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Chapter 12

The day after the Firefly Festival, I received an unexpected visitor to my farm. It was hot that day while I pulled weeds and watered my crops, and I all I wanted to do was get out of the sun to get a drink of water. It amazed me that it could get so hot when it was only the eighth day of summer. I didn't remember it being this hot in previous years, but perhaps that was because I never had to work on a field in this sort of temperature back then. The heat was all I could think about, so I didn't notice Gill slowly walking up to me until he cast a shadow on me while I was kneeling down to pull out even more pesky weeds.

I didn't know why he would be at my farm at all. My shipping income had only been increasing, and I don't recall doing anything that could possibly pose a threat to him. But when I stood up face-to-face with him, I saw that he didn't have the confident, determined look he usually wore when talking business with me.

"Hello, Gill," I greeted. "What brings you here today?"

He didn't speak right away. He looked confused with something he was thinking about. "Why did you do it?" he finally asked.

I was puzzled as to what he was talking about. "Pardon?"

"Why did you ask Luna to watch the fireflies with me at the festival?" he said. "I don't get it."

I smiled. "Because I could tell that you like her by the way you look at her."

His pale face reddened from the embarrassment of someone else knowing his secret. "Thank you for doing that for me." And with that, he briskly walked away without even a goodbye.


It was only a matter of time before the thirteenth of summer was to come.

I didn't feel any older, and nobody had asked me what kind of birthday present I would like or what kind of celebration I would like, so it was as if it were a normal day.

I wondered what everyone at the mansion was doing since I wasn't there. I mean, you certainly can't hold a wedding if there isn't a bride.

The more I thought about the wedding, the more I began to wonder what a wedding on Castanet Island was like. I imagined the weddings to be held at Celesta Church, but I tried to picture an actual make-believe wedding in my head, I couldn't. I didn't know what the inside of the church even looked like. If it was half as nice as the outside, it must have been beautiful.

Deciding it was about time that I saw the inside, I set course for the Celesta Church. The inside had many long benches with a red velvet cushion on the seats and they left a path from the church doors to the altar. This must have been where the bride would walk through. I saw no one and listened to the soothing silence. This was perfect place someone could go if they needed to think over things.

I sat in one of the benches and began thinking, once again, about the wedding that was supposed to be held on my birthday. Father must have been disappointed with me for running, if even thought that I ran away. For all I knew, they could be thinking that I was kidnapped. Mother must have been freaking out about my absence from the one thing they have been preparing for my entire life. And Bryce… Poor Bryce… He must have been heartbroken… He was really looking forward to this, and I left him behind.

How could I be so heartless? But it wasn't like I didn't have a good reason to leave, right? I wasn't happy there. Every day that I was there I felt so empty, trapped, and void of motivation and excitement to continue to another day there. I couldn't keep living in a world where I felt trapped with people who only cared about my family's wealth, my looks, and social standing. What about other things? Did they care about what my favorite color was? Or what my favorite kind of music was? What my favorite food was? If I even had a favorite for those kinds of things? No. They didn't ask my opinions, and even if I did express them, it's not like they would listen. They would just pat me on the head and laugh because they thought I was making a joke.

"Hmm? I wasn't aware of someone else being here," I heard.

I looked up and saw that it was Perry, the church's young priest. He had blue hair in a bowl haircut and gentle, yellow eyes. He looked to only be a few years older than me, but his maturity was beyond his years. "Oh, hello, Perry," I said. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

He came to stand beside the bench I was sitting on. "Oh, no, no, no! I'm just surprised to see you here. Normally the townspeople don't so late in the day. Is there something I can do for you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. Thank you, though. I just thought I'd look around and sit a little. It's a nice, quiet place to sit and think about stuff."

He nodded in agreement. "You're right. I like to just sit in here for hours, praying to the Harvest Goddess about life and confessing to her things I've done wrong. It always made me feel better afterwards."

"Things you've done wrong?" I said. I didn't know that someone as pure and smart as Perry was capable of doing the wrong thing.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm not proud of them, but I wouldn't dare to wish that they never happened because they helped me realize my mistakes and eventually do the right things," he wisely.

What he said made me think back on whether I made the right choice about running away and settling on the island. "How do you know when you've done the right thing?" I asked him.

"Hmm," he hummed, placing a hand on his chin in consideration. "Well, you have to rely on your instincts. If your heart is telling you that the choice you made will be beneficial in the long run and makes you genuinely happy, then you have found the right choice."

I sat and thought to myself. So, that was it – I made the right choice.

I smiled and stood. "Thank you for that, Perry. I should be going now."

"You're welcome," he said, though he probably didn't know why I was thanking him in the first place.

It was getting late, so I went to Brass Bar to get my dinner. When I opened the door, it was dark; the lights were off. Suddenly, the lights shot back on, and everyone – Kathy, Hayden, Luke, Maya, Chase, Luna, Gill, Owen, Bo, Pascal, and Mayor Hamilton - jumped out, yelling "Happy Birthday!" in unison, practically making me jump out of my skin from shock.

"We got her good!" Luke said, pumping his fist in the air in celebration.

"W-What is all of this?" I asked, looking frantically around.

"It's a surprise party, you dummy!" Kathy said, grabbing my hand and walking me away from the door.

"Did you like our surprise?" Mayor Hamilton asked loudly in his usual playful and jolly attitude.

"I think we scared her," Luna giggled. "But that serves her right for not telling us her birthday was today!"

"B-But I don't understand… How did you guys find out it was my birthday?" I asked, utterly puzzled.

"Gill told us yesterday," Kathy said, pointing him out.

Gill was by the register, talking to Hayden and Pascal until he caught sight of Kathy pointing at him and looked our way. I was stunned. I wasn't expecting him to do something like that for me. What did he have to gain? As far as I knew, nothing could be gained by telling everyone here that my birthday was today.

I smiled and went over to him. "Thank you," I sincerely said. "That was very kind of you."

He nodded with a small smile and held out his hand. "We got off on the wrong foot, though my misconceptions played a large role in it. For that, I apologize."

My smile grew when I could sense the honest geniality in his voice. I took his hand and shook it. "It's okay, Gill. I'm just glad that we can be friends!"

"Molly! Molly!" Maya called as she skipped merrily to me and began tugging on my shirtsleeve like a child. "Chase baked a cake for you! It looks so yummy!" she said, gazing over my shoulder.

I turned around to see Chase coming out of the kitchen with a large, white cake with my name on it. It had three layers to it and had exactly eighteen candles on its vanilla icing surface. He set it on a round table that everyone was generally around. My eyes were twinkling at the cake.

Normally, during my birthdays at the mansion, Shelley and her cooks would be instructed by my parents to make a giant cake that would tower to be even taller than me. I didn't understand why so much cake. It really was a waste since the only ones that would eat of piece of cake during my birthdays would be me, Father, and Bryce, but even then, we didn't eat more than a small slice; we never did have much of a sweet tooth. But I was

But this cake that Chase made was absolutely perfect to me. It wasn't too big, it didn't seem like he went too much out of his way to make it, and it looked like just the right amount for everyone to get a good piece and not leave leftovers.

"Molly, do you want to open presents or eat cake first?" Kathy asked.

My eyes widened slightly. "Y-You got me presents?"

"She wants to eat cake first!" Maya piped up, licking her lips lustfully as she gawked at the birthday cake.

"No, Molly!" Luna said. "You have to open what I got you. You'll love it!"

Chase rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Let her decide."

I decided on opening the presents first; I was very curious about what they got me. I first opened Luna's gift, on account of her eagerly shoving her gift in my face. Luna got me two silk blouses – one green and the other a light pink. I opened the other presents too: a simple, white skirt that ended just above my knees from Kathy, a frying pan and spatula from Maya, an upgraded axe from Luke, an upgraded hammer from Owen, three tree seedlings from Bo, books on the history of Castanet Island from Gill and Mayor Hamilton, a guarantee of five free meals from Hayden, and four tickets for a trip to the mainland and back from Pascal.

I loved every single gift I received, not because I could really put them to good use, but because they actually considered to give me something out of pure generosity. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend my birthday with.

I was about to give in to Maya's pleading regarding moving on to the cake when Kathy stopped me, yanking on Chase's apron, much to his dismay. "Wait, you didn't open Chase's present!" she said with a wink.

I blinked and said, "But I don't see anymore presents."

Kathy was one step ahead of me. She was behind the bar counter, reaching down to grab a small box with a tiny blue bow on top. She pranced back over to us and handed me the box. "Little Chase here was too embarrassed to give it to you," she teased, poking her elbow to his side.

Chase blushed and shot a dangerous glare at her. "I was not!"

I giggled at their usual bickering and openly the small box. Inside was a silver necklace that held a violet rose pendant. It made me think of the kind of roses I once dreamed about. I grinned at its beauty. It almost tempted me to change my favorite color from blue to violet. I looked at Chase, stilling grinning and said, "It's beautiful, Chase. Thank you so much!"

His blushed deepened, and he looked the other direction. "Yeah… You're welcome."

Then, to Maya's delight, it was time to gather around the cake. Kathy lit the eighteen candles and told me to make a wish. I had no idea what I should wish for, so I asked.

"I don't know," Kathy said with a shrug. "Wish for something you don't have that you really, really, really want."

I took a pause to look at the candles as I thought about what my wish should be. Then, I blew out the candles.

I didn't make a wish; I'm content with what I have now.