Chapter 8

Forgiven?

By the time they arrived, literally everyone in Mineral Town was already on the beach. Drinks were all around, Stu and May were trying to build a sandcastle in the evening hues of the sky. Well, they didn't have drinks. That'd be ridiculous.

Much to her delight, the other young ladies were wearing yukatas. She and Claire made their way across the sand to where the others stood.

"Curse this stupid sand," Althea muttered, pulling off her sandals and socks and tossing them up to top of the concrete ramp. She flashed a smile at everyone when they ran over to greet the two girls.

They all literally screamed Claire's name and ran to hug her. With a little less gusto, they all took turns greeting Althea and giving her that friendly side-hug. She smiled and nodded at each of them, greeting them in turn.

"Claire, y-you look so pretty! I-I couldn't q-quite fit into mine... It's too big..." a mousish, dark-haired girl muttered. She nervously pushed her glasses up her petite nose and gave a sheepish smile to Claire.

Claire looked slightly dumbfounded for a moment, then perked up. "Well, I think it suits you! You look pretty, Mary!" she cheered.

"Thank you. That sounds nice, even if you're just saying that," she cooed.

Althea stopped stalking their conversation when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, turning to see a familiar face. "Oh, hi Elli," she greeted the mousy-haired nurse.

"Hello... Again!" she giggled, "How are you doing? Are you okay? Pardon for saying so, but this whole thing hasn't gone over real well with you. Are you alright?" Concern was traced into the lines of her face, making her appear older.

Althea had to ponder her answer for a moment. Was someone besides Claire actually worried for her? That's a first. "I'm- uh... I'm alright. Karen brought me dinner from Sasha earlier. Um... I've almost gotten over the fact my violin is now useless, and-" she coughed, dabbing a finger at the tears forming in her eyes. Goddess, how infuriating those tears were... "I think I'm doing okay, Elli."

She nodded, her gentle smile widening. "Well, if you really say so. That's wonderful! Oh," her eyes widened as if remembering something, "I didn't realize the shell you gave me was already sealed! So, um, I guess I should thank you for saving me the trouble, even if you didn't know it'd be for someone else." She tilted her head and clasped her hands together in front of her.

Althea laughed lightly, swiping a gold lock out of her eyes. "Oh, um, no problem, I guess," she grinned. For a moment, the two girls just smiled and glanced around at the festivities.

"You know," Elli spoke up, "he feels pretty guilty about it."

Althea snapped her head toward Elli. "Hm?" She furrowed her brow, then the meaning dawned on her. "You mean... Trent?" she asked, just to be sure.

The nurse gave a gentle nod. "Yeah. Even though he knows it was an accident, it's been eating him up lately. He feels even worse about not helping you. The truth is, he probably just didn't know how to help," she sighed.

Well, giving it thought, it made a lot of sense, she supposed. Trent was a doctor, and doctors fix things. So, in the end, his resolve wavered when he can't fix things. Althea understood things a little better, realizing she was the exact same way; if their roles in the situation swapped, she'd probably just want assurance that she wasn't hated for something she couldn't control. "Okay. Alright. Ah, I... I think I'll talk with him," she smiled. Finally, just something she could manage herself.

Elli lifted her head, perking up and putting on her feminine little smile. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Well, after I take part in a little partying," Althea verified, giving a wink she guessed looked a lot more awkward than she thought.

Elli giggled. She looked over her shoulder at Karen laughing raucously at something Kai blurted, slamming her drink on the table and sloshing it everywhere.

"Well, that didn't take long," Althea stated.

"That's Karen for you. She has, well, she's... Partial to alcohol," Elli gulped.

Something trivial as addiction lied in a small village like Mineral Town. Well, something like addiction, anyways. "The struggle is real," she mumbled sarcastically, watching Karen's boisterous motion and giddy snigger.

Elli laughed dryly, the same laugh she bubbled when ushering Trent back to his work after meeting Althea.

She recalled that Claire mentioned Elli's affections for the man. Goddess, what did that mean, then? Elli didn't seem the jealous type, but she clearly displayed slightly bitter behavior toward the action. A shiver danced down her spine. She decided to leave the thought be and move on, a little scared at what that train of thought might've led to.

"Oh," Elli piped, "an event is starting soon."

"Really? What event?" her eyebrows shot up.

Feminine hands slapped their backs. "An eating contest!" Ann bellowed, a cheery grin stretching her face.

Althea grimaced. She never was one for eating a whole lot. Unless it was rice. She could it rice all day. Mm... Rice.

"Eh, I think I'll skip out. Last year was enough for me," Elli declined.

Ann laughed and tossed her head. "Aw, come on! I swear it won't happen again." Her face turned deadly serious, though it looked comical on someone so outgoing like Ann.

Elli covered what would have been a very unladylike laugh with her hand, cheeks dusted with pink.

Ann's face flushed a bright red. "H-Hey! It was an accident!" she protested.

"Well, I won't ask," Althea stated, eyebrows shooting up.

Ann removed her hand from Althea's back, scratching the base of her ginger head. "There was an incident last year. I'm glad you don't want the details," she grumbled.

Elli was shaking with suppressed giggles, her petite face stuffed into her hands.

"Just stop it already!" Ann barked, stomping a foot down and putting her hands on her hips.

Elli shook her head, still trying to contain herself.

"Rrrgh! I give up!" Ann roared.

No longer feeling like part of the conversation, Althea backed away slowly and turned toward the shore. The sky had begun to paint the waves with brilliant golden hues as people made their way toward the shacks for the contest. Many still stood scattered about the sands. She remained still, gazing out at the sluggishly setting sun, Ann's attempts to quell Elli's laughter slowly fading from her conciousness.

She was quite literally bumped out of her thoughts when someone gently collided with her.

"Oh, I am terribly... Sorry..."

She peered behind her at a pale face framed by a shock of coal dust hair.

"No, it's fine," she replied quietly.

He stood and stared at her for a few seconds, though it felt much longer. "No, it's not fine," he said after what felt like an eternity, "And I apologize. For everything."

She blurted out an answer, "I forgive you." Why on earth did she just... Say that? She did forgive him, but her answer was so quick, so...

His face pulled into a warm smile. "Really? Well, that makes me rather glad," he responded.

She couldn't seem to jerk her thoughts away from how it felt like her entire existence seemed to let out a sigh of relief. He was sorry. She forgave him. Maybe life wasn't so damn hard after all. "I'm glad it makes you... Glad," she laughed awkwardly.

He let out a chuckle and shook his head. "I really feel bad about refusing to help you. I mean, if it wasn't for me, the violin wouldn't have been broken," he confessed.

She waved a hand and replied calmly, "Nonsense. This was completely out of our control, especially yours. Though, if you're looking to blame, I suppose we're both at fault, but life goes on, you know?" She shrugged in a nonchalant fashion and looked away from him. Luckily she no longer felt weird in his presence. Instead of the sickening, nauseous feeling from before, it was replaced with an assuring sort of warmth, like how she felt around Claire. Perhaps the warmth was a bit more intense than around Claire, but it was nice nontheless.

He studied her for a moment, eyes almost twinkling with an unknown thought, then mysteriously returned to their dull earthy, dark brown. He rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Yes. It does. Funny thing about life," he mused, "But anyway, if you need help, I'm willing to do something."

"Something?" She raised a brow.

"I'm no doctor in music, I assure you," he retorted, raising a dark brow of his own.

She chortled at the sentiment. "I can see that!" she laughed, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

He rumbled a deep-throated chuckle. "I guess I really don't look like an artistic guy. Oh, are you competing in the contest?" he inquired, ruffling his already slightly messy dark hair. For a well-kept man like him, his hair was a little tousled, as if he'd spent the night researching or something.

She decided not to say anything about the former statement, but jumped to the latter. "Er... No," she shook her head.

"Ah, I wasn't expecting you to anyway. You look thin, so I figured it wasn't your thing. Er, not that being thin is a terrible thing, you see. I mean, ah-"

Althea cut off his stumbling speech with a hearty laugh at his expense. "Calm down! I don't take offense at statements like that, as long as it's all in good nature. It's okay, really," she stated, adjusting her floral hairclip.

He brought a hand to his temple. "I-I see," he replied simply.

Althea looked at him and smiled.

Just then, a shrill whistle blew and the beach fell silent. "Competitors!" Zack, the local delivery man, boomed through what sounded like a megaphone, "You have five more minutes to sign up for the eating contest! This year's theme is- er-" his voice crackled and faded out.

She moved closer, seeing Zack bending over and Thomas whispering into his ear. Zack straightened up and brought the megaphone to his mouth. "Rice dishes! This year's theme is rice dishes, everyone! Again, five minutes! See ya then!" he barked. The burly man stepped off the platform with the table on it and put the megaphone down.

She couldn't believe her ears. Rice dishes! She dabbed a thumb at the corner of her mouth to prevent a bead of drool from dribbling down her chin. "Goddess help me," she mumbled.

"Hm, well, shall we watch, then?" Trent questioned, looking down at her.

"You can. I'm participating," she declared, stalking off toward the platform. She didn't know why she was doing it, nor did she care. She hadn't eaten much in a few days, anyway, feeling hungry even after Sasha's filling delivery earlier that evening.

She marched up to Zack and sharply poked him in the shoulder. "Sign me up. I'm participating," she demanded.

For a few awkward seconds, the man stared at her with a dumb expression. Then, he burst out laughing.

She'd expected such a reaction, anyway, responding, "I'm serious. Does this look like a joking face?" She gestured to her pursed lips and downturned brow.

Zack sobered immediately. "Wait, seriously? This isn't a contest for the faint of heart, no matter how innocent it seems," he smirked.

Faint of heart. Innocent. Her blood started to simmer, fists clenched and jaw set. "Just watch me. Watch me," she ground out.

"Woah," he frowned, "I-I'll sign you up, Miss, and you'll be competing in a moment. Just... Er... Don't kill yourself. You're still young," he frowned.

She turned away to stem any sharp retorts from lashing out, uttering a simple "Thanks," instead. Althea looked to the platform where many villagers were finding a seat along the stretched table. Where'd they even get a table that long? No matter. An empty seat next to Kai beckoned her, calling out for her to sit and prepare for rice bowl after rice bowl.

I'll do this. I'll show them! It'll be fun. Right? Haha, of course. It's just rice. It'll be fine... Right?

Oops. I didn't die. QAQ

I'm sorruuuuuu D: Anyway, I've been super busy with school. (Pah, stupid history class. Luckily my teacher enjoyed the 2 page paper I spent ten hours writing because I COULD FIND ZERO INFORMATION. *cough*) I'm actually really liking the course of this story. I like the pacing and so far I'm pleased with my characterizations. I feel like I've got a nice little slice of life goin on. :)

Anyway, I know I said I'd focus more on Althea and Claire's relationship, but as I developed the story more, you can see that her feelings toward her begin to border on bitterness as Claire's shown kindness Althea hasn't felt in a long time. Althea feels left out, I suppose.

Also, if you recall, I mentioned Althea's travel agent. He's not out of the picture. I think he and our good friend Rover will pop up from time to time ;)

REVIEWS BBY

Lilybud: I was rolling around in rainbow glitter when I saw all those reviews omg. Anyway, thank you for all the support QwQ and yes, Kai is a big part of this story. XD I feel that Althea will reluctantly have to deal with every human being in the village whether she likes it or not. ;) I was wary about the introductions, but I felt it'd be crucial. I'm glad that Stu gave you a laugh there, because I thought of the typical church kid answer to questions like that XD. I actually did not draw the cover illustration. :o Thank you very much~! I know you might be mad it took so long ehehe •w•"

AldoniaAlma: Eeheehee. Lol Claire. I feel like that's how it'd go. Trent is too serious to take Claire seriously. And if he told her his name she'd be too distracted to remember anyway. *gasp* I feel honored to have provoked the FANGIRL emotion :0