Carry On (Book 1)

Chapter 17:

Ariels POV:

Monday morning couldn't come quick enough.

As soon as my eyes were open, I leaped out of bed and practically slammed my butt into my desk chair, sliding across the wooden floors as I did so. Rolling the chair back over to the desk, I opened up my laptop lid and moved the mouse to hover over my email icon. I froze, now suddenly feeling nervous. When I first came to WillowLane, I couldn't care less to riding on their team, now it was all I could think about.

When Storm and I had met Mr. Mallen at the start of the cross country course the other day, Storm was on his best behavior. Despite the drama from earlier with Maddy and the boys, not to mention my unruly nerves, I was proud with how he behaved during our ride. It almost felt like we had been riding like a real eventing team for years. Maybe it was because Storm was tired from all the drama that had happened before...or maybe, just maybe, Storms old training was coming back to him.

I knew Storm had been experienced in eventing in his past life, but with all the pain it had put him through, mentally and physically, I hadn't pushed myself to look up his life on the circuit, or his accident that ended it. Storm was Storm, and he was a different horse from who he had once been. He was as much a liberty horse as he used to be an eventer and nothing would change that.

Biting my tongue, I realized I was just stalling myself from opening my email and quickly clicked on the icon.

I held my breath when I saw an email from Mr. Mallen addressed to all the riders in our grade. Slowly but surely, I scanned over the email.

Hello Freshmen Riders,

I was very impressed with the sheer raw talent and dedication you all put forth to your tryouts this weekend, despite the nerves I'm sure you must have all been feeling...

I smiled.

It was a very difficult decision to assign these teams, as many of you have shown exactly what I am looking for in an intermediate level rider.

I bit my lip as I continued reading.

But the teams are as follows:

Beginner 1 (morning lessons): Riley Manson, Tyler Ganoy, Heather Rockel, Ben Warner, Kelly Rohdes and Delilah Fredericton

Intermediate 1 (morning lessons): Cassidy Martin, David Verday, Erica Weaths, Mark Feltar, Alexis Massy and Franklin Worthton

Beginner 2 (Afternoon lessons): Emily Gizmas, Andrea Walters, Molly Burken, Payton Demaris, Isabelle Hendrik, and Zane Carter

I giggled when I thought about how Zane may react to being in a lesson full of girls. My guess is that he would be jumping for joy, even if he was on the beginner team.

Still not seeing my name, I took a breath as I looked at the last team.

Intermediate 2(Afternoon Lesson): Madison Samuels, Jack Genves, Amelia Kensington, Jill Delita, Henry Margen, Ava Dasmarinas, and Ariel Whitman 

I nearly screamed!

Storm and I were on the team! 

And not just any team, the intermediate team! This meant that we had a chance to make the advanced team by the end of the year!

'Calm down...' I thought to myself. 'You're getting carried away...'

I took a breath and finished reading the email.

Congratulation for all who have made the teams. For those who have not, please continue to practice and consider re-trying out next year.

For those who have made the teams, morning lessons will begin tomorrow, but afternoon lessons start today. Those on the beginner team will not be taught by myself every lesson, instead, Mrs. Genvra will take over your lesson, but I will teach at least one lesson per month. For those on the intermediate team for afternoon lessons, I look forward to seeing you all this afternoon

Congratulations again,

Mr. Mallen.

I slammed my laptop lid shut, taking a breath as I sat back in my desk chair. My eyes caught the poster of my mom that hung above my bed, then moved to the closet beside my desk, where the mystery box still sat.

" Your mom wanted you to have this. You don't have to open it now, but when you're ready, it'll be here... " I remembered my dads' words from the first day of school.

Was I finally ready?

I stood and slowly walked towards the closet, opening the door and seeing the box sitting on the floor, covered in dirty laundry.

Before I had a chance to moved it out into the open, my phone buzzed, making me jump. I quickly grabbed it from its charger and checked my messages.

Maddy: Hey! Congrats on making the team! I knew you could do it! X3

Jack: Saw that we're gonna be teammates, congrats! Can't wait for our first official lesson together :)

My fingers quickly typed back quick replies to both of them, then I noticed the time.

" Shoot! "I cried out. I was so going to be late again! As I raced to get dressed, my eyes kept wandering to the box, which still sat dormant on my closet floor. Kicking it to the back f the small space, I struggled to get my shoes on as I packed up my school bag.

Whatever was in the box would have to wait.

Until I was 100 percent sure I was finally ready to see what was inside...