by Sarah Price
“Why can’t I live in Colorado?” I groan. Five hundred girls? That’s practically half our school.
Jamie, ever the practical one, has the nerve to point out the obvious. “Well, you don’t.”
I glare at Jamie. “Then why can’t he come to New Jersey?” I put my hands on her shoulders and almost shake her. “New Jersey, Jamie! I mean, we have that rodeo in Cowtown!” I lift my hand to my forehead. How does this happen? Five hundred girls breathe the same air as him, and I’m stuck hundreds of miles away! … Wait a minute! How can I be so stupid? It’s simple, really. Forget the FOLLOW. I need to meet him! In person!
“And he’d come to a New Jersey rodeo why?”
Good question.
Forget the scream. Now I just want to cry.
Jamie pushes my hands from her shoulders and stares me right in the eye. “You need to get a grip, girl. You hear me?”
I don’t say anything.
“Maybe one day you will meet Aiden Quinn, but let’s be real. You’re standing in a long line of people with the same dream.”
A tear falls onto my left cheek. I wipe it away, knowing that I probably just left a dirt mark in its place. “But there are so many of them!”
“He almost hit 400,000 today.”
I shut my eyes and collapse against her, sobbing. “Where do they come from? I’ll never get to meet him with all of those girls!” Some of the little kids are staring because it gets quiet. Real quiet. But I don’t care. They cry all the time. Now it’s my turn. “I mean, I found him first! I was number three thousand, one hundred thirty-four! You can’t tell me all of those girls were before me!” I know I sound like a baby, but I just can’t help myself. “And how did they know? Why didn’t I know?” I swallow back another sob, but it doesn’t matter: I can feel it coming. “It’s just not fair!” Once again, the sob escapes, tears flow, and my shoulders shake as I cling to Jamie once more.
Totally embarrassing.
When I finally calm down, I rub my face with the palm of my hand and look at them. Jamie is chewing on her bottom lip. I can tell what she’s thinking. Cassie is just standing there, her mouth hanging open. I think she’s surprised to see me cry. That only makes it worse.
“Stop staring at me,” I snap at her.
And then, just like that, the three of us start to laugh. I know I look ridiculous, my face red with dirt-streaked tears. Cassie takes a photo of me, which only makes us laugh even harder. That’s what besties are for: capturing snapshots when we’re at our absolute worst. You’ve got to love best friends.
Cassie stops laughing first and gets back on point. “Look, Cat, we have the entire summer to get you in front of this kid.”
“He’s not a kid!” Even though she is a year older than me, I don’t appreciate her being condescending to Aiden. He is, after all, older than all of us. “Need I remind you that he’s sixteen?”
“Whatever,” she says, dismissing me with a predictable eye roll. “Stay focused, Cat. We need to come up with a plan!”
Jamie likes that idea and nods. “Totally! We can just find out where he’s going to be next, and then we can figure out a way to get you there!”
I doubt that Aiden will make that mistake again, announcing his plans. After all, the rodeo people and cowboys must be furious, and I’m sure his parents aren’t too happy either. No one wants to be around a bunch of ticked-off cowboys! I know my mom would kill me. And Marcus? Mr. Rule Guy? Forget it. He’d be spitting and sputtering in French, his arms waving in the air like a little raging monkey!
“Something good is going to happen. I can feel it,” Jamie says firmly. Her confidence is refreshing. “You will meet him.” I like the way she stresses the word will.
“And have him fall in love with me?” I ask, blinking as I ask the question.
Jamie looks completely surprised. “Well, duh!”
“And marry me?” I press.
Cassie giggles and I shoot her a glare. How dare she giggle at my dream of being the first, and only, Mrs. Aiden Quinn?
“Of course he’s going to marry you!” Jamie reassures me. She’s so calm and convincing that I actually believe her. “You put me in charge and we will make. This. Happen!”
“I want to be the photographer! I can document the whole meeting and romance!” Cassie shouts out, jumping up and down with her hand in the air. I like it when she gets excited. Her eyes crinkle into little blue half moons and her smile stretches from ear to ear. And, to be honest, she rocks it as a photographer.
The head counselor calls to us. She’s annoyed that we ditched her and she’s been stuck with all those wild minions. Feeling better, I force a smile at the two bestest friends any fangirl could have. With reinforcements, we can achieve anything. As for Aiden Quinn, there’s one thing I know for certain now: we got this!
CHAPTER NINE
Rodeo Rage
“Could it be any hotter?”
I’m glad someone else is complaining about the heat. The stupid weather man has gotten it wrong—again! They said it was going to rain in the afternoon and bring in some cooler air. Wrong! As usual!
I hate weather people. I’ve been keeping track of their mistakes, especially since last winter when they predicted this amazing historic blizzard to cripple our area for days, if not weeks. Three inches of snow and not even one day off of school. Just a delayed opening, which wasn’t enough time for me to cram for that algebra exam that I was completely unprepared for. I almost failed my test and got a C because of those stupid weather people!
My tracking has proven one thing: weather people are more than fifty percent wrong. I’m starting to think that might be a great career for me. Basically, I can just guess, and statistically, I’ll do just as good of a job, if not better, than those clowns. All they do is stand with their green screens and bad pointing skills, to cities that are on the wrong spots on the maps.
Anyway, since my outburst last week, I’ve been trying to stay on the emotional down-low. That includes not complaining, even when it’s over ninety degrees and humidity is one percentage point from rain with no promise of even a sprinkle. And no rain means dusty fields, sluggish horses, and cranky people with bad hair days.
Over by the water trough, the little camper kids are scooping water over their heads. Silly rabbits, I think. On a whim, I decide to have some fun and shout out, “Coming through!” as I race to the trough and dive right into it.
Ah! Relief.
And laughter. The little kids are cracking up and starting to climb inside the trough. They’re kind of funny, like little lemmings falling off a cliff. What one monkey does, the others copy!
“Cat!”
I scurry out of the trough, fully expecting to be busted and threatened by one of the older counselors. But it’s only Jamie and Cassie. Where have they been all day anyway?
I glance at the minions to make certain no one is going to drown on my watch. Most of the water has splashed out by now, leaving a delicious-looking mud puddle which the boys discover and start stomping through. Hey, a good day at camp means getting dirty, right?
“What’s up?” I shake my head, little drops of water splattering them.
Jamie shields her face and Cassie laughs. Typical.
“Girl, where have you been?” Jamie snaps, reaching into her back pocket for her phone.
“What? Where have I been? I think you mean where have you two been? Why aren’t you volunteering today?”
Jamie rolls her eyes. “We took off, remember?”
I don’t remember and immediately wonder if I have a brain tumor. Don’t people with brain tumors forget things and have emotional outbursts over stupid stuff? Like being umpteen states away when the love of my life shows up and gets mobbed by other girls.
“Listen to this, Cat!” She clears her throat and begins to read:
Hey, guys! Looks like I’m going
to get to meet you!
Just signed with the
Summer Rodeo Rage Tour!
&
nbsp; #RodeoRage2017
It takes me a second to realize what she just read out loud. And then it dawns on me: it’s a tweet by Aiden. I have no idea what a Rodeo Rage Tour is so I basically just stare at her, completely unaware of what this cryptic message means.
And then it dawns on me.
Aiden is going on tour!
I gasp. “Do you mean ...?”
In unison, they both nod their heads, Cassie a little more emphatically.
“And he’s traveling with Clayton Wade, Andy Taylor, Brent Mayer, Bobbie Baylor ...”
Cassie sighs and smiles. It’s no secret that she’s been following Bobbie Baylor and has a crush on him. It’s not even close to the magnitude of my complete and utter devotion to Aiden, of course, but it’s a crush all the same. And, of course, she never would have found Bobbie if I hadn’t introduced her to Aiden’s videos on Instagram.
Rolling her eyes at Cassie, Jamie continues, “Some chick named Chloe is going, too.” She lowers her cell phone and stares directly at me. “And I checked the schedule. They’re going to perform in St. Louis, Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, Dallas … and … get this: Topsfield, Massachusetts!”
I gasp. Massachusetts? Why, that’s almost right next to New Jersey! Kinda. Sorta. “What!”
She nods triumphantly. “That’s right!”
“A rodeo? In Massachusetts?” For a moment, I feel faint. Are there even cowboys in Massachusetts? This is amazing news. Not just good news but earth-shattering, awesome, life-changing news. “Holy Hannah!” I manage to whisper, still in awe. “We have to get tickets!”
“And a ride,” Cassie says. “How far is Massachusetts from here anyway?”
A ride? That means only one thing: I have to convince Brooke to take us. No way am I going to have my mom around when I meet Aiden. She’d embarrass me for certain!
“What is this tour anyway?” I ask.
Jamie shrugs. “A youth rodeo expo or something like that? I don’t know, but who cares?”
I think about that for a minute. If five hundred girls showed up at a rodeo in Colorado after one little tweet, there’s probably thousands of teenage girls who care. And that can present a problem. Especially in Massachusetts.
We have to buy tickets and fast.
But that’s when I realize something else could get in the way: money.
I’m almost afraid to ask my next question. “How much are the tickets?”
“Uh ...” Her fingers tap across her phone screen and she frowns. “Hmm, looks like there’s three kinds of tickets.”
At the same time, Cassie and I race behind Jamie and try to look over her shoulder. The glare of the sun is too bright and the size of the screen too small. Jamie wiggles her shoulders trying to free herself from our grasp.
“Stop.” She steps forward and covers the screen with her hand. “VIP, meet and greet, and general admission.”
“VIP!” I scream. Only once did I experience VIP at a concert, and that was because my mom was on a Pitbull craze. She paid a bazillion dollars to get her picture taken with him. And, of course, she dragged me along with her. I have to admit that he was kinda funny. He chased me and grabbed me and then kissed the top of my head.
VIP is the only way to go if we are going to do this right. It’s the only way I’ll be guaranteed of meeting Aiden. And that’s all I need, right? A chance. Because once I do meet him, he’ll forget about all of those five hundred other girls. He’ll fall in love with me at first sight, just like I did with him. I know it!
Jamie taps at the screen and then, with a sigh, her arms fall to her side. “Sold out,” she announces.
“What? Already?” I try to grab her phone, and after a brief struggle, wrestle it free from her claws. Sure enough, in big red letters, all capitals and bold, the words SOLD OUT splay across the screen. “That’s not fair! They just announced it!” I toss the phone back at her. “Right? When did they announce it?”
“Like two hours ago.”
This is really irritating. Working at the barn has once again ruined my chances of meeting Aiden Quinn. Thanks, Marcus! I sense a blow-up with him over this vull-een-tier mandate. “What about the other one? The meet-and-greet thing?” At least I would get to meet him, right?
“Fifty dollars.”
Not bad. Certainly doable. “Fine. Let’s do it!”
Cassie makes a face and looks down at her feet.
“What?” I ask her.
“There’s no way my mom will pay that.”
Good friend or not, I can’t help but think Too bad, sister. I’m going with or without you! Luckily, I don’t actually say this. Instead, I push obsessed-Cat aside and somehow find a way to bring compassion-Cat to the surface. “Why?”
“I’m still paying her back for my camera.”
Do not roll your eyes, I tell myself. She’s been paying her mother back for that camera for almost two years! It must have cost ten thousand dollars! I mean, her photos are awesome, but to be in financial servitude for that long? Cut the shackles and run, my friend!
“We’ll figure something out, Cassie,” I say, knowing full well that if someone has to get thrown off the bus headed to Topsfield, I’ll be the first person pushing everyone else. There is simply no way that I’m going to miss the opportunity to meet and dazzle my Aiden. After all I’ve been through, all of the LIKES and RETWEETS and POSTINGS to promote him, this is my one—and maybe only!—chance.
No one and nothing is going to blow it for me. Not even something as stupid as fifty dollars.
“Where there’s a will,” I say out loud with complete confidence, “there’s a way.”
CHAPTER TEN
Brooke to the Rescue
It’s unusual for all of us to be together on a Friday night. Of course, that means that Mom insisted we spend “quality time” together. And when she insists, it almost always means you don’t have a choice. So here we are, sitting outside on the patio, away from the crazy neighbors that live to our left. Mom and Marcus are stretched out on lounge chairs, sipping their favorite summer drink: homemade mint tea. Alex is playing with Tuffer, our other dog. Alex kicks a soccer ball and Tuffer races across the yard to attack it. He’s a goofy dog and looks ridiculous with his big paws galumphing after the ball.
“Don’t you let that ball go over the fence!” Mom calls out. The last time that happened, the crazy neighbor’s even crazier daughter called the police and wanted Alex arrested.
“I know, I know!” He might say the words but he’s not paying attention. After all, the police are so used to our neighbor’s ridiculous calls that when they show up, they spend most of the time chatting with Marcus and Mom, then leave without so much as saying one word about the crazies next door.
Brooke is curled up on a chair, her legs tucked beneath her body, and she is focusing on her phone. With her hair cascading over her shoulder and casting a shadow on her cheek, she looks prettier than ever. Why didn’t I get the pretty gene? It’s just not fair!
“What’s the scowl for?”
It takes me a second to realize that my mom’s question is addressed to me. She looks so relaxed and in such a good mood that I decide that this is the moment to spring it on her.
“I was just thinking ...,” I start to say, but I’m interrupted by my stepfather.
“Did you make this tea yourself? It’s fabulous!”
Darn it, Marcus! If I wasn’t scowling before, now I am. I’m also grinding my teeth. What the poop? He has a bad habit, and I mean a really, really bad habit, of interrupting people. And not all people. Me. It’s like I’m invisible.
“Marcus!” I cry out, probably a little louder than I should. He just irritates me so much when he does that. “Mom asked me a question! You just totally cut me off!”
He looks at me, his steely blue eyes narrowing just enough to realize that I should have kept my mouth shut. “You answered her, no? You said you were thinking.”
“I paused!”
“I thought you were finished.”
>
“Because I paused?” Is he a complete nincompoop? No. He’s just French.
The opportunity is gone and I know it. Marcus doesn’t respond well to criticism and will retaliate if I ask Mom about the rodeo tour now. And when he retaliates, it usually means being grounded from the barn or being forced to vull-een-tier more. So I keep my complaints to myself and with an overly dramatic sigh pick up my phone and join Brooke in the world of cyber drama.
I check Twitter to see if Aiden has posted anything. Just a photo of him with the other Rodeo Rage guys backstage. Apparently they’re in Chicago for the first stop of the tour. They look excited, and I can’t help but smile to myself.
Good for you, Aiden, I think. Even if you’ll be meeting other girls tonight, I’m glad you got noticed as the talent you truly are.
Brooke nudges me with her foot. When I look up, she whispers, “What’s so funny?”
I glance at Mom and El Interrupto. They’re engaged in a conversation now, just the way Marcus likes it: Mr. Monopolize Mom Man. The good news is that I can talk to Brooke now without risk of them overhearing.
“I need a favor, Brooke.”
“Again?”
Her response surprises me. I seriously have no idea what she’s talking about. “When did I ask you for a favor?”
“Uh ... who picked you up from school so you wouldn’t have to see the principal?”
“Please, Brooke, this is serious.”
I can tell from her expression that she doesn’t believe me, but she remains silent and that gives me the green light to proceed.
“I need a ride somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Is that important?”
She laughs. “Uh, yeah!”
“Okay, okay. Topsfield.”
She makes a face. “Where on earth is that?”