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A/N: A picture of Jayden.
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Jayden was standing still. He had been in that position for almost half an hour and Samuel’s leg had begun to cramp.
He adjusted his position and turned to Chelsea. ‘Are you sure he’s going to do anything?’
Chelsea nodded without speaking. Her attention was completely focused on Jayden as though willing him to ride with her mind.
Samuel shifted uncomfortably. ‘But he’s doing absolutely nothing. He’s just standing there staring at the horse.’
‘He’s not doing nothing,’ Chelsea whispered in a voice tinged with admiration.
Samuel glanced doubtfully at her. ‘He’s not?’
‘Can’t you see?’ she whispered excitedly. ‘He’s looking directly into Honey’s eyes. He’s bonding with her.’
‘Okay,’ Samuel responded unsurely. He wasn’t quite sure if she was totally sane. ‘Why is he doing that?’
‘Trust,’ she said it as if it was obvious. ‘He needs her to trust him if they are to ride-… Look!’ she pointed excitedly.
Samuel turned to see Jayden placing his hands on both sides of Honey’s face. His eyes were closed and he placed his forehead on hers. He was muttering something under his breath that got Honey excited for she was pawing the ground with her hooves.
‘He’s transferring his strength to her!’ Chelsea exclaimed under her breath. Her voice showed she was completely in awe and her face was bright as her eyes lit up in excitement.
Samuel glanced between the two and wondered if either of them were completely sane.
He looked down to rub his legs, looking back up in time to see Jayden grab the reins and swing himself onto Honey’s saddle.
Chelsea let out an excited gasp. Samuel straightened up and peered expectantly over the stack.
Nothing happened.
Jayden just sat there with the reins hanging limp in his hands. His eyes were distant and his visage appeared to be plagued with dark thoughts.
‘Come on, come on,’ Chelsea urged under her breath, crossing her fingers as she braced herself.
Jayden continued to be completely motionless. In fact, except for the occasional twitch of Honey’s tail both horse and rider could almost be mistaken for statues.
They remained like this for close to twenty minutes before Samuel sighed. ‘He’s having second thoughts. Do you think he’ll go through with it?’
No sooner had he spoken than Jayden’s eyes suddenly focused. He whipped the reins and dug his heels shooting Honey across the field.
They were nothing but a blur as they approached the course. They cleared the first couple of hurdles easily.
‘They are making excellent time!’ Chelsea whispered excitedly.
Honey zipped through the cones with lightning-fast speed. They shot through the next batch of obstacles without a single error then the next, then the next.
They were on a roll!
They soon approached the final hurdle, a five feet three inches long hedge. Chelsea started biting her lip as she shifted in nervousness beside Samuel.
‘Honey has never jumped that high before. I don’t think she’ll be able to clear it.’
They watched with bated breath as they slowly approached the hedge. They got closer and closer, and Samuel and Chelsea gripped their hands together tightly. Honey approached the more than five feet tall hedge with sure feet and with a great lurch, they were suddenly over. They had cleared the final hurdle successfully!
Chelsea and Samuel shot to their feet as they roared and whistled. They rushed to Jayden and Honey who were cantering up the track.
Honey was a horse transformed. Whereas before she had always bowed her head, she now held it up high and neighed proudly to rival any full-blooded stallion.
She pawed the ground proudly as Samuel and Chelsea neared, tossing her head back and shaking her mane in confidence.
‘Oh my god! That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!’
‘Whip me up and turn my saddle! That was glorious! The technique, the grace, the execution, it was simply exquisite!’
Jayden pulled Honey to a halt and stared silently at them as they continued to gape and fawn over them.
‘I’m a Lepus but I think you should totally compete for Scorpius this week. You also have to join the school team. We would win regionals and nationals hands down if we have you on the team. ‘
Jayden swung down from Honey and handed the reins to her. ‘No.’
‘But,’ she took the reins and looked at him but Jayden was already leaving, his hands stuck as usual in his hoodie.
‘I don’t understand,’ she said, staring at the reins. ‘At first, I thought it was an injury or something of that nature keeping him from racing and show jumping. But he can clearly still ride and he has no injury so what stopped him and what’s stopping him now?’
Samuel patted her shoulder gently. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll go and talk with him.’
With a final pat on Honey, he turned and rushed after Jayden.
‘Hey,’ he said, catching up to him. ‘What was that all about?’
Jayden glanced at him without saying a word.
Samuel stared at him with worry. Normally, Jayden would have told him to fuck off in his usual succinct way and he would have been glaring at his unwelcome company. However, his shoulders drooped, he said nothing, and instead of a glare, his eyes were just empty. That ride seemed to have taken a lot out of him.
‘Look,’ he began, falling into step beside him. ‘I know you don’t want to talk about it but you need to. Something clearly happened that made you stop riding and whatever it was it’s still stopping you now.’
Jayden turned to stare at him.
‘I know you don’t want to talk about it with me so I’ll let the matter drop but, if you need help dealing with whatever, you can always ask me. Let me just say something. Whatever it is, don’t let it control you. You clearly love riding cause when you were doing it for the first time ever, you finally looked alive.’
A small frown appeared on Jayden’s face and Samuel rushed to clarify.
‘I don’t mean you looked dead before but you didn’t seem to be alive you just seemed to be living. Like you were just going through all the processes and motions without actually feeling them. Riding brought life to you so don’t let anything take it away.’
Jayden continued to stare at Samuel albeit this time with curiosity.
Samuel ran his hand through his hair nervously and chuckled. ‘Anyway, I’ve got to go. Coach would be furious that I run away from my job. Hey, you know what, I know you don’t like coming to the competitions but I’ve got a game tomorrow and I’m hoping you could come. First years are normally not allowed to compete so it’s kinda a big deal for me.’
He looked hopefully at Jayden. ‘Would you?’
Jayden stared at his bright puppy-like face and surprisingly for the first time, he didn’t have the heart to say no, so he just shrugged.
‘Maybe.’
Samuel’s face broke out into a huge smile. It was like the sun just came out from behind a cloud.
‘Really? That’s so cool! I can’t wait!’
Jayden almost smiled at his excitement. He had just said maybe and it wasn’t like he had promised or even given a definite answer. His happiness was however contagious and he found his mood lightening.
‘I’m so excited! See you tomorrow, Jayden,’ he said as he waved, turning to ran in the opposite direction.
Jayden stood and stared after his retreating figure. A small smile formed on his lips when he thought of the expression that would be on Samuel’s face if he actually did go to the game. He shook his head and turned around.
As he made his way to the dormitory, he wondered if he should go just to see the look on his face.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: A double update! 🥳
I know this chapter is short but the ending felt right and I didn’t want to change it. I promise to try and make it up to you in the next one.
So what did you think? Is the ice finally begin to thaw between Jayden and Samuel? Is Jayden finally warming up to Samuel?
Lemme know in the comments and if you enjoyed this chapter, don’t forget to vote🙂.
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