Chapter Fifteen: Rivals
A/N: OMGOMGOMG(lol)!!! Chapter Fifteen! FINALLY! Sorry it took so long ^^;; Eh heh...REALLY sorry it took REALLY long! Hope you like this chapter, too! (Yeah, you better. ^^;; j/k!) Dude, and thankies to Pheep a lot a lot for giving me advice and makin' me wanna work more on this fic! (And for kinda helping me write more! And read her HM fic!!) And thanks to Jon, too, for being there all the time for the fic (and for me in general)!!
By the way, thinking is now between and .
Dawn woke up that morning and immediately felt depressed. Why did they have to come… she thought heavily as she got dressed and stepped outside.
The sun shined calmly at her--it was still rising, so there wasn't a real glare from it yet. It was the 29th, so the air and sun would start to cool off soon for the Fall. Dawn harvested the last of her crops (two corns and three tomatoes) and then brushed and milked her cows and brushed her sheep. She pulled out her sickle and began chopping the plants--they wouldn't harvest again before Fall. She had just finished when she heard her father call her name, around noon.
Dawn turned around and saw her father walking up to her.
"Good morning, Dawn!" he said, smiling at her.
Dawn smiled back. "Hey, Dad. Where's Mom?"
"Sleeping," he grumbled. "Either that, or she got up to socialize with the Mayor's wife."
Dawn said nothing. Her father sighed and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry about your mom," he said quietly.
Dawn tried to shrug him off that topic. "She's always been that way, it's not a big difference to me," she said, feigning casualness, but she looked down at the ground.
Michael reached over and tousled her hair. Dawn pushed his hand away, smiling embarrassedly at him,(Why does he pester me so on this subject? I don't want to think about it...) and said, "Don't you want to go check up on your old friends here?"
Michael smiled wryly at his daughter, and set off out the gate without saying a word.
Dawn turned over in her mind the words her father had said about Jack "doing better" than her already. She had vowed that she would be better than Jack--at the beginning of her new life, true, and yesterday...She should keep to that vow...
Dawn picked up her sickle again and started chopping plants. Pretty soon she had the whole set of tomatoes and corn chopped, and she planted the remains of the plants at the back of her farm (well, threw em in a ditch). Then she began harvesting half the lawn when she realized she needed a break. She put away her tools and changed into her bathing suit, grabbed a towel and a cake she had belatedly discovered, and set off for the beach.
It was deserted, thankfully; this would be the last day to go swimming in the ocean without freezing yourself to death. Dawn laid out her towel, chomped down on her cake, and walked to the end of the dock. She jumped in and had a refreshing swim, all the while mulling her thoughts over with how to be better than Jack.
When Fall comes, she decided, I'll plant more plants than him...water 'em unevenly so I won't have too many harvests in one day. Maybe buy another animal, and get chickens... Dawn ducked under the water one last time, then climbed out of the water and sat on the edge of the dock, her towel wrapped around herself.
She heard footsteps ont he dock, so she turned around and saw Cliff walking up. She smiled at him, and he said, "Hey," and sat down next to her.
"What's up?" she asked.
He sighed. "I don't like your mom," was all he bluntly said.
Dawn sighed exasperatedly. "Don't we all. What'd she do to you?"
He grimaced. "I think she found out I live on the mountain...well, she made some pretty snide comments about me, and then Ann got all...erm...pissy at her."
Dawn gulped. "What happened?"
Cliff anime-sweatdropped. "Eh heh...we had to tie Ann up..."
Dawn jumped up, panic stricken. "ACK! I gotta go see 'em! Did Ann hurt my mom?!?"
Cliff blinked. "No...but she tried..." He shrugged, grinning uncontrollably.
Dawn and Cliff raced over to the ranch--Irish guy--erm, Hall, Ann's dad, had his daughter in handcuffs to the fence and was telling her off. She was still screaming about what a bitch Diana was, and if she hated it, then why did she come in the first place? Diana herself was not there. Probably ran off, the snooty wuss, Dawn could not help thinking.
Dawn raced over to Hall and Ann. Hall frowned at the two girls as Dawn hurriedly asked what happened.
"DAAAAAAWN!" Ann screamed. "I GOTTA GET YOUR MOM BACK FOR DISSIN' CLIFFIE LIKE THAT!!!"
(Cliff looked at the ground, red in the face, and scuffed the dirt with his toe.)
"I HATE HER, DAWN!!! YOU KEEP HER AWAY FROM HERE!!"
"Calm down, Ann...I'm pretty sure she'll stay away from you now," Damn said, shamed. She sighed unhappily, her depression and woe obvious on her face. "Look...I dunno...My mom's...weird like that..." She scratched the back of her head, searching for the right answers.
Ann huffily glared at Dawn, then took a deep breath and exhaled. After looking at the ground for a bit, she smiled reassuringly at her. "I don't know the relationship you and your mom have, but it doesn't seem to work out very well if she picks on your friends like that. I'm not gonna blame you though, Dawn...and I'm not mad at you. I'm just pissed like hell at your mom. .......WHEN is she leaving again? The Cow Festival? Dad, can we move it to tomorrow?"
Hall laughed. Dawn giggled hesitantly. "What'd you try to do to my mom anyway?"
Ann replied huffily, "Well, after she dissed me, I snapped and lunged at her. Before I had even *touched* her, Dad grabbed me and Cliff told off your mom. She walked away after making a snide remark about FBV..."
Dawn closed her eyes. I gotta stand up to her... she thought, her anxiety and anger building up inside her. But...now? "I'm so sorry, Ann," Dawn said quietly.
Ann seemed to understand what was wrong--she seemed to perceive that Dawn was afraid of her mother. "It's a'ight. I still wanna get back at her, though, so keep the handcuffs on, 'kay Dad?"
Dawn laughed. "I gotta go buy some stuff today...I'll catch up with you later...Gotta talk to my mom..." With a farewell hesitant smile and wave, Dawn left Green Ranch and headed into town. First she stopped at the flower shop to say hi to Popuri and Lillia. No interesting scenes had occurred between Diana and either of the pinkheads. She ran over to the bakery, and bought a piece of pie (for later, yum ^_^) and chatted with Elli a bit. She walked outside and ran into Jack.
"Hey!" Jack said excitedly.
Dawn's thoughts slammed back to being Jack's rival...beating Jack...staying on her farm..."Hi," she stated coldly.
Man, I didn't want to say that so coldly...But what if he beats me? How long do I have left to prove I'm a better farmer?
(A/N: Guys...think about that sentence...'Tis 'funny-sounding'.)
Jack blinked at her. "What's up?"
"Nothing." Another cold remark. So sorry, Jack...But I gotta beat you.
Jack blinked at her again. "Dawn...What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!?" Popuri walked up behind Jack and Dawn to exclaim. "I just heard about it, Ann told me! See, Jack, Diana started dissin Cliff, so Ann got pissed, then Diana dissed Ann, and Ann *lunged* at her, but Hall restrained her and--Dawn?"
Dawn had started to walk away, and she kept going to get back home. She didn't watch Jack stare mournfully after her, or Popuri blink a few times, then keep excitedly talking to Jack.
A/N: To be perfectly honest, I was going to have this chapter be quite a bit longer. It was supposed to also be the Cow Festival, and some interesting scenes between Dawn, Jack, and Dawn's dad, and Dawn's horrible parents were supposed to leave, but it was taking me so long to write just this much that I decided to make you a little happier, and kleep you notified that I'm still writing O_o;; Reviews are very nice and very welcome. :) Once again, OH SO SORRY!!! MORE SOON!!! (if I keep getting reminded to work on this fic ¬.¬) And one last thanks to Pheep, Jon, and those others who helped me out!! ^_^ Lata.
~*Mirri Night*~ ^.~
A/N: OMGOMGOMG(lol)!!! Chapter Fifteen! FINALLY! Sorry it took so long ^^;; Eh heh...REALLY sorry it took REALLY long! Hope you like this chapter, too! (Yeah, you better. ^^;; j/k!) Dude, and thankies to Pheep a lot a lot for giving me advice and makin' me wanna work more on this fic! (And for kinda helping me write more! And read her HM fic!!) And thanks to Jon, too, for being there all the time for the fic (and for me in general)!!
By the way, thinking is now between and .
Dawn woke up that morning and immediately felt depressed. Why did they have to come… she thought heavily as she got dressed and stepped outside.
The sun shined calmly at her--it was still rising, so there wasn't a real glare from it yet. It was the 29th, so the air and sun would start to cool off soon for the Fall. Dawn harvested the last of her crops (two corns and three tomatoes) and then brushed and milked her cows and brushed her sheep. She pulled out her sickle and began chopping the plants--they wouldn't harvest again before Fall. She had just finished when she heard her father call her name, around noon.
Dawn turned around and saw her father walking up to her.
"Good morning, Dawn!" he said, smiling at her.
Dawn smiled back. "Hey, Dad. Where's Mom?"
"Sleeping," he grumbled. "Either that, or she got up to socialize with the Mayor's wife."
Dawn said nothing. Her father sighed and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry about your mom," he said quietly.
Dawn tried to shrug him off that topic. "She's always been that way, it's not a big difference to me," she said, feigning casualness, but she looked down at the ground.
Michael reached over and tousled her hair. Dawn pushed his hand away, smiling embarrassedly at him,(Why does he pester me so on this subject? I don't want to think about it...) and said, "Don't you want to go check up on your old friends here?"
Michael smiled wryly at his daughter, and set off out the gate without saying a word.
Dawn turned over in her mind the words her father had said about Jack "doing better" than her already. She had vowed that she would be better than Jack--at the beginning of her new life, true, and yesterday...She should keep to that vow...
Dawn picked up her sickle again and started chopping plants. Pretty soon she had the whole set of tomatoes and corn chopped, and she planted the remains of the plants at the back of her farm (well, threw em in a ditch). Then she began harvesting half the lawn when she realized she needed a break. She put away her tools and changed into her bathing suit, grabbed a towel and a cake she had belatedly discovered, and set off for the beach.
It was deserted, thankfully; this would be the last day to go swimming in the ocean without freezing yourself to death. Dawn laid out her towel, chomped down on her cake, and walked to the end of the dock. She jumped in and had a refreshing swim, all the while mulling her thoughts over with how to be better than Jack.
When Fall comes, she decided, I'll plant more plants than him...water 'em unevenly so I won't have too many harvests in one day. Maybe buy another animal, and get chickens... Dawn ducked under the water one last time, then climbed out of the water and sat on the edge of the dock, her towel wrapped around herself.
She heard footsteps ont he dock, so she turned around and saw Cliff walking up. She smiled at him, and he said, "Hey," and sat down next to her.
"What's up?" she asked.
He sighed. "I don't like your mom," was all he bluntly said.
Dawn sighed exasperatedly. "Don't we all. What'd she do to you?"
He grimaced. "I think she found out I live on the mountain...well, she made some pretty snide comments about me, and then Ann got all...erm...pissy at her."
Dawn gulped. "What happened?"
Cliff anime-sweatdropped. "Eh heh...we had to tie Ann up..."
Dawn jumped up, panic stricken. "ACK! I gotta go see 'em! Did Ann hurt my mom?!?"
Cliff blinked. "No...but she tried..." He shrugged, grinning uncontrollably.
Dawn and Cliff raced over to the ranch--Irish guy--erm, Hall, Ann's dad, had his daughter in handcuffs to the fence and was telling her off. She was still screaming about what a bitch Diana was, and if she hated it, then why did she come in the first place? Diana herself was not there. Probably ran off, the snooty wuss, Dawn could not help thinking.
Dawn raced over to Hall and Ann. Hall frowned at the two girls as Dawn hurriedly asked what happened.
"DAAAAAAWN!" Ann screamed. "I GOTTA GET YOUR MOM BACK FOR DISSIN' CLIFFIE LIKE THAT!!!"
(Cliff looked at the ground, red in the face, and scuffed the dirt with his toe.)
"I HATE HER, DAWN!!! YOU KEEP HER AWAY FROM HERE!!"
"Calm down, Ann...I'm pretty sure she'll stay away from you now," Damn said, shamed. She sighed unhappily, her depression and woe obvious on her face. "Look...I dunno...My mom's...weird like that..." She scratched the back of her head, searching for the right answers.
Ann huffily glared at Dawn, then took a deep breath and exhaled. After looking at the ground for a bit, she smiled reassuringly at her. "I don't know the relationship you and your mom have, but it doesn't seem to work out very well if she picks on your friends like that. I'm not gonna blame you though, Dawn...and I'm not mad at you. I'm just pissed like hell at your mom. .......WHEN is she leaving again? The Cow Festival? Dad, can we move it to tomorrow?"
Hall laughed. Dawn giggled hesitantly. "What'd you try to do to my mom anyway?"
Ann replied huffily, "Well, after she dissed me, I snapped and lunged at her. Before I had even *touched* her, Dad grabbed me and Cliff told off your mom. She walked away after making a snide remark about FBV..."
Dawn closed her eyes. I gotta stand up to her... she thought, her anxiety and anger building up inside her. But...now? "I'm so sorry, Ann," Dawn said quietly.
Ann seemed to understand what was wrong--she seemed to perceive that Dawn was afraid of her mother. "It's a'ight. I still wanna get back at her, though, so keep the handcuffs on, 'kay Dad?"
Dawn laughed. "I gotta go buy some stuff today...I'll catch up with you later...Gotta talk to my mom..." With a farewell hesitant smile and wave, Dawn left Green Ranch and headed into town. First she stopped at the flower shop to say hi to Popuri and Lillia. No interesting scenes had occurred between Diana and either of the pinkheads. She ran over to the bakery, and bought a piece of pie (for later, yum ^_^) and chatted with Elli a bit. She walked outside and ran into Jack.
"Hey!" Jack said excitedly.
Dawn's thoughts slammed back to being Jack's rival...beating Jack...staying on her farm..."Hi," she stated coldly.
Man, I didn't want to say that so coldly...But what if he beats me? How long do I have left to prove I'm a better farmer?
(A/N: Guys...think about that sentence...'Tis 'funny-sounding'.)
Jack blinked at her. "What's up?"
"Nothing." Another cold remark. So sorry, Jack...But I gotta beat you.
Jack blinked at her again. "Dawn...What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!?" Popuri walked up behind Jack and Dawn to exclaim. "I just heard about it, Ann told me! See, Jack, Diana started dissin Cliff, so Ann got pissed, then Diana dissed Ann, and Ann *lunged* at her, but Hall restrained her and--Dawn?"
Dawn had started to walk away, and she kept going to get back home. She didn't watch Jack stare mournfully after her, or Popuri blink a few times, then keep excitedly talking to Jack.
A/N: To be perfectly honest, I was going to have this chapter be quite a bit longer. It was supposed to also be the Cow Festival, and some interesting scenes between Dawn, Jack, and Dawn's dad, and Dawn's horrible parents were supposed to leave, but it was taking me so long to write just this much that I decided to make you a little happier, and kleep you notified that I'm still writing O_o;; Reviews are very nice and very welcome. :) Once again, OH SO SORRY!!! MORE SOON!!! (if I keep getting reminded to work on this fic ¬.¬) And one last thanks to Pheep, Jon, and those others who helped me out!! ^_^ Lata.
~*Mirri Night*~ ^.~