Alone In The Big Leagues

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I take another long sip to save me from answering for just a few more seconds. I put my glass down and look up at Mrs. Kingston who awaits my answer with interest. "Riding is going well."

"Ah and I've heard that you've got yourself a new horse?"

I push the frown back that wants to explode across my face. "Yes. King." I say his name quick and clipped.

"Oh?" She says, "Well will you be jumping him in the next show?"

I open my mouth to answer but my father quickly butts in "Yes she will be showing him in the next show."

I look at him with my mouth open in disbelief. He didn't even ask me if I would be okay with doing a show at this time. I'm scared to do one again. I know that the only reason that the last show went the way is did was because Zane got scared of that last jump. I need to stop thinking about this. If I don't I'll end up crying and probably be able to fill my glass all the way to the top just full of my tears.

"Oh, well we look forward to seeing you there." Mrs.Kingston pauses to put a green bean in her mouth. She looks at Lottie, "Do we need to get you another horse and name it Queen for you to be as good and skilled as Jewel? Maybe you would start coming home with some blue ribbons." Lottie looks shamefully down at her plate thats still full of food that seems to be untouched.

I'm a little taken aback by Mrs. Kingston's words. They were harsh and clearly hurt Lottie's feelings. Lottie was always all about the blue ribbons for shows. It seemed like thats all she wanted out of all of these shows and didn't care about just having fun. Of course now it makes more sense. Her parents shove the fact that she has't gotten a blue ribbon in her face. It seems to be a constant thing too. The worst part is that they seem to always throw me in the mix of the conversation. That makes it seems like thats one of the main things that fuels her passionate hate for me. And now at this point I feel like I have greatly misunderstood Lottie and her family.

Lottie never replies as she avoids her mothers waiting stares. I shift in my chair uncomfortably waiting for the silence to be broken. After a moment Lottie's mother looks away from her and smiles cheekily at my parents. They give a small uncomfortable laugh. Lottie's father chimes in "Frank would you be interested in talking business for that fine animal?"

Father laughs a little bit "Um I'm not sure about that. King was a gift to Jewel for her birthday. We figured she was ready to get back into the saddle after she recovered from her accident."

"Ah, I see." He turns to me "And how are you after all of that Jewel?"

I have to swallow hard several times before I reply. "Better, thank you." I have to blink several times as well in order to keep my hot tears from spilling over. They continue to build up at the brim of my eyes and a tear manages to escape at the corner of my eye. I quickly wipe it away in hopes that no one notices. No one does.

Mr. Kingston looks up from his plate and at me "Good. That's good the hear. King? How are you working with him?"

The frown that was carved into my face deepens at the mention of King's name. "Um," I peek at my father who waits patiently for my response, "I, um I think that we need more practice and we need to work with each other more. To tell you the truth I don't I don't feel like we have connected with each other the way we need to." I peek at my father again and see the disappointed frown he is giving me. Then the idea that I had when I left the stable comes back to my mind. "He got pretty spooked today" the first part is a lie but the second part would not be.

My father instantly perks up at the sound of this. His body is clearly tense and he presses his lips tightly together into a thin line "How did he get spooked? He wasn't hurt at all was he?" His voice is hard and full of concern.

" No. I think he's fine he just got spooked when Mother honked her horn when she first got to the stables to pick me up." I smile inside but don't dare to let it spread across my face.

My father looks to his right at my mother whose mouth has all but dropped to the floor. Her eyes are as wide as they take turns looking at both my father and myself. Discomfort is clear as she squirms around like a worm in her chair under my father's glare.

The Kingston's all go silent. Mr. and Mrs. Kingston both are leaned forward in their chairs interested in what will happen next. Lottie has finally looked up from her still full plate. Her food is probably cold now so it will probably need to be heated up in order to taste good again. Vince who sits across from me sits quietly in his chair he finally stopped talking when his mother started asking me questions.

"Ugh Daisy! You should have known better who knows what could have happened." Mother looks down shamefully. Father huffs the tips of his ears fuming red. "We will talk about this later," he gruffly replies to whatever my mother didn't say.

I take one more bite of my small mashed potato pile therefore finishing it off. Then I pick my napkin up off of my lap and softly dab my face. The table continues to stay silent for a few more painful minutes until Mrs. Kingston clears her throat and Mr. Kingston takes advantage of the silence breaking, "Would you all like to finish up here and accompany us back to our place for some tea? Or we don't even have to drink tea we could just sit and chat." Mother still stares down into her lap but Father looks pleased at the offer we were made.

"Of course! We accept your offer! Does this mean that everyone is ready to go?" I look at him and nod causing everyone to follow my lead, "Wonderful! I'll go ahead and get the check."

"Oh no don't worry about us! We will get them separate," Mrs. Kingston cuts in.

"Nonsense! I will get the check for both of us after all you did invite us to dinner and to your home. I simply insist on getting the check."

There is no more debate as Father takes care of the check for both families. As he is paying people come in and start to clear the table, my empty plate is whisked away from out in front of me. I watch as they take everyones plates just as fast as they took mine. While this is all happening I can't help but wish the night would end already. It feels like it has gone on long enough but it will only continue at the Kingston's home. This too I feel will be long and very very interesting.

Hello again my amazing people!!! I'm back!!! Yay!!! *Happy Dance* Not sure what happened but I just pulled out my writing notebook in class one day and it seemed like all the words that were hiding somewhere in my brain just spilled out of my hands, into my pencil and onto the paper! And let me tell you it was AMAZING! Best feeling ever! Really it was I'm not even kidding. Its feels really good to write, I'm telling you. After so many sad months of nothing. No inspiration. No will to write. Nothing and it was a really sad and empty feeling inside. Okay I know I know I'm getting all sad and mushy. Its just I really missed writing this book and I missed all of you! But I'm back and hopefully the inspiration stays too!

I can't honestly tell you when this book is going to end. I don't even know myself! I have no idea where I'm going anymore! One moment I have something all worked out and it makes sense then my brain is like "Um, hi. Nope nope nope thats not happening BAM! You just changed your mind and the fate of this entire book!" and I'm like O.O not sure what to do but lets just roll with it! I don't know if I will be updating every week like before but I'm sure going to shoot for that! Anyways I love you guys thanks for sticking with me and if you read any of this please comment Fishapplesause! Funny store behind that I used to say that when it got really quiet when I was with my friends! It was funny! Anyways again if you read any of this comments Fishapplesause! Love you all! Happy Reading!

~Ash