Hey guys. This is the first chapter to this story, and I worked pretty hard on it. Hopefully you'll like it! Please don't forget to review at the end of the story, that helps me a bunch when writing the next chapters. Thanks, and enjoy!
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Claire's POV
The sun beamed down on me as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I dipped my watering can into the small pool one last time, and walked over to the many rows of turnips that scattered my field. Tipping the watering can over the thirsty crops, I sprinkled an even amount of water onto each turnip.
Finally, today's work was done. I glanced at my watch – it was only 1:30. I decided to pay Ann a visit for a lunch break, hopefully avoiding some certain people along the way.
I jumped over a few rocks enthusiastically while I ran over to grab my basket, just before setting off up the road.
It must have been around 15 minutes later when I reached the familiar sight of the Inn. Opening the door, I looked around and saw Ann, who looked at me in return and waved.
"Claiiiireee!" she yelled happily, grabbing two plates of apple pie (one of my absolute favorites, by the way), and ran over to a table, gesturing for me to come and sit down also.
"Hey, Ann. You look in an awfully good mood today," I commented, picking up a fork and taking a bite out of the apple pie. Oh, it was so delicious! Ann was a fantastic cook.
"I am, now that you're here!" she giggled, apparently laughing on the expression on my face as I took a bite of the apple pie.
"Mm," I said, unable to help myself, "Ann… you should think about becoming a professional cook. I mean, really, this is delicious!"
I caught Ann blush slightly at my comment, "Thanks, but I'm sure you're not too shabby yourself," she replied, glancing toward my direction. Before I had a chance to reply, I caught Ann blushing again. I wondered what – or who – she saw, and I turned around to see a bashful Cliff.
"H-hey, Ann… Hi, C-claire," he stuttered, turning a dark shade of red at the sight of Ann. I bit my lip, trying to hold in a laugh.
"Hi, Cliff…" Ann muttered in response, but showed no change in face color.
"Well," I said after a few moments of awkward silence, "I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone," I said, bringing my empty plate to the counter for Ann. I noticed that Cliff and Ann's faces grew an even darker shade of red at my comment.
"Thanks for the pie, Ann, it really was delicious!" I said before taking my leave out the door, leaving the two tomatoes to fend for themselves.
I took a left and walked further up the path and into the supermarket. I saw Karen, lazily yawning, and Jeff, looking somewhat sick. I walked up to the counter which contained flour, oil and chocolate. I bought some of each, and walked over to Jeff to purchase them.
"T-that will be 350G, p-please," Jeff stuttered. I couldn't help but smile as I laid the cash out in front of him.
"Thanks," I said, Jeff nodding in reply as he handed me the goods.
I walked over to Karen, who seemed mightily interested in the wrapping paper on the shelf.
"Hey, Karen," I called out. She jumped and snapped out of her trance, looking over toward me.
"Oh! Claire! Sorry, I didn't see you. I was spacing out," she laughed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's okay," I laughed, "I do that a lot,"
"So, anything new?" she asked me as she leaned against a counter.
"No, not really. I stopped by the Inn and talked with Ann…" I giggled, "only to later be interrupted by a very flustered Cliff."
She laughed, "I wonder when they're going to stop being so shy around each other? I mean, Goddess, Cliff's been staying at the Inn for what, a year or so now?" she asked.
"Yeah, if not more," I replied.
I heard bells near the door, indicating that someone had walked in. I turned around to find Saibara and… Gray. Great, just what I needed. A nice, friendly chat with my favorite person Gray.
"Hey, Jeff!" Saibara called happily over to the shop care-taker. "Gray and I were just over to pick up those supplies I asked you about," he continued, when he glanced over in our direction.
"Sure thing," Replied Jeff, "C-come on, Karen, h-help me find those things for t-these gentlemen." He stuttered, getting off his stool and walking towards the doorway connecting the back room.
I glanced over at Karen, who had a worried look planted on her face. She whispered to me, "Don't tear anyone's limbs up while we're gone, okay?" which probably meant Gray's.
"Hmph," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest.
I saw Saibara say something to Gray from across the shop, who then turned to follow Jeff.
It was probably a warning similar to what Karen said to me.
An agitated Gray watched as his grandfather walked out the door, who then started to glare at me.
"What are you looking at?!" I snapped at him after a few moments.
"A loudmouth brat, I'm guessing. I don't see anyone else in this room, so that must mean you."
I gritted my teeth, trying to stop myself from lunging at him. It's a good thing we're on opposite sides of the room, I thought to myself. I heard some laughter from the room behind me.
"Why did you come with, anyway?" I asked him in an irritated tone.
"Why do you care where I go and what I do?" He growled in an equally irritated tone.
"I don't." I said, "But you don't seem exactly like the shopping type. Unless I'm wrong, and you have a feminine side that I'm not aware of?"
"Maybe I have a few things to pick up," he replied angrily, his fists now clenched into balls. "You should keep your dirty nose out of other people's business," he added, which influenced me to take a step forward.
"You think my nose is dirty? Why don't you come and take a closer look, and we'll see who's is dirtier!" I exclaimed, flailing my fist in the air with a slight punching motion.
"I think I already know the answer! I mean, really, do you ever shower?" he yelled, now showing much anger in his already gruff voice.
"Ugh!" I screamed, stomping up to him. "What's your problem? Can't you even TRY to get along? I was doing just fine until you came along!" I yelled in his face.
"As was I! Thanks to you, my day is ruined!" he yelled back.
I opened my mouth to scream back at him, when the back door flung open and a worried Karen and Saibara ran out, followed by Jeff.
"What's going on here?!" Saibara yelled, directing the question to Gray rather than to both of us.
"N-nothing," Gray muttered, shooting daggers at my eyes. Karen looked at me, then shook her head.
"Can't you two ever get along?" she asked.
"Maybe we could, if grumpy here," I yelled as I pointed at Gray and poked him hard in the chest, "could handle his emotions instead of lashing out on everyone!"
"Me?!" he yelled, glaring angrily at me, "You were the one screaming like you were some crazy animal!"
Again, I opened my mouth to respond, but was interrupted by an angry old man's voice.
"Gray, that's enough. Get your things and let's go. I'm sorry for your trouble, Claire," Saibara said as he nodded apologetically toward me. I watched as Gray picked up his stuff and stormed out the door.
"Thanks, Jeff. See you, Karen," Saibara called over his shoulder as he left the building also.
I glanced over toward Karen when they left. She was still shaking her head at me.
"It's not my fault he's always in a bad mood," I said as an excuse to stop her head from shaking.
Jeff looked confused, and sick, as usual. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the doorknob. "I'm going to go," I called to Karen. She waved as I walked out.
Gray's POV – before the argument
Grandpa had said he needed to pick up some supplies from Jeff, and asked if I wanted to come with. I nodded, not having anything better to do anyway. We walked up the path and past the library and the Mayor's house, opening the door to the Store as we reached the destination. I looked around and immediately saw her. Claire. A sick feeling crawled over me as I scowled at her and my grandpa shot me a look of warning.
"Hey, Jeff!" grandpa called to the store-owner. Why does he always look like he's going to puke? I wondered.
"Gray and I were just over to pick up those supplies I asked you about," he continued as I noticed him look over at Claire and Karen. "Sure thing," Jeff said, "C-come on, Karen, h-help me find those things for t-these gentlemen."
I saw Karen whisper something in Claire's ear, just as grandpa whispered something in mine.
"You behave yourself, boy. We don't need any more of your bickering… especially not here."
I grunted unhappily as I glared at the blonde, putting my hands in my pockets.
She stared at me for a few minutes in return before snapping.
"What are you looking at?!" she yelled.
"A loudmouth brat, I'm guessing. I don't see anyone else in this room, so that must mean you." I replied. I could hear faint laughter in the room where grandpa, Jeff and Karen recently walked into.
"Why did you come with, anyway?" she yelled in an irritated tone.
"Why do you care where I go and what I do?" I growled back in an equally irritated tone.
"I don't." she said, "But you don't seem exactly like the shopping type. Unless I'm wrong, and you have a feminine side that I'm not aware of?" I saw her smirk at her own comment.
"Maybe I have a few things to pick up," I replied anger rising in my voice, my fists now clenched into balls. "You should keep your dirty nose out of other people's business," I added. I noticed she took a step forward before talking again.
"You think my nose is dirty? Why don't you come and take a closer look, and we'll see who's is dirtier!" she exclaimed, flailing her fist in the air with a slight punching motion.
"I think I already know the answer! I mean, really, do you ever shower?" I yelled, now feeling even more anger rise in my voice.
"Ugh!" she screamed, stomping up to me. "What's your problem? Can't you even TRY to get along? I was doing just fine until you came along!" she yelled in my face.
"As was I! Thanks to you, my day is ruined!" I yelled back.
She opened her mouth to scream back at me, when the back door flung open and a worried looking Karen and grandpa ran out, followed by Jeff.
"What's going on here?!" grandpa yelled, directing the question to me rather than to both of us.
"N-nothing," I muttered, shooting daggers at the brat's eyes. I saw Karen shaking her head in the corner of my eyes.
"Can't you two ever get along?" she asked.
"Maybe we could, if grumpy here," she yelled as she pointed at me and poked my chest, "could handle his emotions instead of lashing out on everyone!" I have to admit, she had guts to poke me like that, although it made me even more angry.
"Me?!" I yelled, glaring angrily at her, "You were the one screaming like you were some crazy animal!"
She opened her mouth once again to respond, but was interrupted by an angry old man's voice.
"Gray, that's enough. Get your things and let's go. I'm sorry for your trouble, Claire," grandpa said as he nodded apologetically toward me. She should be the one apologizing, I thought as I quickly gathered my stuff and stormed out the door, slamming it behind me.
I stomped down the path, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. Everytime Claire and I were in the same room together, I felt this sudden urge to tear her apart. We almost ALWAYS fought, the result being nothing good.
Luckily, this time, grandpa came out in time to stop the fight. Most of the time he'd let us resolve it (which, might I add, we never did), but I guess he didn't want Jeff and Karen to have to deal with a riot.
I frowned as I remembered her rude outburst, which was the reason I got upset.
"What are you looking at?!"
Everything would have been fine, if it weren't for that. What a brat.
I sighed as I started to walk faster toward the Inn. I glanced at my watch, it read 4:46.
I opened the door to the Inn once I arrived, and looked around to the 3 men at the bar counter. Rick, who was sitting on the end, Cliff, sitting next to him, and Tim, sitting a couple stools away from Cliff. Ann looked up from her sandwich-making when I approached the counter.
"Heeey, big brother! What's wrong with you?" she asked, noticing my scowl.
"Nothing. Just a lovely encounter with a certain blonde," I said, taking a seat next to Cliff.
Ann seemed to wince a bit when I told her that, then asked jokingly, "Aw, did poor little Gray get beat up by big, mean Claire?"
"Shut up," I grumbled, "you're putting me in an even worse mood," I said as I glared at her.
"Sorry," she giggled, and continued chopping cucumbers and tomatoes.
"You guys should really start trying to get along," Cliff said after a while of silence. "One of these days someone's going to end up getting hurt," he said seriously.
"Hopefully it'll be her," I growled.
"Hey," Ann said rather loudly, "that's my friend you're talking about, big guy. Don't you go trying to hurt Claire, now!"
I rolled my eyes as I stole a piece of cucumber that Ann just cut up and popped it into my mouth.
"See you guys later," I said as I trudged up the stairs and into my bedroom.
Claire's POV – The next day
I awoke to the tapping of rain on my windowsill as I slowly opened my eyes. Glancing over at my alarm clock, I noticed the time: 7:39.
I lazily crawled out of bed, somewhat glad that it was raining so that I didn't have to water my crops today. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my green sweatshirt, a gray scarf and a pair of jeans. I put on my clothes and started to make some breakfast. Pancakes sounded good today, although I wasn't exactly the master chef when it came to pancakes. Too bad Ann wasn't here, I thought to myself.
I made the pancakes, and after they were done, I grabbed my gray and white beanie hat that I liked to wear on cold days, and went to feed my chickens. Opening the door, they started clucking happily. At least, I think they were happy. Hey, I'm not the chicken whisperer. That's what we have Rick for.
I grabbed some feed from the bin and threw some into each chicken's feed box. They sure seemed excited for their food, but they couldn't possibly be that hungry. I shrugged and walked out the door, heading for the barn now. The cows and sheep were sleeping when I walked in, but awoke to the smell of fresh hay. I gave some to all three cows and all three sheep. I brushed and stroked each one before I left for the horse shed. I had three horses, Snow, a white horse who's fur was almost identical to the color of snow, Buddy, a brown and white paint who was feisty, and Beauty, a black stallion with a white diamond on his forehead and four white socks. I patted each one and brushed them, giving them each a treat.
Once done with my chores, I decided to go visit Mary, since it was 10:30.
I walked out of the shed and headed up the familiar path toward the blacksmith's, and kept walking north until I reached the library. Mary seemed to see me through the window, since she had a happy look before I walked inside.
"Claire, how good to see you!" she said as I took off my beanie and scarf and laid them on the coat rack near the doorway.
"Hey, Mary. Are you working on your novel?" I asked, noticing the pen she was holding in her hand.
"I was, but I found a case of writer's block, so I'm glad you came to visit at the time you did!" she said and I laughed at her joke. I looked around and caught a cowboy hat laying on the ground.
"Who's is that?" I asked, pointing to the hat.
"Oh, that's mine… I got it as a gift when I was visiting a ranch," she said, smiling, "Not that I've ever worn it anyway. I just found it in my closet as I was cleaning."
"Huh," I said as I picked it up. It had brown leather, with a black strap around the middle. I put it on my head, stood up, put my hand on my hip and smirked at Mary.
"How do I look?" I said in the best Elvis accent I could manage.
She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "You'd make a wonderful cowboy… or an Elvis impersonator!" she said, laughing.
"Thank you, thank you very much," I said, bowing as the hat fell off my head.
"Oh, Claire," she said, giggling, "You always know how to brighten my day."
"I try," I said, smiling. I set the hat back in it's place and walked over to one of the bookshelves. There were only about 3 books in place.
"Mary, why are there only three books here?" I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Oh! That's right! I had completely forgotten," she said, looking over toward a stack of books on the floor. "These books came in yesterday, and I haven't had the time to put them on the shelves."
"I'd be happy to help!" I said, running over to the messy stack of books. I grabbed a couple armfuls and walked carefully over to the bookcase. Placing each neatly in alphabetical order, I gleamed at Mary.
"Thanks, Claire, but you really don't have to do that," she said, smiling. "I'm sure you have work to do at your farm that I wouldn't want to keep you from,"
"No, I've finished my work already," I said, walking over to Mary and poking her in the nose, "So don't you worry about me. I'll help you clean up while you think up a cure for that nasty writer's block," I giggled, walking over to grab up more books.
"Well, thanks, Claire." She smiled, returning to her novel writing. I placed the books into the bookshelf, taking a pause every now and then to count letters.
After a few moments of silence, besides the sounds of books hitting the wood on the bookshelves, I finished putting the books away and stifled a yawn.
"Mary," I said quietly, not wanting to disturb her from her writing. "Do you mind if I take a short nap here?"
"Go right ahead, darling," she said, smiling.
I grabbed the cowboy hat I had recently been playing with and put it over my face, slouching down in one of the chairs.
I drifted off into a deep sleep after a while of closing my eyes.
Gray's POV
I walked into the library, waving at Mary as she waved in return. She looked at me for a few moments, when suddenly her face turned into a worried expression as she glanced at the sleeping body in the chair.
I didn't know who it was at first, until I saw a strand of blonde hair hanging out from under her coat and that hat she had on her head.
Damnit. We always bump into eachother at the wrong times. I thought angrily as I walked up to the counter Mary was sitting at.
"What's she doing here?" I muttered, trying to stay as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake up screaming at me.
"She came to help me put some books away," she said, pointing to a now full bookcase. "She got tired and asked if she could take a short nap here. I told her it was fine," she said, looking over to Claire.
"Why'd you do that? She could have went back to her farm…" I grumbled, a frown on my face.
"She looked really tired. I was afraid she'd pass out on the way back, and then she'd get sick from the rain." She said, giggling.
I shook my head as I walked over to one of the bookcases. I took out a random book and sat down as far away as possible from little miss bratty, opened my book, trying to get interested in what it was saying.
A few moments later, I heard a groan in the direction of the blonde. She appeared to have been waking up, and I glanced at Mary. She just smiled at Claire and said, "Good morning, sleepy head,"
Claire jumped and yelled, "It's morning?!" I rolled my eyes. Mary giggled and said, "It's only 3:30, silly. Don't get so worried."
She sat up fully now, pulling off her coat and taking off the cowboy hat. She seemed to spot me almost immediately.
She scowled in my direction, as she crossed her arms over her chest while she let out a small "hmph,".
"Chill out, I didn't do anything yet," I said, rather irritated by her behavior.
"Yet is the keyword there," she muttered, looking at Mary.
"Guys… please don't start fighting," she pleaded, looking from me to blonde.
Oblivious to her pleading, she continued on. "Why do you always follow me wherever I go? I mean, don't you have anyone else to stalk?" she exclaimed angrily.
"Maybe you just happen to be in my line of target!" I snapped back, pointing at her from across the room.
"You know, as much as I'd like to keep arguing with you over nothing," she growled, "I don't think Mary needs the extra noise. So, for her sake, I'm leaving. Bye, Mary," she said as she got up from her chair, put her beanie on her head and that scarf around her neck while she trudged out the door, into the rain.
Now that was something different. Usually she'd stay until she couldn't bear to stay awake any longer to argue with me. I guess Mary had some magic touch with her and her arguing.
I pulled my hat down to cover my face as I caught Mary glaring at me. "I hate it when you two fight, I really do…" she said, returning to her novel writing. I said nothing and continued to read the book in my hands.
Claire's POV
What an ass! I hate that man, HATE him. He ALWAYS had to say something that pissed me off enough to say something back, triggering another comment from him, and so on and so forth, until we had to be interrupted by someone before we hurt eachother.
I walked up to the Inn. I felt like talking to Ann before the big, redheaded jerk-o-saurus left the library. Once I got there, I opened the door and trudged angrily to a seat at the bar next to Karen.
"Hey Claire," both Ann and Karen said almost simultaneously.
"Hi," I grumbled, putting my head in my hands.
"What's wrong?" Ann asked as I caught her glancing toward Karen.
"Your brother, that's what." I stated firmly.
"You guys got into another argument?" Karen asked.
"Yeah, like we always do. A stupid, good for nothing argument about something completely ridiculous. I left the library before Mary could yell at us. I could tell she was already getting annoyed by us…" I replied to both of them.
"He's just looking for attention," Ann giggled.
I rolled my eyes as I let a "hmph," escape from my lips. For some reason, I found that hard to believe.
We talked a while longer before I glanced at my watch. 4:03. That means Gray'll be on his way here soon. I'd better leave before I bump into him again.
"I'm going to go. Gray is probably on his way here," I said, standing up and walking toward the door.
"Bye!" called Ann.
"See you, Claire," waved Karen.
Claire's POV
I had my pillow on top of my head as I heard birds singing near my window. Thanks to them, I didn't really need an alarm clock. I tried to get up, but my feet were all tangled up in my blankets. I kicked them off angrily, walking over to make some cereal. I thought in my head what I was going to do today. I figured I'd probably take Snow out for a ride, she needed some excersise. I got up and walked over to the sink as I finished my bowl of cereal, rinsing the leftover milk in the water. I got to my dresser and pulled out some white kapri's with a gray, snug t-shirt. I put on some white gloves for harvesting turnips and walked outside.
Man, it was quite hot out this morning. It felt good though, compared to yesterday's shower.
I didn't water the crops today, as they had probably gotten quite enough for today from the rain. I harvested all my turnips and threw them into the shipping bin. I took care of the cows, sheep and chickens as I let them outside to graze today. I grabbed the honey from the tree and skipped over to the horse shed, anxious to take Snow for a ride. I'm sure she was anxious, too. She hadn't gotten to go out for a ride in quite a while.
I heard all three horses whinny happily as I walked in the stable door. "Hey cuties," I called, grabbing each of their reins and led them outdoors. Beauty and Buddy seemed to run off right away once they got outside, excited to be in the hot weather.
I kept Snow beside me as I crawled onto her back, tapping her sides so she'd move into a slow trot. We moved up the path as we took a right toward the inn. Checking my watch, I saw it was 9:30. I stopped Snow in front of the inn, as she jerked backward at the pressure of the reins.
"Woah, what's the matter with you?" I asked quietly. She snowed absolutely no sign of aknowledgement, but rather stomped her foot and tilted her ears back.
I suddenly felt nervous on the horse. I then noticed what caught her eye – a squirrel. She was terrified of squirrels, for some reason. I didn't know why, because neither of the other two were afraid of them. If I tried to get off, she might throw me off and trample me. If I stay on, there's a chance I can hold on if she tries to do anything.
So, I went with plan B. I stayed on the horse for a while longer, before she suddenly started backing up in a rather fast pace. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't stop. She just kept backing up.
She's going to run into the fence, I thought to myself.
And, in a flash, she reared up with me on her back, neighing loudly. She came back down and stomped the ground, just before rearing again. She repeated this process, ignoring my pleas to calm down. All of a sudden, I was thrown off the horse and onto the fence behind us. I hit my back hard, along with a blow to the head from the hard cement. She turned around and faced me, her ears tilted back. I heard the door to the inn swing open, watching as a wide-eyed Ann and Gray came running out.
Ann tried calling to Snow, but it only made it worse. She jumped toward me, landing directly on my arm and my wrist to my opposite arm. I screamed in pain, tears forming in my eyes. Snow was even more surprised at my scream, as she reared again and stomped on my wrist once more. I was crying by now, the vision in my eyes blurring. Soon, everything became even more blurry, and I became very dizzy. I started to close my eyes from the unbearable pain, not really paying attention to my surroundings. Sooner or later, I recognized the smell of the clinic. Not knowing when, how, or why I was there, I was utterly confused. A few moments later I could hear the voices around me becoming fainter and fainter, when eventually, I must have passed out.
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I'll be working on my next chapter soon, it will probably be up in either next week or maybe even a few days. It all depends on school!
Please leave reviews and tell me what suggestions you might have, or if you have any tips on anything.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to check back soon for chapter 2. :)