Chapter 3
Second Impression
The dirt road I took led me to another farm. Expecting the worst, I tip-toed to the front, looking through the little windows. I saw a girl, about the same age as me; talking to someone I couldn't see from this angle. The girl didn't looks as… unusual, so I took a deep breath, and opened the door. The girl looked up, with a nice smile on her face. "Well, hello there! You must be the new farmer!" I laughed quietly to myself and smiled back. This girl was much easier to get along with, and my shyness began to fade. That had never happened before. I explained myself, and she chuckled. "Well, I'm Ellen, nice to meet you…" she paused, waiting for my name, and extending her hand. I took it and said, "Jasmine Wolffe, pleasure to meet you." She laughed again, and turned to a counter with shiny orbs on it. They seemed to have pictures of animals on them. "This is my father, Billy." I smiled at him, to see two magnificent buck teeth smiling back. He smiled sheepishly, his eyes drooping. I immediately felt like I was with extended family, for some weird reason. "Hello, Billy," I said, politely. "Hello there, Jasmine. Any time you need animals, or animal feed, come here! Oh, Ellen has something to give you!" I looked to Ellen and she handed me a notebook, with detailed sketches and notes about animals. I looked at her again, and she was smiling. "Thanks so much!" I said, truthfully, "I can't tell you how much I need this," I prodded, "I had no idea what to do!" She chuckled, obviously aware, for some reason, I was different. But not in a bad way. "Oh, it's fine Jasmine, Mayor Theodore told everyone to make these for any new farmers," she said, "But you're welcome anyways." I smiled. "Oh, you might want to meet my cousin," she giggled and continued on, "He'll be the one hiding behind his hat." Billy laughed, and I joined along, not knowing what she meant by that, and bid them both goodbyes.
--3 Minutes Later—
I got out of the house, and took another dirt road. I saw a guy with a hat on, and decided it must have been Blue. He wasn't hiding behind his hat, though, and seeing as his cousin Ellen was so nice, I had high expectations for him. I dragged my bag along, and sat on one of the stakes, next to where he was brushing his cow. Yes, a real cow. I'd never thought of myself as an outdoorsman, but up close, cows were kind of… cute. Blue saw me smiling at the cow, and stopped brushing it. The cow immediately walked towards me and mooed. "Whoa!" I exclaimed, and giggled as it poked me with its head. I looked at Blue, and he was pulling his hat down, over his face. But, not rudely, just like he was fixing it or something, but I knew better than that. I saw some pink on his cheeks, and knew what Ellen was teasing about. I smiled, and said, "Hi, I'm Jasmine, the new farmer. Ellen told me your name was blue? That's my favorite color, you know." He looked up, and smiled, "Yeah. So you're from the city…" he looked at the cow and back at me. "Interesting… So, you're good with animals." I looked at him, shocked. I'd never known I was good with animals; the only dog I'd ever petted was my Aunt Suzie's and it was about a foot tall. "Hm... I'd never realized that. Well, at least I'm good at something!" I said, Blue was easy to talk to. "Yes, I'm surprised Calvervtutrp didn't eat you alive," said Blue. It sounded like I'd missed an inside joke. "Calva-what?" I asked. "Calvervtutrp… is Jamie's dog." He said, shyly. Hm, I never thought I would be the talkative one in a conversation. I looked behind him and there was a clear view of Mr. Emo's ranch. With his Icy Mist eyes. "Oh." I said, understanding. So his name was Jamie… nice name, I guess. But, Calvervtutrp? Poor dog, probably teased by all the other dogs. I'd just call him Calvin. "Well, thanks for your hospitality, Blue! Tell your sister thanks again. She was a big help!" I waved the animal notebook in front of him. "…Sure." I smiled, and headed down the road to meet someone else.
--…--
This was like a big, home-y, family in a little compact village. I was starting to like it. All except for Mr. E- I mean Jamie. I'd see if I could make him a friend of mine. But, I still couldn't believe that I'd thought people would be mean. Everyone couldn't be more nice. It was a lot more different than the city. Who said second Impressions didn't matter?