Ou Holy Goddess – ten reviews? That's amazing! I only asked for FOUR reviews and I got 10! I better see all of you in this chapter!
Thank you to Princess Toasty – my first reviewer! Haha, and I DO want to be an author when I grow up, thanks!
HarvestMoonLuv – I STILL LOVE YOUR FANFIC – Speak Now !
Yami's Girl 117 – Thank you! You just have to see! ;)
fooboo24 – NO! KEEP DENNY! I LOVE HIM! & ohmygosh, I feel so honored! You can actually marry Vaughn if you want. :D
yuseirulez34 – thanks! And I'm glad you're reading Ruins!
mytaconotyours – thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it : D Have I ever told you how awesome you are?
arashiwolf – thanks!
Flutterbyxx – now, now, be patient! ;)
Claire Lynn – Yep! Thanks!
iLoli – awwww, thanks, I didn't know it would be like that for others! I intended to make it sad, but not heart breaking. Thanks, it means so much!
Chapter 2: Mud Is…Really Gross
The day after Denny's wedding, I stayed up on my farm. I didn't want to see the villagers celebrating for their new couple, knowing that I was there as well. All of them knew we were together for a long time, loved each other till our break up. Then they just forget because he married Lanna?
Vaughn saw through me yesterday. Why did he even bother to talk to me? Usually he was anti-social, only talking to limited people. Denny said that he doesn't like talking to others; it had something to do with anger management problems. That, I could see, after falling on Denny's bed. He was so frustrated.
Life sucked.
Oh, and the day after Denny's wedding, I woke up with a hangover. Yeah, that was great. I stayed in bed for almost a whole day.
Life sucked even more.
()()()()()
Today wasn't a very good day – it was rainy, and slippery. Gloomy and cloudy, it was.
Actually, the past few days were like that. The rain was drenching me from head to toe. Slick mud everywhere I walked, my foot threatening to give way under me. All the dirt on my field was a terrible place to farm.
Yet, I worked. The hoe lifted and smacked against the dirt without hesitation. Turnips were hauled out of the soil and thrown in a basket. I was always out of breath, only my determination would not allow me to go inside.
I didn't exactly know why I was doing this. Was it something to put Denny out of my mind? Or did I just do it for the heck of it? I believed it was the first option. For once in my life, I wanted to forget him. There was no point in even thinking about him, now that he was with Lanna. I told myself this many times.
The cows I stroked. The chickens I cuddled. When I leaned on them, I could even smell the damp rain on their pelts. Worriedly, I finally wondered if all this terrible weather was beginning to be severe. I wondered if I should halt to my work, and just stay inside.
But there was still the sadness.
So the answer was no.
My head was drastically pounding. Groaning, I rubbed at the temples, exhaustion sweeping over me. But I picked up the brush and kissed the nose of Lightning the cow.
I worked through the whole day, tending my animals and protecting my crops from overdose of rain. I also took out my fishing rod and headed to the water. The reel was resisting against me. I knew it just wanted to jump in the water and float away from me. Fish in my basket were starting to build. By now I probably had ten.
When I glanced at my watch, it was three o' clock. Sighing, I was feeling bored of myself. There was nothing to do at the moment.
Exiting my barn, I made my way towards West Town.
()()()()()
Here, the weather was lighter, if somewhat possible. The slight drizzle fell from the sky, instead of the flooding in my area. I sighed. What a lucky section of town. I was only halfway and I could see a large difference in West Town and my farmland. My…was there even more sun over there?
The first thing I saw when I walked into West Town is Natalie eating dark chocolate.
"Hi, Natalie," my arm rose to give a wave. There was a smile on my face. Looking around, I saw that I was right. The weather was better, but the terrain was worse. To my left there was something like muddy quick sand still developing. On the right there was an even larger puddle of water. Ew. Ew. Ew.
This was disgusting.
"Chelsea! I haven't seen you in a while, dude!" Natalie said enthusiastically after spotting me. Her hands desperately wave. "Oh my gosh! Have some chocolate! It's from Denny's wedding!" There was a glowing smile on her face. She seemed much happier than last week. I wonder what happened?
Preparing to catch the chocolate, I flatly said, "So, how's it going?" Emptiness is what I feel. There's nothing that can make me happier at the moment.
I coughed, badly. Was I getting sick? Groggily, I looked up.
Ignoring my question, she chucked it towards me. "Catch, Chelsea!" Diving forward, I scarcely manage to cradle the chocolate in one hand. I wanted some chocolate, and for goodness sakes, Natalie stripped off the wrapper! Chocolate landing in the dirt would obviously be disgusting.
"Honestly, Natalie," I said as I landed on my butt in a pile of mud. "The things you do to me are – OWWWWWWW." Disgusted, I wiped my hands on the cleanest part of my jeans that I could find.
As I had tried to stand, I fell and hit my head. On something tough, like a rock.
There was a throb in my head. Suddenly, I was woozy, light headed, with my head pounding. Something splashed alongside my face, and when I turned my head to look, I saw brown. Pure, goopy brown. Grossed out, I attempted to sit up, but my head dragged me back to the ground.
"Aargh…" I moaned, massaging my temples.
I remembered screaming, "Make it stop! It hurts!" It was like a constant drumming in my brain. It was like somebody was punching me over and over. Squeezing my eyes together, I yelped as another pain ebbed.
I was so confused. I didn't even know what was going on. It was like a rush of events flying in my face.
Then all was black.
()()()()()
"Chelsea! Chelsea!" Natalie shrieked, rushing towards her. She stepped over the big rocks and skipped over large sections of mud. When she lifted up Chelsea's face, a wave of shivers ran up her spine. "What the heck? What happened to you? Chelsea!" Lifting her head off the ground with no problem, she shook her best friend hard.
When Chelsea ceased to make any movement, Natalie replayed the previous scene in her head. Then she gasped, "Ohmigoddess she got a concussion!" Taking three deep breaths, Natalie's pale cheeks flushed as she wondered what to do.
First, she attempted to pick her up, in a bridal style, and carry her away into their house. But that didn't work. Almost immediately Natalie somewhat collapsed, bringing Chelsea down with her. Not cool. At all. She frowned. There were rocks everywhere, so obviously she couldn't just drag Chelsea away.
What to do? What to do?
()()()()()
Nobody was home. She had pounded on the door of her house, but nobody was home. She had screamed in frustration. Where the hell was everyone?
Then realization dawned on her: It was Saturday. Which meant the rest of her family was at the Cafe, enjoying a delicious meal.
So she decided to barge in on Julia's home.
()()()()()
Natalie flung the door open and instantly yelled, "Chelsea's in crazy trouble!"
Julia practically jumped three feet up in the air.
Vaughn scowled at the by passer.
Mirabelle just strangely glared at her for disturbing the previous peaceful mumble.
That certainly snapped their attention towards her.
There wasn't much that they were doing.
Julia and Vaughn were cooking…whatever they were cooking, and Mirabelle was counting money.
"What's up with you?" Vaughn grumbled. "We're kind of busy."
Natalie glowered at him. Do you want to die? Her eyes asked.
Vaughn sighed, annoyed, and said, "What about Chelsea?"
"She's stuck in a mud puddle, unconscious and we need to help her…like right now." Natalie replied.
And I think she would be majorly glad if you helped her, Vaughn. She suspected that Vaughn and Chelsea could end up together one day. Maybe they would get married and have kids and have a great life together. They fit together like two peas in a pod.
It would be good for Chelsea, because of her heartbreak from Denny.
"Are you an idiot?" Vaughn demanded. "Why would you just leave her there?" His gaze caused her to shrink back in fright.
Shaking his silvery head, he walked towards the coat hanger and pulled his thick jacket on.
"I didn't know what to do!"
"You are an idiot."
"Vaughn! Natalie!" Mirabelle smacked her head. "Chelsea's health is at stake here!" From behind the counter she moved, and slipped on her rain boots. "Oh my goddess, it's raining out there! The muck will…"
She left the sentence hanging.
Glancing worriedly out the window, at the drooping grey clouds and drenching rain, she said, "We should go. Natalie was right to come to us."
But she felt like an idiot. Natalie grimaced, and tried not to fear of the outcome.
Maybe Chelsea would have to leave and travel to the city for medication, or she might be unconscious for the next who knew how long!
Julia dropped her wooden spoon back into the pot. "Let's go."
Looking at Natalie, she asked her, "Why does she suddenly show up at town on a crappy day like this?"
Natalie didn't know.
"Are we going, or not?" Vaughn asked, opening the door. A rush of cold air swept in the building. Natalie shivered, pulling her hoodie over her shoulders.
"Well, then, let's go!" Julia said, grabbing her jacket on a chair.
Awkwardly, Vaughn seemed to have second thoughts and stepped back. "I'll go get a pig."
When they rushed outside, Natalie panted, "Did he just say a pig?"
()()()()()
"What an idiot," Vaughn remarked, glaring at the girl in front of him.
He considered Chelsea a down to earth girl, just not…literally.
Pretty she was what happened to that dressy girl yesterday at the wedding?
How did she end up like this?
The next time Vaughn saw Chelsea after the wedding; this was so not what he envisioned. He envisioned a "thank you" or a "Vaughn, I am so grateful to you." But he did not expect her to be a little green, purple, and blue in the face, and yet still look incredibly cute at the same time.
He could see that he simply couldn't walk in and pull her out. There were much too many slippery rocks along the way.
Motioning to his pig, he commanded, "Pig, clear out all these rocks so I can walk through." It happily trotted over, obviously used to being given orders and nudged the rocks aside.
Snorting, it realized what it was standing in.
In a matter of seconds, the damned pig was rolling in the mud, chortling like there was no tomorrow.
Grumbling, Vaughn called, "Pig, you know how much I like bacon!"
He meant it. A look of satisfaction passed across Vaughn's face as the pig turned to glare at him.
It huffed, and used its snout to roll the rocks aside.
Vaughn turned to Natalie. "Explain."
How much more reckless could this girl get? First Chelsea got drunk, then she disappeared for how many days, and the next time when they actually saw her, she was unconscious!
Stuttering, Natalie said, "I-I-I have no idea! Sorry, Vaughn! Even she stopped talking to me after the wedding!"
Scowling, Vaughn recalled the wedding's events. The marriage of his best friend, and the drunken mood of his best friend's best friend. Not his everyday thing.
Today was not his everyday thing either.
The stupid pig had already finished. Simply, Vaughn walked over, with Julia behind him. Grabbing her pasty hands, he hauled her out and gruffly said, "She's staying at our house tonight."
He scooped her into his arms, while Julia made a grab at her feet.
"Don't drop her!" Julia whined.
Like I ever would.
()()()()()
"What do you remember?" Julia worriedly asked me, stroking my forehead. My face was flushed as she tended to me, and I sighed.
I was lying on her bed with three people crowding around me. A pillow was propped on my side, and multiple blankets covered my body. I felt warm and cozy in my surroundings.
Vaughn attempted to be subtle that he cared for me, but it showed. It was actually kind of sweet, considering I didn't talk to him often. Apparently he contributed all of his blankets to keep me warm. That's what Natalie whispered to me.
Thinking a little, I replied with a sneeze, "The taste of mud and chocolate."
Which was horrifying, by the way. I never wanted the taste of goo in my mouth again.
Natalie mixed the hot chocolate that was placed on Julia's side table and cried, "I'm so sorry, Chelsea! Seriously, I can't believe I was the one who caused all of this."
She was freaking out, I knew it. She actually had no fault, because I was the one who attempted to catch the chocolate.
"Natalie, it's okay," I reassured her, coughing. "I was really tired and zoned out – I still am. I have been freaking working myself to death and now here I am."
Natalie squeaked.
Everyone here was so concerned for me, I hadn't noticed it before. This was how they talked to me every day, so did that mean they were concerned for all this time?
"That explains a lot," Vaughn muttered.
Then he blushed as he asked, "Can I have your hot chocolate?"
I nodded, but Julia disagreed. She scowled.
"Get out, get out!"
Practically throwing him to the other side of the house, she shut the door and turned to me.
"He's insensitive. Don't listen to him."
Closing my eyes, I relaxed into the pillows.
Seeing how relaxed I was, Julia chose this time to say, "You're staying here tonight, no complaints."
Edit: October 2011: Cleaned it up a little. I didn't want to cut out the pig, since so much of you liked it.
Reviews?
~diego