A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story! This chapter is a little longer, thankfully, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

I woke up the morning of the Harvest Festival with the largest headache. Groaning and rolling over, careful not to fall out of my bed this time, I got up reluctantly and grabbed my rucksack. I figured I could quickly put something together for the cooking contest they would be having this afternoon. My hopes weren't set on winning, but maybe there was some sort of participation prize money. After all, I was pretty broke at the time, and entering something really couldn't have hurt.

Checking the refrigerator, I pulled out a fresh fish I caught yesterday and an herb from this past Summer. Cutting the herbs and sprinkling them over the top of the fish, I chucked it into the oven and let it cook while I tended to the crops and animals. When I came back, the fish had nicely browned in the oven and the herbs were sizzling on top of it.

"Perfect." I said to myself before carefully wrapping it up and putting it in my rucksack. Feeling slightly better about my headache, I walked to the Brownie Ranch with a smile on my face and a skip in my step.

"Angela!" Maya called from behind me once I entered the Ganache Mine District. I let her catch up to me and we walked together.

"Did you cook anything?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"Herb fish, it's pretty decent. You?"

"Well… I made a cake. With leftover oranges from the summer, I really hope Cha- I mean, the judges, like it."

I narrowed my eyes at her as I spoke, "Are you trying to impress Chase?"

She looked away as she turned red, "No, no. I don't even think he likes oranges."

"Oh, come on! Oranges are his favorite food!" I practically yelled, getting angry that she was trying to make an impact on that creep.

"How did you know that?" She asked. Now it was my turn to glow red.

"Uh, well, Gill wanted me to alphabetize some books in the library in exchange for a free look at the resident record cards in the Town Hall instead of having to pay 70G like usual. I caught a look at Chase's because it just happened to be one of the first ones because his name starts with a 'C' and all… You know, it's really not that important." I babbled on and on, scratching the back of my head as I did so.

"… You do know that those resident record cards are free for everyone to look at? You don't have to pay."

"What?! I'm going to strangle that pale little… That's not the point. You're trying to impress Chase, and all he's going to do is put you down again!"

"But I worked really, really hard this time!" She exclaimed with a pout. I sighed.

"Whatever you say, Maya." I muttered as we entered the festival area. Many different villagers were idly wandering around the ranch, eating foods and playing whack-a-mole games in the fields. With real moles. Isn't that considered animal cruelty? Anyways. The cooking contest table was already piled with entries when Maya and I approached Yolanda.

"Are you girls entering the contest?" She asked, smiling. We nodded as I took my crumpled herb fish (it was lying under my hammer) out of my rucksack and unwrapped it. I could clearly see the distaste in Yolanda's facial expression, but she told me to place it on the table anyways. Maya took out her rather discolored orange cake and put it on the table as well, looking very proud of her own work. Goddess bless her poor, naïve soul.

At around four, Yolanda called for everyone to gather around so her and Chase could judge the entries. They would pick up a plate, both take a bite, and then write something down on a chart before moving on. At a snail's pace, they picked up the plates one by one and tried the various foods on it, making 'hmm' and 'mmmm' noises before putting the plates back down.

"This one is… Owen's. A grape cocktail." Yolanda announced. As I wondered about the severity of Owen's alcoholism (seriously, a cocktail for a cooking contest?) they both took sips of the drink and scribbled notes down before picking up my herb fish.

"This one is… Angela's." Yolanda said, looking rather unenthusiastic about trying my flattened herb fish. After making various faces and noises, they wrote down notes and picked up Maya's cake.

"This one is… Maya's." Yolanda called out, still looking unenthusiastic. One could practically see the snicker willing to break out of Chase's mouth. Taking a bite, his face contorted into many different expressions. At first, he was sneering, and then he looked surprised, and then he looked amorous, and then he sneered again. Yolanda actually smiled as she took a bite, and they both attacked the paper with their pens.

"I don't think he liked it." Maya whispered from behind me. I knew he did, though. It was quite obvious, but Maya was a little… slow when it came to these sorts of things. However, I knew Chase would never admit to liking her cake.

"All right, give us a few moments to choose the winner!" Yolanda exclaimed.

"Is there a participation prize?" I accidentally said a little too loud. Luckily, it was a big crowd, so I ducked to make sure Yolanda didn't see who blurted out the comment.

"No, there is no participation prize." She said to nobody in particular before leaving the area with Chase to choose the winners. Popping back up, I started to chat idly with Hamilton.

"I think they really liked mine!" He said jovially, chuckling and grabbing his belly as he did so.

"Really? What did you cook?" I asked him, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"I cooked the Weird Dish. You know, I really just threw a few ingredients into an aging pot and it totally worked! They were positively glowing when they had some!"

My eyes widened. Yeah, they were glowing all right. Glowing green. They probably left the area to go throw up! I laughed nervously at the mayor.

"Heh, sounds delicious."

Just then, the judges came back with smiles on their faces.

"The winner of the cooking contest is… Julius, with his pumpkin ca-" Yolanda was interrupted with a very loud 'ahem', "I'm sorry, fabulous pumpkin cake. Thanks for entering."

The crowd cheered and dispersed rather quickly as Maya and I walked towards Maple Lake District. As we were walking, Chase slicked past us, holding his stomach as he did so. The Weird Dish must have gotten to him. But of course, knowing Chase, he had to turn around and say something snide. Even while he was about to barf all over the sidewalk.

"Nice cake, Maya." He called from a few feet in front of us. Maya's face lit up.

"Really? You think so?" She asked, a hint of hopefulness in her voice.

"Yeah, if your definition of 'nice' is 'crap'!" He yelled after us as he kept barreling down the sidewalk, almost knocking over Jin as he did so.

"You know, that was an awful insult. Even for him." I muttered to Maya, who looked positively dejected. She sighed.

"I'm totally done with that guy... Can I come over? I don't think I want to go back to the Inn until later." Maya asked after a few moments of silence. I nodded.

"Sure, no problem."

Just a few minutes later, we arrived at my house and collapsed at the table, both of us sighing heavily in exhaustion.

"You know, I spent a lot of time on that cake." She said angrily, picking at a stray wood chipping on the table.

"Yeah. Why is that guy such a jerk? Heck, why are all the guys in this town such duds?" I asked. She looked up at me.

"I thought you liked Calvin?" She asked as she rested her head against her hand.

"What? No. Where did you even hear that?" I asked.

"Phoebe. She came in to the Inn with her mom one day, complaining that you were 'stealing her man' or something." She said absentmindedly. I narrowed my eyes.

"What a bitch… No, I don't like Calvin. He's a little too manly for my taste, as weird as that sounds."

"Yeah, and I hear he doesn't like girls with natural hair colors. Go figure."

We both laughed halfheartedly to ourselves.

"What about Gill?" She asked, reminding me all over again that I had to give him a taste of my fist for charging me to see those resident cards.

"I considered it. But he's a little too prissy. And marrying Hamilton's son? Our wedding present would be Hamilton's Signature Weird Dish that he claims the judges loved so much."

Maya chuckled, covering her mouth as she did so, "You're totally right. The guys in Waffle Town really are pretty plain."

We sat there for the rest of the night, complaining about boys, marriage, cooking, working, etcetera, etcetera. Finally, she left at around midnight when she was sure that Chase had gone to bed. Exhausted and still pissed at that peach-haired loser for being so rude today, I jumped into my bed and fell right asleep.

Winter came faster than I could have imagined. Unluckily for me, that means there was no crop production whatsoever and I probably wouldn't be making much money at all. Joy.

The snow immediately began to fall the first day of Winter, covering the once colorful ground with a blanket of white. I slipped on my many layers of clothing and fed the animals before heading to Waffle Town with my arms wrapped tightly around my body. Wandering idly about the main town, I saw Yolanda next to the mayor's house, sitting on a bench.

"Hello," I greeted her as I approached her. She looked up at me and waved warmly.

"Hi, Angela. How are you?" She asked me.

"I'm fine. A little cold, but fine. Why aren't you in the Inn?"

"Oh, Chase has everything covered in there. He really knows how to handle the cooking at the Inn, so sometimes I just let him do his own thing. He does have to learn still, you know, and I can't be guiding him the whole way." She said rather fast, "He's really something."

I coughed a little, clearly perturbed. Did she really not notice how he treated everyone?

"Yeah, but have you noticed that he's, well… he's a," I really couldn't think of any word that didn't contain a profanity in it, "He's a, um, a mean… person?"

She frowned a little before looking up at me with a calm façade, "I notice that he can be rude, yes. But, well, he has his reasons."

"What do you mean, reasons?" I asked, scratching the back of my scalp. She sighed heavily.

"Just a bad past, that's all. I really can't delve deeper than that, sweetie; I don't want to be giving you false information. Ask him for yourself, if you are interested."

I almost laughed out loud at that statement. Ask him a civil question? I couldn't even go through a two second conversation without wanting to strangle him. Just then, the door next to us opened and Gill popped out of the mayor's house. Upon seeing him, a sudden animal instinct clicked on in my brain. His eyes widened when he saw the intense glare I was giving him.

"Get over here, you little punk!" I screeched, running after him as he sprinted towards the Town Hall, "Where's my money? Give me that money, you jerk!"

After a few minutes of chasing, and a few moments of actually considering doing physical harm to him if he didn't give me back all the money he took from me, he paid me back.

Tired and 490G richer, I headed to the Waffle Square to check the news board. I had been living here for quite a while, yet I still didn't bother to buy a calendar to check when the town's events were.

Pinching my chin, I stared at the board intensely. New residents, new items at the Souffle Farm, Flea Market dates, some graffiti that says 'Luke Rox', Thanksgiving Day – ah hah! There's one event I didn't know about. Make cakes for your friends and loved ones! Winter 10th.

Nodding to myself and checked the rest of the ads when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Whirling around, I saw nobody. Shrugging, I went back to the board when I felt a tap on my other shoulder. Turning fully around, there was absolutely no one in sight. Frowning, I went to turn around again when I felt someone practically attack me.

"Aiiyeeee!"

I had fallen flat on my face, curling up into a ball as I landed. Reaching frantically into my pocket, I pulled out a can of old pepper spray from when I lived in the city and I pointed it at the culprit.

"Back off! I have pepper spray!" I screamed. The person above me laughed hysterically, slapping his knees and clutching his stomach. I could recognize that chuckle anywhere, and I was about ready to drench his face in pepper spray anyways.

"Your face… was…so funny…" He exclaimed between gasps. Getting up abruptly, I kicked him in the shin, "Ow, what the hell?"

I grinned slyly at Chase, who was now grabbing at his leg in agony.

"Oh, come on. I barely kicked you." I said as calmly as I could, still extremely embarrassed from the way I acted just a few moments ago.

"I have… a leg problem, okay?" He lied, "You didn't have to kick me."

"And you didn't have to attack me." I replied triumphantly, "Why did you do that in the first place?"

"I have to ask you something." He said in all seriousness, running a hand through his wild hair. My smile wiped from my face at his sudden genuine voice.

"What is it?"

"I… uh, well, I like Maya." He blurted out, not daring to look me in the eye.

"What?" I shouted. Just like he had moments ago, I burst into a fit of giggles, "You're not… serious… are you?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath. I continued to laugh as he just stared at me clutching at my stomach and wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Okay, no really. What do you want to ask me?"

"You know, that was really hard for me to say." He said rather rudely, "I like Maya."

"How can you like her? You make fun of her constantly, you put her down, and you make her feel like crap!" I exclaimed, suddenly angry with him. How could he toy with her like that? And with me? Man, this guy had some weird issues.

"I know, I know. I'm awful with girls, care to rub it in my face more?" He said heatedly, "Anyways, I need your help."

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at him silently for a few moments. "… What?"

"Are you freakin' deaf or something? I need your help!" He said rather loudly.

"You're calling me deaf? What a good way to go about asking me for help." I replied very sarcastically, trying to push past him but he held out his arms like a fence to keep me from breaking out of this conversation.

"I'm being serious right now. I really can't do this by myself. I mean, you're her best friend and you see how she views me." He exclaimed exasperatedly, collapsing onto a nearby bench.

"And whose fault is that?"

He sat still for a few moments, looking at a random speck on the ground. He knew that I was right, but he probably wasn't going to accept it.

"Like I said, I'm not very good with girls. So will you help me? Please? Look, I used the magic word and everything."

I sighed and looked him straight in the eye, "Let me get this straight. You boss me around the first day I meet you, you treat Maya and me like dirt, you insult her every chance you get, you practically sneak attack me, and now you want me to set you up with Maya?"

"… Yeah, that's about right."

"Well, then my answer is no. Goodbye, now." I replied very coldly before turning on one heel and heading for the steps. I heard him mutter a slew of profanities under his breath, but I didn't really care.

"The nerve of that guy!" I mumbled to myself as I headed home. The sun was just starting to set and all I really wanted to do was flop onto my bed and watch TV.

The next morning, I got a knock on my door at 6 o'clock sharp. Grumbling, I waddled my way to the door and opened it, not at all surprised by who I saw.

"Please?" He asked as soon as I opened the door, handing me a low quality chicken egg. I glowered at him.

"Why do you think I would need a chicken egg? I have three chickens!" I exclaimed animatedly. From behind him, he pulled out two more chicken eggs.

"… I know, I collected the eggs for you, heh. You know, to make your morning process easier and junk. So, will you do it?"

I slammed the door in his face.

Two days later, while I was doing my weekly fishing at Maple Lake, he popped up right behind me with a bucket full of bait. The next day, he wrote 'Please?' in the snow in front of my house. Three days after that, he offered to do all of my morning chores. This guy was determined.

Finally, it was Thanksgiving. I woke up bright and early to yet another knock on my door. Flinging it open while still half asleep, I yelled,

"I'm not going to do your stupid favor, Chase, so leave me alone!"

Opening my eyes fully, I looked to see that it wasn't Chase, it was Toby.

"Uh, is this a bad time?" He asked me with a cake in his hand.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry! Thank you, Toby, I wish I had something to give to you right now but I'm a little short on ingredients. Rain check?"

He smiled warmly at me, "That sounds good. See you!"

Shutting the door behind me, I slid down the wooden frame and sighed. This guy was really driving me up the wall.

Knock knock.

"Speak of the devil…" I muttered to myself. Standing up and opening the door, I gave Chase a very uninterested look as he presented me with a cake that had the word 'Please?' written messily on the top.

"You are relentless." I said, taking the cake and setting it on my table carelessly.

"So… will you help me?" He asked, clasping his hands together as if he were praying, "If you don't, I'll bother you like this for the rest of your life."

My eyes widened, suddenly realizing that if he were to bother me like this for the rest of my days, I would definitely go crazy. Cakes every day, stupid favors here and there, millions of items with the word 'Please?' written on them… I wouldn't be able to take that.

"Fine. I'll help you. But only if you cooperate with me. I know Maya a little more than you do, so you're really going to have to listen to and respect me."

It was completely obvious that he wasn't listening to a word I said other than 'fine'. He squealed happily before quickly catching himself and going back to his usual scowling face.

"Good. Do you want me to, um, come by tomorrow?"

"Sure, whatever. Stop by at around nine when I'm done with the animals."

Trying his best to hide his smile, he ran off before muttering a very inaudible 'thank you'. I sighed, wondering what I was getting myself into. Heading back inside, I glanced at the cake he had given me, and suddenly got an idea. Carefully scraping off the word 'Please?', I re-frosted the cake and ran to On The Hook. Toby was right outside of the building, fishing casually like he always was.

"Toby!" I exclaimed, running towards him with the cake. He grinned widely as I came closer to him, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

A/N: Now we've seen Chase's mean side and Chase's annoying-as-heck side, when will we see his nice side...? Heh. Let me know what you think!