~~~~Claire~~~~

As I watch Gray walk away awkwardly, his shoulders hunched over as he hurries off, I can't help but smirk at it all.

Yeah, he was kind of a brat this morning, but now that I've seen how bashful he was about apologizing I get the feeling that he's just putting up a tough front. Then again, the way he hurried off so quickly has me wondering about whether or not he's someone I really want to go and make friends with.

I'm straightforward and blunt, and don't take people's crap but it doesn't make me any less social than Rick's talkative little sister, Popuri. Sure, I just met a few people today, but even I can tell that there's no one here like Gray. The idea in itself is interesting, but I decide that right now it's not worth pursuing.

It isn't as if I came here to dig into other people's lives.


The next morning dawns all too early for me, and I roll out of bed with a groan before barely catching myself as I nearly hit the floor. Half of me wants to blame the tiredness on the shoddy bed, but then again I've never been much of a morning person to begin with.

I have to give it to this shack though; as tiny and crumbly as it is, it's still a lot brighter than my tiny apartment ever was. As I stretch and trek over to the bathroom, my puppy nips playfully at my ankles, and as his cold little tongue licks my skin I give a shrieking sort of giggle before leaning down and sweeping him into my arms.

"Come on then, Diesel, you can keep me company while I brush my teeth."

The little puppy wriggles in my arms before climbing onto my shoulder and giving my cheek a loving lick. Despite only having had him for two days, I've already fallen half in love with the little creature, taking only a few minutes to decide on his name.

Once I've finished breakfast and everything's in order, I grab my old rucksack and walk out the door, Diesel prancing along behind me. I grab his rump before he can run off and I squat down to give him a serious lecture as I do so.

"Now Diesel," I say in a motherly tone, "You stay on the farm and don't go digging in places you can't get out of. Run along now, and don't get too dirty or I'll have to give you a bath, and you wouldn't like that very much!"

Diesel licks my wrist to signal his understanding, and as I let go and straighten up I look around before heading over towards the town.

As I walk up and down the somewhat empty streets, I smile as bravely as I can. I met everyone yesterday and quelled any rumors about me that there might have been, but all the same I know that they're all going to be watching me for awhile to see what I'll do. It isn't every day that someone new comes into a town this small, especially to a rundown farm like the one that I've purchased. I'm so busy trying to look confident that I don't pay attention to where I'm going and I end up running into someone, hard.

The two of us fall back, and I throw my hair out of my face to apologize when my gaze meets an all too familiar scowl.

It's Gray.

Of course it's Gray that I run into first thing in the morning.

For a second he stares at me like he's surprised to see me off of my farm, then he clears his throat and says, "Are you alright? I hit you pretty hard."

"Wha-?" I'm confused for a second before I see his eyebrow go up and I quickly mutter, "Oh, yeah, no I'm fine. Yeah…I'm fine."

The right corner of his mouth twitches, as if he's trying hard not to smirk as he leans to the side and tilts his head at me, saying, "Oh? You seemed a little confused there for a second."

I cross my arms and say, "Well…Just a little. But now I'm definitely alright. What are you doing up so early anyways?"

"I work at the Blacksmith's, remember?" he jerks his head towards the Blacksmith's shop, looking somewhat disgusted at the idea. I want to talk to him more about it, and figure out exactly what's with his whole attitude, but he straightens up and sighs loudly before giving me a bored look.

"I'll see you around," he says, sounding like he rather wouldn't. As he steps around me, I watch him go with narrowed eyes until he disappears into the shop, the door closing gently behind him with a happy little chiming sound. I stand there on the path for a bit, thinking hard about exactly how I'm going to be nice to someone so grumpy when I hear a surprised voice behind me say my name.

"Claire?" It's Popuri's girlish voice that reaches my ears, and I turn to see her standing in the pathway, giving me a curious look. Before I can say anything, her face breaks into a cheerful smile and she says, "Why don't you come inside? We won't be open for awhile but I bet Mom wouldn't mind having you in for a bit and Rick's not around to bother us so we can talk!"

"Talk?" I say, not meaning to sound skeptical of the fact that the two of us probably don't have much in common, "Talk about what?"

Popuri gives me a wink before all but yanking me through her front door and into her house. Lillia looks a little surprised that I'm here so early, but when Popuri skips past her with a "Good morning, Mom!" she just smiles vaguely and watches as the two of us disappear up the stairs. There's a small hallway and a few rooms, and I can guess even before Popuri heads towards it that the door with the bright pink posters on it has got to be hers.

She all but throws me down on the bed before turning and shutting the door excitedly. Then, she whirls around to face me (her red skirt flying as she does so) before plopping down on the bed next to me and scooting closer. Eagerly, she leans in and says, "Claire, let's talk about Gray!"

"What? What about Gray?" I'm so confused right now. Just yesterday, out of Rick's earshot, she wouldn't stop going on and on about how she can't wait until summer when she can see the hottest boy in the world, and now she wants to talk about Gray? Then again, the way she's looking at me has me thinking that this question was brought on by the way I was staring after him.

Oh great, Claire. Let's give people the wrong impression right off the bat, shall we?

"There's nothing to talk about really," I say nonchalantly, shrugging as I lean back. "I just ran into him, that's all."

"You don't think he's cute? At all?"

"What? No, why would I think that?"

Popuri gives me a look before saying slyly, "Well, even I think he isn't that bad looking. Of course, he really isn't my type but like I said as far as looks go he's not doing so badly."

For a second I think about Gray. Yeah, he's tall which is nice, and despite his baggy clothing it's easy to tell that he's got some muscle that he's hiding. His eyes are a dark blue, and from what I could tell he has reddish hair.

But wait, why do I care about whether or not he's good-looking?

Shaking my head, I stand up and put a hand on my hip, saying fiercely, "Well he's not ugly, but I just don't care enough to try and look that hard at him now. I've got a farm to fix, Popuri." At my words, she seems to remember something and leaps to her feet again, clapping her hands.

Next time, I'm not standing in front of the Poultry Farm to do my thinking.


When I'm finally allowed to leave the farm, I'm labored down with two bags of feed. My pocket is a bit lighter as I've spent what was nearly the last of my money on a chicken and feed, but Rick assured me that it would all be worth it.

While I'm sure that he's right to an extent, I can't help but think bitterly of the fact that now I won't be able to afford many seeds. Then again, maybe that's in my best interest as well seeing that a chicken will last me no matter what season I'm in, and crops are more of a limited thing before I'll have to go buy a new one. A chicken is definitely not a bad investment, although as the bags slip from my grasp I begin to wonder if I should've asked for help.

It wasn't that Rick didn't offer, but I kind of couldn't stand his non-stop egg talk much longer. He's a nice guy, and his sense of family is really sweet, but I just can't bring myself to want to talk to him for longer than a few minutes without growing bored. The only thing he ever seems to talk about are chickens, or what he calls, "the majestic beasts of the farm".

I kid you not. Those are his words to describe the little beasts.

As I struggle with my purchases past the Blacksmith's, I feel the bag slipping even more before I sigh and strengthen my resolute to get to my chicken coop even sooner.

With a fresh burst of energy, I speed off as quickly as I can towards my farm.