The Anti-Social Social Club [Stardew Valley Sebastian x Female Player (OFC)]

Chapter Three

On Tuesday, I made my way into town once more but this time with a mission: buy some spring seeds. I had finally managed to clear out one of the five garden beds and that was going to have to be as good as it got for now. It would at least get me started.

The bell on the top of the door to Pierre's jingled as I entered, alerting everyone within hearing range of my entrance into the store. I intended on heading directly to Pierre behind the register but a girl with purple hair, standing in the corner, looking at something on the shelves caught my attention. I stopped in my tracks and looked directly at her, slightly tilting my head and wondering what it was about her that seemed so familiar. Her eyes flashed to me quickly when she felt my own eyes on her before looking away and moving herself further behind the tall shelves so she would be out of view.

"Stella? Stella Shaw?" I heard my name and looked over to see Pierre squinting at me from over the rims of his silver wire glasses. He looked exactly the same as I remembered him looking.

"Uh, yeah..." I approached the counter, shaking the image of the girl with purple hair out of my mind. "Yeah, it's me." I confirmed.

Pierre took his index finger and pressed on the bridge of his glasses, pushing them up his nose. "You look the same as I remember." Pierre said, resting both palms on the counter in front of him and leaning into his hands. "Just a little older. Glad to see you're back!"

I gave Pierre an awkward smile. "Yeah, I'm still trying to adjust but I'm glad I made the move back here."

"I assume you want to buy some starter seeds for spring?" Pierre asked, beginning to load the counter with varying spring seeds from parsnips to cauliflower to potatoes. "Just like your grandfather always did."

I felt a little melancholic at the mention of grandpa. I did miss him. I felt as though I truly hadn't had time to grieve him yet. Everything had been so rushed from the funeral services to the burial and the return to our normal lives as if nothing had changed. I always found it strange to see the world continue to move around you even when you feel like yours has come to a complete stop. My world felt like it hadn't moved since the day we brought grandpa to his grave. I could only hope that being back here and following through with all of his old routines would jumpstart my world once again and make me feel like he hadn't ever left—that I hadn't ever left. Stardew Valley was the only place where my childhood self ever felt happy and I hoped that I could find that again, just like grandpa had said in his letter. The fast paced environment of the city only ever kept my mind too busy to think of how utterly sad and empty I felt inside and I had a feeling that with the sleepiness of Pelican Town, I was going to be forced to face things I kept trying to run from.

I grabbed about 10 packets of each of the spring crops Pierre had laid out on the counter. I figured that would be enough to get me started. As Pierre was ringing up my purchase and placing the seeds in a small bag for me, the door at the back right of the room slowly opened. Frilly chatter spilled out through the open doorway. It sounded like several women, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. I watched them all file out through the doorway, continuing to gossip with one another, and then I saw a familiar head of blue hair.

"Farm girl!" Emily called, and I could only assume she meant me since she spotted me standing by the counter. It seemed as though she hadn't bothered to learn my name yet, but if classifying me as 'farm girl' in her mind helped her remember who I was, I supposed that was at least a start.

"Hey," I greeted her. "What are you doing here?" I asked, genuinely curious why she was here and what she had been doing in the back of Pierre's shop with all those other women. A book club of sorts perhaps?

"Oh, we just got out of aerobics class." She told me. "Caroline hosts us every Tuesday. It's really fun; you should come sometime!"

"Oh," I replied, "Sure, that sounds fun." Though, I really didn't feel very enthusiastic about it. Emily was nice but her extreme extroverted personality was a lot sometimes. I appreciated that she was always inviting me places—the saloon on Friday nights, the Tuesday aerobics class, and I knew I wouldn't make friends if I didn't put myself out there, but I was still trying to adjust to my life here in Stardew Valley, and an extrovert I was most certainly not.