Watch Me

Chapter Seven

Tara sat on Harley's bed and braided her hair. She looked around the room and her eyes fell upon a photo she hadn't seen in a long time. It was a black and white edit of Harley and her when they were about six. Harley's hair was curly and barely under control and Tara had neatly cut bangs. They were laughing and Tara remembered that they had both fallen playing tag.

"When did you print that?"

Harley looked up from her laptop and thought about it. "I found it maybe a week ago and had it enlarged and edited."

"That's so..." Tara didn't want to say sweet, or kind, or any of that. She couldn't find the word she wanted, but she knew that Harley understood. They exchanged glances and smiles then went back to doing what they were doing before.

Jumping up onto the bed beside Tara, Harley held a family size bag of chips then turned on her TV. She put in the first Twilight movie and Tara reached over to turn off the lights. They sat in the glow of the TV and laughed at the gag worthy romance. Neither one was a fan of romance films or stories. They were usually too sappy or corny or just plain weird.

They binge watched the entire series then sat in bed quoting the best lines and acting them out dramatically. It was dark and almost midnight before they settled down to silence. Tara rolled onto her side and Harley did the same. They faced each other in the dark and sat under the covers.

"Do you ever think about something so much that it just suddenly seems to become an impossibility? Like when you look at a word and it just looks wrong and you keep thinking about it and it only gets worse?"

Tara stared into the darkness. What was she getting at? "What about it?" Tara waited patiently for her friend's response.

"You know Tom?"

"Bailey or Stokes?"

"Bailey." Harley shifted and lowered her voice even more. "He asked me out."

Tara pushed up and exclaimed "asked you out? Harley, you've been waiting for this since seventh grade! What did you say?"

Harley was silent for a long time. Tara sank back into the bed, knowing what her answer would be. She heard the words slip out of Harley's mouth, barely audible. "I didn't say anything. I just stared at him and walked away." Harley took in a shaky breath. "It happened almost a week ago. I keep thinking about it, like maybe I should tell him yes, but the more I think about it, the worse things get."

"I think you should just go for it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You won't know unless you try."

Tara felt Harley's hand on hers. They fell asleep without another word.

*****

Harley stood against the fence next to Mrs. Douglas and watched Tara ride Jewel around without stirrups. Jewel trotted smoothly around the jumps and she kept her head relaxed at the vertical. Tara worked on her post and adjusted for each diagonal. Her mom called out instructions. "Halt, give yourself a moment to relax."

Jewel sighed and shook her mane. She chewed the bit and yawned. Tara pointed and flexed her feet then stretched her legs out. "Now take the oxer to the bales, over the red flower, cross rail, two strides to the hop line. Finish with the poles, yellow, and double."

"Harley, could you get some pictures of this round?" Harley held up her camera and nodded. Tara started the combination, Jewel bounding over the first couple jumps with her ears forward. She nailed the tight turn to the cross rail and stretched over the line of hops. Tara kept her core tight as she went over the jumps and focused on keeping her legs in place. They came up to the poles, slowed to a trot, then transitioned back up to a canter to make the yellow and double. Tara gave Jewel a nice pat on the shoulder then rode back around, making sure to keep the little mare moving.

Four combinations and many laps later, Tara slid off and loosened the girth. Jewel nudged her side and waited for Tara to take the bridle off. She yawned and licked her lips before walking towards Mrs. Douglas and Harley. "We'll look at the photos later."

Harley followed Tara into the barn where she was untacking Jewel and hosing her off. She set the camera on a shelf at a safe distance from the water. She fed Jewel a mint and played with her chin. "You looked great out there."

"Thank you!" Tara scraped the excess water off and started combing the thick black tail. "We've been practicing!"

"I'm not trying to sound mean or pessimistic or whatever," Harley fed Jewel another mint. "But do you really have an actual chance at getting there? Those are grand prix level jumps. It's amazing that even Mindy qualifies."

"It's not that I'm planning to win." Tara paused and thought about exactly what she wanted to say. "I want to prove a point. Everyone thinks that only the top dollar warmbloods imported from Europe are good enough and they forget all about the horses that are most common, the horses that are usually pets or whatever. Every horse has the potential to do great things and I think people forget that and just assume that purebreds are for show, ponies are pets, and 'mutts' are companions."

Harley nodded and stroked Jewel's damp neck. "I think she can do it. She has the spirit and sass to be a fancy show horse."

"She definitely has the sass." They both laughed and Jewel whinnied, making them laugh even more. When they finally sobered, Tara led Jewel out to the small paddock and then followed Harley back to the house. Her mom was making dinner and they swiped some of the biscuit dough out of the bowl before she chased them out of the kitchen.

With the camera in hand, Harley flopped onto the bed and started up Tara's laptop. She uploaded the photos onto the computer and they sat together as they went through and deleted the blurry ones. Tara checked her position and form in each photo, making mental notes on what to improve. After sifting through the photos, they began editing. Some looked great in black and white filters, some had amazing focus for a cropped close up. Most of them just needed a bit of light added to brighten up the colors and make them more vivid.

They printed their all time favorites and laid them on Tara's desk. Tara turned to Harley, gave her a hug, and whispered "thank you."