"BETHHH" I looked up from the book I was currently reading as I ate breakfast to see Alec come flying towards me once again with Jacob on his tail. I sighed closing the book, which happened to be a book on massaging for horses, and rolled my eyes as Alec crouched behind me. Ignoring the fact that he was begging me to hide him I focused on eating my fruit salad and chocolate donut.

"Beth please help me!" Alec whimpered again as Jacob finally made it to my table in the corner of the room by a window.

"He's behind me, stop interrupting my breakfast," I scolded them both, "Jacob stop scaring Alec, and Alec stop making Jacob mad," Finally Alec left his hiding spot,

"I'll buy you another donut?" He offered, I rolled my eyes. It was always about the donuts with these two.

"Perfect there you guys are!" I looked to my right as Lin came up to us obviously dressed to go out in a pair of white shorts, a light blue halter top and sandals, "As you know we don't have our midday lessons today so let's go into town! I already got a car from the school and everything so go change and meet here in 30 minutes!" I gaped at her as she caught sight of my sweats, obviously the 'go get changed' part of her little order was for me.
Before giving us anytime to argue she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my seat. Barely having time I shoved my book into my messenger bag, slung it over my shoulder and grabbed the donut as I shot the boys a look that clearly said 'help me!'
Eating my donut as Lin practically dragged me to our dorm she sat me on my bed and started ruffling through my dresser and closet clearly looking for an outfit up to her standards.

"Ok, here we go, put this on," She tossed me a pair of distressed denim shorts, a green tank top and my black and white converse which nearly clobbered me in the head before I caught them. Shoving me off the bed she pushed me into the bathroom shutting the door after she did. Sighing I changed. Luckily Lin definitely knew fashion. Letting my hair down from its messy bun I pulled on my converse and exited the bathroom sending a longing look to where I tossed my sweats into the hamper by my bed on the way out.

"Oh my gosh! I need to dress you up more often" I snickered at Lin who looked like a proud parent.

"Whatever, anyways promise we'll go to the bookstore and Dover saddlery store Solomon said was in town?" I asked, because really I was down to go as long as we went there,

"Yeah, yeah sure now let's go. Oh also wear these!" She chirped, tossing me my aviators which honestly I was already gonna wear. Grabbing my Messenger bag from where it lay on my bed I made sure I had my wallet, Drivers license and phone before following her out the door.
Pushing my aviators onto my head as we arrived at where Lin had said the car was, I leaned against the hood waiting for the boys and checked my old barns facebook page. I smiled softly at the picture at the top. It was a picture of my friends Sierra, and Chloe on three lesson horses, Tiger, Cherokee, and of course Jupiter, a bay arabian gelding that I had been riding for years. It was a sunset picture so you couldn't really see our faces but our trainer Luana had caught it at the end of my last show on Jupiter and with the barn.

Scrolling down I saw a few new posts and grinned widely as I saw a picture of Lily on the back of Jupiter. Keeping her promise Mom had enrolled Lily officially into the Lesson program before I had left and I had asked Luana to put her on Jupiter because there was no horse I trusted more then him to teach my little sister, while yes he was an advanced horse Jupiter was also a lesson horse that knew what level you were and he would be the perfect beginner horse for beginners. I grinned even more when I saw the caption attached to the picture,

'I'm so happy to be teaching Lily on Jupe, they work together so well even though Jupe misses his previous rider, Beth Palmer, Lily's older sister. We miss you Beth and hope you are rocking their world at Stride away!' I placed a hand over my mouth as a silent tear made its way down my face.
Quickly wiping it away I continued to scroll through the page. More pictures of the lesson horses, I laughed as I saw Sierra on Cherokee, laughing like the crazy person she was with Cherokee sticking his tongue out at the camera. While Chloe sat on Tiger face palming as Tiger seemed to be going to eat the phone which had taken the picture.
Closing Facebook I went into my text messages and opened our group chat.
Beth: Long time no talk you guys

Sierra :3 :AHHHHHH BETHYYYY HOW I'VE MISSED YOUUUU

Chloe ;b: BETH!!! Are you rocking their worlds yet!!! ALSO WHERES THAT PICTURE OF THE HORSE YOU'RE RIDING YOU PROMISE US!!!!"

I laughed aloud at that and attached a picture of Prim

Beth: Here she is you guys, she's a 7 year old Arabian Hanoverian cross mare, named A Promise of A Nightmare or Prim.

Chloe ;b: AWWWW she's so CUTE!

Sierra :3: I WANT ONEEEEE!!!
Cherokee's crazyyyyyy :-:
Chloe ;b: Just like his rider

Sierra :3: WHAT WAS THAT!

Sierra :3: SAY THAT TO MY FACE!!

Chloe ;b: I'm right next to you dimwit

Sierra :3: oh...oops

Chloe ;b: anyways...

Chloe ;b: ttyl Beth, we've got a lesson in ten and still need to tack...hehehe

Beth: Byeeee ttyl ily guys

Chloe ;b: love you toooo

Sierra :3: BYE WIFEYYYY I LOVE
YOUUUU

Shaking my head at their silliness I stuffed my phone into my back pocket and looked up to see Jacob, Alec and Leo? Walking towards us finally.

"You guys took longer than us to get ready, you're so weird," Lin complained, hopping into the passenger seat after tossing me the car keys, which might I add almost hit me in the face. I take it that means I'm driving?
Hopping into the driver's seat I buckled up as the boys got in the back.

"So you got dragged along to?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Leo who sat squished between the two already arguing numbskulls.

"I needed to pick up something for Myth and I ran into Lin who invited me along." he explained as I started the car. Backing out of the parking spot I realised something,

"So where exactly am I going?" I asked Lin as she shrugged her shoulders. I rolled my eyes,

"Lin, Leo switch, Leo I take it knows where we're going?" He nodded and I pulled forward again as Leo and Lin switched seats. I laughed at Leo's relieved expression as he sat in the roomy passenger seat. Backing out again I left the parking lot following Leo's instructions. Stopping at a stop sign before the main road I turned on the country station as I waited to enter the road.

"Stop poking me!" I exchanged a look with Leo as Lin complained in the backseat, "If you don't stop poking me I will destroy your family's crown jewels!" I choked back a laugh as I pulled onto the road. Alec was now squished against the door as far as she could possibly get away from Lin as Jacob seemed to already be napping with his head leaning against the window.

"Take the next exit and it'll be right there," Leo instructed as I exited the main road he was right, a sort of strip mall lay in front of us. Finding a parking spot near the bookstore I saw as we pulled up we all hurried out of the car at Lin's insistence that she needed more than 2 hours to shop as she had to be back in 2 and a half hours for her lesson. Locking the car I shoved the car keys into my pocket,

"Alright, here's the plan, we go to Dovers first, then the clothing shops," I sighed at that, "and since Beth clearly doesn't want to go clothes shopping she can go to the bookstore or something," I grinned cheekily at Lin as she added the last part. Walking down the street I watched as Jacob and Alec started bickering back and forth until Lin scolded them loudly,
"If you two don't stop bickering I swear that I will get Beth to ditch you here and make you deal with the wrath of Solomon and being late as the next bus comes at 5 o'clock and takes half an hour to get back to the school!" that shut them both up.

"You said you needed something for Myth right?" I asked Leo who fell in step beside me,

"Is he that black stallion you were riding?" Leo nodded,

"Yeah, his name's Inspired Myth, or just Myth, and a 12 year old thoroughbred stallion," he explained, his face clearly lighting up as he talked about his horse, "I've owned him for about 5 years now, we came to stride away together actually. I had actually been leasing him for a year before I bought him, so technically I've been riding him for 6 years" Leo looked over at me, "Did you leave a horse behind when you came here?" I shrugged,

"Sort of, I didn't own him, and I wasn't even his lease rider but he was my whole world when I rode him," Smiling softly I remembered Jupiter and the first time I had ridden him,

"His name is Jupiter and honestly, compared to the first time I rode him and now he has grown so much, mainly in skill and muscle. His personality has really shone through as well. He's a 14 year old bay Arabian gelding with spunk, but his personality it's just one that draws kids in. He's always been so sweet and when you ride him it's either you really love him or he works you through a problem that you didn't know you even had, though most times those problems the kids had they didn't want worked through but they needed it. He really was one of a kind." I finished softly,

"He sounds like a great horse,"

I smiled up at Leo, "He really is"

"Hey love birds hurry up!" my face turned bright red as Alec yelled at us, not bothering to look up at Leo I jogged a few steps catching up with the other three.

"You know what I know exactly who you two remind me of," I said coming up in between Alec and Jacob, linking my arms with them, "You two remind me of the Mario Bros,"

They gave me a matching incredulous look, "Actually no, more like the weirdo bros with how you two act," I said thoughtfully, Alec placed a hand on my forehead,

"Are you feeling ok?" I glared at him before letting their arms go as we came up to Dover saddlery. Entering the store I grinned as the sight of all the saddles, bridles, breeches, saddle pads and more. Making a bee-line to halters I started looking through them. Prim currently had a simple black halter that didn't look particularly very nice so I had told myself I would get her one.
Finding what I was looking for I grabbed a simple leather halter and made my way through the aisles.
Prim also had a habit of throwing her head up very high so I had wanted to work on that with her starting with a martingale. Searching the aisles I eventually found them. I sighed as I looked at the prices, horses were definitely not cheap. Finding one that seemed to be her size I made my way next to the breeches. I needed a new pair for showing as the white ones I owned were getting pretty tattered.

"Beth!" I jumped as Lin appeared with a grin on her face, "You should get these!" She held up a pair of navy silicone grip riding pants, and from the carrot shape of the silicone I guessed they were Kerrits. Taking them I nearly sighed at the feel of the smooth material, looking at the price I shook my head,

"I have to get a pair of show breeches. I can't get sidetracked," I said, handing them back and continued to search for white breeches. Moving to clearance I grinned, score! I found a pair of Kerrits GripTek II Full Seat Breeches for half their usual price.

Heading to the cash register I checked out quickly leaning by the front door as I waited for the others. My total came to $150 so I thought I had done pretty well for coming to a tack shop where you could spend well over a thousand dollars. Feeling my phone buzz in my back pocket I pulled it out. Grinning as I saw the caller ID I answered.

"BETHY!!!!" I laughed as my little sisters voice blared over the phone,

"Hey little lil how've you been?"

"YOU PROMISED TO CALL BUT HERE WE ARE AND I HAD TO CALL YOU!!!" I grinned as she ranted on and on,

"I'm sorry Lil I've just been really busy but I answered didn't I?" that got her to stop,

"SO, what's the horse you're riding like?" I could practically see her bouncing up and down in her seat,

"Well her name is Prim, her show names A Promise of a Nightmare, she's a chestnut Arabain Hanoverian cross mare and she's 7 years old. While only seven she's got the biggest jump I've ever seen and has quite the personality. Now it's your turn, how're you doing with Jupe?"  Yet again I could practically hear her bouncing up and down,

"He's awesome Bethy!! I love him so much! He's the sweetest horse ever and he's so gentle, not to mention Luana said that if I keep my heels down for all of my next lesson I can take him over a jump!!" I grinned,

"That's awesome Lil!!! I'm so proud of you!" Knowing Luana it wasn't going to be a very high jump, but more of a mini crossrail, although when I started jumping those I knew exactly how Lil felt, it felt like we could start jumping the world with it.

"SHUT UP ALEC!" whipping my head up I saw Lin fuming as Alec cowered back like a scared little puppy before Lin whipped the pen he had apparently taken out of his hand and gave it back apologizing profusely to the cashier before heading over to me.

"Hey Lil, sorry but I've gotta go promise to call you later," They were all looking at me now, I held up a finger mouthing one minute,

"Fine Bethy, you better not forget. Love you Bethy,"

"Love you too, remember to breathe," hanging up I looked up at my friends,

"Sorry about that, you guys all ready to go?"
"Wait a sec, do you have a boyfriend Beth?" Lin questioned a smirk on her face,

I rolled my eyes, "Can we please go?" leading the way out of the store I looked around for our next target,

"How bout Leo and Beth go to the bookstore while Jacob, Alec and I go to some clothing stores?" Lin offered, apparently Leo didn't want to go clothes shopping either. Agreeing to the plan we all agreed to meet back up in an hour and get some lunch together before heading back. Leading the way down the sidewalk Leo quickly caught up falling in step beside me, his hands in his jean pockets.

"So a boyfriend huh?" Leo asked,

I chuckled, "Not even close, that was my little sister Lily," I turned my head to look at Leo in time to see a faint blush color his cheeks,

"What's your family like?"

I smiled thinking about all the good memories I have of them, all the bad memories locked away in a vault, even the good ones that went along with the bad ones.

"Well, I have three siblings, one older brother, Nathan, he's going to community college close to home, then there's me, my younger brother Jake, he's already in that teen boy phase at 12,"

I said with a laugh, "Then there's Lily, she's only nine but closer to me out of all my siblings, probably because she's the only other equestrian in the family. Then there's my Mom, she's great and works as a nurse at the local physicians office so she gets pretty good hours." I glanced over at Leo to see him looking at me thoughtfully,

"What?"

He shook his head, "Nothing just seems like you love your family a lot," well he had that right, "Tell me about your sister, she sounds like she'd be like you,"

I laughed, he couldn't be more right, "Well she started getting horse crazy because of me, when I just started working at my barn, Nathan had just started community college and Jake and Lily were too young to stay at home alone so I brought them with me when I was just doing chores at the barn, or if my best friends were there when I was helping with lessons I would have them hang with them during the lessons.
Jake hated it, he always brought the ipad and headphones with him and hid in the tack room curled up in a chair. But Lil, well Lil bloomed, from the moment she started seeing horses she was alive, she smiled more, it used to be so hard to get her to smile, and laughed so much more. I knew she wanted nothing more than to be around horses or even better ride them. So whenever I had extra money I would pay to give her a guided lease ride, which was basically a lesson but taught by me so it was cheaper since I wasn't officially on the payroll for teaching lessons," I stopped as I caught Leo looking at me again a smile on his face.

"What this time?" I asked glancing away quickly, fiddling with the silver ring that sat on my middle finger.

"Nothing, just sounds like your sisters not the only one that came alive around horses," I gave him a small smile,

"Alright enough about me, what about you? Tell me what your family's like?" Leo visibly stiffened,

"Not much to tell, it's my Mom, my Dad and my older brother Dylan. My Dad used to be a pretty big equestrian, my Mom had grown up teaching lessons and my brother actually came to Stride Away. My mom and Dad run a small riding facility, and well yeah that's about it," I looked at him curiously, he had talked about Myth earlier with so much more warmth in his voice.

"Oh we're here," Leo interrupted my thoughts pulling open the door to the bookstore. Shooting him a small smile as he held the door for me I made a beeline to the back rows, where they always put the nonfiction books. My plan was to see if I could find a few more books on equine massage or just horse books in general. Looking through the rows I saw leo out of the corner of my eye, leaning against a shelf just looking at me. I gave him a sheepish smile,

"What?" I felt like I said that a lot around him,
"Nothing you just look so excited looking through these old books," I gave him an offended look,

"Old books? These are beautiful works of art, not to mention 'old books' have so much more character then new ones," I informed him, placing my hands on my hips before a book caught my eye. Perfect. Grabbing the book off the shelf I flipped through it quickly before walking along the shelf looking for others like it. Grinning as I found a few more books mainly, on massage, training techniques and even one on liberty work. My arms now weighed down. I shuffled down the shelves looking at the other books.

"You know if you're gonna keep shuffling around like that why don't you just let me hold them for you," Leo said coming up besides me, I grinned sheepishly again before handing him the books,

"Aren't you gonna look for anything?"

"Nah, I mainly came along with you because I didn't want to deal with the other three arguing," I barked out a laugh before continuing down the row running my fingers down the spines of the books. Grinning as I found a few classics, such as Little Women, and National Velvet, I grabbed each and finished off the stack with The Perfect Horse, and All the Light we Cannot see. While I had read two of the books they were good books and I had wanted to buy them but we didn't have a used bookstore nearby that had them.

"Alright I think I'm good now," I said, sending Leo a smile before heading to the cash register and checking out.

"Let's find the others I guess," I offered as we exited the bookstore, "But let's stop at the car and drop this stuff off first," I said with a grin before leading the way to the car. Putting the bags in we made our way down to where we all agreed to meet up only to see Lin running towards us with Jacob and Alex following,
"We're late!!!" Lin shouted running past us to the car, I looked at my phone, well she was right it was 2:45 and she had to ride at 3:30, the time for her groups lesson had been moved back an hour as it was too close to their midday lesson. Laughing I jogged back to the car with Leo before hopping in the driver's seat.

Lin tossed me a bag after buckling and I was happy to see it was McDonalds. Opening it I pulled out the fries and burger, Putting the fries in the cuphold I balanced my burger on its wrapper on my thigh before pulling out of the parking lot and onto the highway. Eating and driving was a skill I had mastered when I had needed to get to the barn right after school and eat a late lunch because I would be there late.
.  .  .
"Really?" I asked as Prim shook her head once again. Rolling my eyes I continued rubbing her back in a way that my Massage book had said was relaxing to horses. Sure enough not even two minutes later Prims head and bottom lip drooped. Continuing the massage until my timer on my phone went off I closed my book and hurried to the tack room.

Grabbing Prims saddle, new martingale, neon green boots, grey saddle pad, and bridle I hurried back. I had groomed her up to the point where she looked quite spiffy before the massage and now I had to tack. By the time I was cinching her girth Prim was back to being awake  and to add to her bright eyes and bushy tail she was pawing the ground, but luckily it was pawing instead of biting.

Slipping off her halter and putting her bridle on in its place I made sure my helmet was properly buckled before leading her to the arena. Checking her girth one last time at the mounting block I threw the reins over her head, grabbing them once again I mounted up fixing my stirrup length as Prim started to walk.
Lengthening a hole since I knew we were working on flat work today, I directed Prim to the rail letting her walk about half a lap before getting her collected for another half a lap. Asking for a trot sending her in a rising trot I grinned as she didn't give me any sass. Trotting for a lap or two I started sitting and squeezed twice with my outside leg asking for a canter.
Naturally I got a buck instead, sighing I asked again keeping my hands higher and her collected. Dropping my inside hand as she picked it up only with a head toss I gave her a pat on her neck before continuing. I remember Solomon saying that she was able to do flying changes it just took some work.

Tapping my inside leg I shifted my weight to the outside asking for the lead change.
It didn't go well, throwing her head up in protest Prim let out a large buck before bolting forward into, let's say a very uphill canter. Turning in a tight circle I brought her down to a trot, before sending her back into a canter.
Trying it again she bucked but landed on the other lead, praising her on changing her lead I brought her down to a walk and waited for the rest of the group to get here.

"Well, that seemed interesting," I looked to my right to see Leo sitting on the mounting block,
I snorted, "You can say that again,"

"Well at least you did it,"

"Yeah...at least we did it,"

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