The Runaway: A Stardew Valley Story

Fallen

"You totally cheated!" Abigail yells across the pool table. "Therefore, my streak remains unbroken!"

Although I had the winning basket, everyone knows it was only due to Sam's last-minute addition. Thanks to the strange black egg, which I later learned is called the void egg, I won the egg hunt by thirteen points. Abigail doesn't bother to include me in her warpath, and from what I have gathered, she's been going at Sam since I was crowned champion yesterday.

"I did not cheat!" Sam stresses gripping the cue in front of him. "I'm not even the one who benefited from all my hard work. Junox won her first egg hunt; isn't that more important than your winning streak?"

Abigail cuts her venomous gaze to me, and I freeze. My head thunders at the turn of events, and my knees turn into little puddles. I'm fully ready to cave under the intensity of Abigail's stare and tell her that she can take the floppy hat — it doesn't matter to me!

Then, she drops the tension in her stance. "Was this really your first hunt?"

"Yes," I mumble.

"Like ever, ever?"

I nod.

With a sniff, Abigail retreats to the blue sofa in the corner. Once she's plopped herself squarely into the cushions, she says, "Fine, but I'm taking back my title next year."

"No way!" Sam counters. "We got the winning team over here!" As he says the last bit, Sam wraps an arm around my neck. It happens to be the same arm holding the cue stick, so I find myself squished from both sides. It's not entirely unpleasant, though, I find myself thinking. Sam is warm and solid. It's almost comforting.

Just as Abigail opens her mouth, looking nearly wound up once more, Sebastian coughs loudly. When all eyes turn to him, he averts his gaze to the green tabletop. A faint hint of pink dusts his cheeks.

"Are we gonna play, or what?"

It's the first thing I've heard from the brooding man since he found out about my secret. If it felt like Sebastian was avoiding me before, then all suspicions are guaranteed now. Tuesday when we were supposed to chop wood together, Sam took my place. Sam claimed my hand was nowhere near healed enough to swing an axe. While I couldn't argue with that, I had also been unsuccessful in tramping down the urge to pester Sebastian with questions, questions that I could not ask in Sam's presence.

"Sebby's a party pooper," Abigail huffs and crosses her arms. "Say, farm girl?" She pats the seat next to her on the couch. "How about some girl talk?"

I oblige stiffly. Girl talk. I can do girl talk. It's just like talking with Gussy, right? It's drama and gossip, and Elliot filled me in on some of the high points yesterday where both are concerned. I can do girl talk.

"So you like older men?"

I audibly choke. From across the room, Sam swears as he misses a ball, and Sebastian makes quick work of erasing the end of his cue.

"I--uh, excuse me?" I balk.

"You don't have to play dumb." An elbow lands in my ribs. "Elliot is a specimen, and you're perfectly legal. So... when did you two hit it off? You've barely been here for a month."

I haven't been here for a month, actually. I've been running on raw panic and fumes since I stepped off the bus, so it feels like an eternity. Somehow an eternity only spans three weeks, I guess.

"Elliot asked me to go with him in order to drum up gossip," I answer truthfully. "He was one of the first friends that I made in town, and I thought it would be better than showing up alone."

Abigail rolls her eyes. "Ugh, figures. Nothing interesting ever happens in this town. Everyone falls in love with who they're supposed to, has a couple kids and a white picket fence, and no one does anything exciting with their lives."

The way Abigail explains it, you would think she was talking about the plot of the latest movie failure. How could wanting to fall in love and raise a family be so dreadful? What's wrong with just wanting to live in peace for the rest of my time on earth?

"Some of us would if we had the chance."

It was spoken so quietly, that I almost missed it, and for a long moment, I assume Abigail didn't hear at all. Then, in the quickest movement, her eyes flick to Sebastian. He's trained on the game before him with no hint of the words he uttered. Still, he tenses when Abigail looks in his direction. Almost like he could sense her gaze.

"What's with Sebastian and Abigail?" I finally work up the courage to ask an hour later as Sam walks me home again.

Sam laughs without humor. "I guess it is as obvious as it feels, even to an outsider."

"Are they in a..." I struggle to find the word, "a flirtationship?"

Now, Sam's laughter has the chime of something more genuine. "You could say they were in high school. Seb's been in love with Abby since day one. Abby on the other hand... I don't know maybe she was playing hard to get, or she really is dumb as bricks..."

"That's so mean!" I interrupt before covering my mouth in a silent apology.

Sam smiles at my outburst. "Well, she would have to be to not know my man had a crush. It was obvious," Sam puts stress on the last word. Then, he shrugs. "They got a lot closer before they graduated. They even messed around for a bit, but then Abby just... She just shut Seb out. She said she wanted to be friends."

Remembering the flicker between the two, I ask "Does she still want to be just friends?"

Sam stops in front of my gate with his hands in his jacket pockets, his Joja jacket pockets. "I'm not very close to Abby, so I can only say for sure how Seb feels."

"And?" I ask a bit too eagerly.

"Sebastian loves Abby so much that he'll be whoever she wants him to be," Sam pauses, "but I know she's it for him. He'll probably never fall again as hard as he has for her."

My hand stills on the latch of the Lakewood gate.

Emptiness fills my chest like I've never known before. I loved Josh. When I was younger, he was all I thought about, all I cared about. I hung on his every word, and I believed everything he said to me. The first time he brought home another woman in front of me, I was completely ruined. The betrayal didn't sting as much as the realization that Josh never loved me the way I loved him.

Will I never fall for someone like I fell for Josh? Is that all that love has to offer me?

"I hope they sort things out, I guess," is all I can say in response.

I let Sam walk me to the door this time, however, and I even promise to let him bring board games whenever he wants. I should be happy that making friends is going so well, but my mind is far away on another man in another place. As much as I hate to admit it, in this moment my traitor heart stutters at the memory of his face.

Happy Friday! You guys are the best! : )