Soaring Higher

Chapter 19

'Are you ready!?' Elaine squeals impatiently.

'Oh come on. We're only a few minutes behind.' I say.

'It's only five fifty six. It will take us like ten seconds to get there.'

'Let's just go!' She says.

'Alright..' I pull my jean jacket over my shoulders, 'Let's go.'

I open the door, noticing how fresh it is outside.

We're walking and I notice Elaine keeps checking her watch.

I roll my eyes. 'It's fine, look I see it.'

We emerge under the gazebo. There are huge crowds of people there.

'Let's get the food before it runs out!' I say.

I push past the crowd and catch an eye on the buffet, there's slices of cake, lemonade fountains.. definitely not overdone.

I'm about to go grab some food, when I see Amber and Gryphon picking at the cake.

I sigh. I'm about to turn around, when I decide; who cares. If I don't care for them, it shouldn't bother me.

I stand right beside them, getting a cup of lemonade. They look at me and I just smile.

'Can I help you?' I say.

They don't reply.

Emery comes up to me, looking at me oddly, then catching onto what I'm doing.

'Can you move, we'd like some cake.' She smirks.

I snicker.

They look at us oddly, then move onto the dance floor.

We cut ourselves a slice of cake.
'Mmm. Vanilla.' I say.

'Awww. No chocolate.'

I scoop some up into my mouth. The spongy white cake is iced with frosting, not the bad type but a sugary one that makes me want more.

'Holy- who made this!?' I exclaim.

'They must have a really good cook.' She says, directing me through the crowd.

We find a few benches by the outskirts and sit down on one. I'm glad I'm wearing a jacket, I can only imagine how cold Amber must be in her white dress.

I wish I had worn tights.

'Um.. Maggie..' I notice Emery's expression holds an unusual expression.

'What's wrong?'

In her head it looks like she's debating with herself, whether to tell me or not. In the end she comes to her senses.

'I can tell you anything.. right?' She turns pale.

'Of course..' I'm starting to get concerned, though as soon as I reply, the colour rushes back into her face.

'I'm not sure how to say this.. but I have a.. crush.' She says in a hushed tone.

'That's fine. That's normal, even though it's only been about a week.' I smile, slightly confused.

'No... on her.' She flicks her eyes to a girl in our lesson named Casey.

Emery looks like she wants to curl up in a ball, and roll away.

I've never really been faced with situations like this, so I'm a little unsure of how to let her know I support her.

'That's totally okay.' I wrap my arm around her. 'Love is love. Whether it's a boy or girl.'

She seems lighter now that's she's let it out.

'Thanks.' She smiles shyly.

'No problem.' I say. 'So.. Casey. She's cute.'

'Aw shut up.' She giggles. 'You sound like my mom.'

'Yeah, okay.' I roll my eyes.

I adjust my jacket so it wraps around my entire body and I lean my head to the back of the bench.

We sit in the breeze for a few more minutes, until a boy walks up. I don't recognize him.

'Um. Emery, would you like to... dance?' He holds his head down.

I wiggle my eyebrows at Emery.

'Yeah. Sure.' She gets up, trying to hide her grin.

I sit down on the bench for nearly twenty minutes, becoming more and more apparently bored. I get several glares from Amber.

Something hits my back from behind the bench.

'Ouch!' I yelp, jumping from the bench.

'Maggie!' Someone whispers.

I whip around, to find Erin, Carrie, and Liv crouching like kids, as if I was the adult.

'What is it!' I say.

There's a twinkle in Erin's eye, but that doesn't hide the concern. 'Come. Follow us.'

What could it possibly be?

I silently follow them through the bushes that lead toward the...

I bounce up, barely containing my worry.

'What's wrong with her!' I whisper loudly.

'Nothing, don't you get it!' Carrie says.

I let the possibilities float around my head, and once I realize, my eyes pop and I sprint forward.

I climb over the fence of the paddock and jog to the little shed.

The doctor, Carter, Laurie and Lucas are all there, leaning beside the distressed mare.

Erin, Liv and Carrie catch up, sucking in huge breaths.

'I didn't know it would be so soon,' I gasp, taking in what was in front of me.

I kneel down beside the mare and stroke her neck. To my delight, she doesn't nip at our touches, only flinches.

'We're helping you.' I assure her.

We sit there for what seems like forever, while the doctor touches her stomach, but suddenly his face turns stone cold.

'Doctor..' Erin says.

He gestures her to come over, and she touches her stomach.

'Liv, take Maggie back to the party.' She says with authority.

'But-'

'Now.' She orders, the only time I've heard her raise her voice.

Lucas stands up, and reluctantly I follow.

'Is it-'

He cuts me off. 'We don't know. But it's not somewhere a kid should be.'

He led me back to the party, where it seemed joyful, but I went back to the empty cabin.

After a while, I couldn't stop the thoughts and I sob.