"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Maleena shouted angrily, kicking the tire on her trailer. She let out a frustrated groan at the sight. 

             "What? What's wrong?" Chandler asked, walking around the trailer to where Maleena stood, with her hands on her hips. "Oh." He said, seeing the flat tire.

           "I really don't have time for this." Practically stomping to her truck, Maleena began to unhitch the trailer. 

          "Here, I will help you." Chandler jogged to the garage to grab a socket wrench, helping Maleena get the tire fixed on the trailer.

          As quick as the NASCAR pit stop crew, Maleena and Chandler changed the tire, and Maleena was finally on her way to the rodeo grounds. 

         Looking at the clock on her dash, Maleena bit her bottom lip, hoping there would still be a way that she could run barrels tonight, even though it was five minutes past when registration closed. 

        As she drove her truck down the long line of other trucks and trailers, desperate to find an open spot in the packed lot, Maleena saw Cody jogging towards her truck. By the time she parked, Cody was already getting Stryker out of Misty's trailer. 

       "Cuttin' it awful close there, ain't we cowgirl?" Cody asked with a grin as he walked Maleena's horse to the side of the trailer. "What happened? You're almost always the first one here." 

       "I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say it has not been a good day." Maleena said bluntly, pushing down her hat on her head, tightening the stampede strings under her chin. She grabbed the lead rope from Cody, turning to get her tack out of the trailer.

        "Okay. Well, if you change your mind, I'm here for you." Cody smiled, handing Maleena her saddle pad.

         Ignoring Cody's comment, she asked, "Am I even goin' to be allowed to run tonight, or am I just wasting my time being here?"

         "I already talked to Sophie at the registration table, and I was able to check you in. Here." Cody pulled out the exhibitor number paper out of his back pocket. "How can I help you?" He asked, retreating his hand when Maleena didn't take the paper. 

         Maleena had just finished saddling her horse when she said to Cody, "You can help by pinning my number to my shirt, please." 

         "Of course. Turn around." Cody made a circular motion with his hand. 

        Maleena turned, moving her hair out of the way so the back of her shirt was exposed. Cody carefully pinned the thin white number on the back of Maleena's shirt, giving her shoulder a pat once it was secure. 

           "There ya go. You're all set." Cody smiled when Maleena turned around. Her face was painted with a little bit of makeup, dolling up her already beautiful features. She was wearing a solid bright blue pearl snap shirt, with the front yoke outlined in silver thread. Her jeans accented her thin frame perfectly. Even though she was rushing around like crazy, in a frantic panic because she was running so late, Cody still thought she looked beautiful, like always, and he wanted so bad to tell her that, but he just had to keep being patient until the right time came. 

       "Thanks." Maleena mumbled, mounting Stryker, knocking Cody out of his spell that Maleena seemed to have cast on him. 

        "Good luck out there." Cody smiled up at Maleena, adding, "I will see you afterwards." 

        Maleena nodded her thanks, leading Stryker to the arena gate just as Aisley, the blonde barrel racer who seems to have an out with Maleena ever since she had a quicker run a few weeks ago, left the arena. 

         "Nice of you to show up, but you're still goin' to lose." Aisely smirked, riding past Maleena. 

        Maleena glared at her over her shoulder, shaking her head as she turned her attention forward. Gritting her teeth at just another thing that added to her rough day, Maleena shoved her heels down further, running her hands up on the reins, leaving little slack just as the announcer called Maleena's name.

        Her run was sloppy and distracted. Because of her trying to make up for the lost time leading off the first barrel, Maleena's form was sloppy on the second. Just as she turned, her foot caught the barrel, followed by Stryker's shoulder hitting it, resulting in the barrel falling to the ground. 

       Frustrated at herself, Maleena wasn't sure why she was still trying so hard to make up for her ride, but still, she rode hard around the final barrel, spurring Stryker back to the gate. 

       "The timer will stop at 18.26 with a 5 second penalty for miss Maleena Lackley. That's a rough ride, folks, so let's give her a hand." The announcer's voice followed Maleena out. 

        Once she was out of the way of the next racer, Maleena dismounted from the back of her horse. Embarrassed by her poor ride, she walked with her head down back to her trailer until she heard someone say something to her.

      Lifting her head, Maleena saw Aisley walking her way. Hoping to avoid conflict, Maleena began walking faster, keeping her head held low as her grip on Stryker's reins tightened. She thought she had evaded the confrontation with Aisley until she felt a hard shove on her shoulder. Looking up, Maleena may eye contact with the 23 year old blonde with the better-than-everyone-else attitude. 

         "Look where you're goin', kid." Aisley scoffed, walking past Maleena, only slightly. 

           Gritting her teeth, Maleena closed her eyes, trying to take a deep breath to calm herself so she didn't exacerbate the situation. However, the memories of everything that had happened today just made something in Maleena snap. 

          Spinning around, Maleena grabbed Aisley's arm, making her face Maleena. "I think that you're the one that needs to watch where you're goin', Aisley." She practicaly growled. 

         Aisely jerked her arm free from Maleena's grip. "Yeah, and why's that? I was here first, and everyone knows that this is my turf, so why don't you just back off, and stop tryin' to be better than me, because you never will be." 

        "No, I think that you are the one that needs to back off." Without thinking, letting the emotions get the better of her, Maleena placed her hands on Aisley's shoulders, giving them a hard shove backwards, unbalancing Aisley. 

         "Oh, you are goin' to pay for that." Aisley steadied herself, walking towards Maleena.

         "Yeah? Let me be clear about somethin'. If you ever try to mess with me again, I will mess you up, and you-" A hand on the small of her back instantly made Maleena back down. Turning to see who it was, Maleena was only partially glad that it was Cody. "This isn't finished." Maleena said to Aisley before giving into Cody's hand on her back. 

          "What was that about?" Cody asked quietly as they walked back to Maleena's trailer.

         "She shoved me. I was just giving her what she deserved." 

           "Are you sure you're okay?" Cody dropped his hand from Maleena's back when they stopped beside her featherlite.

           "I'm fine." Maleena took off Stryker's bridle, replacing it with a halter and lead. 

           "Well, would you like to come out and get some ice cream with me tonight, and we can talk about why your day was so bad?" Cody offered, trying to be nice. 

           Maleena snapped, turning to Cody. "You know what, Cody? No, I would not like to go out and get ice cream with you. Because I know that the reason that you kept forcing me to break up with Dillion is because you have feelings for me, and you have just been dying to ask me out, right? Well, your timing sucks, Cody, because I am not ready to go on a date with anyone, not even you." She said bitterly, taking her anger out on a great guy. Maleena turned back to her horse, undoing his cinch.

          "Maleena, I was just asking if you wanted to get ice cream. The rodeo group Bible study all goes out together after the rodeo and gets ice cream. It's a tradition. That way, if we have a bad ride, we can get together and talk about it and such. That way, no one goes home feeling bummed out. That's it. I wasn't asking you out on a date. I could tell you had a bad day and was trying to make it better, but just forget it." Cody said calmly and walked backwards a couple steps, before turning to walk away.

           "Oh." Maleena said, realizing how rude she was to Cody and that she was entirely wrong with her assumptions. "Cody, wait." She called after him, but he was already with a group of guys, talking and laughing, acting like Maleena hadn't just yelled at him.

        Cody looked back at Maleena even though he was with the guys. When Maleena and Cody made eye contact, Cody folded his lips in, giving her a saddened look as he tipped his hat to her, walking away. 

        A short time later, once the rodeo was finished for the night, right after Maleena had brushed down Stryker, she heard a truck door closing shut behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Cody walking towards her. 

            "Hey, we are all leaving now. Last chance. Are you sure you don't wanna come with us?" A truck horn honked behind him, followed by a girl shouting his name. Cody turned around to tell the folks in the truck that he will be there in a second. The truck was filled with several of the rodeo club folks. Facing Maleena again, Cody pleaded, "Please? It will be a lot of fun." 

          Maleena looked back at everyone in the truck. They were all laughing and dancing and having a great time. It wasn't her scene tonight. "Thanks, but I'm not really in the mood to hang out with anyone right now." 

           Cody nodded his head in understanding and sucked his tongue making a "tsk" sound. "I understand. Well, if you change your mind, here's the address." Cody pulled out his phone and texted Maleena the name and address of the ice cream place. 

        "Thanks." Maleena said, feeling her phone vibrate with the text message. 

        "Welcome. I really hope you change your mind." Cody smiled before turning to jog back to the truck, just as it's occupants honked the horn and yelled his name again. 

         Maleena turned back to her truck and trailer, loading Stryker before slipping into the cab. Pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket just as it vibrated again, Maleena saw Cody's name light up the screen with another message from him. 

           "Please will you come hang out with all of us tonight? It won't be the same without you." Cody texted, making Maleena sigh, not knowing what she should do. 

           Closing out of Cody's message without replying, Maleena slid her key into the ignition, starting her truck and heading home. 

          The whole drive back to her house, the thought of going and hanging out with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ was sounding more and more like a good idea. Thinking about how every time she was around Cody, he seemed to raise her spirits, Maleena reckoned it was time that she paid him back for everything he did for her. 

         After she got home, and unloaded Stryker, Maleena checked the time on her phone. It was a little after ten at night, and she wasn't even that tired. Knowing her parents would be okay with it, Maleena hopped back in her truck, plugging in the address of the ice cream shop into her phone. She knew it would do her some good to get out of the house, and she was sure it would be the only thing to help her get her mind off of her crummy day.