Here's chapter 10, I hope it's okay. Thanks again for the nice reviews and suggestions. -Z
I woke up the next morning and thought about how amazing my semi date with Junior was yesterday, and wondered if I'd see him again today like he said. It's not like I could go to him so it was up to him to come to me. I was pretty much stuck at the farm unless someone else drove me somewhere, which was kind of weird to be stuck at work all the time. What was even weirder was that I liked it. This was the greatest job I've ever had, and I've met some of the nicest people too.
After thinking about Junior for several minutes I finally drag myself out of bed and take a quick shower; once I get out I put on a t-shirt and some jeans and pull my hair up and put on my hat. I quickly eat some cereal and decide that the first thing I'm going to do today before I start work is see Wildfire. I was all out of carrots though so I just left my trailer and started walking towards the stable where we keep Wildfire. Right when I opened the door to leave, I noticed Matt step out of the Ritter's house at exactly the same time, almost as if he was watching me. But I just kept on my path to the stable and ignored the fact that he was jogging in my direction.
"Hey Kris," he yelled from several feet away, waving as he picked up his pace a little.
"Hey Matt," I said with a touch of annoyance in my voice, trying to be as kind as possible though. He was a really nice guy, and most importantly the bosses kid. "What are you doing up so early? It's 5:45." I asked.
"I like to go for a run in the morning," he explained and I noticed his sweats and running shoes.
"That's nice. I was just going to see Wildfire." I said, feeling slightly awkward, especially now that I was kinda dating Junior.
"Cool. So I saw you leave with Pablo last night and then come home with Junior." He stated bluntly, he must've been spying on me, or something. Come to think of it I did see just one light on in the Ritter house last night, it must've been him. "What happened?"
"Oh," I started, thinking about what to say, it really was none of Matt's business. But I did want to be friends with him, "Pablo and I went to Karma, just so I could get out for a bit, as friends of course, and then we ran into Junior. Pablo wanted to go home and I wanted to dance a bit so Junior ended up taking me home. That's pretty much it." I said, skipping the parts where Junior and I kissed and I practically fell in love with him.
"Well next time you guys will have to invite me and Dani, we like to dance too," He said a little unconvincingly, but I'm glad he at least mentioned Dani.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Well I'll see you later Matt." I said with a wave and continued on my mission to see Wildfire before I had to start work.
Once I started getting closer to Wildfire's stall I noticed that it was empty, which was odd since it wasn't even 6am yet, who could of taken Wildfire out? Then I spot Wildfire, Pablo, Jean and some other man out on the practice track. What is going on, this is weird. I decide to make my way over there to investigate. I couldn't help but worry that something was wrong with Wildfire, or they we're going to sell him or something, things were just going too well for them to continue on like this.
"Kris!" Pablo yelled, calling me over, I started to run, still thinking the worst. "Kris, this is David our new jockey. Things really aren't getting better around here and Jean and I have decided we should try and get Wildfire ready for the race this weekend. Do you think you could help out?" He asked.
"Of course!" I cheered, happy that Wildfire was getting a real chance at life, just like me.
I helped Pablo and the new jockey out with Wildfire till lunch and then I joined the other workers under a tree so I could eat the sandwich I made. While I'm taking a sip from my water bottle I see Junior's silver Porsche pull up and I can't help but get really excited, and my stomach starts doing somersaults. He starts walking my way and I stand up and meet him half way, too jittery to wait for him to come to me.
"Hi," was all I managed, I never felt so nervous around a boy before in my life.
"Hi," he returned, there was a bit of a silence and then Junior started again, "So I was thinking we should go on a date tonight. A real date, where I pick you up and everything." He grinned down at me.
"I think that sounds like a good idea," I returned a little too excitedly, so happy that he obviously feels the same way about me that I do about him.
"So I'll pick you up around 6:30 then?" he asked, and I just nodded and smiled.
The next four hours of work went by really slow all I did was clean the stables and feed the horses and work on random stuff around the farm. It wasn't hard work, but all I could think about was my date with Junior and wonder what we were going to do and more importantly, what I should wear. I started to finish up for the day when I saw Pablo clean up after giving a lesson to someone. I head over there to let him know I'll be gone tonight.
"Hey Pablo, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going on a date with Junior tonight, not that it's really any of your business, I just figured someone should know I was gone so no one got worried." I explained, hoping it wasn't weird for me to tell him my plans.
"Okay, thanks for telling me." He replied. "You know, I think you and Junior seem good together, and I'm happy for you."
"But?" I questioned, sensing that wasn't all he had to say.
"But I just don't want you getting into any kind of trouble. You're still on probation and I vouched for you with Jean, so I don't want to look bad. Okay?" He questioned.
"Okay" I smiled, thinking it was funny how much he worried about me, he was worse than my brother.
After my talk with Pablo I headed to my trailer to take a shower and figure out what I was going to wear on my date with Junior tonight. First I take my shower so my hair has time to dry and then I put on my makeup. I still didn't have a ton of options for clothes, since I don't get paid till this Friday and haven't gotten to go shopping. But I was tired of wearing dresses, cause although they were nice every now and then, they really weren't my style, and I wanted to be me tonight. So I chose my nicest and cleanest pair of jeans, they were a bit more tight fitting than the one's I wear to work and I search through the stuff Jean gave me looking for a blouse I saw earlier, it was chocolate brown with lighter brown crystals on it with spaghetti straps, perfect for a hot night like tonight. After digging around a bit I found it but it was wrinkled from being on the bottom of all the other clothes. I really wanted to wear that shirt though so I decided I was going to have to find an iron. I first went to Pablo's but obviously he didn't have an iron. So then I tried Jean's house, she must have an iron. I hadn't actually been inside the house yet, not sure if it was appropriate, but this seemed like as good a time as any, it would be weird to never go in there at all. I knock on the side door leading into the kitchen because I could see Jean in there making dinner.
"Hi Kris, you look very pretty. Something special going on tonight?" She asked, opening the door and stepping back so I could come in.
"Uh, yeah, actually I have a date." I stuttered, feeling slightly uncomfortable, not knowing if she would be okay with me dating her son's friend.
"Well that was quick, of course you are a very beautiful young lady, so I'm not surprised. It must be with someone I know then, since you haven't really gotten a chance to meet anyone, right?" Well here it goes I thought.
"Um…yeah I'm going with Junior Davis." I said with a pause waiting for Jean's response.
"Well I'm sure that'll be nice, I'm just glad it's not with Matt." She laughed. Phew! I'm glad she didn't care about Junior and me. "Oh, is that my old blouse?" She said, with a happy surprise.
"It sure is, I was planning on wearing it tonight, it's so beautiful!" I said, praising Ms. Ritter's style.
"I used to wear that all the time when I was younger, I'm glad it's being put to good use now."
"That's actually why I'm here, it was on the bottom of all the stuff Henry gave to me and it got a little wrinkled. I wouldn't have bothered you late at night but I don't have an iron and neither does Pablo and I was wondering if you do?"
"Of course. You can come over here anytime for anything Kris; don't feel like you should try and keep your distance, this is a family farm after all." Jean answered with a smile and started leading me to a room in the back with a washer and dryer. "Now I know the trailer doesn't have a washer and dryer either so you can use ours or Pablo's, which ever you're more comfortable with or is more convenient. So here's the iron, just make sure to turn it off when you're done." Jean said.
"Thank you so much Jean, you really are such a kind person to welcome me into your business and home." I said while turning the iron on.
"Of course Kris. And I just want to apologize again for not being this way from the get go, I was just looking at your record, not you as a person."
"That's okay, you at least changed your point of view, most people don't." I sighed, thinking about the kind of job I would have had to get if it weren't for Pablo and Jean.
"Well that's a shame. I guess I'll leave you to it then, I better get back to fixing dinner." She left and I started to iron the blouse, making sure to get every wrinkle out without burning anything. Once it was all smooth I turned the iron off and went back to the kitchen to leave.
"Good night, thanks again Jean," I said with a wave.
"Night Kris, have a good time on your date."
I got back to my trailer and finished getting dressed, I thought about curling my hair and then decided against it, going for the more natural look with just a few strands of my hair in front pulled back with a barrette. I looked over myself in my small mirror and decided that it was the best I could do with what I had and just sat on my couch, looking out the window for Junior to come. I glanced at the clock, which read 6:23, and I sighed, feeling impatient. Then I suddenly noticed a silver car pull up to the house and I saw Junior get out. He looked nice, but not too fancy, which was good since I wasn't either. He just wore a dark blue button down and some nice jeans. His hair was styled the same way as always and I could see his smile from here, it was so beautiful. In his hand I saw a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and I almost died then and there. No boy had ever bought me flowers before, which was sad, but true and Junior Davis was becoming more and more perfect every second that past.
But then something I didn't anticipate happened, Matt came out of his house and started walking towards Junior with purpose. Oh no, I knew things were too good to be true. I really hope that Matt just wants to talk about friend stuff and not the fact that Junior brought me home last night and was now here with flowers, obviously to pick me up for a date. The two started to talk but it was too far away to really see what was happening. I couldn't decide if I should just wait here until they were done talking, or go out there and find out what's going, so I just sat there going over my options. After the conversation was still continuing for what seemed like ages I decided I should just go out and face the music. So I got up and exited my trailer, making my way towards the two best friends that hopefully weren't arguing about me.