Heyyy, everybody!
Here's your Wednesday update! This is another chapter I'm actually pretty happy with!
Before we begin, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Snake River Stampede. This is a real rodeo in Idaho, it's actually is kind of famous, and the competition is professional. The real events take place in mid-July, but I wanted this to be the last rodeo of the season, so excuse me for my inaccuracy. It's a work of fiction, right?
Anyhow, enjoy!
--Lindsey
***
By the time we rolled into Nampa, it was nearing ten o'clock. It didn't help that we'd gotten a flat tire half an hour out of Starton, or that we'd been running late to begin with. Coupled with the ridiculous amount of traffic on our way to the hotel and the accidental detour that had gotten us lost, there wasn't a single happy camper in Uncle Mark's pickup.
"Alright," Mama Callie sighed, finally stepping out of the rig, "everybody get your stuff and go to bed. It's gonna be a long weekend and I'm not in the mood to argue."
I shrunk into myself somewhat when she shot me a pointed look. Even though I was grumpy, too, I wasn't about to start a fight with my aunt. I couldn't say the same for Kellan, but for her sake, I'd try to keep things civil.
It was Wednesday night and we'd left directly after school in order to truck it down to Nampa, Idaho where the Snake River Stampede was being held. This was a huge rodeo, even for me, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be there.
Since we didn't figure on placing very high anyway, we'd opted to skip the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday performances and just compete on Thursday, Friday, and then both Saturday events. That way Kellan, Coda, and I didn't have to make up quite as much school work. As we'd found out from the Caldwell Night Rodeo, a week worth of missed school was a whole lot to try and get done in time. Kellan was the only one with decent grades, so missing out on just a few days was probably the best thing for us.
When we filed into the lobby lugging our bags, other people were still streaming in, probably turning in for the night since the rodeo was over. Mama Callie looked even more frazzled when a large wave of people entered through the doors, shoving us mercilessly in an effort to be the first at the elevator.
"I got this." Whispering in her ear earned me a wary look but I shoved my way to the front desk anyhow.
"Hi, we're here to check in."
A dark skinned gal with a pile of dreadlocks on her head glanced up when I nearly shouted in her face. "Name?"
"Mark Dace. We should have two rooms."
She typed a few things into the desktop computer and ignored me completely for what felt like an eternity. I was just getting ready to say something when she pulled out a stack of room keys. "You guys are in rooms 304 and 305. Enjoy your stay."
"Thanks," I flashed her a grin, taking all four plastic key cards and waving them triumphantly at my family. "You're welcome."
Mama Callie took two room keys, handing one to Kellan. "Get your butts in bed as soon as we get up there."
I nodded and passed my remaining card to Coda. She gave me a wan smile and followed to the elevator where most of the crowd from earlier had cleared out. Now there were just a handful of people drinking coffee in the lounge and visiting quietly.
The two of us lumbered in first and waited impatiently for Kellan and his parents to follow. The main thing holding them all up was the heavy bags they were trying to fit through the doors. I was suddenly grateful that I'd stuffed everything into a single duffel.
The elevator began whirring as soon as I jabbed the three button. With the amount of noise the thing made, I expected it to reach our floor in seconds, but it took almost a minute. Aunt Callie gave me a look when I began drumming my fingers on the handrail and I stopped, feeling sheepish.
"Alright, girlies," she gave us a gentle push towards our room and motioned for Kellan to open their door, "if I hear a single peep out of you two, I'm gonna break down the door and beat you both, got it?"
Coda's eyes went wide and I giggled while swinging the heavy door open. "Good luck with that. This sucker's pretty sturdy. But yes ma'am. Night!"
Her look finally softened to a tired smile "I love you. Both of you."
Once Coda and I were inside the room, I closed the door with a dull thud and looked around. We'd never stayed in this particular hotel before so it was a new experience. Normally we would have just gone with something really cheap and booked three rooms. Since our usual hotel was totally full, we'd ended up in this one, which was far from cheap. I snickered a little thinking about how Kellan had to share a room with his parents. But, I mused, if Ty got drunk and passed out in some girl's trailer again, Kellan could probably just crash with Wyatt.
Wyatt had informed me ahead of time that he was in the same hotel as us. When asked how he could afford it, he'd proudly told me about the competitor's discount they'd given him. I wasn't about to deny the fact that Wyatt and Ty were good team ropers, but it made me a little jealous that they got recognized while Kellan and I didn't.
"Pretty nice place, eh?"
Coda jumped a little when I spoke. She'd been staring at the closet door while I took in our surroundings. A tiny bathroom and closet created a small hallway as you walked in. The room then opened up to reveal a pair of beds on the right wall with a large nightstand in between them. A TV and a desk sat on the left wall, just like most hotel rooms. One decent sized window looked out over the city and with the blinds open, all kinds of lights flashed in at their convenience.
"Yeah, I guess," Coda yawned, dropping her red duffel bag to the floor. "Do you want the bed closest to the door?"
"Sure." I tossed my own bag onto that bed and sat down to pry the dirty cowboy boots off my feet. Every time we stayed in a hotel, I couldn't help but wonder if the housekeeping staff had to do a lot more cleanup during rodeo week.
Complying with mama Callie's demands, Coda and I quietly changed into pajamas and crawled into bed.
The next morning, I woke up on my own accord, though it was nearing nine o'clock. Coda was curled up in bed with a cup of coffee, absentmindedly scrolling on her phone. I yawned and stretched, prying a piece of hair out of my mouth.
"Morning."
I grunted and sat up, shoving all of my hair back. The only thing hanging on at this point was a rubber band, tangled past my control.
"Sleep good?"
"Yeah," I yawned, glancing up. The TV was off and I remembered rather suddenly that Coda wasn't a big fan of it. As far as I knew, she preferred to read or listen to music. "Did you eat already?"
She shook her head and took a sip of coffee. That would explain why she was drinking that instead of orange juice. "Thought I'd wait for you."
I nodded and wrapped both arms around my knees. The sun was shining faintly through the half open blinds and I could just barely see the city below. "We can head down whenever. Did you text Kellan?"
Asking about Wyatt was very tempting, but I refrained. Neither of us had broached the subject since the day of that fateful date, and I didn't want to start this rodeo off with another fight. For whatever reason, we'd had more than enough of those lately.
Coda tapped a few things on her phone with a negative shake of her head. When she put it to her ear, I realized she was calling him.
"Hello?" I could barely hear my cousin's voice through the speaker, but he sounded far more awake than me.
"Hey, Kellan. Did you eat yet?"
"Nope."
"Well, Blake just woke up. Wanna head down to the lobby with us?"
When he replied with a 'sure', we got ready. By got ready, I mean Coda shoved her feet into a pair of boots and I yanked my hair into a bun, remaining hair band and all.
"Aren't you gonna get dressed?"
I glanced down at my baggy sweats and huge red sweatshirt and shook my head. "Nah, I don't mind being seen in pajamas. It's not like I have anybody to impress."
She shrugged and grabbed a room key while I shuffled out the door in my bare feet. Coda had definitely learned her lesson with room keys so I didn't even bother to grab my own.
Kellan met us in the hallway and we all made our way down to the lobby. Most of the early birds had cleared out, taking any decent food with them. We were left with the other sleepy hotel guests and mediocre breakfast food. I made myself a waffle and filled a styrofoam cup to the brim with coffee. Coda was already sitting down with her bagel and orange juice when I got there. Kellan soon appeared with a stack of pancakes and his own coffee.
Both blondes were already dressed and ready for the day. I noted that my cousin had even taken a shower by the way the ends of his hair curled underneath the black cowboy hat he always wore.
"How's sharing a room with your parents?" I smirked, taking a bite of waffle.
Kellan shrugged. "Not that bad. I mean, we did this all the time when I was a kid. Perks of having a small family."
"I wouldn't call it a perk," I replied, sipping my coffee. Thankfully, it was strong.
We were quiet for the remainder of the meal and then all three of us headed back upstairs. Although quite a few people in cowboy hats drifted in and out, we didn't recognize any of them.
Once back at our room, I took a long, hot shower, walking out of the bathroom in nice jeans and a tank top with a white hotel towel on my head. Coda was still sitting in bed where I'd left her, although she had country music playing quietly from her phone.
"You can turn that up, y'know," I grinned leaning over to dry my hair with the towel. Once that was done, I attempted to run a brush through it, wincing with every stroke. My hair was long, reaching nearly to my waist, and it took a lot of maintenance. That's why I almost always kept it braided; it didn't tangle quite so easily that way.
Kellan knocked on our door about an hour later and the three of us spent the remainder of the afternoon watching TV. I wasn't surprised when Coda fell asleep fifteen minutes in.
"She doesn't look as sad as she sometimes does," I commented, leaning over Kellan to view her sleeping form. She was cuddled up with a pillow, breathing softly through her mouth.
"Yeah," he drawled, craning his neck. "I'm glad she's not upset. That girl's been dealt a tough hand."
I nodded, leaning my head back against the stack of pillows I'd made the night before. In my opinion, a person could never have too many pillows.
"Are you ready for this?" Kellan asked, his blue eyes boring into mine.
Licking my lips, I looked away from him, choosing to stare at the TV. "I guess."
"Hey," he reached out to gently touch my arm, "I hope you're not nervous about this one just because the last rodeo was bad. I mean, we've been doing great in practice."
While this was true, we hadn't been practicing near enough for my taste. As the days got shorter, we'd been getting less and less hours of daylight. By the time Kellan got home from work, we were lucky to have half an hour anymore.
"Either way," he said, removing his hand from me, "this is the last rodeo of the season, so it doesn't really matter that much."
I nodded and settled into my pillows to finish watching Fast Five.
When the announcer called for all team ropers to make their way to the east entrance, I literally thought I was going to die.
Kellan and I had come to this rodeo to watch before, but this was our first time actually competing. Not gonna lie, I was scared. But, instead of looking at him or Coda with my big, terrified puppy eyes, I internalized it all and plastered on a cocky grin. "C'mon, Kel. Let's do this."
He fidgeted with his reins and made nervous eye contact with me.
"We're gonna be fine." My stomach tightened as I said this and it took all my self control to not let it show.
He just nodded and asked his horse to follow me. We'd been watching the rodeo from the fence anyway so it didn't take very long to see the east entrance. Already, there were more teams than I could count crowded around the gate. They all looked calm and collected and I prayed I did, too.
Really, my internal monologue was running like a wild stallion, telling me I was in way over my head. And in all reality, that was true.
This rodeo was one of the top ten regular season rodeos in the country and the level of competition was professional. Kellan and I didn't have a chance. Then again, Wyatt and Ty really didn't, either, but the rodeo directors seemed to think they did.
Kellan and I competed sixth and the catch was clean. I thanked my lucky stars that I'd been able to do my job, and by the grin on his face, I knew my cousin was, too.
Even though we didn't end up placing on any of the days, we caught clean every single time and I was happy. By the end of our Saturday night performance, though, I was more than ready to go home.