Small Town Princess

Chapter 2: Westin

This girl. This mysterious girl who I had no idea who she was. I was already falling in love with her.

I don't know if it was her personality, her looks, they way she was so mysterious with information of her past. It could definitely be her body, though. I felt horrible after she fell off that horse.

"Cienna! Cienna, wake up, darling." Mom said. Cienna had a horseshoe mark on her back. She layed on her stomach, shirt off, and I had to dab her wound with a cloth. Mom wrapped a towel around her and gave me a wet cloth. "Dab that horseshoe mark with this. That's gotta hurt like mad." Mom said. I took the cloth and sat on a stool by Cienna.

I took my index finger and traced the mark. Her body twitched and I immediately felt bad for hurting her. When the cloth touched her skin, she tensed up. I took the cloth away quickly. "Don't be a siss, Westin. Dab her with that cloth. If she tenses up, let her." Mom said. Mom never took any messing around.

I slowly put the cloth back on Cienna's back and dabbed all around in the horseshoe pattern. She tensed up a few times, and it took all I had not to pull back again. Finally, after an hour of dabbing and calling her name, Cienna's head lifted. "What happened? Where am I?" she said. "Oh no." I whispered. "You got bucked off Buttercup. You're in Ohio." Mom said. I kneeled in front of Cienna. "Cienna, it's me. Westin." I said. Cienna relaxed her muscles and looked at me. "Westin?" she said. "Yeah?" I replied. "You broke your promise. Buttercup hurt me." she said. She tried to get up, but when she stood, she stumbled around and almost fell. I caught her and laid her back down softly.

"Cienna, I'm sorry. I had no idea Buttercup would do that. He never does." I said. Mom looked at me. "Did you let go of the rope?" she asked. I nodded my head. "You know that you aren't supposed to drop that rope when a stranger is on his back! If he gets nervous, he's gonna buck!" she said. Mom backhanded me upside the head. I just took the blow, never taking my eyes off Cienna. "Why are you looking at me?" she asked. "I'm sorry. You're still pretty. Even with a big horseshoe on your back." I said. Cienna smiled.

"Can you forgive me? I honestly never would've let go of the rope if I knew he would've done that to you." I said. Cienna nodded. She clenched her teeth and pressed her eyes shut tight. "What? What's the matter, sweetheart?" Mom asked. "My wound. It burns." she said. "Dab it, Westin. Get the cloth!" Mom ordered. I hurried up and pressed the cloth on Cienna's back. A look of relief crossed her face.

"That's nice." she said. Mom went away to start dinner, and it was just me and Cienna. All alone. Finally. A few strands of loose hair fell into Cienna's eyes. She tried to blow it out of her face and wasn't successful. I took my fingers and pushed them away. "Thank you." she said. I smiled. "So, whatdya say? Are you still up for that fourwheeler ride?" I asked jokingly. "Are you serious?" she asked. I shook my head. "No. I'm not. We can just hang here." I said. Cienna nodded.

I took my fingers and stroked her forehead. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her eyelids fluttered shut. I put the cloth in the tub of cold water Mom brought out, rung it out, and put it back on Cienna's wound.

Whatever Mom was cooking sure smelled nice! "What are ya cooking, Mom?" I asked. "Hot dogs and tater tots. Charlie told Cienna about them and she wanted to try them." Mom replied.

I heard Cienna call my name as I was eating my food. I looked at Mom. "What're you still here for? Go see what she needs." Mom said. I stood up and went to Cienna's side. "Hey you. Are you okay?" I asked. "Yeah. Just a little hungry. A little bit cold, too. Can I have some of those hot dogs Charlie was telling me about?" she asked. "Of course you can. Do you want to put your shirt back on and come sit with us?" I asked. Cienna nodded.

I closed my eyes and grabbed her hands to pull her up. "It's okay. You can look. I covered myself with a towel." she said. I opened my eyes. "How do you want to do this?" I asked her. "Just slip it over me and I'll pull away the towel when I'm covered." Cienna said. I grabbed her white t-shirt and looked at it. It was stained with blood.

"Um... Do you want one of my shirts? This one has blood all over it." I said. "Sure. If you don't mind." Cienna replied. I hurried to my bedroom and grabbed my John Deer shirt out of my drawer. I helped Cienna put it on and helped her to the dinner table.

"Cienna! I'm so glad you could eat with us! Your back looks yucky. What happened?" Chasity asked her. "Your brother broke his promise is what happened." Cienna replied, giving me an awful glare.

I sat her down in the empty seat beside me and gave her a plate. "Miss Cienna, have you ever had tater tots before?" Charlie asked. "No, dear. But I'd be delighted to try them." she said.

She was so great with Charlie and Chasity. Even now, when she was in so much pain, not once was she short with them. I put a hot dog and a small portion of tater tots on Cienna's plate. She picked up her fork and stabbed it into her tater tots. Charlie stared at her with his eyebrow raised.

Cienna saw him looking and put her fork down before her food got to her mouth. "What? Am I doing something wrong?" she asked. Charlie and Chasity laughed. "Miss Cienna! You're supposed to grab them with your fingers and pop 'em in! Like this."

Chasity picked up a tater tot with her thumb and pointer finger and tossed it in her mouth. "Now you do it." she said through a mouth full of tater tots. Cienna picked up a tater tot and looked at it unsurely. "Now just pop it in." I said.

Cienna put the tater tot close to her mouth and flicked it in. She giggled in between bites. "This is fun! I've never eaten with my fingers before. It's forbidden in my home country."

Her home country? "Where exactly is your home country?" I asked. "Before I left I was told not to tell any of you anything about my home country. Sorry." and that was that.

After dinner, I helped Cienna back to the couch. "Cienna, I am really sorry that Buttercup bucked you. I knew I shouldn't have let go of that rope and I did. I'm sorry. Do you think you could come out the lake with me? There's something I want to show you." I said. Cienna pursed her lips together. "Fine. But not for long. I'm tired and sore and I just want to lie down." she said.

I helped her up and put her shoes on. We walked the little path out the lake. I spread apart some tree branches into the little clearing with a picnic table and a fire pit.

I helped her sit down and started a little fire. "This is really nice. I'm sorry I've been so cold to you. It wasn't your fault that Buttercup hurt me. I'm sorry. You really are a great boy."

I took this as a first-kiss kind of moment. I softly pecked Cienna's lips and looked at her. She looked scared. "No. Don't kiss me, Westin. Please." she said quietly. She pushed through the branches and ran back to the house. Great. I'm falling in love with a girl and she doesn't even love me back.