Angela stood in front of the rather rickety bridge that was dividing her from the Garmon Mine District. She had been told it was one-hundred percent safe, but she wasn't buying it. But she liked taking risks sometimes, so she took in a huge breath and set her first foot on the bridge. It was swaying with the wind, but there was no turning back now. She slowly put one foot in front of another, being sure not to look down. As soon as she felt solid ground, she finally remembered to breathe, and got the hell away from that bridge. She stared at her map and walked by each building, and, at last, found the refinery.
"Oh! You must be the newbie! It's…Angela, right?" A very fashionable man asked from a cozy looking couch. He stood up and did an "inspection" of Angela, as if she was a piece of jewelry herself. Angela's eyes widened as he lifted her face with a finger to look at it. "Hm. Those are pretty big pores, Angie. You should wash your face more often!" He seemed to have no problem invading her personal space. Angela then remembered that stylists tend to get in your face and point out flaws.
"Sorry, but who are you?" She tilted her head, looking at him confusedly. The man literally jumped and covered his mouth.
"Oh, what a faux pas to not introduce myself! I'm Julius, and no, I'm not gay. I just have a keen eye for fashion, you see. And you look like quite the project for me, hun." He clapped his hands together. "I have the perfect place for you to go to get some fashionable clothes. You know where the Sonata Tailor's is, right? Well there's this girl there, Candace…" Angela wondered why he had suddenly stopped after saying her name. Julius blushed a little upon saying it. Aha. "She'll pick out some great stuff for you that you can farm in." This guy sure was talkative, but easy to listen to. He seemed to be a friendly person, and the unfashionable girl was sure they would become friends somehow. Key word: somehow.
"Nice to meet you, Julius. And thanks, I'll go visit Candace." Angela said with a wry smile. "But I'm here to see Mira; I have to ask her some questions." This piqued Julius' interest. "Crap, I should've known he would be curious."
"Oh? What kind of things did you want to ask her? It's about someone, right? I have this great intuition for stuff like that." Angela looked at her feet; she had been figured out. "I knew it! So who is it that you're so curious about? And don't tell me it's none of my business. Everybody's business is my business." Julius tapped Angela's nose. "Come on, spill." She swallowed nervously.
"Er... Well it's about…" Julius' eyes were boring into hers expectantly, pleading her to continue. "Gill, it's about Gill. I want to know what kind of things he likes. He seems lonely, so I'm gonna try to become his friend." The fashion man rolled up his eyes in thought. It was surprising that Julius didn't ask any further questions, but she wasn't going to jinx it.
"Gill, huh? He is a pretty interesting fella if you think about it. He likes…Tomato stuff, a lot. Seriously, you wouldn't believe it. Hey, what's that face for, Angie?"
"Tomatoes are kind of my only income right now…And I'm broke from buying bunch of seeds. I don't want to give him a soggy tomato that got knocked off from that storm last night. I mean, I could cook it, but I have the cooking skills of a peanut. I've seriously burnt cereal before."
"How could you even- never mind. Okay, I have the perfect idea. Okay, so, you take a tomato." She nodded; eyes wide. "Then you put it in a blender. You're following me right? Then you turn the blender on, and it makes juice. You pour the juice into a cup, and voila! You have his favorite drink in the world." He was treating her like she was completely inept at cooking. Okay, so she was. What's wrong with that? Angela barreled out of the refinery with a yelled "thanks" and a white toothed smile.
The dreaded bridge stood before her. What did she expect? Bridges didn't become magically safer. There just had to be another way to get back home without plummeting into the violently crashing ocean below her. A young voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see a lanky blonde boy. Poor kid was probably just hitting puberty. He looked about eleven or twelve, but was almost Angela's height.
"Pretty scary, huh? There's another way down that's pretty fun, if you ask me." He grabbed her by the elbow and led her to a mine cart. "This thing will get you down to the church grounds in twenty seconds flat. And it's one-hundred percent safe. I've ridden on it like a million times and I'm just fine." Angela found herself climbing into the shockingly safe-feeling cart. Her mind was shouting at her to stop but it wasn't working. "Alright, have a fun trip!" The kid gave the cart a good kick and she screamed like a little girl on a roller coaster all the way down. Her body felt like jelly by the time she got to the bottom.
"F-Finn? Why did I do that?" She asked the small sprite on her shoulder. He was bug-eyed, and unable to answer from shock. "My legs are all wobbly. You're lucky you don't have to walk." Angela stumbled her way home, earning a few strange looks from the townies. She stared at one of the soggy tomatoes in her hand. So…she had to wash it, take the stem out, and blend it. Sounded easy enough. She followed Julius' wonderful instructions and had a cup of bright red juice in her hands. "Aha! I am Angela, master chef!"
After carefully sealing the cup with tin foil, she slowly walked to the town hall, being very cautious not to spill it.
"Hey, nitwit, here to make fun of me again?" Gill asked without looking up from his work. Angela shook her head and slid the glass in front of him shyly. Shyness wasn't a common occurrence in her, but it seemed to pop up when she gave it to him. "This..how did you know?" He asked with a look of bewilderment on his face. She glanced at the red-stained glass next to him.
"Just a hunch. Anyway, enjoy! I'll try to bring some tomorrow too, Grinch." Elli, who had arrived just minutes before Angela, shot her a look she couldn't identify.
"Uh…Thanks, I guess." He mumbled. Angela smiled cheerfully and left, skipping.
"I think she likes you, Gilly."