I stared outside to the person standing in my door. "Um…Joe?" I stared at the ground, feeling my ears go red. "Hi Joe. H-how's it going?"

Joe smiled—that gorgeous smile— at me. "Yo. I just came by to say hello. You ran off pretty fast yesterday."

"Yea. Well I… I guess I just got tired." I lied.

"Well! That's all I wanted to say really. Come by Woody's if you ever want me to build anything."

"I-I'll do that. See you later Joe." With that, I quickly shut my door and slid down on my knees. After a moment, I realized I had just slammed the door in his face. I stood and there the door open, but he was gone… I rubbed my head in regret, but decided to hit the town.

My first stop was Blue Sky Ranch. I walked up to the counter to make my grocery purchases. Hank greeted me with that drunken smile.

"Hey! If it isn't little Beth."(I couldn't help but grimace at this. Did everyone really see me as a little kid?) "So, what can I get you today sweetie?"

"I just need milk, eggs and cheese." I sighed, pulling the money from the pocket. I was definitely running out… Hank seemed to notice this so after he gave me my merchandise, he spoke.

"You know darling, you can always buy a barn, and a chicken coop. That way you don't have to buy milk all the time. In fact you can sell it!" I forced a smile.

"Well, thanks for the idea, but I'm not planning on staying here that long. Besides, wouldn't that be pretty expensive?"

"Well… yes. You'll have to pay for materials to build the barn, food for the animals, and the livestock." Hank admitted.

"Yea… I just can't afford that. I'll just stick with buying my own groceries. Besides… I'm not such a huge fan of animals." Hank looked at me like I'd committed a sin. I was afraid to look him in the eye as I ran outside, hand covering my face. I didn't see the person I smacked into, until I fell to the floor, and spilled my groceries everywhere.

"Damn it!" I swore, rubbing my head with my hand, "Way to go, jerk! You spilled my milk everywhere." I sighed and picked up a piece of eggshell. So much for the eggs…

I looked up to see the culprit and shook my head. I'd literally run into this guy just a few days before. I think his name was Ray? Yea that's it. "Do you ever look where you're going?" I said, helping myself up, as Ray simply stood there dumbly.

"Sorry. Sometimes I get lost in thought." He looked down on my groceries. I could tell he was feeling guilty. I honestly didn't care. I had just spent most of my money on food that I wouldn't even be able to eat now.

"Look… I can pay for that." He began to dig in his pockets. After what seemed like years, he pulled out a few worn out dollar bills. "There. Now you can go and get those eggs of yours." He smiled a crooked grin at me. I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. He needs it more than I do. Look at him… He's wearing old clothes, and he has to dig to just find a dollar.

I shook my head, "You know what? It's ok. It was my fault to. I wasn't looking either. Keep your money. It was just a couple eggs."

Ray grinned at me, "You're alright, Beth. I'll see you around?" He patted me on the shoulder, and walked off down the path.

Before I could stop myself, I called out, "Wait! Ray! Why don't you come have dinner with me tonight? I was just on my way to buy veggies for dinner anyway. It gets kind of boring with just me and my dog…"

Ray looked back at me, "Wha-? Oh yea! That'd be great. I'll bring some fish." He waved and started once again down the path.

I blinked. What did you just do? I asked myself. I asked him to come to dinner? I argued. He hasn't tried your cooking has he? Better call the doctor to give him the heads-up. "SHUT UP!" I yelled so several people stared at me.

I was now on my way to buy some crops for dinner. When I reached the farm, I walked right up to Liz. "I guess I'll take… spinach, carrots, corn, and tomatoes." I wasn't quite sure what the heck I would be making… I'd probably just throw some things in a pot and hope for the best.

When Liz handed me my purchase, she grinned, "I think you should grow your own crop, Beth. The feeling of growing your own food is wonderful. And if the quality of the crop is good, you can sell it for a nice profit."

"Thanks Miss Liz. The thing is, I just don't have the extra money around…" I admitted embarrassingly. How sad that I couldn't afford a bag of seeds. I only had a few pieces of gold left.

"Well, why don't you take a bag on the house? Let me know when they're done, alright?" With that she handed me a bag of turnip seed.

I took it, surprised that she was giving this to me. "T-thanks. I'll do that!" I grinned and headed out of the store. That's when I let out m sigh. When would people get that I wasn't planning on staying in town long? With any luck I'd be gone by the end of spring. I needed the money of course… Maybe I'd plant these things. Maybe. I could always dig in the mine though. That gave a good amount of cash.

With my grocery bag in hand I walked inside of my shack of a house to try and prepare dinner for tonight. My worst enemy, the kitchen. Ugh. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully. I began the simple task of chopping the veggies. When I finished that I plopped them into the pot, with a little milk for the stew-taste. It'd be great! I said as I poured a cup of salt in. This will taste delicious! It certainly smelled good only a few minutes later.

I sat down at the table. Ray should be arriving soon. It was ten to seven. No quicker had I thought that, there was a knock at the door. Ray stood in the doorway, raw fish in hand. He smiled at me as I invited him in…

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A/N: Well, that's it for that chapter. Not that good, but I'm just having a case of writer's block I guess.

Sorry for the late update! Wow. It's been months since I've been able to write fanfiction. I had computer issues. :/

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.