“Wow, you’re really bad at holding things,” Colton said. He had seen Gigi drop all of her books and had come over to help pick them up just like he had when she had dropped her marsupial paper at Martingale Preparatory High School.

Remembering the absolutely humiliating incident with a certain kumquat smoothie, Gigi’s face turned a bright shade of red. She had hoped she wouldn't have to see Colton for the entire summer so that they could both forget about it... but she had also secretly hoped that they might run into each other again.

“Thanks,” said Gigi, taking her books back from Colton. “Do you work at the stables?”

“I guess you could call it work,” Colton said. “I help out when I can.”

“Oh, cool,” said Gigi because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

They stood next to each other in an awkward silence for longer than was socially acceptable.

“Soooo, are you here to help out at the stables?” Colton asked finally.

“Yeah, I thought it might be fun,” Gigi said. She could feel herself starting to ramble like she did whenever she got nervous, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Well, really, I’d like to learn to ride horses, but I thought maybe if I helped out, I could learn how to ride as well. If there’s time, that is. And it beats watching reruns of Bonanza all summer with my dad. He’s obsessed with classic western TV shows. Last summer we watched all five seasons of The Lone Ranger.”

“Interesting,” Colton said. “Do you want to check out the stables?”

“Sure,” Gigi said.

For the next half hour or so, Colton showed Gigi around. He introduced her to the stable manager, Sam, who had been helping out for the past three summers and would tell Gigi what needed to be done. There were thirteen horses in all to care for. One of them was completely wild (or obstreperous) and wouldn’t let Gigi nor the other stable hands go near it, but the other twelve seemed friendly. Gigi immediately fell in love with all of them. The horses were of all different patterns and colors and there were many different breeds.

“You don’t happen to have a horse of the most perfect grey here, do you?” Gigi asked Colton as they walked around the stable together. “One with dark spots down its neck and flank?”

“Uhhhhhhh…” Colton started. “No. No, we don’t have any horses like that here.”

Colton shifted nervously and rubbed his octahedron shaped amulet (the one that had been given to him by his aunt). He glanced towards the stable door.

“Well, I have to go,” he said. “I have to go to my caber toss practice.”

“You toss cabers?” Gigi asked. “I thought you ran track.”

“Track! Yes! That’s what I have to go do,” Colton said. “It was nice seeing you, Gigi. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Colton jogged off, still limping slightly from his pulled hamstring. He muttered something about caber toss as he left Gigi alone in the stable with Sam. Gigi watched Colton as he walked away, completely beguiled by the wonderful half hour or so she had spent with the cutest boy at Martingale Preparatory High School.

The rest of the afternoon was not as beguiling since Sam immediately put Gigi to work. Gigi spent much of her time mucking out the horses’ stalls, and it is very hard to be beguiled when one is cleaning out a stable.

That evening when she got home, Gigi was bursting to tell someone about her wonderful afternoon—the beguiling parts, not the cleaning out the stalls part. She was surprised when her phone dinged that night as she walked through her bedroom door. She had no friends. Who could be texting her?

It was a message from Kiara, Gigi’s nearest and dearest friend.

hey gigi

i snuck my phone into europe without my parents noticing

anyway totes bored

whacha doin

Actually, it was multiple messages from Kiara. Gigi was so excited to have someone to talk to about everything that had happened. She flopped down on her bed and responded as quickly as her thumbs would go after a day of shoveling horse stalls.

Gigi texted back. Kiara! You won’t guess what happened this afternoon!!!!! I spent time with Colton! Apparently, he works at the Dartmoors’ stables.

well duhhh gigi, Kiara responded. 

You knew?! Gigi asked. 

didnt you, asked Kiara

I do now. Gigi typed. Oh, Kiara! It was so great! I mean, I still get nervous when I talk with him. It's worse than when I was suffering from Papaphobia in third grade and couldn't even look at a picture of the Pope. But it was so much fun!!

gigi that’s not even a real thing, Kiara responded. 

Gigi quickly typed back, Yes, it is. My therapist said it was a very real condition. Three in every billion people suffer from it.

if you say so gigi, Kiara's message read. 

oops

g2g

my parents just woke up

cant let them see my phone

Okay.

I’ll talk to you later then.

Gigi looked sadly at her phone. There was still so much more she wanted to tell Kiara. She hadn’t even mentioned anything about the majestic grey horse she had seen in the woods the night before.

Gigi sat up suddenly as if she had just been poked in the back by a pin.

The horse! That beautiful, majestic beast!

She wondered if it was still there, out in the woods. She hadn’t learned to ride yet, but maybe she could still see it.

Throwing on a pair of flip flops, Gigi flopped down the curved staircase and out of the house. She was halfway to the woods when she realized that sneakers would have been a better shoe choice, but it was too late to go back now.

Gigi roamed the woods for almost an hour, but there was never any sign of the moonlit stallion.

Disappointed, Gigi returned home. She had not seen the horse again tonight, but the horse had seen her. A pair of deep brown eyes watched Gigi ardently from behind a patch of trees. Once she’d left and was out of sight, it cantered off into the woods and disappeared into the night.