After tons of hugs. It was awards time. Brynn got first, a blue ribbon, a rose garland and a $60,000 check. One of those big ones. Michelle got a red ribbon and $10,000 Greyson on the other hand, got a yellow ribbon and $1,000 it's still something…
"Gosh!" He said. "I'd say else but there are children here." He pointed to Michelle. She huffed. She pushed her hot pink glasses closer to her face, almost smashing her crooked eyes.
"Rigged polls!" She half yelled.
"Wrap it up, Spangler." The judge said, addressing Michelle by her last name. "Maybe I should just give the check to Greyson Whitehall?" He asked.
"No! No! It's all fine." She exclaimed and smiled. They all laughed, besides Michelle. After a few minutes of watching the crowd, they walked back to the show barn. The grooms took care of the horses, giving them treats and a wash down. It was pretty hot outside. The only problem that remains, is that Michelle was also now going to Hampton. Greyson was, but he was the least of Brynn's problems.
Brynn sat in the tack room, phone in hand. It was now 11:29 am. Colton's practice finished 29 minutes ago, but she got no call. She took a photo of herself and the rose garland, and posted it on Instagram.
Brynn_Equestrian:
8m likes 900K followers 384 following
She had a good account, most followers were other equestrians and some of her sponsors. Others were people who thought what she did was "aesthetic" or knew nothing about horses, They just followed. Her mom didn't like social media, but Brynn got some money out of it, so she kept quiet. 90 likes and 5 comments in two minutes. She put her phone down, as Greyson came into the room, followed by Michelle, and her mom.
"God, what now?" Brynn asked.
"Hey I'm just here to get some coke, your mom is here to take the garland, and I honestly don't know why Barbie and her mom are here." Greyson smiled innocently.
"Enough smiling, pretty boy, we are here-" Michelle started, but Greyson cut her off.
"You- think… I'm pretty!" He said in a high pitched voice, batting his eyelashes.
"Enough!" Michelle's mom, Kate, yelled.
"That time is not normal for a rescue horse." Kate huffed. Stolen was not a rescue, he was a former dressage horse turned pasture puff, then trained into jumping. Brynn just let Kate think that to boost her ego of having a push button warmblood horse, compared to Stolen's thoroughbred-hanoverian-selle bloodline.
"And your point is…?" Brynn asked.
"I want a drug test done, test for everything."
"Oh my god! Calm down Karen!" Brynn went off.
"Just because your barbie princess daughter can't do shit doesn't mean that my horse is not on drugs!" (DISCLAIMER: This is sadly common in the horse industry, mainly in saddleseat, big lick and racing to improve a horse's performance and movements in an extremely horrible way. This is not too common in jumping, but can happen.)
"Fine," Kate the Karen huffed. She grabbed Michelle's hand and walked away.
"That was weird." Greyson siad, grabbing a coke from the fridge. Brynn's phone rang. She picked it up from the table. "Colton 🏈" She answered it.
"Hey Brynn…" Colton says.
"What's up?" She replies.
"CONGRATS!" He yells into the phone. "But, why did you let Geyson hug you like that?" Brynn was a little taken back by that.
"W-What do you mean?" She stuttered.
"If you're not dating him, it's inappropriate for him to touch you like that." He said. Colton's tone had gotten sharp.
"Why do you even care?!" Brynn gritted her teeth. Colton paused.
"Is he just a friend?" He asked calmly.
"Wha- why would you, I don't know-?" She replied. "Why? Colton. Why are you acting like this?!" Brynn walked out of the tack room, and into an empty barn aisle.
"I just wanted to know geez, I'm trying to help you." He went from calm to yelling way too fast. Brynn just hung up. She walked back into the tack room after about 5 minutes of crying quietly. Colton and her never got into arguments over something so small like that.
"You alright?" Greyson asked, walking up to her. They both sat down on a small sofa.
"Yeah I guess, it's just weird."
"What's weird?" He implored.
"Colton is being all weird, he's probably stressed about his football game." Brynn concluded.
"Ah yes, that's definitely it." Greyson replied sarcastically. Brynn frowned.
They sat and chatted for a few minutes. The night grew closer, and in December, Florida it got dark fast. Everyone was wondering where to go next.
"Let's go to that Kyran Hiva restaurant for hibachi." Greyson suggested. Everyone agreed. There was a massive trailer for all the horses that stayed at Bryer Terrace to take them back. Michelle loaded Show of Flowers, with some difficulty. Confined Lair and Stolen Wishes went in easy, as usual. The driver repeated the directions to himself and took off, turning around the barn corner and down the road, disappearing into a maze of other trailers, until Brynn couldn't keep track of it.
They all got in their cars to head to Kyran Hiva.
Ping! She got a message on her phone.
Am I really just a friend? ~ Greyson 4:29pm
Brynn smurked and put her phone down, deciding how to answer. Before she could pick her phone up again, her mother told her to put it down, and her parents proceeded to interrogate her about the check.
"There are better ways to spend the money if you think about this reasonably!" Brynn's mother said.
"Fine, how about we split it. 30k to savings, 30k to the horse. Deal?" She asked.
"Agreed." Bynn's parents accepted. They pulled up into the parking lot of the restaurant. Greyson was already there, waiting. He had driven himself.
"Where'd your parents go?" Brynn asked.
"Eh, I think they went home to cash out that check," there was sadness in his eyes. He had purposefully used a different car than his parents, in an attempt to avoid them. Brynn felt bad. She grabbed his hand and walked into the waiting room.
Michelle made a face. Brynn rolled her eyes. They waited for a few minutes, until a waiter came out. Once the waiter was there, the parents left, letting their kids enjoy some free time. The waiter took them to their table, and they all sat down to discuss the Hampton in 8 weeks.
"We all know who's gonna win." Greyson said. "Me!"
Brynn laughed.
"Your scores today say otherwise." Brynn said bluntly.
Greyson glared at her. Brynn's phone rang.
"Call from Colton 🏈" Her Siri on her phone announced. She sighed.