Chapter 1- White Heart

I glanced at the clock. Eight fifty five. I've got to get out of here. I thought, looking for the time to jump in on my mother's consistent talking. Blah blah blah blah blah... blah.... pause. I opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately shut up again with my mother beginning to talk again. I felt like I was standing there hours while the time was merely minutes.

"Maria, honestly. You should consider settling down! I settled down before your age, and in this town everyone does! You don't want to end up single for the rest of your life! I seriously advise you to check out Harris! He's a great guy, I tell you! He's got a good steady job, postman, and he's head over heels for you, Maria! Please, just consider it!"

Pause.

"Okay, fine, whatever mother, I'll consider it. Can I go now???"

"Yes, you'll be late. What are you doing hanging around here until the last minute?! Get going!"

I wanted to say something, but I didn't have enough time.

"Bye," I whispered as I walked out of the door. I glanced at my watch. Eight fifty nine. Good thing it's right next door, I thought.

I was walking and examining the day, checking if I needed to get my notebook and watch the insects after work. The air smelled fresh and the weather was perfect. Yes, I thought to myself, happy that there was finally a day to bug-watch.

I stopped for a breath of the morning air. I sighed, and then I heard someone coming. It sounded like my father and... someone else? I couldn't put my finger on who it was... I listened as closely as I possibly could but still didn't recognize the voice.

"Jack, this section of the town is very nice, you'll see. Here is where the potion shop, the midwife's house, the graveyard, my house, and of course, the library are located. I'll take you on a tour of each."

Jack? Who's Jack? I fiddled with the keys, shaking. I dropped the keys, praying my father would change his mind about showing me someone new. I'm a social disaster! I picked the keys up and put the key in the lock, beginning to turn it...

"Hi, Maria, just now getting to work?" Dad said.

"Hi, dad, yes."

"Ah, it's a bit late, eh? Well, anyway, meet Jack, he's new here."

I blushed a crimson red. He was... hot. Adorable. Cute. Every word in the book. He smiled at her.

"Uhhh, yes, uhhh, h-h-hello... ha..." Maria smiled uneasily.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Jack said.

I decided not to get into things to fast, beginning to love him or anything like that immediately. I was a person that believed that you shouldn't jump into things too fast.

"Well, that brings us to the conclusion of our tour!" Dad said. I looked down at the ground, biting the inside of my lip silently. I then turned to unlock the door when I dropped the keys again.

"Ugh," I said to myself, and Jack heard.

"You need any help there?" He said.

"Uh, nooo, I'm fine," I said and looked around to see if my father had gone yet. Yep, he was gone. I was by myself with him, and nervous too.

"You sure about that?" He said after I dropped my keys the second time. I didn't reply. He walked up next to me and put his hands on the keys to unlock the door.

Is he going to follow me inside? If he does, what am I going to do? What will I say? Will I make a fool of myself? I thought immediately. It had nothing really to do with how he looked, I normally thought that for anyone. Will I make a fool of myself? was a question I thought normally. The only person I was myself around was Karen, and she wasn't understood herself. She has an attitude with everyone else, but with me we're a pair.

He dropped the keys himself, and he shot a half-grin at me. I blinked a few times at the doorknob and he reached down to pick the keys up. He finally unlocked the door, and opened the door to let me in. I managed to smile at him and walked inside the dark room. He followed me inside.

I felt on the wall for the light switch and nervously found it. I wondered if I should walk behind the counter like usual or just stand there. I moved over to the bookshelves and stood, closing my eyes, waiting for the next word.

"Lots of books. I like to read." Jack said.

I looked down. So he'll be here often...

"So what good books do you have here?" He asked.

I decided for once that I wasn't going to let him talk to himself.

"Well, there's all sorts of fictionals, if you like stories and things like that, I like mysteries, myself..."

"Mysteries, yeah! That's my favorite kind. I love mysteries." Jack said, and began asking me if she had read certain mystery books.

"Yeah, I have! Those were great. We have the rest of that series here, and a couple of more..." I said cheerfully, surprising myself and Jack both. I looked down at the floor and blinked a few times. Jack saw this expression and laughed. I was shocked at the immediate response and the way I was easygoing with this stranger. Why wasn't I like this all the time?

Jack smiled at me. "So where do you keep these mysteries anyway? I think I'm going to check me out a few and read them at home. I think I'd really like a reading break every once and a while, sitting out on the porch... but you know, I might have some of these books for a little while, you know, since I don't really have time with my job and everything." He said. He frowned.

"That's alright, you can keep them as long as you like. Feel free to take as many as you want, and I hope you enjoy them!" I said, pointing to the shelf, not much as a person but as a librarian, so this type of attitude was normal. I smiled the fake librarian smile and hid any emotion of liking from myself towards this new guy. I was going to make myself be indifferent to him. It wouldn't be long until he found Karen, Popuri, Ann, and Elli anyway.

He smiled at me and walked over to the shelf I was in front of and asked me if I had anything on plants.

"Yeah, I do..." I said and pointed, my shyness overcoming me again. I wanted to fight it, but I couldn't. All I could manage out was, "You might want to check out a book on this place's customs and etc, too, like festivals and stuff like that. The sowing festival is on the eighth, you might want to go to that."

"That sounds like a great idea, Maria," Jack said, and my heart did a double flip when he said my name.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here, in Flowerbud, I mean?" Maria asked, trying to be as not timid as she possibly could.

"Oh, my grandfather died, and so I'm taking over his farm..." Jack said.

"Oh, yeah, I knew him," I muttered. "He came by every once in a while for some plant books, and he was a great guy, really he was."

"Yeah, he was wasn't he?" Jack said, glad by my reply, then he frowned. "I hate to run out like this, but I have to get to work on restoring the farm." He looked true to what he said, like he really wanted to stay.

I smiled reassuringly. "Go on, you probably need to get back to work anyway."

He smiled at me very widely this time. "I'll be seeing you later then?"

"If you plan on bringing those books back!" I said flirtatiously.

"Alright, bye, then," He said.

"Bye,"

He walked outside and before he shut the door, he poked his head back in and said, "I'll get these read as fast as possible, then," He said, trying to be fliratious back. I fought the urge to laugh since it took so long for him to think this up. He looked up and wrinkled his eyebrows, realizing how long it took for him to come up with that.

"You do that then," I said.

"Oh I will..." He said and shut the door. I laughed at him again and walked over to the counter. Seven hours and thirty minutes left. Whoa. I talked to him for 30 minutes?

* * *

Around noon that day, I was walking around. I looked over at the bookshelf and began to put away the books. I suddenly heard someone walk in.

"Uhhhhmmmmm, Miss Maria? I have a, uhmmmm, package, for you?" Harris said and handed me a rather large package. Harris, when he and I were alone, was more timid than I was. I smiled at him and thanked him, and he backed out of the door, blushing contentedly. I knew he had a crush on me, but I wasn't interested. Why does he have to be the mailman? He HAS to see me every single day. Every day! Just to bring over some kind of letter and blush in my face... ugh.. I thought. There was a letter sitting on top of the package. I opened it and read.

"My Dear Miss Maria- How are you today? I couldn't help but to write you today. The weather's beautiful, I tell you. It's amazing. I have to tell you something. Could you schedule sometime for us to meet when you're off? Love -Harris"

I blushed and frowned! No! I didn't like him! I was going to act like I never got the letter and blow it off. That would work.

I opened my package. Many books were awaiting my eager eyes. Mysteries. Fictionals. Insect Encyclopedias. I smiled at the open package and sighed. Yes, at least three more weeks of reading material. It began to rain. And the perfect weather to stay inside and read it in. I picked up the books and put them away on the New shelf, all except for one, one that was drawing attention to me, one that seemed neat. Mary Higgins Clark mystery, with romance and all the good stuff. I sat in my chair and read away until the sun fell. I went home and slept peacefully, feeling happy.

* * *

I awoke the next morning rather happy, too. I walked right in and out of the house, my mom standing there wide eyed at my extremely cheerful and not timid mood. I walked outside whistling.

I was five minutes late to my library, and Jack was standing by the door, looking very funny. He had a shy look on his face, and it boosted my confidence by tons.

"Hello," I said, amused.

"Umm, hi, I, uhh, came to return these books and well, you know, well, you know. Oh yeah and you might need help unlocking the door again..." he said. I laughed cheerfully and unlocked the door.

"Maybe not..." He muttered, and I laughed.

"So, you're returning already?" I said, puzzled.

"Yes, I read as much as I needed from the plant one, and I couldn't put the mystery one down. I can't help it, but I'm actually excited to be in a library, all these new books for me to read..." He said, looking around.

"Well, I just got some new mysteries, and I thought that if you stopped by I would lend you one?" I said in the form of a question.

"Sounds great," He said and gave me a very handsome smile. I showed him to a book and he checked it out, but he hung around for a little while.

"So, umm, if you don't mind, umm, I figured, umm, maybe you might want some company in the library?" Jack muttered, shuffling his feet just like a little boy.

"I sure would, Jack," I said. He pulled some flowers out of his bag and I was extremely surprised when he handed them to me.

"Maybe you can look up what kind they are for me," he said and winked flirtatiously, to get the point across that it had nothing to do with what kind they were. I set them in a vase. He sat down in a chair.

"So, let me hear all about here, and well, all about you, Maria," Jack said, and I knew that I was going to have to form quite a story, and that it would probably be the most I'd ever said to a guy in my entire life. I told him all about Flower Bud Village and threw in a little of me so he'd be happy, and then asked him about himself. He told me quite a bit about where he came from and all of his friends. I enjoyed listening, and two hours flew by in our conversations without our knowing.

"Oh crap!" Jack suddenly said and looked at the clock on the wall.

"Oh no!" I said, not for the sake of time, but that Jack was going to have to leave.

"Look, I've gotta go, I've got about a million chores to do... I can't believe I just let myself get so behind! I'll see you tomorrow or something, sorry to rush out." He said, rushing and frowning.

I frowned. "Bye..."

* * *

It was the fifth of spring, and for some strange reason, I wanted to stay in the bed. I glanced over at the calendar. Please be Monday I thought. I was lucky, and it was. I fell back to sleep and slept for another good two hours, getting up at ten, which was late for me. I walked into the kitchen in my nightclothes, stretching. My mom had a suspicious look on her face.

"Why did you sleep so late?" she immediately asked.

"Um, because I was tired?" I said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I heard about you and that Jack boy talking a lot. It seems like he might like you. Now I don't know what you're doing, but don't let him take advantage of you, honey! He seems nice, but he may be after one thing and one thing only! Why don't you stay with that Harris, honey, please, would you? I mean he's..."

"MOTHER! No way! I'm not even interested in Jack that way! Besides, you wanted me to settle down, but it's not even like I'm going to settle down with Jack. We're friends, that's all. I'm not that shy around him. He's nice and he's funny, and fun to stay around. We don't even view each other that way!" I yelled at her.

She looked at me and shook her head, unbelieving. "And what about Harris?" she asked.

"Nothing about Harris. Mother, I don't like Harris. I hate to break it to ya, but I just don't. I can't hit it off with him. He's just... I don't know."

"Well, you sure seemed to hit it off with Jack pretty well."

"MOM! I don't like Jack that way and he doesn't like me that way! That's the way it is, and that's the way it's gonna be!" I said, and raced back into my room. I put some clothes on and thought about Jack for a moment. That's the way it's gonna be. That's the way it's gonna be. That's the way it's gonna be. These thoughts ran through my head over and over. Did I want that? Did I view Jack that way? No, of course not...

* * *

I walked outside and breathed in the fresh air. A day off. Finally. I walked over through the woods, over the bridges, and into the goddess place, where flowers were everywhere. I sat down by the stream, took off my shoes and dangled my feet in the water. It felt so wet and so clean... it wouldn't hurt to jump in and swim around... nobody came here but me anyway... I looked around and considered it. I looked at my watch. Almost noon. I could run by the house and grab a suit... no, mom would be suspicious, unless I hid it...

I ran into the house, luckily mom had gone out for the day, and got my swimming suit on. I did wear spring clothes, shorts and a shirt, over it and went back over to the area I was in. I stripped down to my swimming suit and slid into the water. I loved the feeling of the cool water against my hot skin and relaxed. I did a few laps up and down the large stream and loved the clean water the goddess kept so fresh. I was in my own world...

"Whoa, holy crap!" Someone yelled and I pulled my head from the water gasping for air and freaking out. Jack was standing right there.

"Oh my gosh" I screamed, thinking 'Oh my god' would be an improper term to be using in the area I was. I jumped out as quickly as possible and ran towards my clothing pile and Jack turned his head. Did I look that bad in a bathing suit? Crap, I don't like this kind of a confrontation...

I slung my towel around me and threw on my shirt and shorts. That's when I turned around and realized, oh my god, that he was, too, in his bathing suit. He turned around and I couldn't take my eyes away from his, well, yummy chest.

"Um, I, um, honestly didn't realize you were here, I'm sorry, oh crap, I feel like I've violated you or something!" He shouted quickly.

"It's fine, it's fine," I said.

"I like to swim here too, I remember swimming here as a kid, I don't know, I just didn't really think anyone else came here."

I laughed. "Well I didn't either!" I said, sounding almost rude. Fortunately, he didn't take it personally. We stood there, staring at each other. My heart was beating fast... I felt trapped, blushing a crimson red and in front of quite a handsome guy. I blinked a few times, making sure that I was really where I thought I was, and he broke the gaze by looking down at his feet.

"I'm, uh, sorry, I guess I should be, uh, going..." Jack said.

"No! Uh, I mean, uh, you don't have to..." I said to him.

"Alright then I won't," Jack said slyly and smiled. We stood there, again, staring at each other.

"Uhhh, we can swim, uhh, together, uhh, if you want," I said boldly. I was taking a step forward!

"Yeah, sounds really great," He said. This time, I got in with my shirt and shorts on, to be a bit more covered. We swam in silence sort of timidly away from each other, until Jack started up a conversation. We sat in a shallow end of the beautiful, clean, blue pond and talked for a little while. I was happy. He was just my friend, but I was happy all the same...

He smiled at me as he got out of the pond. "Sorry, I think I should be getting back to work," he said, blushing. I blushed, too, looking at his muscles. My god, I need to take my eyes away. I forced myself to focus on his face and what he was saying.

"...and thanks for the nice chat, I mean, I'll drop by the library and turn in that book tomorrow, I promise..."

"Yeah..." I muttered.