Chapter 4

It had been a few days since Natalie and I met and I already felt as if we had been friends (or rather, partners in crime) ever since kindergarten. When I ran into Natalie the other day, she had proudly reported that when her grandpa was inspecting her hard work, he was puzzled not to recognise any of the book's titles.* Needless to say he was too confused to thank Natalie, which led to the next prank: the old-fashioned trick in which you put salt in someones coffee instead of sugar. Not very original, but classic nonetheless. I smiled as I washed the dishes of my breakfast, recalling how her anger was instantly replaced by amusement when she told me about the coffee. Mindlessly, I continued to scrub a dirty plate while looking out of the window above the sink. Outside, a heavy rain terrorised the landscape, accompanied by a strong wind. It wasn't really the weather to go outside, but I was curious about what might have washed ashore at the beach and decided to go anyway. I didn't have anything better to day anyway, such as watering the crops.

I put on my yellow raincoat and grabbed my old brightly coloured umbrella and backpack, before leaving my farmhouse and practically running my way to the beach. I liked the rain, because to me, it had always felt as if it washed away my worries and negativity. Much to my joy, the restless sea had brought many tiny treasures to the beach. I found a lot of seaweed and seashells, a few oddly coloured grasses and a bit of wood. I had been about to go to the cafe on Sprout Island, when I saw a dark silhouette sitting on the wet sand, the rain pouring down on him. Curious, I came a little closer and found out it was the Sunshine Islands' very own cowboy. At a careful pace, I approached him from behind and held my umbrella over his head. Irritated, he looked up.

"You'd better go inside and put on some dry clothes," I said, eying his soaked clothing.

"I don't need your help," he snapped and averted his gaze to the rainy horizon. Hurt, I bit the inside of my cheek, but stayed put.

"You will catch a cold, y'know," I tried again after a few minutes.

"Mind your own damn business and go away," he growled. Hesitating, I stood there, doubting whether or not I should leave. I didn't want to leave him in the pouring rain, but apparently he preferred to be alone right now. I must have stood there for another five minutes before he said something again. Although 'saying' isn't really the right word.

"I said, go away!" he shouted, glaring at me with narrowed eyes. Startled, I took a few steps back. I had wanted to yell back that he shouldn't be such an idiot, staying in the rain like that, but the words had gotten stuck somewhere half-way my throat. I bit my lower lip, looked once more at his silhouette and left the beach.

Puzzled, I went the the café, the place I originally had wanted to go to before I encountered the rather moody cowboy. I was surprised to see Mirabelle sitting at one of the tables, drinking a cup of coffee and even more surprised when she invited me to come and sit with her.

"Is something wrong, dear?" she inquired after I had ordered a cup of tea.

"No," I lied, sipping my warm tea.

"I can tell by just looking at your face." I could feel my cheeks flush and I bit my lower lip again, while Mirabelle studied my face over the rim of her cup.

"I… ran into Vaughn at the beach," I confessed and Mirabelle nodded, encouraging me to continue, "He seemed upset." Mirabelle sipped her coffee and an uncomfortable silence fell as Mirabelle slowly finished her coffee while I reluctantly drank my tea before it got cold.

"You know what date it is today?" Mirabelle questioned out of the blue. I blinked.

"Spring 10th. Why?"

"That date holds a sorrowful meaning to Vaughn," she answered. I waited for her to continue, but she didn't and changed the subject.

"You might want to try bringing him some porridge. It's his favourite and he skipped breakfast this morning," she smiled. I finished my tea, thanked her for her advise and stood up.

"Good luck," she called after me.

Nick greeted me from behind the counter when I came in, the small bell above the door ranging happily.

"How did the noodles turn out?" he questioned.

"They weren't half bad," I admitted and he grinned smugly.

"Do you happen to have a recipe for porridge?" I asked.

"Porridge? Sure." He pulled out the note block he often used to remember the orders, scribbled down the ingredients and the method of preparation, teared the piece of paper off the note block and handed it to me. I scanned the ingredients quickly and irritation dawned on me when I realised I didn't have any rice. And neither did Chen.

"Nick?" I asked in my sweetest voice. He raised an eyebrow.

"Could I perhaps place a special order?"

For the second time that day, I went to the beach, with my yellow raincoat on, my shoes soaked by the rain, my brightly coloured umbrella and a bowl of porridge. I must have looked like a total idiot, but I didn't care. At least I looked like the happy kind of idiot, unlike a certain person on the beach. This time I didn't put any effort in hiding my presence and just walked up to him. He must have heard me coming, because he turned around and glared daggers at me. I just smiled and handed him the bowl of porridge. For a moment he looked utterly confused at the bowl.

"It's your favourite, isn't it?" Uninvited, I sat down next to him, my umbrella shielding both of us from the rain. He nodded, a light blush on his cheeks, and took the spoon I gave him. A silence fell as he ate the porridge I had given him, I twisted a strand of hair around my finger and the rain pounded on the umbrella. When he finished his porridge, he set the bowl down beside him, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and muttered something that sounded like 'thanks'. I had wanted to do a little dance of triumph, but resisted it.

"You're welcome," I muttered on my turn and another silence fell.

"If you ever… you know, wanna talk about it," I tried, "You know where to find me, right?" He nodded, a weak smile on his face. I smiled back.

"I should get back to work," he stated before getting to his feet. He extended his hand to help me get up, which I gladly took.

I smiled broadly when he waved me goodbye before disappearing behind Lanna's house.

As soon as I got home, I heard the phone ringing impatiently. I quickly picked it up and was just saying 'Chelsea speaking' when my dad cut me off.

"You were supposed to call yesterday." I had already opened my mouth to say something in my defense when I realised he was right and shut my mouth again.

"Sorry, dad," I mumbled. I heard him sigh.

"Just… just don't do it again. How are you anyway, Chels?" I frowned, confused by the sudden change of his tone.

"I'm fine. I harvested my first turnips this week," I proudly told him.

"That's great, Chels, that's great," he answered and both of us remained silent for a moment.

"I'll call you Saturday again?" I offered.

"Yeah, Saturday is fine. Just don't forget it."

The weather had cleared up the next day and even the sun was shining. I had just finished emptying my backpack in the shipping bin when Julia walked up to me. Which was odd because the only time I ever talked to her was when trespassing her on the beach. I curiously raised an eyebrow and closed the shipping bin.

"Hey," she greeted me.

"Hi," I answered, aware of the awkwardness of the conversation.

"So… what have you been up to?" She asked.

"Not much," I replied and a silence followed. After a few moments she broke it.

"What I actually wanted to say is… Good job with handling my cousin yesterday." I nodded and smiled.

"Thanks." She nodded too, smiled back.

* This happens in the game too, in one of Natalie's heartevents. It doesn't make sense if the titles are English, but the game is originally Japanese, which you can't read upside down as easily.

EDIT: I picked up a book at the library and edited the first paragraph of the chapter 1: the early symptoms and diagnosis are now more realistic.