Page 45 of A Fowl Match

“Sure, I have a few minutes to spare before the competition starts.”

“Do you know if Darcy was ever friends with anyone whose name started with H in town? I know there's Henry from the Valley Harvest and Harvey from Fix-Its. They are both about her age.”

“Let me think.” She scratches her head in concentration. “I do remember them hanging out all of the time when they were younger. That’s right. They met at Woodstock. Henry always tells the story when I come around. They became good friends, and he followed her back to town and started working at the Food Save before he purchased it. Then he named it The Valley Harvest and the rest is history. Sometimes I see Henry walking into the retirement home. I was wondering who he was visiting. Now it makes sense. I can ask around for you. What do you need to know?”

“No, no. That’s exactly what I was looking for, thank you. You’ve been a great help.” I don’t want to ask too many questions. Darcy would not be happy about the story being posted on the social media page.

As we walk away I whisper to Dustin, “So it was Henry all along. I’m talking to him after this is over.”

“We better line up. Looks like Constance is getting her microphone ready.”

We all make our way to the red line. Each team's color coordinated ropes are sitting along the start line.

“Get ready everyone, the final competition of the small business games starts in a few minutes. This will be a three-legged race. I’m sorry to have to say this but here are the rules. Rule number one, no shoving any other competition or you are disqualified. Rule number two, your bands must all be snug around your legs. Do not loosen them. Rule number three, there are no other rules. The first group to cross the finish line wins the entire thing! Ready? Three, two, one, go!”

On go everyone takes off in a flash. I try my best to do everything we practiced. Starting with counting in my head one, two, three, four. The rhythm helps me focus to keep our synchronization. If I don’t break this method, I won’t trip us both up. But there are others that are already way ahead. Dustin is so tall compared to me so we’re at a huge disadvantage. The other two teams, Chelsea and Laura, and Annie and Olive, are both similar in height. So, they have a better chance of winning this one.

I also can’t help but get distracted by the crowd of people surrounding us.

My leg is so tight against his, constrained by the strap wrapped at my calf. Our pace is steady, just like we practiced. And we are starting to catch up. As we pass team green, I start to feel hope. Everyone is shouting different things. “Go team purple! Go team orange! Go team green!” All of the chaos makes me forget to count. My left foot steps at the wrong time, and we both go flying.

He lets out a loud harumph. The wind gets knocked out of my lungs on the impact. Dustin starts chuckling. It’s contagious because I start giggling as well. We lie on the ground laughing. All while the crowd is shrieking around us. But I don’t notice anything else. These games were made so that the town couldfundraise to keep all of the small shops in town in business. It is supposed to bring everyone together, to have fun. We don’t need to win; it wouldn’t make much of a difference either way. I’ve gained so much from being paired with Dustin, and I would never take any of that back. Sure, he may have been insufferable at first. Okay, I was also insufferable. But once we got to know each other, we clicked. I can now say I am so glad we were paired together.

“Our winners are team green! Annie and Olive! Let’s hear it for them!” Constance bellows. The gaggles of people shout in triumph for a few minutes until they quiet down. “Alright, congrats to you two! The Olive bean and Annie’s Diner will both receive plaques for their store windows this year. Since it is our anniversary you both get a two-night stay at the Thornwood cabins, all expenses paid. This can be redeemed whenever you like, and you each will get your own cabin. Also, free haircuts for a year at the Chop shop for you both!”

“Damn! I can’t believe we missed out on free haircuts. I could have really used that.” Dustin messes his hair up, proving his point. “Too bad we lost. If you weren't so clumsy we might have had a chance.”

“I’m clumsy over you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Dustin’s confession makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. My lips curve into a small smile, but I drop it when I see Chelsea running back towards town with tears in her eyes.

“I have to go, I’ll text you.” I peck Dustin quickly on the lips and book it towards her quickly retreating form. No one notices our departure, they are all too engrossed in the activities.

I catch up to her at the back entrance to The Chop Shop. I gasp trying to suck in air.

I really need to get in better shape. All of this pizza and pepperoni rolls are starting to weigh me down. “Chelsea, wait!”She turns around to look at me. Her eyes are puffy and cheeks are tear stained.

“What do you want? Did you follow me to rub the loss in my face? Because there’s no point, you can forget it. I’m a failure.”

“No, I’m not here to rub anything in. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I pull her into a hug. After a while she puts her arms around me. I let her cry until her sobs calm.

She pulls away and we both sit down on a park bench. “Why do you care if I’m okay? After everything I did to you.”

“Because you’re hurting, and you need someone there for you. Everyone makes mistakes. I couldn't care less about the past right now. For a while I wanted to beat you in the competitions because of everything that was done to Olive and I. But that wasn’t truly your fault. It can all be blamed on Jackson and Chad.” Her silence is deafening. The laughter and chatter from the park is a low murmur in the distance.

She speaks up after a few minutes. “I try so hard with the competitions because of my mom. Constance is always worried about everyone else, the town, the gossip. She never seems to notice her own daughter. I thought that if I won, she would finally notice me. It worked for a few years, but when I lost today I broke down. To make things worse Chad broke up with me; turns out he just wanted to make Olive jealous. I pushed all of my friends away trying to get my mom to notice me. How pathetic am I?”

“You're not pathetic. His name is Chad, he is aChad. He’s the pathetic one.” She laughs. “And your mom loves you, but she is always worried about everything going on. You should try and talk to her about it. I’m sure she doesn’t even know what she’s doing. Also, we can be friends.”

“I will try. Thank you, Violet. You’d really be my friend?”

“Of course I would. But no more trying to steal boyfriends. That goes against friend code.”

“Okay.” Her voice is hesitant but underlined with hope.

“Pinky swear it.”

“Pinky swear.” She grabs my finger, and we swear on our new friendship.

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