Sterling's Daughter

Concrete slammed into Laya's back, knocking the breath out of her. As a last minute reflex, she'd managed to get her hands under her head so she wouldn't knock herself out.
"Laya!" Kirsty knelt beside her, looking concerned.
"Ow," Laya moaned, staggering to her feet. Being winded was not a nice feeling, as everyone knew. She took a few breaths, but stopped sharply as she heard male laughter. She snapped her head up instantly, and even more instantly she wished she hadn't. She was aching all over from her crazy decent from steps to concrete ground.
It took her a few seconds to focus her eyes. A group of kids were gathered around her, some looking concerned, some snickering behind their hands, and some openly laughing. But her eyes fell on Will - who was standing directly in front of her. Their eyes met, and for a second, Laya lost her ability to speak. The smirk plastered on his face told her everything she needed to know, and his eyes sparkled back at her. As she stared, he lowered one eyelid in a slow wink. That did it.
"You are so immature," she hissed, taking a step foward. "How old are you? 16? And you think its funny to trip your classmate over on the concrete? What were you thinking?"
"That my classmate tends to be very annoying," Will didn't blink.
"You got that right," Laya glared at him.
"C'mon, Laya," Kirsty pulled on her sleeve. "We'll be late for class. You can scream at him later."
"What if I want to scream at him now?" Laya insisted. Kirsty rolled her eyes and dragged her towards the big double doors of the building. She glared at Will over her shoulder since she couldn't get out of Kirsty's grasp. He cocked his head in her direction, looking amused. She glowered. "I hate him," she seethed.
"I'm sure you do," Kirsty said absentmindedly as she marched along. Laya felt like her arm was about to fall off, so she detatched herself from her friend's grip. "Right, I've got history now. You stay out of trouble."
Laya's eyebrows shot high up onto her forehead.
"When did you turn into my mother?" she demanded.
"Since Will turned up and he seems to have this thing about him that makes you get mad just seeing him," Kirsty eyed her friend. "You looked like you would murder him just before."
"I was," Laya said innocently. Kirsty groaned.
"Just GO to class," she sighed in mock exasperation, and gave Laya a playful push on the back.
***
The first thing Laya noticed when she got off the school bus that afternoon, was a tall chestnut colt galloping madly around one of the paddocks at Sterling Stables.
"Who's he?" she asked Mum when she got inside.
"That's my latest client," Mum looked kind of excited. "His name's Tempo. He's 3, and never been ridden before. I have to train him to the saddle and to accept a rider, so this is going to be so much fun."
Right. Did her mother ever imagine that working with a horse with such a fiesty spirit of his could be seriously dangerous? Oh well - she lived for the adrenaline, and Laya knew her mother wasn't stupid enough to do anything dumb.
"So how was school?" Mum changed the subject.
"Okay," Laya shrugged. "There's some new guy who's a complete jerk who almost gave me a concussion, but Kirsty wouldn't let me fly to pieces at him."
"That's got to be the first guy you've noticed," Zena teased as she walked up to them. Laya glared at him.
"It's hard not to notice people who have attempts at plastering you all over the ground," she grumbled.
She stalked up the stairs, wondering why her face was burning.