OMG! I am so sorry for the wait! I have been working on this chapter for a long time, but I just never finished it! Plus... I recently discover the anime "Fullmetal Alchemist". O_O An obsession was born.

Anyway, thank you those of you who waited. I have a fairly long update here and I hope it's good! It will go into first-person p.o.v. instead of third-person, so I'm sorry if it gets confusing.


Hazel's P.O.V.

Before we knew it, the Flower Festival was upon us.

"Wonderful," I thought.

I may dress in skirts and colorful t-shirts, but I am most definitely a tomboy. Flowers just don't interest me. Sure they're pretty, but after looking at one for two hours, I get bored.

Not to mention that there was no one else with me. As I scanned the church grounds where the festival was being held, I felt a twinge of jealousy at all the couples and realized how lonely I currently was. Brooke was sitting with Luke on their blanket, knitting flowers into her date's wild blue hair- I was quite shocked when I learned that Luke asked her out, but then again I also expected it sometime. Kathrine was conversing with Gill about how lovely the flowers turned out to be and how magnificently the festival was going. I think they were even discussing preparations for the next event! Sheesh, they need a different hobby, however I was happy for Kat gaining a new friend, even if it was the mayor's pompous son.

But, as for me, I was slumped over on my blanket all alone, gazing halfheartedly at the cherry blossoms gently falling from the trees as the wind blew. To make matters worse, I was just in earshot of Owen and Kathy. The two were chatting gleefully, but all I could hear was the dumb blonde's shrill and aggravating laughter. I think she planned to be so close to me, to probably torment me and enjoy my loneliness, the wicked she-devil.

Regrettably, there was only one person I felt was even more miserable than I was during the Flower Festival. My twin brother, Tyler, had been sulking all week. My guess is that things didn't go well with him and Candace, but every time I tried to ask what happened he would give me this evil glare like I gave away his kitten or something. I don't know what I did- I hadn't pulled a prank on him since we came to this island- but I swear that his stare was an attempt to use some secret freeze ray because Tyler's eyes were never that cold!

A sudden realization struck me like lightning. "Where is Tyler?" I asked myself, waving my head around trying to see if he was hiding. For some reason, even though he loved flowers, my twin brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you looking for your date, Hazel?"

At the feminine voice, the hairs on the back of my neck stuck straight up as I stiffened, expecting my least favorite blonde to be right behind me, smirking at my forever aloneness. However, once I spun around, I discovered not icky Kathy, but the Marimba Farmer's daughter Anissa. Her brown eyes were warm and caring and I recognized her from her black locks that reached her mid-back. From a few days ago, I remembered seeing Brooke and Kat discussing seed growth or something with her. Anissa was one of Brooke's good friends along with Renee.

I shrugged, deciding that she was alright, and gave her a sarcastic smile. "Nah, I don't think I need a date to look at some pretty colored flowers. Actually, I was curious if my brother Tyler was around here somewhere."

Beaming gently, the farmer girl held her cheek in her hand like she was thinking. "Hmm, well I wish I could help, but I don't know your brother very well. Usually only your friends Brooke and Kathrine come to buy seeds. Did he come here with you?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't even remember seeing him at the house before I left. Brooke left with Luke pretty early to go chop down trees before going to the festival and Kat was gone with the mayor and his son almost all afternoon to set up the whole thing. I stayed behind until it was festival time, but Tyler wouldn't speak to me at all!"

I pulled my knees up to my chest, relaxing my chin on them as I strained my brain to figure out what was going on with my brother. "He's been really… I guess you could say, moody lately. I think he's mad at me for something, but I don't know what."

Apparently concerned for my dramatic sibling, Anissa's eyes were soft and caring as she quietly lowered herself next to me. "I hope he's not having a hard time adjusting to Castanet. I think he would really like it here if he just tried to look past being stuck here."

"It is kinda hard to look past the fact that all four of us are trapped on this stupid island because we have to pay a debt for a lighthouse that we didn't even break," I moaned.

Right as my words ran out of my mouth, I quickly felt guilty. With one look at Anissa, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. Her face was horribly saddened. Inwardly, I smack myself. Whether my anger was justified or not, I couldn't just let an insult like that sit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it," I mumbled. After hearing my apology, Anissa gave me a small smile. Deciding that it was best to change the topic, I casually placed my hands behind my head. "Soooooooo… do you have date with you? I mean, you asked me if I had one, so it's only right that I ask you the same," I explained with a smirk.

Personally, I had a feeling that the farmer girl would say no. Sure she was sweet, but Anissa was too sickly sweet for my tastes. This is probably why I never attempted to get to know her better. I mean, Brooke could be too sugary sweet as well, but boy does she have her moments! Brooke is actually really cool once you discover more about her!

"Why yes! Actually I do!"

I nearly fell over. "What?!"

From my disbelief, Anissa flushed pink a little. "Yeah I know, it came as a shock to me too."

Now I was thoroughly interested. "Don't leave me hanging girl! Who is it?"

"Jin."

My face fell so fast that I think I pulled a muscle in it. "Wait, what?! You asked that jerk out?!" I screamed. Even after being stuck here for two weeks, my distaste for four-eyes never faltered.

As I found out, Dr. Jerk was only a year older than me- meaning, thankfully, I didn't have to deal with him at school- but he was the very person who proposed that me and my friends be forced to stay on the crummy island to pay for the creation of a new lighthouse! Well, I'm sure you can imagine that I was not too pleased with him.

However, in the back of my head, I felt a twinge of empathy for Kat. It was blatantly obvious that the brunette had a huge crush on the doctor. Heck, when I tried to complain about him forcing us to stay she smacked my shoulder and told me off like I was a child! Despite her aversion for being trapped on this island for no good reason, Kat refused to allow me to insult such a 'hard-working and mature young man', quote on quote.

Now as much as I huff about it, I wanted my best friend to eventually find her man and be happy. But if someone like Anissa swooped in and snatched the very guy Kat liked, I had a feeling she would not be able to love twice. She could barely love one time.

"Man, I can't believe that you would actually ask four-eyes out!" I growled.

Anissa appeared shocked by my sudden anger but blushed all the same. "Actually… Jin asked me to the festival."

My heart dropped into my stomach. I gazed sympathetically at my best friend Kat. I noticed Gill suddenly leave for some reason, but what really caught my attention were Kat's brown eyes lighting up like stars. She had seen her crush, Jin.

I shook my head as I watched her race towards the black-haired man eagerly, abandoning her little blanket that she had shared with Gill.

"Oh, poor little kitty," I thought, using my extra nickname for Kathrine, "You're in for a world of broken hearts with that man."


Gill's P.O.V.

Okay, first off I would like to mention that I was right about Kathrine; she is indeed unlike any girl I have ever met. Second, our little friendship is merely for business! I don't actually like the foolish city girl!

Well maybe a tiny bit. I'll admit to Kathrine being much more mature and intelligent than most people in Harmonic High, which means I can stand her company. But as soon as she is finished teachin- uh, reminding me of the proper way of social interacts, our 'friendship' will be a thing of the past.

"Hey!"

I jumped a little at the feminine voice, swiftly closing my journal before anyone could see my newest entry. Next to me, giggling at my reaction was the very person I had been explaining myself for: Kathrine. After she had finished assisting my father and me with the festival decorations, Kathrine insisted on sitting with me to discuss other festival arrangements. I guess I was happy to oblige seeing as every other girl my age got under my skin.

In all honesty, I enjoyed our conversation. Kathrine had many good ideas about what to do for the Animal Festival and even the Firefly Festival for later in the Summer.

However, Kathrine decided to switch the topic on me.

"So," she hummed, absentmindedly staring up at the star-filled sky, "What's your favorite flower?"

"Huh? That came out of the blue."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Not really, I mean we are at the Flower Festival. If you want to improve your social interactions, you're going to need to just roll with the conversation no matter where it takes you. I'm sorry to say so Gill, but you can't preplan a discussion."

Grumbling silently to myself, I realized that she had a point and sighed. "Flowers are a lovely decoration for a small amount of time, but they eventually wither and die, leaving a mess where they used to lie. In other words, I don't find flowers useful enough to have a favorite."

"You know, that was both very poetic and very morbid," Kathrine said. She gave me a small smile. "Tip number two for social interactions: don't drag the conversation down with depressing themes if you can avoid it. You will shut people out if you do so. Try remaining upbeat or at least neutral."

Aggravated, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Very well, how about this? Kathrine what is your favorite flower? Show me how it is done."

"Lavender," she put simply.

I raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that she neither snapped nor answered sarcastically. Instead, Kathrine replied with complete honesty.

"Well, might as well 'just roll with the conversation'."

I cleared my throat. "And, um, why do you like that flower?"

Suddenly, Kathrine's soft smile vanished. Her gaze switched from the sky down to the ground as she avoided my eyes. As if I had inquired about something personal, the girl seemed to be pushing me away.

However, Kathrine still continued to answer. "My mother used to have this huge garden in our backyard. Since I was still just a little girl, she didn't like me trying to help as I usually messed up and killed her beautiful flowers. However, my father convinced her to give me a small patch of the garden as my own section. Both my parents helped me plant the seeds, but they wouldn't tell me what plant it was."

A tiny laughed escaped her lips as she recalled her childhood. "I used to spend hours just staring at the ground everyday, practically begging the seeds to sprout. My skills improved in gardening since I was so nervous about killing the seeds before they grew. Finally, after several weeks, the sprouts were fully grown and I awoke to a flower bed filled with lavender. Both my parents said that they were the most exquisite lavender plants they had ever seen since I had grown them myself. And since that day, lavender has been my favorite flower."

After her tale, I felt a twinge of understanding towards Kathrine. I had learned of her being an orphan from my father a while ago, but her story made it seem like she had the perfect family; not one that would abandon her some years later. The story even brought back memories of my own mother. She had loved to garden as well…

"You know, I thought tip number two was to not drag the conversation into depressing themes," I remarked. At Kathrine's sudden gasp, I chuckled. "Then again, you did say you are a hypocrite."

Then, without warning, I felt a rather hard smack on my shoulder.

"Ow!"

As I rubbed the sore area, my eyes shot daggers at Kathrine who also had a very displeased look on her face. But when I was about to snap in some way, though, her face bloomed into a wide grin.

Before I could react, Kathrine flung her arms around me, still smiling like an idiot. My breath hitched in my throat and I could feel my cheeks heating up. Why did this always happen when Kathrine was around?!

"You're such a jerk!" Kathrine cried, oddly delighted. Her doe-like eyes met with my blue ones. "And I thank you for that. I started dwelling on the past when I should look to the future."

Thankfully, she let me go before anyone saw what had just transpired. I wiped the blush off my face and stared indifferently at a couple a few feet away.

"Uh, you're welcome I guess."

Beaming as brightly as ever, she shook her head at me and went back to gazing at the stars. It was then that I noticed the couple next to us had started laughing merrily. The man had just given the woman a flower of some kind. The girl appeared to be thrilled even though it was just a simple plant.

Glancing to the left, I took note of a bunch of lavenders right next to me. My blush suddenly returned.

"Uh… I'll be right back," I mumbled, not daring to look at Kathrine.

"Okay."

I tensely took several steps towards the lavender flowers, running my fingers through my pale blond hair like I do when I'm nervous.

"Don't worry about what people will think," I tried to reassure myself, "It is the Flower Festival. No one will care if you give someone a flower. I mean, it's not like I actually like Kathrine; I'm just being a gentleman."

I bit my lip as I slowly returned to the blanket I was sharing with Kathrine, lavender in hand. However, I never completely reached the blanket, for I had stopped just short of it, staring disbelievingly at my supposed "date".

Anger filled my veins as I threw the lavender down, its gentle petals crushed into the unforgiving dirt as the flower lost all its beauty and grace. Kathrine had left our blanket quite entirely and stood there, flushed in the cheeks, talking with Dr. Jin. All of a sudden, I was not overly fond of my date or the doctor.


Luke's P.O.V.

This Flower Festival had been the bestest Flower Festival ever. Not only did I have an excuse to goof off for hours, but I also had the prettiest date ever: Brooke.

There she sat right next to me, holding my head in her lap as she weaved tulips into my hair. For the moment, I didn't care if I looked unmanly. I was happy to just relax with my girlfriend.

Brooke was looking more beautiful today than any other day. Her fiery red hair had two small braids on the side, eventually connecting into one single braid down her slender neck. A blue morning glory was perched on top of her ear. And she was wearing a forest green outfit- seeing as she only dressed in one color everyday- that only made her pale skin and violent hair even more pretty.

Nothing could have ruined our happiness as we laughed and had the bestest time ever. Unfortunately, something did ruin our night.

"Hello River," a sly, sarcastic voice mocked.

Brooke averted her gaze at the girl who just appeared, a discomfited blush running through her cheeks. "Actually, Selena, my name is Brooke, but they're both bodies of water so it's all right."

The exotic dancer smirked cruelly and pulled the morning glory out of her hair. "Oh I'm sorry. Silly me. It's just that you seem to have a lot of water in your brain like a river, so I went with that."

As awesome as I am, I didn't quite get what Selena said, so I continued to ignore her. For the past week that was all I did when any of the three she-devils came around. Their attention was never on me so I didn't see why I needed to get involved. I was sure Brooke could handle her.

However, I didn't notice Brooke redden even deeper as she seeped the insult in. Unlike me, she understood what Selena had said.

As I continued to lie on my back, Brooke spoke with a quivering voice. "I-it's alright. Just t-t-try to remember that it is Brooke f-for next time."

Suddenly, Selena's smirk disappeared and she glowered at the little redhead. The morning glory in her hand became dust. "So are you and your boyfriend having a nice time?" The word boyfriend seemed to slide off her tongue as easily as acid slides down the throat.

Then, Brooke did something I did not expect. She held up her hands in a defensive fashion and shook her head furiously. "No, no, no, no, I'm not dating Luke! We're just here as friends!"

My eyes burst open as I shot up from my laying position. "What?!"

Selena appeared to take some enjoyment from this. "Oh is that so? Well, then I'll just leave you two alone to… talk about your relationship."

With that she walked away triumphantly, cackling the entire time. Once she was gone, I shot Brooke a questioning look. "We're not dating?"

"No!" she cried defensively. "You asked if I could go to the Flower Festival with you. I assumed you meant as a friend. Is that not what you meant?"

Her grass-green eyes stared pleadingly at my golden orbs, but I turned away and sighed, my fists clenched. "I can't believe you."

"And I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one, but you obviously can't tell how I truly feel about you, Brooke."


Tyler's P.O.V.

"Come here you foolish thing!" I begged.

Just outside Flute Fields, I trudged along moodily, chasing after our runaway cow Noodle. Even though she was just a baby, the black calf had a dangerous curiosity injected into her blood and could hardly sit still.

There had been several incidences where Noodle had scampered off while we were at school. Most of the time, we would return from Harmonica High to our house with an angry Hanna staring us down from our front porch, a tiny black calf in tow. Then, we would be in for an hour long lecture about being more cautious about our animals, Kathrine apologizing profusely, Brooke appearing close to tears, and Hazel pretend strangling Hanna each time she turned around.

This time, right before Hazel left for the Flower Festival, I noticed Noodle's absence and went out to search for her on my own. I wasn't about to ask for my sister's help. I made it blatantly obvious that I was ticked off at her. After all she had put me through in our childhood together, I thought that I could created my own life that was unaffected by my twin, but no, she continued to change and ruin my life. The episode with Candace proved that.

I sighed and attempted to wash away my rage. Despite it being a trait of my sister, I was not one to hold grudges. However, nothing helped when it came to forgiving Hazel. She had hurt me too many times.

"Oh, stop crying over your brutal sister," I said to myself. "You just have to suffer through a year or two more with her, until this debt is paid, and then you'll be free and can move away from her forever, so that Hazel never ruins anything again. Yeah, that sounds good."

I flicked my bright blond hair out of my face and continued to search the area for Noodle, as I lost sight of her when I tripped on some weeds. About an hour past, judging by the how far the moon had glided in the sky, and there was still no sign of Noodle.

Finally, a signal was sent for me to hear. "MOO!"

My head perked up and I abandoned the collection of trees I had been scrutinizing. It was then that I caught sight of a black blob cowering away from an orange tabby cat which hissed and swiped its tiny claws at her. A snicker left my lips.

"Oh dear little Noodle, you may be the most curious cow I have ever seen, but you certainly are not the bravest."

I walked up to the terrified calf and shooed the stray tabby away. In an act of total hatred, the orange cat bared its teeth and spat with stick straight hairs on its back. It obviously was not pleased with my appearance. However, the cat ran away all the same, right back to Harmonica Town which I just realized was very close. Noodle had wandered off towards the beach next to the town, so I could just barely see the festival decorations.

"I wonder if they're all having a good time up there, Noodle." I sighed, petting the black calf tenderly on the head. She mooed contently in reply. "Yeah, they probably are, but you know that you are our first concern. Whether you like it or not, Noodle, the four of us are going to care for you the best we can, so I'm not going to let you run off again, okay?"

"Moo."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Chuckling to myself and at the fact that I was chatting with a cow, I gave Noodle a pat on the shoulder, telling her to follow me, and we began to stroll to the farm. That was until, however, we heard a quiet voice call out for us.

"H-hello?"

Startled, I spun around dramatically, my swooping hair falling onto my face. With a tiny flick of my neck, the hair shifted back into place and I saw a nervous looking girl, clothed in blue, gaping at both me and the calf. It was the tailor's eldest granddaughter, Candace. My heart skipped a beat.

"Why, hello Miss Candace," I cheerily greeted, hoping to make a better impression than last time, "What brings you out here when there is a festival just a short walk up the street?"

The tailor girl averted my gaze and fiddled with her shirt. "Um, w-well there was a l-l-lot of people at the festival this y-year. I stayed for a while, b-but decided to leave when it g-got crowded."

I smiled understandingly. "I have a distaste for crowds as well."

"R-really?"

"Oui, but with a twin sister like Hazel, it's crowded everywhere I go!"

I heard Candace giggle a tiny bit. A wide grin broke out on my face. I had a feeling that despite Hazel's reputation, I could still win the girl of my dreams.

With a little smile, Candace put her hands behind her back and drew circles in the sand with her feet. "I saw how y-you talked to your calf. I didn't know that you were good w-with animals."

I shrugged. "I'm not the best in the world- you should see how magnificent Brooke is- but I do enjoy my time with Noodle."

"Is that her name?" Candace giggled.

"Oui," I groaned, rubbing my head sheepishly, "I wished to name her Mona, but Brooke was the one who got her from Mr. Cain in the first place, and Noodle wouldn't listen to any other name after she was called that. So we were stuck with it."

As if I had said something wonderful, Candace's eyes lit up like holiday lights. "I love the name Mona! I named my pet silkworm Mona! It was just so pretty-"

Suddenly, the blue-haired girl lost her confidence and voice, stopping short of her sentence and ducking her head. I merely smiled softly and moved closer to the embarrassed girl. With a kind hand, I touched her shoulders and managed to get her to look me straight on. Her deep, sea eyes blinked a few times when they connected with my icy orbs before they darted towards the water, a pink blush appearing on her face.

The corners of my mouth curved up even more. "A lovely girl like yourself doesn't need to use words to express her emotion. Your eyes say it all. Remember that."

After my words began to register themselves to Candace, she tensed up and turned away. However, I noticed a rather large beam gracing her rosy lips.

My words touched her and that was what I was hoping for.

"Well, bye… Tyler," Candace called after me as I began to walk back to Noodle.

Smiling, I turned and waved goodbye, no other words needed. As she ran back to her home, I guided Noodle back to ours, skipping the entire way.


Mayor Hamilton's P.O.V.

For the first few hours, the Flower Festival went off without a hitch. The decorations were perfect, the blossoms were beautiful, and the night was like a fantasy. Every couple I saw, even my own son and Kathrine, appeared to be enjoying their time gazing at the flowers all around them and chatting about whatever was on their minds.

In fact, things were going so well that I did not even think twice about going to Town Hall to finish some extra papers I forgot about. I figured I could return without worry. Sadly, I was very wrong.

Once I came back from my short excursion, I found chaos! Almost everyone was arguing! Like the Harvest Goddess wanted to punish me for some unknown reason, the whole meaning behind the festival had been torn up and thrown away. Instead of tranquility and love, there was disorder and hate.

As usual, Kathy and Hazel were going at it (something about a bad taste in hairstyles), but even they knew to calm down during a holiday, so this behavior was shocking. Owen and Selena were bickering over goddess knows what! Luke and Brooke looked like someone had just died and simply exchanged each other rather ugly looks. Jin and Anissa looked like they wanted to die. My own son Gill was having a heated conversation with Kathrine about her lack of respect, while Kathrine shot back how rude Gill was being himself. Even Toby and Renee were squabbling over how lazy the other was being at the time.

"How could this happen?!" I asked myself. "Never in all my years have I seen such a loss of compassion between people of the same age! If this continues, I fear that this island will have a lot of single and unhappy inhabitants."

To ease a growing headache, I rubbed my throbbing temples and sighed. What could I do to fix this?

Then, completely out of the blue, a brilliant idea came to me. It was exactly what these teenagers needed to learn more about each other and also maybe discover romantic feelings with the other. It could put an end to all the fight.

And I was going to put forth this plan the Monday the students return to school, whether they liked it or not!


Ooo, what's the mayor got planned? You'll find out next chapter! ;P