A Little More Country

ALMC Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Tessa's POV

"Oh. My. Lord." I leaned against the front door and slumped to the floor. I just talked to Matt Strauss. AND, not only did I talk to him... I think he was looking at me!

"Everything alright Tess?" my mom asked me, grabbing the bag of flour from my hand and looking at me curiously.

I quickly stood up and nodded.

"Yeah mom, everything's fine. I'm gonna go take Midnight for a ride." I opened the closet in the entry way and pulled out my jacket and boots. Throwing them on, I walked out the door, past the garden, and into the barn.

Stroking Midnight's mane, I climbed up onto the saddle. Soon enough, we were off. Midnight trotted out of the barn and into the bright sunshine, taking every step slowly enough that I could take it all in.

Breathing a deep breath of fresh air, I looked at my house. It's an average-sized, light blue house that I've lived in all my life. In fact, all my best memories were made right here on this farm. From throwing parties in the barn to swimming in the creek with my friends.

Deciding that I wanted to go further, I coaxed Midnight into a gallop. Feeling the rush, the wind, feeling like you were flying; that was enough to make anyone forget about their problems. And that was exactly what I planned on doing.

We passed the grain silos, the animal pens, and we even went so far enough as to reach the old burnt down barn that was destroyed LONG before my sister, brother, mom, dad, and I moved in.

Finally we reached the awaited destination. A creek; full of sparkly, shimmering water. It twisted and turned until finally, it came to a small pond. Continuing to provide water was a beautiful waterfall, roaring to life as the water hit the pond. My breath was taken away every time I saw this.

I sat on the bank near the mouth of the creek, and I dipped my feet in. This was My Spot. I even carved my name into the clayish-mud. I come here to solve all my problems; like when my older sister Savannah stole my boyfriend, and when my younger brother Justin got a hold of my phone and pressed the "Forward" button on a personal email. This was the best place to figure things out, not to mention the only place to get some real privacy.

"Hey,"

Spoke too soon.

Matt's POV

I climbed off old Demetri and slowly made my way to Tessa. At least, I thought it was her. With her long brown hair in a braid down her back and her cowgirl boots sitting next to her, it was like one of those cliché scenes in the movies, where the guy walks up to the girl and they announce they're never-ending love for each other. Only this time, I'm not here to say I'm in love. I'm here to ask her what the heck she is doing on our property.

"Hey," I spoke, walking up behind her and crouching down. She whipped around so we were eye to eye. Tessa breathed a sigh of relief, but then started to get red.

"You scared me for a minute," she whispered, "what are you doing here?"

"You say that like I'm not allowed to be on my family's property."

I saw the look of confusion on her face. "YOUR family's?" she sputtered. I nodded patiently.

"You've got it all wrong, WE own this. It's right past the big tree and the little apple orchard and-"

"- the big burnt down barn?"

She nodded.

"All my family's. The barn used to be my grandfather's before he fell and broke his arm. With my grandma gone, there was nobody there to help him. He was the one who sold the house to your parents."

"Then wouldn't we own this?" she asked, tilting her head. I shook mine.

"When they bought it, they only bought the house with the barn and the property up front. It ends at the big tree."

Tessa pondered this for a moment. When she didn't reply, I added, "Besides, your sitting in my spot."

That really set her off. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. I stood up too and, me only being an inch or two taller than her, we were basically eye-to-eye.

She leaned in close and said, "Now listen here buddy, I don't GIVE if your family owns this property and I CERTAINLY don't give if that's your favorite spot. I was here first and you can't make me leave."

I just chuckled and leaned in closer. "Actually, for legal reasons, I can." I don't know what my intentions were, but she was looking pretty cute when she was mad. I had to remind myself that I wasn't seriously going to press charges, I just wanted to see her reaction.

"This place is like a HOME to me," she whispered, a tear forming in her eye. Way to go, Matt, you're making the poor girl cry.

She continued right along with what I figured would be a pretty long rant. "You see the dip in the creek bank right there? My friend and I tried to hide in a 'fort' from the magical wizards when we were on our Harry Potter craze. I swam here with my ex-boyfriend, that was when he first kissed me."

Then, she chuckled a bit at what she said, tears streaming now. "I'm sorry, this is pathetic. Look at me, crying to you about some stupid place in a pond. Gosh, I'm such a loser."

I shook my head slowly, as if reassuring her that she wasn't. Then, I couldn't help myself. I leaned in.

And kissed her.