Watch Me

Chapter One

Tara Douglas slipped into her boots and grabbed her barn jacket. She went outside, walked down the hill, and opened the barn door. She turned on the lights and began her early morning routine of filling the barn cats' feeder, feeding the two goats, and finally taking care of her mixed breed mare Jewel. The little bay mare nickered happily when she saw Tara walk towards her stall. She pricked her black tipped ears and bobbed her head excitedly. Tara smiled and opened the stall door.

"Good morning girl!" She gently stroked Jewel's thick neck and walked to the back corner of the stall to dump the small green bucket of feed. Jewel turned and began to eat her breakfast. Tara picked pieces of hay out of Jewel's thick black mane and worked at a small knot by her withers.

Time passed and the sun was higher up in the blue sky. Tara looked at her cell for the time then reached for the lead rope just outside Jewel's stall. "Okay girl, it's time to go out. I have to get ready for school." Jewel sighed and blew air loudly. She lowered her head and Tara draped the rope over her neck. She led the mare out to the field and let her go, feeding her a molasses treat and patting her shoulder before turning away and closing the gate.

Tara cleaned up, got dressed, and began her walk down her driveway out to the bus stop. The bus picked her up and she rode in the front seat right behind the driver. Some other kids were sitting towards the back joking around and laughing. The ride was long, almost half an hour. Tara just sat there facing the window. She liked to watch how the sky changed as the sun rose higher into the morning sky.

The bus pulled up to the school and the doors swung open. Tara joined the small crowd of students as they all filed into the small high school. People crowded the halls. The prep girls were flirting with the jocks. The band geeks were discussing their most recent concert piece. The science and math junkies were studying for their next test and the pot heads were laughing and eating doritos. Just a normal day at good ol' Newman High.

"Tara!" A short curly haired brunette came running at Tara. She practically jumped on her, wrapping her arms around her torso.

Tara laughed. "Hey Harley!"

Harley smiled widely and bit her lip. She flipped her curly hair with one hand and spoke in a mock cheerleader tone. "Don't you, like, totally like my hair?"

"Oh totes." Tara matched the mocking tone and they turned, falling into step together. They walked to their first class together, joking along the way.

Tara liked Harley. She was a total spitfire. A huge ball of energy and sass packed into a tiny gymnast's body. Harley was a straight to the point kind of person. She told it like she saw it. Not many people could handle her blunt nature. Tara on the other hand enjoyed her company.

"Did you hear about Kianna and Tony?"

Tara sat down in her desk and Harley sat beside her, instantly propping her feet up on the chair in front of her. Harley pulled out a journal and opened it up to a fresh page then wrote down the first few notes that were on the board. 

As she wrote, Harley continued. "Apparently Kianna caught Tony with Annie. Not Annie Irvin, Annie Holiday, you know, the blonder one with the weird mole on her chin."

"No kidding?" Tara doodled in her journal. She enjoyed Harley's gossip. Somehow, that girl knew everything about everyone, even when they didn't really know it themselves. She had a way of finding things out.

"I heard that Kianna totally flipped her shit."

"What did she do?"

Harley pulled out a bottle of bright green nail polish and began to shake it. "She pushed him down the stairs in front of his house. It was only, like, three steps, but he landed in a pile of dog crap, courtesy of his dog Pokey."

Tara and Harley laughed at Tony's misfortune. They kept gossiping until class started and then passed notes instead of talking out loud. The teacher never paid enough attention.

Class after class, Tara went about her normal routine. She worked on her lab in science, did her daily problems in math, and drew today's subject in art. Lunch finally came around and she met Harley at the courtyard entrance. They sat down at their usual table next to the globe statue.

Harley picked at a salad and Tara drank her sweet tea. Harley stabbed at a leaf of spinach, bruising it's dark green skin. She picked it up with her fingers and said "by the way, I'm coming home with you today. I don't feel like going back home and dealing with miss ditsy this early in the week."

Tara laughed at her nickname for her newest step mom. Her dad had a thing for young, hot blondes.

"We can go for a swim in the pond!" Harley smiled widely and patted her bag. "I brought a bathing suit because I'm prepared for everything."

"Well, it sounds fine to me!" Tara laughed. Harley invited herself over very often. Sometimes, she would even show up when no one was home and just hang around the house until someone got there. Tara didn't mind. She thought of Harley as a sister. A family member. She was always welcome.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang and Tara and Harley parted ways, separated until after school was over. Tara was smart - she was in all honors classes-, but Harley was much smarter. They only had English together, the only class Harley actually struggled with. Not that she couldn't do the work, she just got bored because it was all just "busy work".

Tara waited for Harley by the flag pole. A few minutes after the crowd thinned, Harley came out carrying a large bag of chips. They climbed into Harley's SUV and Harley said "well, let's get going then."