Play It Again

Wyatt Langston

I told Hattie that we should pack it in, and she hesitantly complies. We walk to the parking lot picking up mini donuts on the way. She hops up in her seat in my truck, yep, her seat.
"Hatt I don't want you leaving me in public again, ok?" I say seriously,
"What? Why not?" She asks confused, as if she had forgotten,
"Y'know, those two guys"
"Oh come on Wyatt! It wasn't serious!"
"But it could've been. It scared the shit out of me when I saw his hand on your wrist. My stomach dropped, I had no idea what to do" I clutch the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white.
"I'm sorry, I was thinking about Jessie, my head wasn't in the right place"
"Jessie? That girl you were with at the bar right? What were you thinking about?"
"Going to the fair together was our tradition, and I backed out of it to hang out with you..."
"Shit. I don't want to drive a wedge in your friendships"
"No it's not your fault. I've needed to distance myself from her chaos. Missing classes, disobeying my parents, I just need to change myself, and sticking with her is not going to help." She sighs, "and plus, if I was with her tonight she would have gone with those stoners"
"When we are out, will you stay close?"
"Yes, but not because I'm afraid, I just think your cologne smells real nice." She teases and I reach over and hold her hand.
My headlights illuminate her massive house, it's dark out now that it's late September. She sleepily lets go of my hand, leaving it cold, and gets out of my truck.
"Pick me up Monday morning, okay?" She says through a yawn,
"I'll have chores in the morning though!"
"Yeah and I want to help, so we can hang out after since I have the day off of school"
"Are you sure? It's hard work y'know! You'll be too tired to hang out after."
"Please, hanging with animals all day sounds wonderful"
"Okay... wear old clothes that can get dirty" I chuckle, knowing she is in for one hell of a day, "Be up by 6 i'll be here by 6:30"

The sun shines brightly in my eyes as it rises this morning, Hattie in my passenger seat, holding my hat as I try to fix my bed head. After a weekend of talking on the phone, I'm so happy to be with her.
"You are not a morning person" Hattie remarks,
"I know." I groan,
"Do you want me to drive?" She asks, giving me back my hat,
"Nah, it's fine"
Hattie turns on my radio and after switching through many stations decides to grab the aux cord and play her music. She starts singing a song, I, not surprisingly, don't know.
"You better keep your eyes on the road" she giggles, I instantly blush and slide my hat on her head. It's so much bigger on her that it sits covering her eyes. She pushes it up and keeps singing.
We eventually got to the farm and after getting scolded by mom about making a young lady work, I took her over to the bottle calf.
"She's so cute!" Hattie says, as I show her how to hold the bottle,
"She will only be on the bottle for another week before we introduce her back into the heard"
"But she's so small!"
"Yeah, but the heard will look after her, it's their job"
"Can't I take her home with me?"
"She won't be cute forever" I say as I take the bottle from the calf. Neither her or the calf were happy about that, I chuckle at the look on her face.
"Here you try!" I nudge her, handing her the slimy bottle. She presents it to the calf and she drinks.
"What's her name?"
"She doesn't have one yet, but the name has to start with a B, because her mom's name was Beatrice."
"Oh, how about Boots?" She points at her white feet.
"I was thinking Brat but I guess that'll work." She laughs as Boots finishes the milk and continues to suck.

After a while of showing her around the farm, Hattie finally got used to her chores and I left her to go work in the fields.

My phone rings, cutting off Jon Pardi's Dirt On My Boots. It's Hattie.
"Hey" I say,
"Your mom made us lunch, I just got over to the field"
"Ok I'm halfway through this row so I'll be there soon, what's for lunch?"
"Sandwiches I think"
"Oh, I think I can see you now"

I push the loose tools off the buddy seat, and try my best to wipe the dirt off before she climbs up.
"Jeez it's messy in here! Just like that truck of yours!"
"My truck is not messy!"
"The back seat is" she mumbles, and takes out the sandwiches.
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Hattie groans in exhaustion as she plops herself down on my bed.
"I told you we'd be too tired to go out"
"Yeah yeah" she sighs,
"Come on, I'll drive you home."
"Ok, you should change. My brother and sister are there for family dinner"
"Oh uh" I hesitate,
"You wanted to meet them right?"
"Well yeah-"
"Then dinner is a great opportunity"
"Can you pick what I wear?" I ask, her face lights up and she picks out a light green pearl snap to go with my only pair of clean jeans. She walks up to my hat wall and picks out one of my black hats.

We arrive at her house and I take notice of the BMW and the McLaren in the driveway, I gawk at them for a while and Hattie just ignores me. My old girl looks out of place.