Unbreakable

Chapter One: Invitation

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"Mom! Mom take a look at this!" I yelled. I was sitting at the kitchen table holding a letter in my hands. My mom rushed in, a laundry basket in her arms.

"What is it, Erin?" She asked.

"I've been invited to a clinic hosted by Martin Fox."

My mother raised her eyebrows. "Invited? Don't you usually have you sign up for those types of things?"

"Well, yeah. But I guess they're doing a special one. Look, read this," I explained pointing to a paragraph on the letter.

Mom took the letter and read aloud. "'Congratulations Erin Lancaster, you have been invited to the Next Generation riding clinic hosted by the renowned Olympic trainer, Martin Fox.' Oh my God, this is wonderful Erin!"

"Keep reading," I encouraged, excitement building up in my chest.

"'You will join a group of nine other riders for a three day jumping class at Caille Pointe in Hamilton, New Jersey. Riders will gain experiences and skills to help them on their way to becoming the next generation of equestrian athletes.' Erin, this is fantastic!"

"So I can go?" I asked.

"How could I say no to an opportunity like this?"

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her waist. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.

"We'll talk more about this with your father later tonight. Now, get back to your school work," she said.

I groaned and pushed the letter aside. I pulled my laptop across the table and continued with my lecture video where my physics teacher was talking about Isaac Newton. I started online school a year ago when I decided to put more of my time towards horseback riding. I have five lessons a week and two days off, Mondays and Fridays. I'm at the barn from six in the morning until nine at night on weekends because my trainer also hired me as a working student. Attending a regular high school would be too overburdening.

Back at my old public school, I didn't have many friends. I was the weird girl who always smelled like a horse. A lot of the kids there thought I was stuck up because I rode horses, even though I didn't have one of my own. So switching to online school was probably the best decision I have ever made. And it works for me.

I finish the lecture and grab yogurt from my refrigerator and start on my homework. I can hardly keep my mind on track, it's buzzing with ideas of what the clinic might be like. I couldn't wait to tell my friends tonight at my lesson. And my trainer was going to be thrilled. After an hour of trying to do school work, I give up and go upstairs to my room. I pull on my favorite pair of bright blue riding tights and a black polo. I gather up my long, blond hair into a pony tail and then pull on my tennis shoes and grab my phone.

"Mom, I'm ready to go!" I say, running down the stairs.

"Okay, I'll be out in a second-" I hear her call from somewhere in the back of the house, "-make sure you grab the letter to show Jaime!"

Jaime was my trainer. I found her barn three years ago after my past one had burned down. I had learned so much from her, more than I had learned from anyone else. I was sure that this letter would make her day. I take the manila envelope from the table and jog out to my mom's minivan. Being seventeen and having no car was somewhat embarrassing, but I had didn't have enough of an income to buy one (mainly because I spend all of my money on horse related items). My parents paid for the lessons and horse shows which were both very expensive, so they had no obligation to buy me a car. A lot of the time I could hitch a ride with a friend and other times I could borrow a car. But not today; my mom had errands to run and my dad was still at work.