The Runaway: A Stardew Valley Story

Liar's Game

For the first time all week, the Stardrop Saloon is packed. Robin and the man I assume to be Maru's father dance under the light of a flickering neon, and the man's rich brown skin seems to glow in the rainbow of colors. The fisherman who assaulted my nose the other morning is chatting away with some very glum-looking man who stares shamelessly at the blue-haired waitress. When my eyes fall on Elliot seated with the mystery woman, I bolt for the corner of the room farthest from them. My cheeks burn with something like embarrassment or maybe shame.

"Junox! Junox, over here!"

Though I had hoped to take a moment to gather myself, it seems the corner of refuge I found just happens to be the very place where Sam and his two friends are waiting. In one hand, Sam holds a long stick, and there's a smile on his face as he waves me over with the other. Did I notice the little lines around his mouth the last time I saw him?

"I'm so glad you could make it! You haven't met Abby and Seb yet, right?" Sam gestures to a lanky guy in all black with matching hair and a purple-haired girl lounging on a nearby sofa.

"N-no, not yet," I stammer. My fingers grip the straps of my trusty backpack until the knuckles turn white.

"Yo, Sebastian, this is Junox!" Sam calls to the guy leaning over a green table with his own stick angled just behind a white ball. Sam slings an arm around my shoulders as he continues to ramble. "She's the new farmer in town!"

Dark hair falls into dark eyes as Sebastian looks up. If the guy was aiming for the white ball, he misses by several inches and the forward motion throws him off balance. The stick scrubs the table with an unpleasant squeak.

"Did the Sabastian just make a mistake in pool?" the girl with purple hair smiles mischievously as she says this. When Sabastian whips around to tell her to cut it out, the girl sticks out her tongue in response. Jumping to her feet, she extends a hand to me. "Abigail, or Abby, or Abs."

Abigail. Got it.

"Junox," and I take her hand.

After we shake, I move to let go, but Abigail holds on. She pulls me in like she wants to share a secret. Her eyes are trained on mine with intense seriousness. Can she hear my heartrate skyrocket, or just me?

"You're on my team, farm girl," she says with a smirk.

"Have you ever played?" Sam asks.

"Played... What?"

"Pool..." Sam replies. "Billiards? Stripes and solids?"

"Eh, we'll show you the ropes." Abigail waves a hand. "I'll grab some cues."

"Q's?"

In response, Abigail hands me a stick identical to the boys. There's a second one she keeps for herself. Sebastian glares at Sam as he begins collecting balls from around the table into a hollow triangle.

"We weren't done yet," Sabastian's voice is gruff and irritated.

"Suck it up," Sam says playfully. "We both know you were going to win."

"Not this time, though." Abigail wiggles her eyebrows. "You boys are going down!"

"One of you has no idea what this game is, and the other only knows how to knock balls off the table," Sebastian counters.

Abigail only tosses her purple hair behind her. "Sounds like a challenge."

After a few rounds or turns or whatever of the game, I start to feel more confused about the object of the game than when I started. Knowing nothing about something makes much more sense than knowing three conflicting ideas. At first, the balls went into the pockets, but then not the white, and not the striped, and not the number eight. Then Abigail started knocking balls off the table, and the boys got mad. But then they knocked a different ball into a pocket with the ball that they hit and that was okay?