The Eventers Club

Chapter 41:

Evelyn's POV:

" OHMYGOD! "

Ash, Tina, and Blair squeal so loudly that I swear horses stuck their heads out of their stalls to see what was going on.

" Shhh! " I quickly whispered. " Girls seriously! It was no big deal! " I try to play it down but truth be told, my kiss with Jake, my first kiss, was probably the biggest deal ever to me.

" Took you guys long enough! " Tina spoke up in a quieter voice. " Like, damn woman! "

" That's what I told her! " Ash replied as she laughed. " Like seriously I know you two were, like, enemies before, but that was a whole summer ago! "

I rolled my eyes. " You're going to get us in trouble! " I hush them as a few grooms peak out from their assigned horses' stalls.

" Eves right! " Blair spoke up. " We'll have plenty of time to grill her on her newfound relationship after the show! "

" Until then we'll just come up with cute couple names! " Tina giggled. " How about...Jaeve? "

" Eake? "

" Markoway? "

" Shut up! "

" Girls? "

We all turn to see Darla striding over to us. She stops in front of us and crosses her arm over her chest as she raised a brow.

I prayed the girls wouldn't say anything...

" Warmup has started... " She glanced into Hugo's stall beside her.

Hugo was only half tacked up, still needing his girth, boots, and bridle.

" What's the hold-up? "

I hit my lip as I felt myself blush, looking down at my muddy paddock boots, which I still needed to change into.

" Sorry, Darla... " We all chorused.

" I know you're all sad about summer ending, but missing the final event of the biggest show of your preliminary rider lives won't help the matter " Darla spoke with her 'coach' tone of voice. " Now get ready and get warming up! "

We all nodded and quickly dispersed, getting our horses tacked up in record time.

Since so many riders had been eliminated during cross country yesterday, the finalists for show-jumping was small, meaning that Tina and Blair would be going very close to the same time as Ash and me.

The warmup arena was directly across from the show jumping arena, the one I had watched riders canter through on tv so many times.

Now I was going to be riding in the same arena as so many great riders before me.

It still didn't feel real.

With so many riders gone after cross country, the riders that remained were in top form. No horse even brushed a rail of any of the practice jumps and their riders wore hard, serious expressions.

This was it...

I warmed up Hugo in a quiet corner of the grassy arena. He listened to my every cue and was in top form, not showing a hint of fatigue after three days of intense eventing.

I saw Jake enter the arena on Luna and we smiled at each other but warmed up separately. 

There would be time for talking after. Now was the time for action.

Kelly was one of the first riders up and the riders in the warmup ring were able to watch thanks to the jumbo screens outside the arena

Don seemed off as he cantered around the course of jumps. Now that I thought about it, I had barely seen Kelly practicing on her own after her lesson. Maybe all that lack of work was finally starting to catch up with her.

I felt sorrier for Don than Kelly though.

When they brushed the top rail of the first jump, making it wobble dangerously, I knew they were in for a bad round.

Bad didn't even come close to how they did.

Don refused 2 jumps and ended up knocking all the rails except for 10, which, in a 15 jump course was worse than bad.

" That's gotta suck for her " Blair commented as our small group let our horses walk together. None of us had even come close to touching a rail during practice, so we let our horses have a nice break before our rounds.

" No kidding! " Tina replied. " Poor Don...he looks frustrated... "

" I would be too if I had to put up with Kelly " Ash commented.

I nodded. " I agree. Don's gonna need some serious TLC to get his confidence back "

" We could work with him together, " Jake told me. " Maybe I could convince Sully to let me board Titan and Luna at Holloway for the winter "

The girls giggled not-so-subtly beside me and I sent them each a death glare before smiling at Jake. 

" Sounds perfect! "

After a few more riders, Tina was called in with Surfer. She shot us all a nervous, but excited look as Surfer trotted out of the warmup arena.

The rest of us halted our horses at the back of the arena so we could have a good view of the jumbo screens.

Surfer cantered lazily around the arena at first, but with some encouragement by Tina, he was tracking up nicely. Tina and Surfer had really bonded over the summer. In the beginning, Tina could barely get him to do a full canter lap around the arena without spurs and whip, but now she didn't need any extra aids to get Surfer into a more active gait.

The first half of their jumping was amazing, but the second half had gotten a bit sloppy. Surfer was getting tired and coming closer and closer to clipping rails. They ended up knocking two and gaining a few time penalties, but it had still been an amazing round.

Tina, always perky and positive, came back to the warmup ring with a smile on her face as she patted the palomino geldings neck.

" Doubt we'll place in the top 3, but still, he was amazing! " She spoke to us as she cooled him down. " And I felt like a real pro in that arena! It was incredible! "

We all gave her a thumbs up, the closer our rounds were getting, the more nervous each of us got.

Jake was in a solid second, only one point behind Ash and I, who were tied for first. 

Blair, who was in fifth, had her round after the next rider, but unlike the cross-country round yesterday, she seemed more relaxed.

" It's nice not having the pressure of being in first and having to keep it, " She told us before laughing. " But I still envy you guys for being at the top "

I took a shaky breath as I watched each rider go.

After this, Hugo would either still belong to me...or belong to Kelly. It was a thought I hadn't let cross my mind until now, and it was terrifying. I didn't want to lose my heart horse, but at the same time, knowing that Ash and I were tied for first made me feel as if I really had a chance to keep Hugo as mine.

In the end, it may just fall down to Hugo himself. I wasn't going to push him anymore than necessary.

It was up to him to give it his all...