Country Girl

Felisha

I walk away from Grace and sit on the front porch and everyone just kind of walks away except for one person. Felisha. She approaches me at the front steps.

"Hey Hay lay."

"Hi Felisha."

"Watcha doin?"

"Sitting here?"

"Cool. Look I don't know who you are but I feel like we're connected somehow. You're the first person that has stood up to me and I like that."

"Why do you hate me?"

"I don't. I was just testing you to see if you were strong enough to stand up to me, and you were so I have no problem with you."

"What? You look so mean though."

"Me? Mean? Why?"

"Your outfit."

"Oh that's just a cover up, I always wear it when some new is at the ranch."

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah. I didn't catch your full name, what is it?"

"Haley Brooks."

"Brooks?"

Felisha's face goes pale and I give her a questioning look.

"Yeah why?"

"Oh, nothing. Hey I'm gonna go do my work. Catch ya later."

"Wait! What's your full name?"

"Bye Haley!"

Felisha runs away from me and goes up on the porch and runs through the house. That was weird, why didn't she tell me her full name? Why did she question my last name? I decide to go inside and unpack some more of my stuff. I go inside and find Felisha and Grace at the kitchen table. Felisha has her head down, she's crying. I walk over to the table and clear my throat so they know I'm there.

"Felisha, you okay?"

She shakes her head yes and Grace looks at me with a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Hey Grace, I'm gonna go upstairs and unpack some more of my stuff."

"Okay honey. I'll be down here or outside if you need me."

"Felisha, if you want to talk I'm here for you."

Wow, why did I just do that? I'm opening up more and more to Felisha and I really don't know why. When she said she felt a connection between us, I thought she was crazy but I felt it too. Felisha nods her head and I go upstairs into my new room. I walk over to my dresser with the picture of my family on it and run my fingers across it. My face lingers on my sister for a second until I walk away. I wish I knew what happened to her. I open one of my suitcases and unload all the clothes and put them in the dressers and closet. After all my clothes are put away, I unload my bathroom stuff and place it in my little built on bathroom. After I unpack all my stuff, there's a knock on my door. Felisha?

"Come in!"

My door opens and I round the corner and see someone that I was least expecting to see. Travis. My heart starts to beat about ten times faster and I am nervous what to say. Travis walks over to my bed and sits on the edge of it and looks up at me as he smiles.

"Hey sweetie pie."

"Hi Travis."

"Do you need any help unpacking? Grace told me to come up and ask if ya need a hand."

"No I think I'm good, but thanks Travis."

"Anything for you darlin."

Travis gets up and walks over to my dresser, his eyes stop on the picture of my family and he turns around and looks at me.

"Your family?"

"Yeah, do they look like me?"

"The other girl kinda does. Is that your sister?"

"Mmmm hmmmm."

I don't really like to talk about my sister, and I usually get defensive but it seems to put me more at ease when it's with Travis.

"Why didn't she come to the ranch with you?"

"She's not around anymore."

"Moved away?"

"Uh, no I don't really like to talk about it."

Stupid emotions. Don't cry.

"Oh I'm sorry, did she pass away?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know what happened to your sister?"

"No not exactly. I woke up one morning and she was gone. All that was left was a note from her. She never even said where she was going. When she ran away, she was only eleven. I was eight at the time and I'm eighteen now, she would be twenty one."

Travis leans over and pulls me into a hug. I slide closer to him and he just holds me tight. I wish I could stay like this forever, safe in his arms. He sways me back and forth a little bit then kisses the top of my head. He looks down at me and sees tears in my eyes. He cups my chin in his hand, tilts it up and wipes away every single tear with his thumb. He starts to pull away, but I pull him back in for another hug. This is the first time in awhile I've ever let out my emotions and it lifted a weight off my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry about that Haley. I just don't know what to say. I lost my brother to cancer when he was five years old, he was my best friend. Ever since he passed away, I've been scared to show my emotions to anybody."

"I know how you feel, I feel the same exact way about my sister. I just want her back."

I pull away from Travis and lay back on my bed. He does something that I'm not expecting. He leans back and lays with me. I lay my head on his chest and he plays with my hair a little bit before I fall asleep. I wake up about an hour later and find Travis smiling up at me.

"You're still awake Trav?"

"Yeah, I stayed awake to protect you."

Awwwww. I think I know what it feels like to like someone. That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

"Protect me from what?"

"I don't know, monsters under the bed, robbers, anything you're afraid of. I'm always gonna be here for you Haley."

"Thanks Travis, that's really sweet. Can we go get food? I'm hungry."

"Yeah sure, lets go downstairs."

I sit up so Travis can get up and he pulls me up by the hands and places a kiss on top of my head. We go downstairs to get some food and see Felisha sitting on the couch bawling her eyes out holding a knife.