The door to Pierre’s opened and closed. Probably Gus. He comes a lot. Nova was stocking shelves for a little extra cash, and it wasn’t that hard. “It’s Farmer Eleanor!’ Pierre’s voice rang out, and a rock ball hardened in Nova’s stomach. She’d been receiving weekly broken CDs, and she’d been trying to avoid the over-friendly farmer. But Nova couldn’t help that Eleanor was a bit like a baby horse; overly cute and cuddly, but clumsy and a bit blind. Eleanor had a big box of veggies, and she placed it on Pierre’s counter and he exchanged them for gold. Eleanor looked around and saw Nova, and her whole face lit up. “Hi, Nova!” “Hi, Eleanor,” Nova responded dryly, not in the mood for whatever Eleanor was going to say to her. “How’ve you been?” “Okay, I guess…” Nova turned away, tensing her shoulders, hoping that the farmer would get the messages. “Well, I need a bit of energy, so I’m gonna go get something from Gus’s. Wanna come with?” Eleanor picked at her painted yellow nails, her grey doe eyes pointed down toward the floor. Nova stopped and looked at her. Was she… nervous? “I would love to come, but I’m working. I’m so sorry, El,” Nova actually meant her apology; the small farmer looked as if she was really hopeful that Nova would come along. “Oh, uhm, that’s okay,” Eleanor looked up, a wide smile on her face. Nova wasn’t buying it. “Well, have fun, Nova. I’ll see you later,” – – – When Nova saw Eleanor standing at her front door, she expected to be handed a broken CD. But no, she got handed a rare disc, in all its red-gemmed glory. “I already donated one to the museum, and just having it scares me,” Eleanor giggled nervously, eyeing the disc in Nova’s hands. Nova gave a small smile and turned away, tucking the disc under a stack of printer paper. “Why did you give this to me? I mean, I really love those, but, why me?” Nova asked, and Eleanor smiled. “Why not just throw it away if you didn’t want it. But, th-thanks anyway,” “Because I felt like it was gonna haunt me if I threw it out. And you like strange things, like… those CD thingies. But I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give you some haunted thing. You seem like that kind of gal,” Eleanor shrugged, adjusting her recently earned straw hat. Nova had watched as she raced around the town, destroying Abigail and taking the purple-haired goth’s egg-hunting crown. “It’s Haley’s birthday,” Eleanor said quietly. “I gave her a daffodil that I found in the forest,” “She would flip if she knew that,” Nova laughed lightly, and Eleanor grinned. “She liked it, though,” “She usually does. But she’s a bit of a Karen, if I do say so myself,” Once Nova said that, Eleanor burst into giggles. “When do you work at Pierre’s?” she asked when she composed herself. “Uhhh, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays,” Nova answered. “Oh, um, would you like to accompany me to the saloon on Friday. Maybe have a drink or two?” Eleanor asked, smiling shyly at silver-haired Nova. They were so different that it struck Nova how unusual it was for her to be stuck in this situation. “Um…” Nova looked to the side. Her heart was racing, but she didn’t know why. It had been since she saw Eleanor’s face. “Sure, why not?” she smiled at the brown-haired girl in front of her, who returned it. Maybe Pelican Town wouldn’t be a complete bore. Maybe Nova would have a friend she trusted.
