Cowgirls Don't Cry

CHAPTER TWO - KATIE

"Katie, honey, breakfast is ready!" my momma called, from down the hall. "Quickly, before Georgie eats it all!"

"I'm coming Momma!" I hollered back, turning back to my mirror for a final once-over. Monday had finally made its arrival, and with it had come a hundred dancing butterflies in my stomach. Having woken up early to check the cattle with Dad, I'd had plenty of time to adjust and get ready, but my nerves had hardly settled since my state of anxiety after waking up. I studied my reflection and smoothed out the white button-up sundress to where it sat on my knees. Contrasted against the pale fabric of the dress, my farmer's tan looked golden and almost pretty today, and I decided it almost made up for the hours in the fields I'd spent earning it. My curls were braided back loosely into a low messy bun, a few flyaways falling forward to frame my face, and overall, I didn't think I looked too bad. Checking my white ceramic watch, I slipped on a battered pair of square-toe cowboy boots and grabbed my bookbag from where it hung over my desk chair.

Jogging downstairs, I took my seat opposite Georgie at the kitchen table, and reached for the plate of hot waffles Momma handed me. On the other side of the table, Georgie was already elbow-deep in his own breakfast, with fruit and syrup seemingly everywhere but his mouth.

"Hey, hon, all ready for your first day of high sch- Georgie!" Momma turned around from the sink just in time to catch my little brother feeding bits of waffle and fruit to our dog, Molly. "Dogs don't eat waffles, that's your breakfast!"

"What do you mean, 'dogs don't eat waffles'?" he protested, sitting up in his chair. "Molly loves them!"

"Well, she shouldn't be eating them, it's not good for her," Momma said sternly. "If you're finished, you can clear away your plate and go wash your hands....and face and arms and shirt!"

I giggled, and Georgie stuck his tongue out before scraping his chair back from the table and carrying his plate to the sink.

Momma leaned up against the counter, drying her hands with a dishtowel, and shook her head at Georgie's disappearing back.

"What am I gonna do with him, Katie? Thank goodness for a daughter to keep me sane!" Momma joked. "So, how do you feel about starting high school?"

I sighed, pausing to study my half-eaten waffles. "Excited. Nervous. I don't know. I've never been to a school this big before,"

"I know, honey, but believe me, a couple weeks in and you won't even know what you were worried about," she said reassuringly. "You'll make new friends, join the school rodeo team like you've always wanted, and then there's homecoming,"

"What was your first year of high school like, Momma?" I asked, spearing a piece of waffle and strawberry with my fork. "Good?"

"Well, I went to elementary school with most of the kids, so I already knew a heap, but I made so many new friends. I started cheerleading, met Jesse's momma, and started competing big-time on the rodeo circuit," Momma smiled, a distant look in her eyes. "I met this cowboy at a rodeo, and he asked me to homecoming,"

"Was that Dad?" I asked, standing up to wash my plate.

"Oh no, there were a few guys before your daddy, Katie," Momma said, her brown eyes dancing cheekily. "This boy's name was Scott, and we dated for a little while, but then we both moved on and eventually I met Jimmy Morgan,"

"Momma!" I heard Georgie holler from the bathroom. "Momma, the tap won't turn off!"

As Momma left to go sort out Georgie and the probably-overflowing tap, I washed my hands in the kitchen sink and checked my reflection in the window above. Looking past the girl in the window, I gazed out across our fields, and caught a glimpse of the Chandler's property line past the trees. The road wound along our farm front, and glancing up, I noticed the school bus trundling down the dirt road from picking up the Chandler kids.