Some People Change (Currently Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was early on Wednesday morning when I woke up. Amy had already agreed to let me return to the stables every single day that week, so I didn’t have to worry about missing out on preparing Zaltana for a competition.

Freddy and I arrived at the stables early, but that was okay. I just couldn’t ride Zaltana for a little bit. 

Taylor wasn’t at the stables yet, and neither was Ed. Jason was running back in forth between his house and his office, so that just left Freddy, me, and some pretty tired horses to ourselves. 

Freddy seemed happy today. Well, even more than usual.

“Why are you so happy?” I asked.

The way I asked seemed a little bit rude, but I couldn’t think of another way to phrase it. Thankfully, Freddy just laughed.

“Well, I don’t know exactly when this is going to happen, but, I’m pretty sure my mom is going to get out of prison pretty soon.”

I didn’t quite know what to say to that. I wasn’t sure why Freddy was so happy about her mom’s release from prison.

“Your mom’s getting out of prison?” 

“Well, hopefully. I can’t wait to see her!” Freddy said.

“So, are you just going to leave or something?”

Freddy sort of hung her head, and I could tell she hadn’t really thought about that part.

“Yeah, I guess. But, I mean, I’ll still be in touch with you, and Amy, and Emma. I won’t disappear of the face of the Earth or anything like that.”

“I know,” I answered.

Freddy and I didn’t say anything to each other for a few minutes, but then Jason broke the silence between us.

“Kayla, Ed will be here in a few minutes. He just called me and told me to tell you to get Zaltana out. And, Freddy, could you please start feeding the horses, sweetie?”

“Sure,” she answered.

I got up and went to Zaltana’s stall without a word. It was so hard to imagine my life without Freddy. She was such a big part of it, and now she could be leaving me soon. 

Sure, on some level I was happy that Freddy was excited about her mom getting out of prison, but then again, I couldn’t see why Freddy was so glad about it. From what she had told me, her mom had done pretty much nothing but abuse her. I guess Freddy didn’t care, or she had put the past behind her. Anyway, I knew it wasn’t really any of my business, and there was nothing I could do about it, so I tried to not to think about it.

I quickly got Zaltana out, and then I brushed her down, and tacked her up. Ed arrived just after that, and then we went down to the arena. 

“So, what are we going to do today?” I asked.

“Well, I found out when the next gymkhana is,” Ed replied. “And it’s in about a month. In July somewhere. Wes isn’t quite sure when.”

“Wes? Wait, does he run the gymkhanas?”

Ed sighed.

“Yeah. He manages them.”

“Great,” I said.

“Don’t worry, though. We’ll just have to train hard. That’s all.”

“My birthday’s in July,” I said suddenly.

I hadn’t really even thought about my seventeenth birthday up until now because Ed had mentioned the month of July. 

“What day is it?” Ed asked.