Home for Christmas by Jessica Burkhart

eyebrow as she looked at me and my friends. “It was a surprise to have you join us and not bail, kids.”
    â€œIt was fun. We’re the kind of ‘kids’ who don’t back down,” Khloe shot back.
    Alpha female against alpha female. Both blond girls eyed each other—neither breaking contact.
    Finally Heather nodded. “Maybe we’ll see you on the trails again while we’re here.”
    Sasha’s lips curved into a small smile. I wanted to dance in my saddle. We—the lowly just-turned seventh graders—had gotten an invitation from Heather Fox to ride with her. Heather was practically as big a deal on campus as Sasha. This was huge !
    â€œYou should def text me when you’re coming over to ride,” Sasha said, looking at me. “We’ll join you if we’re free.”
    â€œCool. I will,” I said.
    â€œLet’s get back on our turf before anything happens,” Sasha said.
    With that, we each took turns jumping our horses over the wall. I didn’t let out a full breath of relief until each and every one of us was back on Kim’s land. If this was what trail riding with Heather was like, something told me that I’d better prepare myself.

9
PUT ON YOUR ELF SUITS!
    Sasha
    IT WAS STILL DARK OUTSIDE when my alarm clock buzzed the next morning. It was six and time to get up and get ready to go to the first day at Safe Haven for Thoroughbreds. It didn’t even feel like a Monday, usually my least fave day of the week, since it was break.
    Callie rubbed her eyes, sitting up and smiling sleepily from the daybed. “I can’t wait to get to the rescue center,” she said.
    â€œMe either. This is going to be the super-best Christmas break ever ,” I said. “We’ve got all of our friends, our horses, and we’re helping new horses find homes.” Like, one could come home with me, I thought. I’d dropped a few not-so-subtle hints to Mom and Dad that it would be giving back to the community if I adopted a horse fromSafe Haven. But they’d said that I was doing more than enough by volunteering.
    â€œIt’s a twenty-four-seven horse fest,” Callie said. She got up and picked breeches and a yellow thermal shirt from her suitcase. “Speaking of horses, I was kind of caught off guard by Lauren Towers and her friends yesterday.”
    It felt like old times between Callie and me. We were about to have a gossip fest, and it was like none of the baggage we had from the past existed. Maybe the holiday spirit helped wipe it all away.
    â€œI was surprised to see Lauren too,” I said. “More shocked, though, that she had all of her friends there. She planned a Christmas like ours.”
    â€œI figured we would probably run into her sometime at Briar Creek,” Callie said. “It was weird, though.”
    â€œWhy?” I pulled a hunter-green wool sweater over my head. After our ride, Kim had explained to all of us that she’d kept quiet about each of our groups coming to BC because she’d wanted us to feel out the sitch ourselves.
    Callie shrugged. “It was almost like she was ready to compete with us or something. She and her friends didn’t hesitate at Heather’s dare. I mean, I’m glad they did it, because I got to see for myself that the rumors about them are true.”
    â€œWhat rumors?”
    â€œThat they’re gunning for spots on their advanced team as soon as they have tryouts. That girl, Khloe, who’s already on the advanced team, is YENT material.”
    Callie and I both slid our feet into thick socks and started lacing up our boots.
    â€œThey’re not our competition,” I said. “Lauren and her friends are a grade behind us. We don’t have to worry about our slots on the advanced team and the YENT.”
    â€œYou sure?” Callie asked. “Tell me that you don’t think Mr. Conner might combine our advanced team with