** This was originally a much longer chapter, but I was afraid it would turn out to be long, even for my standards, so the other half will be in the next chapter. This is only about 1,600 words, so this will be the shortest chapter in this story. I haven't wrote a chapter this short in a long time. Usually my chapters average to about 3,000 words. :P

Chapter 10

It has been a week since I ran into Chase in town next to the clinic, and ever since then, he would hardly say a word to me at the bar if I didn't bring up the subject of food or cooking, something he was willing to talk about at any time. Honestly, talking about food and cooking became boring after a week, but I still brought up the subject. If I didn't, Chase would only nod and give short, dull responses to whatever I tried to talk to him about. When he gave his stoic responses, I couldn't come up with anything to reply with, so I would remain quiet. Whenever we were quiet, I noticed that he had a look on his face that told me that something was on his mind. He would even open his mouth to say something, but would quickly close it back shut, as if to change his mind. This was when the thought of him getting bad news from the doctor would come in.

"Chase, is something on your mind?" I would ask to be sure.

His violet eyes would look away as if he thought this was the perfect way to prevent me from reading his mind, which I wished I had the ability to do. "No, nothing. Don't worry about it," he would answer.

It made me uneasy to think that something could be so wrong with Chase that he couldn't tell me about. I wanted to know, but I couldn't pry into his life. It wasn't any of my business, so I had to respect that. It made me sad to think about something being wrong with Chase, so I would quickly bring up the subject of food so that Chase would actively join in a conversation with me, thus distracting him from whatever was on his mind. Even though talking about food and cooking was getting old, I continued to keep the conversation going. I liked listening to his strong, critical opinions about a subject I wasn't very familiar of. All I could really do was nod and give a response to whatever part of the conversation I could relate to, which was enough for Chase, for he would keep going and not question my nonexistent knowledge of cooking.

During one of these talks that I purposely started to listen to Chase talk, Kathy came along and gave him a scolding look. "Chase, you're boring her to death!"

"Oh, no, Kathy! I'm not bored at all," I tried to tell her. I wasn't entirely sure if it was a lie though. The subject was getting boring for me to think about, but listening to Chase talk about it wasn't. It was fun watching him talk about something he was enthusiastic about.

"Kathy, go away," Chase said, obviously annoyed with her.

"I can't let you drive her away. Poor, little Molly must be having her ears talked off! Talk about something else, like, how her day was. Yeah, ask her about her day!"

Chase rolled his eyes and looked at me with a mocking smile. "How was your day?"

"Umm, good."

"That's nice," he said pleasantly and immediately changed his attitude when he turned back to Kathy. "Now, go away."

Kathy pouted and placed her fists on her hips. "Now you're just being rude! Oh, are you going to the Firefly Festival tomorrow, Chase? You can talk about that."

"No. Why would anybody want to sit around and watch a bunch of bugs?"

"Hmph, you're no fun!" Kathy said and then turned to Molly. "What about you, Molly? Are you going to go?"

"I've never heard of it until now. What do you do at this festival?" I asked.

"We place lanterns on the river in honor of our ancestors and watch the fireflies at night. It'll be a lot of fun!"

I smiled when I imagined various glowing lanterns floating down stream with little specs of flickering light flying in air above. It sounded like a beautiful festival to attend. "I'd love to go. You don't see fireflies from where I'm from, so I've never seen fireflies. They must be beautiful to watch in person."

"It is, and Chase is going to escort you so that you won't be lonely!" she said with a cheeky grin.

"No, I'm not. I've already told you I'm not going," Chase said. "Why can't she just go with you and Owen?"

"Because we want this to be a private date! Besides, Molly can't go alone. What if something happened to her? What if she was attacked or something?" Kathy read Chase's face and could tell that he was reconsidering his decision, but needed an extra push. She pretended a dramatic sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "But if you really don't want to accompany Molly, I'm sure Luke would be excited to take her to see the fireflies."

I could hear a growl from Chase, which urged me to intervene. "Guys, really, it's okay!" I pressed. "I can just go by myself. I'll be fine."

Chase groaned and rubbed his hand against his forehead. "No, I can take you."

"Oh, are you sure? You don't have to," I assured him.

He sighed exasperatedly. "No, it's not a big deal. I can take you."

Kathy smirked, satisfied. "Looks like Chase finally decided to be a gentleman!" She then pulled out a few bills from her pocket and placed them in my hand. "Now, go to the tailor's next door and get yourself a cute dress with that!"

"Kathy, I can't accept this," I said, holding the money out for her to take back. "I have enough to pay for my own."

Kathy rejected the money. "Well, I'm not taking it back. I want to pay for your dress. Think of it as a present for being a regular customer!"

I eventually accepted it, and once I was finished with the food I ordered at the bar, I stopped by Sonata Tailoring where the pink-haired girl, whom I learned was named Luna, assisted me.

Luna measured me with a long, yellow tape and searched through a long clothes rack for a dress that she thought would look best on me. "You know what color would look amazing on you? Gold! And there's a sparkly gold dress here with your name on it!" Luna exclaimed excitedly, about to dig for the said dress.

The mention of the horrid color made my face twist in disgust. "Sorry, but I really don't like that color, and I hate how it looks on me. Can you find something else, please?"

Luna continued to search, muttering something about how the customer wasn't always right. As I watched her go through the many dresses they had, I wondered why Gill would lie about knowing her. I didn't see anything wrong with her. In fact, I thought she was very pretty and fashionable.

"Hey, Luna?" I said, unsure if what I doing was the right thing to do. "I was wondering if you could tell me a little about the mayor's son. What do you think of him?"

She eyed me questionably with her dark blue eyes, most likely wondering what made me ask such a question, and continued to search for a suitable dress, not letting me see her face while she answered. "You must mean Gill. Well, he works a lot, so I don't talk to him very much besides when he comes to do business with us. Why do you want to know? Are you in love with him or something?" she asked bluntly.

"W-What?"

"Hey, no need to be embarrassed, Molly-kins! At least you're not in love with an idiot like Luke. So, what? Are you going to the festival with Gill tomorrow? Watching the fireflies is so romantic!"

"Actually, Chase is supposed to be taking me tomorrow."

"Oh, I get it. You're in love with Chase, then!"

My face heated up from the frustration caused by her assumptions. "I never said I was in love with anyone!"

Luna giggled. "Whatever you say, Molly-kins." She then gasped suddenly and pulled out a simple, but pretty, blue sundress. It looked so familiar, as if I had seen it somewhere before. "This dress is perfect for you!"

I didn't even have to try it on. Something in my gut told me that Luna was right. The dress had a special aura about it that made me feel attracted to its simplicity. I didn't even have to see the sparkly, gold dress Luna suggested earlier to know that this simple, delicate, blue dress was far more beautiful and much more worth having. Like they all say, all that glitters is not gold.

** Yeah, it was a pretty boring chapter, but I'm sure you can tell the fun stuff will be in the next chapter, huh? **