Chapter 1- Introductions
"The next stop is Mineral Town, and after that is Forget-Me-Not Valley." The boat's conductor announced to the passengers. There were never many people on this route. Mineral Town attracted no tourists, though Forget-Me-Not Valley attracted a handful or so a year.
"I'm for Mineral Town." A boy, who the conductor would have assumed would be the first one to make trouble, said, turning down the IPod in his hands. He was sitting in his seat, sending nervous glances now that his music was no longer offering a distraction. He had shoulder length brown hair, long for any boy, and brown eyes. He wore his blue baseball cap on backwards. His skin was a light beige color, an obvious tan. The boy wore a black shirt that said 'Rolling Stones' across the front, with a list of tour dates on the back. He wore jean shorts at least three sizes bigger then he needed. The conductor had heard rumors that there was going to be a new farmer, but he had imagined it would be a kind young man.
The boy, sure the conductor wasn't going to reply, cranked up the volume on his IPod, disturbing the few other passengers. They were muttering amongst themselves about the boy, and the conductor wasn't about to get involved. Turning around, he called to the captain and told her they had someone for the Mineral Town stop. She nodded, continuing towards the distant harbor.
The boy turned the music up louder, and he recognized the song as one of Prince's hits. Wasn't that music considered punk? Or was it rock 'n' roll? The conductor retreated into the cabin to stop himself from hurting the boy. He was obviously upsetting the other passengers.
As if the boy knew he was aggravating everyone around him, he smiled, and then began to play air guitar.
The conductor had never been so glad when the captain docked the ship and yelled through a megaphone, "Mineral Town! All passengers for Mineral Town, please disembark!"
The boy stood up, lowering the overbearing volume of his IPod, and stepped onto the docks, a little shaky on his feet. He continued forward, though, and set foot on the warm Spring sand.
A man with a red hat and in a red jacket stood in the sand, looking around nervously, pale. "Oh no," He mumbled, frowning. The man caught sight of the boy, standing aimlessly in the middle of the beach. He noticed that the person kept well away from the water. He was supposed to meet the mayor here. Was that the mayor? Making his way towards the man, the boy pulled the ear phones out of his ears.
The man looked up to see the boy. "Hello. I'm Mayor Thomas of Mineral Town. It's nice to meet you, Miss." The boy froze, his hand half-extended.
"Miss?" He repeated incredulously. "I'm a guy, you retard!" He yelled, startling the mayor.
"I'm sorry, sir. I thought you were a girl because of your hair." The mayor gestured to his long hair. The boy shot him an icy glare all of the same. "So, what is your name?"
The boy shut off his IPod and put it in his bag. "I'm Jay." Jay said coolly, ignoring the mayor's extended hand.
"Right." The mayor replied. "So you're the new farmer, then." He checked, just to make sure. Jay nodded, refraining from rolling his eyes. What part of Mineral Town not attracting tourists did he misunderstand?
"Why don't you show me the farm?" Jay announced bluntly, annoyed with the mayor. The mayor, slightly taken aback, shook his head.
"We have to go to the square first to have you meet all of the people here in Mineral Town." The mayor told him, watching Jay's reaction carefully. He rolled his eyes, and let out an annoyed sigh, but he did not protest.
The mayor led him off of the beach, entering into the middle of the people hanging out in the square. Jay was nodding slowly. It was bigger than he had imagined.
"Good morning folks." The mayor announced into a microphone. He stood on a stool so he was visible above the crowd. Jay towered over him. "I would like you to meet and welcome, Jay of Sea Salt Village." The crowd clapped for a short second, most of them in awe of Jay's appearance.
It was an old fashioned town. Most of the women still wore heavy skirts or dresses and fancy, ornate blouses. The men had their hat cropped short and wore plain clothes. In Sea Salt Village, Jay had been able to dress how he wanted, and so had everyone else. That was going to change just because his parents had forced him into this.
"Jay," His mother had said around a month ago. "Remember when you visited that old man's farm all those years ago?" Jay, slightly annoyed, had turned off his IPod and nodded.
"So what?" He replied curtly.
"His name is in the obituary this week." She said quietly. Jay disbelievingly got up to check. It was there- written in black bold letters spelling out Lou Smith. That was why he hadn't been returning his letters. Jay, since the years he had been there, had grown older, and according to his mother, into a punk. Jay liked that image, and spent forever keeping it that way.
"And the mayor of that little town called to say you were the one in the will to take over the farm." His mother continued edgily. She knew what her son would have to say about it.
"No way!" Jay yelled, jumping back. "I'm not doing something stupid like that just because he wanted me to." He snapped.
Eventually, his mother had told Jay that he had to do it. Surprisingly, Jay hadn't tried anything drastic, like running away.
"Is he for real?" A woman with black hair whispered to her friend with black hair.
"With that hair? He looks like a girl." The second woman scoffed. "He better steer clear of my daughter." She growled.
"Shush, Anna, he's looking this way." The first woman murmured, elbowing her friend.
"Quit it, Manna." Anna said, elbowing her back.
"You will have the opportunity to meet these people on your own, Jay. For now, I am going to show him the Green Star Farm." Leaving the square and the people behind him, the mayor led Jay past two farms before getting to the Green Star.
The fields were in terrible shape, and the house was tiny. The chicken coop looked as though it was about to rot over and collapse. Jay frowned. This had been a bad decision.
"This is the Green Star property. Sadly, you have your work cut out for you, but I think you can do it, Jay." The mayor beamed.
"Whatever." Jay replied, walking away from the mayor and towards the house, pulling his large and overstuffed backpack off of his back.
With a sigh, the mayor wondered how this punk was going to survive here, much less run a farm.
A/N: How was the first chapter? I hate having to write the first chapter, so I can only hope it came out good. Anyways, please R&R!