Beca has been on this farm for a total of two minutes, and she already wants to kill herself.
It's hot, it's quiet, it's dirty, and, worst of all?
Cows fucking stink.
"Rebeca!" Her grandmother, Edith, appears from around the old, probably moldy house, arms outstretched, approaching her. She looks just as old as she did when Beca last saw her three years ago.
"Grandma!" She responds with noticeably less enthusiasm, giving her an awkward hug. Her grandmother doesn't seem to notice, giving a bone-crushing embrace in exchange.
"Your grandfather and I are so happy to have you here for the summer, darling." Edith lets her go, but holds her at an arm's length.
"Yeah, where is the old man?" Beca raises an eyebrow, and Edith gestures down the dirt road, where you can just make out a little, man-made, wooden stand.
"Down at the stand, where you'll be working until you go back to California!"
The brunette tries her best not to release the groan she feels suddenly inclined to sigh, and nods. "God, I can't wait to do that!"
Her grandmother doesn't seem fazed by the sarcasm. Oh, Grandma, oblivious as always. She slings an arm around her granddaughter's shoulders and leads her to the house, Beca grabbing her suitcase and dragging it behind her.
"So, is there anything to do around here?" Beca pretends to be joking around, although being completely serious. Edith laughs all the same, holding the screen door open for her granddaughter.
"Of course!" She waves Beca off with a dismissive hand. "There's tons of outdoors for you to play with, you can help garden, deer sometimes even stop by! You can feed them leftover scraps!"
Beca nods slowly, raising her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Seems interesting."
"Oh, there's a reason so many people like to come out here!" Yeah, maybe to kill themselves. "Oh, there's a lake nearby, too!"
She nods, her interest slightly caught. She always liked swimming.
They stop outside a door on the second floor. "All right, darling, here's your room. Make yourself comfortable and then we're having dinner; you must be starving after that long car ride!"
The one dad sent me off on with three grocery bags full of shit with. "Oh, yeah definitely."
And, with that, Edith leaves Beca to her lonesome, heading down the stairs to do God-knows-what. Beca opens the door to her assigned bedroom for the summer sighing deeply at the paisley walls and the floral… Everything else.
She falls back onto the bed, arms played, groaning. This summer is going to suck.
"Hi, you wouldn't happen to have any peaches?"
Beca nods, squinting as to protect her eyes from the hot summer sun. "Uh, yeah, we just picked some today."
She's been here exactly 2 days, and today is her first day of working at the produce stand. So far, she has gotten a total of 5 costumers; she doesn't think the stand is as popular as her grandparents seem to think it is.
"Great!" The woman, who's holding a swollen, pregnant belly. One of those organic, new mothers, most likely. "I'll take a dozen of those, please. And a box of blackberries."
Beca nods, filling a woven basket with peaches and putting a smaller one holding blackberries in it, and hands it to the woman. "Fifteen dollars, please."
The pregnant woman hands her the money and nods, walking off in the opposite direction. Once she's out of sight, Beca sighs, leaning against the counter. She would rather be in school than be here, in the hot, dry country-side in Montana. Montana. Who lives in Montana?
"Hey, Stan, I'm just here to pick up—" Beca looks up to see a guy about her age standing in front of her, a look of slight confusion on his face. "You aren't Stan."
She holds out her hands and shrugs, as if to say, "Oh, well". "No, I'm not Stan, his granddaughter."
His eyebrows draw together, but he doesn't seem too disappointed. The boy rests his forearms on the counter, leaning forward. "So, not-Stan-"
"Beca."
"—why are you manning the glorious produce stand?"
She sighs. "I got in trouble because my dad found a pack of cigarettes in my dresser, which weren't even mine!" She rolls her eyes at the memory (note to self; never let Stacie leave her boyfriend's shit at your house). "So, I'm stuck here for the summer."
"Well, that's not much of a loss on my part." The boy grins crookedly, and she feels a jolt in her stomach. Is he flirting with her? "I'm Jesse."
He sticks out his hand for her to shake, and she takes it, shaking it somewhat awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, Jesse."
"You too, Beca." He nods, and there's an awkward silence as they hold contact on each other's eyes.
It ends up being her that breaks it. "So, uh, what is it that you want?"
He snaps out of his daze, sitting up and nodding again. "Uh, yeah, just my regular order." He says, as if she's supposed to know what his regular order is. She raises her eyebrows and he shakes his head, laughing. "Oh, yeah, you don't know what my regular order is. Um, six apples, six peaches, and two things of cherries."
She collects his order and puts it in the same kind of basket that she gave the pregnant woman earlier, handing it off to him. "Seventeen bucks, if you please."
"Of course." He pulls the money out of his back pocket, handing it to her. "See you next time, not-Stan." He turns on his heels, the basket tucked underneath his arms, and begins to walk down the dirt road.
"It's Beca!" She calls after him with a small smile.
"I know!" He replies, and then he's gone.
The smile still plays at her lips as she stares at where he just was. She feels annoyed, entertained, and intrigued, all at once. She doesn't know if she likes this Jesse kid or not.
"Hello, dear!" A voice comes from behind Beca, and she jumps, startled. The voice laughs as she spins around.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" Her grandmother chuckles, holding her hand over her chest. "I just wanted to check in on you on your first day on the job!"
Beca gives a meek smile. "Oh, it was fine, didn't have any mishaps, really."
Edith nods. "Well, that's good. Has Jesse stopped by yet?"
Beca nods at the mention of the boy she just met. "Oh, yeah, he was here, you just missed him."
Edith nods again, looking down the road where Jesse disappeared to. "What a nice boy. Sometimes helps us out at the farm, too! He's a regular around here, stops by every other day!" She meets eyes with Beca and gives a wink. "He's not bad looking, either, is he?"
Beca tries her best not to redden. "Um, I guess?"
Her grandmother throws her head back and laughs, turning around. "Have fun for the rest of the day, dear, make sure you're back at the house by 5:30 for dinner!"
"Okay, Grandma." She mumbles, not even sure the elder heard her. Another day done, three more months to go before she can go back home.