Chapter 1: When It All Began

"Fly my Flicker, fly!" Jenna whispered, breathlessly, to her horse. She was taking the last ride of her summer, her last chance to fly on her beautiful palomino gelding. The Mustang was Jenna's favorite horse that her family owned, the one who really taught her how to fly, how to be free. She was galloping bareback across the ridge, on her way back to her house as the sun was setting over the soon to be covered in snow mountains in Colorado. It was a cool day in September, and tomorrow, Jenna would return to her high school for her junior year. It was the first year she would be able to drive to school, and suddenly, her parents were really restrictive on her social life, but Jenna didn't mind. As long as she was allowed to ride Flicker, she would always be free in her mind.

Flicker was a golden palomino Mustang, named because he liked to flick his tail, and he was the color of a flickering candle in all different types of light. Jenna's family had gotten him 3 years ago, and although he was not the first horse of Jenna's, he was most definitely the one who taught her how to really ride. Jenna had been riding for as long as she could walk, and had even been on a horse a time or two even before then, with her dad holding on to her. She had lived in Colorado, in the mountains, for her entire life, but had never learned to ski. She couldn't, because she spends her weekends riding, and had for as long as she can remember.

"Whoa, slow down there Flicker, I need to cool you off before we get home." Jenna loved to run, but also loved to walk through the forest surrounding her house. The trees were so peaceful all year round, and Jenna would often wander off into her backyard when there was nothing else to do, which was happening less and less often now that she was taking advanced classes in high school.

Jenna walked in to her kitchen just as the sun dipped behind the mountains in front of her kitchen's west facing window. She smelled of horses and leather, as any good horse woman should smell. Reluctant to even wash her hands for dinner, Jenna loved the smell of horse, and would willingly not wash it off, ever. Unfortunately, most people do not agree with this notion, so she is forced to take a shower. She has figured out, however, that she can avoid using body wash and still retain the horsey smell on her hands, which only she could notice. It was her comfort smell, so this method comes in handy when ever Jenna is having a bad day.

"Jenna, come wash up for dinner, we're having the last steaks of the season in celebration of your last day of summer." Jenna's mom, while a bit over protective sometimes, was still the best mom Jenna could ever ask for.

Jenna's face brightened at the mention of her favorite dinner. "Thanks mom, you're the best!" She threw her arms around her mother, enveloping her in a horsey smelling hug before running off to wash her hands in the downstairs bathroom, which was technically the guest bathroom, but since Jenna's family rarely had guests, it had become the general community bathroom.

After dinner and a quick shower, Jenna settled down into her comfy purple chair, covered in a fuzzy cover to enhance the sitting experience, to write in her diary. She had never really kept a diary until high school, when she made a lot of friends and even more enemies. Because she spent her time riding, she was made fun of by her enemies, because they thought it was a waste of her time. While they were all out snowboarding or skateboarding or smoking or doing illegal drugs or any amount of other things high schoolers could get in to trouble for doing, Jenna was always riding her horse. She had never really been interested in guys, only thought a few of them would be interesting to get to know, because most of them had thought she was insane for never learning how to do a lot of things a typical Coloradoan does. Of course, Jenna had had crushes before, but had never really had the desire to have a boyfriend. After everything her friends had been complaining about with their guy problems, she wasn't sure she wanted one. Her friends had always been supportive of her horse obsession, and one of them practically lived at her house, because she was a horse crazy as Jenna was.

Jenna was looking aimlessly around her room and thinking about her friends and how they were going to start their second to last year of high school together tomorrow, and most of them would be driving to school. Suddenly, Jenna had to suppress a scream, catching it in her throat. On her desk next to her, a lone cylindrical object, about three inches in length and three quarters of an inch in diameter, covered with blue masking tape, was sitting innocently on the corner. Jenna recognized it immediately: a tube of peppermint Chap Stick. Nora, one of Jenna's good friends, was obsessed with the stuff, and was constantly leaving her tube at Jenna's house. Jenna was deathly afraid of chap stick of any kind, but especially the peppermint kind. Nora always tried to be considerate and not let Jenna see her Chap Stick, but because she was good old forgetful Nora, she was always leaving it at Jenna's house. Jenna strained to think of the last time Nora was over and thus how long the Chap Stick had been sitting there, and she determined it had only been there for a day. Throwing a tissue over the threatening tube of Chap Stick, Jenna sighed and began to write in her diary:

Ugh … Nora left her Chap Stick here again after my end of summer party … I really wish she would stop doing that. I hate the fact that chap stick is such a common item … every time I see it, especially the peppermint kind, it reminds me of the incident in kindergarten … I shudder to remember it. I really hate chap stick, and I'm really glad that I don't need to use it. Everyone says its essential for skiing, but since I don't ski, it's not a problem. Chap stick, since it's sticky, would probably make the dirt of the mountains stick to my lips when I ride … and I get too thirsty after I ride anyway, without the added difficulty of dirt stuck to my lips.

Anyway, junior year starts tomorrow. It's hard for me to believe I'm beginning my second to last year with Nora and Ali and Ellie and Ayame and Zoë. I'll miss them all so much when we all go to different colleges, but I'll always remember each of them. Nora, for her lack of social skills and obsession with books. She will always be my flute player, who serenades me when ever she practices. Ali, for her over achieving ways, she's as bad as I am, if not worse. She still manages to have a social life, and captures the ardor of every strange guy in the school, and is friends with all of them. She's sweet, and reminds me to lighten up once in a while. She loves to come and ride with Ellie and I. Ellie, my horse crazy friend. She's been there for me every day, no matter what. I know I can always call her at any time and be cheered up. She considers herself privileged when I let her ride Flicker, as it should be. Ayame, my crazy Asian sister … she's the best. She shows me the Asian way of life, and she's got a really hot mom … which is awesome when we need to go places with a 'chaperone'. And Finally, Zoë. What would I do without her? She's the only one who's been there forever. She was there during the chap stick incident, when Tana was put down, when Flicker was given to me. She was the first one of my friends to touch Flicker, and the first to touch my life in an amazing way. She's been able to read my thoughts since day 1, and calls just when I need her to. She practically lives at my house, and she's the only friend that my over protective parents will always, under any circumstances, allow me to do something with. If Zoë will be there, all systems are go, as far as they are concerned.

I wonder what this year will bring? Will there be new people to meet, new people to get to know? Will I get a boyfriend? Despite the fact that I don't mind my life as it is, I am a bit of a hopeless romantic at heart … which I knew from the day I picked up All American Girl, by Meg Cabot, the first romance I read. It introduced to me the concept of frisson: a tremor of intense attraction to the opposite sex. I've never felt this frisson, but Zoë, the ever-taken beauty, tells me it is wonderful. Man, if I looked like Zoë, with long, straight, shoulder length red hair, green eyes, and a smile that would turn any guy with eyes on, I could get anyone I wanted, even Hot Pit Man, this guy who's a senior at Bear Creek this year, and is in their marching band's pit. He's really hot, and goes to my church. He's pretty much out of my reach, though, so I've accepted the fact that I won't be able to date him ever, besides the fact that my parents would never let me date anyone anyway. Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive. Flicker would never hurt me anyway, and as I said before, I'd rather not experience the things Zoë and Ellie and Ayame are always complaining about concerning guys.

Man, Nora needs to stop leaving her Chap Stick at my house.

Jenna closed her diary, shutting it with a smile on her face. Writing always left her feeling good, even if she was just ranting in her diary. She put her diary on her desk next to the ominous tube of chap stick. Mentally cursing Nora for leaving it once more before she went to sleep, Jenna crawled into her bed. Her sheets were a shade of pale grey, the color of a gentle rain shower on a lonely fall morning. They accented her comforter, which had a herd of horses running on it, and jumping across a stream. Her favorite blanket was the same shade of grey with a few horses here and there on one side, and the other was horses in different positions that encompassed every shade of grey imaginable. Jenna was not one for sleeping under the covers, so she was always surrounded by horses, even while she was sleeping. Jenna loved her blanket especially, because it reminded her of Tana. Tana was a dappled grey part Peruvian Paso horse, and had to be put down due to major foot problems that even the most experienced farrier in the state couldn't fix. Tana was Jenna's first horse, the one who really taught Jenna how to ride. People say that horses don't teach people, but Jenna knew from the first day she was in a saddle that they do. Jenna always fell asleep remembering Tana and the times the two had together.

"And what time will you be home?" Jenna's mother asked to double and triple check the next morning.

" By 5:00 sharp, I'll call if there's a traffic jam on I - 70, and I'll finish all of my homework and chores before I take Flicker out." Jenna replied, answering the rest of her mother's questions before they were even asked.

"Good. I love you sweetie, and I'll see you tonight!" Jenna's mother would be watching the news to confirm a possible traffic jam on I - 70 to see if Jenna was lying or not. It's not that Jenna's mom didn't trust her, her mother was just trying to protect Jenna for the worst possible nightmare a teenager could have: being kidnapped and raped. Jenna's mother was kidnapped and raped when she was Jenna's age, not because she came from a bad family or lived in a bad neighborhood, but because she had had a little too much freedom, which, mixed with curiosity, led her to a bad neighborhood at the wrong time of night. She was kidnapped and held for 3 weeks before escaping back home, during which time she was raped several times. She was lucky to avoid pregnancy during the rape, but was a troubled and paranoid teen for the rest of her high school life. Her parents wouldn't let her do anything else on her own during high school, something that, looking back, Jenna's mother was very thankful for. It kept her out of trouble, and taught her discipline and to live with disappointment. It also kept her out of trouble in college; because there was no way she was going to repeat her first traumatizing experience of sex. Jenna's mother had never told Jenna about this aspect of her past, because she didn't want to scare Jenna. Their family had decided to live in the Colorado mountains in hopes of keeping Jenna more or less separated from all the crime of the city, and had succeeded rather well. To her mother, Jenna did not appear to mind the lack of freedom, as long as she was allowed to ride Flicker. Her mother had taken away this privilege once, and the results were so disastrous that she wouldn't dream of repeating it except under the most dire of circumstances.

Jenna's friends had always liked to poke a little fun at her horsey side, and this first day of school was no different from any other day. Jenna wasn't surprised at all when she was greeted with a:

"Nice new jeans, Jenna, did they come with the dirt on them already, and permanently scented with horse?" from Zoë. She and Ellie were waiting for Jenna at their tree, an old giant oak in front of the school.

Jenna laughingly replied, "Of course not, you two know full well that I have to take care of and feed Flicker and my mom's horses before I leave for school each morning. " Jenna had stopped caring long ago about how she looked. It was a good day for her if she managed to make it through feeding Flicker without getting too much hay down her shirt or in her hair. If she showed up with no detectable hay at all, it was considered a miracle, and Jenna's friends would take turns treating her to a Starbucks during their lunch.

"I know. I just like to give you a hard time!" Zoë replied with a snort as she reached up and retrieved a piece of hay from Jenna's long golden brown wavy hair. This was a pet peeve of Zoë's, to remove all the hay from Jenna's hair. The girls were so used to it by now, it was almost second nature. So far in her high school years, Jenna had only gotten 4 Starbucks, and it was Ayame's turn to treat next, if that day ever came.

Jenna sat down on to the leaf dusted ground underneath their tree, which they had affectionately named Colin. The girls always ate lunch under this tree, and Jenna, Zoë, and Ellie, the only ones there early for school each day, met there before school. Colin was their guardian, and had witnessed so much of their lives. He was there for Zoë's first kiss, and for when Zoë dumped most of her boyfriends. He witnessed Ellie telling everyone about her new sister, and all the strange things her newborn sibling had done. He was the first to hear about all of Ali's crushes. He was the keeper of all of Nora's misplaced tubes of chapstick. He was there when Ayame learned to dance in the light of the stars. He welcomed adventurous Jenna into his branches when she got curious one day, and broke her fall when she let go. He was where the six girls met each other, and he would be where they all left each other, almost two years from that pleasant September morning.

Zoë sat beside Jenna, and said, "So, Jenna, will you get a boyfriend this year, ya think?" Zoë always pressured Jenna to act upon her crushes, but none of them had been strong enough yet.

"Nah, I doubt it. The same idiots from last year will still be idiots this year, and anyone worthwhile is already drooling over you. Nice try, though." Jenna was reluctant to have to explain her love life to her parents, so it was best left alone and un acted upon.

"Aww, come on, it's great! You know you want to find out what it's like …" Zoë was interrupted by the five minute warning bell. "Well, I guess we better start our junior year, or it'll start without us."

By that time, Ali had joined them. Ayame was always a last minute type of girl, and was always barely on time to class. Jenna, Zoë, Ali, and Ellie weren't expecting her until they were already sitting in homeroom waiting for class to begin.

The five girls stepped into the doors of their school and took a deep breath: at this moment, they were finishing one chapter in their lives, and opening a fresh page to begin another.