Cherry, Mia, and readers:

I bake cupcakes like I give hugs- too big and too long. I hearts y'all.

Chapter Eight: Funnels & Forgiveness

I don't know what to say. I ain't never had nobody have feelings for me before.

It feels like I've got all these butterflies in me and they're just fluttering to get out.

It feels like life.

Rowdy kisses me on my forehead and smiles crookedly. "Don't you say anything back. I don't want any words coming out of your mouth that ain't true. But you can tell me you like me. If you do, I mean. I'll take that. For now."

My head is spinning and I'm bursting with happiness. I don't know what this love thing means, so he's right—I won't say it just yet. But I'm awfully fond of him in ways I don't understand.

"Okay, I like you."

It seems silly coming from me, and not quite enough, but Rowdy chuckles.

"You made my day, Cottonseed." He takes my hand in his, and even though mine is much smaller, it fits just right.

As if it was meant to be.

"Now let's see if we can find the little ones. I was supposed to be keeping an eye on 'em before you distracted me."

I can't keep my other fingers from touching the necklace he gave me. I'm going to keep it forever. Even when I'm old and gray and dead, I'll have it in my casket with me.

I wonder if Jesus will allow me to take it through the pearly gates?

Probably not, but I believe I can sneak it in.

We stop for a funnel cake, 'cause I'm kind of an addict when it comes to powdered sugar. Rowdy and I take turns biting the crispy edges and then we find Jessie, Emmett, AJ, and Jasper jumping around in the bouncy house castle. AJ squeals with glee as Jasper holds her hands and they jump simultaneously.

"Cotton! Come! In! It's! Fun!" I laugh 'cause her words are broken up every time she bounces.

"I'm fine. I was just checking on you," I yell through the dividing net.

"O! Kay!"

I giggle as Jessie tumbles and falls on Emmett, who has somehow lost his shirt. His fat jiggles and my littlest sister gets a mouthful of chub.

"You want to walk around some?" Rowdy suggests.

"Sure, but I gotta look for Rose Charlotte first. I'm supposed to meet her for the cake walk, but I don't wanna leave her stranded for that long." We stroll past the cotton candy stand and face painting station. I finally see Mrs. Hale walk by carrying a load of boxes.

"Mrs. Hale, have you seen Rose?"

Mrs. Hale nods. "Back towards the slip-n-slide, sug. She was playing with the Weber girls."

My face drains as Mrs. Hale walks away whistling.

"What's wrong?" Rowdy grabs me roughly by the shoulders. "What is it?"

I have to hold back my tears from falling. I knew I shouldn't have left Rose by herself. "I have to find her! These girls—Angela, Bree, and Victoria—they go to school with us. They're as mean as rattlesnakes, Rowdy. They steal our lunches and trip us in the cafeteria, and once they broke into our lockers and hid all of our stuff around the school. One time, when Alice had to go to the bathroom at evening service, she caught the three of them playing with an Ouija board. She didn't know what it was, she just thought it was a game. They wouldn't let her join in, of course, so she started crying. Minutes passed and Mama told me to go look for her. When I did, I found they had locked her in one of the stalls. So I broke their board, stuffed it into the trash, and told Ma. They've been after me ever since. And Rose Charlotte, too, just 'cause she's my best friend. And now I've left her all by herself. Who knows what they'll do!"

Rowdy rocks me back and forth as a tear slips from my eye. He pulls back and wipes it away with the pad of his thumb. "Don't you cry. We'll find her, I promise!"

I run through through the crowds of people with Rowdy stumbling behind me. We reach the slip-n-slide, but none of the girls are anywhere to be found. I search and search, but there's nothing nearby but a huge delivery truck with Midway Rentals printed on the side. I finally notice several pairs of legs just on the side of the tires, and see Rose Charlotte's favorite pair of red Keds.

"This way!" I tug Rowdy in their direction and I hear the crying sobs before I see her. We turn the corner of the truck and find Bree and Victoria holding armfuls of cotton candy. Angela is stuffing it into Rose Charlotte's mouth as she cries and chokes on mounds of the spun pink sugar.

"Hey!" Rowdy darts in front of Angela and pushes her hand away before she can torture Rose anymore. When Rose sees me, she races to me, spitting out the cotton candy. I embrace her in a hug and try to soothe her tears by rubbing her back and blonde hair.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Rowdy grabs all of the cones out of their hands and throws them on the ground.

"And who are you?" Victoria says, twirling her red hair around her finger.

"I'm your fucking worst nightmare if I catch you messing with her again." Rowdy breathes heavily and puffs his broad chest outward.

"Buzz off, Dirt Boy!" Bree says sarcastically. "It ain't none of your business. It's between us and blondie."

Angela snaps her fingers as if she's solved a puzzle. "I know you! You're one of the Masens. Yeah, didn't my pop have to bring your family food this week?" She laughs, as if poverty is something funny. "You should see his place. Broken down shithole. Looks like a tornado came and spit it back out. So here's the thing, Masen. You didn't see any of this, got it? 'Cause if you do, then I'll have to tell my parents you were being mean to me, and then your mother won't get any of that medicine she was asking for. Or the food. So if I were you, I'd walk away. It would be a shame if Blondie and Princess got hurt when you weren't around."

I shake my head in dismay. "Rowdy, let's go."

"Cotton, you can't just-"

I know what pride looks like and Rowdy's got plenty of it. But I don't want his family getting hurt because of it. Or Rose. I don't care about myself, but I don't want others being affected because he's too proud to walk away.

"Let's go. Please." I reach for his hand as the three girls laugh.

"That's right, Dirt Boy. Run along."

"Did you see his clothes? Ew."

"Daddy said part of the proceeds today are for his family. Ain't that pitiful? I bet you somethin's wrong with Esme and her baby! It's always the scum with the nasty diseases…"

I grab a wad of napkins from the nearest food booth to help Rose, but Rowdy is racing ahead of us. Not too fast, but enough that I know he wants to be left alone.

"Rowdy! Wait!"

He turns around only to tell me he's leaving. "I'm going home. I'll see you later, Cotton."

He stops long enough to get his brothers out of the bouncy house. As I'm wiping Rose's face, I see him find Esme and whisper in her ear. Her smile is immediately gone as he talks. She nods and holds her back as she stands up and gestures towards Carlisle.

Within a minute the Masens are gone, Chevy and all.

"I hate them, Rose," I say angrily, brushing back her hair with my fingers. "I hate them all! I hope they burn in Hell!"

Rose Charlotte gasps. "You can't say that, Cotton! No matter how mean our enemies are, we have to forgive them. That's what Jesus says."

I stop wiping her face and wave my hands dramatically. "Then tell me, Rose, what's Jesus got to say about a bunch of snobby teenagers who pick on the poor? What's Jesus got to say about girls who nearly choke another to death all 'cause they felt like it? You think He'd tell me to forgive that?"

Rose tosses the napkins in the trash and holds my quivering shoulders steady.

"Yes, Cotton. Jesus would tell you to love 'em. Even when they're fighting and being mean and attacking others with their spitefulness, you win 'em back with love. Hate spreads, Cotton. But love?"

Rose squeezes me tightly, even though her face is tinted pink and her shirt is wet with tears.

"Ain't enough Webers in the world that can stop that."