this love, walker

003. walker dinner

"Are you working on your Texas project?" August asks.

"Uh... yeah. Yeah, kind of, sure." Randy says. "Kind of hard when I've only been here, like, 8 months so Texas doesn't really mean shit to me. I mean, I guess an escape from my dead dad, but..."

"That could work. Maybe you'd get a sympathy A." August shrugs.

"Yeah." Randy scoffs.

The two walk outside where tables for different clubs are.

"Hey." A girl greets. "I'm Ruby, AV club." She informs, motioning back to the board behind her that has "AV Club" on it. "You thinking about what to do for the Texas project?"

"Uh, my mom was always into cameras." August says. "So I've been thinking about learning."

"That's a cool way to personalize an assignment." Ruby comments. "Most kids think it's cute to go film the rodeo. I don't need to catch another barrel race."

"Well, I... I ribboned twice, so..." August says.

Randy glances between them, rolling his eyes.

"What I'm saying is..." Ruby stands up. "Let's make your mama proud."

+++

Cheyenne is at the store, getting groceries for at least the week.

"I still don't know where they put all this stuff." Cheyenne mutters as she grabs frozen pizzas which she's sure will be gone in a couple of days thanks to her sons. "It's like they're full of food instead of bones."

Cheyenne goes into the next aisle. She grabs a carton of ice cream and turns to put it in the cart, but bumps into somebody.

"Shit."

"Oh, crap. I'm so--" Cordell stops when he recognizes the brunette. "Oh. He-hey." Cheyenne looks up at him.

"I hate how tall you are." Cheyenne says. "You almost knocked me over."

"Sorry." Cordell sheepishly smiles. "Uh..." He picks up the ice cream for her. "Here."

"Thanks." She takes it.

"So, uh... how-- how are you doing?" Cordell asks.

"I'm fine for almost getting bulldozed by a Texas Ranger." Cheyenne quips and Cordell chuckles.

"Right." He mumbles. He watches her rearrange stuff in her cart to make more stuff fit. "Look, uh... I-- my mom told me about... about Nick. I'm so sorry, Cheyenne."

"Me, too." She sadly smiles. "I mean, I-I know I could've mentioned it the other night, but I just-- it's still hard to talk about. Or-- or even say even though it's been over a year. Which I guess is really unfair since I'm also the one who brought up Emily and I just--"

"It-- hey, hey, hey." Cordell stops her. "It's okay. If anybody gets it, I do."

"Right." She mumbles. "So, uh... thanks for picking up my ice cream, testing my balance skills. I will see you... at some point in time."

"Yeah. Yeah, see you." Cordell says, Cheyenne walking off.

+++

"Bel?" Stella calls, walking out of the house with Taylor in tow.

"Hey." Bel sighs.

"Hey." Stella says.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea." Bel says. "We should've just gone to the game."

"I wanted to get your mind off stuff." Stella says.

"Maybe you're trying to get your mind off stuff, too." Bel says.