Kansas Summer

Gone Fishing

"Colin!" I hear a voice come from the other side of the parking lot. I turn from opening the door of my old, red pickup to see Jenna Jackson sprinting towards me. I smile. Jenna Jackson wasn't the smartest girl at school, but she (in my eyes) the cutest, but not many other people thought that. She was tall for a girl, with shoulder-length brown hair, and beautiful brown eyes that were stunning to gaze into. I felt that if the light hit her eyes right, you could see your reflection in them. I know this because I would occasionally sneak a glance at her in geometry. She was almost an angel, and her personality was nothing less. And she was running towards me. "Hey, Colin," she pants when she reaches my truck.

I throw my backpack in the bed of my truck, the old metal rattles. "Hey, Jenna," I reply. I try to sound nonchalant, but I think she can see the nervousness.

"Umm, would it be alright if I got a ride home?" she asks politely. How her voice hypnotizes me.

"Climb in," I tell her simply. She hands me her bag, and I set it next to mine, although I put it in more gingerly than I do mine. I open the driver's side door of my old pickup, the smell of hay and sweat permeates my senses. I apologize for the uncleanliness of the vehicle, but she disregards it; she too, lives around the farms and is used to the odor, and finds it a bit relaxing at times. I shrug my shoulders and turn the key. The old engine turns over five times before it starts, but it belches out black smoke to let me know that its still kicking.

The radio automatically comes on, tuned to the country station that I listen to. The music blares louder than I want it to. I hurriedly cut the volume, taking my foot off the clutch in my haste. The truck lurches forward with vigor, and then stops. Red in my face, I start up it up again. It seems to take twice as long, taking pride in my humiliation.

When I do finally get it started up, I slowly let out the clutch, and the truck noisily idles out of the parking lot. After we are out of the parking lot, Jenna turns the volume back up on the radio. The last part of the song from earlier is playing, but I won't turn the volume down again; the girl in my car is a guest, and I am always courteous to my guests.

Once the song is finished, Jenna turns in her seat to face me. "I thought you were amazing at practice," she compliments me.

"Why thank you," I reply. I know that I am the best one on the team, but I am not proud enough to admit that openly.

"And it was funny when you nailed Chad," she laughs. I have to smile a bit; I didn't mean to hit him, but he needs to learn that his face needs to stay out of my Frisbee's path. I can't imagine the pain he was in but I was glad that it didn't happen to me.

I was suddenly curious about Jenna. "What do you do in your spare time?" I ask her.

"That's easy," she quickly answers, "I like to play cards and ride my horses."

I swallow a little bit. "My sister likes horses," I tell her.

Jenna is puzzled, just like I knew she would be. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"I do, but it's a long story, and I don't want to bore you." I keep staring at the road and at Jenna. She is prying into personal matters, but I don't want her to know that.

"Tell me. We have a long car ride ahead of us."

She was right. It was about fifteen minutes to her house from the school. "What I'm about to tell you, I haven't told to anyone else, so I would appreciate it if the things discussed in this car stay here." I think Jenna nods her head, but I am too busy concentrating on the empty road. It doesn't matter, I feel like I can strangely trust Jenna even more than my friends. "I have a broken family. My mom died when I was about three, and after that, my dad remarried. I don't remember much about my real mother, but I don't want to remember anything about my stepmother."