Disclaimer: I do not own anything, and all the rest.
Author's Note: Hi everybody! This is my very first Harvest Moon fic, so please be kind! It's based on HM64.
Letters, Love and Lies
Gossip or Not
"Hi Elli!" Ann called, waving as she saw her friend approach. It was a cool summer morning, and she had just finished giving Cliff's mane a careful brush. "How's it going?"
Elli smiled back, her arms laden with a large plate of freshly baked cookies. "Hi Ann!" She carefully placed the batch of treats onto a blue checkered picnic blanket Ann had laid out on her field. "Things are okay, I guess. The bakery's not doing much business nowadays, so I have more time to spend with my friends." She smiled again, but this time, bittersweetly.
Ann went into the barn to fetch some jugs of fresh milk. Soon after, each girl came to the Green Ranch, one by one.
"Hello everyone!" Popuri called cheerfully. "I brought some sweet corn, just for you Ann!" she held out the golden cobs for her to admire.
"Wow, great!" Ann accepted the food and turned away to put it with the cookies. When she looked back at Popuri, she caught a glimpse her flirting up a storm with her brother Gray. As usual though, Gray was muttering out one word responses whenever appropriate. That girl... she's such a flirt, Ann thought to herself.
Next, Maria arrived, carrying thick ham sandwiches. "My mom helped me make them," she said, blushing.
The four of them took a seat on the picnic blanket, still waiting for the arrival of one more guest.
"Where is that girl?" Ann grumbled, not even surprised at Karen's selfishness. "She was supposed to bring the salad! She said she was going to come. But by now, we should expect this."
Popuri sighed. "Maybe we should start without her." Everyone agreed it was a waste of time waiting for Karen, and dug in.
"So, how's everyone?" Elli giggled excitedly. "Popuri, are you making any progress with Gray?"
Popuri choked on her milk. "W... what are you talking about?" her face turned beet red.
All the other girls laughed. "Popuri," Elli began. "We're not blind, or deaf. You're always around Gray, talking to him, sometimes other stuff too. And he's still the way he always is; hostile and non-verbal."
"He's just shy," Ann cut in, defending her older brother. "That's just his way. Don't get discouraged Popuri, I'm sure he likes you a lot."
Still blushing, Popuri giggled. "Well, maybe..." then she sighed. "I'm so jealous of you Ann. I wish I had a brother like Gray."
Ann's eyes bulged. "What?"
"You two are so close," Popuri explained. "I wish I had a sibling to be like that with. I'm sure he talks to you a lot."
"You're right about that," Ann groaned. "He talks to me ALL the time. He's so annoying!" the other girls giggled again. "You don't know what it's like to have a brother who sticks to you like glue. It's nice that we're close, but he knows everything about me that way, and teases me all the time!"
"Well, teasing or not, it's nice to have someone like Gray..." Popuri drawled.
"Forget Gray," Elli interrupted. "How about that new farmer, Jack? Anyone got to know him get?"
"He seems like a nice guy," Maria said. "He visits the library a lot."
"He does?" gasped Popuri. She burst into another pit of giggles.
Maria furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"
"It's just that... the only other person who goes there on a regular basis is Harris, and he just goes to get a glimpse of you!" (A/N: I know you only see Harris actually in the library like, once a week, but he's probably in there when you're not looking... yup...)
Maria blushed. "N-no... he enjoys r-reading..."
"Okay, let's not make Maria uncomfortable," Ann blurted out, saving Maria from tears. "What's even more scandalist is Elli and Jeff!"
Elli gasped, repulsed. "What? What are you talking about!"
"Yeah! C'mon Elli, you know he fancies you!" Popuri spat out, unable to control herself.
"No he doesn't!" it was Elli's turn to blush. "We just happen to share a lot of common interests..."
"Riiiiiight." Ann nodded, grinning. "Sure, that's all."
She raised her eyebrows. "Well, you should talk. That weird guy with the bird who's always in the mountains totally has the hots for you!"
"Ewwwww!" Ann winced in disgust. "That guy is weird all right! He annoys the hell out of me!"
"You mean that guy, Cliff?" Maria spoke up. "I think he's Karen's distant cousin." All of a sudden, the subject was switched back to Karen.
"Where is that girl?" Ann growled again.
"Hey, y'know that guy with the cute little purple bandana? Do you think he likes her?" Elli wondered out loud.
"Likes who?" Popuri enquired, looking up from a small flower that had blossomed from the grass she had just spotted.
"Karen," Elli replied.
"'Cute little purple bandana?'" Maria repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"Ooh, Elli's in love with the foreign guy!" Popuri squealed.
Elli's eyes clouded over. "I just like that shade of purple..." A collective groan rose from the rest of the girls. "But even if Kai does like Karen, I don't think she cares. She's probably in love with Jack."
"Well, he is pretty cute," Ann admitted. "And he's so caring..."
"Yeah," agreed Maria. "He helps my father a lot."
"He's so strong. He grows a lot of nice things on his farm..." Popuri added. "He has these really nice Moondrop flowers on his farm, nicer than the ones in the mountain..."
Ann raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
"I visited his farm before," she answered. "It's nice..."
"He must take good care of his animals. His livestock produce good milk and eggs," Elli put in. "But Jeff keeps mixing his goods with everyone elses, so you can't really tell." Everyone looked at Maria expectantly.
"W-what?" she sputtered, startled.
"We're waiting..." Popuri said impatiently.
"For what?"
"For you to say something good about Jack."
"But I did; I said that he helps my father."
"But that was just a reflection of what Ann said."
"Oh..." Maria thought for a second. "He seems to be an intelligent young man. He can read difficult books, I think."
It wasn't long before the four friends continued their lunch before Jack came by the farm. He came almost everyday, to buy chicken feed. But on this particular day, he was not alone...
Um... so what do you think? This is my very first HM fic, so please don't flame me if you don't like it :D. And of course, please review; your opinion means a lot to me, even if it's negative... just don't flame! Even if this idea sucks, or looks like it's gonna suck! Well, thanks for reading!