Adrenaline

Chapter 57

The house was bustling with movement by 7 a.m. Sandy knocked on my door and as I stepped out, advised me to dress warmly and wear comfortable underwear unless I wanted it to be surgically removed after we got back from riding. I giggled nodding and changed into the proper clothes, and underwear.

Jasper and Kayleigh couldn't get out school, so off they went early in the morning. Sandy, Jordan, and My parents were going wine tasting at the Darling Vineyard while Jason and Chris went to play laser tag with Ryan and Kyle.

The Snows and Breyers arrived dressed in their seemingly expensive riding clothes. His grandmothers hugged me and his grandfathers, shook my hand. We enjoyed an outdoor breakfast with everyone, going over our plans for the day.

I kissed my parents, goodbye, as well as Jason then went out with the Breyers and Snows. It was so odd how extremely wealthy this family was. We had as much money, if not more, but we certainly did not live like this.

The route to their ranch was serene and beautiful. The barren trees were lined with a layer of snow that was already melting under the morning sun. Along the way, Mrs. Breyer described the ranch as being almost 20 acres and was used mostly to breed and train horses. Her driver came to a stop right outside the front porch where the Breyer staff was waiting for our arrival. Mrs. Breyer took a pair riding boots and helmet from one of her maids and handed them to me.

"Now, Alyssa, we'd like to you to call us by our first names. Formal titles are not for friends of the family." she smiled.

With that, Delia, Ray, Sarah and Lewis and I walked to the stables where the stable boys had five horses waiting. As we made our way over, Delia explained that this ranch was her second property and her real home was three blocks away from Sandy's. There is where Jason spent many of his days while his parents worked. The stable boy helped me slide onto the saddle and gave me a brief lesson on how to pull the reigns to control the horses. When everyone else was ready, the stable boys directed us to a trail that led straight into the woods. My hands tingled as we crossed the wood line. Why do they all like the woods? Lewis turned to me and asked, "So we've been told you're studying forensics." I nodded.

"Yes. I'm hoping to become a blood splatter analyst." I replied.

"Is it fun?"

"Totally, I served an internship at a lab last summer and they took me to some pretty gnarly crime scenes. It was a little hard at first, but I forced myself to get over my squeamishness."

It wasn't technically a lie. I did serve an internship, but I was also technically finished with school. The IIA made their agents take as much schooling as possible. Sure, Jason went to high school and Stanford to follow his parents' wishes, but he would have had to do that for the IIA anyway. I'd done the same and had technically earned my master's degree in forensic science in May when Jason earned his in marketing, but because too many Innocents surrounded me, my graduation was celebrated in secret. I could technically start working now, but I had to wait for my school to catch up with my age.

We came into a clearing with patches of white everywhere. The sun had lost its heat so a chill was setting, but I was handling it like I wasn't from California.

"So Alyssa, how exactly is it that you and Jason met?" Delia asked.

"Oh, my dad is an architect and he designed a new hotel in Downtown LA. They had a party for him at the grand opening, and Jason was invited by a lawyer friend who is very close to my family. Usually at these parties, the guests are much older, but since Jason was the only young one, my dad asked me to keep him company." I answered.

"Oh, was it love at first sight?" Ray teased.

"Haha, um no actually. I had boyfriend at the time, so really for the first month Jason and I were friends." I said.