A soft chuckle suddenly woke me. My eyes shot open to find Jason staring back at me. Zaltana was still next to me, but she was asleep. I patted her, and then I hopped to my feet.
“Sorry. I don’t normally make a habit of sneaking out during the night.”
“It’s all right.”
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Four-thirty,” Jason replied.
“I only slept for an hour and a half?”
“Apparently,” Jason said.
I came out of Zaltana’s stall then.
“I’m so tired,” I groaned.
“Let’s get you back inside, honey.”
Jason led me back to his house, and then once we got into the living room, I came to find out Taylor was awake.
“Hey,” Taylor said. “I thought you disappeared.”
“Temporarily,” I answered.
“I’ll let you two be,” Jason said.
He went upstairs, and then I went to sit down on the couch. Taylor took a seat next to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just needed to go out to the barn for a bit.”
“Why don’t you try to get back to sleep, Kayla?”
“All right.”
Taylor gave me a kiss on my cheek, and then I lay down.
“Now get some rest,” Taylor said as he laid my blanket over me.
He returned to his couch, and then was asleep in no time. I wished I could be like that, and even though I hadn’t gotten even two full hours of sleep, I stayed awake.
At six o’clock, Amy and Emma came downstairs. Of course, then I began to feel tired.
“Hey,” Amy said, giving me a kiss on my forehead. “How was your sleep?”
“Not good,” I replied.
“We didn’t sleep well either,” Emma said. “I heard you snuck out to the barn at three in the morning.”
“She did.”
I turned around to see Taylor standing up.
“I wanted to see Zaltana.”
Emma laughed gently, and then she hugged me briefly. Jason and Ed came down then.
“We didn’t wake you up, did we, Jason?” Amy asked.
“No. Didn’t get a wink of sleep.” Jason replied.
“Neither did I,” Ed added.
“Can I get you guys anything to eat?” Jason said.
Amy, Emma, Taylor and I all looked at each other. Emma shook her head for all of us.
“Kayla?”
“Yeah, Ed?”
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.”
Ed and I stepped outside. We walked a few steps from the house, and then Ed stopped. We stood facing one another.
“Kayla, I found out the date of the gymkhana,” he said.
I wondered why Ed was telling me this now. It wasn’t really the best time.
YOU ARE READING
Some People Change (Currently Editing)
JugendliteraturKayla is a teenage girl who has been dealt some very unfavorable cards. Her mom is not really a mother and her dad is nowhere to be found. She juggles her time between school, her boyfriend, and her little sister. But when the unthinkable happens, K...
