I'm sorry! I know it's been awhile but I've been so busy and I feel bad. I don't want you thinking I just gave up on the story after one chapter. XD

Oh and by the way I like to answer to my reviews here so uh, I'll just go ahead and do that.

Ninja-lemondrop15 - Thanks! I know Gill is kinda mean and his emotions might seem weird for now but they'll make sense eventually.

Shimmerleaf - Thanks! I'm glad you like it. :D

KoolKat14 - Thank you! Sorry it took so long to update but here I am. Finally. XD

shade073 - Yay! Thank yah! :D

Ravenclaw53 - I'm glad you like it! Sorry if it seemed like I wasn't keeping it up since it took so long. D:

sprite21 - lmao. A bit brutal, yes. But thanks! I can't wait to see where it goes either cause even I don't know at this point. XD

Shiho-chan - Thanks! :D I'm glad you like it! Plenty of questions indeed. None of which I'll be answering. XD The story will have to do that it's self. :P

Kinnetik Ishisu - Wave no longer! Cause here I am! Your blue flag really got me to finally take some time and sit down to write this so thank you!! :DDD

I Hate You

Chapter 2: Questions and Answers

I woke up early. Earlier then I think I had in a while. I needed to start work on the farm as quickly as possible if I wanted anything done. So I went to my tool box and got out my hoe before going outside. The soil wasn't too fertile but maybe I could get some fertilizer when I got a little more money and fix it up a bit. By midday I decided I should buy some seeds to plant.

So I set out to find the Ganache Mine District. I had a bit of trouble finding my way to the place though. I took the first path out of the Caramel River District and ended up in some syrup place. Maybe it was the Maple something district? I can't keep count of all these food named places. But there was a lake there and the whole place was actually pretty peaceful. There were houses but not many people at this time of day it seemed.

Until I spotted one girl out there. She had long black hair and beautiful rose colored eyes. I'd never seen eyes like that before. She looked almost exotic, perhaps she was Asian, and she was wearing a dress that looked good for work wear.

I walked up to her to hopefully ask for directions. She smiled as I approached her. "You must be the new farmer." She said sweetly. I smiled back.

"Yeah. I'm Akari." I said holding out a hand to her.

"Anissa." She said taking my hand and shaking it gently.

"I was wondering if maybe you could point me out to the Ganache Mine District?" I asked her and she smiled.

"Actually I was just heading there myself. Come on."

I followed her up the path around the lake and into the Ganache Mine District.

"Wow. I was that close to it?" I asked out loud. Needless to say I felt a little dumb. She just laughed though.

"It's ok. With all the different paths this place can get pretty confusing." I shrugged and looked around.

"Well I should get home so I'll see you later." Anissa said to me and I smiled and waved as she walked off. I went the opposite way on the path and read all the signs outside the doors. Blacksmith. Carpenter. Not a Farm to be found. I sighed.

"Watch out!!!!" I heard someone yell and I looked over just in time to see a piece of wood flying my way. Suddenly I was shoved to the ground roughly and the wood flew overhead.

Someone got off of me and I slowly stood up a bit disorientated.

"Are you ok??" I blinked my eyes and looked over at the boy next to me. He was tall and had red hair. He was also rather buff.

I nodding slowly. "What happened?"

"I'm so sorry!" A boy ran over with silvery hair and a fiery bandana on. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a red vest over it.

"You're an idiot Luke. Don't just fling wood around! You have to be more careful. You nearly took this girl's head off." The buff one yelled.

Luke looked over at me and frowned. "I-I'm really sorry."

I smiled. "It's fine you two. I haven't had an adrenaline rush like that in awhile." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

The redhead smiled and Luke laughed.

"I'm Owen." The redhead told her.

"And I'm Luke if you hadn't guessed already."

"I'm Akari." I said with a smile.

I sighed. I hated asking for directions. "Do you guys know where Souffle Farm?"

They smiled and pointed behind me.

I turned around and right past the blacksmiths was another building that I hadn't even seen because it was the opposite direction on the path. I sighed. Yet again I looked like an idiot.

"I guess I missed it…"

Luke laughed. "By a long shot. You didn't bother to look the other way?" He teased me.

I jokingly glared at him. "All I saw was a piece of wood aimed at my face."

He began to laugh even more. "I like your sense of humor!"

I smiled and realized I was fitting in here nicely. The people were so nice. Anissa was sweet, Luke was funny, Owen was protective, Jin was shy, Irene was caring, the Mayor seemed a bit quirky but nice…and then were was Gill. I hadn't seen him today and I was scared of when I would…

"Why the long face!" Luke yelled.

I smiled. "What long face?"

"The one you just had." Owen answered for him.

"I'm fine. Really. I should get going. Need to buy some seeds."

Owen smiled. "Good luck."

Luke turned towards the end of the path behind them. It was cut off by a large branch or vine of some sort.

"If you want I can cut that away for you. It should make things easier. You can just go from the Caramel River District to here without going through the Maple Lake District." He said with a smile.

I didn't really know what he was talking about since I was pretty confused how I had gotten there. I had a map but I'm just horrible with direction. I took his word for it being easier though. "Thanks! When you finish just tell me." He smiled and nodded.

"I should get going but it was great meeting you! See you around!" I yelled before walking off towards Souffle Farm. I opened the door of the shop and stepped inside. I walked over to the counter and saw an older women with short brown hair and light eyes. She smiled sweetly and I could've sworn she looked familiar.

"Hello, my name is Ruth. You must be Akari."

I laughed. "Word travels fast, huh?"

She smiled. "In this town is does. So what can I do for you?"

I looked over the list of seasonal crops and picked out as many spring crops as I could afford.

As I put the seeds into my rucksack a man came in. He was frowning and had short light brown hair with dark eyes. He was wearing an orange hat and he didn't seem to realize I existed.

"Where is Taylor?!" He yelled. I stepped back a bit. Ruth sighed.

"He went out to play. He's just a kid, Craig."

"But I needed his help! I understand he's a kid but he still needs to do his chores! Why is it that our daughter did everything we always asked but our son doesn't?"

"Because they're two different people. Taylor just wants to have fun." Ruth tried to explain but Craig still seemed a bit angry.

Ruth suddenly remembered my existence and looked over at me. "I'm sorry. This is my husband Craig." Craig grunted in my direction that I think may have been a hello and went outside. Ruth sighed.

"Hey Mom, where did Dad go?"

I looked to the door and was surprised to see that Anissa was standing there.

She looked over at me and smiled. "Oh, hi Akari."

"Your parents own Souffle Farm?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded.

I thought about how I had gotten lost after she had left me and I wished I had asked her where Souffle Farm was before she left.

"Do you want to take a walk with me Akari? I'm sure you'd like to get back to your farm to plant those seeds right? I'll come with you." She said with a smile.

"Ok." I was glad that it seemed I had already made a friend. I had a feeling we'd be close friends too. She was sweet and kind. I almost wished I could be like her.

We left the store saying goodbye to Ruth and walked along the path to the Maple Lake District. We didn't say much at first. It was only because we didn't really know each other too well yet but I didn't feel like it was too awkward or anything.

Suddenly she spoke and her question took me off guard.

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked me.

I stopped walking for a moment and she stopped with me. I looked down at the ground. This was one thing I hated to think about let alone talk about it. But it had been too long that I kept it to myself. It couldn't hurt to tell someone the story, could it?

"Once." I said silently.

She listened intently and nodded. "What happened? Did he love you back?"

What a strange question. A question I had never asked myself before. "I-I don't know." He had never said it, and the way he had left hadn't exactly pointed towards strong feelings for me but before then, had he loved me?

"So what happened? Tell me the story. Well, if you want to talk about it that is…"

I looked over at her, she was very interested, I could tell that.

"You want to get a bite to eat? I can tell you the story there."

She nodded and led the way. We went into town and stopped at a little café.

We sat down at a table and she looked at me intently. "So…?"

I laughed. "Someone's impatient."

Suddenly a girl ran over to the table with a pad in hand. She had short blond hair that was mostly down with pieces in braids. She had crystal blue eyes and a smile that didn't seem easily wiped away. She was wearing a pink waitress outfit and clearly played the part.

"Hi! I'm Maya! Ohhh, you must be the new rancher. Oh, hi Anissa! So what can I get for you?" She said all at once.

I was a bit dumbstruck by everything she said and how fast she said it but I realized we were introducing ourselves. "Oh, yeah, I'm Akari." I told her slowly, hoping she'd slow down too.

"Wow, that's a pretty name." She said sweetly. I smiled. She may be energetic but there was something about her cheery disposition that I couldn't help but like.

"I want the Pickled Eggplant, Maya!" Anissa told her. Maya smiled.

"Of course you do. And you Akari?"

I smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have some chocolate cake would you?"

Maya began to laugh. "Of course we do! The best around! Chase and Grandma are the best cooks ever!" She squealed. "That definitely would have been my choice." She smiled and looked at Anissa. "I like her."

I couldn't help but laugh as she skipped away from the table. She was definitely cheerful.

Now Anissa was looking at me again with a look of interest. "So you gonna tell me the story or not?" She asked.

"Yeah yeah. Just give me a second. Where do I start?"

"How'd you meet?" She asked, trying to help along the story.

"He had come to visit for the summer. His grandparents were my neighbors and we met outside one day…"

I could remember everything.

It was a hot day. Summers were always very hot there. I was in the garden in the front of my house. I thought if maybe I made a garden my mom would want to re-do the ranch and get into it again. The fields in the back would be full of vegetables and animals again. Then he came out of his grandparent's house and saw me outside.

"You need any help?"

I looked up and was suddenly caught by his eyes. I'd never seen eyes like that before. I wondered why he was helping me. He was frowning as if he didn't actually want to help.

"Do you want to help?" I asked.

"Not really."

At least he's honest. I thought.

"So why did you ask to help?" I asked, frustrated with this odd boy. He blushed and shrugged.

"I-I don't know. I'll just go then." And I watched him go back into his grandparents house in a hurry. I remember wondering to myself if he liked me. After that I couldn't stop thinking about him just like any teenager my age may have been.

Suddenly I was pulled back to the real world as food was pushed in front me.

"Here you go!" Maya yelled. I looked down at my cake and smiled. It really did look as good as Maya said it would.

Anissa was nodded in answer to my response.

"Thanks Maya!" She waited for Maya to go and then turned back to me. "Ok so then you guys fell in love?"

I frowned. "Not quite like that. I don't know if he ever loved me back. At first he was really shy but then he started to help me with my garden and we became friends. Soon we'd leave the garden and do other things together. I just remember the only thing I really did that summer was hang out with him. We spent every day together." I said with a fond smile.

Suddenly memories flashed by me. The day after we met he had come and decided to help with my garden. He ended up being a pain in the butt because he constantly just to told me what I was doing wrong. But after awhile he stopped and just worked with me. That was when we started talking more.

Suddenly one memory stuck out the most. We were taking a walk and we went into the woods. After awhile we found a pond and sat by it. Somehow the spot became our spot because we started to go there a lot after that first day. I remembered that day clearly.

"Hey Akari?" He had said.

I looked over at him. "What is it Gill?"

"Do you…like someone?" He asked me. I blushed. The truth was, at the time I had started to have a huge crush on him.

"Maybe. What's it matter to you?"

"Oh, it doesn't really matter." He said sadly.

"Yes it does! What is it?" I asked. I was freaking out thinking that maybe he was going to say he liked me back. I was sixteen and like any girl I just wanted a boy to like me. It had never happened before.

"But he never said he did."

"Never said he did what?" Anissa asked.

I realized I had said that last bit out loud and laughed. "I guess I was just thinking out loud."

She smiled. "So you guys never told each other how you felt?" She asked.

I frowned. "Well, he never told me how he felt. And then he left and I never heard from him. He never called or wrote or anything. I still don't know why he left either…" I said quietly.

Anissa frowned. "That's so sad."

I nodded. "A little bit."

It had all gone downhill after that stupid night. And then a few days later he was leaving.

"I wonder what made him leave…" Anissa said aloud.

"I've been wondering for about a year but not once have I come up with the answer. I just know I did something stupid and then after that things were weird. And then he left." I told her.

She frowned. "What'd you do?"

"It's a long story but I-"

Suddenly the bells on the door jingled as someone came in. I turned around to see who it was and of course it was who I somehow knew it would be.

Maya ran inside and smiled. "Hey Gill! You want the usual?"

Cliff hanger. :O The suspense is crazy! XD So you got some insight on a bit of what happened but not the whoooole story. :P Until next time my friends. I don't think this chapter is my best work ever but you know. I like intense chapters better. A lot of introductions really. :/ Oh well. Next one should be a bit more interesting. :D Review please and again sorry it took so long. D: