Comeback *Book One*

Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm clock buzzes its usual, annoying tone at three in the morning.

"Ugh! Shut up!" I groan, sleepily throwing my pillow at my alarm clock. It was a fail. My pillow misses the alarm clock by at least a foot. "Ugh." Slowly, I stand up and shut off my alarm clock. Stretching, I grab my pillow and toss it back on my messy bed. Time for a nice, hot shower.

~

After my quick shower, I feel refreshed and no longer grouchy. It is now 3:30 in the morning. I can hear mom in the kitchen, probably making coffee. I change out of my comfy pajamas and into a pair of stretchy, ribbed light grey breeches. I pair it with my black belt and a white polo. My clothes are comfortable enough to travel in, yet professional enough looking for the show grounds when I am not competing. I throw on a pair of socks and old, black 'Crocs'. Yes, I said 'Crocs'. Even though they aren't very stylish, they are comfortable. I put a pair of tall boots in my moms car already to change into at the show. I switch off my bedroom lights, carrying my duffel bag with non horsey things in it to the kitchen.

"Hi mom." I say to her, smiling.

"Hi, honey." Mom says, pouring some coffee into a travel mug. "I made you some tea. Its over there on the counter."

"Thanks." I grab the travel mug off of the counter and take a small sip of the warm tea, sweatened with just a drop of honey. Yum.

"Im headed over to the barn." I state to mom as I finish the tea.

"Ok. Ill be down at the barn by 5." Mom says as I put my empty tea mug in the sink.

"Bye, hon." Mom shouts to me as I exit out of the front door. Before I head to the barn, I put my suitcase in the car trunk. I decide to take the golf cart over to the barn and just leave it in the parking lot until after the show.

~

All the barn lights are on when I get there, so I suspect someone is already here. When I am walking into the barn, I see April jump out of her mom's car and run up to me.

"Hey, girl!" She says, slinging her arm over my shoulder. We walk into the barn together. As we enter, a few horses nicker at us. Faith, Danny, and Thor are already standing in the crossties, patiently waiting for their owners to tend to them. Ahead, I see Drew brushing shavings out of Faith's tail and GiGi doing the same for her horse. April says hi to both of them and walks over to her own horse.

"Hey, Gi." I say to her as I walk over to my pony.

"Hey, Drew." I say, smiling at him.

"Hey, Ali. I hope you dont mind. I brushed Faiths legs and tail off for you." Did he really think I would mind!?

"Its fine. Thanks so much!" I say to him. Drew tells me that he has to run to the office to grab his phone. When Drew is gone, I grab my black shipping boots from my tack box and put them on Faith. Then, I grab a carrot out of the fridge in the feed room. Walking back to Faith with the carrot, her ears are perked forward, as if knowing that I have a treat for her.

"Ok girl, you got me." I hold my hand out flat and Faith greedily munches up the carrot. She finishes chewing and I give her a kiss on the nose.

~

For the next half and hour, GiGi, April, Drew and I talk until all of the parents and Dee arrive at the barn. Drew's parents will not be coming this weekend. He will be hitchhiking along in one of the cars and will be sharing a hotel room with Dee.

"Ready to go?" Dee asks us. Of course, we all respond with an enthusiastic yes.

"Ok then." She laughs. "Go and load your horses in the trailer and we will hit the road."

GiGi, April, and I unclip our horses from the aisle and lead them into the trailer. Faith is loaded first, and then goes Danny and Thor.

"See you guys at the showgrounds." Dee says to us, closing her car door. Dee is going to drive the trailer to the show. GiGi is going in her moms car, April is going in her moms car, and Drew and I are going in my moms car. We are all caravaning down to Florida together. As soon as I sit in the car, my eyes feel heavy. Once I close them, I drift into a deep, dreamless sleep.

~

When I wake up in the car, mom tells me we are about five minutes away from the show grounds. I can't believe I slept for over four hours in the car! Mom hands me a strawberry Pop Tart, and I eat it hungrily.

No wonder they call it Orange County, I think to myself. Rows upon rows of orange trees are on both sides of the small dirt road. To my left, the orange trees disappear, replaced with large grassy horse pastures. Many horses dot the country landscape. A large horse barn comes into view. Dozens of horses practice dressage moves and leap over towering obstacles. This must be it. All of the Pink Blossom Team cars pull into the long gravel drive leading to the show grounds.

~

"Come on." I cluck at Faith. She obediently follows me out of the horse trailer. GiGi, April, and I all lead our horse to their stalls in the temporary barn. It's game time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you were wondering about Ali's prosthesis, she still has one, I have not forgotten about it. I just do not mention it anymore because it does not interfere with her life anymore.