Driving to school, Jennifer debated getting Kyle back, but she quickly realized that if she did that, he'd have control of the curse again and might try something else against her. All-n-all, she wasn't sure how this was supposed to be some major revenge plot. Considering what he said, nobody but Kyle, herself, and her friends would notice anything different.
After tilting the mirror in her truck to look at herself, she smiled. She was pulling off the look pretty damn well. Her music selection was rather limiting, but nothing said a cowgirl couldn't have varied tastes. She'd just have to deal with repurchasing some of her older albums. It was a shame the convertible her father got her wasn't there anymore as well. But at least the pickup was brand new and had some good horsepower behind it.
Once at school, she parked and headed over to her friends: Cassy, Jody, Emily, and Maria. "Hey y'all," she called out to them with a strong southern twang to her voice. She almost halted in her footsteps as soon as she heard herself.
Her best-friend Cassy put on a smug express. "About time you showed up. The bells going to ring in two minutes. We need to schedule a meet up after school to plan out the cheer for next weeks game."
Maria sighed. "Cas, Jen has her job wallowing in the mud on Wednesdays. You know that."
Emily blinked at them. "What are you talking about?" She then looked to Jen, with a look of honest confusion. "What's with the cowboy outfit? Are we going with a Dallas theme this season?"
Jen frowned at Cassy and Maria. "Job? What job?" the accent was still coating her words. At least it fit her look.
Jody gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. Please tell me you quit that pig sty."
Jen's frown deepened. "I have a job?"
Cassidy gave a cruel smirk. "If you want to call it that. Personally I hope somebody builds a highway over that dump of a ranch. Why do we even need horses anymore? Everybody but freshmen drives cars."
"There's a joke I'm missing," injected Emily. "Please, somebody fill me in. What ranch?"
Jennifer's eyes passed over three of her friends, three she thought were her friends. All four of them were looking at it as it were ridiculous, but three of them were acting as if she wore this normally everyday... and they thought the lesser of her because of it. "I..." she stammered.
Just then, through a group of other students, Kyle pushed his way through. "Ha! There you are, my bovine beauty! I just wanted to see... what... the... hell."
Jody smiled. "Oh look. It's boy who forgot his belt. Did you finally clean up those tread marks we all saw?"
With a cringe, Emily stepped back from him. "Ew. Bovine? You're the only one shoveling bull around here."
"At least before three p.m.," Cassy muttered just enough for only Jennifer to hear.
Kyle's mouth hung open as he looked Jennifer over. "No. NO! NO!!!" The first bell rung, and the doors to the school were opened. Students began funneling in. "Jennifer! Transform or dare!" Kyle shouted at her.
Jennifer pushed her unexpected misery away, not wanting to show Kyle a drop of it. Instead she smiled at him with a grin wider than a mid-western prairie. "Too late, sugar," she said. "You already gave away your power, and I ain't gonna let you have it back."
The other three had started inside, but Emily looked frightened. "Be careful," Emily told Jen quietly. "I... I had a cousin experience that once. It's real."
"I know," Jen told her as they walked inside. Emily still seemed to genuine care about her. Combine that with her noticing the change, Jennifer began to highly appreciate her company. "I think cactus brain tried to turn be into a cowgirl with udders, horn, and a cowbell necklace, but the little runt didn't specify things correctly. I had more luck than a stud prancing into a mare-only orgy." Okay, maybe the cliché country clichés were getting more frustrating by the second.
Emily blinked. "So... you have control of the curse now?" There was a look of sudden hope in her eyes.
"Yes, but...."
"Ms. Lee," Professor Kirkmartin said to Emily. "Your homeroom is in D-wing," he said pointing down the hall opposite where Jennifer was going. "You can continue your conversation later."
She nodded. "I'll meet you at the ranch. We can talk then."
Jennifer nodded, but it was only after she sat down that she realized she had no idea where the ranch was.
Immediately after school she ran to the school library and did a quick online search. The only ranch she found was a massive farm just on the western edge of town. The map surprised her. That farm hadn't existed there yesterday. Looking over the map, it was as if the entire town was nudged eastward a little to make room for it. All of the roads and buildings were moved just ever so closer together as to keep everything there, but yet to allow this other thing to be added. No other neighboring towns were budged. "Well... there you ain't," she muttered before getting up and heading out.
For the next three hours, Jennifer was rubbing down horses, throwing hay down from a loft, and then bring in the cattle that had roamed out to the far side of the ranch before sundown. What was the strangest thing was when she got up on a horse to drive the cattle in. She had never ridden a horse before in her life, and yet she felt like a natural.
The couple that owned the ranch were overall friendly, but the old man, Ergus, was a bit gruff around the edges. He apologized constantly for his rudeness, attributing it to joint aches, but he was highly appreciative of her arrival. "No children makes for hard work," he said. "I don't know how I'd get everything done if it weren't for you, lass. Bless your heart. If you can refill the trough, Dinah should have dinner ready for us soon. I'll also get your check for this last week written up." Without a thought, she instinctively nodded, smiled, and went back to work.
Damn, she thought, with all of this physical work, I'm going to look even better for the squad come the season.
As she did so, she noticed a car pulling up. Jody was driving, but Emily was in the passenger seat. She waved as hopped out. "Can we talk?" she asked quickly. Jody rolled her eyes, looking like she already wanted to leave.
"Sure, we can-" There was a sudden sound of a car sliding through a turn. Looking up, Jennifer saw Kyle getting out of a taxi as soon as it came to a full stop in the large dirt driveway.
"Lunatic!" Kyle screamed at the taxi driver as the yellow cab pulled away.
Emily frowned. "Loser. Why can we get some alone time without being interrupted."
Jody calls up from the car, "Would anybody object to me backing over him? I'm going to have to clean the car afterwards anyway with all this dust."