Hello again! chapter 11 is here, I finally finished this chapter (yeah) I like this chapter, you know why? Well you have to read it if you wanna find out. Tomorrow I have school so...! #$% (lol) But it doesn't mean I'll stop writing story though hehe, Anyways, enjoy reading!


Chapter 11

Is It You?

Claire's P.O.V.

It's been a week and a day after my birthday and when I got a necklace from Gray. I stopped watering my crops and hold onto the silver pendent that's around my neck. I blushed as I think about that night, I shook my head and start watering my crops again, a female voice called my name, I turned to the direction where it's coming from I smiled when I see them.

"Hey Claire, how you doing?" Said my red headed friend

"I'm doing great, what are you guys doing her?" I asked them both

"Oh nothing particular, are you done with your work?" Said Popuri

"Just a few more sprinkles, that's all" I said while shaking my watering pot

"Can we help? It will be more faster"

"Um..sure" I shrugged, we all water crops, it only take 5 to 10 minutes to water them all.

"Thanks guys for helping me out" I thanked them

"No problem" The said in a unison

"Come on Claire, let's go to the Inn" Ann said, pulling me to the Inn while Popuri slowly pushed me from behind me. They lead me towards Ann's room and I was shocked to see, Elli, Karen and Mary were there. What is Ann up to? I sighed I hope it's nothing. Ann and I were sitting on a beanbag while the others are sitting on the bed or the floor

"Okay girls, as we all know, tomorrow is the Firework Festival, right?" We all nodded out heads "I heard Thomas said that, after the Firework Festival is over, there will be a dance!" She squealed and so the other girls but Mary and me

"This is so exciting!" Popuri gushed

"I can't wait!" Karen cheered

"I wish it was today!" Elli gushed

"I know! hey Mary, who are you going to the dance with?" Ann asked the petite librarian

"Um, well I'll be at the Firework Festival but the dance I'll be in the woods" She said, all of our jaws were wide open

"In the woods?" Ann screamed

"With who?" Elli asked

"With Phantom Skye, we started dating for a week now" She blushed "Thanks to you Claire, if you wouldn't say any of that, I wouldn't meet him" She thanked me, I smiled down at the librarian

"Your welcome, Mary" I giggled

"Karen, Popuri, Elli, who are guys going to the dance with?" Ann asked the three girls who faces are red

"Rick" Karen blushed

"My handsome Kai" Popuri chirped

"Maybe with Trent" Elli blushed "What about you Ann?" Now it's Ann's turn to blush

"W-well Cliff of course, this dance is boys asks girls but, Cliff is too damn shy to ask me!" She yelled, we all sighed "So Claire, who are you going with?" She elbowed me and gave me and evil grin, the other girls copied it, I blushed

"Yeah Claire, who is it gonna be?" Popuri giggled evilly

"Perhaps, Mr. Grumpy Blacksmith Apprentice?" Said Karen, giving me her cheeky smirk. I give up, I can't take it anymore!

"Alright, alright, I'm thinking I might be going with…Gray" I blushed and the girls squealed their heads off

"Oh! I knew it!" Karen fist pumped with Popuri and Elli

"Yeah, yeah, you guys can celebrate your sweet victory but I not sure if he will ask me" I looked down

"Of course he will, Claire, he made that necklace all night just for you" Said Ann

"He totally likes you, he also gave you that brooch you're wearing" Karen said, pointing to my brooch that has pinned on the strap of my overalls

"Really guys?" I said, slowly looking up

"Really, if he doesn't, he'll give you a hate card instead of a necklace" Said Ann, giggling between her words

"Thanks guys" I thanked them all

"Anyways, since we all know who is our date, Thomas also said the girls has to wear floor length dress, so it's more of a Grand Ball than a dance" Said Ann

"Isn't that gonna be hard when we are down and the beach?" Karen asked "Of course, Elli and Popuri doesn't have a problem with it since they already wearing floor length dress everyday"

"Oh it's not that hard, just hold onto the dress so you won't fall, if your wearing heels, you have to take them of or else things will be messy" Popuri explained

"Just hold onto the dress when it's above your ankles, that way you could see your feet" Elli explained

"Now that is done, has anybody have floor length dress besides Elli and Popuri?" Ann asked, Karen,Mary and me shocked our heads "Hm..in that case we have to go to the nearest city"

"Aw, I wanna come too" Popuri whined

"Okay, you two can come, the trip to the nearest city takes 2 hours so in an hour, we will all meet each other at the dock" We all nodded our heads, walked out form the Inn and went back home, well better get ready to go


Gray's P.O.V.

Clang

Clang

Clang

"Gray are you almost done with the chicken boy's sickle?" Gramps asked

"Almost, just a few more hammering" I said

Clang

Clang

Clang

"There we go, all done" I handed him the sickle, he check it for awhile and nodded

"Good, go and deliver it after that, your work is done" He nodded his head

"Right" I took my jacket and headed for the door but gramps called out for

"What?" I groaned

"Don't go groaning when I'm want to ask you something" He scold me

"Fine, what is it?" I said

"Well, tomorrow it's Firework Festival also, after the Fireworks, there will be a dance" He said what is he getting me into? "How will you like to ask miss Claire to go the Firework Festival and dance after the fireworks with you? You do love her, don't-cha Gray?"

W-what, no way" I stammered, my face turned red oh great

"Hoho, don't try to deny it me boy, I could see it on the way you act around her" He laughed

"F-fine, I'll ask her to go with me" I pulled my hat down and walked out from the workshop. As I was heading to give Rick's sickle I bumped into someone

"Gah!" She fell backward, I quickly catch her before she hit the ground, I stare at those beautiful blue eyes for a moment and she stands up

"Sorry Gray, didn't see you there" Claire apologized, a faint blush ran across her face, and a few seconds I start to be red too

"It's okay" I said pulling my head down. I looked down at the blonde farmer, she wasn't wearing her overalls, she was sleeveless black and white plaid shirt and a pair of shorts that stop above her knees, she still has the necklace on and also the brooch, I smiled at her.

"Where are going?" I asked

"I'm going to the city" She said, my head shot up, is she leaving?

"Wait you're leaving?" I said, almost in a terrible shock

"What? no, I'm going to the nearest city to buy a dress for the dance tomorrow with the other girls" She explained, I pulled my hat down as she mention about the dance

"Oh I see" I said, looking down at my feet "If you leave, I'll miss you" I said quietly

"Oh, I umm… I'll miss you too" She said, from the corner of my eye, I could see her blushing cutely

"Well, I um..better go now..I don't want to be late" She walked away but I grabbed her wrist

"Uh, C-Claire, W-will you umm…" I stammered "Will you go with me tomorrow night at the Firework Festival and the dance?" I blurted it all out, she blushed and nodded her head slowly

"S-sure, I'll love to go with you" I let go of her wrist and she walked away, I stare at her until she disappear, I smiled, I can't believe she said yes I fake cough interrupt my thoughts, I look around to see gramps looking at me and chuckled, Oh ! #$%

"Well, good luck me boy, hohoho" He laughed and walked back inside, No,no,no,no! stop blushing! another fake cough interrupt me, I turn around and saw my rival, Trent.

"Well, it seems you win the bet" He said "Congratulations Gray, you've won her heart" He walked away, I shrugged and continue my way to deliver the sickle


Claire's P.O.V.

The trip takes 2 hours. We stepped out from the boat and called out for a taxi. The city here is quite the same as the city that I used to live but smaller and peaceful. We sget off the cab and we found a boutique shop. Popuri wants to go to the boutique named "Wonderstruck Boutique" We all stepped inside and gasped from amazement. The theme was French and New York, there's so many cute dresses, shoes, everything here is heaven for a fashionista, such and Karen herself. We went up to the next floor since the ground floor is the New York theme, they do have dresses but there not floor length ones. We gasped again as we got to the French theme, there's more cute clothes and there's also a floor length dress at the back. There's like a thousand of them, fluffy and puffy and long and silky, there's so many type of dresses you could find.

The girls already have there picked dress That was fast. Elli's dress was a light baby blue princess dress, it's quite puffy but not as puffy as Popuri's pink fluffy dress, Mary chooses a simple yet beautiful long sleeves silver evening gown, Ann's dress is same as Mary's but strapless, it was puffier than Mary's, it was a light yellow color. Karen's dress exposed too much of her skin, it's a backless dress that the cutout stops around her waist, the top has a 'V' neck shape line that stops down her stomach. I was the only who haven't picked out a dress yet. I walked around to find a dress that caught my eye. I look around the racks and try to find something pretty, a empire strapless chiffon dress caught me, I took it out from the rack and it was beautiful, it was a baby pink colored, there were silver rhinestones around the small 'V' neck line on the empire strapless, it's the most beautiful dress I've seen. The dress cost lot of money, good thing I've work hard though.

I decided to buy this dress, I walked from the dress section and saw the girls looking at shoes, hats, and accessories, Karen found a black bead necklace and pair of black earrings, She really loves black Elli is trying on a necklace, Popuri is trying on everything, Ann trying on shoes while Mary looks around. A pink sapphire earrings caught my eye, I look at the earrings then my dress, then the earrings. It match perfectly, it only cost a few 1000s but the dress cost even more.

I take a look on my wallet, to see if I have enough money, I let out sigh of relief that I had enough, there's a 50% off discount on every clothes, shoes and accessories, what luck I have. We all payed for our dresses and walked out from the shop. It was nearly 7 PM. We all wanted to go home now but the Zack won't be arriving until 8 PM.

"Let's go to Pizzahut while waiting for Zack to come" Ann suggested. There were a lot of people waiting for their seat at Pizzahut. We sat on our table for six and had a great dinner together.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow" Popuri gushed, taking a bite on her pepperoni pizza

"I know right but I hope Cliff could be a man for once and asked me out already" Ann said angrily

"Calm down Ann, just give him time to relax so he have confident to tell you"

"You're right Popuri" She took a bite on her pizza a look at us "Have your date asked you guys yet?"

"Yup! He asked me when I heading to the beach" Popuri chirped

"He called me and asked me on the phone" Karen twirled her

"At the clinic when I'm taking medicine for our trip just in case" Elli blushed

"He asked me yesterday night" Mary said, hugging her book

"I bumped into him, after that he asked me to go with him" I blushed, looking down

"Oh come on, am I the only bachelorette who's date hasn't asked her?" Ann said, nearly yelling

"Ann, please set your voice to low, everybody's watching" I said as I patted her headed, trying my best to calm her down

"Sorry, got carried away there" She smiled. We all laughed and ate our pizza. It was 15 minutes to 8 and we rushed towards the dock where Zack dropped us. And when we arrived, Zack arrived like magic. We all get in the boat and waited for the trip back home end. We reached Mineral Town beach in less than and hour, Zack had fixed the boat, he said that a seaweed is caught on the engine. We all said goodbye to each other. They left the beach while I stayed there for awhile, I got sidetracked by the scene, it was a beautiful night, I imagine that me and Gray will dancing here, all night long, in each others arms. I blushed and walked home but when I turned around, I nearly bumped into him, I blushed even more as he placed both of his hand on my waist, giving me a hug.

"Thank goodness you're back, I was worried that you didn't come back" Gray whispered in my ears, his warm breath tickled my ears making my knees weak "Are you okay?" He asked

"I'm okay now" I smiled, I rested my head on his chest and gripped the fabric from his jacket, we stayed like like for a minute then we broke apart. I blushed as he looked down at me

"Let's get you back home, wild dogs visit the beach sometimes" He said, I nodded my head slowly and we both walked together to my house. When we're halfway there, Gray broke the silence that has been upon us

"Did you buy a new dress?" He asked

"Yeah, I did" I said, looking at the purple paper bag on my right hand

"How much does it cost?"

"A lot, plus the earrings that I bought, good thing the have a 50% off sale though" I giggled. Once we both are standing in front my door we stare into each other eyes, like the night on my birthday.

"Goodbye" He said softly

"Goodbye" I replied, my cheeks turned red and so he did. He turned and walked away, I turned the door knob but I stopped the half way through when a voice startled me

"See you tomorrow night" He waved goodbye. I blushed, redder than before, I slowly waved at him and ran inside my house. I knelt down and leaned on my door, both hands were on my head, I tried to stop blushing but I can't, my heart is racing so fast that it hurts. I placed the bag next to me and I looked down at my hands.

"Why are my hands are shaking?"


Claire's P.O.V.

"Claire…" An angelic voice called my name

"Claire..."

"WAKE UP YOU LAZY FARMER!"

"Ahh!" I yelped and I fell down from my bed

"Geez Claire, who knew you were such a lousy sleeper" Ann teased

"Ann? How did you get in here?" I asked her

"I don't know but we could asked the owner of this house forgets to lock her door" She teased again, ruffling my hair "Anyways, I was worried about you when I tried to wake you up by banging two frying pans to wake up and you didn't wake up, I call the others the help with your farm while I'll try to wake you up" She explained

"What time is it?" I said as I fixed my hair

"It's almost 5 o'clock and we are all supposed to get ready in your house by 5 " She said, crossing her arms

"Sorry, I didn't know I'll overslept" I gave her an apologetic smile "Anyways, did Cliff asked you yet?"

"Yeah he did, Finally! I've waited quite a long time now" I giggled "Well the girls are done, I'll let them in while you take a bath" I nodded. She walked out from my room, and I get up and went inside the bathroom and take a quick shower. Once I got out, the girls were already in my room, eating lunch. They've already prep up the makeup and curling irons, our dresses have already hunger up. I noticed the some of girl's hair were wet, did they use went to the bathroom at the living room?

"Ah, Claire! sorry that we have to use your bathroom because we all stink" Karen apologized

"It's okay, thanks for helping out the farm" I said

"Alright since we all have taken our shower and it's 5 o'clock, let's get prep up for tonight" Ann cheered. Karen blow dried my hair while I blow dried Elli's hair and have baked corn in my mouth. Karen does my hair and my makeup while I do nothing for her since she's an expert on getting ready. My hair was curled and Karen put it up into a side chignon updo, there's a couple strands from my front hair come lose but Karen said it suppose to look like that. I look at my made up hair and makeup, Karen is an expert but an amateur at cooking, she applied my make not too much, it's just right amount of makeup for me, she uses a light pink eyeshadow and she also puts a little black at end corner of my eyes, she also puts some false lashes on it's pretty heavy on my eyelids but it looks so pretty, and the final touch for my makeup a cat eye eyeliner.

"Thank you Karen, I love it" I thanked her

"No problem girl" She said

The others have already wearing their dresses and they all look stunning, Ann's, Popuri's, Mary's and Karen's hair have been put up into an updo but Elli since she has short hair but she french braided her bangs which looks nice on her, Mary wore her contact lens and she looks beautiful than ever. I wore my dress and it totally shows a lot of my curves. I'm quite impressed with myself that I'm a smart shopper, I took the pink sapphire dress from it's box and put them on, first of all, it was heavy but it lighten up a bit. I wore my necklace that Gray have given to me and put on some silver heels.

"We are ready to go!" Ann cheered and all of us cheered too, the boys has arrived the beach since Thomas said that the bachelors has to come early around 5 o'clock, all of us knelt down and hide the bushes as were searching for our date but Mary, she stood there and reading her book

"Hey Mary, where are you and Skye will be sitting?" I asked the petite librarian

"We planned to sit somewhere around here so nobody can see us here" She said. I nodded my head and continue to search for Gray, the others found there dates and went of and even Mary, I didn't want to look at Skye's face when stopped by to take Mary to their spot, a few second after those two left, I found Gray sitting on the dock, my heart flutters, he wore the same clothes at my birthday but this time, he isn't wearing his hat, I blushed but frowned when he puts his back on, I didn't noticed the hat was besides me. My heart started to race as I walked towards him Come Claire, you could do it

"Good evening Gray


Gray's P.O.V.

"Wow, we all look mighty handsome tonight, of course, I'm more handsomer" Said Kai as we all are dressed up

"Don't flutter yourself Kai, I just don't know why how my sister fall in love with you" Rick growled

"Oh yeah, I can't believe a nerd like you could get a smoking hot girlfriend!" He yelled

"Are you hitting on Karen? What? your going to flirt with her than dumped my sister?" His faced grew with rage. They argue like cats and dogs, I sighed

"Could you guys shut the hell up?" I yelled, both of them mumbled "He started it" I sighed again "Let's just go to the beach, it's almost 6 o'clock and the girls might be there" They all nodded their head. Kai waited near his shack, Rick was on a bench near to Kai's shack, Cliff and Trent were waiting by the shore while I sat and waited for Claire by the dock. I wonder how pretty she'll looks like, of course, Claire is always pretty in everything, even if she's a total mess. I heard a girl's voice, I turned to see the bachelors' date has arrived, I looked for Claire but I can't find, where is she? I took off my head in frustration and scratch my head and placed my hat, back on my head. A voice startled me

"Good evening Gray" An angelic voice said from behind me. I turn around with my mouth open, Claire was standing there, looking beautiful as ever, she wore a pink dress and a pair of pink sapphire earring, I smiled at the beautiful farmer and got up, I walked towards her and stop a few feet away from her

"Good evening Claire" I smiled "You look..amazingly beautiful tonight" My faced turned red. Her blue eyes were wide open and she looked down on her bare feet and played with her heels that she's holding. Her face turned red, redder than mine, she's so cute when she blushed, I chuckled and grabbed her free hand, it was small but, it was soft and warm, she blushed even more and laughed lightly

"Shall we sit down by the dock?" I asked, she looked up at me and nodded her head

"We shall" She giggled. I lead her to the edge of the dock, we sat there with our feet dangling above the water. I looked down at her from the corner of my eyes and I could see her smiling with that beautiful smile, I can't help it but to smile at her cuteness and her beauty.

"Begin the fireworks!" Zack called out. A loud explosion startled us, the fireworks has started. Claire clapped her hands and smiled, I looked at her cute reaction as she watches the fireworks changes color

"Isn't it beautiful?" She said at me

"Yeah it is, but do you know what's more beautiful?" I asked her she cocked her head to the side

"What is it?" She asked, I smiled

"Well" I put my arms around her, I could see her face turn red again, I laughed "She's right next to me" She looked up at me and smiled widely, she rested her head on my shoulder as we watched the firework in each others arms. I smiled down at her, she smells like strawberries. After the firework is finished we all clapped our hands. I got up and let a hand out to help Claire up, she bent down for her heels and we both walked towards the Rose Square, to my surprise, the Rose Square looks like a prom in high school. The whole set up wasn't here when I was heading to the beach and they even hanged up a disco ball! This really looks like a prom, food and refreshment table, lights, gallons and streamers, are we in a movie or something? Mayor Thomas comes in out of nowhere, he tapped the microphone to see if it's working

"Okay here we go, Thank you for coming, this is the very first annual dance" He said and everyone clapped their hands "Alrighty then, Zack! turn on the slow dance music" He called out Zack, the girl gushed and squealed while Claire blushed as she puts on her heels back on. Why does it has to be a slow dance? I wish that if this is a movie right now because usually the fun dancing some first then the slow dance comes last. I let out a defeated sighed as the music starts. I shook my head, maybe it won't be so bad I guess because the guys seems to enjoy it by dancing in circles. I held Claire's hands, making her to looked up at me, I smiled down her

"Can I have this dance?" I said, she blushed

"Yes" I leaned her to the dance floor. I placed one hand on her upper back while holding her hand, she slowly placed her free hand on my shoulder and we begin to dance. First, it start of with a weird circle but we slowly became an expert at slow dancing. A few minutes, Claire puts her arms around my neck and rested her chin on my shoulder. I blushed but it quickly goes away, I placed my arms around her waist and we danced along the music. We all clapped out hands as the dance is over, Thomas said we can go home now. I accompany Claire back home, we stopped in front of her door step Okay Gray, it's now or never, oh no! she getting inside her house, stop her Gray, stop her now

"Claire!" I grabbed her wrist before she could go inside "I-I have something to tell you" I said as my face turned red

"What is it?" She asked, cocking her head to the side

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I was a jerk to you when we first met"

"Gray, it's okay, you don't have to-" She stopped at mid sentence when I cut her off

"It's not just only about that Claire" I said losing the grip on her wrist "Claire, I just wanted to say that, ever since you came here, my skills on being a Blacksmith improved ever since you said to never give up, you changed my life, you are my best friend but I never knew my feelings for would change into something wonderful" I paused, I looked down on my feet then I stare into her sapphire eyes

"Claire, I love you, will you be girlfriend?" I asked her, I didn't care if my face turned red. Claire's eyes shot up, her face was redder than a tomato, she held both hands to her mouth and slowly bring them down and smiled

"You know Gray, you maybe rude and cold but I never know that your sweetness and kindness will make me fall for you" She paused and smiled again

"I love you too and yes, I will be your girlfriend" She said happily, she puts her arm around my neck as I put mines on her waist, as we broke apart, I cupped her face with my hand and leaned forwards and she did the same, out lips were about to meet until Brownies pushed me down to ground to greet his master. I groaned and cursed the dog for interrupting me as I got up. Brownies barked and pointed to the opened door like he's saying he wants Claire to get in Well I outta…

"I'm really sorry Gray that Brownies pushed you" She apologized

"No worries" I said to my new girlfriend I like the sound of that

"Well I gotta go, Brownies wants me to get back in the house" She patted him on the head If only if I could pat his head with a hammer

"It's alright, good night Claire" I waved goodbye

"Goodnight Gray" She waved back. I walked away from the house, I look back to see Brownies standing there watching me go away

"Someday I'll make you into a hot dog!" I mumbled


*Fangirl scream* Gray and Claire are officially dating! XD but too bad that Brownies interrupt them two when they are going for their first kiss. I'm quite worried if Gray did really meant by making him into a hotdog(lol)

Thanks for reading! ^o^/