My Manhattan Summer

Chapter 1

I'd never been so happy to walk through the doors of my home. I closed the door and leaned against it, taking a deep breath and slipping to the floor. I clutched my bag to my chest and laid my cheek against it, breathing in the musky scent. Before I'd left for college, Matt had spritzed some of his cologne on my bag and a few of the shirts he'd given me to take. The scent used to comfort me, but now it caused a mixture of emotions to swell up.

Tears brimmed my eyes, threatening to overflow onto my cheeks, but I wiped at them before they could drop. I didn't want to cry. No use crying over a man who didn't care.

I stared down the hallway into the dark kitchen, wishing for my mother to be here preparing dinner and chatting with me like she used to. Since she passed, nothing was the same. My father toured with the rodeo as a professional bull rider, so he was almost always gone throughout the year. He came home in small intervals, but I was lucky to see him once every three months.

Today was the day I officially felt alone for the first time since my mother died and my sister moved out. We'd always been such a tight-knit family, despite my fathers' absence a majority of the time. It had been me, mama, and Katie against the world. Even after my mother passed and my sister moved to NYC with her fiancé, I'd still had my best friend and my boyfriend.

Now Brooke was a lowlife slut and Matt was a man whore as far as I was concerned. I didn't care how much they apologized to me, that act was completely unforgivable. And it would weigh on my mind for years to come.

Swallowing a lump in my throat, I stood up and tossed the bag onto a shelf beneath the coatracks then took off my shoes before making my way into the kitchen.

Perhaps food would take my mind off things. Little did I know...

I opened the cabinets to near bare shelves, asides from a few cans of outdated fruit, soup, and saltine crackers. I shut them and moved on to the fridge, only to be greeted with the rancid smell of sour milk and some sort of rotting meats. Scrunching up my face in disgust, I slammed the doors and sighed. He hadn't been home in months.

With my tummy still protesting, I climbed the stairs and made my way to the shower.

At least I knew a steaming bath always helped.

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I'd tossed on a white cami and slipped into gray sweatpants before combing out my wet hair and climbing into my bed. For a few minutes, I stared up at the ceiling, lost in the swirling hurricane of my thoughts.

My heart skipped in my chest when I heard the FaceTime call tone. I rolled over and checked the screen. A wave of relief and joy washed over me when I saw it was Katie, and I answered quickly. This was as much company as I was going to get at the moment.

"Lacey!" Katie squealed, her smile wide and contagious. We hadn't talked in a few weeks. "How is my gorgeous little sister?" She asked, crossing her legs and looking at me expectantly. Katy was only two years older than me, but twenty-threee to her was more adultish than twenty-one.

I shrugged and nervously rubbed at the back of my neck, shaking my head. "Well, not good. I don't want to be here right now." And with that, I launched into my story of today.

After I finished, Katie was furious. "That little whore!" She said, disgusted. "See! We all told you she wasn't really your friend. You were blind to her pining after Matt, Lace." She shook her head in disapproval before taking a sip of her tea.

"I mean it wasn't just her. Takes two people to cheat." God, I hated talking about this. "Can we just... change the subject?" I asked, rubbing my temples. "I don't want to even hear his na—" Katie cut me off with an enthusiastic shriek. There was the difference between her and I. I was more introverted and laid back, and she was just... A clap of lightning on a sunny day. She'd take you by surprise with her loud actions.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way but... It sort of makes this even better." Raising an eyebrow, I watched her quizzically, waiting for her to go on. "Okay, hear me out, I know you don't like cities much, but, they're hiring a western instructor at the barn I manage, and I put in a good word for you with the higher ups, and they want you to come and do an interview!" I watched as Katie crossed her fingers and stared at me expectantly through the screen with a huge smile.

My eyes probably looked like golf balls. "Are you insane? How much do they pay? Apartments there are like... 1500 just to live in the alley next to a family of rats." It wasn't entirely untrue. Even Katie's apartment was outrageous in lower Manhattan. She could only afford to live there because her fiancé was a great lawyer.

She rolled her eyes at me as if I were being ridiculous. "Well you'd stay with us, silly! We have two bedrooms. Then you can figure out your whole life situation." By that she meant me staying in NYC or moving back to Wyoming.

I shrugged and shook my head. "Can I... Get back to you, Kate? I just don't know. I mean I have my rodeos coming up—"

"Lace, c'mon! This is a great opportunity for you to branch out and experience life. There's more to this world than Dalton and rodeos." Okay, but I enjoyed rodeos, and I enjoyed my horse.

"Well what about Zion? I can't just leave him."

Katie looked thrilled. "I forgot that... The bosses said if you get hired you can keep Zion here board free. Just the truck and trailer. There's a parking garage here and we don't have a car so you can have our spot. And then we can throw the trailer in storage. It's cheap!"

Wow, she really had this thought out. Leave it to her to be so strategical.

For a few moments I said quietly nibbling on my lower lip, contemplating her proposal. What did I have here besides my rodeos? I'd spend all summer alone. Bringing my horse was a plus side. Living with my sister made everything better...

"Okay, but only for the summer." I decided, deciding not to think anything more of it. She gave a joyful shout and I watched her hop up and down and couldn't help but rejoice with her, jumping up and down myself.

Maybe this was what I needed. A change. To get out of Wyoming, and far away from the past for a while.

At least, till college came around again.

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sometimes i wish i could run away to nyc ;-; give it a vote if you liked it!!!