DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Chapter 5: Last Night

Claire POV

*Beep beep. Beep beep. Beep beep*

"Mmm…Shut up!"

*Click*

Stupid alarm clock. I'm still sleepy…hmm. Spring 7, 5:00 in the morning. I've just spent my first night in the inn. Yesterday's events were…pretty interesting. What wasn't so great was when Karen threw up on me…again…last night. Last night…yeah, a lot of things happened. I was…walking with Gray to the inn. Just thinking about that makes me blush. It was so weird meeting Gray at the hot springs like that. And I didn't think I would see him naked so…suddenly. Anyways, that wasn't the only interesting thing that happened. When we reached the inn, I've met some new villagers and learned something very important…

"Welcome…huh? Ah, it's you son. And who's this pretty young lady?"

"Ah, she's – her name is Claire. She said she needed to go to the inn so I accompanied her since it's, well you know, dark outside."

"Nice to meet you." I bowed.

"Name's Doug. It's a pleasure."

Just then, a blue-eyed young girl clad in blue overalls and a yellow blouse walked towards us while holding a tray. She had reddish-blonde hair that was tied into a high plait with a white ribbon. She cheerfully greeted us.

"Hey Gray!" she punched his arm and looked me. "And welcome! My name is Ann! What's yours?"

"Claire. Nice to meet you, Ann!"

"Claire, Claire. Huh..." she pondered for a moment while repeatedly tapping her chin with her right index finger. "Ah, you wouldn't happen to be the Claire that was supposed to check in the inn yesterday, would you?"

"Yeah, I'm that Claire. I forgot to check in yesterday because…" hmm, what was my excuse again? Let's see…blah blah blah I met Ann blah blah something about Jack being my twin brother…Ah! That's it. "I fell asleep on my brother's bed when I went to visit him. His name is…Jack."

"Oh so you're Jack's sister? No wonder you look so familiar. You guys are practically identical!" Doug said.

"Ah, yeah…we're, uh, twins after all."

"Who's Jack, Dad?" Ann asked.

"He's the new owner of the farm, and a great guy. Ain't that lucky, Ann?" Doug winked at her.

"Dad!" Ann seemed embarrassed.

Hmm…what else happened? Ok, so I talked with Ann, Gray went upstairs to take a shower, I ordered a beer…ah! And…Karen was there, drunk as hell.

"Mmm hey gurl! Was yer name…? Name's Karen an dis is Ricky-boy, mah best friendddd..."

"H-hey, Karen…uh, I'm Claire. And…" I looked at her friend. He had big, round glasses, long strawberry-blond hair, and a white headband. He also wore a green turtleneck, blue apron, and brown pants. He looked kinda nerdy but he was nice. I mean, he's cute, but lacks in the sex appeal department.

"Just Rick's fine. Not Ricky-boy. Sorry, don't mind Karen. She's really drunk. Anyways, nice to meet you Claire!"

"Nice to meet you too, Rick!"

What did I talk about with him? Let's see…he said something about being my chicken man or something. What's that supposed to mean? Oh yeah, he said he helps his mom, Lilia, run the Chicken Lil's poultry farm. His father, Rod, disappeared about 2 years ago to find a cure for Lilia since she has some sort of rare illness. He also mentioned that he has a sister named Popuri and that he hates this guy named Kai, who always comes to this town during the summer. What else, what else…

…Ah…I remember Karen getting into a fight. I think it was with a man named…Gotz? Yeah, Gotz…the guy who lives in that house in the forest area near the Goddess pond. He looked kinda scary with his wild brown hair and grizzly beard. He's a big, muscular guy. I think Rick said that Gotz was Karen's biological father or something. He also said that Karen's mother, Sasha, had a divorce with Gotz because of his drinking problem.

"Shee, das why mom left ya! Youer always avoibin her by drinkin yer perobwems away! You hear meh ya ol man!?" Karen yelled. Everyone in the inn was looking at her.

"Yea I hear ya jus don't tahalk to meh! Youer not mah dawhter amemore! Ish not mah fault yer mother chose a pansy ober meh! I min, who doeshent like DIS!?" Gotz, out of nowhere, just ripped his tight, white t-shirt like a madman and flexed his pecks.

Everyone gasped at Gotz as he got on top of a table and did all sorts of muscle poses. "Yeah, shee dis!? Huh, you like dat!? Like wat you shee everyone!? Huh!?" After that disturbing display, Gotz threw up on the person nearest to him.

"Dad, I hape you! Gota hell!" Karen's eyes were welling up with tears. She looked so pitiful; it made me feel sorry for her. I went up to her and tried to comfort her, much to my regret.

"Hey Karen…don't let him get to you." I said as I rubbed her back.

She sniffed and wiped her tears on my pink shirt, and then…well, you know what happens next.

"BLEEEGH!" She threw up on me…again.

Like father, like daughter.

Anyways, I think the guy Gotz threw up on was a man named…Duke? I think he's the winery owner of this wine shop near the inn. After Ann brought me and Duke some rags for us to wipe the vomit, Duke decided to strike a conversation with me. I forgot most of the things I talked about with him, but I remember he mentioned that his wife, Manna, is a chatterbox who gossips with two other women, Anna and Sasha. I vaguely remember him trying to hook me up with this guy named Cliff. Ah, Cliff…that guy. He had long, brown hair that was gathered into a low ponytail and had grayish-blue eyes. I couldn't make out what he was wearing. It was some brown, furry garment thingy. Despite his outfit, he was a cutie. He's shy, like Gray, but friendlier.

"Come on, I think you should meet him Claire. Hey Cliff! Over here!"

Cliff hesitated for a while, but eventually came over to us. "Hey. What's up, Duke?"

"I want you to meet this young lady over here." Duke held out his arm, motioning it towards me.

"Oh…H-hi…" he stuttered.

"Hello! It's nice to meet you, Cliff. My name is Claire." I smiled at him.

"Ah, yeah…nice to meet you. S-so uh, do you like this town, Claire?"

"Yeah, it's really pretty and peaceful!"

"That's nice."

"…"

"..?"

Duke cleared his throat and placed one hand on my shoulder and the other hand on Cliff's. "Ah, you know, you two look good together!"

Cliff and I both blushed in unison.

"Hahahaha, you kids have a good time, yeah?" When Duke left us, I tried to talk to Cliff. He didn't talk much, but he was gradually opening up to me, which was good. I don't really remember what we were talking about but I remember seeing Ann from across the room, glaring at us. She seemed upset about something.

"Sorry Cliff, but can I talk to Ann? I think she wants to talk to me. I had a good time talking to you, by the way."

"Ah, yeah. T-that's fine. It was nice talking to you too..."

I excused myself and walked over towards Ann.

"Why did you come over here? I didn't want to interrupt your talk with…Cliff." She turned her head to the right, avoiding my eyes.

"I'm just checking up on you. You seem bothered about something. What is it? Is it about Cliff? There's nothing going on between us if that's what you're thinking."

"N-no, it's not that! Well, not exactly." I think she blushed.

"Then what is it? You can tell me."

"…Okay. Let's go somewhere else first. Like…your room?"

"Yeah, sure."

We walked upstairs to the second floor of the inn and entered my reserved room. She entered first and sat down on my bed. I closed the door behind me and sat next to her.

"Okay, so…I've been living in Mineral Town ever since I was born. My mother died when I was very young, so my dad and Gray pretty much raised me for most of my life. Now, what I'm about to tell you sounds stupid so don't laugh, okay?"

"I won't laugh. Promise."

"Alright, so when I was 4, I made a promise with a boy during the summer. I think he came over for vacation or something…I forget. Anyways, I hung out with him all the time and we had a lot of fun together. Then, when summer was almost over, he had to leave. I remembered we both cried about it, I mean both of us – we were such good friends. We were both at the dock when he was about to leave, and he promised me that he would return here and I promised him that I would stay and wait for him."

"…" Oh. My. Goddess. This girl…this might be Jack's mystery girl!

"Claire? Are you listening?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm listening. Please, continue."

"Okay, so about Cliff…"

Huh? What does Cliff have to do with any of this?

Ann continued. "He says he's a traveler. He first came over to the inn last fall, and still stays in one of the rooms here. During his stay, I overheard him talking to my dad about something. And guess what it's about"

"What is it about?"

"Guess."

"Um…about his travels?"

"No, silly! It was about a promise! He told my Dad that he came here because of a promise! I have a strong feeling that he's the guy!"

"What! No..no way!" It can't be Cliff, can it? I mean, her story sounds just like Jack's! So she was 4-years-old…how old is Ann now?

"Ann, how old are you?"

"What? Uh, 21. Why?"

Jack said it was 17 years ago since he made that promise. 17 + 4 = 21. Oh my Goddess, no way!

"Ah, nothing. Just curious. So the boy you promised, do you remember what he looked like?"

"Um…I'm not really sure, but he definitely had brown hair."

Well that doesn't help. Jack and Cliff both have brown hair.

"So, did you ask Cliff about this whole promise thing?"

"No. Not yet. I'm just…ugh! I don't know what's stopping me! I mean usually, when I know something, I ask about it right away. But for some reason, this is different! It's like…I dunno…like I still have doubts."

"Maybe…maybe Cliff isn't the guy then?"

"Maybe. But you heard the story, Claire. It's highly likely that Cliff's the guy! So, uh, what should I do? Should I ask him about it or what? I think I'll do- "

"No, no, no. I…I think you should still wait until you're really sure."

"But…I think it might be the perfect time to ask soon! The Goddess festival is coming up and-"

"The Goddess what?"

"Oh, that's right, you're new here. The Goddess festival is where all of the young women in town dress up in a goddess costume in honor of the Harvest Goddess. My Dad forces me to go and wear my mom's costume. It's not really my thing, wearing a frilly dress. But the food is great! Oh, and the women usually have the guys escort them. Cliff already asked me! Don't you think that's a sign? It's like practically saying 'Hey Ann, that's right. I made the promise with you!'"

"You still can't be too sure though."

"Why do you seem more doubtful about this?"

"Because…I-I think, I dunno, it might be someone else."

"Hmm, do you know something that I should know?" Crap. What should I do? Should I tell her about Jack? No, I have to talk about this whole thing with him first! I mean, there's a 50/50 chance that it's Jack.

"No! No…it's just…this whole promise thing seems too good to be true."

"I know, right? Well, I think I'll take your advice. Consider it as a 'thank you' for listening. I'm gonna go back downstairs and help out my Dad. You coming?"

"No, I think I'll just sleep now. I had a long day."

"Okay, suit yourself. Night Claire!"

"Night!"

Ann went out of my room and I started to unpack my things from my rucksack. Just then, I jumped at the sound of a sudden stomp and the sight of a familiar ponytail braid. Ann again.

"Oh, sorry Claire! I forgot to ask. Who are you going to the festival with?"

"Uh, I don't think I'll go. I don't have a costume and all."

"Ask Popuri tomorrow. She has extras! Oh, and you can go with her to the festival if you don't have an escort, since Kai isn't around and all. You could ask your brother, but that would be kinda weird. I know how that feels."

"Did…did your brother ask anyone yet?" I don't know why I'm getting my hopes up. I mean, Gray's kinda quiet and a bit of a jerk. Why should I care? It's not like he'll ask me anyways.

"Yeah, he already asked Mary."

"Oh…who's Mary?"

"She's Anna's daughter and the town librarian. She's really nice, but I don't talk to her that much."

"I see…"

"Why? Are you j-e-a-l-o-u-s?"

"Jealous? Me? Pfft, no..." I turned my head to my right, avoiding her gaze. Why am I turning red? I'm not jealous!

"Hahaha! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you like him."

"But I don't! We've just met!"

"Right, right. There's no need to hide it from me. I mean, I've only met you an hour ago, but I feel like we're already good friends!" Yeah, Ann's right. I feel comfortable talking to her. I think we'd be great friends.

"Yeah, same here. But I still don't like your brother."

"Fine, fine. I'll just leave you alone now so you could sleep." Ann left the room. Finally! Now to slip in my nightie and get under the covers…

Right…it's Spring 7, 5: 10 in the morning, and I've just remembered what happened last night while I was getting ready. What am I going to do today? Let's see: eat breakfast, go back to the farm and dress up as Jack, TELL JACK ABOUT ANN'S STORY, water crops, yada yada yada. Oh, and meet up with Popuri, buy a chicken, and visit Brownie Ranch. Alright, let's do this!