Redneck Debutante

by Jenny Hammerle

Travis stepped over to see the progress they’d made. “Looks great.” He saw Maysie gathering up her stuff to leave. “Heading home now?”

  “Yep. Janet’s coming over with her new palomino mare. I want to see it.”

  “I’m staying awhile longer. Rachael and Shannah, would you like a ride?”

  “No!” both girls practically shouted in unison.

  “Okay,” Travis said hesitantly.

  Maysie jumped in to explain. “I already told them about the mare, and they’re excited and can’t wait to see her. Rachael and Shannah are very into barrel racing and were wondering about a horse of their own. The three of us are considering joining the barrel racing circuit and rodeoing this summer.”

  “Really.” Travis turned his surprised stare to Rachael and Shannah. “I didn’t even know you rode, Shannah? And Rachael can barely stay in the saddle at a lope. This should be interesting.”

  “No, really,” Shannah said in her most convincing tone, “I’ve been interested in barrel racing for some time now. You know, trying to make it around all those barrels and stuff, without knocking any over. It’s all so thrilling! Maybe I’ll even try bull riding.”

  “Bull riding?” Travis smiled his crooked grin. “If you say so.” He walked away shaking his head.

  Maysie lifted a brow at Shannah. “Bull riding?”

  “It was more convincing than barrel racing,” Shannah defended.

  “At least barrel racing is a girls’ sport. Bull riding? You aren’t a man.”

  “Oh, I could ride a bull,” Shannah emphasized. “Taekwondo isn’t exactly a girly sport, either. I could do it.”

  “If I weren’t such a good friend, I’d make a bet with you about that,” Maysie pointed out. “But I am.”

  “Enough, ladies,” Rachael shouted. “I appreciate the effort on both of your parts. Let’s go!”

  18

  THE FOLLOWING WEEK WAS HOMECOMING. Between school and float decorating, the time flew by. There wasn’t any dance practice, because there wouldn’t be any half-time show this week. The half-time would consist of a homecoming parade, the homecoming court and announcement of the Homecoming King and Queen. Then finally the dance itself would be held on Saturday night.

  It was Friday morning, and Rachael couldn’t wait for the game tonight and the pep rally that would take place during the last period of school. The dancers were performing a dance at the pep rally they had practiced for weeks. For this one special day they were permitted to wear their uniforms to school. This uniform was Rachael’s least favorite. She felt it really made her look too thin. It was made of purple spandex material. The top was sleeveless and had a mock turtleneck. The bottoms were incredibly short hot pants.

  Thank goodness we wear tights underneath these.

  Today all the girls wore sneakers for school. Jazz boots would have gotten uncomfortable at some point throughout the day. Rachael was sure of it.

  In Chemistry Fred and Rachael talked about the homecoming dance. Fred was glad Rachael had selected a black and white gown so he wouldn’t have to wear some pink shirt and matching bow tie. He thought that stuff really looked ridiculous.

  When the bell rang, Fred and Rachael made their way over to the football stadium where the pep rally would be held. On the way to the stadium, Fred opened up about how he and his girlfriend, Abigail, had recently broken up. He said the distance and time apart were too much of a strain on both of them. He was only sixteen and wouldn’t be able to travel back to San Francisco anytime soon. Furthermore, being that he was only sixteen, he didn’t have any control over when they would travel back to visit.

  In that moment, Rachael was very glad that Palm Beach was still in Florida. She was also thankful that at least Colten was old enough to drive to see her.

  When they arrived at the stadium, Rachael gave Fred a hug and told him to hang in there. Rachael joined the dancers, cheerleaders, and football players on the field.

  The pep rally began with the principals putting on a skit as usual. They were all dressed as superheroes, fighting off the evil villains of Rockledge, who were trying to infiltrate the sacred grounds of East Manatee High School. The villains had kidnapped several stars of the varsity football team, including Clay, Gabe, and Travis. They were being held for ransom and could only be freed by the superheroes. The principals’ costumes were pretty funny—they barely fit over a couple of their guts. Some of them came sliding down cables from the top of the stadium announcer’s booth. The others made their entrance in a limo. Finally, by the end of the pep rally, the football players had been rescued and the students went wild. The cheerleaders and dancers together took the field and performed the same dance. The cheerleaders stunted and tumbled down the sidelines while the dancers did a kick line for the grand finale. By the time it was all over, everyone was pumped!

  Rachael, Maysie, and Shannah decided to stick close by school because they couldn’t possibly drive all the way home and make it back in time for the game. They headed to a pizza place to eat and kill some time. When they got to the restaurant, Travis was there with half the football team.

  Great!

  When they walked in Maysie muttered, “Now what? If we turn around and walk right back outside, it will be obvious. So what do we do?”

  They scanned the restaurant and saw there were two groups of kids that occupied nearly every table in the restaurant. One group was the football team. The other group was Fred Visicawitzenberg and a bunch of kids they didn’t know at all.

  “I guess it’s time to make new friends, girls,” Rachael suggested.

  “Is she serious?” Shannah asked.

  “I think so.” Maysie smiled. “Let’s go.”

  Every head at the football player table turned as Rachael, Maysie, and Shannah went to sit with the guys in the chess club.

  “Hey, Rachael!” Fred called. “Good to see you. These are my friends.”

  “Hi, guys! This is Maysie and Shannah. Do you mind if we join you?”

  “Not at all,” a couple of the guys murmured.

  “Good.”

  Over the next hour the girls chatted and had a fantastic time. These chess guys were really fun…and cute! By the end of the conversation, Maysie even seemed interested in one of them. Rachael saw him ask for her number, and Maysie gave it to him. He and Maysie both loved Algebra and agreed to do homework together some day after school.

  When they left to go back to campus, the girls stopped by the other table to wish the guys good luck in tonight’s game.

  “So, we saw you had made some new friends,” Adam said.

  “For sure,” Maysie commented. “Craig, one of the guys, and I have Algebra together, and we are going to be study partners.”

  “Oh, really?” Travis said.

  “Yes, really. They’re a great group of guys. It wouldn’t hurt to have some smart guys to talk to, Travis.”

  “Ooh! Is she calling you dumb, Travis?” all the guys joked.

  “Probably. But that’s okay. The only girl as smart as those guys over there is Rachael.” Travis winked in Rachael’s general direction.

  “Yeah. Rachael’s a brain!” Clay said. “She even memorized all of the weightlifting equipment in the weight room during the first week.”

  Everyone just blankly stared at Clay until Travis said, “I’m sure she did.”

  “Well, we’ve gotta run,” Shannah proclaimed.

  “Bye,” Rachael muttered.

  As they walked away, she could hear the guys grumbling, “What’s up with them?”

  “They’re acting strangely.”

  “It’s like they didn’t want to sit with us or something.”

  Then Travis’s voice sounded above the others. “Don’t worry about it, guys. It’s probably PMS.”

  All the guys started laughing.

  What is it with guys and PMS jokes? I don’t get the fascination with it.

  The girls made it back in time to join the other band members and dancers in the stands.

&
nbsp; The game went quickly and at the two-minute warning everyone in the student bleachers went down to join their floats for the homecoming parade.

  The sophomore float had turned out amazing. Tissue-paper flowers on both sides spelled out the words We Will Rock You! Other tissue flowers created the designs of drums, guitars, and microphones. At the end was a huge banner: Sophomore Class: We Will Rock You. On the float, several of the band members in the drum line, as well as two guitarists, were playing. Since there wasn’t enough room for any other people to ride on the float, the large majority of sophomores walked behind the float chanting and waving posters.

  The other classes had floats too. Even a lot of the clubs were represented in the parade. Rachael had to admit the chess club had the most creative float. The float itself was a huge chess board, while the people were huge rooks, knights, kings, pawns, queens, etc. Rachael figured they would win an award or two.

  In between each of the floats was a sports car carrying a Homecoming Court nominee. Trisha was riding in a fire-engine-red Porsche. It was beautiful! Her dress was pale pink, with sequins to the floor. Rachael was surprised to see Fred Visicawitzenberg escorting her.

  Fred!? I didn’t even know he was friends with her.

  As the parade continued around the track, Rachael turned to Maysie. “Where’s Travis?”

  Though it was hard to hear over the parade noise, Rachael understood Maysie to say, “He can’t be out here during half-time. He’s in the locker room with the other players. He asked Fred to escort Trisha.”

  “What? I didn’t even know he knew him.”

  “He doesn’t. He said if Colten could trust Fred with you, then he could trust Fred with Trisha. He said Fred is safe,” Maysie yelled over the parade noise.

  “Hmmm.”

  I don’t know why, but that last part really ticks me off. Does he think a girl is so fragile as to need a “safe” date everywhere she goes? If I had accepted a date with Ben Grayson, I’d have been just fine…okay maybe not, but who does he think he is? The great protector?

  She shook her head. Why do I let him get to me like this? Why am I so angry? I have no idea! Just let it go, Rachael…let it go.

  After the parade finished, the homecoming court members made their way onto the field where Ben Grayson and Trisha Spence were announced as Homecoming King and Queen. Big surprise there.

  After that, the rest of the game was a blur. When it was over, Maysie and Shannah wanted to go to the after-game parties. Rachael wasn’t up for it. She texted her Aunt Margaret and asked if she could come pick her up. She was there within thirty minutes. Tomorrow was the dance and, while it hadn’t mattered to her before, Rachael decided she needed to look stunning. In order to look stunning, she would need rest…and a tan.

  *

  Saturday morning Rachael decided to drag her lawn chair out back to the pasture and catch some rays. She put on some SPF 15. She wanted to be tan, not burned to a crisp. She lay there listening to her music with her ear buds in. Suddenly she was aware of a shadow cast over her.

  She opened her eyes. Travis. What are you doing here?

  “Hey, Travis. What’s up?” she asked briskly.

  “Nothing much. But I haven’t seen much of you lately. It’s like you’ve vanished or something.”

  “I saw you yesterday at the restaurant,” she blurted out.

  “Yes, you saw me, but you certainly didn’t talk much. Are you mad at me?”

  “Mad at you? No, of course not. I’ve just been super busy.”

  “Okay, because Maysie thought you may have been a little annoyed at me for asking Fred to escort Trisha across the field. If so, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you liked him like that.”

  Even with the sun shining in her eyes, she could see Travis carefully watching her reaction. “No, of course not. I don’t like Fred in that way. We are just friends. I’m still going out with Colten.”

  “Okay. If you say so,” Travis teased her.

  “Yes, I say so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some sun.”

  Rachael intentionally rolled over onto her stomach, turning her backside to Travis, hoping he would take a hint and leave! No such luck.

  “Let me put some suntan lotion on your back,” he offered. “I wouldn’t want you to burn.”

  When Rachael squinted sideways up into the sun, Travis was standing with the bottle of SPF 15 poised to pour it on her back and butt.

  “No thank you. Fred was here earlier and already took care of that.”

  A little white lie.

  “Fred?” Travis’s head jerked up.

  “Yep. He’s that kind of friend. One you can lay out with, shop with, be safe with. Like a brother to me.” Rachael smiled.

  “Yeah. I’ll bet. See you tonight, Rachael.”

  Travis actually appeared to stomp away.

  Good. And stay away.

  Are we actually fighting?

  Great. We are. Maysie will certainly have something to say about this.

  Rachael went inside at lunch time and showered and blew her hair dry. Her mom had sent Michael to Levi’s for the night. The homecoming dance was a big deal, Serious girl stuff! Aunt Margaret, Rachael, and her mom went to pick up Shannah and head into town.

  The first stop the entourage made was at a full-service salon for hair and nail time! The stylist put both girls’ hair in huge hot rollers and then sent them over to get their nails done. Shannah had her nails painted a beautiful pale silver with tiny rhinestones dusting each nail. Rachael first considered the classic French manicure, but decided on second thought to go with blood-red nails. With her black and white dress they would be stunning and very mature looking.

  While their nails dried, Aunt Margaret and Rachael’s mom disappeared to a local shop around the corner. They came back with a bag full of barrettes—some silver brocade, some plain, some with rhinestones. There was even a set of combs with white pearls and black beads dangling in small droplets from them.

  “The silver ones are for Shannah. The pearls with black beads are for you, honey,” her mother said.

  “They are gorgeous, Mrs. Harte. Thank you.” Shannah looked as if she were about to cry.

  A mother’s touch. I’ll try to include Shannah more often.

  “Thanks, Mom and Aunt Margaret. I love them!”

  Then the girls sat while the stylist did their hair. Shannah opted for a down hairstyle with just two barrettes pulling her bangs across the front in a sweeping design. She chose the plain silver and rhinestone barrettes. The rest of her hair hung in huge curls down her back. She looked incredible!

  Rachael opted for an up-do. The stylist did a French twist in back with an array of blonde curls cascading from the top. They hung in varying lengths and were pinned in place discretely with bobby pins. The combs were placed on either side in back, where the droplets of pearls and black beads could be seen dangling elegantly even from the front.

  When the girls were finished with hair and nails, they were whisked away to have their makeup done at a makeup counter at the mall. Rachael’s Aunt Margaret surprised them by buying them both a new lip liner and lipstick. The cosmetologist expertly applied foundation, powder, eye liner, mascara, eye shadow, blush, lip liner, and lipstick.

  Rachael couldn’t believe her own reflection; she looked so much older. When she glanced over at Shannah, she thought the same thing. “Shannah, you look like you are twenty years old!”

  “I know. My dad will freak.”

  “No, he won’t dear,” Rachael’s mom reassured her. “He knows all about it. I wouldn’t have brought you to have your makeup done if he hadn’t said okay. It is a special occasion.”

  Shannah seemed relieved. Now everyone rushed home to get dressed.

  “See you tonight,” Shannah said as she closed the car door and ran inside.

  A few minutes later Rachael was scarfing down a grilled cheese sandwich and some soup. She had to be extra careful to not damage her makeup in the process.

&
nbsp; “Rachael, honey,” her mother called, “it’s seven o’clock. Time to put on your dress and snap some pictures for your dad before your date gets here.”

  Rachael slipped into her dress and her mother zipped up the back. Next she stepped into the stilettos. They looked exquisite.

  “Now for the finishing touch.” Her mother went to her jewelry box and produced a white pearl choker necklace with matching white pearl drop earrings. The three pearls on the earrings, suspended from fine white gold chains, hung very long, nearly to Rachael’s jaw line.

  “Wow. Thanks, Mom. I only wish Dad and Colten were here to see this.” She embraced her mother tightly.

  They went out to the family room and snapped several pictures in front of the large stone fireplace. Rachael sent her two favorites to her father with a caption that said, “So how do I look?”

  Her father called her back instead. “Honey, you’re beautiful. You look just like your mother did at that age. Have fun and be safe.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” As soon as Rachael had ended the call, the doorbell chimed. Her aunt quickly went to answer it.

  It was Fred. Or was it? This certainly wasn’t the Fred she was used to seeing in Chemistry every day. Boy, what a transformation! His black hair cascaded in waves. His eyes were a gorgeous hazel. He seemed taller even. Was he wearing heels? A quick check showed that he wasn’t. She saw Fred in a new light: Fred, minus the nerdy glasses, minus the double-pocketed T-shirt with pocket protectors. This was a totally new, freakin’ hot Fred! He was wearing a nice black and white tuxedo that didn’t look rented. This Fred was obviously used to dining in country clubs and cruising the ocean on yachts.

  “Fred?” Shock filled Rachael’s voice.

  “Yep, it’s me. Minus the glasses and the goofy clothes. My mother called it a makeover.”

  “Oh, my. I didn’t recognize you at first. You look amazing.”

  “Thanks. Since my girlfriend and I broke up, I decided some changes were needed. You are taken, but some of your friends are single. After lunch yesterday, I decided I needed to step up my game a little.”

  Good ole’ safe Fred…not so safe now, is he, Travis?