“Awww, you wouldn’t have to do that,” But Jessie felt a blossoming burn in her chest at the thought of having a friend that would actually stick around possibly. Matching colors didn’t seem like the sort of thing someone who planned to ditch would do. The silence fell between them and Jessie didn’t mind it as they walked down the street, each checking out the display, though neither seemed to find anything of interest. “How do you like school?” She asked, wondering if he was also a hardcore nerd as well as a cowboy.

Jessie felt a shiver run down her spine, as if she’d just been double dog dared to do something as a kid, “Fine, I’ll wear yellow. At some point.” She teased, not having a single piece of yellow clothing in her closet. “Not a fan of it, I do enough to get by,” She knew she should be better about her academics, but she had her future planned out, she didn’t need to focus so much on getting certain grades.

“I don’t know how I’m going to tell you, carrier pigeon I guess,” Jessie shrugged, a smirk playing at her lips, though it was partially true, how would she be able to tell him if she was wearing yellow. “Good to know, I am not studious when it comes to schoolwork.” She admitted with a grimace. Give her a case file or a true crime book and she’d be all over it.

Jessie felt her cheeks flush a little at the wink, but told herself they had just met, they were just friends. Nothing more. “Well, while I’m finding pigeons, and training them, and then hopefully they are finding their way, we can exchange numbers?” she pulled out her phone from her purse, though she didn’t hand it over, since she wasn’t sure he’d actually want her number. “Google has been my best friend since I discovered it,” She chuckled, knowing she’d spent way too much time looking up things she shouldn’t have. “Quizlet has been very essential too.” She’d passed a lot of tests and filled out most of her questions because of it.

At the sight of his open hand, Jessie didn’t waste time unlocking her phone and handing it over to him. “Well, it might not happen for a long time.” Or at all, she thought, but didn’t plan on telling him that. “You haven’t stumbled upon Quizlet? It’s amazing. Usually if you google a test or a subject, there’s all the answers you need.” It had saved her when she’d taken a test at home while sick, she hadn’t studied for it, but with the help of Quizlet, she passed.

“Your dreams?” Jessie asked with a raised eyebrow and a look that read ‘what you talkin’ about.’ “I’m the one that came up with the pigeons in the first place, shouldn’t it be my dream?” She asked as she heard the ping from what she assumed was his own phone and felt a flutter of happiness that at least he didn’t give a fake one. She scoffed, “Should have known it would be a cow.” She smirked, rolling her eyes and wondering why it had to be a rainy day to use it to study, but she didn’t want to talk about school and homework anymore.

At the sight of his open hand, Jessie didn’t waste time unlocking her phone and handing it over to him. “Well, it might not happen for a long time.” Or at all, she thought, but didn’t plan on telling him that. “You haven’t stumbled upon Quizlet? It’s amazing. Usually if you google a test or a subject, there’s all the answers you need.” It had saved her when she’d taken a test at home while sick, she hadn’t studied for it, but with the help of Quizlet, she passed. She raised an eyebrow, smirking, “A rooster… is he a giant cock?” She joked, snickering slightly.

Jessie took her phone back and immediately clicked to edit his profile, deciding to add a cowboy smiley face next to his name, and then changed the profile picture to a horse emoji. She felt a little stupid sometimes, but she liked adding little details to their profiles, it felt much like detective work. But that meant she was sometimes creepy about having a list of things people liked and birthdays, and other things she felt were important. At least, that’s what her old friends had said when her mom died, and every other kid in school. “So, this upcoming rodeo, you’ll be riding a bull?”

Jessie turned to face Jake, a blank look on her face until she realized he’d been watching her. “Oh, I mean… I just like to have little details about people.” She didn’t want to tell him just how much she’d probably accumulate, but it wasn’t long before she added notes about him riding a bull and his brother riding broncos. “Calf roping… Does that hurt the rope?” She asked with a serious tone and look on her face, but she was entirely joking about it.

Jessie smirked, “Well, guess I’ll be the first,” She teased, wondering how silly it would be to have an inside joke with him, hold up a sign screaming to free the ropes. She was sure everyone there would think she was stupid and crazy, but she’d laugh all the same. “Do you get a lot of protesters at the rodeo?” She asked, assuming crazy vegans glued themselves to something, trying to prevent whatever they thought they knew about rodeos.

“Well obviously you do, I always thought people should at least go see a rodeo before you judge anything.” She shrugged, feeling the same about judging people, seeing how her dad was treated, even after he was found not guilty with major proof. “So, what time do you head out to the rodeo?” she asked, tilting her head as she tried to guess the time in her head. ‘4:30. Waaaay too early for me.’

Jessie blinked in shock at the actual time he mentioned, “So, not early in the morning?” she asked, wondering if it would be weird for her to tag along with him. She was awake at five in the afternoon and was definitely ready to go by seven. “Would it be bad for me to show up at five?” Maybe customers weren’t allowed in till a little before seven, but she knew it couldn’t hurt to ask.

Jessie could see how that would make sense, seeing as it wasn’t just the rodeo. There were shops, and rides, and food trucks, making it a small carnival. “Would I be able to check out the horses before? Or is it participants only?” It meant running into other horses, actually maybe touching his horse, but it also meant, possible time with Jake.

“I can see the bulls? Are they actually mean?” Jessie always wondered how they took care of the animals if they hated being around humans so much. She didn’t want to admit out loud that she liked when he said with him. So at least she wouldn’t be shown around by some random she didn’t know. "What other livestock?" She raised an eyebrow, wondering what all was involved besides the events.