Maple Stream Riding Academy

Twenty-Four: Awards

        I slow Flame to a stop and walk him back to the trailer. Mason, Quinn, Winston, and Lynn are sitting on the ramp talking. When Mason sees me, he jumps up and rushes over to me. Flame's legs are covered in foamy sweat and I'm exhausted.

        "Oh, my gosh, Cami," Quinn says. "You look awful." I give her a weird look.

        "Thanks, I try," I say, taking my helmet off.

        "Dang, hottie alert," she says when she sees my awful helmet hair. I grin and put my helmet and vest behind the seats in the truck. I take my hair out of my bun, brush my fingers through my hair, and braid it so it's out of my face. Mason helps me untack and brush Flame. We wait for Reagan to finish her round before making our way to the steep hill we had to run up as a group. When we get there, Mason hands me my phone.

        "Real smooth move there, Cami," Mason says as I take my phone. "It's not everyday you bring your phone out onto a cross country course."

        "Wait, what?" Rea asks, confused. Mason tells her how I felt my phone in my pocket thirty seconds before my round started. We all get a laugh out of it and watch a rider struggle getting up the hill.

        "That's what I was like," Winston complains. "It was difficult getting up this hill." Everyone else agrees with him.

        "Really?" I ask, a little shocked. "This hill was the easiest part..."

        "How?" Quinn asks, putting her long black hair into a pony tail.

        "I stood up in my saddle, leaned forwards, and let Flame climb up the hill," I say.

        "Oh," Reagan says. "I just leaned forwards. I didn't think standing would help."

        "I think Cami and Flame have this secret unknown relationship where they can telepathically speak to each other," Mason says.

        We all laugh. We sit there for a few more hours, watching competators struggle up the hill. When the last competator finishes the hill, we all head back to the trailer and wait for the announcers to call us to the winners arena without our horses. We make our way to the brightly decorated arena and stand around the edges, about a hundred other people around us. 

        "In sixth place, we have Quinn Martin from Maple Stream Riding Academy!" the announcer yells. Quinn smiles and enters the arena, taking the ribbon from him and shaking his hand. She stands next to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place podium.

        "In fifth place, we have Gregory Rollins from Seaside Academy," the announcer says and hands the ribbon to a short boy. "In fourth place, we have Fiona Hebert from Redville School of Equestrians." Fiona walks into the arena and gracefully takes the ribbon.

        "In third place, we have Justine Banks from Fairview Elite Riding Facility. In second, we have Hannah Revilo from Second Chances Barn," the announcer speaks, handing the girls their ribbons when they are called. 

        "And last, but certainly not least, the winner of this year's 1st place ribbon and trophy, ladies and gentleman please put your hands together for Cameron Taylor!" the announcer proudly says. I stand in shock for a second before regrouping and stepping into the arena. The applause is almost deafening as I take the beautiful red, white, and blue ribbon from the announcer. It is a lot larger than the other ribbons, at least 20 inches long. I grin and take my spot on the first place podium.

        "Now, I would like to explain why Cameron got first place," the announcer says. "Cameron displayed great teamwork with 'Dancing in a Ring of Fire'. They acted well as a team and understood each other well. Also, Cameron Taylor ran the fastest time ever recorded on this course. You should be very proud of yourself, Cameron."

~

        When the ceremony is over, I walk with Quinn back to the group. The announcer sees me and summons us.

        "Cameron, your trophy is located in the office, would you like me to grab it and give it to you at your trailer?" he asks.

        "Uh, yes please," I say politely. He nods and turns back to the office. I turn to the group.

        "You did it!" Mason says, hugging me. I hug him back and laugh. "I told you," he whispers to me, making me smile. We break apart and he takes my hand. We walk back to the trailer together. We start loading the horses and tack back into the trailer. The minute we finish, the announcer walks over to me and hands me a tall trophy, I'm guessing about eighteen inches high.

        "Thank you so much," I say, gracefully taking the trophy from him.

        "You were so impressive today," he says. "You should be very proud of yourself."

        "Thank you," I say again as Mason stands next to me smiling.

        "Lucky man," the announcer says, winking at Mason and walking away. We laugh and I hand Lynn my trophy.

        "Put it in the truck," I say as I get into the van with Mason. We pull the center aisle back up to the way it was before, and I drift off to sleep, leaning against Mason with Reagan using my legs as support for under her pillow.

~

        I wake up a half hour before we pull into MSRA. Mason's playing with my hair and I'm texting Callie. I decide to just call her.

        "So how is it with you and Mason?" she asks, giggling. I look up at him.

        "It's good. Great, actually," I reply.

        "Mhmm, sure," she says. We talk for a few minutes before pulling into the academy and stopping in front of the barns. I hang up the call and stepped out of the van and straight to the trailer. I unpacked Flame and his tack  with Mason's help, fed Flame, and followed Reagan back to the dorm for dinner.