Madison v.s The Travelling Exchange Students

Chapter Thirty-One: How Could You Do This To Us?

Just one word: enjoy! :)))))

"Oh, where are you, Sophie?" I mumble to myself.

It has been half an hour and still no sign of her. I've looked everywhere; in the stables; around the stables; at the wash bays; and even on the trails. Not a sign of her. 

Kicking my foot against the concrete floor, I lean back against Liberty's stall door. The mare pops her head out, snuffling my shoulder. I reach up and touch her mane, looking down at my phone. There were no new texts.

I'm finding myself checking my messages every two seconds to see if Sophie has replied to my many texts. She hasn't.

In fact, I haven't got a single message from anyone.

"Where is she, Liberty?" I sigh, looking up into the grey's dark brown eyes.

Certainly not here.

As soon as I say that, a vibration from my phone shoots up my hand.

Startled, I look down at my phone, anticipating a reply from Sophie.

Oh, finally where could you have... oh.

Looking at my phone screen I see that the message isn't from Sophie; it's a message from Alex.

Wondering why he would be texting me, I unlock my phone to read his message.

Come to the tack room.

What? Why? And there was no x, no reason why. This doesn't feel right.

The air catches in my throat but I force myself to breathe. Liberty still has her head poked over the door, staring at me intensely.

"Don't worry," I murmur, trying to keep the nerves out of my voice. "I'm sure I'll find her."

With that, I kick off from the stall door and make my way down the stable aisle. My palms sweat slightly as I grip my phone. Something deep inside me tells me something bad is coming. I just ignore it.

I reach the tack room door but hesitate. No, I must ignore this feeling.

My hand grips the handle and I turn it, opening the door.

Peaking my head inside I see Alex standing in the empty room, his back to me. Taking a deep breath in I walk inside.

"Hey," I say, walking right up to him. "I got your text."

Alex turns around. I'm surprised at the look of anger on his face. His eyes are icy and his mouth curves into a frown.

"Good," he replies, an edge in his voice.

Okay... weird.

"Um, what's wrong?" I ask, reaching an arm out to touch his shoulder. 

Alex dodges my touch, looking at the ground. My heart beats quickly. Why is he ignoring me? 

"Al-"

"Let's just go," he growls, shoving his hands in his pockets.

My mouth falls open, my mind racing as Alex pushes past me and out the door. I don't understand why he's acting like this; he hasn't been this cold to me since we first met. What's going on?

The sound of the door slamming wakes me from my shock and I quickly scramble out of the tack room. Closing the door behind me, I spy Alex already marching to the end of the stable.

This seems familiar, I think, rolling my eyes. What has gotten into him?

I jog after Alex, eventually catching up to him.