Where There's Smoke by Yamile Saied Méndez

Author:Yamile Saied Méndez [Saied Méndez, Yamile]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Later that evening, Carolina was anxiously waiting for Chelsie at the little barn for their nightly chat. They had a tradition of sorts of talking about their days as they said good night to Velvet. Neither one had broken their custom yet.

Absentmindedly, she played with the pin Rockwell had found.

It’s not like they had a signed contract, a spit pact, or even a pinky promise, but she was a little unsettled when the time passed and there was no sign of Chelsie.

Had something happened to her friend?

And how could she help Rockwell? She didn’t want him to think that she wanted to be his friend because his mom had died, or because he’d come to live with his grandma, or because his little brother had a disability.

Thinking about Rockwell gave her another full-body shiver and made her smile.

He was kind and sensitive, and he had pretty eyes. And his freckles! She never knew freckles could be so cute!

He didn’t look like a K-pop star or even like any of the boys everyone had a crush on at school, but in her opinion, Rockwell Richards was the cutest of all.

She jumped to her feet and placed a hand over her mouth in case she accidentally blurted out the truth and someone heard her.

“Ay ay ay, Carolina,” she scolded herself. Velvet and Luna didn’t speak human but their looks of disappointment in her said enough.

She would never admit it aloud, but she had to be honest to herself at least.

She liked Rockwell after all.

There, she’d said it in her mind.

Like, really liked him, as in, she had a crush on him. Now that she’d actually formed the thought, how could she look him in the eye?

She needed to talk to Chelsie to unburden her heart. Her friend would know what to do. Was there anything to do? Carolina wasn’t sure.

Where was Chelsie?

She glanced out the barn door and decided to venture out into the night and go looking for her.

When she walked into the indoor arena, she heard the unmistakable clopping of galloping hoofbeats. Maybe Chelsie was still practicing and hadn’t noticed how late it was.

But then Carolina saw the rider.

It wasn’t Chelsie. It was Heather! She was riding Leilani, one of the old-timer horses.

Heather had such a focused expression on her face, completely connected to the horse, obviously present in the saddle. Carolina watched her in silence for a few minutes, trying to hide behind the bleachers. She felt a prickle like she’d walked in on something private. It’s not like Heather had tried to hide from everyone. Why should she? She owned the whole property and a ton of the horses. She could do as she pleased. But Caro had never seen her riding before.

She couldn’t look away.

Heather led Leilani in a rhythmic pace around the arena, her eyes fixed in the distance as if she was looking at something Caro couldn’t see. She wasn’t wearing a fancy outfit, and her form honestly wasn’t the best Carolina had ever seen.

Leilani also wasn’t the fastest or most athletic horse.

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