Of course, even through her crush on Jack, Ann remained true to
herself. Her feelings never got in the way of what she was accustomed to
doing, but only added to her list of what was important to her. Her hopes
on the next horse race were more flexible-- now the only winners in her
life that she would accept were Cliffgard and Jack's horse, Bright.
In addition, her father bought a new sheep that Ann adored and named Snowy, and it was unofficial but all three members of the family privately knew that the new sheep was hers, and that was that. Many other various things happened on their farm that were of little importance but still kept her mind clear and at the same time occupied. It was a feeling of contentment and anticipation at the same time. It was almost as if her life was reaching its climax and would only keep getting better and better.
So of course the 12th of fall came faster than she had expected. Flower Bud Village had a connotation with fall that was about eating too much and not getting enough exercise, but it certainly didn't apply to Ann. Her stamina was better than ever after her strenuous work and concentration on Green Ranch, and she was also apprehensive about the Egg Festival on the 20th, at which she could unleash her energy more, but she was apprehensive in a good way nonetheless.
When she made her way up the stone slab stairs to the town square at around 10:30 in the morning on the 12th, her overalls were loosened as she prepared to eat a lot as a brief reward from her efforts. Gray and Hall noticed this change in her and were proud that she was working so hard and still happy with herself.
Ann met Karen and little May at one table where they were discussing Elli's cakes this year. It was customary at the Harvest Festival for the bakery to issue cakes to everyone, but each of the bachelors in town had a chance to find a gold coin inside his slice of cake, which meant that he would be the King that year. To little May, who couldn't have been much more than six years old, she encouraged her that she would probably bake cakes just as well, and that there was a chance that the Potion Shop dealer's grandson, Stu, would want to dance with her. She and Karen were privately discussing cooking for two minutes, then for the remainder of their time together, the Harvest King himself, whoever that would be.
"Ohhhh, I hope it's Jack! Or Kai!" Karen exclaimed, looking around her. "Everyone knows those two are the cutest guys in town."
"Do you really think that one of them will get it?" Ann asked casually as Cliff walked up to their table and nodded politely to the ladies. Ann rolled her eyes and Karen flashed him that false grin Ann spotted she was notorious for.
"Ugh! I can't stand him, he's terrible!!" Ann exclaimed bitterly, making a face when he left.
"Aah, he's not all that bad. I hear he's my grandma's grandson. Heh heh, that must mean he and I are cousins then," Karen smiled humorously.
"Oh, you're joking!! Please, please don't say he's your cousin, Karen! I couldn't live with the shame!" Ann covered her face with her hands.
"Okay... but why?"
"Because you're close enough to be my sister, which makes him related to me in some way or another. That guy is a creep!"
"Well, it's only a rumor. Besides, anything is possible, ya know. And it is a big possibility, I mean, just look at his blond hair in the front! You mean to tell me that you haven't noted the resemblance?"
"Well... yeah, that's true, but-"
"Heya ladies!!" Jack exclaimed, showing up late but still to Ann's excitement. Talking to Karen made her forget that she had been apprehensive about his arrival.
"Jack!! Hi!!" Ann greeted him cordially. "How are ya, buddy?"
"Pretty good," he replied, slapping her a high five. "And you, Karen? What's up?"
"Nothing much. Same ol' same ol'." Karen nodded, her front blond hair swishing as she did so. Ann became frustrated with their casual conversation. She was so full of energy, and at the same time falling for Jack.
"Ja-ack!!!" called Elli, waving her arm from across the platform. "The last piece is for you!"
"Be right back," he said, winking to them and running off.
"But back to what I was saying before. Isn't he cute?" Karen commented, watching him run.
"Yeah. So full of energy too."
"Like you, Ann."
Ann's eyes widened suddenly. "Like me?"
"Yeah! I mean, you two look so cute together. I know you're probably only just friends, but you two look like you really hit it off and then have a good time."
"I like Jack," she grinned. "I've got no problem in saying that I like him."
"Wow! I thought there was something there no one else is smart enough to see! Well, good luck, and I'll have my eye on Kai." Seeing that there was no coin in Kai's slice, Karen came up to him and Ann saw by the way she carried herself and flipped her long hair that she was probably flirting like crazy.
"And next year's King is........." the Mayor began.
Ann's heart pounded hard. If it was Jack, she was definitely going to run for Goddess at the Flower Festival next year and take it seriously, too. She always did the years before because she knew she'd never get it. It usually always went to everybody else; she'd never been Goddess before. That pink, flowery dress was only worth wearing for a guy like... Jack.
Oh, crap. No. Ann's jaw practically dropped when she looked at Jack, who seemed to be listening for the result. He stood with Elli, and apparently already ate his slice of cake.
Then she thought she saw a flash of gold in the palm of--
"Cliff!!!!!!!!"
CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ann could have just kicked somebody. Why couldn't Jack get it? Everyone knew that Jack was the hottest guy in all of Flower Bud Village! Why did they even bother choosing Cliff? Look at him for Goddess' sake, all confused like that! He doesn't even know what the heck he won!
"Now it's time to start the dancing! Everyone, choose your dance partners!"
Karen and Kai clicked automatically. Like Ann had expected anything different. As usual, Gray just stood there while Popuri stalled and waited to be asked by someone. Harris and Maria stood close together, as if they knew they wanted to dance together but were too scared to actually step out onto the platform. Her eyes swiveled around to Jack, who asked---- wait---- Popuri?!?!?!?!?!
The pink-haired beauty nodded and blushed, then put her hand in Jack's and they walked onto the platform together. Ann's heart dropped into her stomach like a bomb and then exploded.
"Ann!" Elli ran up to her suddenly, her blue dress and petticoats swishing around her ladylike, shapely legs. "Ann! None of the guys have asked me either; why don't we dance together? It will be fun, everyone looking at us and everything. We're too cool for this sort of thing, after all."
"You're right." Ann smiled and put on her best act. "To blazes with romance!" She took Elli's hands and they started spinning even before the music started, then the two of them left the square together after the dance was over. That was the way it was going to be. To blazes with romance.
"Ughhhhhhh..." Ann moaned when she walked into the bar that night.
"Ann? Is that you?" asked Duke, the bartender, from behind the counter. "What brings you here?"
"Ann!" Karen exclaimed. "So you finally made it out to the bar!"
Several more heads turned to see her, the heads of the "regulars" who were there almost every single night. Despite the bar's friendly reputation everyone in town privately knew that the people who went there every night were troubled or depressed. Which was why it was such a surprise to see free-spirited Ann there. She was just glad that her father and brother weren't there tonight.
"One beer, please," Ann requested of Duke. The bartender gave her a strange look but it was still all the more polite. His look said all that he was thinking and for that reason Ann grew short-tempered. To her, he was beginning to look strange himself, with his gray hair, black eyebrows and purple vest. He suddenly had a look about him that suggested that he thought he was better than everyone else in the little countryside village.
"You're not quite seventeen yet, are you, Ann?" he asked softly. Seventeen was the age that young people were expected to be allowed to drink, but as hardly anyone in town was drunk except for Gotz, Karen's father, the "legal drinking age" wasn't commonly practiced.
"Oh, come on, like Flower Bud Village is going to enforce that," Karen said sarcastically. "Besides, Ann comes here every New Year's party and she's fine! Here ya go Ann," she delivered her friend a tall glass of beer. The brown-haired girl pulled up a chair at Ann's table and leaned forward with her elbows resting on the old wood on which carvings bearing messages like "Lillia--Harvest Goddess 1987" were made long ago. "Tonight you can drink all you want, until you have no troubles at all." She winked at Ann, who wondered automatically just what was going on.
"What do you mean?" Ann asked. She had barely taken a sip from her glass. Maybe Karen had been drinking, and that was the reason why she was so talkative this evening.
"Don't you think alcohol is a magic liquid that makes everyone happy?" Karen sighed blissfully. "Those who drink it never fail to have a good time."
"Until they ride a horse," Ann joked.
"All joking aside, though, Ann," Karen leaned farther in. "I know why you're here. The only reason that I can think of for you to come to the bar after the Harvest Festival is because of Jack."
"Jack?!" Ann jumped. "Wh-what makes you say that?" Cold sweat from the glass was running down the sides of her hands and she crossed her ankles under the table like an innocent schoolgirl. As if she was being interrogated, the flourescent lights above her head burned into her skin and she grew more uncomfortable by the second.
"Oh, I know how you feel, honey. To see the guy you're crushing on chase after Popuri..."
"That's not my problem. Really, it isn't. It's--it's Gray...."
"I don't think so. Now, why didn't you say anything to Jack when it was time to dance?"
Ann remained silent, her eyes prying deep into the beer glass as if she were telekinetic and her eyes could puncture it, and her hands squeezing it as if it could break under her grasp.
"Kind of like Maria," her friend carried on. "Ann, I think it's for the better, but you're becoming more and more like a girl everyday now." Karen smiled and rubbed Ann's strawberry-blond head. "And that's why you're here; it's because of the change that's come over you."
"You're right, Karen. Even when you're drinking you're so smart!" Ann's face spread into a wide grin.
"Right! Now if you excuse me," Karen took the unfinished beer from Ann's hands, "you need a clear head for awhile. Because now you have competition!!"
"Do you really think so, Karen?" Ann looked at her desperately.
"Of course. Now, you go home and get some sleep, and be sure to win Jack, even for only my sake, because he was yours first!"
And Karen sent Ann home feeling more confident and feminine.
In addition, her father bought a new sheep that Ann adored and named Snowy, and it was unofficial but all three members of the family privately knew that the new sheep was hers, and that was that. Many other various things happened on their farm that were of little importance but still kept her mind clear and at the same time occupied. It was a feeling of contentment and anticipation at the same time. It was almost as if her life was reaching its climax and would only keep getting better and better.
So of course the 12th of fall came faster than she had expected. Flower Bud Village had a connotation with fall that was about eating too much and not getting enough exercise, but it certainly didn't apply to Ann. Her stamina was better than ever after her strenuous work and concentration on Green Ranch, and she was also apprehensive about the Egg Festival on the 20th, at which she could unleash her energy more, but she was apprehensive in a good way nonetheless.
When she made her way up the stone slab stairs to the town square at around 10:30 in the morning on the 12th, her overalls were loosened as she prepared to eat a lot as a brief reward from her efforts. Gray and Hall noticed this change in her and were proud that she was working so hard and still happy with herself.
Ann met Karen and little May at one table where they were discussing Elli's cakes this year. It was customary at the Harvest Festival for the bakery to issue cakes to everyone, but each of the bachelors in town had a chance to find a gold coin inside his slice of cake, which meant that he would be the King that year. To little May, who couldn't have been much more than six years old, she encouraged her that she would probably bake cakes just as well, and that there was a chance that the Potion Shop dealer's grandson, Stu, would want to dance with her. She and Karen were privately discussing cooking for two minutes, then for the remainder of their time together, the Harvest King himself, whoever that would be.
"Ohhhh, I hope it's Jack! Or Kai!" Karen exclaimed, looking around her. "Everyone knows those two are the cutest guys in town."
"Do you really think that one of them will get it?" Ann asked casually as Cliff walked up to their table and nodded politely to the ladies. Ann rolled her eyes and Karen flashed him that false grin Ann spotted she was notorious for.
"Ugh! I can't stand him, he's terrible!!" Ann exclaimed bitterly, making a face when he left.
"Aah, he's not all that bad. I hear he's my grandma's grandson. Heh heh, that must mean he and I are cousins then," Karen smiled humorously.
"Oh, you're joking!! Please, please don't say he's your cousin, Karen! I couldn't live with the shame!" Ann covered her face with her hands.
"Okay... but why?"
"Because you're close enough to be my sister, which makes him related to me in some way or another. That guy is a creep!"
"Well, it's only a rumor. Besides, anything is possible, ya know. And it is a big possibility, I mean, just look at his blond hair in the front! You mean to tell me that you haven't noted the resemblance?"
"Well... yeah, that's true, but-"
"Heya ladies!!" Jack exclaimed, showing up late but still to Ann's excitement. Talking to Karen made her forget that she had been apprehensive about his arrival.
"Jack!! Hi!!" Ann greeted him cordially. "How are ya, buddy?"
"Pretty good," he replied, slapping her a high five. "And you, Karen? What's up?"
"Nothing much. Same ol' same ol'." Karen nodded, her front blond hair swishing as she did so. Ann became frustrated with their casual conversation. She was so full of energy, and at the same time falling for Jack.
"Ja-ack!!!" called Elli, waving her arm from across the platform. "The last piece is for you!"
"Be right back," he said, winking to them and running off.
"But back to what I was saying before. Isn't he cute?" Karen commented, watching him run.
"Yeah. So full of energy too."
"Like you, Ann."
Ann's eyes widened suddenly. "Like me?"
"Yeah! I mean, you two look so cute together. I know you're probably only just friends, but you two look like you really hit it off and then have a good time."
"I like Jack," she grinned. "I've got no problem in saying that I like him."
"Wow! I thought there was something there no one else is smart enough to see! Well, good luck, and I'll have my eye on Kai." Seeing that there was no coin in Kai's slice, Karen came up to him and Ann saw by the way she carried herself and flipped her long hair that she was probably flirting like crazy.
"And next year's King is........." the Mayor began.
Ann's heart pounded hard. If it was Jack, she was definitely going to run for Goddess at the Flower Festival next year and take it seriously, too. She always did the years before because she knew she'd never get it. It usually always went to everybody else; she'd never been Goddess before. That pink, flowery dress was only worth wearing for a guy like... Jack.
Oh, crap. No. Ann's jaw practically dropped when she looked at Jack, who seemed to be listening for the result. He stood with Elli, and apparently already ate his slice of cake.
Then she thought she saw a flash of gold in the palm of--
"Cliff!!!!!!!!"
CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ann could have just kicked somebody. Why couldn't Jack get it? Everyone knew that Jack was the hottest guy in all of Flower Bud Village! Why did they even bother choosing Cliff? Look at him for Goddess' sake, all confused like that! He doesn't even know what the heck he won!
"Now it's time to start the dancing! Everyone, choose your dance partners!"
Karen and Kai clicked automatically. Like Ann had expected anything different. As usual, Gray just stood there while Popuri stalled and waited to be asked by someone. Harris and Maria stood close together, as if they knew they wanted to dance together but were too scared to actually step out onto the platform. Her eyes swiveled around to Jack, who asked---- wait---- Popuri?!?!?!?!?!
The pink-haired beauty nodded and blushed, then put her hand in Jack's and they walked onto the platform together. Ann's heart dropped into her stomach like a bomb and then exploded.
"Ann!" Elli ran up to her suddenly, her blue dress and petticoats swishing around her ladylike, shapely legs. "Ann! None of the guys have asked me either; why don't we dance together? It will be fun, everyone looking at us and everything. We're too cool for this sort of thing, after all."
"You're right." Ann smiled and put on her best act. "To blazes with romance!" She took Elli's hands and they started spinning even before the music started, then the two of them left the square together after the dance was over. That was the way it was going to be. To blazes with romance.
"Ughhhhhhh..." Ann moaned when she walked into the bar that night.
"Ann? Is that you?" asked Duke, the bartender, from behind the counter. "What brings you here?"
"Ann!" Karen exclaimed. "So you finally made it out to the bar!"
Several more heads turned to see her, the heads of the "regulars" who were there almost every single night. Despite the bar's friendly reputation everyone in town privately knew that the people who went there every night were troubled or depressed. Which was why it was such a surprise to see free-spirited Ann there. She was just glad that her father and brother weren't there tonight.
"One beer, please," Ann requested of Duke. The bartender gave her a strange look but it was still all the more polite. His look said all that he was thinking and for that reason Ann grew short-tempered. To her, he was beginning to look strange himself, with his gray hair, black eyebrows and purple vest. He suddenly had a look about him that suggested that he thought he was better than everyone else in the little countryside village.
"You're not quite seventeen yet, are you, Ann?" he asked softly. Seventeen was the age that young people were expected to be allowed to drink, but as hardly anyone in town was drunk except for Gotz, Karen's father, the "legal drinking age" wasn't commonly practiced.
"Oh, come on, like Flower Bud Village is going to enforce that," Karen said sarcastically. "Besides, Ann comes here every New Year's party and she's fine! Here ya go Ann," she delivered her friend a tall glass of beer. The brown-haired girl pulled up a chair at Ann's table and leaned forward with her elbows resting on the old wood on which carvings bearing messages like "Lillia--Harvest Goddess 1987" were made long ago. "Tonight you can drink all you want, until you have no troubles at all." She winked at Ann, who wondered automatically just what was going on.
"What do you mean?" Ann asked. She had barely taken a sip from her glass. Maybe Karen had been drinking, and that was the reason why she was so talkative this evening.
"Don't you think alcohol is a magic liquid that makes everyone happy?" Karen sighed blissfully. "Those who drink it never fail to have a good time."
"Until they ride a horse," Ann joked.
"All joking aside, though, Ann," Karen leaned farther in. "I know why you're here. The only reason that I can think of for you to come to the bar after the Harvest Festival is because of Jack."
"Jack?!" Ann jumped. "Wh-what makes you say that?" Cold sweat from the glass was running down the sides of her hands and she crossed her ankles under the table like an innocent schoolgirl. As if she was being interrogated, the flourescent lights above her head burned into her skin and she grew more uncomfortable by the second.
"Oh, I know how you feel, honey. To see the guy you're crushing on chase after Popuri..."
"That's not my problem. Really, it isn't. It's--it's Gray...."
"I don't think so. Now, why didn't you say anything to Jack when it was time to dance?"
Ann remained silent, her eyes prying deep into the beer glass as if she were telekinetic and her eyes could puncture it, and her hands squeezing it as if it could break under her grasp.
"Kind of like Maria," her friend carried on. "Ann, I think it's for the better, but you're becoming more and more like a girl everyday now." Karen smiled and rubbed Ann's strawberry-blond head. "And that's why you're here; it's because of the change that's come over you."
"You're right, Karen. Even when you're drinking you're so smart!" Ann's face spread into a wide grin.
"Right! Now if you excuse me," Karen took the unfinished beer from Ann's hands, "you need a clear head for awhile. Because now you have competition!!"
"Do you really think so, Karen?" Ann looked at her desperately.
"Of course. Now, you go home and get some sleep, and be sure to win Jack, even for only my sake, because he was yours first!"
And Karen sent Ann home feeling more confident and feminine.