Rumor Has It

The Very Beginning

*Buzz Buzz* 

I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my breeches. "You're a popular girl today," Luke joked with me. 

"Nope. Not me," I laugh. I have never been the 'popular girl'. In fact, I don't even know why Luke hangs out with me. 

I grab my phone out of my pocket and swipe it open. 

Stephanie: Have you seen this new blog?

MK: Nope. What's it about?

Stephanie: Rumors and talking shit about the barns that are attending WEF circuit this year. You know, the usual drama. 

MK: I'll look at it later. I'm out riding with Luke. 

"Everything okay?" Luke snaps me back into reality. What was this blog about? I would have to look into it when I got home. Right now I just want to enjoy my time with Luke. 

"Yeah, no, everything is fine. Sorry," I blush realizing I've been zoned out for a hot second. He pulls his horse to a stop and I pull up next to him and do the same. 

"What did Stephanie have to say?" He asks looking at me. 

"How'd you know it was Steph?" I smile. 

"Who else would you be texting besides her?" he smiles back at me. 

"Good point," a light giggle escapes my lips as I tell him what Steph had said. 

As we continue our way back to the barn, we put bets on who this blog was posting about. 

Little did we know,

we were the next victims. 

But, let's start from the very beginning. 

I'm Mary-Kate, but everyone calls me MK. I ride at an exclusive barn in Atlanta, Georgia, called RedWood Farm. I own my horse Lush Life "Elle", who I compete with in the junior hunters and lease Fancy Like "Fancy" and compete with her in the big equitation. I'm a junior at Westminster Academy where I attend with my best friends; Stephanie and Luke. They both happens to ride and show with me at RedWood.

Stephanie has been my best friend since 5th grade. We met at the barn and later she moved to my school. We've always been inseparable. Steph and I come from really different families. Her parents aren't interested much in the horses, so she works constantly to afford board and shows. Steph owns a horse named Best of Both Worlds "Miley" and competes in both the junior hunters and equitation. I may be biased, but Steph is one of the best riders in the barn. And definitely the hardest worker. She puts her all into everything.

Next is Luke. His mom, Danielle Redwood, owns the barn. I've pretty much have known Luke forever. He's always been around the barn. We didn't become close until freshman year when we got stuck at the barn during a storm and got to know each other. He's chill, not sure how much I trust him, but he's fun to hang out with. Luke has multiple horses. His main horse being Eenie Meenie "Moe", but we never know who's he's going to be riding and showing. I guess that's the upside of being the trainers kid. But besides all the nice horses, he doesn't get special treatment. His mom is just as hard on him as she is on the rest of us.

 I guess I should also mention I have the biggest crush on him. Sometimes he will say stuff that makes me think 'oh maybe he likes me back!', but most the time he doesn't seem very interested so I've kept it to myself and between the girls in the group. They're sworn to secrecy.

Last in our group is Brittany. I met her my sophomore year, she was a junior. We met at Red-Wood through Luke and we quickly became close friends. She goes to a different school, so she's more of a "barn friend." She owns a jumper named Roxy. She used to hangout with the group a lot, but now she mainly just hangs out with her boyfriend, Blake. Blake is not a favorite among the group, but we tolerate him for Brittany's sake.

The four of us have been preparing for circuit like crazy. Three lessons per week; two group lessons and a private each. But nothing quite prepares you for the circuit. 12 weeks of consistent showing and you have to be on your game. Only the best come to Wellington to compete, people come all the way from Canada and the northern states to compete.

The facility is top notch. The barns are all in pristine condition and are thoroughly cleaned before each week of showing begins. The stalls have nice, big windows in the back for the horses to look out into the big, lush, and vibrant green pastures. The stall fronts are all custom made. Each barn has their own riders lounge, filled with couches, TVs, snacks, and drinks. Sometimes we will have sleepovers in the lounge if we have to be at the show super early in the morning. Its one of my favorite parts of circuit.

One of my other favorite parts is one of my closest friends comes down to show and we live together for the three months of the circuit. Emily lived in Atlanta until our 8th grade year when her dad had a job transfer and they moved to Kentucky. Steph and I kept in touch with her and now she comes down every year from January to April to show. She wasn't able to bring her own horse this year, but she's leasing one from our barn to compete on.

Emily came down the week before the circuit started. Coincidentally right as all the drama started. It wouldn't be horse shows without drama. But nothing prepared any of us for what was coming.

Everyone was getting tacked up for our last big group lesson before we leave. I was chatting with Emily as we both heard our phones ding. .2 seconds later Stephanie came running over, tripping over her half zipped riding boots.

 "MK!" Steph shouted, "Have you seen what was just posted!?"

Both Emily and I shook our heads and pulled our phones out of our back pockets. "No what is it?" Emily questioned while looking for whatever Steph was talking about. "Just look!!" Steph shouted as she shoved her phone in our faces.

It was the blog Steph had texted me about the week before and I had totally forgot to look into it. 

It was titled "Rumor Has It" and it had a link attached to an anonymous app where you could submit drama and rumors. The weeks post began with,

"Rumor has it, Brittany Clark aces her horse to take the blues. She can't ride to save her life. Remember last years hunter spectacular?"

It circulated around the barns pretty quickly. Steph looked up at us waiting for a response. Emily and I were shocked. Who would say that about someone? Especially Brittany.

"I think it's Lyndsey. She's always been jealous of Britt," Steph said in a snarky tone. I brushed it off, "Maybe, but Brittany hasn't really spoken to her in ages, so I doubt it."

Lyndsey is another girl at our barn. Her and I didn't hit it off at first. I actually didn't like her at all. I thought she was snobby and obnoxious, but I've learned to like her. As I got to know her I better understood why she is the way she is. She doesn't have the best home life, so her parents buy her expensive gifts to make up for it. Like her Porsche, and her 6-figure horse, and every kind of designer purse there is. Lyndsey owns one of the most expensive horses in the barn. He's new to the barn and I haven't heard anyone call him anything but "Rumor" yet so I'm not sure of his show name.

I'm still not Lyndsey's biggest fan, but I have a hard time seeing her doing something like this. She already knows we aren't super fond of her, so why would she do something like this and make us hate her more?

Unfortunately for us, this was only the beginning of these blog posts.