While I laid there crying, I heard a knock at my door. I quickly wiped my tears. I didn't really want anyone to see my tears. I didn't answer the door, but I heard it open anyway. "Honey, what's wrong?" asked my dad.

I wiped my tears once more and blew my nose. "I called mom. She told me the truth." I started, "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you." "About?" my dad asked. "Don't make me say it." I said. "Oh, you mean, cheating on me." he said. "Yes." I said. "I'm so sorry she did that." he said. "You shouldn't have to be sorry. She is the one who should apologize." I said. "Yeah." my dad said, unsure. He then gave me a quick hug. "Well, why don't you come on downstairs and I will show you the ranch." my dad said. "Ok." I said, quietly. "Hey, I know it's a lot different from Dupont. But don't worry. You will like it here." he said, trying to reassure me. "I doubt it." I replied. He laughed. "I'm sure you will." He said again. I wasn't sure about this, but I followed him anyway.

"So did you get anything unpacked?" he asked. "No. I will finish then." I said. "Ok." he said. We headed down through the living room and into the dining room and to the left of the dining room through the archway was the kitchen. We went back through the kitchen to the dining room. We walked through the short hallway. "Here is another bathroom." said my dad, "This door leads to the basement. Then here is my office." There was a door on the far wall." We then walked back through the dining room and into the kitchen. There was a door that led outside. "And as you can see, this leads to the backyard and the ranch." my dad said. We went through the door and to the porch. To the left of the door were steps going down to the yard and ranch. To the right was a huge deck, with a round glass table with white trim. It had a white umbrella above it. It had brown wooden chairs around it with white cushions.

I looked around and saw a big red barn to the left and to the right a big gray barn. In the middle were two corrals. But one was more like a race track. There were people with horses in both corrals. I followed my dad to the red barn. "This is more a stable than the barn." he explained, "We have about ten horses in there." I looked and it was bigger than it looked from the porch. There were horses on both sides of the stable. "We have here, Buttercup, Wildfire, Flame, and Malia." my dad showed me the horses. We went to the back of this barn. "Here is where we have the straw." my dad said. We then went out of the stable and went to the first corral. "Here is where we exercise the horses by just walking them around or feed them. "This here is Pablo Carr with Eli." my dad introduce. "Hello." said Pablo, "You must be Gary's daughter." "Yes." I said. "It's so nice to meet you." he said. "Yeah you too." I said. We then walked to where a woman was feeding another horse. "This is Jane Ritter and Demon. Despite his name, he is a total sweetie." my dad said. Also in the corral eating were Castiel and Ollie. We moved to the race track where Jane's son, Matt was there racing Shadow. Matt's friend Junior was racing him on Jasper. "We'd like to get more horses, but right now, don't have the room in the barn. We hope to eventually add on to the barn and make more room for the horses." my dad said. "So where is the horse that got bit?" I asked, "Or was it one who was in the barn?" "Yeah, it was Malia." he replied. "She seems to be doing good." I said. "Yeah, we were lucky." he said. We then went past the race track and went to the gray barn. "In here is just our supplies." he said. There were shovels and wheel barrels. Also a big lawn mover, a weed whacker, a saw, and small gardening tools. Behind the barns and corrals was a small forest. "Through here are a few paths. One leads to the stream and the other a flat meadow. Then the others just the edge of our land and actually connect to one another and make a big "U" shape." my dad said. "Cool." I said. "See, I told you, you'd like it here." he said. "I didn't say I liked it." I said, but I couldn't help smiling a little bit. Maybe I will like it after all.

"So finish unpacking and maybe we can teach you to ride." my dad said. "Cool. Sounds good. But I can unpack later." I said. "Well, you never rode before and you might be really sore tomorrow. And won't want to do much." he said. "Ok." I said. I headed back to the house to finish unpacking. I looked back to see my dad talking to Matt and Junior.

When I got in, I went to my room and finished unpacking. I opened my closet and there was a present in there. I pulled out the box and sat on my bed. I opened it and inside was a pair of brown cowgirl boots. I looked at the size and they were the right size. I put them on and tried them out. I looked in the full length mirror. They looked nice. But I pulled my jeans over them. I looked at my whole self in the mirror. I was about 5'6" and pretty skinny. People say I could be a model, but I'm not into that stuff. I looked at my face and I looked pale, but my eyes were a sparkling blue color that stood out nicely. I then combed my fingers through my light brown hair and pulled it in a high pony tail. I then headed back outside and headed over to the corrals. I didn't see my dad right away.

"Hey." I heard a voice. I turned to look and saw it was Matt. I looked at Matt. He had short wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was just a little taller than me and was wearing a navy blue tee-shirt and faded denim jeans. He also was wearing cowboy boots. "Hi." I said, "It's Matt right? I think that's what my dad said. "Yeah." he answered, "And you're Emily?" I laughed. "Close. It's Emery." I said. "Sorry. Emery." he said. "It's ok." I said, "So, you work here?" "Yeah, I help out when I can. I mostly train the horses on the track. Also clean up after them and brush them. I give them baths, feed them. Whatever your dad needs." he replied. "That's cool." I said. "Yeah, plus helping out I save what I get for college." he said. "That's cool. What grade are you in?" I asked. "I'm a junior right now. Next year I am a senior." he said. "That's cool. You don't play any sports?" I asked. "No. A lot of people are into football. This is a big football town, but I'm not into it." he replied, "I mean, I like watching it. Just not playing it." "Cool." I said. "So what about you?" he asked. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What grade are you in?" he replied. "Freshman. But next year, sophomore. Although this year is almost over." I said. "Yeah. It is. So what made you decide to move here this close to the end of the year?" he asked. "Well…kind of forced to." I said. "Ah." he said, slowly, "Well, I'm glad you did. You will have fun here and will like it here." "Good. I hope so." I said. He smiled. We then fell into a silence and just watched the horses.

"So, you ready to ride?" asked my dad. "Yeah." I said. "This is Wildfire." my dad said, holding the reigns to a chestnut brown horse. I hopped up on the saddled horse and my dad was on Flame. Matt got Eli back out. My dad and Matt gave me some pointers and soon we all were riding around inside the corral. This was actually fun. "She's a natural." said Matt. "Yes, she is." my dad agreed. I smiled.

Later that night, me, my dad, Matt and Jane sat around the table eating the hamburgers we made on the grill. We also ate some corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese. We also had watermelon for dessert. When we were done eating, we played a few games of lawn darts and horse shoes. After awhile, Matt and his mom left. I sat in the living room watching TV with my dad.

"Where's Matt's dad?" I asked. "I'm not sure. I think he took off somewhere." my dad replied. "OK." I said, "So I have to start school on Monday? Can't I just take the rest of the year off and start next year…you know what I mean…next school year? It's already May." "Well, you could, but then I'd have to put you to work on the ranch. Clean up the horse's poop, bathe them and brush them, feed them, train them. There wouldn't be much free time. Least being in school, you wouldn't have to be working on the ranch." he replied. "I don't get it. Who helps you out when Matt and… I forget his name… are in school?" I asked. "Junior. Matt's friend is Junior. Well, Pablo helps out and Jane. Also Jane's father, Henry comes out to help too." he replied, "So what will it be? School or work?" I knew what my dad just did. "Fine." I said. I heard my dad laugh. "I hate you." I said. "No you don't." he said. I sighed heavily. "You're right." I said, "I just hate school." "Who doesn't?" he asked. "Yeah, but I don't want to be the new kid." I replied, "Especially at the end of the year." "Well, I'm sure it'll be ok. Plus Junior and Matt will be there. They will be there to help you out." he said. I smiled. "Good." I said. I liked that idea. Having two almost seniors there to help me out if anyone gave me trouble.

Saturday and Sunday I hung out with my dad a little bit and then also with Matt and Junior. I wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be. We had another little cookout and we rode the horses on the trails and then on the race track. To end on Sunday night we roasted some marshmallows and made smores. Junior caught one of his marshmallows on fire. We all burst out laughing. He even joined in.

"So… Monday morning." Junior said, "You'll be starting school?" "Yeah." I replied. "Well don't worry. It'll be fine. I promise you. And if anyone tries to give you trouble, we'll deal with them." said Junior. "Thanks." I said smiling. We talked until about 11:30 pm and then decided to call it a night since tomorrow was school and we all wanted to get a good night's sleep for school.

I changed into my pajamas and fell asleep immediately.