Don't you just hate stubborn people?
See, I'm not a stubborn person. I'm a friendly person. I'm a people's person. I like to make people feel welcome - appreciated. So when I find myself unappreciated, I get annoyed. Really annoyed. I can't help it. I've got a temper, see. My father always wondered why I hadn't inherited his fiery hair - I suppose I had, all along, even though it wasn't visible at a glance.
"Hello," I chirped, smiling at the dark haired man who stood before me. He leant over the wooden counter in front of him, a thick eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Hello..." he mirrored my greeting, the end of his sentence wavering. His voice was a little gruff.
"I'm Claire," I smiled again at him, holding out my right hand. He stared at it, and then slowly withdrew his own from within his trouser pocket.
"Marlin."
His short sentences irritated me slightly, but I chose to ignore that. Perhaps he was shy.
"I'm new here, in the valley."
"Yes," he nodded his head slowly, still eyeing me warily, as if I was some alien creature from outer space.
"I live on the farm," I informed him, keeping my tone light. I was sticking with the shy theory. "I need some crops." I waited for him to reply; and when he didn't, I pretended to cough, hurriedly filling the silence. "What do you have for sale?"
He had just stared at me, green eyes disbelieving. Then, stretching his arms a little, he yawned.
"If it's crops you're wanting, speak to Vesta."
I sat on the small, single, un-made bed, looking out of my window. The darkening sky made the farm appear even more foreign to me. I sighed, falling backwards to lay on my back. Forget Me Not Valley was different to how I had anticipated it to be. Sure, it was quiet, and pretty, and peaceful. The villagers were nice, greeting me pleasantly, some even presenting me with small welcome gifts. Already I had picked out a couple of girls who I could imagine being good friends with in the near future. Hell, I'd even seen a cute boy with silver hair wandering about. The only thing wrong was, farming wasn't all that'd I'd expected it to be. I mean - I was Claire. Claire, the city girl. Claire, the lazy school kid. Claire, the only teenager in her whole year to not go to college. Claire, who didn't have a job. Not Claire the farm girl.
My parents loved pointing out all my faults. It didn't actually seemed to bother me, though. I was never eager to get out there and start making money, either, like all the other kids; until I met Jack.
He was, well.. seriously cool. The run-down old farm down the road in Mineral Town was a place that nobody had ever dreamed could be revamped - until Jack came along. I swear, he turned it around in just a season. Everyone loved him - at one point, I think he even had a fanclub. He made huge amounts of cash from nature alone, and still had time to wander around town flirting, socialising and doing whatever the hell he wanted.
Of course, I immediantly wanted to be like him. Jack seemed impressed with this, when I told him. So impressed, that he even recommended a plot of land in a valley called Forget Me Not that he reckoned I could easily take over. I had jumped at the chance, leaving Mineral Town in a matter of weeks.
For some reason, I had this crazy idea that everything would be exactly like Jack's farm - perfect little gardens of tomatoes, carrots, turnips and onions, growing pleasantly side by side in squares. A barn, built from a rich red oak; even a readily made fence in which I could let my to-be chickens run free in. Of course, MY farm was nothing on Jack's. I don't think that I could even call it a farm - it was more so a rubbish heap.
Rolling over onto my side, I lifted my legs up to push against my chest. A comfort position; I remembered reading something about sleeping habits in one of my Mum's old yoga books. Surprised to feel a droplet of moisture against my eyelashes, I shut my eyes hurriedly. No use in crying; where did that get anyone these days?