Stacey

CHAPTER 2

Jack P.O.V.

She was obviously on the same circuit as us which was a very good thing. I needed to stay close to her, it was obvious to everyone she was running from something, the question was, what?
She’s been checking over her shoulder all night, when I walked up to her once and tapped her shoulder to ask if she would like anything to eat for dinner, she jumped like a kangaroo trying to jump an exclusion fence. I asked like nothing had happened anyway, so I didn’t embarrass her and when I knew she was asleep I had a talk to the boys.
Alex was the first one to ask what we were going to do to help her. Once someone was in our group, they were really in our group.
It isn’t an easy thing to gain Alex’s trust, he got bullied bad in year seven before he had grown up and got muscles and looks, I was the one who had stood up for him against them and he has been probably my most loyal friend since as well as being my best mate, but he can usually sense when people are good.
“She’s scared of something her eyes are flitting around like Casper the ghost.” He said.
Jaidyn and Isaac couldn’t hold back there laughs whereas Hardy, John and I just smirked, and as usual Alex stayed quiet with only a slight smirk, when Jaidyn and Isaac laugh no one else can usually help but join in. It was only the fact that the conversation was about Sophie ‘or Stacey’ that I didn’t laugh more at them.
“I agree with Alex, she looks around like something is going to get her and when I went to ask if she wanted something to eat for dinner, she jumped a mile in the air. Almost like she was expecting it to be someone else.”
Everyone agreed with me without thinking to much into it because we didn’t want to think it was one thing and have it be something completely different.
Later that night Alex came over and stood next to me. Although that wasn’t unusual the look on his face was.
“What’s up bud?”
“You know I see that same look in her eyes I used to see when I would look in the mirror every morning before you started standing up for me. But hers isn’t just before school it’s all the time and I can’t help but wanting to help her. No, I need to help her.”
“Yeah, me to. Me too.” I couldn’t stop thinking about it. All I wanted to do right now was go and lay next to her, to make sure she was okay and that nothing could hurt her. It was strange apart from Alex I had never felt such a strong need to make someone feel better and I have never felt so protective. Not even over my ute, which may I say is very difficult no one gets to drive my ute and the only people I let drink in there is Alex, food well he may be allowed to eat in there on occasions.
Alex laughed next to me.
“What the hell got you thinking about your ute?” I just smirked at him and shook my head going back to thinking about my baby. And Sophie.

+ + + + + + + +
We all went to bed although I knew I wouldn’t get any sleep, I must have drifted off to sleep though because I woke up the next morning to hear someone already moving about. It was barely even light, and everyone had stayed up pretty late, so I guessed it wasn’t any of the boys because, lets face it they are all night owls not early birds.
I sat up in my ‘Adventure Kings’ swag and looked over to Sophie’s swag who I was becoming more and more convinced with the way she said Stacey so easily is actually… Stacey. She was already up and dressed keeping her head almost low enough so if you were lying in a swag you wouldn’t be able to see over the other swags, I watched her for a second taking in her fit body and long brown hair and natural blonde streaks, there was nothing fake about her she didn’t even wear make-up, but she was still hiding something. She had just started to roll up her swag, so I got out of mine and went over to help. She must have been a little more aware today because she didn’t jump as much, like she knew I was coming.
“Where you goin’ next?” I asked trying to make conversation.
“Same as you I guess.” She said it as quickly as she could but also as quietly. It was almost as if someone heard her something bad would happen. Like she would get into trouble. I had never really heard her talk; I had only known her for two rodeos, but she didn’t talk a lot, actually she talked as little as possible.
“Yeah, I guess.”
We rolled her swag up in silence and I watched her drive just out the gate, before kicking the boys’ swags to wake them up telling them to hurry so we could catch up to her and make sure she is okay. She was one of us now and we don’t let our own get hurt.
We all had our swags rolled up and we were on the road in record time hoping she had stopped for breakfast. We went through a McDonalds drive-in when Isaac got sick of hearing all of their stomachs rumbling.
We only took my black V8 Cruiser (My pride and Joy) and Isaac’s white hundred series Cruiser on the circuit so we didn’t waste as much fuel and it would change each time we started on a new one to make it more fair. We still all chipped in on fuel money anyway.
Alex and I jumped in my Cruiser while Isaac, Hardy, Jaidyn and John all got in his.
+ + + + + + + +
Isaac was in front because she shouldn’t recognise his car as well as she would my ute because she had actually commented on mine and how she loved it before going back to being her quiet self, this made my day quicker than most people knew how. I had all the swags on the back of mine and Isaac had the clothes bags and gear, I felt sorry for Hardy and john sitting in the back.
The UHF crackled to life and Isaac’s voice came over Channel 21, “She is three cars in front.”
“Good, keep it that way. Thanks bud.”
“No problemo.” I rolled my eyes at his and Jaidyn’s laughter, but chuckled to myself none the less.
+ + + + + + + +
We followed her for the next couple of rodeos but nothing out of the ordinary happened, she had camped with us at all the rodeos so she wouldn’t have to leave that night. She still looked over her shoulder a lot but seemed less tense. I was just hoping that was a good thing and she just had a certain amount of time it took her to settle in. She had even started to chuckle at some of the guys’ jokes, she would give more of an in-depth answer when someone asked her a question. As long as questions weren’t about family or much of the past, she didn’t shut down but all anyone here knew about her past was that her dad had died. But she didn’t seem like he had just ‘died’, more like something had happened, I don’t know if anyone else got that vibe apart from Alex and I but we sure did.