"Alright, next up for sale is the beautiful red roan gelding by the name of Bullet, ridden by the well-known Maleena Lackley." The announcer relayed, his voice being drowned out by the loud cheering of the crowd the second he said Maleena's name. 

       With a smile, Maleena steered Bullet out into the arena. The show had gone wonderful; Bullet was an extraordinary horse. Now, she just prayed that she would be able to buy him, and that folks wouldn't try to bid her up too much, although she knew that was to be expected based on the number of fans seemed to show up. 

       As Maleena's eyes scanned the crowd, she saw several faces that were familiar to her, whether if they were from the futurity race, or guests at one of the rodeos that Maleena rode in. Either way, out of the large, growing crowd, Maleena was still able to pick out a few common faces. One in particular stood out to her. Leaning against the fence to her left was her favorite fan: Cody. A smile rose to her lips as she saw her boyfriend give her a thumbs up. 

          "Alrighty, lets start the bidding here. Who's gonna bid a 1? Can I get a $1,000 here?" The auctioneer started off his chant, pointing to various members of the crowd. Immediately, one man raised his hand, bidding on Bullet.

          Maleena was preparing to bid from her spot on top of Bullet, but it seemed like almost everyone in the crowd wanted the gelding just as bad as she did. Trying her best to focus on the auctioneer, but also on riding Bullet around the arena, Maleena kept a keen ear on the price that was rapidly climbing. 

        A twinge of sadness swept over her, causing a churning in her stomach as she reality of actually owning this horse was quickly dwindling. Maleena's head shot side to side as she listened to the bids on "her" horse quickly rising. 

       Finally, when it seemed like the bidding would never stop, Maleena heard the auctioneer about to sell him, "Goin' once..."

       "Here!" Maleena shouted loudly, lifting her hand high enough, she thought it would come detached from her shoulder. 

         The arena seemed to quiet down slightly, and Maleena immediately felt all eyes on her. "Are you bidding, Maleena?" The auctioneer paused the bidding momentarily. 

          "Yes." Maleena put her hand down. She hadn't heard how much the last bid was for, but she did know that she was not ready to let this horse go. 

         "Alrighty, well this is a first. The rider of the horse being shown wants to place a bid. Well, Maleena, the price we left off at is $4,500. Are you prepared to better that?" 

         "Yeah, I'll bid $5,000." Sure, that seemed like an extravagant amount for a horse, who was still new to the rodeo world, but Maleena saw potential, and she had never been wrong before about her instinct with horses and their potential. Plus, she knew what Bullet would be worth some day if he kept winning like he had been previously. 

         "Alright, $5,000 here. Do I hear $5,500?" The auctioneer locked eyes with the previous bidder, who quickly shook his head, not prepared to pay more, backing out of the auction. 

         "Anyone? $5,500? It's just money, folks." He tried. 

          Out of the middle of nowhere, a high voice bid up Maleena. "$5,500." 

         Maleena would recognize that voice in a crowd, and she had, literally. As much as she hoped she was wrong, she knew she wasn't. Turning to the sound of the voice, Maleena saw it was exactly who she thought. Aisley, the 23 year old blonde barrel racer who had had it out for Maleena since the day that Maleena beat her by .03 of a second. 

        Maleena saw Aisley shoot her a sly grin, leaning cockily against the fence. Shaking her head, Maleena bid again, only for it to be quickly followed by another offer from Aisley. 

         Anger, on a whole new level, boiled inside of Maleena. She knew that Aisley didn't need, nor want, this horse; she simply wanted to bid Maleena up, knowing that she had just won $15,000 in the futurity race. 

        "Looks like we have a bidding war here. Maleena, will you go $6,750?" He cut the increments down on the bids.

         "Yeah." Maleena raised her hand, keeping her eyes locked on Aisley's the entire time. 

          Aisley smirked, bidding one more time. "$6,800." She offered only a sliver of money more. 

        "$6,850." Maleena countered. She was not going to lose to her. 

         Aisley mouthed something to Maleena before shaking her head and walking away from the arena.  

         "$6,900? Any takers? Anyone?" The announcer paused, though he knew no one else was in this war. "Going once....goin' twice..." 

          "Come on..." Maleena mumbled to herself. She was just ready for this to be over with. 

        "Sold! Bullet sold to Maleena Lackley for six thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars. Congrats, Maleena!" 

         Maleena hardly stood long enough to hear that she won the bidding. Steering what was officially her horse, Maleena rode out of the arena, her eyes searching for Aisley. 

      Seeing her in a group of other girls, standing behind the bleachers, Maleena dismounted quicker than a bull dogger, marching right up to Aisley. Not caring that she was in the middle of telling a story to her posse, most likely about how she just bid Maleena up way more than the horse was worth, Maleena growled, "What on earth was that?" She pointed a hand back to the arena, in case Aisley had forgotten the brutal bidding war she had just gotten herself into.

         "I'm in a conversation. You can wait." Aisley waved a hand in Maleena's direction, as if she was just that insignificant, turning her shoulder so her back was to her enemy. 

          "No, they can wait." Maleena said, forcefully, grabbing Aisley's shoulder, spinning her back around to face Maleena, causing Aisley to gasp in surprise. 

          Immediately, the other buckle bunnies that were talking to Aisley quickly dissipated, seeming into thin air, when they realized the argument that was about to ensue between the 17 and 23 year old.  

         "What do you want? I did nothin' wrong." Aisley shrugged Maleena's hand from her shoulder, crossing her arms across her chest.  

           "You and I both know that you had no interest at all in buying Bullet. You were just bidding so I would have to pay more." Maleena was furious. Her grip that she had on Bullet's reins tightened enough to make her knuckles white. It was all she could do to not shove Aisley.

         "So what if I was just bidding you up? You have enough money now to buy every horse here and still have money left over." She admitted, standing her ground. "Besides, you and me, and everyone here all know that that horse isn't worth a dollar in the mud. If you like wasting your money, then congrats. You just wasted almost 7 grand." 

         Maleena wanted to rip into Aisley, reminding her how cruel she had always been to Maleena, but she decided with a shake of her head that she wasn't worth it. "You'll be sorry when it's me, time after time, in the winner's circle. With this horse," Maleena pointed backwards to Bullet, who was casually standing, looking around at the crowd of people. "It'll be my name on all of the buckles and saddles. In just a short time, you will just be a figment of people's imagination. A memory. Give it time, folks will forget you ever being the winner." Maleena wasn't trying to sound cocky, she was just being honest. "I know I may be new to this town, but I hate to break it to you, I ain't fixin' to leave anytime soon. So you should really get used to me bein' here and being around, beating you in all the rodeo events." Maleena spat, seeing the look on Aisley's face as she spoke the truth. 

          Opening her mouth, and closing it two times, Aisley began to say something before she scoffed, rolling her eyes and walking away, her blinged out Miss Me jeans casting taunting . 

      Taking a deep breath, Maleena instantly felt bad for being so mean to Aisley, but the other part of her felt no remorse. Since the day that Aisley had met Maleena, she had strongly disliked her, and vice versa. Every time their paths crossed, it never ended well. Before Maleena had come to town, Aisley was the town favorite. All it took to change the majority of folk's mind was for Maleena, new to this state and this town, to beat Aisley by a mere thousandths of a second, and instantly Maleena had pegged an enemy. 

        Maleena watched Aisley disappear into a crowd of people, heading back towards her posse of equally cruel females. Loosening her death grip on her new horse's reins, Maleena led Bullet to the direction of her trailer, parked right behind the barn that housed the indoor riding arena. As she walked, the rowels on her spurs clinked with every forceful step she took. Granted, Maleena knew that she should be ecstatic about her new horse, but the situation with Aisley had certainly thrown that off. 

        Reaching her trailer, Maleena unlocked the tack door on the side, grabbing the teal halter and lead rope that she hoped would fit him, turning to face Bullet, slipping the lead rope around his neck and removing his bridle, sliding the halter over his nose. Leading her horse to the side of the trailer, Maleena tied the lead rope in a slip knot on the metal ring. 

        Just as she was about to take Bullet's tack off, two hands covered her eyes. "Guess who?" The female voice said, startling Maleena. Out of instinct, Maleena tensed up, prepared to lunge at the person who surprised her. However, there was only one person that Maleena knew had that voice, and who would have the guts to surprise her like that.

        With a grin, Maleena felt out her friend's hands before asking, "Hmm, could it be Rose?" Sure enough, spinning around, Maleena made eye contact with her new best friend. "How are you?" She asked, pulling her friend into a hug. It was crazy to her how seeing her best friend could instantly change her mood for the better; it proved that Maleena was more mad at Aisley, than she was about the situation in general. 

           "Oh, you know..." She responded, casually, holding up her left hand as she looked up to the sky. 

          Maleena gasped, her mouth hanging open. "Lucas proposed?!" She couldn't hide her excitement as her hands flew to her face, covering her mouth. 

          "Well, actually..." Rose disappeared behind Maleena's horse trailer for a second, returning with Lucas. Pulling him to her side, Rose excitedly announced, "We eloped. We are married!" 

         With a huge smile on his face, Lucas wrapped an arm around his new wife's waist, softly kissing her temple. "Best decision of my life." 

         "I...I can't believe this! Oh my goodness, I am so happy for y'all." Maleena uncovered her mouth to hug both of her friends again. "Does anyone know? Oh my, do your parents know?" 

       Rose chuckled, glancing up to Lucas before telling Maleena that no one else has any idea. Maleena was the first person they told. The couple were already making plans on how to tell everyone, but they were debating keeping their exciting news a secret, and potentially just announcing an engagement, knowing that their parents would want to plan a formal wedding. On the other side, Rose and Lucas had talked about running away, just taking some time off from everything and enjoy the time together. 

      "But anyways, we haven't decided what exactly we are goin' to do yet. We just knew that we had to get married before our parents tried to tear us apart yet again." Rose waved a hand across her face as if the fact that the couple just ran off to the courthouse and got hitched wasn't a big deal. It was only because it was so truly clear how meant to be together Rose and Lucas were for each other. "Well, we wanted to surprise you, and congratulate you on buying Bullet. This horse is phenomenal." Rose walked forward, Lucas close behind her, as they greeted the red roan horse, stroking his nose. 

         "Thank you. I am super happy. Cody encouraged me to go forward with it." Maleena grinned, removing Bullet's saddle as her friends loved on him. "Speaking of that, I actually need to go pay for him before I get in trouble." She chuckled, grabbing her checkbook from the cab of the truck before joining her friends again. After putting Bullet's tack back in her trailer, and giving him a good brush down, Maleena led him, and her friends over to the auctioneer's table, presenting her ID, writing out the amount she paid for Bullet on a check. 

          Once the transaction was completed, the trio made their way to the stands, standing in the back, since the majority of the seats were taken, and Maleena was wielding a horse...granted, as special of a horse that he was, she still didn't think he would want to climb up bleachers in a crowd full of people. Watching the other futurity horses sell, several people approached Maleena, asking for her autograph, wondering if they could pet her horse, etc. Gladly, Maleena accepted. Between autographs and introductions, she scanned the large crowd in search of her boyfriend. Eventually, Cody's wandering eyes found Maleena's, giving her a relieved smile, and a slight wave as he began walking over, carefully pushing himself through the crowd. 

        Arriving beside Maleena, Cody wrapped a hand low on around her waist, pulling her into a passionate kiss that was followed by two more. Maleena, taken aback by her boyfriend's unusually romantic greeting, pulled back, resting both hands on his chest. "Well, what was that wonderful greetin' for?" Stars glistened in her eyes and Maleena momentarily forgot where she was, and that a swarm of people surrounded her. She was only reminded of that when someone trying to get past her and Bullet accidentally bumped into her. 

          "I missed you, but I also wanted to congratulate you on the sale." Cody leaned his head down for another kiss, but a voice stopped him. 

           "Ugh, since when do y'all express PDA?" Rose teasingly acted grossed out beside the couple. 

         Cody, peeling away from his girlfriend, turned to Rose, giving her a hug before shaking hands with Lucas. "Well, it's awful great to see y'all. Malie has been keeping me updated on y'all, but she said recently y'all kind of went incognito. We hadn't heard from y'all for a while." 

       "Well, that is because we were busy gettin' married and such." Rose chuckled, the new phrase still sounding almost unbelievable to her, but of course, unbelievable in a good way. 

        "What? No way." Cody turned to look at Maleena, making sure this wasn't one of Rose's jokes. When Maleena nodded her head, Cody added, "Y'all, that's great. Congrats! We certainly need to go out and celebrate tonight. Y'all up for it?" Cody looked around, asking the group for approval. 

        With wide smiles all around, everyone mutually agreed that celebrations were required, and after making plans on where to meet, the posse began to gather into their trucks.