ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK Read Free Page B

guess I
could understand her appearance. I bet she threw those clothes on in a hurry to
get to her horse.
    Adela’s dad was pitching
hay in the back of the stable when I entered. He looked up and smiled at me, a
huge welcoming grin, and I instantly felt at ease.
    “Hey, Courtland. Am I
glad to see you!”
    “Hey, Mr. Castielle.” I
waved my hand and made my way to the first stall where Adela’s horse, Big Blue,
stood. He stepped back and snorted at me as I approached. His breathing quickened
and his neck muscles stiffened as he raised his head—a sure sign that he was anxious.
    Mr. Castielle walked
over to us, careful to keep his distance. “When I came in here this morning,
Blue’s ears were pinned back and his muscles seemed mighty tense. Adela was
able to calm him some, but I still want you to see what you can do for him as
well as Misty over there.”
    I glanced over at
Misty, Max’s horse, and nodded at Mr. Casteille. If I didn’t care so much for
animals, I wouldn’t give Misty the time of day, knowing she was his horse. But I knew deep down that Misty really had no choice in who she belonged
to and thank God she didn’t have the same personality as her owner.
    I stretched out my hand
toward Big Blue with my palm open and he walked forward a little bit, but he was
swishing his tail, showing me his agitation. I noticed him grinding his teeth
so I grabbed an apple out of the basket on the ground next to his stall and held
it out to him. He was hesitant at first, but soon started to nibble. I petted
his side and he began to relax, resting his rear foot with the tip of his hoof barely
touching the ground. “That’s it, boy. All the ruckus is over. No more shaking
and rumbling.” At least for now. I was certain there would be aftershocks.
    I know for a fact that Adela
wasn’t happy about the idea of me being here to calm down her horse. I can only
guess at the expletives she used in her mind when she found out I was coming
over. It was no secret to me how she felt—just like everyone else around this
too-small-to-be-called-a-town and at school. I knew they all thought of me as a
freak.
    I’d heard it said that
five years after graduation, everything that happened in high school would be
forgotten. Hmmm … somehow, I didn’t think that would to be the case for me,
thanks to Max.
    My life would be so
much simpler if Max Wendell bit the dust. If there was one person I wish I’d
never met, it was him. Sometimes I wondered if there was such a thing as the butterfly
effect like that movie and if so, maybe I could go back in time the way
Ashton Kutcher did and change things for the better. But like him, I’d probably
end up making things worse or even lose an arm or two. I shook my head,
shuddering at the thought and dreamed of Adela instead.
    Sweet, sexy Adela. The
way she stood at the door frowning, looking frazzled but beautiful. took my
breath away. I cannot fathom what it is that she sees in Max . He had to
be the most obnoxious, arrogant, spiteful human being God ever planted on this
earth. I could only hope and wish that someday Adela would look at me the way
she looked at Max. I sighed at the thought and tried to concentrate on Big
Blue.
    I had to admit, I was
ecstatic this morning when my dad told me Adela’s father called to ask if I
would come over and help calm his horses. My dad didn’t seem to be his usual
morning-after-binge self. But then, maybe the earthquake sobered him up. I was
a little surprised to see him drinking coffee this morning when I walked into
the kitchen and at first, I thought that he was coming down from a drunken
binge, using coffee to sober up. But after I called Mr. Castielle back, I
realized my old man was actually lucid for once.
    I’d been in love with Adela
since the day she moved to Pleasant Ridge, the very first time I ever saw her
sweet face sprinkled with freckles. We’d been in the fourth grade. But once Max
wormed his way into her world, I became invisible to