Entry
The yellow-gold grass rolled out on the hills before me. The grass was so thin that it had always reminded me of hair growing from deep in the earth. Of course, I knew that it was just grass, and definitely not hair, but when I was little, I remember playing in the endless grass, pretending I was simply a fly in the fur of a giant animal. Sometimes, I had believed it, thinking that what we called the earth was simply a huge animal.
But time had passed, and eventually I had come to rest on the fact that the earth was the earth, and I was the animal.
A girl with way too much rainbow in her outfit came to sat beside me. She was Kayo, a girl with a proud Native American heritage and a rainbow obsession. She was pretty, her silky black hair colored with rainbow highlights. Her jewelry was the traditional silver and turquoise, but she wore a rainbow shirt and jeans, with knee high boots.
"Heya Jess," she said, plopping down next to me.
"Hi Kayo," I said, smiling at her.
"So, what mischief are you up to today?" Kayo asked with a smile.
"I thought you were the mischief-maker!"
She shrugged, her smile turning into a joking frown. "Yeah, but I assume that you're making mischief when you ask to meet me on the outskirts of town, for seemingly no apparent reason."
I began to talk, but no sound came from my lips. After a moment, I stood up and began walking back toward the town.
"Wait, Jess!" Kayo yelled, scrambling up and running after me. I blew a stray strand of blonde hair out of my face, still walking.
"Geez, what's wrong?" she asked me, coming up beside me.
I shrugged, still walking. "It's not your fault, Kayo, it's the jerks from school," I said, finally looking over at her.
She raised an eyebrow, turning around and walking backward.
"You know, it's the middle of summer, you can relax about them," Kayo said, obviously confused.
I looked over at her, looking rather concerned. "Kayo, it's the fact that they're throwing things at us every time we enter the plaza."
Kayo regained her smile, turning back around and slinging a hand over my shoulders. "Look, Jess, we're badasses, and they think that we're too good for tourism. But they'll see! Badasses do what they want!"
I slapped the palm of my hand against my forehead at that statement.
Then I saw her turn serious, what I had found is a rather rare occurrence. "Look, Jess, it's because we don't do the act. Because you don't put on a cowboy hat and use a southern drawl, and I'm a Navajo girl who wears rainbow, with highlights in my hair, who calls herself Kayo for goodness sakes!" She said, saying it like it was ridiculous, which it was, "Look, Jess, they think that the tourists run on stereotypes, and they're afraid to attempt to prove that wrong. So, they won't let us go in there, so that they can make sure that the tourists aren't scared off. And you know what? We're too awesome for them, maybe the most awesome girls in Santa Fe! They're doing that because they're afraid of us, and because we won't change for them, and that's what makes us awesome!"
I smiled, finally happy, and slung my arm over her shoulders as well.
"Which reminds me, Kayo, what is your real name?" I asked, grinning.
She laughed, before saying, "I'm still not telling!"
"When will you tell?" I asked, still grinning at her.
"When we're wrinkly old women!"
