Asterism

31. false information

"THANKS for taking the time to speak with me, Aisha," Marley said, chuckling when Aisha's black horse, Athena, nuzzled into her hand eagerly even after the carrot was gone. She took one last picture of the beautiful creature before letting her camera hang over her stomach, facing the captain of the women's equestrian team.

Aisha rocked backwards on the heels of her riding boots, before swinging her helmet at her side as they exited the stables side-by-side. "This has been great, Marley. I'm looking forward to seeing the issue when it comes out."

Their eyes both caught on the outdoor arena as they passed it on the way to the parking lot. The girls were just finishing up practice now, a few horses jumping while others walked the area perimeter in small packs. There was nothing but laughter and friendly faces amongst teammates.

Marley looked to Aisha. "Everyone seems to get along really well here."

She shrugged. "It's a group of college girls, there will always be drama. But I try to remind them as often as I can that despite our differences we share one important commonality: our love for horses."

"Can I ask how you remind them?" Marley questioned, taking one last look at the horses before they passed the arena and entered the parking lot.

"Well, we're not always practicing or competing when we're spending time as a team," Aisha explained. "We'll go on trail rides and overnight camp outs. I'll have the girls do things together that encourage teamwork - like give the stable hands the week off and have them muck out all the stalls. It's really about joining them together in their passion but forgetting the team business for a while. I help them make real connections that tie into something they all love."

Marley nodded thoughtfully, considering Aiden and his team. She wished Marco would get the Bears together and plan something outside of parties or girls. That would make things a lot easier for Aiden, she knew, because he could spend leisure time with his team and actually enjoy himself.

"You look like you're having team growing pains of your own," Aisha studied Marley's distant expression with mild interest.

"Not me, but...my boyfriend, actually," Marley corrected, twisting his ring around her finger a few times. "He's a quarterback on the Bears football team."

"Is he the captain or..."

"No. This is his first year, too."

Aisha nodded in understanding as they stopped in front of Aiden's Range Rover. "My first year on this team was awful, actually."

Marley knew she looked surprised right now. From all she's seen over the last hour, she's positive the rest of the girls adore her. "Really?"

Aisha tugged gently on the ends of her black Nike Pro hijab. "Three years ago was a different time, a less tolerant time. Our coach was a racist and so was the team captain. They both treated me and a few other girls like dirt on the bottom of their boots, and the rest of the team followed." Marley's brows furrowed in distress. Aisha let out a sigh. "Just before my second year our coach was terminated for some if her hateful social media posts. The new coach saw what was going on with how myself and some of my black teammates were being treated, and our team captain was expelled from Brown. It turns out that the rest of the girls really liked me, and weren't racist at all, they were just being controlled by the captain at the time. It was fear of losing their scholarships that drove them into ignoring me and leaving me out of things."

"I'm sorry for how they treated you, Aisha. Whether or not they were driven by fear, it wasn't right and it never will be right."

"I know. But we've all made peace by now and they voted me as captain for no reason other than my merits. Any team of mine only judges someone's skill in the arena and their kindness outside it, so I'm proud to say I've turned everything around." Her brown eyes flickered in the direction of the arena, a soft smile on her face before she was looking at Marley again. "Your boyfriend will get through this. He should always know it's not about him, but about fear. And ironically, the people who instill the most fear in others, are usually the ones who are the most afraid."