A half hour later, Maleena's truck rumbled down the driveway. Ever so quietly, Maleena slipped out of the cab and crept up the porch steps as silently as she could despite the gravel crunching under her boots. 

         Her hand was on the door knob when she heard someone calling her name. With a startled jump, Maleena turned to her left. "Chandler? What are you doin' out here so late?" She chuckled awkwardly, tucking some hair behind her ear as she walked over to her bother. 

         "I could ask you the same thing." Chandler said, standing off the porch swing to lean against the railing, folding his arms. 

          "I, uh..." Maleena huffed. "Honestly, I just needed to get out of here and get some fresh air. I just went on a drive to clear my head." Folding her arms over her chest, Maleena narrowed her eyes as she stared down her brother. "What are you doing up so late?" 

          "Just needed some fresh air." Chandler mimicked Maleena. He chuckled to show her he was teasing. "Maleena, I used to sneak out myself when I was your age. My bedroom here is the one closest to the driveway, and you know I'm a light sleeper. I heard you sneak out, and I knew it had something to do with mom and dad. In my opinion, they over reacted."

         Maleena looked at her brother, dropping her arms from her chest. "So, you'll help your little sis out and talk to them for me?" 

           Chandeler chuckled. "Why would you ask that? What do you get out of me talking to them?"

         Maleena shifted, tucking her hands into her jean pockets. "Well, you see...there is a rodeo tomorrow, well, technically tonight, at 7pm and I was fixing to compete, but...our parents kinda sorta grounded me so I was hoping you could convince them to let me ride tonight?" She folded her lips in, giving her older brother a look. "Please?" She pleaded.

            Chandler let out an airy chuckle, shaking his head. "Oh, the things that I do for you."

           "Is that a yes?" Maleena raised her eyebrows in anticipation.

        "Yes, I will talk to them, but I can't promise they'll let you compete tonight."

          A smile on her lips, Maleena lunged forward wrapping her arms around her brother in a hug. "Thank you so much, Chan. I owe you huge."

         Chandler chuckled, shushing his sister. "Don't wake mom and dad." He pulled back from the hug. Lowering his voice, he added, "Don't thank me yet. I said I would talk to them; I never said that I will be able to change their minds."

        Maleena shifted her weight, tucking some hair behind her ear. "True true, but still, you agreed to talk to them, so I'm thanking you for that."

         "Alright. Well, it's awful late. Let's get back to bed." Chandler slung an arm around Maleena's shoulders, walking back into the house.

    ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~☆~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
         Maleena woke up the next morning to the sound of her ringtone playing on her phone. Groggily reaching over, she saw it was Dillion. With a groan, Maleena rejected the call, slamming her head back into the pillow. Her late night rebel getaway had exhausted her. She just needed ten more minutes of sleep, then she would get up and get ready for the day, or so she told herself.

        An hour later, Maleena's alarm blared it's annoying ring. "I really need to change that." She mumbled, ceasing the beep.

         Stretching her arms over her head, Maleena threw off the covers, swinging het feet over the side of the bed.

        With a yawn, Maleena grabbed her phone, scrolling through the notifications. Seeing she had a voicemail, Maleena typed in her password, holding the phone to her ear as she listened to Dillion's voice apologize for causing a fight. Immediatley, Maleena felt her eyes roll the second Dillion spoke.

          "Mal, I know I should have talked to you before I said anything to your parents about us being official,  but truth is, I couldn't wait any longer because....well..." Dillion paused in his message to take in a shaky breath. "Because I love you, Maleena Lackley. It's true. I'm in love with you." Dillion let out a chuckle. Maleena wasn't sure, but she thought she heard his voice crack, followed by a sniffle.

       'Is he seriously crying right now?' Maleena silently asked herself as she listened to the remainder of the message.

         Dillion apologized again, then cleared his throat. "I want to come over sometime today to talk to you and apologize to your parents. I really hope we can move on from this, Mal. I gotta go, but I'll see you later." After a second hesitation, Dillion added, "I love you."

         Maleena locked her phone once she listened to Dillion's message in it's entirety. Most girls would swoon over the fact that their boyfriend's said that they loved them, but Maleena wasn't one of those girls. In fact, Dillion's message made her more upset. She knew he didn't really love her; he only said it because she was a game to him, something Maleena could learn from. They didn't have real feelings for each other.

         Resting her head in her hands, Maleena said her morning prayers, today being a day she especially needed them. Once she finished with an "Amen," Maleena got out of bed, walking to her dresser to pick out her outfit for the day.

         Opening the middle drawer, Maleena plunged her hands into the mess of shirts, randomly pulling one out. When she had time, she really had to refold all of her clothes and put them all away again, so they were neat and organized.

       Next, Maleena opened her bottom dresser drawer, grabbing out a pair of her old Wrangler jeans. The once dark denim was faded, especially on the knees and inner thighs. A tear ravelled it's way across the left knee of her pant leg. After grabbing her undergarments, Maleena took the stack of clothing into the bathroom.

        As she brushed her teeth, and combed her hair, Maleena couldn't help but think of Cody, and how sweet he was to her last night. Never in her life had she met a person who was willing to dedicate their entire night to just listen to her. It was evident that her and Cody would be good friends one day, at least she could hope.

        The thought of Cody, and his kindness, brought a smile to her face, but it was unlike any smile Dillion had ever caused to rise on her lips. Maleena felt something for Cody that she had never felt towards any guy, ever, but she brushed it away, telling herself that it was just because she is a sucker for sweet guys.

         After slipping into her outfit for the day, Maleena tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, heading downstairs.

        She wasn't surprised to see her parents and Chandler all sitting around the table, eating breakfast. Wayne had his face buried in the Saturday paper, while Suellen stirred her cereal for the umpteenth time. Chandler was the only one who looked up from his bowl of frosted flakes to greet Maleena.

        "Heya, squirt. How'd you sleep?" He smiled. As usual, Chandler's quickly growing hair was a mess as Maleena was sure he didn't comb it, nor wash it when he took a shower last night.

          "Fine. Based on your bed head, I would say you slept pretty well yourself." Maleena ruffled her brother's hair as she walked past him to grab a cereal bowl for herself.

          "Mornin', honey." Wayne greeted once Maleena say down at the table.

        "Chandler said y'all were up pretty late last night, talking." Suellen piped into the conversation.

        Maleena cast a quick glance over to her brother, asking with her eyes if he talked to them about her competing in the rodeo tonight. Before Chandler could so much as blink, Maleena's mom added, "And honey, your father and I wanted to apologize." Suellen looked to her husband, swatting the paper away from his face with a 'tsk' of her tongue.

        "Yes, we reacted very harshly, and we apologize, sweetheart." Wayne stated, one hand still on the newspaper that was now laying flat on the table.

        "So, y'all are sayin'..." Maleena drew out politely, hoping their next remark would be positive.

           "Well, your brother told us about a rodeo tonight? We will let you compete, but only if you work extra hard around here with your chores and everything. And, after this week, if you work hard enough, we will cut your grounding sentence down a week." Wayne negotiated. "But, there's a catch. Your mother and I don't want you seeing that boy, Dillion, as much. We miss having you here for family dinners. We know we can't forbid you from seeing him, because then you will just rebel, but we are your parents, so we do have the authority to have you have supper with us. Deal?" He asked, but Maleena knew better than to argue their terms.

       "Deal. Thank y'all so much. I really really appreciate it." Maleena smiled, hiding how excited she really was.

       Looking to her right, Maleena gave Chandler a nod of gratitude for talking to their parents. She honestly didn't think they would budge on her being grounded, but whatever her brother said must've worked.

        With a wink in response, Chandler went back to eating his cereal, Maleena doing the same. However, all she could think about was how much she was looking forward to running barrels tonight. There was nothing like feeling the chill night breeze against her face as her and her horse powered their way towards the next barrel. The promise of an adrenaline rush made a grin rise to Maleena's lips, but when she remembered Cody would be there tonight, her grin immediately turned into a blush. Tonight could not come quick enough.