Ann didn't remember much about that walk home when she woke up the
next morning. Her head was pounding and all that she could recall was him
holding the crook of her harm, lest she fell. She appreciated it last
night, but when she thought about the details this morning, she cringed.
What made her want to walk home with him anyway!? Sitting up in her bed
with her elbows propped up on her knees and her fingers through her hair,
she wasn't ready for the midmorning air that hit her so sharply and she
coughed. The cold rush of air stung her chest as she heard her bedroom door
creak open and Hall walked in.
"Ann," he said, bearing the usual crabby look on his face. "There's someone waiting outside to see you. It's 11:30, by the way. How much did you drink at the bar last night?"
"A lot," she smiled. "But, I'll be okay. Just tell them I'm getting dressed, and-"
"Okay," Hall sighed. "I'll get you something for that awful headache too."
Ann finally got up trudgingly and made the bed, then crossed over to the fine finished cherrywood dresser. She opened the second drawer and was about to select from the usual T-shirts to go under the overalls, but then she remembered it was a Sunday, and perhaps she would go to church today. What if the visitor waiting for her was Jack??? Then she'd still want to look decent for him.
Opening the closet she found a blue flowered sundress hanging in the back. It was a gift given to her by Popuri for her fourteenth birthday, and she hadn't worn it even once. Maybe it was the alcohol still affecting her brain, or maybe she did want to look feminine for a change. It would go nicely with her mother's cross necklace, anyhow. When she remembered her mother, she thought that wearing this dress would have been exactly what she wanted.
The glossy bedroom mirror in the corner reflected a pretty little young lady with spools of sweet strawberry-blond colored hair, not the edgy, rough auburn, and with creamy seashell skin instead of the farmer's suntan. The gold glint sparkling in the mirror was the necklace, just enough glitter to emphasize that she was a lady, but not quite Popuri. Ann discovered that she hadn't grown much since she was fourteen, because it wasn't tight and the puffy sleeves fit perfectly around her shoulders, which were bare. She wasn't particular about the puffy sleeves being below her shoulders and she pulled them up, blushing at herself.
Does this look like Ann? Certainly not. She shook her head but decided to go through with it anyway. She kept the white ribbon in her braid, though, and walked out of her bedroom hoping that Jack would be outside and that Hall and Gray were out of sight.
"Whoa!!! Sorry, but I came here for Ann. Where is she?" Cliff asked her, eyes widened. He looked as if he had been slapped in the face or had the wind knocked out of him.
"Thanks a lot. Thanks a whole lot." So much for the good humor she was in today! She pouted and Cliff automatically recognized the face. At least the inside of her hadn't changed.
"Look, I'm sorry--" he began immediately, his face turning bright pink and his boots shuffled in the untilled dirt outside the shop.
"No need to apologize," she snapped bitterly. "I should have known it was a crazy idea. I don't know what's come over me, I--"
"No, I mean... it looks nice," Cliff admitted openly, then his glance moved up to the azure sky. "It sure is a nice day today, but it looks like rain clouds will come tomorrow."
Ann stood shocked. At first they both thought she was paralyzed, but when she shook herself out of it, all she could think to say was, "Oh... thank you." Then she looked up at the sky for a moment, not even recognizing the clouds but simply wondering what Cliff was thinking about. Was he really concentrating on the sky, or thinking of something else too? He was still quite a bit of a stranger to her, and in her heart of hearts she didn't understand why she was psychologically analyzing him all of a sudden. It sounded like something Maria or Elli would do. Or maybe Popuri, if it was something romantic.
Cliff cleared his throat, but Ann really knew that he was ready to speak and he didn't have anything in his throat at all. He looked into her face but it was above her eyes. Only very few times in her life had Ann considered romance showing its face in her life, so at first she didn't realize that it was out of shyness that he was looking at her forehead. "So anyway, I came to check up on you. You feeling okay this morning? When I took you home last night I saw that you weren't well, and today when I saw you wearing a dress I thought you were still unwell, but for the better!"
"Well, thanks, I guess," she shrugged, rather confused. Maybe it was her angle in the sunlight, maybe it was the alcohol, but his face no longer looked shadowy and sinister. Now he seemed like a really nice person even on the outside, like an innocent little boy who had good reasons to do bad things. His deep navy eyes weren't hurtful-- instead they were insightful, making her only feel bare and exposed. Why did he look like that?
"What do you plan to do today? Wearing that, I mean?" His eyes swept all over her, and she only hoped that his focus was on the dress itself.
"I thought I might go to church, but then I remembered that church service is over at 11:30, so.... I guess this means I wore this for nothing." She switched to a casual attitude, hiding really nothing in particular except that she was becoming flustered.
"Let's go and show Jack."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"Come on. I want him to see you in that."
"Why??"
"Because if he sees you the way I did, he'll definitely consider you."
Ann pretended not to hear his last sentence, feigned unwillingness, and let him grab her wrist and take her to Jack's farm. But along the way, she still couldn't help trying to figure out just what he meant. This week the whole planet seemed to have turned topsy-turvy on her, and she got lost somewhere in the switch.
Oh, no. I'm turning into Popuri!!!!!
It was exasperating. Surely he wasn't going to drag her over there just to say, "Hey, Jack, take a look at Ann!", was he? She would have just died right on the spot if Jack replied, "Gawd, she's wearing a dress! That's so weird!" Or even worse, she could have started crossing her legs, flipping her hair, or practicing that sultry smirk that Popuri always did, although Karen was a natural for that smile-- Karen didn't even realize when she was doing it.
"Jack!!!!!!" Cliff shouted from behind the fence. She felt like it was going to become an embarrassing moment already, with Cliff standing on the picket fence and nearly breaking it, waving his arms like he was stranded on an island somewhere.
"Hey!!!" Jack waved back boyishly, and ran up to them. He took of his cap, and although he had hat-hair, Ann was overall impressed. She hadn't seen all of his hair before, and maybe things wouldn't be so bad because he looked very different himself. Like a cowlick, those bangs sticking out of his cap was the only lock of hair that stood up like that. It was rather comical, but cute. "What's up, Cliff? Hi, Ann!" he greeted both of them as if nothing was different.
Cliff and Jack began talking animatedly about the Horse Race, and she would have joined in too if she didn't start to notice that Cliff made Jack look like such a little boy. Ann began to wonder what it would have been like if Cliff ran a farm. An awkward silence burned inside their ears in about three minutes' time, but then a little brown bird off in the distance of Jack's pasture chirped happily, as if it was a cue for someone to speak.
"Well, you look nice today, Ann!" Jack commented politely.
"I do?" Ann was taken by surprise. She was expecting him to say that, but not quite so casually as he did. It was almost like those conversations they'd had over the summer, when they went up and played like children in the mountain.
"You look like you're going on a picnic. And speaking of which," Jack said, looking at both of them, and neither of whom knew just what was going on. Ann had heard of the summer heat making one want to do things, but the only saying she knew about fall was that people and horses tend to eat a lot in the harvest season. "I just got a log terrace the other day and helped the mountain carpenters build it, too. A lot of people have also helped me out with their favorite recipes, and now that I can cook more things, maybe we can have lunch together!" His stomach growled just then and they laughed lightheartedly.
"Sounds good to me; I'm hungry myself," Cliff responded, and nudged Ann. Somehow she knew he was trying to say, "This is your chance!"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Ann found herself echoing Cliff. Jack seemed to be in good spirits today and the three of them linked arms, escorting each other to the picnic table built on a wood platform behind Jack's log cabin. It was quite normal for Jack to act his youthful age, which was only seventeen, but when Cliff joined in, it seemed rather strange of him to do so.
"And, I'll be right back with some iced tea and grilled trout with cheese!" Jack shouted and ran into his house. He was just as full of stamina as Ann was! It was too bad that the sundress limited her movement.
"That sounds awesome," Cliff leaned back and closed his eyes, hungrily imagining the dish. "All I've been eating since I've got here were the vegetation that grows in the mountains and fish."
"You should go to the bakery, then," Ann recommended. "Elli's really good at baking cakes; that's her passion."
"Is that the girl's name?" Cliff looked out into the air, trying to place the face with the name. "Hmm. Well, I think he likes you."
"Who?"
"Jack, dummy."
"Well he sure doesn't seem like it."
"He does, believe me, he does. He doesn't seem like it because I'm here."
"I doubt that. I've been alone with him dozens of times all summer and he hasn't done a single thing," she said, wilting.
"Probably because he doesn't know how a girl like you will react," he suggested.
"React to what?" came a girl's voice behind them. Popuri and Elli walked up to the log terrace carrying a jar of some sort of fruit preserves and a pie.
"Jack called us and invited us a minute ago," Elli explained, setting the pie down. Its fumes were tickling their noses. There was something about the taste of veryberry pie in the fall that was undefined. Popuri set down the jar of her favorite strawberry jam and seated herself next to Cliff, and Elli next to Ann.
"You look so pretty, Ann!" Popuri commented. Ann expected her to make comments on her sudden change of wardrobe, but instead she got a polite compliment.
"Yes; it really brings out your eyes," added Elli. "I like it."
Ann almost had tears in her eyes. She was just appreciative that they weren't criticizing and they weren't inviting her to do their silly things like bake-offs and helping at the Flower Shop, gossiping about boys. Namely, they probably talked about Jack when they did so.
It all started off so well, but as expected, Popuri and Elli insisted on talking with Jack and asking Cliff strange questions that girls always tended to ask. Cliff and Ann had a few words exchanged but it was only small-talk. Jack would smile at her every now and then and Elli would offer extra slices of pie, but that was about it. Ann wished Karen was there. Karen would know how to fix things up. Anything that snagged Karen's attention would be the life of the party.
"Ann." Cliff caught her wrist as he was walking her back home in the faint moonlight, before she went past the picket fence leading onto her father's ranch.
"Hmm?" she responded daydreamily, thinking as usual about Jack.
"Before you go in... I wanna talk to you about something." Cliff's falcon, Cain, found its owner and landed on his forearm. Cliff stroked the bird as he eyed her as solemnly as was Gray's habit.
"What?" she asked as if she knew it was going to be such a small matter.
Cliff looked down on her and watched attentively as she turned around to face him, her face reflecting the waxing moonlight and her braid swishing like a cow's tail in the breeze of a light spring wind. Her face looked soft, angelic, and innocent. He wished that he could...... No, as long as she liked Jack, it would be impossible.
"Ann, I want to talk to you about Jack." Cliff sat on the fence and gripped it with both hands as Cain made himself comfortable in a tree.
"Why necessarily about Jack? I thought you wanted to help me out with him." Ann remembered that she was still wearing that dress and simply stood still.
"Listen to me. You see, Jack is..... Well, as you know, you have competition. Elli and that little pink-haired girl-"
"Her name is Popuri."
"-whatever her name is- are after him, too. I'm not saying that you don't have a special charm of your own, but you see, there's a definite possibility of him choosing one of those girls, and there are other girls in the village whom we don't know might be seeing him too. So I'm just saying that I don't want to see you hurt and for that reason, not becoming too attached to him."
Ann's effervescent spirits fell flat. No sooner than when she opened her mouth to speak did he add to that.
"Now, I'm not trying to put you in a bad mood. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from. Popuri and Elli especially seem to like him, and if he chooses one of them--"
Ann didn't need to hear anymore. She shoved off the picket fence and immediately headed toward her father's shop without saying goodbye. Cliff clenched a fist to his heart painfully and didn't stop her. He strongly wished he could have taken his words back, but it was exactly how he was feeling at the time, and he didn't think he had to sugar-coat it for her. He hated to see her go, but loved to watch her leave in the moonlight, even when her walking gait was heavy and rooted from anger.
Ann stomped to her bedroom after a little small-talk with her father, a disgusting act of pretend contentment when she was hit so hard in the face with so many disappointments at the same time. Not only had she allowed herself to develop a crush on Jack, but she went to extremes by trying to dress like Popuri just to get his attention, and even worse, that little bit of information was leaked out to Gray and Cliff. She could at least picture herself telling Karen about her crush first, and that made her all the more crushed by her own remorse.
Cliff was actually starting to become a friend, too. She had been totally wrong to judge his character in the beginning, but now she thought it was rather stupid of herself to trust him to make her feel better. He was too much of a realist and knew all the best ways to flatten her spirits. Ann was all about her spunk and bright spirit, so he practically violated every aspect of her. She felt as if he had really let her down on something that he was supposed to do for her.
The other pressing thing on her mind was, she was so tired of losing to Popuri about everything. She hadn't wanted this until now, but she realized that Popuri had been the Spring Goddess of the Flower Festival before and she had done it perfectly. Not like Karen and Maria never got it, but Popuri seemed to be the prime example of what a girl in Flower Bud Village should be. She had such loving parents-- and two of them, for that matter. Of course, Popuri probably had never ridden a horse in her life, but that could have been the reason why she had such dainty, lovely legs. Everything about Popuri was lovely, charming, and everything else like that. She may not have been as smart as Maria, but she had bright ideas.
And sure, Popuri was pretty-- but at times she seemed so concerned with the aesthetics of Flower Bud Village and not much else. She was a glamour princess and knew it, too. She probably delighted in the idea of Ann being so jealous of her--- and how could she not know it? Everyone else was apparently able to see right through Ann because she had a tendency to show all that she was thinking in her face. There was no way Popuri didn't know all that she was to Ann. Who knows?-- Maybe the reason why she showed such keen interest in Jack was because she knew Ann wanted him. Which also meant that she was hurting Gray very badly. She must have known that Gray liked her-- every other bachelor in town did, so what else was new?-- and she was flattered that any guy would be crushed not to have her.
Thinking about this as she frantically searched for the necklace that slipped off her neck as she was taking off the blue sundress, she hit her head when she was trying to come out from under her bed. Really hard. Tears came into her eyes from the pain as she rubbed the top of her head, and it almost made her laugh and cry at the same time that she had to bump her head to realize that it was totally not their fault. Cliff and Popuri, that is to say.
Cliff didn't mean any harm, she suddenly came to see. Cliff was trying to be what Gray was certainly not enough of-- a big brother. Gray and Ann had known each other for too long, and at the same time were so distant. With Gray being the social disaster that he was, he couldn't tell what was going on in the hidden connections with people that lie between the lines. Cliff didn't see Ann everyday, so she shouldn't have expected him to know just what kind of news and surprises made her happy and which that it just wasn't good for her well-being to know about. In fact, Cliff was kind of cool, in a way.
Popuri was something else, too. For a moment's time she put herself in Popuri's dainty little shoes and saw what kind of stress the town beauty would have to be under, and it wasn't as beautiful a life as Ann had always imagined-- for so many bachelors to fall for your beauty and not know what you are about, to not have a moment's peace without someone suggesting a romantic possibility with someone, and to hear from your closest girl friends their jealousy of you, especially when you see yourself in the mirror everyday and therefore don't think you're as beautiful as everyone says. It must have been hard for Popuri especially when she was with Jack, for Jack was indeed a fun person to be around-- everyone knew that. Jack was so kind and understanding and easy to be attracted to. Sure, they did look sort of perfect for each other, but... suppose Popuri didn't like him the way she did?
It was completely wrong of her to make such assumptions so late at night-- especially in such a time of confusion in which she put on a dress first thing in the morning! Still, she clung to her ritual of praying before bed and hoped that at least tomorrow would be better.
"Ann," he said, bearing the usual crabby look on his face. "There's someone waiting outside to see you. It's 11:30, by the way. How much did you drink at the bar last night?"
"A lot," she smiled. "But, I'll be okay. Just tell them I'm getting dressed, and-"
"Okay," Hall sighed. "I'll get you something for that awful headache too."
Ann finally got up trudgingly and made the bed, then crossed over to the fine finished cherrywood dresser. She opened the second drawer and was about to select from the usual T-shirts to go under the overalls, but then she remembered it was a Sunday, and perhaps she would go to church today. What if the visitor waiting for her was Jack??? Then she'd still want to look decent for him.
Opening the closet she found a blue flowered sundress hanging in the back. It was a gift given to her by Popuri for her fourteenth birthday, and she hadn't worn it even once. Maybe it was the alcohol still affecting her brain, or maybe she did want to look feminine for a change. It would go nicely with her mother's cross necklace, anyhow. When she remembered her mother, she thought that wearing this dress would have been exactly what she wanted.
The glossy bedroom mirror in the corner reflected a pretty little young lady with spools of sweet strawberry-blond colored hair, not the edgy, rough auburn, and with creamy seashell skin instead of the farmer's suntan. The gold glint sparkling in the mirror was the necklace, just enough glitter to emphasize that she was a lady, but not quite Popuri. Ann discovered that she hadn't grown much since she was fourteen, because it wasn't tight and the puffy sleeves fit perfectly around her shoulders, which were bare. She wasn't particular about the puffy sleeves being below her shoulders and she pulled them up, blushing at herself.
Does this look like Ann? Certainly not. She shook her head but decided to go through with it anyway. She kept the white ribbon in her braid, though, and walked out of her bedroom hoping that Jack would be outside and that Hall and Gray were out of sight.
"Whoa!!! Sorry, but I came here for Ann. Where is she?" Cliff asked her, eyes widened. He looked as if he had been slapped in the face or had the wind knocked out of him.
"Thanks a lot. Thanks a whole lot." So much for the good humor she was in today! She pouted and Cliff automatically recognized the face. At least the inside of her hadn't changed.
"Look, I'm sorry--" he began immediately, his face turning bright pink and his boots shuffled in the untilled dirt outside the shop.
"No need to apologize," she snapped bitterly. "I should have known it was a crazy idea. I don't know what's come over me, I--"
"No, I mean... it looks nice," Cliff admitted openly, then his glance moved up to the azure sky. "It sure is a nice day today, but it looks like rain clouds will come tomorrow."
Ann stood shocked. At first they both thought she was paralyzed, but when she shook herself out of it, all she could think to say was, "Oh... thank you." Then she looked up at the sky for a moment, not even recognizing the clouds but simply wondering what Cliff was thinking about. Was he really concentrating on the sky, or thinking of something else too? He was still quite a bit of a stranger to her, and in her heart of hearts she didn't understand why she was psychologically analyzing him all of a sudden. It sounded like something Maria or Elli would do. Or maybe Popuri, if it was something romantic.
Cliff cleared his throat, but Ann really knew that he was ready to speak and he didn't have anything in his throat at all. He looked into her face but it was above her eyes. Only very few times in her life had Ann considered romance showing its face in her life, so at first she didn't realize that it was out of shyness that he was looking at her forehead. "So anyway, I came to check up on you. You feeling okay this morning? When I took you home last night I saw that you weren't well, and today when I saw you wearing a dress I thought you were still unwell, but for the better!"
"Well, thanks, I guess," she shrugged, rather confused. Maybe it was her angle in the sunlight, maybe it was the alcohol, but his face no longer looked shadowy and sinister. Now he seemed like a really nice person even on the outside, like an innocent little boy who had good reasons to do bad things. His deep navy eyes weren't hurtful-- instead they were insightful, making her only feel bare and exposed. Why did he look like that?
"What do you plan to do today? Wearing that, I mean?" His eyes swept all over her, and she only hoped that his focus was on the dress itself.
"I thought I might go to church, but then I remembered that church service is over at 11:30, so.... I guess this means I wore this for nothing." She switched to a casual attitude, hiding really nothing in particular except that she was becoming flustered.
"Let's go and show Jack."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"Come on. I want him to see you in that."
"Why??"
"Because if he sees you the way I did, he'll definitely consider you."
Ann pretended not to hear his last sentence, feigned unwillingness, and let him grab her wrist and take her to Jack's farm. But along the way, she still couldn't help trying to figure out just what he meant. This week the whole planet seemed to have turned topsy-turvy on her, and she got lost somewhere in the switch.
Oh, no. I'm turning into Popuri!!!!!
It was exasperating. Surely he wasn't going to drag her over there just to say, "Hey, Jack, take a look at Ann!", was he? She would have just died right on the spot if Jack replied, "Gawd, she's wearing a dress! That's so weird!" Or even worse, she could have started crossing her legs, flipping her hair, or practicing that sultry smirk that Popuri always did, although Karen was a natural for that smile-- Karen didn't even realize when she was doing it.
"Jack!!!!!!" Cliff shouted from behind the fence. She felt like it was going to become an embarrassing moment already, with Cliff standing on the picket fence and nearly breaking it, waving his arms like he was stranded on an island somewhere.
"Hey!!!" Jack waved back boyishly, and ran up to them. He took of his cap, and although he had hat-hair, Ann was overall impressed. She hadn't seen all of his hair before, and maybe things wouldn't be so bad because he looked very different himself. Like a cowlick, those bangs sticking out of his cap was the only lock of hair that stood up like that. It was rather comical, but cute. "What's up, Cliff? Hi, Ann!" he greeted both of them as if nothing was different.
Cliff and Jack began talking animatedly about the Horse Race, and she would have joined in too if she didn't start to notice that Cliff made Jack look like such a little boy. Ann began to wonder what it would have been like if Cliff ran a farm. An awkward silence burned inside their ears in about three minutes' time, but then a little brown bird off in the distance of Jack's pasture chirped happily, as if it was a cue for someone to speak.
"Well, you look nice today, Ann!" Jack commented politely.
"I do?" Ann was taken by surprise. She was expecting him to say that, but not quite so casually as he did. It was almost like those conversations they'd had over the summer, when they went up and played like children in the mountain.
"You look like you're going on a picnic. And speaking of which," Jack said, looking at both of them, and neither of whom knew just what was going on. Ann had heard of the summer heat making one want to do things, but the only saying she knew about fall was that people and horses tend to eat a lot in the harvest season. "I just got a log terrace the other day and helped the mountain carpenters build it, too. A lot of people have also helped me out with their favorite recipes, and now that I can cook more things, maybe we can have lunch together!" His stomach growled just then and they laughed lightheartedly.
"Sounds good to me; I'm hungry myself," Cliff responded, and nudged Ann. Somehow she knew he was trying to say, "This is your chance!"
"Yeah, that sounds good," Ann found herself echoing Cliff. Jack seemed to be in good spirits today and the three of them linked arms, escorting each other to the picnic table built on a wood platform behind Jack's log cabin. It was quite normal for Jack to act his youthful age, which was only seventeen, but when Cliff joined in, it seemed rather strange of him to do so.
"And, I'll be right back with some iced tea and grilled trout with cheese!" Jack shouted and ran into his house. He was just as full of stamina as Ann was! It was too bad that the sundress limited her movement.
"That sounds awesome," Cliff leaned back and closed his eyes, hungrily imagining the dish. "All I've been eating since I've got here were the vegetation that grows in the mountains and fish."
"You should go to the bakery, then," Ann recommended. "Elli's really good at baking cakes; that's her passion."
"Is that the girl's name?" Cliff looked out into the air, trying to place the face with the name. "Hmm. Well, I think he likes you."
"Who?"
"Jack, dummy."
"Well he sure doesn't seem like it."
"He does, believe me, he does. He doesn't seem like it because I'm here."
"I doubt that. I've been alone with him dozens of times all summer and he hasn't done a single thing," she said, wilting.
"Probably because he doesn't know how a girl like you will react," he suggested.
"React to what?" came a girl's voice behind them. Popuri and Elli walked up to the log terrace carrying a jar of some sort of fruit preserves and a pie.
"Jack called us and invited us a minute ago," Elli explained, setting the pie down. Its fumes were tickling their noses. There was something about the taste of veryberry pie in the fall that was undefined. Popuri set down the jar of her favorite strawberry jam and seated herself next to Cliff, and Elli next to Ann.
"You look so pretty, Ann!" Popuri commented. Ann expected her to make comments on her sudden change of wardrobe, but instead she got a polite compliment.
"Yes; it really brings out your eyes," added Elli. "I like it."
Ann almost had tears in her eyes. She was just appreciative that they weren't criticizing and they weren't inviting her to do their silly things like bake-offs and helping at the Flower Shop, gossiping about boys. Namely, they probably talked about Jack when they did so.
It all started off so well, but as expected, Popuri and Elli insisted on talking with Jack and asking Cliff strange questions that girls always tended to ask. Cliff and Ann had a few words exchanged but it was only small-talk. Jack would smile at her every now and then and Elli would offer extra slices of pie, but that was about it. Ann wished Karen was there. Karen would know how to fix things up. Anything that snagged Karen's attention would be the life of the party.
"Ann." Cliff caught her wrist as he was walking her back home in the faint moonlight, before she went past the picket fence leading onto her father's ranch.
"Hmm?" she responded daydreamily, thinking as usual about Jack.
"Before you go in... I wanna talk to you about something." Cliff's falcon, Cain, found its owner and landed on his forearm. Cliff stroked the bird as he eyed her as solemnly as was Gray's habit.
"What?" she asked as if she knew it was going to be such a small matter.
Cliff looked down on her and watched attentively as she turned around to face him, her face reflecting the waxing moonlight and her braid swishing like a cow's tail in the breeze of a light spring wind. Her face looked soft, angelic, and innocent. He wished that he could...... No, as long as she liked Jack, it would be impossible.
"Ann, I want to talk to you about Jack." Cliff sat on the fence and gripped it with both hands as Cain made himself comfortable in a tree.
"Why necessarily about Jack? I thought you wanted to help me out with him." Ann remembered that she was still wearing that dress and simply stood still.
"Listen to me. You see, Jack is..... Well, as you know, you have competition. Elli and that little pink-haired girl-"
"Her name is Popuri."
"-whatever her name is- are after him, too. I'm not saying that you don't have a special charm of your own, but you see, there's a definite possibility of him choosing one of those girls, and there are other girls in the village whom we don't know might be seeing him too. So I'm just saying that I don't want to see you hurt and for that reason, not becoming too attached to him."
Ann's effervescent spirits fell flat. No sooner than when she opened her mouth to speak did he add to that.
"Now, I'm not trying to put you in a bad mood. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from. Popuri and Elli especially seem to like him, and if he chooses one of them--"
Ann didn't need to hear anymore. She shoved off the picket fence and immediately headed toward her father's shop without saying goodbye. Cliff clenched a fist to his heart painfully and didn't stop her. He strongly wished he could have taken his words back, but it was exactly how he was feeling at the time, and he didn't think he had to sugar-coat it for her. He hated to see her go, but loved to watch her leave in the moonlight, even when her walking gait was heavy and rooted from anger.
Ann stomped to her bedroom after a little small-talk with her father, a disgusting act of pretend contentment when she was hit so hard in the face with so many disappointments at the same time. Not only had she allowed herself to develop a crush on Jack, but she went to extremes by trying to dress like Popuri just to get his attention, and even worse, that little bit of information was leaked out to Gray and Cliff. She could at least picture herself telling Karen about her crush first, and that made her all the more crushed by her own remorse.
Cliff was actually starting to become a friend, too. She had been totally wrong to judge his character in the beginning, but now she thought it was rather stupid of herself to trust him to make her feel better. He was too much of a realist and knew all the best ways to flatten her spirits. Ann was all about her spunk and bright spirit, so he practically violated every aspect of her. She felt as if he had really let her down on something that he was supposed to do for her.
The other pressing thing on her mind was, she was so tired of losing to Popuri about everything. She hadn't wanted this until now, but she realized that Popuri had been the Spring Goddess of the Flower Festival before and she had done it perfectly. Not like Karen and Maria never got it, but Popuri seemed to be the prime example of what a girl in Flower Bud Village should be. She had such loving parents-- and two of them, for that matter. Of course, Popuri probably had never ridden a horse in her life, but that could have been the reason why she had such dainty, lovely legs. Everything about Popuri was lovely, charming, and everything else like that. She may not have been as smart as Maria, but she had bright ideas.
And sure, Popuri was pretty-- but at times she seemed so concerned with the aesthetics of Flower Bud Village and not much else. She was a glamour princess and knew it, too. She probably delighted in the idea of Ann being so jealous of her--- and how could she not know it? Everyone else was apparently able to see right through Ann because she had a tendency to show all that she was thinking in her face. There was no way Popuri didn't know all that she was to Ann. Who knows?-- Maybe the reason why she showed such keen interest in Jack was because she knew Ann wanted him. Which also meant that she was hurting Gray very badly. She must have known that Gray liked her-- every other bachelor in town did, so what else was new?-- and she was flattered that any guy would be crushed not to have her.
Thinking about this as she frantically searched for the necklace that slipped off her neck as she was taking off the blue sundress, she hit her head when she was trying to come out from under her bed. Really hard. Tears came into her eyes from the pain as she rubbed the top of her head, and it almost made her laugh and cry at the same time that she had to bump her head to realize that it was totally not their fault. Cliff and Popuri, that is to say.
Cliff didn't mean any harm, she suddenly came to see. Cliff was trying to be what Gray was certainly not enough of-- a big brother. Gray and Ann had known each other for too long, and at the same time were so distant. With Gray being the social disaster that he was, he couldn't tell what was going on in the hidden connections with people that lie between the lines. Cliff didn't see Ann everyday, so she shouldn't have expected him to know just what kind of news and surprises made her happy and which that it just wasn't good for her well-being to know about. In fact, Cliff was kind of cool, in a way.
Popuri was something else, too. For a moment's time she put herself in Popuri's dainty little shoes and saw what kind of stress the town beauty would have to be under, and it wasn't as beautiful a life as Ann had always imagined-- for so many bachelors to fall for your beauty and not know what you are about, to not have a moment's peace without someone suggesting a romantic possibility with someone, and to hear from your closest girl friends their jealousy of you, especially when you see yourself in the mirror everyday and therefore don't think you're as beautiful as everyone says. It must have been hard for Popuri especially when she was with Jack, for Jack was indeed a fun person to be around-- everyone knew that. Jack was so kind and understanding and easy to be attracted to. Sure, they did look sort of perfect for each other, but... suppose Popuri didn't like him the way she did?
It was completely wrong of her to make such assumptions so late at night-- especially in such a time of confusion in which she put on a dress first thing in the morning! Still, she clung to her ritual of praying before bed and hoped that at least tomorrow would be better.