Lean On Me | Shane X OC | Stardew Valley

Chapter Seventeen

Me and Nixie sat at the table. We hadn't even been in Pelican Town for a year and already this place felt like a permanent home. But Nixie said she had something important to talk about.

"So... this?" She pulled out a folded piece of paper and set it down, "I found at Grandpa's shrine a few weeks ago." Nixie explained. I looked at it then back at her before taking it and unfolding it slowly. I read the few words over and over again.

"This is a joke right?" I glanced at her then set the paper down, "that's literally impossible."

"I don't know. It looks like his handwriting. And two years? Why two?" Nixie shrugged.

I tapped the table a few times with my fingers and leaned my head on my hand as I thought about the possible creepy encounter. "That's weird. I don't know what to say." I shrugged.

"Who would pull this kind of prank?" Nixie asked, folding the paper again and putting it aside.

"Is it a prank?"

"It has to be. Come on, Bambi, my dead grandpa wrote this?" She gave me an exasperated glance. I looked down at the table and tried to think about this logically. Sam wouldn't even pull something like this. Sebastian wouldn't, Shane's too lazy, Alex can't even spell two words without getting bored... it didn't make any sense.

"Grandpa always said I was his favorite, especially after Aiden passed away." Nixie said, referencing her brother who had died in a drunk driving incident. He was never responsible with alcohol but she never let the death bother her as Aiden was a terror to the family before I lived with them. "And someday promised me that I'll be able to live on a land of my own but I didn't really believe him." Nixie added.

"Until he passed it down to you?" I asked.

"Well he knew I would hate working for Joja eventually and had given me the farm a long time ago in his will. I'm glad I'm not running it alone." Nixie said. I smiled at her and held her hand across the table.

"It would be pretty bland back home too if you didn't take me. Plus, how could go one day without my amazingness?" I boasted and gave a fake sassy pose. Nixie let out her soft giggle.
"I really couldn't of done it without you, Bambi, seriously." She said. I looked at my childhood friend and remembered all of our times together that could never be replaced, especially how I would confide in her about my family issues and how I was on the verge of being kicked out; until it happened and I stayed with Nixie's family thankfully. Her parents were allowing me to stay with them until Nixie revealed her farm heritage.  She was always known as the 'beautiful, calm, collected' friend while I was the 'pretty but hectic and blunt' one. She was older than me by 5 years and definitely more mature but her age didn't show in her face. Nixie looked young but collected with her slim face with her tall frame. I had a more rounder face and shorter frame. Our skin tones were the opposite, mine a dark olive color and hers so light it looked like she never got sun before. We were definitely far from sisters but that never mattered to us.

I got up and peeked through the window to Nixie's garden, "are you gonna enter those in the fair?" I asked. She thought about it then nodded, "I think I'm going to. It'd be super cool. If I won but apparently Pierre is trying really hard to win."

"Even better- try to beat him!" I giggled.

***

"So she's gonna try to enter?" Shane asked, sipping on his beer as he leaned against the wall. I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow. He stopped and then gave me an innocent look, his eyes widening a bit, "what? This is my first drink this week!"

"Okay, sure." I snickered. "But yeah Nixie wants to win really bad. She's a little competitive when it comes to contests like these. Video games? Forget it. In person contests? Yeah she'd absolutely do her best to win." I added and sat in a chair by the bar to face Shane. It looked like he stood at that spot so much, the wooden floor was faded.