Hello again everyone! Thank you for waiting! Now, without further ado, here's Chapter 2!
Disclaimer : I do not own Harvest Moon!
Chapter 2 - After School Chase
A few days has passed since I entered Spring Dale, and I must say, they were the most exciting days I've had in all my school years. I've became great friends with Chelsea and the others from the 'Secret Base', they readily opened up to me and never once mentioned nor asked me about my family background. Finally, I'm treated as a normal girl.
-Regison Mansion, dining table-
"Morning, mum. Where's dad?"
"He went to work early today."
"I see. Did dad say anything about telling the servants to accompany or fetch me to and from school?" I asked, knowing dad, he just might.
"Hmm. I don't think so. He didn't mention anything about it."
"Thank goodness. It's just that, I want to hide my identity and I also don't wan to be flashy like some rich kids I know back at Prestige...".
Just thinking about those snobby kids make me shiver in disgust. Yeah, we're rich too, but still...
"My my, and what do you plan on doing now? Now that you're going to a 'normal' school." mum asked.
"First, I want to have real friends, and my friends right now are the examples, they added me to their circle without knowing my background. Then, I also want to find true love, like in fairy tales!" I said, dreamily.
"Goodness, a time will come for that, you needn't rush it."
"I know, mum, I know. Well, I'll be heading to school now, bye, mum." I bid goodbye, as I left the dining room.
-Spring Dale School, school grounds-
'Hmm... True friends.. True love... I hope I-' my thoughts were cut off when I bumped into someone.
"Oh, my deepest apologies-" I said, in panic.
"Whoa there, calm down. It's only me, Cliff."
I looked up to see Cliff's face, I was mesmerized by his hazel brown eyes for a second, before I replied,
"Oh, Cliff. Sorry, I wasn't looking and-"
"No worries, by the way, that tone you used was-"
Ahh, I forgot that in my haste to apologize, I used my 'royalty manner' tone!
"F-forget that! I-It's nothing!" I replied, hurriedly to change the topic somehow.
"O-kay... A secret between us then, that tone you used? You seem embarrassed about it." he opted.
"Yes, a secret. So don't tell anyone." I said.
"Of course. Anyway, gotta go, see you later." he said with a wave, then left.
Whew, I avoided a land mine, conceal that manner Claire, you can do it!... Better head to class now.
-time skip to lunch break-
I was taking out my lunch box when Chelsea came over to me and said,
"Claire, let's head to the 'Secret Base', we can have our lunch there, besides, I have something to discuss with the others.", then we went to the 'Secret Base'.
-Secret Base-
"Okay! Now that we're all here, I have something important to say. Ahem, today, we shall visit our new member's, a.k.a Claire's, house!" Chelsea declared.
I spat out the water I was currently drinking, this can't be, there's no way I can let them see my house, else they'd treat me as...
"Claire, what's wrong?" Jill asked.
"Oh, n-nothing, I'm fine." I replied.
"Where's your house located anyway? You never mentioned about it." Jack asked.
This is really bad, I need to think of a way to NOT let them come over! Think Claire, think of any possible means!
"Uh... Just around the corner, b-but it's really messy and you won't like it!" I said.
"Messy? Don't worry, we'll clean it up with you while we're there!" Jill said.
"A-and you have to climb all the way to the top floor as the elevators broken!" I said, again.
"That's okay too! A little exercise is good for us." Mary said.
"And, and, ah! We have two really hyper dogs and they always jump on visitors." I said, I was desperate now, it seems that no matter what I say, they always counter it.
"Dogs? Don't worry, we all can handle dogs really well!" Jack said.
"Eeh, but, but, we have-" I was cut off by Chelsea,
"Claire, are you trying to persuade us not to come?"
Ahh, she figured it out!
"N-no, I'm not. I-I'm just saying that to, to make you all prepared to come, that's all...",
I give up, no matter what I say, they won't budge anyway.
"Good! Then it's settled, we'll go to Claire's house!" Chelsea exclaimed.
If I can't persuade them not to come, then there's only one choice left. Run away from them after school.
-After School-
"Jill, you guys ready yet? We have to go to Claire's, remember?" Chelsea asked, walking towards Jill's desk.
Now's my chance, I'll run away while they're distracted. Then, without warning,I grabbed my bag and ran out the classroom as fast as I could.
"Hey, she's running away! After her, she couldn't have gone far knowing she's a slow runner!" Chelsea exclaimed, as she ran after Claire.
I almost reached the gates when I heard Chelsea screaming, telling me to stop, I ran faster, I never knew I could run this fast in distress. Well, I was never in a tight spot before I came here.
"I thought you say she's a slow runner!" Jill said, getting out if breath.
"I didn't know she could run this fast in distress!" Chelsea answered, the spotted Vaughn near the gates. "Vaughn! Catch Cl- ah! She ran out in time!"
"What's wrong? Why are you guys running?" Vaughn asked.
"We were chasing Claire! She's trying to prevent us to go to her house!" Chelsea answered, catching her breath.
"Is that so, I think Cliff's over the direction she went, if we hurry, we might be able to find them both." he proposed, as they started running after Claire again.
I'm out of breath now, I looked back to see no one of the 'Secret Base' members. Whew, I'm safe. Then I spotted Cliff a bit in front o me. It seems he was talking to the phone, then he turned around and spotted me, then head towards me and said, "Hey Claire, forgive me, but I think I need to stop you for some reason."
Great, the others must be the one who contacted him, I made a dash for it, I was already tired and I knew I wouldn't last long, with Cliff running after me, there's only one option left! I made a quick turn at the intersection and entered one of my favorite shops, the 'Aja winery'.
"Aunt Manna, quick, can I hide behind the counter for a while?" I said in a rush.
Of course. What's the matter? Why are you so out of breath?" aunt Manna asked.
"Well, you see, my friends want to come over to my house, but I'm scared that once they see it, they won't treat me the same anymore, so I ran away from them after school, and I need to hide here for a while." I replied, as I slid down to sit on the floor next to where aunt Manna was sitting.
I really like aunt Manna, I don't care if she owns a winery shop. Apparently, this shop was named 'Aja winery' as Aja was aunt Manna's and uncle Duke's daughter, who went to another place a few years back. Her husband, uncle Duke works in our mansion as one of our butlers, but come here to help aunt Manna from time to time. When I was little, she'd come to visit me and take care of me as a substitute nanny when my original nanny was busy. At first, I thought her strange as she was so talkative, but now, I like her, she's one of the few persons in our mansion to treat me as a normal girl.
Aunt Manna laughed and said, "Ah yes, you did say to treat you like a normal girl, right? You'd always say that when you were little. My, how you've grown since then! It seems like only yesterday that you were starting school, now you're in high school now. So, these friends of yours treat you normally, yes?"
"Yes, they do, and I really like them as well, it's just that I don't want them to come over. What would my dad think of them, knowing him, he'd forbid me to be near them if they make one wrong move." I said as I breathed out a sigh.
"Yes, your father is quite strict, but do know that he's doing it for you as well. Though, I do believe that he can be over the top sometimes." aunt Manna added.
We continued to chat away for a while, while I waited a bit to make sure that my friends give up their chase.
Normal P.O.V
Meanwhile, Chelsea and the others caught up with Cliff, who was standing near the intersection Claire took to 'disappear' from them, which, unknown to him was that Claire just went inside the 'Aja winery'.
"Cliff! Where's Claire? We told you to not let her escape." Chelsea asked.
"Sorry, she made a run for it and I lost track of her just as she turned to this side of the intersection." he answered, pointing to Mineral street.
"You mean she disappeared like magic?" Jack asked.
"Don't be silly, maybe she hid somewhere, let's go search the alleys or some place near where she could hide." Jill proposed, then they began their search.
A few minutes later, they gave up searching for her, Claire was nowhere to be found.
"What should we do now?" Mary asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We go home for now. BUT, we'll follow her every school evening and try to find her house!" Chelsea said.
"This is going to be a pain." Vaughn muttered, and Cliff agreed, doing this every evening was going to be tiresome at the least.
"Okay, now that we made a decision, we'll start operation 'Find out where Claire lives' from tomorrow!", Chelsea fist-pumped in the air. The others sweat-dropped, thinking 'You were the one who made the decision...', then they went back home.
Claire's P.O.V
Back at the 'Aja winery'.
"Well, aunt Manna, it was fun talking to you again, it's been a while since I arrived here so I should take my leave, I think they'd already given up the chase. Oh, and can I come here again? I feel like they'll be following me every evening from now on." I asked, as I stood up from behind the counter.
"Why of course, you can come here anytime. But, be careful, if your father finds out about this, I don't know what he'll do." aunt Manna said.
"Okay, thanks for worrying, but don't worry, I saved a lot of time by running here, so I can reach home in normal time. Goodbye!" I assured her as I took my leave.
Well, just as expected, the others followed, or should you say chased me every school evening. But, like I asked aunt Manna, I reached the Aja winery just in time to lose them. This went on for about a week until...
Normal P.O.V
-Spring Dale School-
"Hurry up guys! We need to chase after Claire at full speed!" Chelsea scolded, running ahead of Mary and Jill, Cliff and Vaughn were way behind, walking at a slow pace and Jack running a bit ahead of Chelsea.
"I'm already at my full speed, I can't run faster than this." Mary answered in between breaths.
"Chelsea, I don't think we should continue this operation anymore! Its tiresome and we always lose Claire at the intersection anyway!" Jill exclaimed, as they ran through the streets, people giving them confused stared.
"I'm determined to find out where she lives!" Chelsea answered back.
"Hey, she's turning to the intersection again!" Jack alerted.
"Then let's hurry! Chelsea exclaimed.
"Don't they ever give up? She always disappears after she turned at the intersection anyway." Vaughn asked Cliff, they watched the others reach the intersection, though they weren't too far behind either.
"I guess its Chelsea's determined attitude that keeps them going." Cliff replied, sweat-dropping.
They turned to the intersection just in time to see Claire being forcefully taken away by men in black suits, almost like secret agents. They put her in a black car and drove away.