Summer, Yr1: Summer days, drifting away…

The sun crept into Jenn's house rather quickly and early in the morning. Well, it was officially summer, and the days were supposed to be longer. Joy. Jenn's hazy eyes flit open and she yawned as she sat up in bed. The air around her was hot and humid, despite that it was still only 6:00 am. Oh, it was summer alright. Jenn rubbed her eyes, trying to get the 'morning glory', as her mother called it, out of her eyes. She lazily yawned once more before throwing her feet over the side of the bed and reaching down to pick up the blankets off the floor she had kicked off the bed the previous night.

She prepared herself for the normal daily routines as she always did. By 6:05 Jenn was outside and ready to take on the world. Hoisting her copper hoe onto her left shoulder, she made her way to her now-empty field. It was almost depressing for her to have chopped down last months crops (those being her first set of plants to grow and harvest), but at the same time, it made her feel proud that she got through that one challenge and was now moving onto another. She set the hoe down by her fish pond and toss bits of food in for the fishes she managed to catch. Being the poor fisherman …er woman that she was, there were only 3 or 4 fish. Perhaps she would have a hand at fishing once again after the swimming contest? Maybe, but now was not the time for that.

Reaching in her rucksack, Jenn pulled out a large bag of tomato seeds. She planted them in the first row of tilled land (3 x 12 rows), and sprinkled them with water shortly afterwards. She did another row of tomatoes before she planted another two rows of corn, and two rows of pineapples. Jenn paused for a moment to catch her breath. The grass she planted on the far right side of the farm in the middle of spring was coming along fine. She would probably have enough for cows and sheep soon. She smiled at herself and all the things she had accomplished so far. If things went lucky, she could try a small flower garden. Jenn already knew where it would go. On the far right side of the farm would be a good size grass field for livestock to graze in. The other part of her farm would be divided into 3 smaller sections. The main part, the area just outside of her house and in front of the barn would be would stretch all the way down to the chicken house. A small plot of land was reserved in front of the chicken house for the chickens to stay outside when the weather was good. And the small strip of remaining soil would be used for her garden. Jenn wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead before she went into the chicken coop and let the chickens roam outside, in their pen. She whistled for her dog, Blue, to come.

"Now Blue, make sure that none of those wild dogs get a hold off these chickens while they are outside, ya hear?" she ordered, waving her index finger in a threatening fashion.

The puppy gave her a puzzled look, then proceeded to sniff his rear end during her lecture.

"Why do I even bother?" Jenn lamented in a pitiful tone.

She ruffled the fur on top of the puppy's head and went back to work. It was nearly noon before Jenn finished her chores and she was very tired and sore. She ended up hoeing and planting a few extra columns of pineapples beside the other crop rows. She was now in the spa, relaxing. It's what one definitely needs after a long day of farming and then a walk through the mountain to collect shippable items. With all the things she had to do in a day, she would get dizzy, and dizziness was something she didn't need if she wanted to win that swimming contest. Half an hour later she grudgingly got out and went to her house to prepare for the upcoming contest.

It was at her house that Jenn saw Ann standing outside her house door. As she came onto her property from the mountain path, Jenn called out to the young red head.

"Hey Ann! What are you doing here?"

"Jenn!" Ann exclaimed, "Nothing, I just came to get you for the swimming contest, that is, if you are done with your work."

"Yeah, I'm done," Jenn said as she was ringing out her still wet hair," Just give me a sec to slip into my swimsuit."

Jenn lightly shoved the door open then motioned for Ann to go in before her. Once inside Jenn made her way to her bathroom while Ann wandered about aimlessly in Jenn's house, looking at this and looking at that. It wasn't long before Jenn slipped out of the bathroom, showing off her red, two piece swimsuit to Ann. Jenn compared her attire to Ann's yellow one piece.

"Hmm, maybe this isn't the best choice…" she said to herself.

"Oh, don't be silly Jenn, you'll be fine!"

Before sprinting off to the beach with Ann, Jenn tied her hair back in a messy bun to keep her hair from going in front of he face when she swam. Jenn and Ann made their way to Mineral beach. By the time they got there, everyone was ready for the contest to start. It was noon and the sun was blazing hot. The residents of Mineral village were relaxing under beach umbrellas or Kai's porch, waiting for the contest to start. Jenn and Ann were greeted by Karen as they entered Mineral beach.

"Hey! I heard you two were going to enter in this year's swimming contest! That's great!" Karen chirped.

"Yeah," Jenn said with a slight nod, "Aren't you going to enter?"

Karen shook her head. "No, I can't swim. I'll be on the sidelines rooting for you two. Good Luck!"

"Thanks a lot Karen!" Ann yelled as she an over to her father and Cliff, who were by the peer.

Now alone, Jenn surveyed the area to see who would be in the contest and who wouldn't. Besides herself, Ann and Kai, only three other people had swimsuits on: Gray, Elli, and Jeff. She strolled over to the Mayor who was barking out orders the same way he did at the last festival.

"Rick, hurry up and get to your position! No, No! Stu! You must stay behind the line and leave the swimmers alone!" he screamed.

'No wonder he has a receding hairline,' Jenn thought to herself as she grimaced at the red faced mayor. She was a bit hesitant to talk to the mayor in his current state, but if she wanted to find out anything, she would have to speak with him.

"Excuse me, Mayor?" she squeaked. The Mayor's face peeked up at Jenn. "Ah, Miss Jenn, by your attire, it's safe for me to assume that you'll be participating in the contest? Splendid!"

"Could you please tell me about the rules first?"

"Certainly madam," replied the jolly Mayor. "It's quite simple really. All the contestants will line up at the start line, and when the signal is given to begin, everyone swims over to Rick as fast as possible. The first one to reach him wins."

Jenn glanced over to where Rick was among the shallow rocks in the beach. Well, it sounded easy enough. Jenn thanked the Mayor and walked over to her starting position. She began to stretch her muscles to loosen them up before the race. Jenn gave another look around to her surroundings. Her eyes scanned up and down the stretching Gray and Kai in a discrete manor. Hey, she had a great chance to window shop, so why not? Her thoughts were broken by Ann and Cliff who were yelling across the beach at each other.

"Hey Ann! You look cute in your bathing suit!" he screamed.

"Cliff you are such a perv!" she screamed back, her face as red as a tomato.

Jenn wasn't quite sure if she was red from anger or if Ann was blushing. Insecurity gripped Jenn at that moment. Nobody had commented on her figure, or how she looked in a bathing suit. Was that bad or . . . was it good? Jenn mentally slapped herself for such thoughts. Now was not the time for these things! She set today's goal for one thing: to beat Kai.

"Swimmers, please get into your starting positions!" the Mayor yelled.

Kai, Elli, Gray, Ann, Jeff and Jenn all lined up against the edge of the beach, each with a determined look on their face.

"Ready to lose Jenn?" Kai hollered with a wry smile plastered on his face.

Seething with anger, Jenn huffed and kept her eyes focused on the finish line. Just who did that guy think he was?

"Ready…" the Mayor warned.

'Absolutely. More than ready to kick that sorry-little-good-for-nothing's…'

"GO!"

All the swimmers bolted for the water and jumped in.

'Just remember to pace yourself girl,' Jenn mentally noted to herself, 'all the amateurs will run out of energy by the time they get half way there.'

Jenn paced herself quite well, making sure to breathe every once in while. The others left her way behind, but that was fine. Jenn had confidence in her strategy. Peeking over to her side, Jenn noticed Kai and Gray on par with her, while everyone else was practically drowning just a few feet in front of them. As soon as she passed a floundering Elli, Jenn took one final deep breath and began to kick her legs furiously. She saw Kai do the same. The race was one. It was between her and Kai now, and she was NOT about to settle for second place.

The faster Jenn swam, the more her lungs burned as her dwindling supply of stored oxygen was being depleted. The plus side was that Kai couldn't be any better off than her, right? He had to be feeling the same pain she did. With one final burst of energy, Jenn cut through the water lie a hot knife through butter. Finally she reached the end and scrambled onto the rocks, but did she win? She wheezed as she tried to catch, and her vision was blurred from the salt water in her eyes. She couldn't shake off the slight dizzy feeling that she had managed to gain from this small endurance test, but still, she searched to see just who exactly had won. From the corner of eye Jenn spotted the last person she wanted to see…Kai. He was bent over, hands on his knees, breathing deeply just like Jenn. He had that stupid smile painted across his face as he stared at Jenn. It was a close race, and judging would be even closer. Jenn had this gut sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She knew.

He knew.

He beat her.

Jenn let out a disgusted huff and mentally cursed herself. Slowly, she cast her gaze up to Rick for the judging. Rick, unnoticed by Kai, winked at Jenn. What was going on?

"That was a close race."

Jenn's head snapped in the direction the voice came from. Standing beside her was a soaked Gray. Drat it all, she forgot that he was also right up there with herself and Kai. Wait, just how long had he been there anyway? Kai, now over confidently with his hands on his hips, opened his mouth to speak, but before anything could be said, Rick interrupted him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the race has ended and it is now time to announce the winner. It was a close call against three contestants, so let's all give a warm round of applause for Gray, Jenn, and Kai!"

There were woots, whistles, and joyful hollers for all thee of them, but Popuri's applause for Kai was by fare the loudest. And, of course, Kai just had to bow and blow out kisses to his adoring fans. Jenn hadn't realized that Gray caught up with them because she was so focused on beating Kai. She didn't see him pass her though, so they must have tied.

"…And the winner is…" Rick said imitating a game show host, "JENN!"

"WHAT!?!" Kai spat.

So that's what the winking was about earlier. Jenn got a warm fuzzy feeling inside of her. It was kind of Rick to place Jenn in first place instead of Kai. It was a close race and the only one who would be able to tell was him, but Jenn couldn't accept this. It wouldn't be right and she wouldn't prove that she was better than that creep by lying about her abilities. She gave a warm smile to Rick, then turned to the rest of the crowd on Mineral Beach.

"It was a really close race, but I'm sure that Kai won first place."

Kai, who was then preoccupied with making up new swear words to add to the dictionary (the old ones wouldn't do justice to the way he wished to expressed himself) stopped mid-vulgarity and stared blankly at Jenn.

"I really only tied second place with Gray, but, like I said before, the race was close, and it was a simple mistake."

The rest of the festival followed rather uneventfully. Awards were handed out, Kai flexed, Popuri ogled, and everyone went home, leaving Jenn alone once again. Before Rick went home though, she did manage to get a private word with him.

"Thanks."

"You've only proven how much of a great person you are," Rick explained, slightly embarrassed. He waved goodbye and quickly ran off with Popuri to their mother's house. Even though things were ok with Rick and Jenn, Popuri seemed absolutely furious with Rick and her. She kept giving evil glances at Jenn, and she was sure that when Rick got home, he would get an earful from his little sister - - if he was lucky. Oh well. They'd get over it eventually.

"Good job today."

Jenn spun around to find Gray behind her, with a hand extended out for shaking. How did he always manage to sneak up behind her?

"It wasn't anything big," she replied, accepting the handshake.

The corners of Gray's mouth slightly curved upward, forming a slight smile.

"You have my respect."

With that, Gray withdrew his hand and turned to leave for his room at the Inn. If Jenn got anything out of today, it was a close up look of Gray's finely toned body in a bathing suit. Now that was something certainly worth all the effort she put forth today. Score one for the blond chick.

"Hey Gray!"

He stopped at the mention of his name and looked back at Jenn.

"You look really hot in your swim trunks!" she yelled.

She swore she could have seen him blush. Gray quickly muttered a thanks before scurrying back to the Inn. It was so cute how shy and surprised he acted when she said that. Even if nobody commented on how she looked in her bathing suit, that didn't have to stop her from doing the same courtesy for others. Beaming with a new confidence, Jenn slung her towel over her shoulder and made her way back to her ranch. This was a whole new month, and a lot of work had to be done.

A/N- AH! I'm SO sorry for the lack of updates in months! I know this wasn't much for an update, but I plan to be more active in my updates in the future. Promise. I can't even remember all the ideas I had planned for this story, but that's ok because I wrote them down somewhere. ;; Well, even if I don't remember them, I'm sure I'll come up with something surprising for you folks. How was this chapter by the way? Up to par? Sub par? I try to look at all reviews objectively. All comments welcome so that I may improve my writing. And please, PLEASE tell me about mistakes. I know that I have them, but there is a lot to go over and I know I can't catch all of them. So, if you see a mistake, then please tell me where/what it is so I can fix it. hands out Harvest Moon plushies to all her reviewers Thank you for being loyal readers.