Chapter 3

Chapter 3  Tessa's POV

    "Oh.  My.  Lord."  I leaned against the front door and slumped to 
the floor.  I just talked to Matt Strauss.  AND, not only did I talk 
to him... I think he was looking at me!

    "Everything alright Tess?" my mom asked me, grabbing the bag of 
flour from my hand and looking at me curiously.

    I quickly stood up and nodded.

    "Yeah mom, everything's fine.  I'm gonna go take Midnight for a 
ride."  I opened the closet in the entry way and pulled out my jacket 
and boots.  Throwing them on, I walked out the door, past the garden, 
and into the barn.

   Stroking Midnight's mane, I climbed up onto the saddle.  Soon 
enough, we were off.  Midnight trotted out of the barn and into the 
bright sunshine, taking every step slowly enough that I could take it 
all in.

    Breathing a deep breath of fresh air, I looked at my house.  It's 
an average-sized, light blue house that I've lived in all my life.  In 
fact, all my best memories were made right here on this farm.  From 
throwing parties in the barn to swimming in the creek with my friends.

    Deciding that I wanted to go further, I coaxed Midnight into a 
gallop.  Feeling the rush, the wind, feeling like you were flying; 
that was enough to make anyone forget about their problems.  And that 
was exactly what I planned on doing.

    We passed the grain silos, the animal pens, and we even went so 
far enough as to reach the old burnt down barn that was destroyed LONG 
before my sister, brother, mom, dad, and I moved in.

    Finally we reached the awaited destination.  A creek; full of 
sparkly, shimmering water.  It twisted and turned until finally, it 
came to a small pond.  Continuing to provide water was a beautiful 
waterfall, roaring to life as the water hit the pond.  My breath was 
taken away every time I saw this.

    I sat on the bank near the mouth of the creek, and I dipped my 
feet in.  This was My Spot.  I even carved my name into the clayish-
mud.  I come here to solve all my problems; like when my older sister 
Savannah stole my boyfriend, and when my younger brother Justin got a 
hold of my phone and pressed the "Forward" button on a personal 
email.  This was the best place to figure things out, not to mention 
the only place to get some real privacy.

    "Hey,"

    Spoke too soon.


    Matt's POV
    I climbed off old Demetri and slowly made my way to Tessa.  At 
least, I thought it was her.  With her long brown hair in a braid down 
her back and her cowgirl boots sitting next to her, it was like one of 
those cliché scenes in the movies, where the guy walks up to the girl 
and they announce they're never-ending love for each other.  Only this 
time, I'm not here to say I'm in love.  I'm here to ask her what the 
heck she is doing on our property.

    "Hey," I spoke, walking up behind her and crouching down.  She 
whipped around so we were eye to eye.   Tessa breathed a sigh of 
relief, but then started to get red.

    "You scared me for a minute," she whispered, "what are you doing 
here?"

    "You say that like I'm not allowed to be on my family's property."

    I saw the look of confusion on her face.  "Your family's?" she 
sputtered.   I nodded patiently.

    "You've got it all wrong, we own this.  It's right past the big 
tree and the little apple orchard and-"

    "- the big burnt down barn?"

    She nodded.

    "All my family's.  The barn used to be my grandfather's before he 
fell and broke his arm.  With my grandma gone, there was nobody there 
to help him.  He was the one who sold the house to your parents."

    "Then wouldn't we own this?" she asked, tilting her head.  I shook 
mine.

    "When they bought it, they only bought the house with the barn and 
the property up front.  It ends at the big tree."

    Tessa pondered this for a moment.  When she didn't reply, I added, 
"Besides, your sitting in my spot."

    That really set her off.  She stood up and put her hands on her 
hips.  I stood up too and, me only being an inch or two taller than 
her, we were basically eye-to-eye.

    She leaned in close and said, "Now listen here buddy, I don't care 
if your family owns this property and I certainly don't give if that's 
your favorite spot.  I was here first and you can't make me leave."

    I just chuckled and leaned in closer.  "Actually, for legal 
reasons, I can."  I don't know what my intentions were, but she was 
looking pretty cute when she was mad.  I had to remind myself that I 
wasn't seriously going to press charges, I just wanted to see her 
reaction.

    "This place is like a HOME to me," she whispered, a tear forming 
in her eye.  Way to go, Matt, you're making the poor girl cry.

    She continued right along with what I figured would be a pretty 
long rant.   "You see the dip in the creek bank right there? My friend 
and I tried to hide in a 'fort' from the magical wizards when we were 
on our Harry Potter craze.  I swam here with my ex-boyfriend, that was 
when he first kissed me."

    Then, she chuckled a bit at what she said, tears streaming now.   
"I'm sorry, this is pathetic.  Look at me, crying to you about some 
stupid place in a pond.  Gosh, I'm such a loser."

    I shook my head slowly, as if reassuring her that she wasn't.   
Then, I couldn't help myself.  I leaned in.

    And kissed her.

Author's Note

So, here it is! Chapter 3! I WILL be updating more today, just so you know. Not much else to say right now, except I hope you enjoy! Oh, and I have a few extras...

-Question-
What do you think of Matt?

-Song and Quote-
Song: "Farmgirl" by: Joanna Smith
Quote: NONE

Reviews

[Meat of Dog]

I liked this chapter a lot. I felt a transition in the writing style, to something more descriptive and visual in this piece. Also, I noticed a trend of switching to Matt's POV during the action, and Tessa's during the down time after and between the action. This actually accentuates their personalities, giving him a persuing and strong sense, while giving Tessa a softer one.

I like how you added a contemperary element to an older concept with the horses. It feels like this is a more modern story, though they choose to use horses as a primary mode of transportation on their properties. As far as what I think of Matt, he's got an interesting mix of fun and obnoxious. He seems to get a kick out of yanking her around (joking about having her kicked off of his property). However, he doesn't come off as mean. I could imagine she might be confused about what he thinks of her, and the crying is realistic because she obviously has a crush on him, so being treated like that would be disappointing.

The ending was a good surprise for her, or is it? Will she still be excited despite being toyed around with? It raises more querstions and I'm curious to see how she'll react.