They were an unlikely group of friends. All bundled up in each other's company in the comfort of the Brass Bar. It was one of the first nights in awhile where Kathy wasn't set to work the evening, and this riled bunch celebrated by, of course, getting a drink in the one place she would've rather have not been. But at this hour, it was the only place these friends were going to take a seat and drink a beer, maybe have some fun fruity drinks while talking about the latest gossip of the town. That was for sure Kathy's favorite thing to do, and while Molly didn't mind it she sure as heck didn't look for it. But with Kathy always came along trouble, which meant their friendship was in for the long haul. Molly didn't know what to expect when she first moved to Castanet last year; she expected to make some bank for a while and head back into the city to maybe take a hit at that career she had expected to lift off since she started college six years back. However, her search for a job was helpless and Castanet Island managed to call for her, and a year later she found herself comfortably stable. She didn't want to stay in Castanet, but the friends she made wouldn't let her go. Her heart was already convinced to stay, but her brain just needed the support from her troubled friends. They called themselves the Crew, a bunch of stragglers, a bunch of differences in a weird mix of five unlikely adults.
A farmer, a waitress, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and an archeologist. Molly, Kathy, Luke, Owen, and Calvin didn't expect to find themselves in the Brass Bar that night, for it was a Tuesday in the dead of Fall and no one usually stopped by on those days, and at ten o'clock at night. But the second word got around that Kathy finally had a night off, the Crew did only what any group of great friends would do; go get drinks.
Seat at a square table, Molly and Kathy sat next to each other, Molly directly in front of Calvin and Kathy directly in front of Owen. To Molly's right, at the head of the table, was Luke, suddenly holding his freshly poured beer up for the group, ready to make a toast.
"To Kathy's first night off, let's get drunk!" we all touched glasses, as Kathy leaned over and swatted his arm. His golden eyes widened, his orbs reflecting like suns, as he squeaked, "Hey!"
"My boss is right there!" she hissed through her teeth.
"Your boss is also your dad," Owen chimed in, squeezing her hand.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah yeah, so what? Still not trying to get fired."
Our laughter rolled over as we all took sips from our glass, the room empty and all of the noise being centered in our spot in the room. Hayden—Kathy's father and boss—was cleaning glasses behind the bar. Gentle conversation floated between the five of them, talking about what their days have been like and how work has been handling. Calvin was really onto something in the dig sight while Owen and Luke were both working on big projects in their part of the islands. Kathy explained how slow work has been lately and how they were trying to figure out ways to up the business again.
"Y'know, I heard Selena was looking for work," Molly chimed in. Kathy rolled her eyes over to glare at her.
"It's hard to make more money when we'll be spending it on extra work. I'm surprised my father hasn't fired me yet so that the bar doesn't have to shut down."
Molly shook her head. "I mean, Selena's a great dancer! Maybe if you guys had some entertainment, it would bring more people in."
"I'd come every night to watch her dance," Luke's eyes grew wide, as well as his smile. Both Kathy and Molly rolled their eyes in disgust.
Molly turned back to face Kathy, and shrugged. "May as well suggest the idea to your dad."
She sighed. "I suppose," she turned back to the table, clearly dropping the topic. "Alright, another round and then we head home?" We all nodded, as she whistled for her father to bring out one more round of drinks.
Just as Hayden was preparing his tray, Chase worked his way out of the kitchen, his apron draped over his shoulder and his head looking straight down at his feet. He started trudging fast past their table, before Molly looked up and caught his cream-colored locks across the way.
"Hey, Chase!" she called, smiling and waving.
Chase stopped in his tracks, and turned over to see Molly before breaking a smirk and waving back. He cautiously approached the group, before standing with a distance from the backs of Calvin and Owen.
"Hey, Molly."
"Didn't the kitchen close like, hours ago?" Luke wondered.
He nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "It closed at eight. But I still needed to clean up, and prep it for tomorrow so I could start with no delay."
"So, are you here this late every night?" Molly asked.
"Yeah. Hey sorry, I really should get going, I gotta be up early tomorrow to get started. I'll see you all around. Bye Molly," he waved them off, before walking out the door.
Kathy immediately found herself on Molly's shoulder, smiling like a fool. Molly glanced down at her, but her ponytail immediately got caught up in Molly's mouth as she attempted to spit the golden locks out. Kathy giggled, unmoved by the saliva coating her hair, as she cooed, "You so like him."
Molly, taken aback, replied, "What? I do not!"
"It's pretty adorable, actually," Calvin decided to hop on.
"Guys, I don't like anyone on the island," Molly glared between her four friends, giving them all a look. "Really."
"How could you be here for now a year and a half and say you haven't taken feelings for anyone?" Owen decided to join the conversation. "You said so yourself you weren't going to be here this long, something must've gotten you to stay."
"You guys!" she quickly retaliated. "You guys are my best friends. Some of the best I've ever had. I didn't want to leave you guys."
"I call bullshit!" Luke bellowed.
She scrunched up her nose and gave him a smack on the arm. He glanced between the two girls of the group and said, "Why does everyone keep hitting me?"
The girls both snickered, but Kathy quickly reeled the conversation back in. "But seriously, you have to like someone."
Molly shook her head. "Just because you and Owen have each other, and everyone else may like someone, doesn't mean that I do."
Owen squeezed Kathy's hand again, the two of them smiling adorably at one another. Their relationship was precious. They've been together since Molly moved to the islands, and a bit before that. All Molly knew was that in the Winter, their two year was approaching and Kathy said she wanted to make it memorable and special. However, she said that about nearly everything.
"Well what about you, huh, Calvin? Or Luke?" Molly's head flicked between the two of them that sat closest to her.
They both shook their heads. "No one," Calvin replied, "but my dig sight."
"Or my axe," Luke leaned on his hands, "Axel is my one true love."
Now the table collectively rolled their eyes. Nobody could ever stomach the fact that Luke took it to the extreme of naming his axe. If it were legal, none of us would have been surprised if he actually did end up marrying it. Or her. No one was quite to sure what to say around him, he took the subject of his axe very seriously, and very sensitively.
When Hayden walked over with the drinks, Luke couldn't help it but lift his glass for yet another toast. Everyone, realizing quickly Luke's love for toasts, mirrored his actions, while Luke said, "Cheers to all of us. To happy lives, and to hoping that Molly will finally find someone to like. For once. Cheers!"
But little did anyone at that table know the lies that were floating between the five. Some of the lies were yet to be born. Some of them were hovering between one another currently. People took interests in some that they never expected to feel things for. Some watch their relationships grow and dissipate with time. Some dig deeper to find only lust, some dig even further to strike love. Nevertheless, Castanet Island was taking a ride. Relationships, deceit, and secrets were in the air, in the water, all around: and there was no escaping from it. Twisted, right?
A/N: Hey everyone! So I realize that I currently am still working on Reflection. Updates are still going to be happening with that! However, this idea popped into my head and I kind of wanted to get it down. I really try my best not to write things that are solely about love and relationships, but for some reason Harvest Moon just does that to me. So if you're looking for more relationship drama, here it is. Also, side note: I never played Animal Parade. I have played Tree of Tranquility, but I realize that Animal Parade is probably something more people would like to read just a bit more so PLEASE HANG TIGHT AND I'M SORRY IF I GET ANYTHING WRONG. I'm trying my best to educate myself so that I can produce this in the best version I can (hey, at least I know the majority of the characters, right?) Last thing: sorry this chapter is short, it's more like a prologue than a Chapter 1. It just kind of sets up a bit of the scene and the direction this story is going to take. Also sorry for the extremely long author's note. Thanks for reading!