My Parents banished me to my Uncle's ranch:

...And just like that--It was back to normal. I put up my guard against everyone. I was starting to get too attached to this place--not to mention Nate. And I knew what happen when you started getting needy. I was practically attached at the hip to my mother, then she died. I started leaning on my dad for help but all he did was leave me at home with a sitter and go and work--and drink. I started relying on the nannies but eventually they all had to quit or move or just whatever. Then Richard--because calling him dad was out of the question--brought home Veronica and that is when I snapped.

Thankfully Alex and Jason found me. They were the only ones that I could trust. They never left me--unless you counted now--but I didn't. There was nothing they could do. Richard was making sure I was completely isolated.

I hopped out my window--because I didn't want to run into anyone--and made my way down to the barn. It was quiet and I snuck into Jupe's stall. He nickered a greeting and went back to eating his lunch.

"Hey Jupe..." I mumbled. "I guess it's back to talking to you again. Not like that's a bad thing. I just--oh who am I kidding? I'm talking to a horse!" I curled up into a ball in the corner.

"Looks like Richard got what he wanted. To show me that I am completely alone..." He thought that sending me here would teach me something about my 'attitude'. Pfft. Like I have one.

The next day was Sunday and there really wasn't anyone around. They were all taking a day off before the camp. Does this still mean that I have to help Nate? My question was answered at diner.

"Erin--"
"It's Tiggie dammit." I snapped. Everyone did a double take but Jack just took it in strides--like always.

"Tiggie...You're going to be riding with Steven and Nate in the older group. You'll be doing trail riding for the last few days."

"Whatever..." I mumbled and rolled my eyes. "No one else rides Jupe though." I warned.

"Like anyone would want to." Nate said sarcastically.

I sneered at him. "Well it's not like you could even if you tried."

"I can--"
"Enough." Jack silenced our small argument. "Camp starts at 7:00 A.M. so we'll need to be up at 5:00 to get things ready. The smaller kids will stay in the barn with the girls. The intermediate group will go with Danny and Joe in the arena and Nate, Steven and Tiggie will be doing some review on the other half of the ranch in the main arena and then they'll be able to go trail riding. Remember that's what this group is here for. Some of them will be trailing their horses here so we won't have to worry about not having enough horses. Here you go," He said passing us all a piece of paper with names on them. "These are your groups. Go over the names and some of the information for tomorrow."

After that I excused myself. After showering and cleaning up for tomorrow--since there wouldn't be any time in the morning--I threw on my tank-top and shorts. I lay in my bed holding the piece of paper and went through the list. I laughed at how many kids Danny would be working with--all under the age of twelve.

Advanced Group: Nate, Steven, Tiggie

At least he got my name right. I looked over the names and some of the descriptions. To my surprise they were mostly girls with only one boy in the group.

Katherine: Age 14-advanced

Jessica: Age 15-intermediate/advanced

Alison: Age 15-advanced

Olivia: Age 16-advanced(showing)

Bryson: Age 17-advanced(hunter/jumper)

I went to bed late, thinking about tomorrow. How horrible it was going to be having to be with Nate and Steven all day-everyday for the next week. UHH!

The next morning I was being shaken awake by two people. "Get out!" I groaned.

"Tiggie wake up! You're going to make us late, people are already showing up!" Nate growled pulling my covers off. I curled into a ball.

"Get up Tiggie!" Steven shouted and they stormed out of the room slamming the door behind them.

"Scew you guys!" I yelled after the door slammed. "Uhhh!" I hurried today to get ready. I threw my hair up in a high pony tail and brushed my teeth in a hurry. It was already 6:50 and people were showing up. I threw on a pair of jeans and a black tan-top.

I skipped breakfast and ran outside. Nate greeted me--but business-like.

"Get your lazy ass up on time tomorrow." He growled in my ear. Already there were people unloading cars full of kids. There were some new trailers and I could see a group of high school girls huddling around Steven. It was cute really, the way they giggled and focused on him like that.

"Jt'emmerde." It was a good thing I had been refreshed with my french. Cussing someone out in a foreign language was not only fun but absolutely hilarious when they had no idea what you were saying.

"I'm going to assume that means 'okay Nate, whatever you say'." Nate said sarcastically.

"Yeah it does actually." Another lie. I actually said fuck you, but he can think whatever he wants. "What are we supposed to do?" I asked.

"Well if you had been at the meeting this morning you would've known."

"Just tell me." I hissed. We were getting closer to the group of giggling girls and Steven.

"We need to wait for the last two in our group to show up. Then we'll go over rules--also something you missed--and then we'll get started. Just don't screw things up. Your uncle Jack works too hard to get these clients here."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hi girls, I'm Nate and this is Tiggie. We're also leaders in your group." He shook hands with three girls. They all smiled to him and even I got some hand-shakes.

"I"m Katherine." A little brunette with freckles stated.

"I'm Alison, but you can call me Ali." We all were getting introduced. I went over their names mentally in my head. Ali is the blond. Katherine is the freckled one. Jessica is the red-head. Olivia is the oldest. She had a little attitude and I remembered that she was one of the older ones. Maybe a year or so younger than me.

"Where's..." Steven looked to the paper. "Bryson?" He looked back up at us. I rolled my eyes. Like I know...

"Oh there he is, I compete in some of his events. That's his trailer coming up right now." Katherine pointed to a very fancy trailer and a large red pick-up truck.

"Alright, when he has his horse unloaded we'll go into formal introductions and go over the rules." Steven said. They all seemed so business-like. Whatever. I'm not putting on that attitude.

"Tiggie see if you can help him with anything." Steven suggested. I gave him a quick glare but obeyed. I walked over to the back of the big red truck and found someone going through some tack in the bottom shelf of the trailer.

"Can I help you with anything?" But I guess he must not have heard me because he hit his head on the top of the trailer and then thoroughly cursed under his breath.

"Bullox..." He mumbled in a thick British accent. I was stunned to see a rather handsome boy standing in front of me. He rubbed his head looking down at a bridle he was holding.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sneek up on you."

He looked up past tussled blond hair and starred back with beautiful honey colored eyes. Ho-lee-shit! He was good-looking. Not like Nat--Don't even mention Nate right now! Stop thinking about him...

"I'm fine. Just a little dent. I'm Bryson Frey. I'm looking for..." He pulled out a note but I knew who he was looking for.

"You're with us." I said before he got it.

He smiled ruefully, "Well then, lead the way um..."

"Tiggie."

"Yes, Tiggie. That's a cute name." His honey colored eyes were just as alluring as his thick british accent.

We unloaded his horse and put him in the open stall and then started to head over to Nate's group.

"So Tiggie," Bryson said nudging my arm, "I noticed most all the workers here are men. What brings you here?"

I scoughed internally. You mean who dragged me here? "Jack is my uncle." I kept it simple.

"That's lovely. You get to work with your family over the summer." He said smiling at me. We were fairly close in height, he only had maybe two inches on me.

"It's got it's ups and downs."

"Tiggie!" Nate waved us over impatiently. I hadn't noticed we were walking slow. We caught the rest of the group and started introductions.

"I'm Kathrine and I show competitively. I'm here for fun though. And my favorite thing to do is well...ride I guess."

Next, "I'm Alison, but call me Ali. I ride just for fun, and do some barrel racing." She smiled shyly and sat back down.

"I'm Jessica. I've been riding for about four years now and my favorite thing to do is go to the beach." I remembered her as the redhead. She was really cute.

The next one was older, "I'm Olivia and I show competitively. My favorite thing to do is go to the mall and shop." I can tell she's going to be fun...

"Alright last one," Steven said nodding to Bryson.

"Right, well...I'm Bryson. I am a competitive hunter jumper but I came here for some relaxation from the competition and some fun." He looked over in my direction a little, still smiling. I smiled back. He was absolutely sweet.

"Alright now we'll introduce ourselves." Steven said standing. I watched all the girls giggle a little. It was cute to see they had little crushes on them. And absolutely hilarious watching Nate and Steven fend them off politely. "You guys go first."

"Ladies first." Nate offered. It would seem polite to someone else, but I could hear that hint of mocking in his tone. I stood up anyway and got this over with.

"I'm Tiggie. I'll be helping you guys out this week." I sat down quickly and glared at Nate.

"I'm Nate. I'll be helping around also. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." I rolled my eyes at him.

"And I'm Steven. I'll be your main guide for the whole week. Let me go over some rules and then we'll get to some fun stuff. Rule 1: You never go out on any trail without a guide. Rule 2: Always excessive caution around the horses. Of course you are all experienced riders but we still have to warn you. Rule 3: Always listen to your guides. Those are all the rules but there are a couple of other things you should know. We have bears up here so don't leave any food laying around. Also, lunch is served at 12:30, so don't be too late. Alright?"

They all nodded their head in agreement. Olivia looked more focused on her nails than anything. We went down to the main barn and started to tack up the horses. There weren't enough ties so we had to go by groups of threes. I went near the end with Bryson and Nate. Steven was helping the younger girls get everything perfect.

"Your horse is an angel." I stroked Bryson's horse. He was a big golden colored thoroughbred.

"Yes he is. I think he likes you. He has a fancy name but I just call him Pet." That was a cute name.

"Where's you're little angel?" He teased.

Nate snorted as he walked by. "Shut up Nate." Hissed.

"What's that all about?" Bryson asked. Nate leaned up against the railing.

"Nothing..." I mumbled. Jupe wasn't a little 'angel', especially around other people.

"I wouldn't call him an angel." Nate said mockingly. "In fact we call him Satan."

I rolled my eyes again, getting annoyed. "I don't call him that. And maybe that's why he doesn't like you." I turned abruptly back to Bryson and Pet. "His name is Jupiter, but I call him Jupe."

"Well they can't all be angels." Bryson offered.

"I trust me...he's not." Nate mumbled.

We had finally made it through the day to lunch. We had spent most the day brushing the horses and getting introduced. At lunch I sat with Bryson.

"So you're obviously from England. What's it like?" I asked. We were sitting out by the porch surrounded by lots of kids and adults talking. The camp was actually going smoothly. Although I felt a little bad for Danny since his group was hanging onto him the whole time.

"Yes I am. It's rainy I guess. I lived their until I was ten and then moved to Oregon. I guess the American accent never rubbed off." He chuckled.

"Guess not."

"So what's your story?" He asked taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Well I was born in California. Dad works a lot and thought it would be best for me to spend some time with family. I have to admit I didn't want to come here at first, but I guess it's alright."

"Well I'm glad you're here." He said winking in my direction. "You're going to show me your horse after lunch right? I mean, I've been hearing so much about the little devil..." He teased. I faked a pout and he bumped my shoulder playfully.

"Let's go have a look." Bryson grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. After lunch was free time around the ranch. There were some kids riding and most all the workers were busy. They didn't really expect me to do much, so I didn't feel guilty running around with Bryson. Like I would feel guilty anyways...Bryson was...how could you put it? Dashing? Something like that. He had a sweet gentleman's charm.

"Here he is. I have to warn you though, he doesn't like strangers." I said coming up to Jupe's stall at the end. He had been moved so no one would accidentally run too close to his stall.

"He's a looker." Bryson said, he kept a safe distance. I did some kissing noises to get his attention and he peeked his head over the stall doors. Then he noticed Bryson and pinned his ears.

"Hey." I said firmly. Jupe eased up a little after that. He even let Bryson pet him. But Bryson was used to tempered thoroughbred. He lived on a thoroughbred farm.

At the end of the day when all the campers were going home I walked Bryson to his truck.

"I'll see you tomorrow then Tiggie?" He asked stopping at the door.

"Of course."

"Well then," He kissed me on the cheek--I was a little surprised but didn't mind. It was a friendly kiss from what I could tell. "I'll be looking forward to tomorrow."