Cowgirl Up

Chapter 5- Lily

I wasn’t ready to face the McCoys. I hadn’t seen them for three whole years. I was never home when my mom and Emily-Anne Skyped, and my dad only ever called David. As for the boys, we didn’t keep in touch. I didn’t want to take my car- for the few days I still had it- and pick them up personally. So I called a taxi service. I’m not one of those super snobby rich girls, but I didn’t want them all crammed in a tiny, gross taxi, so I ordered them an SUV from the service that all the celebrities use.

The funeral was tomorrow. People had been coming and going, and Rosa had convinced me to see some of them. Seeing Rosa now only brought tears to my eyes. When I left LA in two days, it’d be the last time I ever saw her. I had some money, but not enough to take her with me and still pay her. Rosa was a live-in maid for us, but she’d arranged to stay with her sister until she found another job. I told all my friends to tell their parents about her. I knew she’d find one soon. But neither of us wanted to face that yet. We couldn’t say goodbye.

I walked into the kitchen where Rosa was making me lunch. My high school transcripts were sitting on the table. “Qué es esto?” I said in Spanish, asking her what the papers were. “Those are your transcripts,” she said. I rolled my eyes at her and sat down at the island in our kitchen. “I can see that, Rosa. Why are they here?” She turned and smiled at me. “Seems like someone has been working their behind off to make sure everything goes smoothly for you, cariña. Charles said he has set up your transfer to your new school in Colorado and this was all they needed.” My heart skipped a beat. It was the middle of April, and school only had a month and a half left. Going to a brand new school in a whole other state this far into the semester was… social suicide. “But I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore,” I whispered to myself under my breath.

I followed Rosa around as she prepared the guest bedrooms. One of the boys would have to sleep on the couch, but it was only for two nights and our couch was huge and comfortable. As Rosa was making up the bed that Mr. and Mrs. McCoy would sleep in, a horn honked from our pull-through driveway. I looked out the bay window that faced the front yard, and saw them piling out. I followed Rosa down the stairs, but stalled when she opened the door. Here we go.