MSRA ⇢ Starting New

⇢ 19 ; family, friends, & fun

When I got home, I slowly unpacked. I unpacked the breeches I ripped when Hope threw me off. The ribbons I won at the various shows I attended. My MSRA sweatshirt and t-shirt that I wore to bed almost every night. My ID card with Hope and I on it. It was only about another hundred days until I could head back as a junior.

My fingers lingered on Noah's bracelet on my wrist, and I headed out back to the barn to unpack all of Hope's stuff. In the paddock, Hope was bucking and rearing with Kingston, her old friend. As she rolled in the grass, I smiled. I was going to miss her next year.

After I unpacked all my tack, I went and saw Moose.

"Hey Moo," I said, patting his head. "Starting tomorrow, you'll be doing some of your hardest training, okay?"

He tried nibbling my fingers in response.

"I'm going to push us both beyond our limits, okay?" I said, and this time he tried biting my hair. "Just know that I always love you no matter what."

With that, I gave him a kiss on the nose and let him loose. My phone started buzzing with a call from the one and only.

"Hey, Noah," I said as I picked up. "What's up?"

"Just got home," he said. "I'm already missing you."

"Ugh, things are so different already," I frowned. "I just want next year to be here already.

"It will be here soon enough, I promise," Noah said. "Hey, I gotta go do my barn chores, I'll talk to you later?"

"Okay," I smiled. "Love you."

"Love you more," he said, right before he hung up. I ended up scrolling through Instagram on my phone, my heart aching when I saw Megan just posted a picture of her and Noah on a trail ride. Turns out, they lived a few towns away from each other, so they were going to spend the summer competing against each other and going on trail rides.

Whatever, it was nothing. I was just jealous because Megan could see my boyfriend when I couldn't.

"Katty, Katty," Kelsey yelled as she bounded out of the house. "Can you give me a lesson?"

"Sure," I smiled. "But you can't ride Hope just yet. She needs to rest up a bit and get used to being at home again."

"Okay!" she giggled, running into the barn to get Confetti ready. As I sat on a hay bale inside the barn, watching Kelsey groom, Bridget FaceTimed me. I slid my phone open and her face popped up.

"Did you see that picture Megan posted on Instagram?" she asked.

"Yeah," I bit my lip.

"Girl, if I were you I'd be pissed," Bridge laughed.

"My sister's in here," I warned. "And don't worry, I kinda am."

"Dude, Megan's gonna see Noah more this summer than you are," she pointed out.

"Thanks, I didn't feel bad enough," I retorted flatly. "I already miss him enough as it is and it's only been like eight hours."

-

Lucky for me, the Florida trip came a lot quicker than I could have ever anticipated. I was writing in my journal on my iPad, making note of Moose's progress. He could properly hold a frame, his gaits were smoother, and he actually had a top line now.

"Excuse me, miss, you're going to have to put that away," the flight attendant spoke to me. "We're beginning our descent."

"Oh, okay, sorry," I said, shutting it off and slipping it into my carry on. It was my first time flying alone, and Noah was picking me up from the airport.

I watched out the window as we circled the airport before landing. It wasn't a very long flight, but I was anxious to see Noah. I hadn't seen him in about a month.

When we got the okay from the pilot, everyone stood up and gathered their things. I had a suitcase in the overhead storage and a large backpack as my carry on, but that was it.

I walked down the terminal gate and into the actual airport. I went back out security, then I saw him. I ran over to him and jumped onto him, wrapping my arms and legs around him. I kissed him and laughed as he spun us around.

"I haven't seen you in so long," I said, resting my head on his shoulder as he held me tight.

"I've missed you so much," he whispered into my hair, and he hugged me tighter. Once our reunion was done, he let me go and took my hand and my suitcase. He pulled out his keys and showed me his keychain, the one I got him for Christmas.

I pulled back my sleeve and showed him my bracelet, the one he got me. "I haven't taken it off since I got it, pretty much."

He squeezed my hand and we headed out to his truck, where he loaded my bags and I hopped in the passenger seat. I turned on the radio, flipping through the channels until I found something I liked.

"The drive is about a half an hour back to my place," Noah said. "I was hoping we could stop somewhere to eat, though."

"Sure," I shrugged. "Whatever you'd like."

We stopped at Panera Bread and had a little lunch date. We even shared a smoothie. When we finally got back to his house, his parents greeted me enthusiastically and I left my bags in their Noah's room, leaving the spare for Ethan and Bridget

Noah then brought me out to the barn, where I got to meet his mare. "We usually have a yearling this time of year, but the academy is a little too expensive to afford another horse with room to spare, so we decided not to this year. Comet was my first yearling, though."

"Hi, Comet," I rubbed his face as he came up to us. "Hi buds."

That night when Bridget and Ethan arrived, I excitedly hugged my best friend.

"Are you ready for this trip?" I asked her.

"If you mean ready as in ready to spend a week away from my parents and brother, hanging out with my best friend, boyfriend, and best friend's boyfriend, then yeah, I'm good," she laughed. "I'm so excited!"

"Me too!" I exclaimed. "I still can believe each of our parents bought us something for the trip. Like, Noah's parents paid for the condo, my parents paid  for the shows, your parents paid for a horseback adventure on the beach, and Ethan's parents are paying for dinner every night!"

"I know right?"

The four of us hung out all night before we were all too tired to function. After I changed into my shorts and a t-shirt, I got into Noah's bed with him and snuggled into him, before peacefully falling asleep.