New State New Life

Off we go

Getting up, I looked around and chuckled to myself.

"This is a damn comfy bed...and of course i'm up at 5am why wouldn't I be." I said to myself

Climbing out of the bed, I stretched and walked to the door. Okay.. bathroom is that way. Walking over, I went in and took a hot minute to find the light switch. This is definitely a farm house bathroom. Doing my thing, I washed my hands and looked in the mirror.

"Okay, we are going to make this hot mess a little less... Hot messy" I whispered to myself

Taking my hair out of the low pony tail it was in, I threw it up in a messy bun and shut off the lights. Opening the door, I stepped out and walked right into someone

"Oh, Morning" I laughed

"Morning" Connor laughed "You're up early"

"I'm always up this early" I replied

"For someone that grew up on a farm, Marie does not wake up early" He said

"Oh I know" I said back

We both stood there for a second before he moved to the side so I could walk by. Getting back to the room, I shut the door and shook my head. Well glad I fixed my hair. Sitting on the bed, I grabbed my phone and looked at i********:. Replying to some comments, I scrolled through my feed and heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" I said

"Hey, my moms making breakfast for me and my dad. If you want to join us. She'll make Marie something when she wakes up.. in like 3 hours" Connor said

"Okay, uhm. I'll get dressed and be down in 5" I replied

He nodded and shut the door. Pulling up the weather app, it's gonna be warm and no rain today. Oh i'm going with Marie to that vet's office.

"Jeans and boots it is" I said

Pulling clothes out, I got dressed and tucked my shirt in. It's just a tee shirt. Grabbing my phone, I walked out of the room and somehow found my way to the kitchen.

"Good morning Becca" Their mom said

"Good morning" I replied

"How did you sleep?" She asked

"Good. Much comfier then dorm beds" I chuckled

"What about your bed back home?" Their dad asked

"I think that one has mine beat" I smiled

Their dad laughed and held his hand out to the seat next to him. I hesitated but sat down. Their mom came over with a pan and put potatoes with peppers on all of our plates, then did the same with eggs.

"Thank you hunny" Their dad said

"Thank you" I smiled

"You're very welcome" She smiled back

We all ate breakfast and their dad left for work.

"Connor hunny. Why don't you show Becca how to feed so she doesn't have to sit around waiting for your sister. I'm sure you know she does not wake up early if she doesn't have to" Their mom said

"Oh she doesn't even wake up early when she does have to" I laughed

"You want to come?" Connor asked

"Sure" I replied

He nodded and we both put our plates in the sink. Then I followed the boy outside and to the barn.

"So, this is our feed room, Marie probably showed you it. All the cans are labeled so you don't get confused which goes to which animal. Each of the horses get a can, except this chart shows some of our older horses get extra stuff put in. And that stuff is right here." Connor said

"So uh, did y'all color coordinate the buckets?" I asked

"Marie. And there's a chart. I think that one was for school though so i'll give her that one. I guess you saw our dog house" He laughed

"Oh yeah, it's so nice" I smiled

"So chart. Uhm, so you want to help feed the horses? I'll do the older guys if you want to feed the others." Connor said

"Yeah" I nodded

He nodded as well and took down the buckets. I glanced at the charts and chuckled a bit but filled the buckets. Once all the buckets were filled I followed Connor back out into the barn and we put them in the stalls.

"That's Blackjack by the way" He said pointing to the all black horses throwing his head around "You can feed him"

"Is he gonna bolt?" I asked

"You'll find out. I'm gonna fill the gator with the other animals feed. Don't die" Connor laughed

"Jackass" I muttered

Grabbing the last bucket, I walked over to the stall and looked it over. Yup gotta go in there.

"Hey Blackjack. Are you wearing a halter? No. Cool. If you bolt I swear." I said

Un-locking the door, I rubbed the horses nose and patted his neck.

"Alright dude, back up" I said. Nothing "Back"

Putting my hand on his chest, I pushed and he took a few steps back. Which gave me the space to put the bucket on the hook. Stepping back out of the stall, I locked it and walked back to the feed room.

"How'd it go?" Connor asked

"Pushy" I said

"Yeah. Guess you got it though, I didn't hear any yelling" He laughed

"Yeah" I replied

"You wanna go for a ride? Or go see if sleeping beauty is awake?" He asked

"Oh she's not awake" I laughed

"Hop on" Connor said

Sitting on the passenger seat, he sped off. Was not ready.

"Do you have a hot date this morning?" I asked

"What?" Connor asked

"I barely sat down. I would like to keep my never broke a bone record" I said

"I can drop you at the house" He said

"Did I say that?" I replied

"No, but you judged my driving" He laughed

I looked over at the boy and he just smirked.

"I hope your girlfriend doesn't like to be driven like Miss Daisy." I chuckled

"She did. Just not in my truck or with me for that matter" Connor said

"Oh..uhm, sorry?" I replied

"I don't think Marie knows we broke up since it was a couple weeks ago. But yeah. Drive into town and there she is. I wouldn't even say we, it was me breaking up with her and her denying it" Connor said

"Jeez. One of my ex's tried that, but I was out with my cousin getting his mom a gift. That started some family drama" I laughed

"For you?" Connor asked

"Yup. All my aunts were pissed cause they loved him. And everyone was kinda mad about how I broke up with him, Also leaving my cousin there cause he pissed me off too" I said

"How'd you break up with him?" He laughed

"I punched him. And said f**k you. Cause he was yelling at me calling me a cheater as my cousin is like bro i'm her cousin we have the same last name. But no, he just wanted to cause a scene so I punched him in the nose and then left my cousin. This boy had the audacity to say that was un called for and b***h at me. Then help him. So I left." I said

"Does my sister know that story, she'd love it" Connor laughed

"Yes, yes she does. We shared our break up stories. Cause girls like to talk about boys" I chuckled

He just shook his head and showed me the routine. The cows and goats go insane for their food, it's funny. Bringing the gator back to the barn we hopped out and I looked at the boy.

"I have a couple things to do. You can head in" He said

"Cool" I nodded

Heading inside, Marie was sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning sun shine" I laughed

"Oh shush. How'd feeding go" My friend said

"Fine. I fed Blackjack. He's pretty" I said

"Yeah. Did Connor tell you that you have to push him back?" Marie asked

"He didn't tell me s**t. Just said good luck" I replied

She chuckled and I sat next to her at the table. Their mom was doing dishes then got a phone call so she left the room.

"Did you know your brother and his girl friend broke up?" I said

"Did they?" Marie asked

"That's what he said. Came up awkwardly but yeah" I said

"Huh. Well I didn't like her anyway" Marie shrugged and continued to eat her food.

I just laughed and we sat on the couch once she finished. Once my friend was fully awake she got a text message and jumped up.

"Well i'm glad you're dressed because we are heading out" She said

"So early" I laughed

"It's almost 9am" Marie asked

"Early" I nodded

"Mom! We're heading to Bolton!" Marie yelled

I heard a be safe in the distance and she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door. Hopping in the truck, she started it up and we both saw her brother in the distance on his phone.

"I would say that's his girlfriend. But with your new found information. I don't know" Marie said

"Cheaters suck" I nodded

"She cheated? Oh me and him are gonna have a conversation later" Marie said

"Oi. Please don't say I told you. Don't make him hate me. Even though I don't know if i'll ever be back" I laughed

"I'll drag your ass back don't worry" Marie said

I laughed and and we drove down some back roads. After about 20 minutes we came to a set of buildings that said 'Bolton Animal Hospital- Large and Small animal'

"Is this all a part of the animal hospital" I asked

"Yup" Marie smiled

"Jesus" I laughed

My friend smiled at me and parked by the door. The two of us hopped out and she skipped up to the door. Yes, skipped, she is very giddy. Walking inside Marie was greeted by a lot of people.

"Guys, this is my roommate at college. She's in her last semester for vet tech. Her name is Becca" Marie said

"Hi Becca!" A lot of people yelled

"Hi" I smiled

And now we get a tour of the gigantic building. They do have a lot of small and large animals here. There's two barns in the back. One for sick and one for injured. Then a smaller barn for pick ups. I guess so they don't have to sit in a sick barn when they're better. There's also a quarantine barn a ways down the property. There's baby goats, they're so cute.

"Why don't you guys have baby goats" I asked

"We did. They grew up" She laughed

"Shame" I laughed

She shook her head and we watched their clinic run for a couple hours. Till lunch time, Marie and I are very fond of our food.

"So, Becca. What are your plans when your graduate?" The one vet asked

"Find a job" I laughed

"Do you live around here?" She asked

"No. I live in New York. I don't really want to go back though" I said

"Oh wow. Well if you plan on moving and like Montana, we could use a few more techs. I'm assuming you need some hours before you can take your boards?" She asked

"Yeah" I replied

"Well, let Marie know. It was nice meeting you" She said

"Nice meeting you too" I smiled

Marie said bye to everyone and we walked out to her truck.

"So, hows that piece of land sounding" Marie smiled

"I can't afford to live on my own. Do you know how much student debt i'm in" I laughed

"Uh huh. And who went to college longer" Marie said

"Shush" I said

"We'll live together. We practically do now. This will just be a house. And uhm, you can do the cooking" Marie said

"Saw that coming" I said

"So, there's a really good food joint in town. BBQ" My friend said

"You're driving, i'm just hungry" I shrugged

She nodded and drove down some back roads until we came to a town. These country towns are so cute compared to New York. Granted I was in the suburbs not the city but still. Pulling up to a small shop we hopped out and ordered lunch. I got a burnt ends sandwich while she got ribs. We both got corn on the cob, even though we had that last night. This is BBQ style.

"Ah look who's out and about" Marie said

"Who?" I asked

"My ex. And he's with- oh you have got to be kidding me" My friend groaned

"I'm confused" I replied

"So see the guy over there in the red hoodie. Walking with the girl in the cheetah print blouse" Marie said

I cracked my back on the chair while looking behind me.

"Yeah. Who's that?" I asked

"First, smooth. Second that is my ex. With the girl my brother was dating" Marie laughed

"Ew" I replied "Why'd I say ew. Anyway. That's a coincidence."

"And no. They're not cousins. What a b***h. Both of them" Marie said

"How about, we enjoy food. Then you and your brother can rant. Yeah? Cause this is a good sandwich" I laughed

She shot me a look before nodding and we finished eating. Throwing away our trash, because we are respectful, we hopped in her truck for the third time today and drove back to their house. Heading around back, we went into the barn and Connor was walking a horse out.

"Yo. Did you and Lea break up?" Marie asked

"Did she tell you?" Connor laughed

"No. I just saw her in town with Bradley" Marie said

"The one you dated?" Connor asked

"Yup. Fuckers" My friend muttered

"I forgot you dated him. Pretty sure that's who I saw her with too" He said

"Well. You wanna go for a ride?" Marie said looking at me

"Sure why not" I shrugged

"I'm gonna be in the arena." Connor said

"I'm just gonna take her around the property." Marie said "Blackjack is good to get out of pasture. Just gotta get the halter on him"

I nodded and she handed me a halter and lead rope while she grabbed another set for herself. Then I followed her out into the one pasture and her horse came running over. I get to go for a walk. Blackjack stands out so he's not hard to find. Walking over to him I looked back and pointed. Marie gave me a thumbs up and I rubbed his neck.

"Hey bud. Wanna go for a ride?" I asked

Holding the halter out, he put his head down and I slid the halter over his head. Huh, not bad. Walking back to the barn, Marie pointed to the post with the bucket next to it and I nodded. Remembering how to tie a quick release knot, I started to groom the horse. He's pretty well behaved. Even for his feet, I always liked picking their feet. I don't know why, i'm weird.

"Ready to grab the saddle?" Marie said

"Yup. He's tall too, damn" I laughed

"I thought girls liked tall men"

Marie and I both jumped as Connor was walking by with his horse fully tacked up.

"Do you want to saddle his tall ass up?" I asked

"No. Have fun" Connor replied

I shot a glare his way and followed my friend to their tack room. Grabbing a saddle pad, she pointed out which saddle is his as well as bridle.

"Ohh. Split reins" I said

"I hate split reins" Marie said

"Me to. But I guess i'll deal" I laughed

She shook her head and we walked back out to the patiently waiting horses. I got the big horse all ready to go and his whole demeanor changed. I should lunge his ass first.

"So, there's a dirt ring that goes around the arena Connor is in. Do you want to go around that a couple times or see if he'll trail ride?" Marie asked

"Can I run him in circles?" I laughed

"Go for it" She laughed back

Nodding we walked out of the barn and hopped up. And he's ready.

"Woah. Okay, let's go over here. And if you wanna run. We will run" I said

Walking towards the arena, Connor's horse was just wandering around while he was messing with some of the steer they have. Marie started trotting around and I was fighting Blackjack.

"Sir, we will go when I say so." I said

I backed him up and got him to calm down slightly. He was doing tippy taps, but the horse version. Once Marie was half way around I let him go. Honestly barely kicked his sides, as soon as he felt me loosen up on the reins we took off. Doing a couple laps around the arena, I brought him down to a trot and got even with Marie before coming back to a walk.

"Oh look who's listening now." Marie laughed

"Did you love how mad he got when you two started going and I made him wait." I replied

"Yup. Ready to go explore the property. Scope out the piece we're gonna build our house" Marie said

I shook my head and made a circle with my finger. Marie branched off and stopped while I made Blackjack run two more laps. Meeting back up with my friend, she laughed and we started trotting across their property. They have a lot of land, I mean it's Montana so it's not like they have any neighbors anywhere close. Literally i've been here almost 24 hours and I know there is nothing less then 10 minutes away. Fast food is not really an option here. I mean, unless you really want it. Sometimes you just need taco bell.

"So, what do you think?" Marie asked

"So much land. It's so nice out here" I said

"Yeah, I liked coming out here after big tests to de stress. Or right before. Honestly just coming out here when i'm stressed or just for fun." Marie said

"I had the city" I laughed "Not much"

She shook her head and we started riding back. We talked about we were going to do this week and Marie said a couple of her friends asked her to go out. I said i'll chill at the house if she wants to hang out with her friends and she felt bad.

"Girl, when is the last time you hung out with them" I laughed

"I have no idea. Summer?" She laughed

"You go. I'm a big girl and can be left alone" I replied

"I guess. They want to go out for lunch since my one friend works nights. She's a people nurse." Marie said

"That's fine. I'll hang out here and keep myself busy" I said

She looked over at me and we got back to the barn. Untacking the horses, we brushed them out real quick before turning then out into the pasture. Connor was still in the arena with the steer. He's roping with his horse. Time to go figure out what we're doing the rest of the day.