Okay, I'm probably the worst authoress in the world right now. I keep saying that I'm going to update soon, and then I don't. I'm really sorry about all of the long waits, and I'm trying to get my updates up as soon as possible. It should be easier now that I have some good ideas going through my head.

I'm actually really excited about the next chapter. The ideas for this chapter and the next are pretty good, in my opinion. Before I end this author's note, I should probably say thanks to all of the people who reviewed, which were Simplegurl22, Shimmerleaf, and iChocoLove. I'd also like to thank everyone that favorited and/or added the story to their alert lists. Thanks again, and please read and review!


The first rays of morning light were peeking through Angela's windows the next morning when she woke up. After taking a few moments to fully comprehend the fact that she was awake, Angela got up and walked over to the small wooden dresser in the corner of the room. She quickly took off the baggy t-shirt and pants that she wore to bed and replaced them with her favorite lime green work outfit.

Angela looked quickly at the clock, which read 8:40 a.m. She had overslept…again. She sighed and walked outside.

"Good morning, Angela," Gill said as she exited her house.

"Oh!" Angela exclaimed, her brown eyes widening in shock. "You scared me!" She took a few moments to calm her racing heart before continuing. "What are you doing here?"

Gill shrugged. "I don't have work for another few hours. I figured I could come and talk to you."

Angela eyed him skeptically. "Sure….whatever." She walked down the few stone steps and over to her plot of land. The tomatoes that used to be dead and withered were now bright red and ripe. Gill looked impressed.

"Wow. These look great!" he commented.

Angela beamed. "Thanks! I've been working really hard on them."

"I remember when you would forget to water them completely." Gill laughed. "Those were good times."

"Yeah," Angela said, rolling her eyes. "They sure were." She dug into her rucksack and pulled out the watering can. There was a pause while she watered her crops.

"You know what?" Gill asked. "I think you should begin thinking about taking care of animals."

Angela nodded. "I've thinking about building a barn. But I'm not entirely sure."

"You should!" Gill nodded in encouragement. "Having animals will make it feel like a real farm!"

"Yeah, it would. My only problem is responsibility, though," Angela said, sighing. "If I could barely remember to water my crops, how could I remember to feed my animals?"

"After a while, it becomes a routine," Gill explained. "You used to forget to water your crops, and you learned the hard way what happens. Now, after having that experience, every morning you wake up and water them. It's the same with having animals. You might forget to feed them once or twice, but after a while, it's a part of your morning. You can't forget."

"I guess." Angela muttered.

"And plus, you can compete in festivals and win if you take good care of your cows and sheep," Gill said.

"Wait, what festivals?" Angela asked, looking up.

"Don't you remember the Animal Festival?"

Angela looked confused. "No…when was it?"

"Er…about a week ago," Gill replied. "On the last day of Spring."

Angela frowned. "I still don't know what you're talking about."

"Weren't you there?"

"I don't think so."

"I was only there at the end, and when I didn't see you I thought you had just come earlier." Gill shrugged. "Maybe you didn't come at all."

"Oh…wait a minute," Angela muttered. "The last day of Spring? I think that was the day I went to the mine and collapsed."

Gill's eyes widened. "You collapsed in the mine?"

"Yeah. I went in the morning," Angela said, concentrating hard. "I remember finding a white wonderful buried in the rocks, and then I remember falling down and everything going black."

"Who found you?"

"Irene. She said she was down there, looking for Pontana roots when she saw me lying on the ground. She brought me back to the Clinic and let me rest there until I got better."

"You're going to kill yourself, Angela," Gill said, sighing. "Doing all of your farm work takes so much energy that you hardly have any left for mining."

"Thanks for telling me that now," Angela muttered.

"I figured you knew!" Gill exclaimed. "You are a farmer, after all!"

"I needed things to sell." Angela shrugged. "I thought mining was easy enough. I figured I'd have to earn more money doing things other than farming."

"That's true enough," Gill said. "But have you ever considered fishing?"

"Huh?" Angela said. "Did you say fishing?" She put the watering can back in her rucksack and stared at him.

"Yep." Gill nodded.

"Uh…."

"What is it?" Gill asked. "Wait…don't' tell me that you—" Angela looked at him and he burst out laughing.

"What?" she asked, her cheeks flushing red.

"You don't know how to fish, do you?" Gill asked. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"So what if I don't know how to fish?" Angela asked, her face turning redder and redder. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Of course it is!" Gill exclaimed. "Angela, everyone on this island knows how to fish. I thought you told me that you read the brochure!"

"I did!"

"Do you remember the section where it talked all about fishing? How Waffle Island makes the most money these days by shipping out fish?"

"Possibly," Angela muttered.

"Geez, Angela," Gill said, grinning.

The two of them were silent for a few moments. Angela muttered curses under her breath.

"You know, I could teach you," Gill said.

Angela looked up at him. "What?!"

"It's actually easier than you would expect." He smiled.

"No way," Angela said, shaking her head. "I will not fish."

"You already have a fishing rod!" Gill said. "Why not?"

"I've already tried to fish," Angela said. She shuddered. "It didn't end well."

"But if I teach you—"

"Please don't," Angela pleaded. "I'll end up mauling you with my fishing rod on accident!"

"I don't think that the chances of that happening are very likely." Gill smiled. "And one way or another, I'm going to teach you how to fish. Whether you want to or not."

Angela gave him her best death glare. "Whatever," she muttered. "Your funeral."

"So that's a yes?"

"An unwilling one."

Gill smiled. "I knew I could get through to you." He looked at the silver watch on his wrist. "Oh, man!"

"What?"

"I'm going to be late," Gill said. "I forgot that Elli wanted me to help her organize the bookshelves upstairs today."

"Whoops," Angela said. "You know how Elli is when she's angry. I'd start running if I were you."

"You're right. Er, but one last thing," Gill said. "Tomorrow's the Ocean Festival, and I wanted to know if you—"

"THERE YOU ARE, GILL!" A voice exclaimed, interrupting him. They both turned around and saw Elli waving frantically at them. She began running down the path towards Angela's farm. When she got closer, Angela could see her face red with anger. "YOU ARE IN SUPER-MEGA-ULTRA TROUBLE!"

"Great. Simply wonderful." Gill grimaced.

The brunette walked up to him, glaring. "Your watch is a half hour slow. I keep telling you to get it fixed!" She grabbed Gill's arm and began pulling him in the direction of Waffle Town. "Sorry, Angela," Elli said. "You can stop by later and visit him after we get those bookshelves sorted."

"Er…" Angela smiled weakly. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later."

"About what I was going to tell you," Gill said. He glanced at Elli, who was beginning to look very annoyed. "I'll just tell you later. Can you come by the Town Hall?"

Angela nodded. "Sure."

Gill smiled. "Great, see you then!" He waved at her and then followed Elli back towards Waffle Town. When they were out of sight, Angela sighed and sat down on the wooden fence surrounding her farm. Her stomach growled suddenly, reminding her that she hadn't eaten any breakfast yet.

Angela pilfered through her pockets until she found enough money to buy her a decent meal at the Sundae Inn. She put the money in her rucksack, hopped off the fence, and began walking towards Waffle Island. The warm summer wind ruffled her hair when she arrived in the quiet town. As she approached the Inn, she could hear the familiar sound of the waves hitting the sand. Angela took a deep breath of the salty sea air and then entered the tall building next to her.

"Hello?" Angela called when she got inside. She walked around the empty main room of the Sundae Inn, looking at the plates full of half-eaten food that were strewn across the many wooden tables.

"Is anyone there?" she called again. There was no immediate reply, but soon a loud crash and a yelp of pain indicated that there were people in the kitchen. As she walked closer, Angela could make out the voices that were bickering back and forth.

"No, no, no! Maya, you're going to burn the dish!" Yolanda scolded.

"It was Chase's fault," Maya complained. "He bumped me!"

"Chase…" Yolanda warned.

"What?" he asked. "I didn't do anything!"

"You did too!" Maya exclaimed. "You bumped me so I would burn the food!"

"You're terrible at lying," Chase commented.

"I'm not lying!"

"Sure, whatever you say, Maya."

"Ugh! I'm leaving!" Maya stormed out of the kitchen and ran upstairs, oblivious to Angela.

"Chase!" Yolanda said. There was a sound much like wood colliding with an object, and then Chase groaned.

"What was that for? It hurt!"

"It was supposed to. Now shut up! We'll get customers any minute, and you'll bet they'll want to—" The short, pink-haired woman exited the kitchen and found Angela there, staring at her. "Oh…"

"What?" Chase poked his head out of the kitchen. He brightened when he saw Angela. "Oh, hey!"

"Hi!" she said.

"What's up?" Chase walked over to her. "I guess you can see that I've gotten settled in my new job."

Angela grinned. "And everyone seems to really like you."

Chase ran a hand through his hair. "I guess you heard that argument between me and Maya…"

Angela laughed. "Yeah. Why'd you bump into her anyway?"

"She called me a lousy cook. But I'm actually better than she is."

"So you made her burn her dish?"

Chase smiled. "Yep."

"You're horrible!" Angela said, grinning.

"Maya's horrible," Chase murmured.

"Hey! Are you two done chatting over there?" Yolanda asked, tapping her foot impatiently. "Chase, please get back in the kitchen. Did you want to order something, Angela?"

"Er, yeah, if that's alright. I finished farm work already and figured I'd come and get something to eat."

"Sure!" Yolanda said, ushering Chase into the tiny room beside her. "What did you want to order?"

"I'm not feeling very picky," Angela said, shrugging. "I guess anything."

"Great! We'll make it a surprise," Yolanda said. She looked around the room. "Oh, and if you see Maya, can you ask her to go the Town Hall for me? She'll know what it's about."

"Of course." Angela nodded, sitting down at one of the tables.

Yolanda grinned. "Thanks. Chase and I'll get started on your food right away." With that, she went back into the kitchen, leaving Angela all alone. It was very quiet, except for the occasional sizzle and pop of something cooking. After about ten minutes, Angela saw Maya coming back down the stairs.

"Oh, hello, Angela!" Maya walked towards her. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. How about you?"

Maya shrugged. "The same. I'm going to head out to On the Hook and buy some fish. You want to come?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for my food," Angela said. "But if you're leaving, Yolanda wanted me to tell you to visit the Town Hall. I don't know what for, but she said you would know."

Maya grinned. "Oh, yeah. She wanted me to sign her up for the Dance Competition. The deadline is today."

"Dance Competition?" Angela asked. "What's that?"

"You don't know?" Maya asked, astonished. "Really?"

"Angela shook her head. "Nope."

Maya sat down next to her. "It's basically a part of the Ocean Festival. You do know what that is, don't you?"

Angela shook her head again.

"Seriously?!" Maya asked. She sighed. "Oh, well I guess you are new here. The Ocean Festival is the main event of the Summer. It's also the only romantic festival of the season."

"Romantic festival?" Angela asked. Her stomach did a few flips when she remembered what Gill had been saying earlier.

"You're right. Er, but one last thing," he said. "Tomorrow's the Ocean Festival, and I wanted to know if you—"

Angela frowned. This was beginning to feel a little bit awkward. Had Gill been about to do what she thought he was going to do…? Maya waved her hand in front of Angela's face.

"Hey, snap out of it! Is something wrong?" she asked.

"What?" Angela looked up quickly. "Oh, no. I'm fine. What were you saying?" She swallowed.

"Well, it's normal to have a date for the Ocean Festival. And it's also normal to compete in the Dance Competition with your date, and that's held on the beach at sunset. The champion couple is said to receive a fabulous prize, but I've never won. Actually, I've never been asked out by someone." Maya blushed.

"What does this have to do with Yolanda?" Angela asked.

"Well, she said she got asked by someone to the Festival."

Angela almost gagged. The thought of the short, pink-haired woman going to a romantic festival with someone seemed a little strange. "Seriously? With who?"

"I dunno," Maya shrugged. "She said to sign her up when I got the chance to."

"Oh."

"Hey, are you going with someone, Angela?" Maya asked.

"W-what?" she stammered. "Er…not that I know of." Angela felt her cheeks going red.

Maya laughed. "You know, you don't have to hide it!"

"Hide what?!" Angela asked. Her pulse was racing and she was feeling a little nauseous.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Maya grinned. "But whatever, I understand that you might not want to talk about it. That's cool, so I'm going to leave it at that." Maya got up and began walking towards the door. "I'll see you later, Angela!"

"Wait! What are you talking about?" Angela asked, but it was too late. Maya had already left. Angela gulped and shook her head. The previous conversation had left her speechless and terrified. Was Gill planning on asking her to go with him? To the romantic festival of the season? Angela bit her lip.

It wasn't that she didn't like Gill…he was nice and considerate. But she just didn't like the concept of dating him. It just didn't seem right. They could be friends, and that was it. Nothing more.

"You're food's ready!" Yolanda called from the kitchen a few minutes later. Angela could see Chase piling food onto a tray through the bar window. After a few seconds, he was walking out the door, carrying foods that Angela had never seen before.

"Here you go," Chase said, setting three dishes in front of her. Angela gaped at him.

"What are these?" she asked.

Chase shrugged. "Ask Yolanda, not me. She pulled out this ancient cookbook and began ordering me to get ingredients. I think it's safe to eat, though."

Angela smiled. She reached into her rucksack and pulled out the money. "Is this enough?"

"Hey, this is my treat. As thanks for the cookbook yesterday." Chase grinned as Angela speared one of the dishes with her fork. She ate it slowly, her eyes widening in delight.

"This is delicious!" Angela exclaimed. "I've never had whatever this is before!"

"Neither have I," Chase said. "I'm still new to Waffle Island recipes."

Angela swallowed her bite of food. "This is really good."

"Glad you like it," Chase replied. He turned around and saw Yolanda smiling smugly at him.

"I told you not to question my cooking skills!"

Chase grimaced. "Yeah, yeah. Sure."

"It's going to take you a while to learn to cook like me," Yolanda said smirking. "It takes time and talent to—"

"I'm back!" Maya burst through the door and into the room. "Did you guys miss me in the kitchen?"

"On the contrary," Chase murmured to himself. "That was the happiest half-hour of my life."

Maya shot him a death glare before continuing walking towards the kitchen. "I signed you up, Grandma. And you never told me you were going with Hamilton!"

"Huh?" Chase asked. "What's going on?"

"The Dance Competition," Maya said. "Don't tell me you don't know about it either."

Chase shook his head. "I've been here for two days. I don't know about any festivals or competitions."

"That's fine," Maya said. She skipped towards the table and looked at Angela and Chase. "Angela can tell you all about it, since I signed you two up!"

"What?!" Angela almost choked on her food.

"Surprise!" she said.

Angela gaped at her. "Maya…can I talk to you upstairs?" she asked, pushing her food back and standing up.

"Sure." Both girls walked upstairs. When they arrived in Maya's room, Angela placed her hands on her hips and glared.

"What have you done?" she asked.

"I asked Gill if you two were signed up yet, and he said no, so I signed you up!" She looked at her expression. "What? You should be thanking me for this! Registration closed five minutes ago, so you wouldn't be entered if it wasn't for me!"

"Maya," Angela said in a strangled voice. "Chase and I…we're not together."

"What?"

"You signed me up for the Dance Competition…" Angela said, her voice quivering. "With Chase."

"Er…" Maya said, clearly recognizing her mistake. "Oops."

"I can't believe you did that!" Angela shook her head. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Um…" Maya looked at her feet. "You can't back out of this. I'm really sorry, but once you're registered, you're registered."

"I can't dance!" Angela said, burying her face in her hands. "Maya! How could you have done this to me?"

"How was I supposed to know that Luna was lying?" she asked, flustered.

"Maya," Angela said, looking up. "It makes sense. Chase has been here for two days! How can we possible be dating?"

"I don't know! Love is a strange thing!"

"You're not helping!" Angela exclaimed. She bit her lip. "How am I supposed to explain this to him?"

"I don't know." Maya shook her head. "But I'm really sorry…I had no idea that you weren't dating."

"You have to get me out of this. Please."

"I already told you," Maya said, sighing. "You can't get out of it. It was originally a festival in honor of the Harvest Goddess, but as the years went by, they added it to the Ocean Festival. It's still considered a special part of the festival, and once you enter, they expect a good performance. Or else."

"Or else?" Angela asked softly.

Maya shuddered. "Don't ask."

It was quiet for a minute. Angela leaned against the wall while Maya sat down on the bed.

"You know, I could teach you and Chase," she suggested after a while. "There's this traditional dance that my parents taught me when I was little. It's fairly easy to learn, and a popular favorite at the competition."

"I already told you I can't dance."

"Sure you can," Maya said. "It's easy, trust me."

"You have no idea how uncoordinated I am." Angela shook her head. "Teaching me would be practically impossible."

Maya laughed. "I can teach you and Chase. And I'm pretty sure this is the only option unless you want to be shunned by the townspeople for the rest of your life."

Angela hesitated. She sighed and nodded. "I guess."

"Great." Maya nodded and stood up. "You should go and get Chase. Then we can start learning the dance."

"Already?" Angela asked.

"The sooner the better," Maya said. "Unless you want to learn it tomorrow five minutes before the festival starts."

Angela swallowed. "No, that's alright. I'll go get him." Angela left the room, and as she was walking downstairs, she agreed that tomorrow was probably going to be the worst day of her life.