We each made a scrapbook, but didn't put our names or pictures anywhere.
That way, we could create characters entirely from the scrapbook clues,
and wouldn't be biased about stuff from how they act in class.
At the end, we found out who our books were from: I had Chrissy's.
Though, I knew it all along: she is obsessed with horses. <_<
"Katie Hubsch," the announcer called.
"Hey, your turn!" I grinned down at her. She was quite small for her age.
She smiled back, but uneasily, and rocked backed and forth.
Not good. "Don't worry, you'll do fine!" I promised, reaching over to her and giving her a quick hug. "Now, get out there and win!"
"You're right. I guess I can do it." Her voice was a bit more confident. Good.
"Katie Hubsch," the announcer called again.
"Oh! I better go!"
"Yep. Good luck!"
I watched Katie walk cautiously over to her horse, chest out, attempting to appear brave. Her skin looked especially pale in this light; she probably had stopped eating vegetables again.
She hopped onto her large brown mustang, Skeeter, as easily as if she were sitting in a chair. She made one last adjustment to her black helmet, crossed herself, and then she was off! Her brown-blonde chin-length hair, or what was still visible of it, bounced up and down, with the rest of her body, yet always managed to fall back into place. Her bright amber eyes shimmered with excitement. I smiled, knowing that her confidence had returned as soon as she had hopped onto Skeeter. It always did. She and the horse moved as if they were one body. She would win, I was sure of it.
The course consisted of a series of runs and jumps. It certainly wasn't as complicated as an Olympic ring, but it still looked pretty tough. Quite a few jumps were double the size of your average horse jump, in height and length. There was also a few hairpin turns. But I knew Katie could do his kind of course in her sleep; after all, she did plan to participate in the Olympics in eight years, when she turned twenty.
Suddenly, I realized that I had been paying so much attention to Katie and her horse, that I hadn't even noticed that she had nearly completed the course! She was nearing the last jump. Knowing she'd ask me how she'd done, I made sure to pay extra attention to this one.
She came up fast; perhaps a little too fast. I held my breath: would she make it? This was one of the more difficult jumps… The horse leapt up at the last second, his hooves barely missing the top of the bar. Phew. He came down on the other side, a perfect landing.
"Wahoo!" I cheered, as she conquered it flawlessly.
Katie led Skeeter back to his stall, and trotted over to me. "How'd I do?" she asked, flushed.
"Perfect," I told her. I hoped that guess was right.
She loooked down. "No, it wasn't… I messed up on that first jump. The landing was off."
"Yes, but the rest was flawless!" I consoled her.
"Mmhmm." She picked up a book, and began to read.
"Hey," I teased her, taking the book from her. "Should you be reading all these Teen Romance stories? Aren't you a bit young for that?"
"Nuh-uh," she said, grabbing it back. "You'll understand when you're older."
"What? I'm a year older than you!"
"Yeah, but girls mature faster than guys."
"That's true… hey!"
She giggled.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The announcer boomed. "It's time to announce the winners!" Everyone became silent. "Fifth Place- Brandon Macentire!" The crowd across the way cheered. "Fourth place- Kimmy Appleberry!" A group of people next to us cheered, hugged each other, cried- went all out. It wasn't that big of a deal, in my opinion. "Third Place- Tyler Spinner!" Three or four people cheered. I supposed he and his family had gone home. His club leader came to collect his prize for him. "And- oh? Well, folks, look at that! We seem to have a tie for first place!" The crowd waited with baited breath. I squeezed Katie's hand. She looked completely frozen, the anticipation killing her. Couldn't the announcer just say the names?
Finally, he revealed them. "The tie's between Katrina Kayda and Katie Hubsch!"
Katie let out her breath. Behind us, her family cheered for her. Well, her mom cheered. Her dad was at work, and her sisters weren't even paying much attention. Kailee was young, and looked around in wide-eyed wonder at every little thing, ignoring everything else around her. Her older sister, Rebekka, was flirting with some boy. Typical.
"Oh my god!" I proclaimed, in awe. "You're tied with Katrina!" Katrina was Katie's best friend and horse rival.
"Oh my goodness," she corrected me, with a smile. I rolled my eyes. That strict religious fervor was her only fault. Because of it, she had to stop and pray before eating every little thing, and crossed herself twenty times a day. Plus every little swear she had to correct. It was the only thing about her that irked me.
"Whatever. Well, go get her, this time! You can do it."
"You think so?" she beamed.
"No. I know so." Yeah, it was corny. I winced as soon as I'd said it. I prided myself in my creative way with words, yet these things always seemed to slip out.
"Kay. I better go!"
"Good luck," I kissed her lightly on the cheek. She blushed, crossing herself before leaving to get her horse.
A few minutes later, Katie and Katrina were atop their horses, ready to ride. The heat of competition was thick in the air; or maybe it was just the humidity, I couldn't really tell.
The tie-breaking stage was similar to the first one, but only half the size. Some of the easier jumps had been removed, only leaving the double-sized ones. It looked tough, especially since this time they were being judged on time as well.
Katrina's show was flawless, but a bit slow. All Katie had to do was complete the course a bit faster, and first prize would be hers.
Once again, it all came down to that last leap of faith. The horse, once again, ran up to it awfully fast, and slightly scraped the bar as he went by; but it didn't fall. However, the second bar of the jump, she wasn't as lucky on. It wiggled a bit, and then toppled down as she landed.
Katie trotted up to the judge and accepted her second place medallion. When she had stabled Skeeter, she returned to the stadium. Oh boy. I could tell she was disappointed; I knew she would be. She had such a fierce love of competition, yet hated to lose.
"Aww, it's okay," I consoled her, as she strolled over and toppled onto me. I held her close for a moment, and then brought her to face me. "Second place is still fantastic." I told her, straightforward.
Her mouth formed into a pout. "It's still not first."
"Well, you can't win everything. You know that. At least ten kids here didn't get anything at all. Come-on; just be happy! Hey, I'd sure be glad to get second place!"
"I guess," she mumbled.
"Hey, guys!" Katrina called, jogging up to us. "Good game," she told Katie, holding her hand out for a high-five. Katie just stared at it.
I jabbed her in the side with my elbow.
She jerked out of her stupor. "Oh, right. Good game." She smiled at Katrina and hi-fived her.
Katrina smiled knowingly. Katie's disappointment after losing wasn't new to her. "Hey, you two want to come over my house?"
"Yeah. That'd be great," I told her. I grabbed Katie's hand. "You okay with that?"
"Sure," she said, holding her medal in her other hand. "And you're right, Brian... Second place is better than nothing. Congratulations, Katrina!"
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