Out of Summertime

Chapter 2: The Fair and the Foal

I wake up to the smell of bacon and pancakes in the kitchen. Mama's specialty, I think as I choose a white Tee shirt and lazy jeans knowing Mel and I will prepare later for the fair. I pull my blonde hair into a loose ponytail, check the mirror and decide I look good enough to meet my new foal. When I walk out of the hall, Dani is already at the table and Dad is in the family room watching the morning news. Dixie looks in my direction when I enter the room, but turns back to beg to Dani for some bacon.

Dad turns the same direction, "Morning!" He turns back to the television and mentions, "Hey the news sure is all over the new American Idol winner. Apparently he sings country, he's real young too. They say he's on tour right now with the hits from the show."

Mom glances up from what I assume are my pancakes, "I heard about him too. He's about your age Callie."

I walk over to my seat at the table, "Uh-huh." Mom brings me a triple stack of piping hot pancakes smothered in peanut butter and syrup, just the way I like them.

"Still thinkin' about the foal ain't you," she asks me with a smile. I smile back, digging into my breakfast happily.

With my mouth still full I ask, "What else am I supposed to think about? I can't wait to meet her."

Mom scowls at me, "Callie Anne, swallow your food before you speak," she scolds.

I swallow this time before saying, "Yes ma'am," obediently.

I wolf down the rest and jump up, "Well, I'm done so see ya'll later," I sing, rinsing my dishes. She polishes an apple, "Have fun darlin'," she tosses it my way. I catch it and head out to the barn.
~*~*~*~*~*~

Mel shows up around noon with her backpack on and sweet tea in hand. She jogs up to where I am standing on the fence of the pen and gives me a hug.

"Hey girlie! How are you? How's the foal," she asks curiously.

I grandly wave my hand and introduce, "Mel, this is Platinum Prize. Say hi to Aunt Mel baby," I grin proud of the name I have chosen. Mel looks around me and squeals.

"Oh! She's so pretty! She looks just like her sire, Globe Trotter, right?"

"Yup, you got it," I answer as we begin walking back to the house.

"Are you ready for the fair tonight," Mel asks doing a little happy dance. We walk in the door, my parents barely look up, mostly because we do this kind of thing all the time, especially when the fair is in town. Mel and I practically live at each other's houses so this is nothing new.

"I'm so ready! What do we want our look to be this year," I ponder when we get into my room. I pull out our planning notebook that we use to plan all things we do together. I flip through pages and pages of magazine clippings and drawings of outfits past and come to an open page.

"We've never done the classic 'Country Girl' look," she suggests, joining me on my bed.

I give her a mischievous look, "Of course we haven't! Look at us, we are county girls!"

She smacks me on the arm, "Well duh! But like, the cuter dressed up version of country girls. Look, do you trust me?"

"That's a stupid question," I thump her with a pillow.

She laughs and hits me back, "Good! Do you wanna do outfits or hair and makeup this year?"
~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours later and Mel and I are prepped. She is in a purple ruffled shirt with a jean jacket on top; I am wearing my favorite coral crop top she picked that has a sweetheart neckline. We both have on cut offs and our favorite boots. I have highlighted her face with a nice soft brown eye shadow that brings out her icy blue eyes and I decided to make our hair simple since we aren't going crazy this year. I straighten her hair and leave it down to get the full effect of the dark brown sheen, the result is a look that will make any boy stare.

I put my hair in a ponytail in the center of my head. I arrange my caramel waves down my back so they show off my natural blonde highlights. My makeup is also understated but classy, I chose a pale pink eye shadow to accent my shirt and my favorite lip gloss to finish the look. I think I look good, I have never considered myself "gorgeous" in any sense of the word but I look... pretty.

Mel and I grab our money, check each other out and walk out to my blue 1980 Chevy. I pat her affectionately, "How's my girl, Roxie?"

"She still running' alright," Mel asks, sliding into the passenger seat while I turn the ignition and crank the radio.

"Ah sure! She just got a check-up so she's doing just fine," I answer, nodding my head to the song that's playing. With one last glance at my phone, I roll the windows down and turn out of the driveway. With my hair blowing in the breeze I holler, "Look out county fair! Here come Mel and Callie," and speed off.