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“From what?”
“Riding a horse,” I say nonchalantly.
“Oh, yeah. With Natalie. I can’t believe her dad allowed you on their property, let alone on his horse.”
“He probably didn’t know.”
Her expression goes from shocked to flabbergasted. “You were on his property, and he didn’t know? Are you crazy? I wouldn’t put it past that man to shoot you for trespassing.”
I blow the notion off. “It was no big deal. Our properties butt up against one another, so she met me there, and we rode down the riverbank.”
She raises her shoulders and squishes her lips as she mimics my words. “Oh, it was nothing. Just out riding horses with my family’s sworn enemy’s daughter. That’s all.”
“It was nothing.”
She eyes me and tilts her head to the side. “How come I don’t get the vibe that you hated every second of it?”
I shrug. “It was fun. I’d never ridden a horse.”
“Okay then …” The warning bell rings, and she stands up. “Off to class I go. Bye!”
She walks off with a hop in her step, like she always does. Feeling good for a change, I copy her enthusiasm, only to feel a small twinge from a muscle I didn’t know I had. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s a reminder that I was on a horse for the first time and definitely using muscles I never have before.
As I turn the corner to enter the classroom, Natalie is the first person I see. Her eyes meet mine for a brief moment, and when she’s quick to look away, a weird feeling races through me that I try to ignore.
I purposely kick her backpack as I walk by. When she doesn’t yell at me for doing so, a little bit of disappointment runs through me.
Class drags on, and I’m glad to get up when the bell rings. When I enter my second period class, Natalie is already in her seat, so I sit down and lean forward.
“Tonight, we run.”
“If you sayat midnightand finish it off with ayeehaw, I will backhand you,” she responds.
I laugh out loud, causing people to look our way. The expressions on a few of our classmates’ faces when they see us talking make me want to laugh even more.
Yes, it is possible for me to talk to someone I’ve hated for years.
“No. Not at midnight. Same time. Make sure you wear running shoes.”
She turns in her seat just to make sure I see the look ofno shitshe’s giving me. When Miss Hernandez begins her lesson, I motion with my pointer finger for her to turn around to face the front again.
Her eyes narrow before she huffs and moves to face the front.
Why does seeing her annoyed with me make me so fucking happy?
I head out for my run, excited to see just how bad I can get back at Natalie after her little stunt last night. I know running doesn’t have the same fear she was trying to instill in me, but giving her a good ass-kicking will give me the same satisfaction I’m sure she got.
To my surprise, when I arrive, she’s on my side of the river, wearing cutoff jean shorts and a tight tank topthat shows off curves that should definitely not look as tempting as they do.
“Look who’s on time,” I say as my hello.
“And look who’s late.” She doesn’t even try to hide her frustration with me.
“You do realize we never set an actual time, right?”
“Yes, which means I got here a half hour ago, thinking you’d be here.”
“Well, whose fault is that? If you wanted a specific time, then you should have said so. Now, let’s go.” I smack her ass as I run past her.
