I haven't written anything in a long time but have decided to try my hand at it again.
A few things to note: First off, I, of course, do own Harvest Moon, not in the production sense but I do in fact own the games. All of them, except the original, unless you count downloadable versions, then YAY! I own them all.
Secondly, for those of you that do not know, Dr. Daryl Wasser (Germanic pronunciation with a V sound instead of W so, Voss-er) is my version of Daryl from A Wonderful Life/ Another Wonderful Life/ Other Harvest Moon games. I picture him sounding like Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phinneas and Ferb and having a personality that's kind of like Mr. Crocker from Fairly Oddparents meets Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
Reagan let out a frustrated groan. She had been wondering around campus for at least twenty minutes trying to find her new chemistry class. "I've been coming here for almost three years, you would think that I would be able to find this damn building," she thought aloud.
She let out an exasperated sigh and brushed her short chestnut hair away from her emerald eyes. She began to make the loop around the campus grounds again. "Ten minutes until class starts," she noted as she gradually increased her pace.
Suddenly, she found herself running into something very solid. She rebounded off of the sturdy surface and started to topple backwards, squeezing her eyes shut to brace for impact. Much to her surprise, however, something caught her around the wrist and pulled her back up in one fluid motion.
"Are you okay?" inquired a deep voice.
Reagan opened her eyes and was faced with the peridot eyes of her savior. She felt her cheeks begin to burn a rosy hue. Opening her mouth, she found that her words failed her. He released her from his grip, his eyes full of concern. She nodded slightly and managed to breathe a force exclamation of "I'm so sorry" intertwined with "Thank you."
He chuckled at her flustered state and ruffled the back of his shaggy black hair. He introduced himself as Klaus extending his hand in greeting. She smiled shyly and shook his hand firmly.
"My name's Reagan and I am so sorry for running into you," she rambled.
"It's quite alright," he assured her. "May I ask why you were in such a hurry though?"
Reagan immediately let out another frustrated groan having forgotten about her chemistry class and having no idea where it was located. "I'm sorry." She huffed. "I have been looking for Dr. Wasser' chemistry class for the past 20 minutes and still have NO idea where to go."
"I'm heading that way myself. Allow me to walk with you."
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Klaus and Reagan parted ways outside the door to Dr. Wasser classroom. She stood outside the noisy room a few minutes more, staring after the man who had just saved her. She clutched the strap of her messenger bag and slowly made her way into the classroom. Swiftly, she made her way to a seat near the front of the class and began pulling her book, notebook, and pen from her bag. A quick glance around the room revealed a few students that she had seen in a couple of classes prior.
Reagan released a soft sigh, she never had connected with these people the way she should but that's the way she had always been. Always kind of floating from place to place and never really feeling that she quite fit in anywhere in particular. However, she did whatever she was obligated to do. She did her work at school, made excellent grades, and was even rewarded with a scholarship. School and work always came naturally to her. It was people she had a problem with.
To a point, she was friendly with people but usually only allowed herself to get as close as an acquaintance. She had a few friends in high school, if you could call them that. They would talk at lunch and during breaks from class but that's where it ended. She was never invited to parties or asked to go anywhere with these people. Hell, no one even called her on the phone. There were times when she felt lonely and like something was missing from her life but she never really felt that she belonged. Maybe being alone was better?
Reagan was jerked from her reverie by the slamming of the heavy wooden door. The entire room had fallen silent. In walked a short slightly hunched man with messy black hair and glasses.
"Good afternoon class," he said in a thick Germanic accent. "I am Dr. Daryl Wasser."
He clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing at the front of the room. The entire class was silent as the small man seemed to size them up. Suddenly, he stopped in the in the middle in front of a wooden podium. He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"None of you belong in this class," he stated flatly. "None of you seem to have the intelligence nor the attention span to learn from a genius such as myself."
A low murmur erupted around the class. Dr. Wasser seemed undeterred and continued with his remarks. "Fortunately for you, I have a research project due soon so I don't have much time to babysit. Therefore, I have taken on the aide of an assistant. He is a former student of mine and did fairly well in my class."
The wooden door to the classroom opened fluently, revealing a much taller man that Reagan recognized immediately. Klaus strolled to the middle of the room and took his position beside Dr. Wasser.
"Good timing Mr. Wessler," the shorter man said in his shrill voice. "I will allow you to conduct the rest of class today. Feel free to contact me if needed."
With that, Dr. Wasser turned on his heel and left the room without so much as a second glance. Klaus looked around the room and ruffled his messy black hair nervously. He took a deep breath obviously trying to settle his nerves and gave the class a crooked grin which Reagan found to be charming.
"Good afternoon everyone," he began. "My name is Klaus Wessler and you may all call me Klaus. I am a graduate student and am working my way to earning my master's in chemistry. I'm not much of a teacher. If I'm to be honest, that's not the field I'm interested in going into but you do what you have to." He took some papers from his satchel and handed the stack to a guy at the left side of the room. "Take one and pass them around. We'll start by going over the syllabus and then everyone will give a short introduction."
After the papers finished circulating the room, each member of the class stood and gave a short introduction to themselves. Reagan found some of the reasons behind the others taking the surprising. There was a young chef interested in molecular gastronomy, a nurse interested in creating medicines, and even a couple of aspiring veterinarians interested in discovering chemical compounds to help animals become more resistant to diseases.
When it was Reagan's turn, she wasn't entirely sure what she should say about herself. There wasn't really anything interesting to tell about herself, nothing that she was comfortable divulging anyway. It didn't really help matters that she was also painfully shy. She stood awkwardly for a moment before finally speaking.
"My name's Reagan Wilson. I'm in my third year and will hopefully have my bachelor's degree in agriculture in another year and a half. I work two jobs and am a full time student. My grandmother owns a farm in a small town not too far from here and my grandfather owns the general store. I help them whenever possible but I haven't been back home in a while." She thought for a second but wasn't sure what else to say so she just returned to her seat.
Reagan focused on her desk as her face turned bright red. Talking in front of crowds was something she had always hated. Her eyes stayed downcast as she listened quietly to the remaining people introducing themselves. Klaus couldn't help but stare, wondering why she reacted the way she did.
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After everyone finished introducing themselves, Klaus ended class for the day. He sat at the desk and watched as everyone left. As Reagan passed by, his curiosity got the best of him.
"Ms. Wilson." he called after her.
She stopped and turned to face him. "Yes Mr. Wessler?" she questioned shyly.
"Please, call me Klaus," he said genially. "I was just wondering why you seemed so afraid during introductions?"
She shuffled her feet and focused on the floor. "I'm an incredibly shy person," she said hesitantly.
"I apologize for that. It was never my intention to make you feel uncomfortable Ms. Wilson," he stated sincerely.
"First off, it's Reagan. Secondly, you really don't have to apologize. There's no way that you could have known that talking in front of crowds makes me uncomfortable. It's something I've dealt with my whole life." she felt more comfortable when talking to him then she ever had when talking to new people.
She smiled at him faintly and turned to leave. "Reagan," Klaus called, stopping her again.
"Yes Klaus?" she questioned glancing over her shoulder.
He wasn't sure what possessed him but he wanted to get to know this young woman better. "If you ever need a friend or even just someone to talk to, you can always talk to me."
She looked at him with a faint expression of timid happiness. "I would appreciate that. Same goes for you." She waved at him over her shoulder and with that, she made her way to her next class.