MSRA ⇢ Starting New

⇢ 12 ; secrets

"Whose genius idea was it to let Kat into Noah's room last night?" Bridget said as we sat on the couch with Megan, Amelia, and Abby.

"What?" Abby exclaimed. "Oh god you're not pregnant are you?"

"Oh my goodness guys," I laughed. "You're too much. No, I'm not pregnant, I didn't 'sleep' with him in that way!"

"I didn't even know you guys were dating until five minutes ago," Amelia said.

"But was it really a surprise though?" Megan asked. "They've pretty much been a couple since school started."

"Have not," I said. "Untrue."

"Yeah, okay," Bridget laughed. "The day we moved in you literally were gushing about how hot he was."

"How hot he is," I corrected, making everyone laugh.

"Speak of the devil," Amelia said, and I turned around to see Noah and Ethan heading this way. I fiddled with the bracelets on my wrist as Noah came over.

"Hey, babe," he said, leaning against the back of the couch behind me.

"Hi," I said. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," he said. I pulled myself up off the couch, saying bye to the girls, and Noah and I headed to the barn hand in hand.

"This is weird," I said.

"What's weird?" Noah asked.

"This is the first time we've been together without our parents with us," I said.

"What, you think we need parental supervision?" he joked.

"I think you need parental supervision," I laughed. "I don't know. You're my first serious boyfriend."

"Really? You act like everything is so normal to you," he said.

"That's because I'm not nervous around you," I pointed out as we walked into the barn. I went into Hope's stall and got her ready for a ride.

"Where are we going?" Noah asked as he gave me a leg up onto her.

"Where do you think?" I asked. "To the cross country course!"

"Really?" Noah laughed, shaking his head.

"Don't be a baby," I said as he swung himself up on top of Comet. We headed down to the cross country course where there was somebody sitting on a horse.

"Cami?" I called our, and she whipped her head around.

"Kat," she smiled. "Hey. How was break?"

"It was good," I smiled. "What are you doing down here?"

"Oh, Mason wanted me to try his horse out a cross country," she explained.

"How is he?"

"I actually haven't run it yet," she bit her lip. "I haven't done any cross country since my accident."

"I thought you got back into riding," I said.

"Yeah," she said. "Dressage and hunter jumping. And a tiny bit of show jumping."

"I'll run him for you if you want," I said. "If you're not comfortable."

She looked at me gratefully. "Thank you, Kat. I'd really appreciate that."

She dismounted and helped me up on him.

"His name?" I asked as I adjusted the stirrups.

"Apollo," she said. "Be careful - He's Mason's pride and joy."

"No pressure," I said as I trotted him to the starting gate. I pushed him into his very smooth canter  and we approached the first gate. He immediately pulled me forward, and I sat back to slow him. I was pushed into a two-point as he jumped the fence, and we continued on the course. By the end, he was covered in sweat and foam.

"How was he?" Cami asked.

"Good," I said, dismounting and getting back on Hope. "He's afraid of water. And bushes. And any jump that has a ditch."

"Thanks so much, Kat," she said. "Could you do me a favour and not tell Mason I had you ride Apollo? I told him I was back into cross country, I'm just not ready to face my fears yet."

"Yeah, of course," I smiled. "Anytime.

"Thanks, girl," she said, walking Apollo away from us and towards the school.

"You and Cami seem pretty close," Noah said as I settled myself back in the saddle.

"Yeah, we're pretty good friends," I said. "She's been through a lot. It's nice to know someone who knows what that feels like."

He gave me a puzzled look but didn't question me. We spent the rest of our ride racing our horses in the fields, Hope winning every time. By the end, Comet was dripping sweat, but Hope was barely damp.

"They condition the crap out of you guys," Noah said, leaning forward to catch his breath.

"Uh, yeah," I laughed. "It's painful and we all hate it, but it's well worth it in the end."

-

"Can I ask you something?" Noah said as we laid on his bed reading.

"Yeah, sure," I said, feeling my gut twist.

"While we were riding earlier, you were talking about Cami and how it was nice to have a friend to know what going through a lot feels like. What did you mean by that?"

I took a deep breath. "It was nothing," I said. "Just ignore that."

"No, please tell me," he begged. "You can trust me."

"Alright," I sighed. "Well, I was adopted by my parents, when I was eight. So, eight years ago. For three years I was circulated around fifteen foster homes, and I hated all of them. Most of the people were nasty, rude, disrespectful people who shouldn't have been able to foster a child, especially one as young as I was. So, I finally ended up in my parents care, but I had serious trust issues. I didn't talk for two weeks, and I hoarded stuffed animals and food because at my previous houses, sometimes they skipped a meal, or I didn't have any toys. After they adopted me that year, it took me five years to lose the worst of my habits. I sometimes still catch myself doing little things. I refuse to throw away old things. All my old stuff has gone to Kelsey, then in a box in the attic. I can't do yelling, a lot of the houses had parents who would yell, yell, yell. I sometimes have trouble starting conversations with people because I'm afraid of what their personality will be like.

"Sorry, I just like gave you my life story," I groaned. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Noah said as he hugged me closer and kissed my head. "Thank you for telling me."

"Yeah," I said. "I can't believe you didn't notice I was adopted. I'm the only blonde in my family and they all have brown eyes. I have blue eyes."

"Now that you say it, I can see it," he said. "Like, Kelsey looks exactly like your dad but you don't look like any of them."

"Exactly," I said.

"You do know," Noah said, "this changes nothing. You're still the same Kat that I'm falling for, and just because you told me this doesn't mean I'll look at you any differently."

I looked up at him, then laid my head on his chest. He planted a kiss on the top of my head and we kept reading.