum...he...he um...Callum, he k-kissed m-me." I said, sobbing into his chest again.
I felt Pin's grip on my shirt tighten. He released me and kissed me. "I'm gonna kill him." Pin said, quickly standing up, but I grabbed his arm.
"Pin don't. It proves nothing." I told him.
"Nothing! He kissed my girlfriend." Pin told me, mad at Callum, not me.
"Baby, just breath and we both can figure this out together. Ok?" I asked him and he nodded. He took my hand and pulled me close to him.
When he walked back, the others were playing truth or dare. "Hailey, you in?" Gaby asked me and I nodded.
"Ok then, truth or dare?" Mia asked me.
"Truth." I chose.
"Do you think you're a better rider than everyone at Bright Fields?" Mia asked me as I looked at the ground.
"Ooh! That's a good questions." Gaby commented.
"I'm not answering that." I said quickly.
"So thats a yes." Zoe said, glaring at me.
"I guess Holloway breeds arrogance---Mia, the truce." Mia started, but was interrupted by Susie.
"Which will make it more satisfying when we win at Nationals!" Mia said, standing up.
"Oh, Hailey still hasn't answered the question." I stayed silent and glared at Zoe.
"Just say it." Callum said to me.
"Ok." I said, giving in. "Yea, I am a better rider." I told everyone.
"And with Pin and Hailey on our team, we can't lose." Gaby said, smirking at Mia.
"I disagree and I can prove it. I challenge Holloway to a race." Mia said to Gaby, glaring. "This is a game of truth or dare, isn't it?" Mia asked, smirking. "Your best rider against ours." Mia told us.
"Great idea." Alex said.
"Hailey, you're up." Callum said to me as I glared at him.
"I've got this." Zoe said, breathing as she stood up.
"Get Mercury." I said to Alex and Callum.
"What about Acorn?" Pin asked me, the boys listening.
"I need to beat Zoe and I need a horse that matches my skill set." I said as Callum and Alex come back with Mercury. I mounted Mercury and I rode out of the cove with Alex, Pin, and Callum behind me.
"Where's Acorn?" Zoe asked as she lined up her horse with mine.
"This is my new horse. Mercury." I told her.
"Since when?" Zoe asked, confused.
"Since I started riding to win Nationals." I told her as I looked ahead.
"The course is simple. Through the sand dunes, to the edge of Wrecker's Cove and back again." Callum told us as we nodded. "First one to cross the line wins." Callum said, drawing a line in the sand with a stick.
"Come on girl, for me. I can't lose Acorn." I whispered to Mercury.
"Force her to the outside when you turn. Save yourself a couple seconds." Callum told me. I glared at him but I nodded anyway.
"Three, two, one...ride!" Alex yelled. At that, Zoe and I immediately took off with me in the lead. I was ahead of her until we got to the sand dunes where Zoe began to push ahead put I easily gained the lead again. I got out of the cove first and was steadily ahead of Zoe, but I didn't see the whip in her hand. Raven easily passed me after I saw the whip being used. I urged Mercury on farther, but Raven and Zoe won. We rode past the others and to a small grass cove where we dismounted and I approached Zoe.
"What was that?" I asked her.
"It was me proving who's best." Zoe said to me, taking off her helmet.
"You know Raven's not ready for a whip." I told her, motioning to Raven.
"And you ditched Acorn for a random thoroughbred!" Zoe yelled, motioning to Mercury. "You've changed, hailey!" Zoe yelled, throwing a finger my way.
"I scoffed and looked at Zoe. "Me? Take a look in the mirror, Zoe." I yelled at her.
"It's like you've forgotten everything we've been through. You're not the same person I used to know. Not the same girl who helped the sick moore pony, not the same girl who helped rescue Raven, and not the same girl who saved me!" Zoe yelled, close to tears.
"And you're a liar." I spit at her. "You lied during that game." I told her. "Truth or dare, Zoe. How do you really feel about Pin?" I asked her, glaring.
"It's too late anyway." Zoe told me.
"I knew it." I scoffed at her. "And I called you my friend." I said to her.
"Nice way to treat your horse." Gaby said, running up to Zoe.
"My horse is fine, Gaby." Zoe said to her. Gaby rushed over to my side and we linked arms. We all looked and Raven is snorted, neighing, and pawing the ground.
"That doesn't like fine, Zoe." I said to her.
"Raven, I'm so sorry. I..." Zoe said, but didn't get to finish before Raven ran off.
"I'll go get him." Pin said to Zoe.
"I'll help you, Pin." Gaby said to Pin as she walked up to him.
I grabbed her arm and whispered, "thank you." She smiled before he and Pin went off to find Raven. We all stared at Zoe, seeing what she will do next. I mounted Mercury and quickly rode back to Holloway. I gave him to the groomers and I saw someone sitting on the stairs of Holloway. "Marcus?" I asked him.
"Hailey." he said before I ran up to him and jumped in his arms.
"What are you doing here?" I questioned.
"I'm here to see my cousin and how she's doing." Marcus said as I'm grinning like crazy.
"I'm really happy you're here, but you aren't supposed to be back for weeks." I said, looking at him, confused.
"I know. But I couldn't miss your birthday, could I." Marcus told me as I hugged him. He laughed and hugged back.
Ok guys, there's chapter 12!I really hope you enjoyed it so please comment and vote below! FYI- the next chapter is Zoe's Sweet 16, but instead of Zoe's, it's Hailey's. FYI again- Pin gets in a fight with Hailey's ex who I'm naming Logan Hambleton.