Lina’s POV

            Friday started off like any other day on the farm; Jon was starting to get the hang of everything and was settling in nicely. He finally got the hang of how to properly use a pitchfork, I have to say I have never met someone so illiterate to farm tools than that man; I guess it should have been expected seeing that he grew up in the city but I wasn’t used to having people around that weren’t used to working on the farm. He was becoming a great friend and I loved spending time with him; I felt like I could really be myself around him, he never judged me for the things I said or did, it was refreshing not to have to try and keep up a certain imagine around someone for a change. I was normally expected to uphold the imagine of a wealthy horse breeders daughter; show respect to all the rich assholes who came to buy horses from us, people who didn’t deserve the mud off the bottom of my boots let alone any respect. I was always taught to treat people how you would like to be treated but it was hard to do that with some of the customers that we had; the people who sat up on their high horse and expected you to bow at their every move, people like that drove me crazy.

            I grew up with a lot of money but my family never flaunted it, we lived like any other farmer in the south; you got what you needed and nothing more, we were happy with the small things in life and never strived to keep up a certain imagine like most of the people that bought our horses did. We did attend a lot of functions held by our local country club but we went to support our business not to show our wealth like most of the people there did; I was happier in jeans and a button up shirt than I was in a fancy expensive dress any day so instead of looking forward to the meetings I more like dreaded going to them. It was hard to uphold an image of someone that I wasn’t; playing the part of rich girl was never my style and that’s why I preferred to stay working on the farm over being in the office dealing with customers like my father always was. Its not like he was always dressed in a suit or acted like he was better than everyone else but he was much better at pretending to be someone he wasn’t than I was; my mother wasn’t bad at it either, she actually enjoyed the times when she got to get all dressed up and go out to show off the fancier things in life.

            As the day went on it seemed like the work was never ending on the farm; where we would have normally been done by five we worked until it was time for dinner. We had just finished dinner when the load of hay we had been waiting on all day finally showed up and as much as I just wanted to go shower and get ready for Juniors party I knew I needed to help unload it. Everyone else had already went home for the day so the task of unloading was left up to me and Jon; when we finished our meals we headed out to the barn and started what felt like the never ending task of unloading the hay bales from the truck. Harry, the guy that brought the hay sat in his truck listening to the radio while Jon and I broke our backs working to unload it; I expected that out of Harry, he was the son of one of my fathers’ friends and every time he brought us hay he had never offered to help with unloading it, lazy fucker. We were a little over half way through when I heard Landon call out my name from by the office.

“Hey babe, why aren’t ya’ ready?” He asked after placing a quick kiss on my lips when I walked up.

“I have to help unload this hay it showed up late.” I said motioning over my shoulder towards Jon who was still tossing the bales off the trailer.

“Well we have Juniors party tonight.” He said sounding annoyed that I wasn’t ready yet. “How long ya’ going to be?” He looked down at his watch before returning his eyes to me.

“I don’t know it will take me about twenty more minutes to finish this up then I need to get ready. Why don’t you just go on without me and I will drive myself there later when I’m done.” I offered; clearly he was ready to go and I didn’t want him to have to wait around for me.

“Alright babe, see ya’ later then.” He replied seeming happy with the idea; he gave me another quick kiss before turning to leave, he had his cell phone pulled out and started texting before he even got out the door and I headed back to the trailer to help Jon.

“What was that about?” Jon asked as I climbed my way back onto the trailer to help him.

“Landon just came to get me for the party but I told him that I still had some work to do and would meet him there later.” I said shrugging as I tossed another bale down onto the ground.

“Well why don’t you just go get ready, I can finish this up.” Jon offered.

“No, its fine it’ll go faster with the both of us workin’.”

“Lina just go, really its no problem. Besides I would rather make that lazy ass stay here longer seeing that he doesn’t want to help.” Jon smirked while pointing a finger at Harry who was still sitting in the truck doing absolutely nothing.

“Really, are ya’ sure?” I asked getting a little excited; I really did want to go and get ready for the party but I felt bad leaving him there to do all the work himself, it had already been a long day for both of us and I was sure that he was tired.

“Yeah it’s fine, now go get ready before I change my mind.” He said giving me a light shove towards the back of the trailer.

“Thanks Jon.” I smiled at him as I hopped of the back and headed for the office.

“No problem.” He replied before another bale of hay got tossed off the back.

            I jumped on the side-by-side and made my way back up to the farm house; after a quick shower I headed off to my closet to find something to wear. Finding a nice pair of dark skinny jeans I paired it with a black tank top and topped that with a white loose half sleeve shirt that hung off of one shoulder; I wrapped a black belt around my waist and after applying a little make up and drying my hair I was ready to go. I said a quick goodbye to my parents as I headed out of the house and jumped in my truck; I sent a text to Jen to see if Landon was at the party yet and she said no so I decided to head over to his house first and see if he was there so maybe we could just ride together. When I pulled up in his driveway I seen his truck was still there and next to it was a shiny red convertible; my hands tightened on the steering wheel when I realized whose car it was.

“What the hell is she doin’ here?” I asked myself out loud as I turned off my truck.

            I got out of the truck and walked up to the front door; turning the handle I found that it was locked and pulled out my keys to unlock the door. The Bakers were like a second family to me and after dating Landon for about a year I was given my own key to their house and was welcome there whenever I wanted; it was like a second home to me sometimes because of how much time I had spent there. Walking in the house was quite and no one was around so I made my way back to Landon’s room; the noises I heard from the other side of the door had me holding my breath. My hand lingered on the door handle for a few minutes as I tried to control my breathing and temperament; if what was going on behind that door was what it sounded like what was going on I was going to loose it. I opened the door and my hand went to my mouth as I took in the scene in front of me; the two figures on the bed looked back at me shocked before they scrambled to find clothes.

“You son of a bitch!” I screamed at Landon as he tried to shimmy into his boxers.

“Babe, it’s not what it looks like.” He said taking a few steps toward me as that little slut Kristy held up a sheet while she tried to get her clothes back on.

“Really? You must think that I’m fuckin’ stupid or somethin’! What the hell else could it be? You were fuckin’ that little slut!” I said taking a few steps toward Kristy who in returned backed herself as close to the wall as she could with a scarred look on her face.

“Babe, please let me explain.” Landon said grabbing my arm to stop my advance on Kristy; I was seeing red and wanted nothing more than to tear both of them to shreds.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me!” I screamed. “I don’t know where those hands have been, on second thought I do and I don’t want ‘em anywhere near me.” I said glancing between the two of them; they both looked like a deer in headlights and Landon struggled to find something to say.

“This was... It didn’t mean anything… I just… you were…” He stumbled on his words never managing to complete a full sentence before moving onto the next hair-brained excuse he was trying to sell me.

“Fuck you Landon! You want that dirty whore than you can have her.” I turned on my heels and slammed his door behind me.

            I heard him calling out my name as I ran down the hallway and back out the front door; I didn’t stop running until I made it to my truck and I had it in gear before it even finished turning over. I left a nice line of black marks all the way down his drive and tore out onto the road like a bat out of hell; I drove a few blocks and made a few turns before pulling over as my tears started to cloud my vision so bad that I couldn’t see where I was driving anymore. I cant believe that Landon had did that to me, I cant believe that he cheated on me with that slut; after everything we have been through, after the years we have spent together and he was willing to throw it all away for that little whore.

            Memories of all the good times we spent together flashed through my mind as I balled my eyes out on the side of the road; the first time we kissed, the day I lost my virginity to him, the long nights we spent together talking for hours, all the time we had spent together was for nothing. I had given my heart and soul to him and he just tossed it in the trash; I knew that Kristy had been trying to get with him the whole time that we were together but I never once thought that Landon would cheat on me with her. Now that I knew that it happened I couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been going on for; had they been sleeping together the whole time, or was this the first time? It didn’t really matter to me either way, we were done, never going to be together again; I was a very forgiving person but one thing I would never forgive someone for was cheating.

            How could he just throw everything we had together away like that? How could he be stupid enough to sleep with someone else? He knew that I would never do that; hell I didn’t even look at other guys, never once thought about sleeping with someone else and I sure as hell never did it! What a lowlife piece of shit! That bastard stole my innocence and I gave him my heart; he had me wrapped around his little finger for two fucking years and then he went and did something like this. My tears started coming to an end as my sorrow changed to anger; I shouldn’t waste my tears on him, he wasn’t worth a single one of them. Pulling myself together the best I could I started the truck after doing my best to fix up my makeup in the mirror and headed off to Juniors; I was on a mission now, a mission to do whatever I could to just forget about Landon.

            My cell phone was blowing up with calls and messages from Landon; it got annoying to the point where I just shut it off and tossed it in the glove box. It didn’t matter to me what he had to say at this point there was no way I was taking his ass back; I had made it clear from the beginning that there was only one thing that would make me leave him and that was cheating. To be honest I was so wrapped up with him that he could have treated me like complete shit every single day and I still wouldn’t have left his side; short of actually hitting me there was nothing that he could have done to get me to leave, other than cheating that is, that in my book is just unforgivable. I could never really understand why people cheated; if you weren’t happy with whom you were with then leave, don’t drag them along while you go off and play dick games with other girls.

            By the time I made it to Juniors house my anger had me at my boiling point; no matter how much I tried to push the events I just witnessed to the back of my mind they somehow managed to stay on the forefront. I jumped out of my truck slamming the door behind me as I stomped my way up to the house; there were people standing around outside drinking and waved to me but after taking in my appearance they turned around and continued whatever they were doing before I arrived. I couldn’t see myself right now but I could imaging that I looked like one pissed off bitch on a mission and anyone that saw me knew to just stay the fuck out of my way. I was on a mission, a mission to get so drunk that I couldn’t think about anything; drunk enough to push what happened tonight to the back of my mind and not think about it again until morning when I came down from my high.

            Walking into the house I scanned the faces trying to find Jen; I mentally slapped myself for leaving my phone in the truck it would be easier to find her if I just could text her and see where she was at. I went from room to room looking for her only stopping once in the kitchen to grab a beer that I had finished by the time I made the ten steps needed to get to the living room; I tossed the empty bottle into a trash can as my eyes landed on Jen and Caleb making out on one of the couches in the living room. I walked over and sat next to her, at the movement she turned around and smiled at me getting ready to pull me into a hug; her good mood and smile faded as soon as she took in my face and suddenly she looked angry instead of happy to see me.

“What the hell happened?” She asked looking around the room as if she could find the person who had me so upset.

“Landon.” I spit out before grabbing her beer and chugging down the remainder of its contents.

“What did he do hun?” She asked pulling me in for a quick hug that I really needed at the moment.

“I just walked in on him and Kristy together.” I managed to get out before I broke down in a fit of sobs again; I had told myself in my truck that I was done crying over him but just thinking about when I walked in on them had me breaking down again.

“That son of a bitch! Kristy, really? What the fuck? She a nasty hoe!” Jen said pulling me into a tight hug and I couldn’t help but laugh a little at her words, if there was anyone that despised Kristy more than me it was Jen.

“Here you look like you need this more than me.” Caleb said handing me his half drank beer and I was quick to finish it off. “I will just go get us some more of those.” He said standing from the couch; I’m sure it was in part to get more beer but more just to escape the crying mess that I was, he was never really good at the whole comforting thing.

“Lina I’m so sorry babe, I can’t believe that he did this to you.” Jen tried her best to comfort me as I tried to pull myself back together; I didn’t want to cry over him I just wanted to forget about him.

“Just get me drunk enough to forget about it.” I said wiping the tears from my face.

“By the end of the night I will make that asshole and dirty whore nothin’ but a distant memory.” Jen promised as she did her best to wipe away the mascara smudges from my face.

“Sounds like a plan.” I smiled over at her as Caleb walked back with his arms full of beers and we helped him unload them onto the coffee table.

            We spent the next few hours playing drinking games and it was working to keep my mind off of Landon; the more I drank and the busier I stayed the less I thought about the two of them together. I was a good ten beers in and feeling tipsy by the time Landon showed up at the party; I wasn’t surprised to see Kristy walk in a few minutes after him. The moment we locked eyes with each other I went to jump up from the couch, my only goal in mind was punching his lights out; Jen grabbed onto my arm to pull me back down on the couch and Caleb was quick to go up to Landon and ask him to leave. There was a small argument between the two before Junior jumped in to break it up before it turned into a fight and they ruined his house; I saw Junior look over in my direction with a sad expression before turning back to Landon and forcing him out the door. I knew that Junior would take my side and kick Landon out before me; he was never really great friends with Landon to begin with but him and I went way back and I knew Juniors loyalty would always be with me over Landon.

“I got somethin’ for ya’ snickers.” Junior said walking up with a fifth of Gentlemen’s Jack in hand; snickers was always his nickname for me since we were little and he heard my dad call me Kit-Kat once, he was the only one I allowed to call me that though.

“Thanks Junior.” I said taking the bottle from his hand and twisting the top off to take a swig; I shock my head as the liquor burned all the way down. It really had a kick but Gentlemen’s Jack was always my favorite and he knew it.

“No problem snicks, you let me know if ya’ need me to beat his ass for you.” He said before walking away; I knew he was serious and would have laid down with Landon if I asked him too but I could handle this myself and didn’t need him to beat Landon to a pulp to make me feel better, although it would have been nice to see.

“I still can’t believe it was Kristy though, I always thought that Landon was a boob man.” Jen slurred as she creased her eyebrows together.

“Kristy has boobs.” I countered; she really didn’t have much but they were there. Why the hell was I defending her anyways? I must really be drunk.

“That girls flatter than bugs on a bumper.” Jen spit out causing the group to bust out in laughter.

“No really Jen, tell us what ya’ really think about her.” I said knowing it would send her off in a fit of insults; its what I needed to hear, I needed to hear that he was stupid for getting with her it would make me feel better about it all.

“For every insult you can spit out I will take a drink.” I added just to put a little more fuel on the fire; I usually didn’t drink much and hardly ever got to the point of drunk so I knew she would do her best to get me there tonight.

“She’s so dumb she couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel!” Jen started her rant and the group fell into another fit of laughter; as promised I tipped back the bottle of Jack taking a swig and chasing it with a drink of beer.

“She’s so buck-toothed she could eat corn on the cob through a picket fence.” Another drink.

“She’s so ugly she’d make a freight train take a dirt road.” And another after almost falling off the couch laughing.

“She’s so ugly she had to sneak up on a glass of water to get a drink.” Another drink.

“She’s so fat it takes two dogs to bark at her. She’s as dumb as a soup sandwich. So dumb that she couldn’t find water if she fell out of a boat. She’s got a face like nine days of bad weather. She’s about as useful as a football bat.” Jen went on and on with her insults to the point where there was only about a quarter of my bottle left and I was having a hard time sitting up on my own on the couch.

“Ok, time to get her home.” Caleb said as him and someone else lifted me off the couch and basically carried me to my truck and tossed me in the back with Jen.

“You best not puke on me bitch!” She joked as she pulled my head in her lap, although she said it jokingly I was sure that she was pretty serious at the same time; can’t blame her I wouldn’t want to be puked on either.

“Drop me off at the barn.” I slurred as Caleb pulled the truck into my driveway; there was no way I would be able to go into my house this drunk without waking up my parents; hell I was too drunk to even think about making it up the stairs to my room, I would probably end up falling back down half way up and breaking my neck.

“You need some help?” Jen asked as everyone pilled out of my truck and jumped in the person’s truck that followed us.

“Nope. I got this.” I slurred trying to sound confident as I used the side of the barn for balance making my way to the door; I was seeing two of everything and walking alone was a task but all I had to do was make it in the door and onto the cot in the tack room and I was home free.

            We said our goodbyes and I somehow managed to get the door open and walk into the barn without falling on my ass; I made my way against the wall to the tack room and shut the door behind me. Looking down I seen three cots but knowing that there was only one in this room I decided the middle one was my best option and attempted to sit on it; when my ass hit the ground instead of the soft cot I knew I made the wrong choice. I reached over to the end table next to the cot and attempted to pull myself up but all I managed to do was to knock over the table and everything on it went crashing to the ground with loud noises echoing through the room. I rubbed my forehead as I looked around to see what I could try next, in my drunken state my options were limited; leaning back a little I realized that the cot was directly behind me, I decided that after just one more drink of my Jack that I somehow managed to still keep a hold of during my little struggle I would attempt to crawl onto the bed. I had just placed the bottle to my lips when the door to the room opened and as the intruder flipped on the light switch; I moved my hands to shield off the burning light.