I had absolutely no idea where I was, but I was almost certain I could hear the faint and terrifying sound of banjoes. The bus had dropped me in a small town about thirty minutes away from home and about an hour away from school if my math was correct. According to Rick, this place was only a short drive from his parents' place, and from where I was standing, it seemed like a short drive from the middle of nowhere.

He’d offered to come pick me up from my place, but I didn’t feel that was entirely appropriate given the unspoken situation that was afoot. Being a big independent totally male friend, I’d asked for the closest I could get by bus. This hole, Johnson Creek, was it. According to Rick, he was heading into town to grab some supplies for his dad from the local hardware store so he’d pick me up and run us both out to the Ranch. This was totally the arrangement two dudes would make who are platonic male friends.

The last heat of summer was starting to fade now, so I’d thrown an open plaid shirt over my plain black T-shirt and cargos. I hoped I looked fairly in theme for hanging out in the country, but I honestly had no idea considering that I was a suburban kid. I was increasingly happy with the sports bras I’d bought with the girls earlier in the week, which, when combined with a shirt and sometimes an overshirt gave me a decent facsimile of a male chest. I was fairly confident I was flat enough to avoid having to constantly resort to bulky sweaters which was a relief. The advantage of the open shirt was that it gave me more bulk around the waist too.

Willy’s Hardware was a weatherworn little storefront on a fairly quiet strip of shops here in the center of Johnson Creek. I’d call it a strip mall, but it would give it far more credit than it deserved. It had been barely a two-minute walk from the bus stop and so far, nobody had given me any odd looks for standing around and waiting on their sidewalk. It seemed that out here, people kept to their own business.

I was only waiting a few minutes further before an older red Chevy pickup swung into the lot and parked directly in front of me. Rick hopped down from the cab and smiled. I’d seen him out of school before, but at the Mall, he dressed like all the other jocks in sneakers and designer brands. Right now, he was in a pair of beat-up cowboy boots, jeans, and a grubby gray T-shirt that fitted him extremely well. This wasn’t Mister Popular, this was the farm kid with his mask off. I’m sure it’s a strange way to phrase it, but I thought he looked far more real this way.

“Have you been waiting long?” He asks brightly.

I shake my head. “No, only just got here. I thought the bus was taking me to some old shack in the woods.”

Rick grins as we head inside Willy’s store. “Yeah, it’s a little bit out in the sticks but it’s worth it for the view once you get out of town.”

I shrug, “I’ll take your word for it, I’m not super outdoorsy really.”

“You’ll like it, there’s nothing like it.” He replies with enthusiasm. “We won’t be long here, Dad needs me to grab him some nails and a bunch of wire.”

The inside of the store is poorly lit and well-worn but still incredibly neat and tidy. Whoever Willy is, he takes great pride in his little store. I follow Rick like a hapless puppy as he confidently navigates the isles filled with tools and supplies until he finds what he needs. Approaching the register he drops the tub of nails and wire drum on the counter and rings an old-fashioned bell on the wall.

“I’m a-comin', hold yer horses!” a time-ravaged voice plucked directly from an old western movie hollers from somewhere deep in the back of the store. A few moments later a stooped old man shuffles in from the storeroom and smiles toothily at Rick. He’s wearing faded denim overalls and a neat button-up shirt. What little is left of his hair is a shock of white.

“Your pops send you in for more stuff eh?”

“You know Dad,” Rick smirks, pulling out his wallet. “Kids visiting you this weekend Willy?”

The old man rings him up and rolls his eyes dramatically behind thick wire-rimmed spectacles. “Whenever they have time for me you mean! They keep tryin’ get me to move in with 'em, but I won’t give up the old store.”

“Won’t be the same if you did,” Rick grins. “Oh hey Willy, this is Alex, we go to school together.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Alex, he’s a good boy this one.” Old Willy tips an imaginary cap.

I turn bright red but Rick doesn’t seem to notice as he’s busy checking his phone for a text message. “Crap, we gotta beat it Willy, I gotta grab some stuff for Mom before we head home. Catch you around.”

“Have a good day kids,” Willy waves, already halfway back through the door to the stockroom.

“Well, he’s a character,” I opine as we leave. I’m still slightly embarrassed by the old man’s assumption.

“Yeah, Willy’s been around longer than I have. He was running that store when Dad was my age.”

“So you’ve always lived here then,” I ask as we walk along the row of shops, “your family?”

Rick nods, “Since 1890 according to Gramps. Always been Taylors on the land up here.”

“My parents moved from New York,” I offer. “They met at college there; Cornell.”

“Your Mom’s a Doctor, right? That’s a damn good school.”

“I’m hoping to make it there myself,” I admit. “If I can bump my 3.9 to a 4.0.”
Rick whistles. “Not bad at all. I’m hoping to do business, should set me up to take over the Ranch one day for Dad.”

“What’s what you want to do? Run the family place?”

Rick nods. “Yeah, I want to keep it in the family, I see it as a legacy thing.”

It’s a side of him I’ve never really seen before but one I can respect. Like me, he wants to follow in his parent’s footsteps; I can relate to that.

We make our way into a grocery store at the end of the strip and Rick grabs a cart from a rack outside before pushing it through the doors. “Sorry for dragging you around doing chores, parents eh?”

“All good,” I admit. “Wasn’t going to do anything else other than hang out with some chump from school anyway.”

He just gives me a look and shakes his head. “You’re as bad as my sister.”

“I should probably be insulted,” I chuckle. “I never knew you had a sister.”

He nods. “Yeah, Anna’s twenty-five, she’s a geologist down in New Mexico someplace. She’s working for an Oil Company. Back when she was here she’d give me so much crap, I miss her though.”

“Just you two and your parents now?”

He nods and grabs a pack of bread rolls off the shelf. “Yeah, just the three of us at the moment if you don’t count any of the ranch hands. It’s quiet but I kinda like it that way, you know?”

I nod, realizing that this guy’s a lot more lonely than he lets on at school. We certainly have that in common. I wonder if I would have done something similar to him if I’d been a boy, well, If I'd been happy as a boy. Whatever, you know what I mean.

We continue around the store and acquire the rest of his Mom’s list before checking out. Thankfully I manage to avoid any more genderings from any of the townsfolk and we head back out to his truck with grocery bags in hand. Rick takes the bags and his hardware acquisitions and loads them into the bed before unlocking the cab. I hop up on the passenger side before any door weirdness can occur and belt in. (Hey, I’m a good city girl ok? Always wear your seatbelt)

Rick starts the truck up and backs us out of the lot. Before long we’re heading out of the small town and into the rolling countryside beyond.

“I can’t believe it’s this wild so close to where I live,” I murmur, my face glued to the window like a certain cartoon orange cat.

Rick glances over and smiles proudly. “Yeah, amazing how small our worlds can be sometimes. I really don’t get into the city much besides school and stuff. Dad wants to make sure I get the best education possible.”

“Here was me thinking you were like all the rest of the jocks; brainless and going nowhere after high school.”

Rick rolls his eyes. “That school clique shit is such bullshit. I went from being the butt of jokes to supposedly one of the cool crowd in the span of a year because I’m playing a damn sport. You get treated like crap because you don’t and you like comic books.”

For the first time, I feel like joking about my social life. “I mean, I am particularly awful at sports, you can attest to that.”

He nods and turns the truck off the road and onto a long gravel driveway. “So terrible I ain’t letting you near a gun or anything sharp. This,” he gestures through the windshield towards a large ranch house, “is me.”

The Taylor home is a beautiful two-storey timber ranch house with a huge stone chimney and slate roof. Off to one side is a long stable block and a barn with what appears to be more buildings poking out behind it. Several cars are parked out front along with a pair of trucks carrying a logo. He wasn’t kidding when he said the place was a working ranch.

“Damn, now I feel like I live in a hovel.”

“You’ll give me a big head,” he admits sheepishly, pulling the truck up beside an expensive-looking European BMW Sedan. “I’m lucky though, I know.”

We hop down from the truck and gather up the shopping before heading up the wide wooden steps to the front of the house. I’m still in awe of this place. I thought I had a nice house in the ‘burbs, but it’s nothing compared to this. Our big four-bed colonial feels pokey in comparison.

“We’re back Mom,” Rick calls as we enter the foyer. “I managed to get everything but the Basil!”

“It’s fine, I can work with Oregano but it won’t taste the same.” a female voice called from what I presume is the kitchen. A moment later a dark-haired woman in her late forties pops into the room drying her hands on a towel. “You said you had a… oh, hello dear.” she smiles directly at me. “Rick said he had company today but he didn’t say who was coming, I’m Rebecca, his mother.”

“Mom, this is Alex, we go to school together.”

“Lovely to meet you dear,” she smiles diving straight in for a hug. I stand somewhat wooden and accept the sudden invasion of my personal space and somewhat awkwardly pat her once or twice before she steps back. “How long have you two…?”

“Uh, only since the start of term really,” I admit sheepishly. “But we kinda knew each other for a while I guess.”

Rick’s mother smiles. “Rick, take that shopping through to the kitchen and put it away please, what do I pay you for?”

“You don’t,” he mutters taking the bag from me and disappearing through into the kitchen.

Rebecca Taylor smiles and I watch her eyes flick across me in that analytical way many women do to assess someone new. She smiles kindly, “Did my son tell you something about ranches and horses and not provide any context?”

“Uh, I guess Ma’am,” I smile sheepishly. “I mean he said he lived on one.”

Quick, change the topic and distract with compliments.

“You have a beautiful home, Mrs Taylor, It’s so lovely out here.”

“It’s Rebecca remember, and thank you, dear.”

Rick returns and extracts me from the awkward parental interaction. “Alex, come on, we’ll have a few hours till lunch.”

I bid his mother goodbye and follow Rick through to a large family room on the far side of the house with a deck that looks out over broad rolling pastures.

“Wow,” I breathe, looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “This place is gorgeous.”

“It’s pretty neat,” he admits. “It’s always been home so I guess It’s pretty normal, but the view never gets old.”

“So what do you want to do?”

Rick drops down on a huge sofa and picks up a controller. “Plumber Kart rematch?”

“Oh boy, you are in for it now.” I grin.

 

 

“Lunch!”

“Thank god,” Rick sighed tossing his controller on the couch. “I don’t think I can stand getting my ass kicked for any longer.”

I stretch and don’t try to hide my self-satisfied smirk. “I’m afraid I’m just better.”

He looks pleased. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you genuinely look this happy.”

I shrug feeling a little self-conscious suddenly. “It’s nice to be able to just kick back, no pretenses, you know?”

Rick nods knowingly and points towards the kitchen. “I get it, now come on before Mom yells at us.”

The kitchen in the Taylor house is as stunning as the rest of the place. The large space is dominated by a central island and a full suite of appliances and amenities. Not something I would come to fully appreciate till I had a home of my own in many years time. That’s not a woman thing, it’s an adult thing. Trust me; no kid is interested in fitted appliances and granite countertops.

Future Holly: You should see me in a home store, I’m like a Tornado in a Texas trailer park. But I’m being a nerd, so I’ll apologize and get back to the juicy ‘will they won’t they’ tension.

Rick’s Mom smiles as we enter. “I’ll take it from all the noise that you two had fun with your video games?”

“Yeah, and Sorry Mom, Alex was kicking my butt,” Rick grins elbowing me gently.

“And I fully support that,” she adds with an approving nod. “Rick and his Dad are both sore losers, they need bringing down a peg sometimes.” She adds, giving me a pointed look I don’t follow. “Lunch on the side, I’ll be up in my study.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Rick grins as he slides onto a stool on the island and grabs a plate.

“She seems nice,” I offer, collecting my own lunch, a lovely roll that I seem to recall from earlier this morning. Chicken Ceasar? Nice.

“She must like you, my teammates only get to call her Mrs Taylor.” he chuckles between bites. “Man, how did you get that good at Plumberkart?”

“A lot of time to myself,” I admit with a sardonic smile. “Plus I’ve always preferred games like that over shooters. You should see me on BashHandyScoot. I can whip all comers until they’re begging for me to end their suffering.”

Rick looks a little more serious for a moment. “That’s what I mean; you have this sadness about you, like a shadow that follows you around. Occasionally though when you’re comfortable or nobody is watching, you have this brightness that shines through.”

“I hope you’re not writing that for an English essay, you’ll get a D for it.” I opine, using the sandwich as a mask to hide my blush. Why does this guy have to be so… right?

“I mean it.” he pushes. “Like earlier; you were a totally different person; much freer and a lot more fun to hang around.”

Rut Roh Raggy.

“I was?”

His face takes on a weird look for a moment and he nods. “Yeah, it was cool.”

My brain doesn’t really want to work so I take a bite of the sandwich. “Uh, That’s good I guess?”

“It is,” He nods. “Phase two starts this afternoon; we’re doing something completely outside your comfort zone.”

I furrow my brow and lower my sandwich. “We are not riding horses are we?”

Me and my big mouth…

 

 

“Woah uh, slow down girl.” The horse I’m perched precariously atop is moving without any input from me and Rick is not helping at all. To think that I believed he was a nice guy this morning…

“Just relax and stop being so tense, she can tell you’re terrified,” Rick laughs from down beside me. We’ve not gone far, we’re still in the coral next to their barn and I’m sitting atop a piebald (apparently) horse called Clover. Right now I’m positive she has designs to kill me.

I force myself to relax my legs and release the death grip I’m maintaining on my poor mount. The several tons of animal between my legs start to slow down. Rick shakes his head at my terrible riding and swings himself up onto his own steed. He trots over to the gate and leans down with relaxed ease to open it before walking through. “Come on over here, just turn her right.”

I gulp and start to steer my mount towards the now-open gate. The horse seems to comply and follows my instructions without question. She has yet to bolt violently for freedom so I’m optimistic that I can stay on her back for the time being. We walk slowly through and I ease her to a stop while Rick closes the gate.

“You ok?” he asks, pulling up alongside me.

“I’m not dead yet,” I postulate, “But there’s still time.”

Rick grins. “This isn’t so hard, I promise. I’ll stick with you no matter what. Now come on; we’re burning daylight.”

With that, and a gentle squeeze of my mount, we start moving away from the Ranch. The training wheels are off now; it’s just me, a horse, and a moron.

We ride up and away from the yard and out towards the forest to the south of the Ranch property. To his credit, Rick is a very patient teacher and before long I’m managing a decent trot without screaming in terror. This is my literal first time on horseback and so far I’ve not managed to hurt myself, I count that as a significant achievement.

We chat casually as we ride along the treeline that borders the southern pasture. Having lived in the city my whole life, everything I’m experiencing today is brand new. The scenery out here is breathtaking and the smell of real-life honest to god pine trees is intoxicating.

“You know, now you’ve settled down, you’re doing just fine.” Rick offers casually. “Fun isn’t it?”

“I don’t hate it,” I admit. “I still prefer solid ground and video games but fair is fair, you deserve a win.”

“I’m not trying to win. I just want to see you focus your attention on something different and stop worrying.”

“You sure you’re not cut out for psychology than business?” I quip. Look, jokes are my defense mechanism. When people get too close, I evade with comedy, I do it even to this day.

After riding on for another thirty minutes, we arrived at a wide shallow creek that flows lazily out from the forest and across the pasture. Rick leads the way, and I follow carefully down the bank towards the water.

“This is safe, right?”

Rick looks back at me as he’s halfway across and waves me forward. “Come on, it's not even up to her knees. Tell her to go forward and she’ll do the rest.”

I utilize what little control I have over this hairy beast to urge her forward slowly out into the water. He’s right, it’s not that deep, but I’m still learning to cope with horses on land and I haven’t taken the amphibious class yet. What happens next is entirely of my own doing, but there is a reason. I’m blaming it on inexperience and prior knowledge of horse-related injuries, all entirely gleaned from movies.

I slip my feet out of the stirrups, nervous about getting caught up if the horse falls over and I drown trapped beneath the animal. In all the western movies, someone gets screwed over by their horse. Hell, do you remember the scene in The King’s Comeback where the King of the Horsemen is trapped under his mount and dies? I figure a river crossing is a likely spot for this to happen to me. It turns out, however, that for me, this was the first of several compounding mistakes. What really kicks it off, is that I have Clover going so slowly that she steps on a rock and her hoof slips sideways. She’s forced to rebalance herself which results in a jolt that I would have withstood had I been properly seated; I am not, I’m twisted around to see how far we’ve come out into the river and how deep it is…

“Oh shiiitttt!”

Clover sidesteps, my feet only find air and suddenly I’m sliding sideways off her back and heading straight for an untimely death. With an almighty splash, I land in the creek butt first. It’s just deep enough that It doesn’t hurt, but shallow enough that I’m soon resting on the bottom and I’m staring up at a very concerned-looking Clover who’s wondering why her idiot passenger decided to make a swift exit.

“Alex!” Rick rides over and dismounts straight into the water without a care in the world and pulls me upright. “Are you ok? What happened?”

I spit hair out of my face and shake like a wet dog. “I… that… blegh!”

Rick looks at me for a second and then bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, you are a sight!”

I push my hair back and scowl at him. I am soaked to the bone and this git has the balls to laugh at my misfortune? This whole mess is made worse because I can’t even remove my soaked clothes to wring them out without revealing some problematic secrets.

“Come on,” he grins, shaking his head. “I’ll get Clover, try and find dry land.”

He leads the horses over to the far bank and ties them off to a tree while I trudge across the rest of the creek and up onto the far bank. Now the shock of the dunking is past, I’m starting to worry about my current predicament. I am wet, and I cannot get dry without exposing my secret.

Turning away from Rick, I pull off my overshirt and wring it out as best I can. It’s sopping wet and still dripping, but it’s a slight improvement. I discovered to my great concern that my hair tie is missing and I only have a spare back at the house in my backpack; not entirely ideal. I pull off my sneakers and empty the water out before clambering up the bank. Rick is watching me, and his expression is hard to read. He doesn’t look like he’s laughing, but he doesn’t look pissed either. “Uh, Yeah best I can manage,” I admit with a shrug. “Sorry, I messed everything up.”

He stares at me for a second before seemingly shaking himself and looking at me properly. “I.. sorry!” He grabs a jacket from the saddle of his horse and hands over it awkwardly. “It’s the only dry stuff I have, we can head back to the house, I’m sure we got some stuff you can wear. Jeez, I didn’t think…”

“My stupid fault” I smile sheepishly, “I slipped. It wasn’t Clover’s fault.”

Rick shakes his head. “We’ll head back and get you dry, I know a shortcut. Are you going to be ok to ride?”

I shake a sodden leg and shove my foot back into one of my sneakers. “I’m going to have to be, aren’t I?”

I catch him looking at me again, and it’s a little unsettling. I pull my wet hair back behind my ears and shift my weight awkwardly. “Rick?”

He seems to focus and smiles like nothing is wrong. “Sorry, was just thinking about something,” he admits with a silly smile. “Come on, I’ll get us back and we can get you dried off. I’m really sorry Alex.”

The trip back to the ranch is somewhat awkward at first. Our conversation is a little stilted and he doesn’t seem to want to talk too much. I’m worried that he’s seen something, that I let my guard down or the dunking revealed more of me than I wanted him to see. I think in reality, he might be more embarrassed that his fun adventure has ended up with me miserable and soaking wet on the back of a horse. Thankfully, my fears are unfounded and soon we’re chatting away again like nothing is wrong.

The ride back takes around twenty minutes and the wind has managed to turn me from soaking to soggy. Truth be told, I was starting to get the hang of this horse business. It’s my first time riding, but I think If I got a little more experience I might actually enjoy it. Once we’re back and we’ve stabled the horses I’m able to trudge my way up toward the house. Rick’s mom appears from upstairs as she hears us enter.

“Rick, is that you?”

“Yeah Mom, we’re back uh… we had a bit of a mishap.”

She appears around the corner and her eyes go wide. “Oh gosh, what the heck did you get Alex into?”

“Yeah, uh, horses, rivers, and me don’t mix too well.” I offer awkwardly, trying my hardest to not drip.

“Come with me,” she orders, scowling at her son. “Let’s get you dried off and into some fresh clothes before you catch your death. And you,” she adds, gesturing at her son. “Go tell your father dinner will be ready soon and to get the hell out of whatever he’s doing in the Barn.”

“Yes Mom,” Rick salutes and beats a hasty retreat.

That leaves me firmly in the clutches of Rebecca Taylor.

“Come on now honey, let’s get you sorted out. My darn son can be such an idiot at times showing off. You’ve never ridden before have you?”

I shake my head. “No, It’s my first time.” I feel the need to defend Rick suddenly. “I did like it though, it wasn’t his fault.”

“Oh it’s great, but it needs a little practice. And that boy takes you through the creek on your first ride? Of course,” she sighs. “Right, the bathroom is here, grab a shower and I'll bring you a change of clothes okay? Grab any towel off the side.”

I go inside and lock the door before spotting myself in the mirror. Beyond my somewhat disheveled and soggy appearance, my hair has been wind-dried on the ride back and is now rivaling Tina Turner for volume. Now I know why Rick was giving me weird looks, I absolutely look like a girl right now.

I strip out of my wet clothes before tackling my sports bra. In case you haven’t ever tried to take off a wet one, it is like wrestling a greased-up raccoon in a phone booth; nobody comes out as the winner. Eventually naked, I slip into the shower and turn on the water. The Taylor’s shower is a walk in and it features one of those deluge heads that utterly soaks you all the way down to your soul. I borrow some shampoo and conditioner and manage to get myself washed and clean in no time at all.

The powerful jets of water manage to pound the soreness out of my infrequently used muscles.
It’s moments like these in the shower where I feel most like me. With one… glaring exception, I’m just a girl in the shower. I can pretend the world is right, at least for a little while. If you think this is some sexy prelude to me fantasizing about Rick and having a really nice time on my own, you have another thing coming, dear reader.

I get out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel while I dry my hair. My reflection in the mirror is undeniably female at the moment, though the towel around my boobs and my soggy blonde hair isn’t helping that. I’m contemplating just how girly I was looking after my dunking earlier when there’s a knock on the door. Without any sort of warning the lock clicks open and Mrs Taylor steps inside with a stack of clothes in hand. What’s the point of knocking if she isn’t going to wait for me to answer? It’s like asking if someone is lactose intolerant and then feeding them a whopping slice of cheesecake anyway.

“Feeling better?” she asks brightly, totally ignorant of the deer in the headlights expression on my startled face.

“I got you some dry things to wear honey, they should fit you just fine. They belonged to my eldest Anna before she flew the coop so don’t worry about returning them. She was a bit of a tomboy like you so it’s nothing too frilly, don’t you worry.”

“Eh?”

She looks at me like I’m stupid. “Clothes honey, so you don’t have to wear your wet ones?”

It all seems to dawn on me at once. She thinks I’m a girl, meaning that she’s thought this since I arrived this morning. Wait just a hair-brained second, does she she think I’m Rick’s girlfriend?

OhgodwhatthefuckamIgoingtodo.

“Uh, thanks Mrs…Rebecca, I appreciate it.”

“No problem honey, you get dressed and there’s a hair dryer in the cupboard below the towel rack ok?”

She lets herself out and leaves me there in a towel holding a stack of clothes in my arms. I’m still processing what just happened and I’m trying to work out what to do to avoid any weirdness. Does Rick suspect? Is it just his mom not putting two and two together?

I drop the clothes on the countertop and examine what’s there. A pair of fairly plain-looking jeans, some plain cotton panties, a white T-shirt, and a plain bra. Along with all this, is a navy blue sweatshirt with a crest on the back that looked vaguely Jesusy. Honestly? Could be far worse. If this was some work of Transgender fiction, she’d have given me a dress and everyone would be complimenting me on my pretty pink panties.

Without many options, I pick up the panties and examine them; they’re clean, cotton, and dry, It’s not like I’m showing anyone these, so whatever. I’m not explaining tucking to you guys, you know exactly what it is… I slip the panties up my legs and ‘take care of business’ so that things appear more normal in that regard. The jeans come next and they’re a reasonably good fit. They fit a bit more snugly around the waist and hips than I’m used to, but it’s surprisingly comfortable. I button the fly and settle them higher around my waist. A quick glance in the mirror shows a girl wearing jeans, jeans that actually fit her. Honestly, I’m a little shocked by how well.

The bra I reject out of hand; there is no way I’m going to do anything to make these things any bigger! I can just claim it didn’t fit if anyone even bothers to ask. I slip on the teeshirt which fits far too well, it doesn’t really give me any compression but it adds a little bulk. The Sweater is a saving grace; it’s oversized and comes down to just below my crotch and the sleeves hang past my fingertips so my chest is far less visible once it’s zipped up and I assume my classic hunched posture.

Once I’m done taming my mane with the hair dryer, I finally look somewhat presentable. The jeans are a little too fitted and they make my hips look quite curvy. The blow dryer has made my hair look more full than I’d like, but overall, I’m reading mostly boy. This is apparently not what Mrs Taylor has seen at all. It’s the best I’m going to get, so tidying up my own clothes, I cautiously exit the bathroom.

I can hear voices downstairs, I’m trying to work out what to do when Rick exits what I assume is his room down the corridor. He too has changed, now wearing sweats and a tanktop. “Hey, Alex! You good?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so. Your Mom lent me some clothes to wear home, I didn’t… my stuff was still wet.” I offer holding up the soggy bundle.

“I can take care of those for you, we got a dryer in the basement” he offers reaching out for the clothes. I allow him, thankful that I’d stuffed my damp sports bra into the hoodie pocket. He frowns for a moment and looks at my back. “Ah, I thought it was.”

“Was what?”

“That sweater was my sister’s… it's from her school, St Josephines.”

“I uh, she just… she just gave me this stuff, I guess because im a lot smaller than you.” I bluster, hoping it sounds right.

Rick chuckles and shakes his head. “Don’t worry dude, you’d swim in one of mine.”

“Come on down, we can toss your stuff in the dryer then chill for a bit while it dries.”

“I don’t want to stick around all day, I don’t want to outstay my welcome.”

“Nah, it’s cool. Mom loves you and I kinda owe you one after letting you get dunked.”

I suppose the combined mental and physical exhaustion of the day had finally worn down my reluctance because when Rick had offered to drive me home later that evening I accepted. It had been a good day overall and I had enjoyed myself. The confusion with his mother aside, it had been one of the most distracting days I’ve had in a long time.

We pulled up outside my house a little after nine and Rick shut off the truck.

“Hey, thanks for today,” I offer. “I really did have a good time, even with the horses and rivers.”

“It does get easier, I promise. You can even manage to not get wet normally.”

“Well, you’ll have to do a better job of teaching next time.” I quip before realizing it sounds like a date. I blush, but in the darkness, I hope it’s not visible.

“Yeah, I will,” Rick replies with this weird half-smile. “I’ll see you at school Alex.”

“See you,” I offered, hopping down from the cab.

As I head up the driveway, I hear the truck start and pull away from the curb. I stop for a moment and watch it head down the street and vanish into the darkness. I actually miss him, and I was looking forward to seeing him again on Monday. I swallowed and shook my head, I have to be strong; this is only a friendship. I’m just not used to having actual male friends and missing them. I miss Megan and Kara and want to tell them about today. That feels the same way, right? I sighed and hefted my bag over my shoulder and headed for the house.

 

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