Wild Horse by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page B

Veronica’s running scared,” Stevie murmured.
    “She really wants that dance job, doesn’t she?” Carole asked as they headed toward the pasture where the horses were turned out.
    “Sure,” said Stevie. “She thinks it will boost her popularity. And now that she thinks Lisa is going to go to Wentworth Manor, she wants to get on her good side, too.”
    “You think so?” Lisa asked skeptically. She couldn’t imagine being nice to someone just because of the school she went to.
    “Definitely. She probably thinks you’ll make lots of socialite friends there and look down on her,” Stevie said. “Or else bad-mouth her to the other girls.”
    “Gee, maybe Lisa should pretend she
is
going to Wentworth,” Carole suggested playfully. “Then she’ll have Veronica under her thumb, too.”
    “Do you realize what this means?” Stevie said, looking eagerly from Carole to Lisa. “Veronica has to be nice to two of us—and for no reason at all! Because wild horses couldn’t make me choose her for the dance committee.”
    “And wild horses couldn’t drag me back to that school!” Lisa said.

“B YE , M RS . D OLAN !” Lisa called to her bus driver, hopping off at her stop. She swung her book bag happily as she walked toward her house. It had been a great day at school. Sometimes, Lisa realized, it took leaving a place to make you realize how much you liked it. Having spent an afternoon at Wentworth Manor, Lisa had looked at her old school with new eyes. She’d noticed all kinds of things during the day that she was normally oblivious to—like how nice Mrs. Dolan was to the kids on her bus. Even things like the beat-up lockers at Willow Creek seemed homey.
    Lisa had always liked her teachers, but today she’dappreciated them even more. As for the other kids, there were some Lisa couldn’t stand, but she had lots of friends, too. The simple fact was that she belonged at Willow Creek, in a way she could never belong at Wentworth. In a sense, her mother was right: Interviewing at Wentworth had been a privilege—it had made her realize how privileged she already was.
    Before going into the house, Lisa stopped to get the mail, as she always did. She flipped quickly through the pile of letters but didn’t see anything interesting—no foreign stamps meaning a card from the Italian boys The Saddle Club knew; no Los Angeles postmark indicating a letter from Skye Ransom, their movie star friend, who lived out in Beverly Hills.
    “Mom, I’m home!” Lisa called, stopping in the kitchen to drop off the mail and grab an apple. She glanced at the clock above the kitchen table. She had just enough time to grab her riding clothes and walk to Pine Hollow. She didn’t want to miss watching Veronica do any of the tasks Stevie was going to think up for her. It was too funny to see Veronica doing actual work.
    Lisa dashed upstairs to her room and was pulling her hair into a ponytail when she heard her mother cry out from the kitchen. She ran to the head of the stairs. “Are you okay, Mom?” she called.
    “I’m—I’m fine!” Mrs. Atwood called back. “I’m justshaken up. I can’t believe it! Oh, honey, it’s too good to be true!”
    “What? What is it, Mom?” Lisa cried, running downstairs.
    Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, an open Express Mail letter in her hand. She looked completely overcome with happiness, as if she might cry. “Mom?” Lisa asked gently.
    Mrs. Atwood looked up at her. “It’s everything we’ve ever hoped for, darling,” she said, her voice trembling. “You got a full scholarship, Lisa. You’re going to Wentworth!”
    “N O , I’ M SORRY , Veronica,” Stevie said. “I just haven’t made my decision yet.”
    “But—” Veronica began.
    Stevie held up a hand. “You can understand how I feel. A lot of people are begging me for the job, and I have to be fair,” she said in her best teacherly manner.
    “But shouldn’t you decide soon? The dance is less than two weeks