Hey guys, I'm in such a hurry. We have to check out of our hotel really soon. I'm on vacation in Washington State now, have been since the 3rd. That explains the lack of updates, no?

IMPORTANT CONTEST THING: LOOK AT MY PROFILE. I UPDATED THE "HOW TO ENTER" PORTION.

...I forgot that takes all external links out of PMs -_-

Anywho, telling you guys that was my sole purpose of updating. I wrote this just to tell you that. lol.

Read it xP

CHAPTER STATS

Word Count (excluding A/N): 1645

Date Updated: 8-11-11

Current Review Count: 397

"Love him?" Chelsea repeated. She'd heard what Julia said, but she wasn't really comprehending it. She shook her head slowly, her face still cherry red. "What… I don't…"

"Chelsea, really," Julia smiled, looking like she could burst into laughter at any moment, "I think you're just kidding yourself. You probably have been for a long time!"

"I… I don't," Chelsea stopped, the meaning of Julia's accusation finally sinking in. "Wait—no! What? Love? Love? I don't love him! I… I just—"

"Just what?" Julia asked, her eyebrows raised knowingly. Chelsea scowled at her. Why did she have that 'I know I'm right' look on her face? This whole thing was absurd!

"Just… think of him as… as a friend."

Julia let out a loud laugh that sounded like a snort. "You wouldn't get that red-faced if you were thinking about me, would you?"

Chelsea sighed in exasperation, her scowl deepening in protest. "But that's different!"

"Tell me, how is it different?"

"Well, with Vaughn, I—I mean—Vaughn is…" Chelsea trailed off, her eyes distant.

"Yes…?" Julia urged, still trying to contain her amusement.

Chelsea hesitated for a second, bringing her gaze down to her feet. Was she really in love with Vaughn?

"Julia?" A timid, boyish voice called from the entrance to Chelsea's farm. The girls jumped and turned towards the visitor, finding a flushing redhead standing awkwardly in the path.

"Elliot?" Julia asked, "What is it?"

He walked overly, fidgeting shyly with the hem of his shirt. He glanced nervously between the two girls. Sweat gave his forehead a light sheen. "Uh, J-Julia…"

"Yes, Elliot…?" Julia asked again, her eyebrows raised. Chelsea could see a thin layer of well-concealed annoyance under her mask of patience.

Elliot squeezed his eyes shut. "W-W-Will y-you have d-dinner with m-me tonight at the D-D-Diner?"

Julia was silent.

Chelsea pursed her lips, the tension so thick in the air that it was almost hard to breathe. Why hadn't Elliot asked to speak to Julia in private? It really would have saved Chelsea this awkwardness…

Elliot swallowed loudly. "O-O-Or you could just, uh, uh—"

"Sorry, El," Julia smiled, "I have plans already tonight."

"Oh," Elliot said, wilting. He perked up slightly. "Th-then how about tomorrow?"

"I dunno," Julia said, putting her finger to her chin thoughtfully, "I'll let you know, okay?"

"Uh," Elliot started, but decided against protesting. He nodded. "Alright. I'll see you later, then."

"Alright. Later!" Julia smiled, waving as Elliot walked away.

"Yeah. Bye, Chelsea." Elliot called behind him as he disappeared into town.

Chelsea watched him go into his house and turned to Julia. "What are you thinking? He just asked you out—finally!"

"I told you," Julia shrugged, "I'm over him."

Ah, Chelsea thought. So it was infatuation.

"What were we talking about…?" Julia trailed off, thinking.

Chelsea blushed. Shoot. She didn't want to bring this up again.

Julia noticed the color rise into the farmer's cheeks and her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, right. Vaughn."

"I think you should just drop it, Julia." Chelsea frowned, hating her face for heating up again. It was totally not helping her prove her case.

"But, Chelsea," Julia smiled sympathetically, "I'm trying to help you—really! I can tell that he likes you, too, so—"

"What are you talking about?" Chelsea interrupted, perplexed. Vaughn would never… She shook her head. "I told you—I don't think of him like that!"

"Then how do you think of him?" Julia asked, crossing her arms across her chest. "And don't just say 'as a friend' again. Tell me what exactly goes through your head when you think of him."

Chelsea sighed, irritated. "I think of how helpful he is."

"Oh? And what else?" Julia probed, leaning forward slightly.

"I think of how he's really nice, but he wasn't at first."

"Okay," Julia nodded, "Go on."

Chelsea thought. "He's… I don't know. He's… different. Like, he's mean, but he's not. He's really strong and he acts all tough but he's really gentle too. He acts like he doesn't care about anything but then he goes and shows that he does.

"He also has his moments when he's just downright sweet. It's so weird—it's like he just picks when to put his tough-guy act down and I never know when it's going to happen. And… and, uh…"

"And?" Julia repeated after a moment. She was obviously trying to disguise her combination of surprise, curiosity, and happiness. It wasn't working.

Chelsea felt that familiar heat rise into her cheeks again. She looked down at her shoes, mumbling, "And… he's pretty good-looking, too…"

"I'm so proud of you, Chelsea," Julia squealed, pulling the farmer into a sudden, backbreaking hug.

"W-Why?" Chelsea asked, pushing the overly-excited blonde away.

"Because," Julia started, her eyes gleaming, "You've finally admitted it!"

"I haven't admitted a thing," Chelsea frowned, her eyes narrowing warily. "I still don't think I… love Vaughn."

"But you do like him?" Julia pressed, her enthusiasm refusing to be quelled.

Chelsea shrugged lamely. "I don't know… I've never really liked anyone before…"

"You've never had a crush?" Julia asked, disbelief washing her fervor away, albeit temporarily.

"Nope," Chelsea said. "There were never boys my age in Mineral Town when I was growing up. They were all either too old or too young."

"Wow," Julia said. She was apparently speechless… until she started talking again a half a moment later. "I know you probably don't think so, but… I really think you have feelings for Vaughn. I'm only telling you because I don't want you to suddenly realize when it's too late. Or something."

"That's really nice of you, Julia, but I don't—"

"Don't you dare deny it again, Chelsea," Julia cut her off, wagging her finger in a scolding manner. "Here's a foolproof test to see if you think of him romantically: Imagine him kissing you," she paused, smiling smugly as Chelsea's face promptly flared up a pretty tomato red. "Did it disgust you?"

Chelsea grimaced. "No…"

"Do you want it to happen for real?"

"Julia," Chelsea sighed, beginning to lose her patience. "This is—"

"Answer the question!"

"What if I don't want to?"

"Just do it!"

"No!"

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Do it!"

"Fine! Goddess, fine—I do want it to happen, okay? I want Vaughn to kiss me!"

"…Julia? Chel… sea?"

The girls both froze and turned towards the voice at the farm's entrance. Lanna was standing at the edge of the field, her shocked expression mirroring theirs. Julia slowly turned her head back to Chelsea. Chelsea blinked. It would be Lanna, of all people, to overhear something like that...

Chelsea swallowed, her face crimson, and brought her hand up to slap her forehead.

"What is it, Lanna?" Julia asked, her voice shattering the tense silence.

Lanna blinked, breaking free of her stupor just enough to shake her head and start back towards town. "Nothing…"

"Are you sure?" Julia called, but Lanna was already skipping through town.

"Damn," she breathed, kicking at nothing.

Julia's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't know you cursed…"

"I do when I see it fit," Chelsea grumbled, pulling at her hair. "And right now is definitely one of those times."

"Maybe she won't tell anyone," Julia said, but her optimism failed to change Chelsea's mind.

"Are you kidding? She's probably already at the beach telling Denny, and after that, it'll just spread around. I'm from a small town. I know how it works," Chelsea said, cringing as she remembered Mineral Town and the way all those rumors spread like wildfire. Her head dropped. "Damn."

"Well, it's okay," Julia smiled, placing her hand sympathetically on Chelsea's shoulder, "Really."

"How is it okay?" Chelsea asked, looking hopelessly up at her friend. Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind that struck her with such horror, she couldn't even imagine the consequences. "What if Vaughn hears?"

"He won't," Julia smiled, "Honestly, Chelsea. It's not as bad as you think it is."

"How?" Chelsea scowled. She hated being the talk of the town, especially for something like this.

"Well, to be frank," Julia said, holding back a snicker, "everyone kind of already knows."

Chelsea frowned. "What?"

"It's been obvious for a while now, Chels."

"What has?"

"You and Vaughn."

"What about us?"

"You have feelings for him. He has feelings for you," Julia shrugged. "It's kind of old news."

Chelsea's jaw went slack. "…Old news? How old are we talking?"

"Hmm," Julia put her finger to her chin in thought. "Probably around the end of fall, beginning of winter."

"A whole season? I don't even get this. Vaughn and I are just friends," Chelsea said, and, after Julia opened her mouth to protest, added, "regardless of whether or not I want more than that."

"So you do want more than that?" Julia asked, her eyes shining. Chelsea sighed.

"If it'll get you off my case, then sure."

"Oh, Chelsea," Julia gushed, pulling the farmer into another bone-crunching hug. "This is so awesome! I'm so happy for the two of you."

"I don't know what you just heard me say," Chelsea mumbled, wriggling herself away from the blonde, "But nothing's actually going on between us. And it's not like I said that I… that I love him. It's… it's just infatuation."

"Infatuation?" Julia repeated, her eyebrows raised. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am," Chelsea said, frowning. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I don't know," Julia said, looking up at the sky. "It's just… isn't doesn't infatuation mean that it's a little… I don't know, unstable?"

"Yeah," Chelsea nodded. "It does."

"So you don't think you'll still feel this way in—oh, I don't know—another season, maybe?"

Chelsea thought about it. Would she still feel this way in the beginning of summer? She shook her head slowly. "No… Well, maybe. I don't know."

"Hm," Julia smirked. "I guess we'll see."

FUTURE UPDATE NOTICE:

I don't know how my updating will be from here on out. It'll definitely happen... I'm just not sure how frequently. School starts on the 22nd and I still have 3205 pages of summer reading to do... Which is a lot. Seriously.

After school starts, I'm still not sure how my updating will be. I'll try to show you why so that you can understand that I'm truly trying my hardest to update as often as I can, but sometimes it's just too difficult... Here's my course list for this year:

HR: AP Calculus AB

2: Honors Spanish III

3: Fiction Writing/Genre Studies

4: AP US History

5: Religion 11

6: AP English Language and Compisition

7: Honors Chemistry

School Activities:

Fall - N/A

Winter - JV Basketball

Spring - Varsity Softball

And I have a part-time job two to four days a week.

My fiction writing class also calls for me to be writing an original work throughout the year, too, and it'll have to be prioritized before this fic because it'll be homework...

Blarg.

Okay, so, this was unnecessarily long and stuff, but I want you guys to know why I take a while to update. I'm hoping to be able to keep a bi-weekly routine, and if that doesn't work, then I may have to do tri-weekly or even monthly updates... I know that a chapter is really short, but it still takes time to write. Which makes me sad, because I just planned out all the meaty goodness of this fic, too... I WANT TO WRITE IT SO BAD

...you know what? I think I'll pull a secret all-nighter soon and write.

BD