A/N: I know this is a lot longer than most stories (or at least chapters) I usually do, but most of it is flash back and I felt the need to get that all in one chapter. When you see this: ~*~*~*~*~*~ it's Angela remembering, so not all the details are there, just what she remembers of the time. Hope you enjoy. May or may not update, depends if it gets enough reviews. Very loosley based on the song Is she the Reason by Destiny's Child. I will try to name each chapter (if there are anymore) after a song because everybody can relate to songs at a certain level. Miserable at Best is by Mayday Parade in case you want to look it up.

I don't own these characters or the songs Is She the Reason and Miserable at Best.

It happened fast. Real fast. First Candace and Julius, Owen and Kathy, then Luna and Gill, all in one season. "Don't worry, Angela. You'll find your soul mate soon enough. Despite how much I pick on you, you're a really cool person!" Luna had said after her and Gill's wedding day. I was there to congratulate them, but Luna could see through my fake smile.

It's not that I couldn't get a guy, because believe it or not, I was dainty and had boys drooling all over me before I moved to this island. It's just that the first few years I was here, I was working on expanding my farm. Growing tons of bulk and muscle, I grew out of that dainty category. I was still attractive with my largish brown puppy dog eyes and cute little cowlick, but my main problem was that I always let people down when they asked to hang out, busy milking cows or harvesting crops. The first few seasons people asked me to the bar or go to a Summer Festival with them, but I was always too busy. And now I was being punished for that decision.

After a while all those invitations halted with Chase and Luna being the only ones asking me to go anywhere. Luna and I became friends while I worked part-time there trying to earn some more money for another sheep. She was actually a really nice person inside, after you got on her good side. Once I earned enough money and bought Caroline (that's the sheep's name), we bonded on how cute the wooly little lamb was. She visited to collect some yarn regularly and I was more than happy to exchange the wool for money and a little of Luna's spare time.

Although Luna was a good friend, Chase was no doubt my best. We knew each other before we both came to Waffle Island, coming here together. We were best friends in high school and after we graduated we wanted to leave far away from North Carolina, where we both grew up in an orphanage. We were used to living together, so when he found a tiny little house on a remote island, well, I couldn't say no. I still remember the day he asked me to come with him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I've figured this all out, Angela. It's perfect! There's this small little island off the coast of Australia and I'll get to be a chef at this place called the Sundae Inn, you'll get to go into the agriculture business and own a farm, it's far away from this town, tons of people our age…"

"Whoa slow down, tiger. I'm surprised you managed to get that all out in one breath," I said, laughing. Laughing because I was happy. Because I believed him when he said that everything would be perfect. But he looked like he was hiding something from me. "What's the catch?" I asked him, a skeptical look drawn upon my face.

"Um… we'll have to move into the same apartment together," he said nervously.

"That's it? Chase, I would stay in the same apartment with you for the rest of my life if I had to. It's not an issue for me," I said, running up and hugging him. "You are a magic man," I said into his ear.

And he's still one today.

"When do we leave?" I asked him, pulling away from the embrace.

"There's a boat leaving tomorrow," he responded.

"Perfect, the sooner, the better," I said, beaming a wide, toothy smile.

"There's another catch though."

"Oh no, this can't be good."

"There's only one ticket. And I already bought it. You should go. I need to say goodbye to everyone anyways," he said quickly, not giving me a choice of if I wanted to or not.

"Who do you have to say goodbye to? I don't want to leave without you, Chase."

"Will, Andy, David, Hal," he said, naming off some recognizable names. "You'll be fine, Angie. It's not an island full of murderers. Besides, it's a nonrefundable ticket," he said, pulling the ticket from his pocket and waving it in the air.

"Okay, I'll go. When are you going to get there?"

"There's another boat leaving the first of Fall. I'll be on it."

"Two months in an apartment by myself? How am I supposed to live without you?" I said, falling to my knees and being purposely way too overdramatic.

"Get up. You'll get your pants dirty," he said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll get along just fine. And when have I ever been wrong?"

So, the next day, I left. There was this weird captain named Pascal who asked too many questions for his own good. Shaking nervous at starting out alone, when a storm came, I'm ashamed to say, I passed out. When I woke up, there was a weird smell of waffles in the air. Then I remembered where I was. Yeah, Waffle Town. It seemed like some kind of hotel with many rooms. I went downstairs to be greeted by three people. They told me their names were Yolanda, Colleen, and Jake. When they told me I was at the Sundae Inn, my face lit up in recognition. I knew I'd heard it before… Oh! That's where Chase got his job. I smiled thinking about him. The three people must have thought I looked crazy, but Chase always made me smile even when he wasn't around.

Then this weird guy with gray hair sticking up everywhere walked in thinking he owned the place. When he told me he was the mayor I blushed at what I just thought. Technically, he did own the place. He owned the whole freaking island! He told me to follow him and I was so flabbergasted, that I did. He led me to this one place called Soufflé Farm. It was old, ratty, and worst of all, it wasn't mine. The mayor ditched me there and I had to follow this grouchy guy, Craig's orders. Not like he taught me anything I didn't already know. Agriculture was always my best subject and I made tons of gardens outside the orphanage. The only helpful thing he did was made me deliver some crops to people in town. I got to meet some of them, even though the ones I did meet were creeps. There was this one guy named Jin, who I never would've guessed was a guy if Anissa, Craig's daughter, wouldn't have been flirting with him.

The mayor came to check on me a few days later. He told me they had a house for me. I looked at him questioningly, knowing I was supposed to share an apartment with Chase. Then he dropped the bomb that it was free. Boy, that got me going. I was so ecstatic, thinking that my excellent farming skills got us a bigger place to stay at, until I asked the mayor and he said that Jake, Chase's employer, was paying for a separate house to be built specially for Chase. Not living with Chase? My heart made a hollow sound in my heart. Maybe everything wouldn't be perfect after all…

I called Chase as soon as I got this news. He picked up on the third ring.

"Chase?" I asked.

"Is something wrong, Angela?" he asked. Maybe he could hear the hollow bump-bump of my heart.

"No, I just wanted to tell you that we got our own houses. Mine is going to be right next to the farm and yours is going to be by this little lake. It's cozy enough, I guess."

"And how are we going to afford these houses?"

"That's the thing," I said, "They're giving them to us for free." The hollowness in my heart seemed to slowly creep it's way too my stomach when he seemed much more enthusiastic than I was. What I would give for one of Chase's chocolate pies right about now…

"That's awesome!" he shouted.

"Yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Okay, well, I can't wait to get there and see our new homes."

"I bet."

"Well, I gotta go."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye, Angela," and he hung up. I clicked my cell phone shut, empty-hearted.

For the next two seasons I worked my butt off on the farm, spending a little time at the tailor shop trying to earn money. Luna became one of the only people I talked to.

Then the day when Chase arrived came. I circled the date on my calendar forty-three times, one for every day I was feeling lonely. He called sometimes, but he was busy doing who knows what and had to leave soon after. I waited for him down by the dock and when he came off the boat, I ran up and wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could.

"God, I missed you like crazy," I murmured into his peach-colored hair.

"I know what you mean," he said, smiling. Then he pulled back to take a good look at me. "Putting on some muscle, I see. Always knew you would be perfect at whatever you set your mind to." I blushed at the compliment then pulled him back into another gigantic hug.

"So where is this house of mine? I have a few bags of luggage to put down before you can give me the grand tour," he said.

I smiled sheepishly and led him to his house, a house I had stopped and stared at many times on my way to the Tailor Shop. Once inside, I allowed him to set his bags down, then told him that I actually had no idea where anything was besides the two houses and a couple necessary shops.

"Angie? I'm ashamed of you. You're a sociable person, you should've explored more!"

"Sorry. I was busy with farm work and trying to earn extra money working part-time. But as I recall, you were the one who stayed behind to say goodbye to everyone."

"I was kidding. Don't worry, nobody blames you. I guess we'll both have to get the grand tour from somebody else. But who?"

I thought it would be a good idea for him to be led around by his employer, so I showed him where the Sundae Inn was located.

"Wow, my first job," he said, awe filling the brim of his eyes. We went in the door only to find a quirky looking blonde girl with braids that defied the laws of gravity.

"Hello there! Are you visiting Waffle Island? I'm Maya and I'm the waitress here," she said rather mechanically. "What's your name?" she asked, but she wasn't looking at me. She only had eyes for Chase.

"I'm Chase," he said, figuring I knew her.

"And I'm Angela. I actually moved here about two seasons ago, but this is Chase's very first day."

"Oh! So you're the girl who owns the farm? Are you guys married? The closeness is so mutual!" she said, a dream-like state taking over her.

I quickly backed away, not wanting to ruin his chances with her. Despite her quirkiness, she was cute, in a slutty kind of way.

"Umm, no, we're not married. We're actually best friends. We were supposed to move into an apartment together, but then that Hamilton guy offered me a free house, I found out Jake would pay for Chase's lodging, and it all just kind of fell into place," I said. I recognized a surprised look on Chase's face, probably still in shock from the question about us being married. Then again, maybe he was captivated by Maya's good, trampish looks.

"Oh yeah, my dad always pays for all his employees' houses. Chase is actually the only employee right now not a part of our family, so it doesn't matter too much. The house also comes fully furnished. I bet Luke and Dale are furnishing it right this very moment." Jake, her dad? Wow, that was a real shocker.

"Wow, you hear that, Chase? It comes fully furnished. How cool!" I said, a little too enthusiastically for my own good.

"Um… yeah, cool," he said, then turned to Maya. "Would you mind giving us a tour? Angela actually hasn't been out much or else I would force her to give it to me, but she hardly knows anybody," he said, playfully punching me in the arm. I used to cower away everytime he did that, but after earning the extra layer of bulk, I hardly felt it. He seemed surprised about me not doing anything, but I think he got over it. That wasn't the only thing that made me his friend. Or at least, I hoped not.

"Sure thing, hon," she said grabbing her jacket and running out the door to the crisp, Autumn air. First she led us up to the Maple Lake District, where, as she predicted, two men were carrying a double bed into Chase's new house. It sounded weird in my head, not Chase and Angie's house, but Chase's house.

"Hey there, Luke!" she called, waving her hands rapidly in the air to the young man with a bandana wrapped around his blue hair.

"Hey, Maya. What's up?" he called, a bead of sweat on his forehead from carrying the bed inside.

"The new tenant arrived here today. His name's Chase. And this is Angela. She owns the farm in the Caramel River District. She doesn't seem to know her way around here yet, so I'm giving them both a tour."

"Cool! If you own a farm, you'll need an axe. Here, you can have my old one" he said in a way too over enthusiastic tone. If it were a few pitches higher I would probably mistake it for a Barbie doll's. Then he pulled something from a rucksack on his back and gave it to me. I smiled because it was the polite thing to do, but the axe looked a little too sharp to be new.

The tour in actuality was pretty boring, so I don't remember most of it. I remember a couple times Maya would kind of put the moves on Chase and I would feel the blood boil inside me, but other than that, I don't even remember most of the people's names. I know in the Ganache Mine District there was this guy with red hair and great abs. He even gave me his hammer then said something about me being too skinny. I made it my personal goal to bulk up even more with the old-yet-new axe and the hammer I was given.

At the end of the day, Maya led Chase up to his house, said goodbye to him, not me, then left.

"These people seem nice," he said as soon as she was gone.

"Yeah, they do. Seem to like gift giving around here."

"You want to come inside?" he asked. I really wish I could've said yes, but I had to get back.

"Nah, I have to get back and feed my animals. They'll be cranky in the morning if I don't."

"Do you want me to walk you back. I think I remember the places Maya was showing us better then you do. You seemed half asleep."

"Yeah, well, I was excited last night that you were coming. But I know the way by heart. I could walk it in my sleep," I said, already starting off in the opposite direction.

"Okay, g'night!" he called into the darkness.

I don't know if my voice carried all the way back to him, but I said goodnight back to him.

The weeks went by even quicker while Chase was around. He was working most of the time, but when he got out for his break, he would come and visit me at the farm and we would laugh and have a good time. He would bring food he made himself and teach me how to cook it, and I would have him help me with simple farm work like collecting eggs, letting him keep half if he did so. Then he started getting out later and later, until I realized that he started hanging out with Maya before he came to visit me. And then when he visited me, all he ever talked about was her. They started going out about half a season after that.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next season had a wedding scheduled every weekend. First Calvin and Phoebe, then Toby and Renee, Jin and Anissa, and lastly Luke and Selena, with Chase and Maya's wedding coming up on the first Saturday of Autumn. Even though Chase told me he planned on proposing ahead of time, the date still threw me off guard and made my heart start pounding heavier. The only one I attended was the last one.

It's funny. If you would've asked me to choose a girl for Chase to be with for the rest of his life, it wouldn't have been Maya. He spent most of his life learning to cook the best he could. Maya, on the other hand, just gets away on her parents' money and has possibly the worst cooking ability of all the people in the human race. I bet she couldn't make a sandwich without making somebody hurl. I always thought Chase would go with somebody more determined and hard working. Somebody who enjoys the satisfaction of a job well done. Somebody a little like me.

But we're just friends. He has a fiancee now to prove of that. Somebody he can love with his whole heart, somebody fragile and delicate, somebody the opposite of his childhood friend, Angela, who spent the past few years working on a dirty, smelly farm, cleaning cow poop. I can't say I blame him. I took up Owen's challenge and became a rather able-bodied girl. Now the daintiness I took on before I moved to Waffle Island cannot be found in me and all I've got to show for it is an inheritance for children I'll never have.

During the wedding, though I'll never admit it, there were tears in my eyes. Maya will be able to take care of him the way i've always wanted to take care of somebody. He deserves better than a girl with crap all over her shoes.

As I watched them kiss and the marriage become final, the tears in my eyes overflowed. Not just one, but four, one for all the years I regret. I quickly wiped them away before Yolanda, who was sitting next to me, could see them. Then again, maybe I was being paranoid. All eyes were on the newly weds and pathetic me wasn't going to change that. I wouldn't do anything but bring myself down.

After awhile, I stood up and walked outside with everybody else while the church bells rang and Chase and Maya waved to everybody. As he turned toward me, he made a small little grimace at my red, blotchy face; but I put on a smile and waved back.

I left before anybody else at the wedding had a chance to. I'm sure Gill, who was wandering around the church, had no idea what to make of the sobbing noise coming from deep inside my throat, but I didn't care. I went back to the farm for the rest of the day. Chase didn't show up like he normally did, which didn't surprise me, but made me sob harder. You would think it'd be hard to milk a cow while crying. It's not.