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“Seriously Claire! There is a LOT of hot guys in this town! You should seriously blah blah blah-” I stared off into space as Popuri kept talking.
I had lived in this town for about an hour now, and already I wanted to leave. I had been stupid enough to go buy a chicken first and that was when I had met Popuri. She had talked and talked and talked…and guess what? She talked some more!
“Blah blah blah nails blah blah blah I’m pretty blah-” She babbled on, waving her hands around dramatically as I looked at her blankly.
“Oh really?” I said just to be polite so she wouldn’t assume that I wasn’t listening. At first I had thought Popuri was a nice shy girl, but boy was I wrong…
“I’ll introduce you to all the guys so that you can start your time here with a cute boyfriend.” She giggled. Okay, Popuri WAS nice, in her own way, but she was getting on my nerves a little…Not that I would show her that.
“No…No I’m fine. After all, it’s my first day here…” I smiled. She looked at me angrily and shook her head.
“It’s an attitude like that, that will make you single until you’re old and finally want a companion! Oh! I know! I could introduce you to my big brother!”
I blinked, picturing a short guy with pink hair who babbled a lot, and winced at the thought. I didn’t notice Popuri take a deep breath until she shouted:
“RICK! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE SO I CAN INTRODUCE YOU TO MY NEW FRIEND!” She screeched from behind the counter. I turned my body just as loud thumping went down the stairs, and a boy paused at the bottom.
He wasn’t at all what I pictured he would be like; instead of pink hair he had spiky Orange-brownish hair. He pushed his glasses up with one finger and sighed as he looked at his little sister.
“Listen Popuri, I don’t have time for this…” His shoulders slumped. She ignored him and pointed at me with an irritated look on her face.
“This is my friend Claire!” I don’t remember telling her she was my friend…
His eyes went to me for the first time, and the reaction surprised me a bit. His glasses slid down to the tip of his nose as his eyes went wide and a slight blush overcame his face. I smiled at him to be nice, even though the look he was giving me was making me nervous.
“Hi, I’m Claire, and you must be Popuri’s older brother Rick, right?” I asked as I walked over to him and shook his hand. He nodded dumbly, as Popuri checked the clock.
“Hey Rick, it’s your shift time, I’m going to go show Claire around.” She stated quickly, as she grabbed my hand and then rushed out the door. When the door shut behind us, she turned her wide eyes to me questionably.
“Well?” She asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Well what?” I really didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Well what do you think about my brother?”
I blinked, “Oh…Um…He’s…nice.” And a little creepy…
She furrowed her eyebrows, and then looked out into the road, “Okay, then I’ll introduce you to…Well…I actually don’t really know the other guy’s that well…”
I inwardly smiled gratefully, “Well then I should get going then and get started on the farm.” She nodded, and walked back inside bored.
I eventually got the farm running in a pace that I could take care of myself. I made friends with girls other than Popuri who I got along well with, and eventually spring passed by and summer arrived.
I awoke on the first day of summer to a knock at my door. I got dressed in my regular blue overalls, and opened the door slightly to see Karen. I opened it all the way and smiled at her.
“Oh, hi Karen.” I had made friends with Karen the first time I had gone to the supermarket. The spunky attitude she had, had made me like her right away.
“Hey! What about me!” I looked to the side of Karen to see my other friend, looking at me angrily.
“Hi, Anne.” I greeted her also with a smiled, before I looked at them both a little confused. “What are you two doing here anyway?”
They both looked at each other than back at me, before they both tugged on my arms and out of my farm.
“H-Hey!” I shouted, as I struggled to wrench my arms free. “W-Where are you taking me!?”
“You’re new here Claire, so you probably don’t know about Kai.” Karen said as she looked back to grin at me.
“Who’s Kai?” I asked confused, as they both dragged me into the Town Square, my struggling dissolving a bit.
“Kai’s this guy who comes in the summer and leaves at the end of the month. He runs the snack shack on the beach, and we wanted to introduce you to him and his yummy food!” Ann explained, as we finally made it down the steps and onto the beach sand.
“You mean that closed Shack near the dock?” I had passed it a couple times when I had fished in the ocean and my eye’s had wandered curiously over to it.
“That’s the one!” They both shouted, as we reached the door. Before Anne could reach the knob I stopped her.
“W-Wait if we’re going to meet someone I never met shouldn’t I change my clothes?” I indicated the dirty overalls that I had grabbed on instinct. I didn’t really care, I just didn’t want to meet anymore guys. They rolled their eyes, opened the door and shoved me in.
“Hey Kai we have a new customer for you!” Ann shouted to the back of a guy who was taking down chairs from tabletops. He turned, a grin on his face, and I felt my face flush slightly.
Kai was definitely handsome, with his sun-tanned skin, short black hair hidden in a purple bandana, and charming grin. He finished placing the chair down, and walked over to us.
Karen shoved me forward, “This is our friend Claire, she moved in at the beginning of spring!” Kai paused in his tracks, and took on a concentrated look as he studied me up and down, just making me tense up. He looked me in the eyes and grinned again, before addressing my friends.
“Hey you guys have a cute friend!” He exclaimed, before he took my hand in his and shook it. “My name is Kai, nice to meet you Claire!”
I nodded my head, and glanced at the floor. He let go and walked behind the counter, as he took out three glasses and plates.
“So what would you girls like?” He asked, as he fumbled in a drawer and took out an apron.
“I’ll have a salad and a glass of water.” Karen said as she sat down in a seat next to a table that was near the counter.
“Um…I’ll have…Eh…I’m not that hungry anyway…” Anne sat down next to Karen as Kai looked at me.
“And you?”
“Um…A strawberry smoothie and a cheeseburger.” All three of them looked at me.
“Don’t you think it’s a little early for that?” Karen asked her head cocked to the side slightly. Kai shook his head and winked.
“I like a girl who eats what she wants when she wants.” He said as he got to work on our orders. As I sat down next to the two, Anne nudged me and whispered:
“You like him.” I glared, and straightened my shoulders formally.
“I just think he’s nice is all.” I said indifferently. Kai set down Karen’s water in front of her and she took a sip.
“You shouldn’t get caught up with him Claire. He’s a big flirt, and I heard he went out with 3 girls at once back in the city he lives at.”
“Aw c’mon Karen, I told you that what just a rumor.” Kai pouted, as he set down the rest of the orders along with my smoothie.
We all looked over as the bell tinkled signaling another customer had arrived. Kai stood up straight and grinned.
“Hey Cliff!”
“H-Hey…” He whispered, stuffing his hands in his pockets shyly. I smiled. The first time I had met Cliff was at the church, even though he was shy, he was still a really nice guy, so we became fairly good friends.
Karen and I didn’t miss the blush that spread across Anne’s face as Cliff glanced at her then away quickly.
“Anne…” Karen started slowly, “Did something happen between you two that I don’t know about?” She raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
“N-No, why would you think that?” I drifted away from the conversation bored at the topic of dating. However, my curiosity peeked when I saw a flash of pink from the window, and then the tinkling of the bell as someone entered.
“KAAAAAI!!!” A high pitched squeal entered the place, and Kai looked up to have a girl’s arms wrap around his neck and push him onto the counter.
“What the-”
“Kai I missed you!” Everyone there winced at the familiar voice.
“P-Popuri get off me!” He said, as he tried to pry her arms off its choking grip. She whined, and kissed his cheek.
“But I was lonely without you he-” Her eyes glanced at me, just realizing I was there, and she let go of him to walk over to me and bend down so we were eye-level. “Oh hello Claire…”
She smiled, but I couldn’t help but see how forced it was, as she bent down to whisper in my ear.
“Don’t get too friendly with Kai, he’s mine okay?” She pulled back, and placed a finger over her lips before she walked over to a table. Everyone looked warily at her as I just sighed, and turned back to my smoothie.
“Annoying…” I whispered too softly for anyone to hear, at least I thought. Kai glanced at me a little surprise, before walking over to Popuri and taking her order.
We ended up staying there until it was late and Kai had to close up. Just as we were walking out, Kai placed a hand on my arm, while grinning at Karen and Anne who glanced at him curiously.
“You two go ahead, I need to talk to Claire about something.” They looked at each other and then nodded at him, quickly giving me a thumbs up and then walking away. He shut the door behind them and then turned to look at me with his hands on his hips as I wandered over to the counter.
“Explain.”
“Explain what?” I asked innocently. He shook his head before smirking.
“You can stop this act.”
“What act?” I kept on with the innocent act, swallowing a little nervous. I gasped when he slammed his hands down on the counter with my body trapped between them.
“I can tell this isn’t your real personality, I heard you call Popuri annoying.” He whispered. I glanced at the door a few feet away warily.
“I-I’m sorry…I d-didn’t mean to…” I paused when he looked at me with all the joking in his eyes replaced by intense seriousness. I sighed finally giving up on the innocent act, and shoved him off, startling him enough that he fell to the ground.
“Ow…” He winced, before grinning at me. “You’re pretty strong!”
I grinned and helped him up, “Thanks.”
He laughed, “Now it feels like you’re not forcing yourself. Stop with this act and be yourself!” He looked at me a little worried when I started laughing quietly.
“I can’t…No one will like me if I act like this…” He put on a soft smile, and patted my head.
“But I like you this way Claire and other’s will too.” He looked away a little embarrassed before he pressed my head against his chest with one hand. “It’s also okay to cry.” He muttered as he scratched the back of his head with his other hand. “I don’t mind.”
That night I cried, with him not moving once, and eventually I let out all of the frustration from a full month of lying to myself.
Since that day I started acting like myself, sure it surprised my friends a little at first, but they were glad that there wasn’t stiffness to the way I acted. I visited the Snack shop every day to talk to Kai, and on the days it was closed I would walk with him along the beach and sometimes we would fish. We eventually became really good friends, and I would go to him with any problems I couldn’t tell Karen or Anne.
On the last day of summer when Kai left, I started having these strange feelings that I didn’t understand. Feelings of sadness that he was gone, feelings of excitement for when he came back, but this other feeling I didn’t understand.
One day in Winter I brought up the topic to Karen when we got snowed in my house. As we sipped the hot cocoa I had made in front of the fire, I finally brought it up.
She looked at me with a soft smile on her lips, “Well you obviously have feelings towards him.”
I blinked, “I know I have feelings for him, he’s my friend, and of course I would.” She rolled her eyes as she snuggled up into one of my spare blankets more.
“That’s not the kind of feeling I mean. I mean, that you like him…Like, you love him.” My eyes widened. Did I love Kai? The question made my heart beat faster and made my cheeks feel warm. Yes, I probably love him…
“Wait a second.” I realized, as I looked at her, “How did you know this feeling was love? Do you know what love feels like?”
She blushed and nodded, “Yeah…I love someone.”
“Who!? Why didn’t you ever tell me! Some friend you are!” I ranted angrily, my fist in the air. She laughed, and glanced at the cup in her hands with a small smile.
“I like Rick.” My mouth fell agape wide open.
“You like that creepy guy?!” She whacked me, and glared.
“He’s not creepy!” I laughed, as she continued to whack me.
“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!”
Winter passed by, and eventually so did spring, and on the first day of Summer I rushed over to the dock and waited early in the morning. I grinned widely at the sound of the ship’s horn and at the sight of a familiar purple bandana. The minute he stepped off the boat and hopped onto the dock I ran towards him and hugged him tightly around the waist.
“Popuri let g-” He glanced at the head of blond hair below him and he went red. “C-Claire!?”
“Hehe.” I laughed, and placed my chin on his chest so I could look up at him.
“You could’ve made us fall off the dock!” He shouted fake angrily. We looked each other in the eyes, and laughed loudly together. He hugged me back, and then pulled back; lifting up the suitcases he had dropped. I grabbed one from his grasp and walked off the dock with him.
“I’ll help!” I said, grinning at him widely.
“KAAAAI!!” We both flinched before Kai fell to the ground from the hard impact of Popuri’s hug. He sighed and pushed her off, “Popuri get off.”
She got off, but pouted at him, before finally realizing that I was standing there. We both smiled sweetly and forcefully at each other.
“Good Morning Popuri.” I seethed. She flicked her pink hair over her shoulder, and crossed her arms.
“Morning.” We both glared at each other, before Kai coughed, interrupting our contest.
“Um, are you going to help?” He asked me. I looked away from Popuri and grinned before nodding my head and helping him place the bags inside.
“How was the city?” I asked, ignoring Popuri who was trying to get Kai’s attention. He furrowed his eyebrows.
“It was okay…” He blushed, “It would have been better if you were there…”
I blushed also, but smiled at the warm feeling in my chest. “Aw, I missed you too.” I laughed jokingly.
“What about Popuri!? Did you miss me Kai?” She asked, hopping up and down.
“Uh…yeah, sure Popuri.” She glanced at me in victory. I rolled my eyes, and helped Kai put down all the chairs off the table while Popuri watched from the counter.
I looked at Kai when I noticed him staring at me, “Are those new overalls?” he asked, glancing at the new red overalls I had bought. I nodded, earning a grin from him. “Red suits you.” I grinned back.
“What suits Popuri Kai?” She asked, bouncing up and down on the counter.
“Um…orange I guess.” He muttered the first color that came to mind. He jumped at a sudden idea, “I know! How ‘bout as a ‘Welcome Back’ party we go swimming!?”
After we had decided that having a party at the beach, and I had told Karen and Ann to invite people, I arrived home and searched through my drawers. I pumped a fist in the air in victory when I found the red bikini I had been looking for. After I got undressed and changed into the red bikini, I grabbed a towel, tied my hair up into a ponytail, and ran the way toward the beach.
When I arrived I saw Karen, Anne, Rick, Cliff, and Kai in the water splashing each other. I ran over, waving and shouted:
“Hey Kai!” He looked away from Cliff to grin at me, but instead his mouth fell slightly, his eyes went wide, and his face went bright red.
“C-Claire!?” He asked surprised, he swam closer to shore as I walked near the water. He looked me up and down, “Y-You look…g-great!”
I laughed, “Than-”
“KAAAAI!!” I turned, and had to stop myself from laughing at the sight of Popuri in an orange one-piece bathing suit with a fluffy orange tutu around it. Karen and Anne burst out laughing while Kai, Cliff, and I covered our mouths and snickered. “You like my bathing suit?” She asked, twirling on her toe. I couldn’t hold it any longer and I snickered a little loudly making her look at me. She studied me up and down and smirked.
“Oh I’m sorry Claire, I mistook you as Miss slut of the year.” She said innocently, making me blush in embarrassment. Kai frowned at her and put his hands on his hips.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say Popuri. Apologize.” She pouted, but ignored him nonetheless as she walked in the water and grabbed his arm.
“I was just kidding Kai…” She mumbled as Karen walked out of the water next to me. She smiled at me, glaring at Popuri from the corner of her eye.
“Don’t listen to her Claire, you look great!” She turned to look over her shoulder. “Right Rick?”
“H-Huh?” He blinked confused, and then nodded his head. “O-Oh right, yeah. But she doesn’t look as good as you do…”
“Rick!” She shouted, blushing as she wagged a finger at him sternly.
“What!?” He crossed his arms indignantly. “It’s true…”
Anne looked at Cliff, who looked at me, “I think she looks nice.” Cliff mumbled, and blushed when I smiled at him as thanks. Anne looked at him shyly and fumbled with her fingers.
“D-Do you not like what I’m wearing?” She asked disappointed. His eyes widened, and he quickly waved his hands in front of his face and shook his head vigorously.
“N-NO! I-I MEAN YES! I mean…Oh…” Anne laughed at his shyness, and ruffled his hair.
“I was just kidding.”
“O-Oh…”
Kai and I glanced at each other and then laughed. We continued swimming, until the sun fell and everyone got out to do some star watching. Before Popuri could take the opportunity, I grabbed Kai’s hand and snuck with him to an area of the beach covered by tree’s that could hide us. As we sat down and looked up at the sky at the stars, Kai’s hand found mine again and entwined our fingers.
“This is nice…” I muttered, to stop how nervous I felt. I didn’t notice him look at me until I glanced to look at him. His chocolate eyes bore into mine serious and gentle. “K-Kai?” I asked, surprised at his non-joking self.
“I really did miss you.” He said. I swallowed, and looked up at the sky nervously.
“I-I already told you I missed you didn’t I?” I could feel my hands starting to sweat, so I let go of his hand and placed mine down flat on the sand.
“Claire…” His voice was a little stern so I looked at him to see him looking up at the sky. He sighed, “I’ve been thinking a lot over the months…”
“About what?” I asked, turning my body towards him.
“Us.” My face heated up, and I looked at the ground.
“W-What about us?”
“Claire.” I turned my head to look at him to see him leaning towards me slowly. I froze up when his lips captured mine in a sweet and gentle kiss. I gasped when his body pressed harder against mine, making me fall back and my head hit the sand, his lips not leaving mine and my eyes still wide and unbelieving. A deep humming sound came from his throat as he held onto my face with his hands. His lips left mine and trailed over to my ear where he whispered something I could barely make out from how hoarse his voice sounded.
“Claire, I really really like you…I love you.” He went back to my lips and then pulled back so he was looking at me and so that I could see his flushed face.
“Kai…you…”I smiled at him, and then laughed. He frowned and crawled off me so that I could sit up.
“You don’t have to laugh…”
“I-I’m s-sorry!” I slowly stopped laughing and then looked at him with a grin. “It’s just that I really like you too.”
“R-Really?” His eyes went wide, and we sat there looking at each other before we both started laughing. I instantly stopped laughing when his arm went around my waist and his other hand held my chin as he brought his face close to mine, a smirk on his lips.
“We’ll have to make up for all that time lost.” He muttered, before kissing me longer and more passionately.
The Next Day
“Hey Kai!” I called as I entered the Snack shop. He dropped the dish he had been cleaning in the sink, jumped over the counter toward me, and wrapped his arms around my waist to kiss me passionately. His tongue graced against mine and wrestled with it, before he pulled back grinning and breathless.
“Hello beautiful.” He said, before scooping me up and swinging me around and then placing me back on my feet to kiss me again. I pushed him away laughing, and sat on a stool at the counter.
“I came here for food, not to make-out.” He leaned over the counter and kissed me, pulling back to smirk at me.
“We can do both if you want.” I blushed, and shoved him, glaring at the table below me.
“Get to work on my smoothie…”
“Yes Ma’am!” He saluted, and then got to work.
“KAAAAI!!” We both sighed as Popuri ran into the shop, and just before she could get her arms around him, she was stopped by his hand in front of her face. She looked at him pouting. “Aw, what was that for…?”
“Sorry Popuri, but no more hugging me.” He reached over the counter and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I can’t have you doing that in front of the girl I love.”
And with that, he pressed his lips against mine again.