When the final bell of the day rang, I was the first one up and out of my seat, much to the amusement of my classmates. I hurried out into the hall and made my way to my locker, dodging the other students as I went.

            When I reached my locker, I shoved my books onto the shelf and then grabbed my bag. As I went to turn around, an arm slid around my waist and I looked up to see my boyfriend, Adam, smiling down at me. “Hey.”

            I smiled up at him as we headed down the hallway together. “Hey yourself. How was your afternoon?”

            He rolled his eyes. “Boring as hell. I wish we had classes together after lunch. I like my mornings a lot better because you’re with me.”

            I chuckled at him. “Such a charmer,” I said teasingly. “You’re just hoping to get lucky when I get back from the show this weekend.”

            He grinned widely. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

            I laughed. “I suppose not.” We had reached the door and he opened it, standing back so I could exit first. “I wish you could come with me this weekend,” I said as I stepped outside.

            “Me too, baby. But we have the big game tomorrow. I might be able to make it out on Sunday.”

            I shook my head. “No, I don’t want you to have to drive all the way out there for one day. And I’ll be too busy on Sunday to give you the attention you deserve.”

            Adam brushed a lock of my hair away from my face. “Any attention is better than none at all.”

            I giggled. “God, that was so cheesy!”

            He grinned cockily. “Yeah, but you love it when I’m cheesy.” He led me into the parking lot and stopped, turning me so he could kiss me. “I’m going to miss you this weekend. Who else will wear my number for me?”

            “Oh, I’m sure you could find a lot of girls to wear it for you.”

            He rubbed his nose against mine. “In their dreams. You’re the only one I want to be with.”

            “It’s a good thing I know that, or I might have to be jealous.” I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him again.

            “Oi! How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like seeing PDA’s?”

            I broke the kiss and turned to glare at my twin brother Luke, who was leaning against his car. “Mind your own business!” I kissed Adam once more and hugged him. “I’ll be home really late on Sunday, but I’ll let you know how the weekend is going, okay?”

            He sighed and held me tighter to him. “Okay. I love you.”

            “I love you too. Kick some butt at the game tomorrow, okay?”

            “I’ll try. Have fun at the show and be careful.”

            “I will. See you on Monday.” We exchanged one last kiss before I hurried over to where Luke was standing, pretending to gag. “Oh, grow up.”

            He slung his arm around my shoulder and ruffled my hair like he always did. “Dana, you know I care about you. But that was seriously gross.”

            I laughed and shoved his arm off of me. “Come on little brother, we need to get home and get the horses loaded.”

            “Ten minutes older than me and you never let me live it down,” he grumbled as he went to his side of the car.

            I slid into the passenger seat as he got into the driver’s seat. We drove the ten minutes to our house, talking about the upcoming show. It was the first major one of the season and we were both excited about it.

            We pulled into our driveway and Luke parked by the house. We hurried inside and changed, then grabbed the bags we had packed already and brought them back out to his car. He threw them into the back seat before we walked down to the stable, where chaos currently reigned.

            The two trucks and trailers were already hooked up and waiting, so I knew we’d be ready to load up soon. I waved to my best friend Cindy as she hurried by, her arms full of tack. She grinned at me before disappearing into the tack room of one of the trailers.

            I walked into the barn and found my mom. “Hey mom, we’re home!”

            She turned and smiled in relief. “Good. Go grab your horses; we’re ready to load them up.”

            I nodded and scurried down to where my bay mare was waiting for me. I grabbed her lead rope and opened the stall door. “Hey Destiny. Ready for our big weekend?” I clipped the lead rope onto her halter and led her into the aisle where I attached her to the crossties and went to my tack box, pulling out her shipping boots. I quickly put them on and unclipped the ties, leading her into the yard.

            Luke had his feisty gray gelding, Justice, out there already. He loaded him onto the trailer quickly and once he was out of the way, I put Destiny on. I made sure she had hay for the trip, and then gave her a quick pat before exiting the trailer. Cindy loaded her black gelding, Max, after me and then we closed up the trailer doors.

            I made my way to the tack room to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. Satisfied that I had everything I needed, I went back into the yard. My dad was just loading his big chestnut mare, Savannah, onto the second trailer. My mom’s gelding, Duke, was loaded already and so was the one other horse that was going, Star. He belonged to another student, Sarah, who was meeting us at the show. I was good friends with her as well.

            Once the horses were loaded and we had triple checked that we had everything, my parents climbed into one of the trucks. I waved as they slowly made their way down the tree- lined driveway.

            One of our grooms got into the other truck and followed my parents. Cindy got into her car and I followed my brother back to his car. We climbed in and took off, following behind Cindy.

            It was a two- hour drive to the show grounds, and I was bouncing in my seat the whole way. I was so excited for the first show of the year. We arrived at the grounds and there was a flurry of activity as we got the horses unloaded and settled into their temporary stalls. I made sure Destiny was comfortable and then helped unload all the tack.

            It was starting to get dark by the time we were finally done. We were all tired, so we went out for a quick dinner and then retired to the motel we were staying in. Our groom, Rusty, was staying in the tack stall at the grounds, just to be safe.

            Cindy, Sarah and I were sharing a room. I claimed one of the beds immediately and Sarah quickly jumped onto the other one. Cindy scowled as she grudgingly went over to the cot and plopped down. “So not fair.”

            I laughed at her. “You snooze, you lose.” I looked at my watch. “I’m going to call Adam quickly and let him know we’re settled.”

            After I had talked to him, I changed into my pajamas. I yawned hugely and climbed under the covers. Cindy and Sarah did the same and I flicked off the lights. “Good night.”

            They murmured back to me and then I was out like a light.

            The next day went by quickly. I had three classes that I was entered in, and I placed third, fourth and seventh. I was very pleased, as this was my first show season with Destiny. Luke ended up winning his classes with Justice, and of course he had to gloat about it.

            I called Adam after dinner and told him about my day. “I was a little mad at myself in the last class. I set Destiny up completely wrong for the combination, which is why I took two of the elements down.”

            “You’re still getting to know the horse, Dana. Don’t beat yourself up about it.” His voice became muffled as he spoke to someone. He came back on the line. “Sorry baby, I have to go. I hope you have a good day tomorrow. I love you.”

            “Love you too. And I’m glad you won your game. Talk to you tomorrow.”

            When I woke up the next morning, I had a feeling that something was wrong, but I couldn’t place it, so I ignored it and went about my day. Destiny and I had a better day, even managing to win one of our classes, which I was ecstatic about. Luke and Justice had a bit of an off day, but they still managed to be Champion in their division.

            After the horses were all loaded up again, we all piled into our respective vehicles and headed home. Halfway there, Luke swore under his breath. “I need to stop for gas.”

            “Okay, that’ll give me a chance to grab a snack. I’m starving.” We pulled up to the next gas station that we came to. I went in to grab something to eat for both of us as he filled the gas tank.

            As we pulled back out onto the highway, I sent Adam a text, saying we were halfway home and that I couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow. He sent one back saying the same and that he loved me.

            It was almost completely dark and we were about twenty minutes from home. I turned to tell Luke something and his eyes suddenly went wide as saucers. “Shit!”

            That was the last thing I heard before my world came crashing down around me.

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So here's the first chapter. I know it kinda leaves you hanging, but I had to end it there for the full effect. I'll try and get the next chapter up as fast as I can.