Page 49 of Undone

I shrugged and opened the message without overthinking it further, sped through it, and then leaped up and clapped my hands.

“Oh my God!” I said, doing a little dance in place.

I ran out the kitchen door and sprinted for the main barn, hoping that Josh was there instead of off in the fields somewhere.

“Have you seen Josh?” I asked Mitch as I skidded to a stop just inside.

“Yep, down there,” he drawled, pointing toward the back end of the barn.

“Thanks.” I grinned at him and jogged on.

I found him mucking out a stall, whistling off tune.

“Hey!” I said, screeching to a stop in front of him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You look like the kitten that found the cream. What’s going on?”

I did a goofy jig. “I got an email,” I sang. “A really good email.”

Josh leaned on the stall fork. “Tell me.”

“Berkshire Institute of Technology wants to interview me. In person! I’m really in the running for the program, Josh!”

A shadow passed over his face so quickly that I thought I’d imagined it.

“Hey, good for you, Zo,” he said, his smile only looking the tiniest bit tight. “That’s fantastic. When?”

“The end of this week, if you can believe it.” I twirled in the dirt. “I shouldn’t be this excited because it’s just the interview, but Iam!”

Josh watched me carefully for a moment. “You’re going to do great. They’ll love you, everybody does.”

“Hold on.” I froze. “Wait. This means I have to sit and talk with these people. This is aninterview. Oh crap.”

Josh cocked his head. “What do you mean? Isn’t that part of the plan?”

“Well, yeah, but I never thought about this part when I fantasized about getting in. It always went from sending my application in to acceptance. I forgot about this step.” I frowned. “You know I’m not always good on my feet, especially when I’m dealing with strangers. I talk too much and say weird stuff. They might not like me.”

Josh smirked at me. “Stop. You’ll be fine. I’ll help you prep if you want.”

“Really? That would be amazing, thank you!”

I bounded over to him and reached out my arms only to have him throw up his gloved hand to keep me from getting closer.

“I’m all sweaty and gross, Zo.”

“And when has that ever stopped me?” I demanded. “I love your sweaty man smell. Besides, I want a celebratory hug.”

He wrapped one arm around my shoulder for a split second.

“There’s your celebratory hug.”

“Oh, come on.” I scowled at him. “You’ve hugged ponies tighter than that. What’s going on with you, Josh? Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?”

“Nothing’s going on,” he said, his voice pitching higher. “I’m happy for you.”

I scanned him from head to toe, my initial enthusiasm waning. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

“It’s nothing.”

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