As Claire ran through the farm gates, she knew immediately that something was wrong. There was an air of disrepair about the place, and the more she saw of the place the more she knew why. Weeds, stones and branches lay scattered all about the field and the house was filthy and worn pale by the weather. Claire almost fell to her knees and screamed in despair, and she would have if a strange man in a red coat hadn't waddled through the gates. "Hello!" he said cheerfully. "Are you a tourist?"

Claire could only shake her head in shock and disappointment. "Oh…You must have seen the ad. And you fell for it! Hahahaha!" The man doubled over laughing. Claire clenched her teeth, drew back her fist and smiled in satisfaction as it connected soundly with the man's face. He staggered backward and very nearly toppled over. "Ouch! Stop hitting me!" he whined. Claire sighed and turned to leave, but the man grabbed her shoulder. "Please stay, I'm sorry for laughing," he said, shamefaced. "I may as well," said Claire quietly. "I left home and quit my job to come here." She scuffed her shoe in the dirt for a second, then spotted a small puppy rolling about outside a dilapidated dog house. She whistled and the dog ran up to her. Picking it up, she cuddled him and decided to call him Dexter. The man sighed. "Well, the house is liveable, and you could probably make a living here. Why not try?" Claire sighed and nodded shyly, distrusting of the man, and probably all other men as well. "Good," he said with a grin. "I'm Mayor Thomas." Claire shook his hand. "Claire Daune."

"Well, Claire, you had better get some sleep. I'll come by in the morning to show you how things are done." Claire nodded. "Bye," she said, carrying Dexter into the house and putting him down. The pup barked and scurried around her legs as she flicked on the TV to check the weather, sighing in relief as the weathergirl predicted sun and warmth. Grabbing Dexter, she flopped down onto the bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The alarm rang shrilly above her head. Drowsily, Claire pushed herself into a sitting position, became disoriented and tumbled to the floor, her puppy landing on top of her with a surprised yelp. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around and tried to remember where she was. The past day's events flooded back. With a sigh of relief and resignation, she slapped the clock, grabbed Dex, ate a quick breakfast, checked the weather (Sunny!) and shuffled outside to find Thomas waiting for her.

"Good morning," he said with a smile. Claire nodded wordlessly. "I'm sure you can't wait to start work, or to start meeting people," he began. "Actually- I don't really need to meet anyone-" she said quickly, wanting to distance herself from other people. She wouldn't get hurt again. But Thomas had other ideas. "Nonsense, girl!" he exclaimed. "You have to meet the town! And that's why I've persuaded Zack to give you the day off, so that you CAN meet everyone! Now, tomorrow he will come along and show you how to make money, and for today you can go around town and do as you please." He handed her a pair of denim overalls. "I expect you want to change out of those strange garments-" he pointed to her jacket and skirt "-so here you are."

"Thanks," Claire said gratefully, setting Dexter down and going inside to change. The overalls were comfortable, and things were seeming to look up. She still didn't want to go "meet the people", though. Heading back outside, she found Thomas waiting for her.

"Go on now, and don't come back til 5!" he said, pushing her out of her farm and shutting the gates. Wonderful, she thought scathingly. I have eleven hours until I'm allowed back on MY farm. She really didn't want to meet anyone, if truth be known. She had never been a social butterfly and saw social activity of any kind an unwanted and stressful pastime. With a sigh, she decided to take a look around and find a quiet spot to think Little did she know, she wasn't the only one who thought this way.

After two hours of looking around the southern end of Mineral Town, Claire didn't hold out much hope for finding solace in this cheery little town. Not watching where she was going, she ran into a sign post. Rubbing her nose resentfully, she glanced up. "North – Mineral Town Church." Of course! A Church! Surely on a Tuesday morning the Church would be a pleasant, quiet place.

After a few minutes of walking she came upon a large, medieval looking building. She assumed this was the Church, being that there were several graves off to the side. Hesitantly pushing open the large double doors (and wincing at the creaks they made), she let herself in. To her dismay there was a man standing behind an altar and a boy sitting in the front pew. The man behind the altar looked up. "Ah, Claire, hello," he said brightly. Taken aback and wondering how he knew her name, Claire turned to leave, heart pounding. "Wait!" cried the man. "I am Carter, pastor of the Church. Thomas told me about you, you need not have fear. Come here, child."
Claire paused, eyeing Carter distrustfully. After a moment or two she slowly walked up to the altar. "Ah, Claire, good to see you trust me. See that boy, over there?" he asked. Claire turned and laid eyes on the him, and nearly had her breath knocked away. There, sitting in the pew, was a sight that caused her heart to flutter and her face to heat up. His sad brown eyes, deep and gorgeous, stirred an emotion somewhere inside her that she had never before felt. His soft looking, rich brown hair shone in the pale morning light. She was in love.

Cliff watched the blonde girl as she walked up to Carter. There was something about her…Suddenly he became aware of his sweaty hands. Turning quickly away, he sighed. No chance, he thought to himself with a sigh.

"Claire?" asked Carter uncertainly. Jumping nearly out of her skin, Claire whirled around. "Yes, I see him," she said in an unnaturally high voice. Carter smiled rather knowingly. "He is having a rather lot of troubles lately. He has no friends as of yet, and is really quite shy. I wonder if you could talk to him? I see you are a shy one yourself, but he needs a friend, and I think he could find that in you."

Claire stared for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I think I could," she replied quietly. Turning away, she walked over and sat down. This near to him she almost fainted, and her heartbeat rose to a dangerous rate. She wrung her hands shyly. "Hi…" they both said at the same time. Claire blushed again and felt like running out the door. "I…er…Oh…great…I'm sorry…I…I…" Cliff stammered.

Claire was on the point of speaking gibberish herself, but with a massive effort she managed to speak in a soothing voice that sounded like an angel's to Cliff. "Easy…Relax…" she murmured quietly, far from being relaxed herself. Cliff noticed her face rapidly flushing, and knew that she was worse off than he was. Something about her told him she was attempting to clear a great hurdle just by speaking to him. He sighed. "Thanks…" he whispered back. "I feel better now." He reached out to touch her hand, but she drew away as if he had stung her. She couldn't do this. "I'm…I'm sorry…" she said, on the brink of tears. "I…can't…oh, I feel stupid…"

Claire jumped to her feet, but Cliff grabbed her arm. "Sshhh…" he soothed. Claire tensed at his voice, deep but beautiful. Drake had started out his way, nice and friendly, and then as soon as she accepted his proposal…well, you know how he was afterwards. She forced herself to meet his gaze. It showed only concern and confusion, and her heart melted. Slowly sitting back down, she stared at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "I'm sorry…" she began, but he stopped her. "It's okay…Really. It was my fault…I'm Cliff," he told her in a calm, quiet voice. It suited him, she thought. He looked a little brazen, powerful but quiet. Shaking her head a little, she replied, "Claire…I- I just moved into the farm." She managed a small smile. "Mayor Thomas decided to kick me out for the day so I could 'meet the people'…Truth be known I intended to just spend the day here."

He didn't reply, and after a while she looked over at him. He was smiling at her wordlessly. "Cliff?" she asked uneasily. This seemed to bring him down to Earth. "I was just thinking of how alike we might be," he told her. "I usually waste my days away here, too. It's a nice, quiet place. I thought of it as my getaway from the people, but they seem to have found me out," he explained with a small chuckle. Her half hearted smile widened. "Hey…Cliff, you wouldn't mind showing me around town, would you?" asked Claire. "I only just got here and I really have no clue of where I'm going. We don't have to talk to anybody…Actually, I'd rather not, but if you want to you can."

"I don't want to either…let's go. I'll see you tomorrow, Carter," he said, helping her up. Together they walked through the doors out into the sunlight.

Yeah, it's not the best but anyway...
Thanks for the reveiws, all. I know this is a little cliche but I like the idea of a "new start" and all. Yeah, I'm sappy. xD
Should I have the two of them continue to be friends throughout the fic, or have them have a little argument or something and then have them get back together?