Electrically Charged

Chapter 4: Sprinklers

Cecily had her music on loud and was doing her best to not think about anything except for the still life she was drawing. Since the incident last evening she had completed five of them, and was now working on her sixth. All her drawing was a mad attempt to distract herself from the thoughts that were blaring in her brain. She refused to think about William. That stupid boy had scared her half to death as a joke. Of course he was going to be attractive. He had pissed her off and she had beat him up and he had to come strolling down the hall looking drool worthy. To some degree that just pissed her off more. But to another it made her cheeks get warm and her stomach flip and twist. She hated that her body responded to him like that. And so she had buried herself in her artwork. 

It was Thursday now. That meant the last day of electrical repair. Cecily had decided to giver her horse an off day and just let him graze and have fun. She had turned him out to pasture early this morning. It wasn't until 10 o'clock that she heard Henry's electrical truck pull into the driveway. She was not leaving her room under any circumstances. She did not want to see William again. Actually she was pretty sure she never wanted to see him again in her entire life. At least that is what she told herself. This was one of those circumstances that her brain said one thing and her heart whispered another. 

Cecily had never been boy crazy. Sure, she was a teenage girl so they were still on her radar, but she had never been all over the idea of a boyfriend. Her first and last real boyfriend had been in middle school. She had "dated" him from the middle of 7th grade until the beginning of her 8th grade year. He was a sweet, funny, and caring person and Cecily had really liked him. He hadn't been the most gorgeous boy she had laid eyes on, but his personality made up for it. Trouble had started with the fact that he was scared of her horse. That had laced the first bit of disappointment in her heart. Then during a school sleepover it was late at night and Cecily and her friends had been talking. It was late at night and Cecily had mistakenly let her fantasies regarding other boys slide off her tongue. It wasn't that she didn't like her boyfriend, but there were two other boys at her school that everyone watched and wanted. And Cecily fantasized about them like every other girl in her school. She knew her fantasies would never be more than just made up stories, and her imagination never went further than stolen kisses and unexpected attention. Somehow word spread to her boyfriend. Despite what she told him and explained he wouldn't believe her. So that ended that. He didn't trust her and she couldn't find joy being with him. 

Now going into her Junior year of high school Cecily went about her life. She still wrote in her diary about cute boys in her classes and occasionally she thought about what it would be like to be in a relationship with one of them. But she never really fought for the opportunity. No one could really click with her. Her mindset was too mature, she always wanted too much. And no one could be what she needed at this point in time. She needed long term plans, she needed companionship and effort. She wanted a friend who also happened to be in love with her and she in love with him. And she hadn't found a boy her age who would even consider that. So she went about her life watching other people bounce to different guys every couple of weeks. Never once did she really find herself wishing for a relationship like that. And she probably never would. 

William groaned as he pulled the toolbox out of the back of the truck. Everything hurt. Hell, he could barely breathe. His dad had told him to take it easy, had suggested that William should stay home. But he still found himself walking to the front door and greeting Cecily's father. He tried to tell himself he just wanted to see the grey gelding one last time. It had nothing to do with the girl who rode him. Nothing. 

He heard the music first. Nothing incredibly exciting. It seemed like whoever was playing it had just turned on the radio to the local pop station. So he helped his dad with wiring and hummed along to a couple of the songs he knew. He tried not the breathe to hard or too fast and he tried not to move too much. This morning when he had looked there were angry deep purple and blue bruises spread across his upper body. He was lucky she only went for the upper body. If she had hit him anywhere else... He shivered at the thought. He wasn't mad at her though. He knew he deserved it. He had really scared her, he could see it in her face when she looked at him to see if his eyes were open. The fear to the relief and finally the anger. Those eyes of hers could flash between emotions so quickly.

Lunch came and went and Henry was predicting another three hours and they would be done. Henry seemed to be very proud of the work they had done. It had been William's first big job and he felt like he had learned a lot. And not just about electrical wiring. He smiled at the thought. The hours ticked by and soon they were doing the final tests. All the lights in the house turned on and off, the appliances worked along with chargers and plugs. The last test was the arena lights. William volunteered himself to go try them. It was hot outside. Typical California summer. William found his way to the light switch for the arena lights. Then he heard the unmistakable clip clop of hooves. He turned his attention toward the pasture. 

Water was spraying everywhere. Sprinklers, big ones. Steel had heard the sprinklers start and now he was pinging around the pasture trying to avoid the water. He let out a loud snort and William began to hurriedly walk towards to house to tell someone. Then a streak of movement caught his attention. She was already running out to pasture. She grabbed Steel's halter and pulled the rope off the halter. She threw the gate open and called to him. The big horse turned to face her and seeing the open gate took off at a full gallop toward escape. William held his breath as the huge animal barreled toward the girl. She stood there calmly and waited. For a horrible second William thought the horse as going to barrel right through her. The gelding skidded to a stop and rose up on his hind legs far above her head. She stepped out of the way of his hooves and threw the rope around his neck and pulling him down to earth. The buckled the halter over his head and went to lead the horse out of the pasture. 

As she went to step forward one of the sprinklers rotated toward Steel. The edge of it caught his rump and the horse sprang forward like he was whipped. William watched as Cecily leaned back into the rope as the huge horse dragged her from the pasture gate and out of the way of the sprinklers. The white of his eyes were showing and he feet beat in a frantic pattern. Cecily was talking to him, trying to get him to stop. She dug her heels into the dirt and pulled as hard as she could against the rope. The horse was pulled into a circle around her. He pranced and danced throwing his head in air. She waited in the middle for him to regain his senses. She strained against the rope and fought to keep him in the controlled circle. Finally the horse stopped and let out a loud snort. Cecily let out a relieved laugh and gave the horse a pat on the neck before walking him over to his small paddock and away from the wet pasture. 

Steel was breathing hard and talked to him until he relaxed and stood by the fence calmly nuzzling her hand. Her arms were burning with the effort of keeping the horse under control. She was just glad he hadn't hurt himself and she had gotten him out of the pasture before he became to panicked to think straight. She took a deep breath. Apparently the sprinkler system had been tampered with or someone had turned the wrong knob and accidentally turned on the sprinklers in Steel's pasture. Cecily sighed and gave her horse a last pat before jogging off to the sprinkler panel to turn them off. 

William was still trying to process what he had just seen. The 5 foot 6 inch tall girl had managed to keep a crazed 1,200 pound animal under her control as he spooked and bolted. He was having a hard time figuring out how in the hell she was still in one piece. The horse had full out bolted at her and she had stood there and let him come to her. She hadn't panicked when he reared above her. She had calmly stepped out of the way. Never once did she look scared. And she should have been so scared. William had felt scared standing halfway across the arena. That girl was probably the craziest person he had ever met. He tried the arena lights to make sure they worked, which they did. Then he went inside. Henry was already working out the last paperwork and payment and William loaded the truck. Twenty minutes later Henry and him were both climbing in, starting the engine and getting ready to leave. As they drove down the driveway William saw Cecily standing in the open doorway watching the truck drive away. 

That girl sure as hell was something.