1Chapter Two- A Social Confrontation

Vaughn wearily walked down from the ship to the pier where his aunt and cousin were waiting. He was sick to his stomach from to rocking of the ship the entire trip to the island. He always hated transporting animal across to sea.

Mirabelle looked up at him with with motherly concern, as if she could feel his pain.

The two calves and the three chickens he had brought for them had already been brought off the ship ahead of him, and she was preparing to head for the store.

"You all right?" she asked when he finally got down to the pier.

"Just a little seasick," he mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath, and then looked around him.

There wasn't much to see at the beach, just sand, a large rock in the distance, and a rickety old shack close by. Straight ahead was a path which seemed to lead into the inner part of the island, but he could barely make out a few houses.

Mirabelle and Julia had already started heading down the path and were a ways away before he snapped back to attention. He slowly but quickly made his way back up to them, his stomach still not quite settled from the trip.

Mirabelle lead the way through town leading the calves, while Julia struggled to keep hold of the chickens. Vaughn stayed close, surveying the buildings he passed. Most still looked pretty run down and there wasn't a sound coming from any of them.

"Seems like everyone is still asleep," sighed Julia, catching the same train of thought as him. "It should get a little busier soon though."

After putting the animals away in the back stalls, Mirabelle began to set up shop while Julia cooked breakfast.

Seeing he had nothing to do at the moment, Mirabelle suggested that he go out and introduce him self to the locals, starting with the rancher.

And that's how it started. The most annoying person Vaughn would ever meet answered the door to the tiny farm house.

Vaughn could instantly smell trouble when she opened the door and just stared at him.

He stared back for a second, but something about those big blue eyes made him uncomfortable.

"Uhmm," Vaughn cleared his throat, trying to keep a straight face. " Hi. Name's Vaults, I'm the animal shipper for the Cleave's shop."

"Hi yourself," She said not taking her eyes off him. "I'm Chelsea, the rancher here I guess. Are you goning to be staying here with the Cleaves?"
Vaughn avoided her eyes, already wanting to leave as soon as possible. "No, I'll only be here for a few days a week."he said suddenly glad about the arrangment.

He wasn't keen on being asked such prying questions by the first person he met, and this girl seemed strange to him. She had this sweet and innocient look in her eyes like someone who wanted to make friends with everyone. Her personality just seemed so alien compared to his.

She was still staring at him with that look in her eyes, so he just quit trying to make small talk and turned to leave with a small " See ya."

He was back at the shop helping out by putting bags of food away on shelves. He was glad to be finished with greeting the locals, all of whom were more bearable than that Chelsea-girl.

He had just finished putting the last bag of petfood up when who else, Chelsea came through the door.

Great now what!?

"Well, hello Chelsea! How are you?" asked Mirabelle happy to see a potential customer. "we just got some animals in this morning."

"Thanks, but I still don't even have a coop yet. I just came by to see Vaults"

Oh great, here she comes...

"Hmm, Vaughn? Oh, he's just in the back stocking."

Thanks a lot Auntie....

Chelsea turned and started almost skip-walking towards him. She still had that innocient look shining in her eyes.

Vaughn could feel himself forming a barrier between them as she got closer and hoped she wouldn't try to break through. He did his best to ignore her until she was literally standing over him.

"Hey." she said playfully tapping him on the shoulder.

He took a deep breath and said, "What?"

When she didn't answer, he turned to see her just standing there, staring at him with those big blue eyes. "Just came to say hi," she said beaming at him.

"Hmph," he grunted, turning away, hoping she would get the message.

"Whatcha doing?"
Julia, sitting in the kitchen looked up from her tea to watch them. She could already tell how this would end.

Vaughn tried to ingore her in the hopes that she would get a clue and go away, but Chelsea just hovered around him tossing little questions his way. The more he didn't answer, the more she asked.

"Where you from? Are you a cowboy? Do you like working with animals? What's USI? Is that your real hair color? Can you tell me a little about raising cows? What kind of places do you go to? What's......?"

It was more than he could take. "Shut up and go away! You are so ANNOYING!!!"

Taken aback, Chelsea just stood there, stunned. Tears were almost starting to form in her deep blue eyes.

Vaughn, still pretty annoyed, brushed past her and walked out the door. He was starting to feel that he had went a little overboard, though.

Mirabelle stood stunned, looking at the door and back at Chelsea. She hadn't been paying attention to the whole encounter and was shocked by the outburst.

Tears were starting to run down Chelsea's face, and she too ran out the door.

"Don't worry mom, I'll go talk to her!" Julia said running after her.

"Chelsea wait!" she yelled catching up with her about halfway up to the ranch. "He didn't mean to yell at you. He just gets that way around new people sometimes."

"Well. he didn't have to be so rude!" she sobbed through tears.

"He really didn't mean to be. He's not much of a people person, and you do come on a little strong around people. He just needs time to get used to you. Now come on I'm sure we can go find him and get him to apologize..."

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I don't really know why I chose to make Vaughn so rude in this chapter or why I made Chelsea a bit of a twit, thats just the way it came out and I don't feel much like changing it. Not as good as I would want my second chapter to be, but still feels good for my story.

Like it or love it. I felt kind of rushed and changed alot of stuff in this chapter to get it like it is. I feel like I could have gone on forever putting all the details and such and writting every scene. Just goes to show I don't have such great writting skills.

Of course if you disagree, feel freee to say so. I just feel that way because I'm tired at the moment and can't think clearly.