Hehe, I'm on a roll. ^^

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All's Fair in Love and Lies

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Chapter Eight

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I spilled the watering can. Again.

I groaned and returned, for at least the seventh time (I had lost track), to the outdoor faucet at the edge of my tiny field. Miraculously, the water in the town's reservoir hadn't run out yet, so the water still flowed strongly when I turned the handle to refill my can. Then I went back to my crops, watered one of them, and dropped the tool again.

"I give up!" I moaned, kicking the watering can away. It rolled pitifully for several feet before coming to a stop at the base of a few breadfruit stalks. If Craig wanted to see my plants die of thirst, then this was his lucky day, because I was simply not in the mood for farm work today. Go ahead. Rub it in my face. See if I care.

Bessy and Missy were happily grazing away in the pasture, completely oblivious to their owner's inexplicable angst. In desperate need of a scapegoat, I grabbed my milker and shears like I was seizing a sword and marched off.

Missy had already been sheared just two days ago, but I set out to attack her fur nonetheless. While I was cutting, she kept giving me strange glances. Oh, what did she know? She was a sheep! She couldn't judge me!

Stupid inadequate amount of wool. I barely got a handful from her entire body. With a sigh, I pocketed the fuzz and moved onto Bessy.

...Alright, if there was one thing I was capable of realizing in my current state, it was that I was definitely not in any shape to milk a cow. The first clue I received was the fact that, instead of the milker, I had grabbed a water bottle by mistake. After seeing that, I double-checked and found out that I had just shaved my sheep with a pair of normal paper scissors.

"Whatever." I threw the tools onto the ground. And after a minute or two, I picked them up again and moved them to the edge of the pasture so my livestock wouldn't step on them. Then I relocated them at the base of the faucet. And then into my tool shed.

What is wrong with you today, Angela? I questioned scornfully. I ran my fingers through my hair, sighed again, and leaned against the outer wall of my house. Get a hold of yourself. It's not the end of the world just because...

Because Gill is in love with me.

"Shut up," I said aloud, then slapped myself. "Oh great. Now you're talking to yourself. Well, isn't that just peachy!" ...But who else could I talk to? After a couple of seconds, I exhaled regretfully and made my way back to the pasture.

"Yo, Bessy," I muttered. She didn't even pretend to look up, but I continued anyway: "You probably knew this already, since I think he woke up the entire island when he did so, but Luke came over to my house earlier this morning."

She munched on some grass.

"He kept saying that he had something important to tell me," I went on. "And guess what? As it turns out, Gill, the guy from the town hall...at least according to Luke, um...he has a crush on me. Isn't that just ridiculous?"

Moo.

"I know I shouldn't let this get to me." I folded my arms tightly across my chest. "It's just that I don't really know what to think. It's...it's really contrasting what I thought he saw me as. It's hard to believe. He's nice and all, and certainly very cute..." I stopped and hit myself in the head. "No, never mind that."

I pretended that Bessy was asking, "Why do you think he feels this way?"

"Like I said, I don't know. Luke said that—Luke!" I suddenly felt a rush of anger. "Arg, Luke! He just had to tell me, didn't he?! Stupid Luke with his stupid gossip and stupid inability to keep his big mouth shut. Ugh! As soon as he found out, the first thing he thought was 'I should tell Angela!' It never occurred to him that maybe there was a reason why Gill didn't tell me himself! This is no different from when he tried to read Gill's diary! That little, insensitive—"

For the first time, Bessy looked up from her grassy meal as a reaction to my voice. I stopped talking and grudgingly interpreted the motion as "Quit taking it out on Luke. He didn't do anything."

"You're right," I admitted. "It's not his fault. It's just that I've never been in this position before, and... Oh, Goddess. I'm talking to a cow."

With that, I fell silent. Bessy went back to eating the grass. I stood there for several minutes, and then at long last I turned and walked back to my front porch. I sat on the steps and put my head in my hands.

What should I do now? Normally I would go and visit Candace at the tailor shop, or head over to Ganache Mine District, where Luke and Kathy would most likely be battling over some randomly-chosen game. But I doubted that any of my best friends would understand.

At that point, as if some cruel deity had been listening to my thoughts, I saw him.

I nearly had a seizure. My farmland was close to Waffle Town, dangerously close, separated only by a short path. And there was Gill, talking to Jin about something I couldn't hear, right at the end of said path. They seemed to be going towards Maple Lake District.

I panicked.

What should I do?

Should I call him?

Should I hide?

Should I ask him about...?

I took a deep, shuddering breath and forced myself to think clearly. If he likes me, he'll look this way when he passes my land.

I watched, sitting as stiff as the wooden planks I rested on. He passed by the path without breaking a stride. With my breath held captive, I waited until he had disappeared behind the corner, and then put a hand on my chest and heaved a sigh of relief.

He hadn't even glanced.

I let myself relax for the first time today. Perhaps Luke was a natural-born sleuth, but he was also human. Even he could be wrong sometimes. Even he was wrong sometimes.

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The next Saturday, like Saturdays always were, was very exciting. It was Luke's day off from work, which meant that he could meet Kathy, Renee and I up at Brownie Ranch for our weekly horseback-riding pastime. Once upon a time Candace would come with us as well, but sadly her riding skills weren't as surprisingly adept as her soccer, so after just two tries she retreated back to her beloved tailor shop instead.

Unfortunately for me, Luke wasn't the only one who loved to visit Brownie Ranch on his day off.

"So, wimp, what do you say to a little healthy competition?" Craig bantered as I mounted Whisper, one of Renee's horses.

Before I could even open my mouth, Luke cantered over and declared, "First person to get to Alan's Tree wins!"

"I second the notion," Kathy chimed in.

"Then it's settled." I gripped Whisper's reigns and smirked at Craig. "Try to keep up, old man!"

"Back at'cha, shortie."

That was a new one. "Shortie...?"

"GO!" Luke cried, and the three of them dashed ahead of me before I could react.

I realized what was going on a split second too late. "I'M FIVE-FOOT-TWO, YOU JERK!" I yelled, then yanked the reigns and galloped.

It wasn't long before I managed to fix the gap between myself and my opponents. Kathy was proudly in the lead, with Craig in a close second. Luke...well, Luke looked like he was riding a bucking bronco, to put it lightly. As for myself, I kept sadly steady in last place.

"Dang!" I growled, leaning in against Whisper's neck.

Together, the horse and I twisted and turned around the little obstacles that we encountered. We still remained at the back of the group, but suddenly I spotted an opening and—

"LOOK OUT!" Kathy shrieked, wrenching at her steed's reigns.

Craig came to a stop instantly. Knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to halt as perfectly as them, I quickly swerved to the left and slowed to a stop there. Luke tried to imitate me, but his bucking bronco routine caused...complications.

I heard Renee scream, and I looked up in horror to see what had happened. To my relief, no one was hurt (unless you count Luke hanging haphazardly off his saddle at a truly incredible angle). Renee had dove onto the ground and was currently lying, unharmed, at the hooves of Kathy's motionless animal.

The real chaos came from the crash, seconds later. Apparently, Renee had been carrying a large wire cage when she'd accidentally wandered into our path, which had been cast into the air during the fray. Now, it landed on the ground with an unbelievable screech of metal, and its contents scattered like marbles bursting from a broken pouch.

"MY CHICKENS!" Renee cried.

I didn't know whether to scream or laugh out loud. Indeed, Renee's prized chickens were now scampering all around us with frenzied clucks and waves. Now, if only I could decide whether this was hectic or humorous...

"Don't just stand there, get them!" Craig ordered, jumping down from his horse.

I decided to laugh before I leaped down as well. All five of us went in different directions, each chasing one of the runaway chickens like our lives depended on it. The cage's clasp was smashed, but we were able to use it as a capture device using the upturned-laundry-basket method.

"There's one more!" I announced, pointing in the direction of the last chicken. There was no way that I was going to let there be only one left, so I pelted after it with all my might.

Have you ever tried to catch a chicken? It's absolutely impossible. I had already passed the Ganache Mine before I tripped and lost sight of it.

"Hahaha! You're not going to catch it lying down, Ange!"

It didn't surprise me that Luke had come as well. "Stop laughing and GO AFTER IT!" I commanded.

He did go after it, but did not stop laughing. I can't say I blamed him. After I regained my composure, I ran off in pursuit once again. We passed the blacksmith's, then Luke's house, and traveled farther and farther down the path. How far away from home could one chicken go, eh?! In almost no time at all we entered the Praline Woods.

"It went that way!" Luke told me.

"No, that way!"

"...Aw, crap."

"Fine. I'll go this way, you go that way."

"Sure, sure!"

We split apart.

I hacked my way through the thickets and underbrush like I was in some sort of Indiana Jones movie. Almost immediately, I lost track of the number of times I tripped. What was it about mad chickens that made such a familiar forest become a jungle? I made a mental note to suggest to Calvin that he should try setting poultry of his own loose every once in a while.

At long last, I happened to glance up and notice a rustle in one of the trees. "Found you!" I said automatically, and lifted myself onto the lowest branch.

It took me a couple of minutes to reach the right level. I had been an average climber as a child, but my current lifestyle of working out in the open air of my farm had made me all but crippled in tight spaces like this. Nevertheless, I persevered, and scooted urgently further and further down the limb.

"Hey, there, little chicky," I murmured, moving some leaves out of the way. "Renee's worried about you, so how about we—eh?"

With my sight now cleared, I could tell that the bird that perched in front of me was not a chicken, but a sparrow. "What the—"

Snap!

Oh, shoot.

I fell.

XXX

*hides under desk* Eep! The chickens! They haunt me. O_o

I don't know about you, but I was freaked out while writing this. THE CHICKENS, THE CHICKENS! AHHHH!!

Oh yeah, and YAY I'M SO PROUD. :D *victory dance* Another quick chapter! Methinks I may be getting the hang of this.