Cowgirls Don't Cry

CHAPTER THREE - KATIE

"Hey cowboy, how's school so far?" I asked Jesse, sliding in behind him in the cafeteria line.

"Not bad, but Spanish can get screwed," he grumbled, and I laughed.

"You're plenty smart, it won't be hard, it's just that we learnt French at St Mary's," I told him, and Jesse grinned.

"Eh, who needs Spanish, anyway?" he said, waiting at the end of the serving bench for me. "I can speak English, Southern Cowboy and Tobacco Farmer. Admittedly, that last one is 99% complaining about the weather, but still!"

We both laughed, but there was truth in his claim. Our dads were expert weathermen, albeit with a heavy dose of pessimism and a strong belief that a cyclone, hurricane or drought was just around every corner.

"Hey Katie! Jesse!" I heard a shout from the back corner of the cafeteria, and turned to see Aimee and Sierra waving at us, Luke and Alex beside them.

"They're in my homeroom," I told Jesse. "And I think they want us to sit with them,"

He grinned, and replied dryly, "You don't say. I don't mind sitting with them; I know Luke and Ash from the circuit, and I'm guessin' you know the girls?"

"Yeah, I half recognised them from the barrels, I didn't know you knew the guys, though," I said, as we made our way to the back table, where Aimee, Sierra, Luke, Alex and some guy I vaguely recognised as another junior bull-rider were sitting.

"Yeah, me and Luke chat on the bus every now and then, and Ash won Junior All-Round Cowboy a few years back. Pretty impressive for a twelve-year-old kid up against fifteens," Luke replies, and I realise the third guy sitting at the table must be Ash Oakley, who Luke mentioned earlier.

As we navigated the rows of tables to reach Aimee, Sierra and the others, I caught sight of Marina and Zamirah, sitting primly at a table loaded with none other than your stereotypical footballers and cheerleaders, laughing and calling out to one another. They looked up as we passed, flashing me a smile, which I returned shyly. I couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by these girls, though they were clearly the popular crowd of the grade.

We arrived at the table, and Jesse and I took a seat opposite each other, the girls on one side and the guys on the other.

"Hey Katie, how was Algebra?" Aimee asked, sipping at her milk carton.

"Good, actually!" I replied. I actually liked maths, contrary to what most people would think. I was pretty good at it, and learning languages, too.

"Okay, I'll pretend you didn't just totally offend me by saying maths is more than torture, but it's fine!" Sierra laughed, wrinkling her nose. "It just doesn't make sense to me like English does,"

"Well, at least you get English, I hate it," I replied, scrunching up my nose.

"Well, y'all can argue over the worst subject at school, but I trump you all in sayin' school is the worst subject,'' Ash declared. "I only come for the footy and the girls!"

We all laughed, especially so because I got the feeling he was only half-joking. Ash was a real Georgia cowboy, with his deep tan, rough hands and thick Southern drawl, and there was something about that tough rodeo persona that seemed to appeal to almost every girl in the school. Even now, I could see Colette Wilson, a girl in my homeroom, giggling and turning around in her seat to stare at Ash. Ever the mischief-maker, he flashed her a cheeky smile and even winked. We all choked down our laughter, not wanting to embarrass Colette, but she seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"Maybe you'd better quit bull-riding and fill in as the rodeo clown, you seem to fit the job description!" Jesse laughed, as Ash played along, tossing up his unopened milk carton, Alex's unwillingly donated apple and his own banana into the air and beginning to juggle them. His juggling talents could definitely do with some work, and Ash kept us in fits of laughter as he missed every second object and scrambled wildly to catch it and fling the wayward item back up into the air. I could hardly breathe, and by now our table had the attention of half the cafeteria.