Surfing Midland (Complete/ First draught).

Chapter 29

"Leah! Come on! We're all ready to go!" I could hear Declan yell from downstairs, it wasn't y fault that I was so nervous I didn't know what to wear. So far I had tried on seven different outfits and hadn't liked any of them, so had resorted to a white singlet, a light blue longsleeved shirt to go over the top, a pair of worn out skinny jeans, socks and the cowboy boots Declan had given to me earlier.

That was it! I wasn't changing anymore and stomped down the stairs in a grump because I didn't have the time to dress the way I had wanted to. Being self conscious wasn't something I felt often but as I walked out the front door, my hair down and frown on my face I felt like the worlds ugliest person.

"What took you so long? You look fine! Let’s go," rolling my eyes at Declan and his mannish disregard for a females looks I turned to Trisha and Valerie for a second opinion.

"You look good Leah, maybe plait your hair and you'll look perfectly fine...a cowboy hat wouldn't look out of place on you!" Trisha said enthusiastically and I took her advice, plaiting my hair as I came down the stairs. I didn't have a cowboy hat; they looked too stiff and constricting on a person's head to be any comfortable.

When I took a second look at Valerie I almost cringed, she wasn't wearing what she usually would. In fact she looked about as uncomfortable as I did wearing a floral maxi dress and cropped denim jacket over the top, the pointed tips of her cowboy boots stuck out the bottom.

"You look nice Val, is that a new dress?" I asked, walking past her to Declans truck. Devyn hadn't asked me to ride down with him; I was sure many of the other ranch hands were going to go down in his and Adrian's vehicles so there wouldn't be any room for me anyway. But I would rather have squashed into Devyn's truck then have to squash into Declan's minivan with the kids and Valerie.

“Oh no, this old thing? I’ve had it in my drawers for a while now, I just thought now would be a great time to wear it.” Even though Val was trying to sound casual I knew she was lying, under her heavy amount of perfume that she’d put on I could still smell the newness of the dress. Not to mention it still had its creases from where it had been folded.

Trisha scoffed from the front seat and turned to look at Valerie, “lying is a sin and I never raised you to be a sinner.” That took all the wind out of Val’s sails as she slumped in her chair, she poked her tongue out at Trisha as soon as she had turned around but Declan had caught her.

“Valerie stop being so childish,” That made Valerie slump a little more in her seat and she stayed like that until we came to a stop an hour and a half later at what I assumed was the rodeo thing. There were cars for miles, well not really miles but the parking lot was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It was going to be difficult to find Devyn in this mass of craziness, I think it was a wise idea to come down with Declan and Trisha.

“Okay Leah, if someone is lost then we usually just go to the big show area just over there and sit. You’ll be spotted eventually, if you’re really lost and panic then look for one of the officials, they’re usually good about putting messages out on the loud speaker for parents. And, as you can imagine a lot of kids get separated at these sorts of things so they’re used to it.” I nodded, feeling like a five year old at my first large outing. I don’t think Trisha realized that surfing events could get as big and that I’d been to a fair few since hitting my teen years.