A/N: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing my story so far. Your comments are all appreciated very much. I find it kind of funny how strongly some people feel about the couples in this game. I personally don't prefer one girl over another, and find all of them fun to write about. So please don't flame me on who I have Jack dating. I just write the story as I go along. I have an idea of where I want the story to go, but I don't really know who Jack will ultimately end up with. You'll just have to read to find out :P

Chapter 10: Rivalry

And just like that, Spring turned into Summer.

It was Summer 1st, the day of the Beach Festival. Popuri told him that it was a day to celebrate the beginning of summer. All the boys were supposed to wear their swimming trunks so that they could compete in swimming race. It was early in the morning, and Jack was done with his chores for the day. It didn't take too long, since he hadn't made it to the shop to buy summer seeds yet.

Jack walked casually to the Poultry farm. He figured he would pick up Popuri and they could go to the festival together. He walked up the door and knocked. After a few moments he knocked again, then proceeded to go inside. He figured that Popuri had probably overslept.

Inside the house it looked as if it were completely empty until Jack looked up the stairs to see Lillia slowly making her way down. He met her half way and helped her the rest of the way down.

"Hello Jack. Rick and Popuri have already left for the festival. Popuri just loves summer you know... she was up before six this morning she was so excited."

"Oh alright." Jack helped her sit down in her rocking chair. "I don't want to be late, so I'll see you later Lillia!"

Jack took off quickly towards the door and just barely heard Lillia say behind him, "Good luck in the race Jack!"

When Jack arrived at the beach the first thing he noticed was the way the beach was decorated for the festival. That must be what the mayor does in his free time, Jack thought to himself. Balloons were tied to the fence and the mayor sat at a booth over by the docks. He scanned the area and noticed that most of the village came out for this festival. All the young people of the village were there for the race, the men to do the racing and the ladies to cheer them on. Karen's dad and Harris were even there, both in their swim shorts, stretching and preparing themselves for the race.

Jack smiled to himself until he noticed where Popuri was. Off in the corner of the beach, by the bench, she was standing next to a young dark man with a purple bandana. It looked as if they were trying not to be noticed by the rest of the town. She was giggling at something he said, and gently hit his arm in response.

Jack was unsure of how exactly to react to the situation. He didn't want Popuri to think he was a jerk if he made a big scene and it turned out that they were just friends. He walked over casually and tried to appear cool, even though he was feeling very jealous inside. When she saw him coming she looked at him with wide eyes. He smiled a bit at her and said, "Hey Popuri, what's going on?"

"Hi Jack... oh Jack. This is Kai." She blushed a little.

Kai looked back and forth at the two people who were in front of him. A look of confusion crossed his face, and then he suddenly understood. "Jack huh? What's up?"

"Nice to meet you Kai, come on Popuri." Jack gently took her arm and pulled her away. He didn't notice, but she looked back at Kai and pouted.

"I'm surprised you didn't wait for me this morning," Jack commented to Popuri as they found a place to sit on the beach.

"Sorry. I was too excited about this festival to wait for you to finish your chores." She wrinkled up her nose.

"Why are you making that face?"

"It's nothing. Okay so it is. You always have to work on festival days." Popuri pouted.

"The farm doesn't run itself Popuri. The chickens need to be fed every day. You should know." He took her hand and held it in his.

"Yeah I know..."

They both suddenly got quiet and just watched everyone else enjoying themselves on the beach. The kids, Stu and May, were both building sand castles together. Karen was sitting on the dock with her feet dipping into the water. Next to her was Rick, who was looking towards them and waving furiously. Jack just nodded towards him, which made Rick stop his waving. He seemed a bit too happy.

Continuing his gaze across the beach Jack noticed Mary and Gray were sitting together. Well sort of. They were sitting near each other and every so often they would exchange a few words. Elli was sitting with the doctor, who was probably there to make sure nobody hurt themselves in the race. Off in the opposite corner of the beach Ann was sitting by herself. She looked lonely, but Jack didn't want to get up for fear that Popuri would run back over to that Kai fellow.

After some time passed, the Mayor waddled his way to the middle of the crowd to announce the beginning of the race. "Attention! Attention everyone!" People continued talking and didn't pay attention, but he continued anyways. "The swimming race is going to begin in a few minutes! If you are going to compete please come to the water here where I am. We will begin in a few minutes!"

Jack sat where he was and watched the other men walk over to the mayor. He wasn't planning on competing in the race. Jack had never been the best swimmer. Growing up in the city never gave him much opportunity to learn to become a good swimmer. He looked over at Popuri and she was pouting at him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to race Jack? I think you should race Jack. Impress me by winning." She batted her eyelashes at him.

"I was just going to stay here and spend time with you." Jack couldn't tell Popuri that he was horrible at swimming.

"Oh. You know, Kai wins every year..."

"So?"

"Beating him would really impress me." Popuri gave him this look and he just couldn't say no. Without saying anything he got up and walked over to where the other men were meeting. Even though he wasn't planning on swimming, he had worn his swimming trunks just in case.

"Alright men," the Mayor began, "in this race the first person to swim out to the rock that Rick is on will win." Jack looked out at the ocean and watched as Rick swam out to a large rock that was partly sticking out of the water.

Kai approached Jack while the Mayor waited for everyone else to get ready. "So you are Popuri's new guy?"

"Yeah, what is it to you?"

"Uh, nothing. Just wanted to wish you good luck out there. You're going to need it." He smirked, and then looked over towards Popuri. She was watching the both of them talk to each other. Kai waved towards her and then walked away from Jack to his position at the starting line.

The starting "line" was just drawn into the sand with a stick. Jack laughed to himself at the simplicity of it. Anything to try to keep his mind off the fact that he was probably going to horribly lose this race and embarrass himself in front of Popuri. The Mayor said a few more things about the race but Jack wasn't listening. Something about pacing yourself. His heart was beating fast.

Suddenly the whistle was blown and all the men went running towards the water. It startled Jack and he jumped up before he went running, so he was already behind. The water hit him with a cold spash as he attempted to dive in. It was a slow start but Jack gave it his all anyways.

He easily passed Jeff, who seemed out of breath already in the race. Next he passed Harris. Looking ahead of himself, Kai seemed so far away. How could he swim so fast? Jack continued to push himself harder and harder but no matter how much he tried it seemed like he could never catch up to Kai.

Off in the distance Jack could see Rick standing on the rock and waving both his arms up and down to the group. He was yelling something, but Jack couldn't hear him. As he swam closer and closer to the rock he could start to make out what Rick was yelling. "Come on Jack! You can do it! Beat that loser Kai!"

Kai's response felt so far away. "Give it up Rick!" Jack was too out of breath to be able to say anything. How was this guy able to swim so fast and still have enough energy to yell back at Rick's taunts?

Suddenly Jack became very exhausted. He tried to move his arms but they wouldn't paddle any more. He had pushed himself too hard too early. He kicked his feet but it wasn't enough to keep him above the water. Jack began to sink. The last thing he heard before his head was completely submerged was Popuri screeching for someone to get help.

Under the water Jack opened his eyes just in time to see the lower half of Kai's body approach the rock. He had won the race. Of course that should have been the least of Jack's worries. He struggled to try to push his body back above the water with no luck. He was completely exhausted.

Everything started to go black as he continued to sink lower and lower. Suddenly he felt a strong hand grab him and pull him up so his head was out of the water. The man who pulled him out of the water swam back to the shore pulling Jack along beside him. It was the doctor.

He pulled Jack out of the water and pushed on his chest. Jack spit up water but was breathing. He lay there feeling dizzy and only half conscious. Popuri was the first to come running over, still shrieking. "Oh my goddess! Is he going to be alright? Jack!" By then a crowd had started to form around Jack. The doctor tried to get people to back away so that Jack could get room to breathe.

"He'll be fine Popuri, please calm down. Jack? Can you hear me?" The doctor's face turned very concerned as Jack lay there and didn't say anything.

The last thing Jack saw before he passed out were the other men returning from the water. Kai was standing there looking at him with this look that just said: "I win". Then everything turned black.

Jack woke up and found himself in a bed in the town hospital. He didn't know what day it was. Elli was sitting by his bed and she smiled when he woke up. "Good. You are finally awake."

"What am I doing here?"

Elli laughed a little. "You exhausted yourself in the swimming race. The doctor has ordered that you rest in bed for a couple of days to regain your strength."

"But my farm! I can't lay in bed for days!"

"Don't worry, we sent Rick over to take care of your chickens." Elli smiled, but this news made Jack grumble.

"Elli, has Popuri come to see me?" Jack questioned, and the young nurse nodded.

"Yes, she is out in the waiting room. She's been here for a while waiting for you to wake up. Let me go get her." Elli got up and a few moments later Popuri entered the room. She was frowning.

"For being a farmer, you don't have much stamina," she said to him.

Feeling a little insulted, he decided it was finally time to tell Popuri the truth. "Popuri, there's something I gotta tell you. I'm not a good swimmer. In the city you don't get many chances to go swimming…"

Popuri pouted. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. I just feel like I'm the reason why you passed out. If I didn't push you…"

Jack cut her off before she could finish. "It's alright Popuri. I was just trying to impress you and I took it a little too far."

She blushed, and then hugged Jack. That's when Elli came back into the room to announce that visiting hours were over and that Popuri would have to leave. The girl with the pink hair pouted again and walked out, looking back at Jack with her wide eyes. Jack rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

Some time later Karen approached the hospital doors but stopped right before opening them. It was early morning and Rick had just left from his daily visit to the market. Should she go in? It was just a visit to the hospital after all. No harm in that. She entered and peaked behind the curtains where Jack's bed was. He was lying there sound asleep. She sat down in a chair next to him.

She wanted to be the first thing he saw when he woke up.