The Summer I Met Her (GirlxGirl)

2- Gone Country

At first I was really excited to see Jaycee again. Until then, I hadn't spoken to a single person my age since we left DFW (outside of my own family, that is).

But then my anxiety stripped me of my joy, like usual.

Literally nothing looked good. Not only was it terrible looking, but also non-functional. It was like every single piece of my clothing turned ugly.

On top of that, my sister was running the barking dogs around the field- the same field the camper was parked in. The one that we lived in. The one that I was changing clothes in. So naturally I was slightly stressed.

I threw open the RV door. "Can you stop for like two seconds?" I yelled at my sister who chased our littlest (and fastest) dog across the yard. "And tell me if this looks okay."

She stopped running. "What?" She walked over out of breath.

"Is this outfit ugly?" I pointed to myself. It was just a maroon shirt from my old high school I went to before we moved and my thickest, longest pair of jeans (I got them secondhand and they happened to be Wrangler). The hem of my shirt was tucked just slightly into my jeans. My caramel blonde hair was tied back and I wore my comfiest pair of tennis shoes. They didn't match, but they didn't hurt my feet and I cared about that more than having my entire outfit completely coordinated. I made sure my eye makeup was perfect half an hour ago. Sparkling studs in my ears of course.

"It looks like farm clothes." My sister said simply in reply.

I almost rolled my eyes. "I know. It's supposed to be. But is it ugly?"

"Again, farm clothes."

I groaned loudly. Then I composed myself quickly. "It's fine." I said to myself. "I look as cute as I can possibly look." And then I walked right past her.

"Where are you going?" She called after me.

"To the neighbors!" I responded.

"Why?"

"I'm going to learn how to ride a horse!"

<>

I hesitated entering the barn. I heard someone inside, and I knew it was probably Jaycee, but for whatever reason I felt uneasy.

Did she say next week instead of this week? Or maybe she specified a day and I didn't hear that part?

No, I imagined all of it in my head. That's it. So now I'm a trespasser.

I crept inside. From what I saw, there was nobody inside. Not even the horse. I didn't want to startle anyone, so I called out. "Hello?" I practically whispered.

Jaycee popped up from inside one of the stalls. We made eye contact. Her unkempt dark hair, once secured back, barely stayed within the elastic band due to work. A fitted gray shirt promoting a company I didn't recognize hugged her body, tightly tucked in beneath a pair of blue Levi's. A leather belt with a shiny buckle cinched the waistband. Again, she had those same black hair ties and beaded bracelet around one wrist. "Fianna?" Pieces of her hair that had escaped its bond fell naturally, framing her face.

"Hi again," I waved with an awkward smile.

She stood up. "Good seeing you again! Must be pretty boring down at your place huh? Or did you come all this way so soon just for me?"

I scoffed and shook my head. "Oh, not at all. I'm actually just here for the iced tea I was promised."

I got a chuckle out of her. Success. I'm funny.