Jennifer Farra
Ms. Curran
Essay
Country Girl
My boots padded softly along the dirt road, picking up the tan, grainy substance and letting it blow in the breeze. I wish I could be that dirt, blowing swiftly away to start a new beginning. At this depressing thought, tears drained from my eyes, flowing down my cheeks and tracing a path down my chin. I tried to wipe them away with the back of my hand, but just as fast as I could swipe them from my face, more streamed down to replace them. I slowed my pace; I wasn’t ready to go home. Instead, I found myself turning to walk through a patch of high grass. This route was oh so familiar to me. I take this path when I need somebody to talk to, when I feel as if I have nowhere else to turn. My reddish-blonde hair swayed on my back as I pivoted and started walking on the dirt road that I have known since a little kid.
“Taylor, what’s up?” my best friend welcomed me with her warm and bright smile that could light up a room.
“I really need to talk to you,” I answered truthfully. That was the thing with Jess. I could always tell her anything and not be worried about her judging me. She always knew when to interject with a question or comment, or if I needed her to simply listen. I've never felt lost with Jess, rather, I feel eased, relaxed, and confident. We have been through thick and thin, bound tightly together, I knew that, but I suddenly had to remind myself that Jess would be able to fix my problem as I embraced her in a tight squeeze on her front porch.
“Let’s go,” she urged me into her house that reminded me so much of my own. Her luscious brown hair slid across her shoulders as she reached for the door and closed it quietly behind her. I retreated up the stairs and, by instinct, navigated my way up the staircase avoiding the steps and patches where, when stepped on, produced a high pitched squeak. I knew her house just as well as my own, and Jess knew mine just as well as she knows hers. I glanced back at my best friend climbing the steps behind me. Her cowboy boots identical to mine, her cuffed jean shorts, and button down shirt tied to the front declared themselves as country. I knew we were country-girls, we both knew it, but what about the boys, the dreams, the beautiful country weddings that we can only dream of for the moment?
“I just...I don't know where to start,”I stuttered.
“What have I always said since second grade, Tay?” she questioned me.
“Yes...but--”
“No buts,” she protested. “Start from the beginning.”
I opened my mouth to counteract her protest, but I knew I’d never win. Jess has this amazing talent where her eyes softly look upon you, waiting and wanting to help you. I looked into her beautiful, seafoam green eyes and pressed a pillow into my stomach as took in a sharp breath to start to fill her in on the traumatic occurrence that happened just earlier that afternoon. My strawberry blonde hair blew across my face as a warm breeze entered from the open window. My blue eyes stared a hole into the pillow and I proceeded in telling Jess what she needed to know.
“Well....”
***
The bell had already signaled the end of the last period of the day, and thank God because I had started drifting to sleep in almost every single class. I walked out of the classroom and released a sigh; the day was over! A smile creeped across my face at the thought then ignited when I saw Cole, my boyfriend, walking in my direction. I strode towards him and reached out to hug him until I noticed he wasn’t looking at me, or for me. Instead, he was staring at another girl, Rebecca, with an ear to ear grin plastered to his face. They wrapped their arms around each other affectionately, and I could feel hot tears creeping at the corners of my eyes. Then, in one sudden instant, they were kissing, in the middle of the hallway for everybody to see, but more importantly, in my presence. I guess he could feel my eyes burning into him, because he quickly broke loose from the passionate kiss and turned in my direction. I stood there dumbfounded, not believing my eyes. Cole. The one who had been with me for three years, the one I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. And he has cheated on me. Or, more accurately, is cheating on me, right now, in front of my very own eyes. I pushed him back from me.
