I was able to avoid Drew for the rest of the school week because of work. He wasn't happy about it, but there wasn't much he could do; I had to work. I'd taken the last nonconvulsant pill a couple days ago. This worried me; maybe if I could manage to stay calm and not get too worked up, I wouldn't have any major seizures. Every once in a while, when I'm not on medication, I can have absence seizures; those aren't so bad, but it's still not fun.

Blake asked if I was free on Saturday. I guess I could avoid Drew for another day. He alisema he'd pick me up at my house at noon.

***

On Saturday, I was alone at the house again. Dad and Kara were going out on one of their "date days" and Hera was at her Dad's house for the weekend. There was a knock at the door. I was zaidi than relieved to see that it was Blake, right on time.

"Hey," he smiled. I grinned back. "C'mon," he said, walking back to his truck. I went with him, hopping into the passenger seat.

"Where are we going?" I asked. Blake smiled.

"I alisema we'll see." I frowned for a moment. Even though he alisema it in a joking way, his words reminded me of Drew for a mgawanyiko, baidisha second. I shook the nasty thoughts out of my head. That was crazy. Drew and Blake are nothing alike.

***

"No way," I laughed. Blake hopped out of the car, and came around front. He opened the door, and gestured for me to get out. We were at a horse ranch. "You work here?" He smiled and nodded.

"Come on," he chuckled. "Let's get wewe up on a horse." I stopped. He furrowed his eyebrows at me. "What's wrong? I thought wewe alisema you've always wanted to ride a horse...?"

"Uh yeah," I laughed nervously. "But I couldn't because my Dad was afraid... and I guess... it rubbed off on me?" He laughed and patted my shoulder.

"You'll be fine. I promise," he assured me. "Now come on." He took me through the barn, where I flinched at all the noises. One horse stuck its head out at me, and scared the crap out of me. Blake laughed; he was really enjoying this.

"Shut up," I muttered. He took me to an empty stall where instead of holding a horse, they had riding boots, helmets, saddles, bridles, and anything else you'd need to ride a horse.

"Put this on," he said, tossing me a helmet. I put it on, feeling kind of stupid. He lifted up a huge saddle, with the hatamu, atakayepenya and reins hung over it. "Come on," he grunted as he made his way out of the stall.

Of course, he had to pick the biggest horse there.

"Seriously?" I asked. My head didn't even clear its back. Blake threw the saddle on, and began strapping it on.

"Yup. Maverick's a good horse. 'Sides, all the other farasi have lessons today au something," he grinned.

"Yeah, mhm. I'm sure they do," I rolled my eyes. He smiled mischievously. He finished putting all the gear on Maverick, who was a huge dark bay horse, out to a ring full of dirt. I followed behind.

"Hey, how come wewe don't have to wear a helmet?" I wondered. He smiled at me.

"Because, I'm a professional," he alisema in a fake snobby voice. I rolled my eyes. He brought Maverick upside to a little flight of stairs.

"Ok, just get on those, swing your left leg on, and sit on 'em," Blake instructed. I blinked. "Go 'head," he gestured.

"Uhh..." I alisema quietly.

"What's wrong?" he wondered.

"I'm scared," I admitted sheepishly. He smiled, but alisema nothing.

"Here," he said. He put one foot in the stirrup, and got on with little au no effort. Maverick took a step back, but then readjusted. "Come on," he said, patting behind him. "I'll help you." I went up the little stairs, the horse still much taller than me, and stuck my foot out. I almost fell, but Blake grabbed my hand and pulled me on. Maverick snorted, and his body shook. I whimpered and wrapped my arms around Blake's torso. He just laughed at me.

"It's not funny," I said. He laughed some more. I felt him squeeze Maverick's side, and the horse started in a walk. We went around a couple times, and I slipped side to side.

"What do ya think?" Blake asked.

"It's no so bad..." I admitted. He squeezed Maverick's sides with his legs again. The horse sped up. He did it again. Maverick went faster. "Ok, now it's getting bad," I said. He laughed. Soon we were in a full gallop. We went through an opening in the arena, and ran through an empty field. I squeezed my arms around Blake tighter and buried my face in his back. He patted my hand.

"See it's fine," he said.

"What are wewe doing?!" I freaked. "Both hands on the wheel!!" I squeezed my eyes shut even more. He laughed, but returned both hands to the reins.

Then time stopped.

One sekunde I was riding with my arms around Blake, then all of a sudden my arms were loose, and I was almost falling off. I was tilted much too far, almost falling off. Blake screamed my name, and stopped Maverick. He grabbed my hand, and pulled me back towards the center. My head spun.

"Irina! Are wewe ok?! What happened?!" he asked, trying to turn around to see me. I blinked a couple times, trying to refocus.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled. He helped me get off the horse, and he hopped off after me. He put his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eyes.

"What happened?! wewe could've been hurt!" I think he was freaking out much zaidi than necessary. I put my hand on my head forehead, and squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I just blanked." He pursed his lips and looked at me uneasily. I hate it when people do that.

"Ok... Come on, let's go get something to eat." We walked Maverick back to the barn, and put him back in his stall. We put all the riding gear back in where it goes.

We went and got some chakula from McDonald's. I got saladi again, but I didn't mind. We sat at a meza, jedwali outside. Blake smiled.

"Can I ask wewe something?" he asked. I nodded.

"How do I tell a girl I upendo her?" I raised my eyebrows. That's not at all what I had expected him to ask me.

"Uh..." I paused. I've never aliyopewa advice like this. As anyone who knew Drew could see, I'm terrible at relationships. "I don't know. Just tell her I guess, when wewe feel it's the right... moment..." I alisema awkwardly. I'd hate to give him the wrong advice. If he did tell whoever it was, what if I gave him th wrong advice and it blew up in his face?! I would've ruined it for him. I'd feel terrible. "Just do what you'd feel is right." He nodded.

"Thanks," he smiled. I nodded.

"Anytime." After a long, fun filled day, Blake took me home. Before I got out, he stopped me.

"I need to talk to you," he alisema quietly. I sat back in my kiti, kiti cha staring at him intently. I secretly hoped it wasn't anymore relationship advice. I feared that what I gave him earlier wasn't good. Then if it didn't work out, he'd probably hate me. Blake was quiet for a while, then took a deep breath. "Irina, I upendo you." My eyes grew huge. There was a loud ringing in my ears; had I heard him right? He looked at me worried. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I closed my mouth again. Then, just as I had come up with something to say, he kissed me.

Well, that erased any thought I had just had.

When he stopped I was, once again, stunned into silence. He waited for a reaction, but my mind was completely blank.

"Uh... Well..." I laughed nervously. I opened the passenger door again, and slowly backed out of the truck, my face burning. "Uh... I'll... see wewe tomorrow?" I went inside, closing the door behind me. I let out a huge breath, and ran my hands through me hair. What the hell just happened? I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths.

Later that night, I still couldn't stop thinking about what happened. Blake kissed me. He alisema he loved me. The last few moments were on replay in my head. My lips felt like they were on fire. My moyo was beating faster and faster; I had to calm down. I took another deep breath. Them I realized something.

I loved him too.

I guess I'd been ignoring it, just because I didn't want to screw up our friendship. I knew I had thought he was nice and handsome, but I never thought he'd like me like that. So naturally, I had shied away from those feelings. Also, Drew would kill me. I started to panic. I really wanted to be with Blake, to be able to say he was my boyfriend and that he loved me. But there was no way I could break up with Drew and not expect anything to happen; I mean, who was I kidding? After a while, I came to the conclusion that I didn't care what Drew would do. I sat in my room, my stomach doing flips as I put my phone to my ear. It rang for a while, then finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" Blake asked. He sounded kind of wary. I took a deep breath, trying to find my voice.

"I upendo wewe too," I said. There was a pause.

"Thank God," he alisema finally; I could almost hear the smile in his voice. The conversation didn't last long; it was late. Blake alisema he wanted to hang out tomorrow. I agreed. "I'll see wewe tomorrow?"

"Ok. See ya," I smiled to myself.

"Goodnight. upendo you," he alisema before he hung up. My moyo fluttered. This was awesome.