ONLY FIVE MOR CHAPTERS UNTIL THIS STORY IS FINISHED!


CHAPTER ELEVEN
(chapter title – Reassuring Words & Hanging Out With Dianna)

The following afternoon, whenever Taylor and Sierra saw Dianna, they avoided any physical contact with each other.

It wasn't until later that afternoon that Sierra saw Jen come up the driveway. She was riding an expensive-looking Quarter Horse and wore expensive-looking clothes.

"Can I help you with something, Jen?" Roger asked as he led Hercules into the pen and closed the door behind him.

"Yeah. I was looking for Taylor. Have you seen him anywhere?" Jen asked, getting off her horse and handed the reins to Sierra. "Put him in a stall and untack him."

"You know, I'm not a groom here, right?" Sierra reminded the other girl. Jen rolled her eyes and pushed past Sierra, going to find Taylor herself.

"Here, Sierra. I'll take care of him." Mark offered, taking the horse's reins from her and led it to Barn A.

Sierra promised herself she would not let this girl get to her.

"Taylor, can I talk to you?" Sierra asked once she found Taylor. He was in Barn B with a large black horse in cross-ties. He was brushing it and examining it closely.

"Sure. What's up?" Taylor asked, not taking his eyes off the horse. The horse nudged Sierra with its nose and Sierra stroked its velvety muzzle.

"Do you still have feelings for Jen?" Sierra blurted – that was not the topic she came to talk to Taylor about.

"No, I don't. I broke up with her because she's always putting people down and I didn't like the way she treats people." Taylor answered, looking at Sierra for the first time since she entered the barn.

"Then why is she here?" Sierra wanted to know.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I told her to stay away from me after we broke up." Taylor told Sierra.

"I really don't like the way she's hanging out here." Sierra said, watching Jen enter the barn as if she owned the place.

"Jen, I would really like it if you would stop hanging around here." Taylor told his ex. She rolled her eyes and saw Sierra with the large horse.

"Are you sure she's good with the horses? She looks like a scrawny little groom to me." Jen giggled. That did it for Sierra.

"Look, Ms. Fancy-Pants, it's simple, if you don't like something, you can leave or ignore it." Sierra told the other girl. "I also don't like you hanging around Taylor all the time. HE IS MY BOYFRIEND, so stop pretending you two are back together!"

"Sierra, can I talk to you for a minute? Jen, you put Hawkeye away." Taylor told the girls. He then led Sierra to a quiet part of the barn and stood in front of her.

"Am I in trouble?" Sierra asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"Even though Jen and I broke up, we are still friends. I don't appreciate you telling my friend off. Either apologize to her or we're through!" Taylor told Sierra.

"I'm not apologizing to her." Sierra announced after a brief silence.

"Fine – we're through!" Taylor shouted at Sierra.

"No! Taylor, you don't mean that!" Sierra shouted back. Taylor was too far out of earshot to hear her.

Sierra stumbled back to the guest house, tears streaming down her cheeks. Mimi was on call when she heard the screen door slam shut behind Sierra.

"Hold on, Frank. Let me call you back." Mimi told the man on the other end of the phone. She hung up the phone and went to Sierra's side of the guest house. She found Sierra under the covers, curled in a ball. She was hugging Piggy to her chest and bawling her eyes out. "Chica, what's wrong?"

"Taylor broke up with me!" Sierra sobbed. Mimi frowned, knowing that this was Sierra's first serious relationship.

"Want me to go slap him silly for you?" Mimi asked, hoping that would cheer Sierra up.

"No! I want to be alone." Sierra sobbed.

"Baby, it's not healthy to be by yourself. Do you want me to watch a movie with you?" Mimi asked.

"I thought you were on call." Sierra reminded her mother.

"You're more important right now. My chica has her heart broken for the first time."

Sierra let out a long whine and buried herself under the covers. Mimi buried her head in her hands, knowing that she should've had said that.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said." Mimi apologized. Sierra poked her head out from under the blanket.

Mimi and Sierra actually had a great time – they watched Sierra's favorite horror movie – Grave Digger and ate chocolate ice cream.

The following day, Sierra avoided the barns, since both Taylor and Roger were working the horses.

"Hey, Sierra. I'm going to a movie and was wondering if you wanted to come." Dianna told Sierra as she entered the house for breakfast.

"Sure. Just as long as it's not a romantic comedy." Sierra replied, taking a long gulp of milk and ate her cereal.

"Okay. Want to see Snow White and the Huntsman?" Dianna suggested.

"Yeah. That looks awesome – I am a huge fan of Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron." Sierra told Dianna.

"So am I. There's a showing at 1:15. Want to go to that one?" Dianna asked.

"Sure." Sierra answered.

The girls decided that they would go out to lunch and then to the movie.

When they pulled into the movie theater parking lot, Dianna saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance to the theater. Dianna parked the car and motioned for Sierra to follow her.

"Hey Sara!" Dianna greeted the other girl. The girl looked to be about the girls' age. She had shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes and stood about two inches taller than Dianna.

The girl wore a T-Shirt with a picture of Peeta Mellark on it and jeans. On her feet, she wore a pair of pink Crocs.

"Sara, this is Sierra. Sierra, this is Sara, my best friend." Dianna introduced the girls.

"It's nice to meet you." Sara told Sierra, smiling at her.

"Yeah, you too." Sierra responded, walking to the ticket counter to get a ticket for Snow White and the Huntsman. It was the only movie out that wasn't a chick-flick.

"I'm actually gonna go with Sierra to see a movie, but maybe next time, okay?" Dianna told Sara. Sara nodded and walked out of sight. Dianna then turned her attention back to Sierra. "Ready?"

Sierra nodded and the two of them headed into the theater. The coming attractions for other movies were playing, but that didn't bother the girls one bit. They found two seats towards the front and instantly turned off their cell phones.

Sierra was happy to be in Dianna's company and hoped that they would be friends for a long time.