CHAPTER 3:

After a few days, I could look back upon the day's events and laugh. I woke up, and looked at the calendar. "Wow, I thought, it's already summer!" And it was, summer 1st. I made some pancakes, and sat them on the table, too excited about the season to eat. A knock sounded on my door, surprising me out of my seat. "Who would be knocking on my door?" I wondered to myself. I moved uncertainly toward the door, and slowly opened it, to a very tan man, with a purple bandanna on his head. "Hello?" I asked, wondering who this was.

"Hello! My name is Kai, I run a little shop down on the beach. I heard you were new, and came to tell you. Come visit me!" His speech sounded a bit rehearsed, but certainly friendly. He left before I could say much. I watched him leave, shrugged and went about my chores, enjoying the warm breeze blowing my blonde hair about.

I went to town many times, but without any major events. I talked to the boys multiple times. Cliff was still friendly; Rick still as sweet as ever, slipping an egg into my basket of chicken feed, when he thought I wasn't looking. Gray blushed and ducked whenever I saw him, but Popuri told me later that he told Saibara that I was the most forgiving person that he had ever known. Flowers grew along the walk, and I was inclined to adorn my room with the sweet smelling blooms.

Before I knew it, summer was almost over, and I commissioned Gotz to start on the second extension of my house. He worked hard, and still found time to talk to me as I sat and poured him ice water. Bessie thrived, and became pregnant with her first offspring, and I devoted lots of time to brushing her down and talking to her. The day of the Fireworks Festival came upon me suddenly, and my heart fluttered as I thought about the romantic side of it, wondering who would ask me to watch with him. I bathed in the Hot Springs before the festival started, and sprayed a few puffs of perfume, which I wouldn't normally do, but romance makes everybody a bit odd, an idea I comforted myself with.

Feeling slightly panicky, I tripped down the path towards Mineral Beach, not even taking time to notice the squirrels running around, chattering, nor the seductive smells of the fresh flowers in the twilight. My mind was on one thing, marring my vision with light daydreams. I entered Rose Square, and was gratified to see that not many people were congregated next to the entrance to the beach. I walked to the steps leading down to the beach.

There were still less people on the beach. Duke and Manna had arrived, and were arguing over something or the other. Zack was setting out towels and sorting firework canisters. I headed over to Kai's beach house, which I had not visited yet, and stepped into the cool shade of the shop, which smelled delightfully of a mixture of pizza, popcorn, and soda. "Hello, Kai! I finally visited. I would like to try whatever you think I should try."

He grinned and said "I suggest you try the popcorn. You can take it with you on the beach. Just for your first time, I'll give you free refills, but don't tell anyone!"

I returned his grin gratefully, accepting the welcome present. I stayed in to chat with him about the wonderful places he had been, including my old hometown, which he visited in the winter.

When it had grown very dark, and Zack yelled that the fireworks would be starting soon, I thanked him once again, and left to find out what (and who) awaited me.

Yes, they were all there. The air was salty and light, as I watched to see who would pair off with whom. Kai immediately walked up to Popuri, and, under Rick's disapproving stare, led her off to the end of the beach. "One down..." Tim sidles up to Elli and they walk off to the middle. "Make that two…" The other guys were just looking at each other. Gray goes up to Cliff, and says something. One firework goes off. I'm getting rather worried. Cliff speaks to Rick. What are they talking about? Two more fireworks go off. None of them move further, so I, utterly depressed, go down to the pier and sit, sadly. A shadow falls over me, and pair of legs throw themselves over the edge of the pier. I look up, startled, to find a still blushing Gray beside me. He looks at me shyly and says

"I've always liked the Fireworks Festival. I actually helped make the fireworks this year! Did you have them in your hometown?" I noticed that some of his blush had gone away.

"We did have a few, but these are better. Of course, they're always better with someone to watch them with…" I thought frantically, why did I say that? He'll get scared off! Contrary to this, however, he seemed very pleased, and even more of his blush subsided. I offered him some of my popcorn, which he accepted, and we turned to watch the fireworks, beautiful splashes of fiery color, blue and red, purple and green, lighting up the sky, as if just for Gray and I. (Hey, that rhymed!) The rest of the night went great, until the popcorn was all gone, and we were completely unconscious of the fact that we were holding hands……..

I walked home by myself, because Saibara insisted that Gray go home with him, (probably was reminded of our first meeting) and he went, after a last parting shy smile. I went home, my heart light, and stopped in the middle of the street to do a quick twirl, laughing like a maniac. I skipped the rest of the way, and grabbed up Roscoe, my dog. I took him inside with me, gave him a kiss on the top of his furry head, and said "Well, that was a success." I flopped down on my bed, too worn out to change, and fell asleep. What I didn't know was that Gray was sitting in his usual corner, smiling too hard to even attempt to fall asleep.