Lucky Day

Chapter 2 – The Mean One

"It'll be a blast, don't you worry!" Julie called, waving to Lucky as he left her home.

The planning had taken a while, and the sun was already setting by the time he reached his house. His worry about what could go wrong was outweighed by his joy that he was even having a party at all. Julie would help with sending out the invitations, and would recruit another villager or two to help on the day of the party to set everything up. Even though he was sure something would go wrong for him, he hoped she'd have a good time. She deserved it after all the effort she was putting into something that wasn't even for herself.

But it didn't take long for his slightly-hopeful thoughts to disappear as he heard the familiar throat-clearing sounds of his not-so-friendly neighbor. Lucky stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head towards the source of the noise, dreading the face he knew he would see. Sure enough, Blaire the squirrel was glaring daggers at him from his own garden.

"H-Hey ya, Blaire..." he mumbled softly, though he managed not to give away his disappointment at being stopped by her.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she asked irritatedly.

Any passer-by that did not know what had transpired between Blaire and Lucky only a month ago would have been perplexed by her question. Lucky was not doing anything with a particular ill-intention or obnoxious attitude; he had been simply walking home, and was now talking to a squirrel that looked rather angry for no reason. However, anyone who had been living in the village for more than a month knew exactly why Blaire's distinctly upset expression was aimed at an innocent-looking Lucky.

"... G-Going home?" he offered hesitantly after a long silence.

"You've been gone all afternoon," she stated, matter-of-factly. There was still plenty of anger in her voice, forcing Lucky to recoil slightly.

He was well aware that she disliked him. After all, he had nearly destroyed everything she owned during a sneezing fit after she had moved in and kindly invited him into her home. She was doing the nice, new-neighborly thing to do, and she literally had a hefty price to pay for it. Lucky being Lucky, he had run out of funds the previous day, and had no way of helping her pay to replace her belongings, and Nook was as insusceptible to stories of woe and misfortune as always when it came to profit. In an attempt to help her out, he offered to do whatever she asked for the next couple months – or until he could finally scrounge up enough money to pay for the damages he had done. This usually involved him taking care of her mail, watering her plants, and going grocery shopping for her. More than once, this had ended in him covered in mud and her being more angry with him at the end of the day. He was close to having enough money for her, though, and was slightly hopeful that this situation would be over soon.

And then he realized why she was practically seething right now.

"O-Oh dear... I'm so sorry Blaire! I completely forgot--"

"OBVIOUSLY, YOU BLOCK HEAD!" she shrieked. "YOU ALWAYS MESS EVERYTHING UP!" He had taken to holding his paws protectively over his head, and she paused momentarily at his stance. Sighing, she shook her head. "You're costing me more even when you're trying to pay me back... That's enough. From today onward, I don't want you coming to my house until you've got every cent you owe me, including what you've cost me after your 'little' allergic reaction. Once you pay me, never come near me again."

With that, she turned and headed back towards her house, which was two acres north of his own. Lucky watched her retreating back in silence, and after a good twenty minutes, dragged his feet along the ground the last few feet to his door. He promptly entered, dropped onto his carpet with a painful thud, and let out a loud groan.

He remembered precisely – now that it was too late, of course, he reminded himself sullenly – what Blaire had requested he do for her that afternoon. She had been paying Nook in installments, and this month's pay was due today. She had family visiting, and would be busy taking care of them until their evening train out of town, so she had asked Lucky to do it for her the previous day. But now that he had completely forgotten, she would have to pay him an additional thousand bells as a late payment fee.

He'd been too preoccupied with Julie. He should have remembered, but he couldn't for some reason. Not that he was blaming her, of course. The blame lay solely with him, and he'd have to live with alienating his neighbor even further.

His depressing thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock on his door. Sitting up slowly, he glanced out the window and saw that night had fallen. No one would be coming to his door at this time, unless it was Blaire again, and with that thought he practically flew off the floor and into the door before opening it as fast as he could. Only, he was greeted by a sympathetic smile and a wallet courtesy of Julie.

"Julie? What... What are--" he began, but was cut off when she pulled him into a hug. He was confused, and very startled, but appreciated the gesture and waited in silence for her to answer him.

"It's all my fault."

"What? No! No, it isn't, really. Please, don't start thinking that--" he said immediately, pulling them apart and holding onto her shoulders to make sure she was looking at him. But she didn't seem to hear him, and her expression grew more and more miserable.

"But if I hadn't held you up all afternoon, it never would have happened! I know you and Blaire haven't gotten along great for... well, ever, but certainly things were repairable up until I went and messed everything up!" she cried. Before Lucky could say anything to comfort her, he was frozen at the sight of tears welling up in her eyes.

"No," he said suddenly, in a tone so forceful it surprised them both, "I should have remembered. It had nothing to do with you. Okay? This isn't your fault. Nobody blames you but you, which is just silly. So promise me you won't be upset about this anymore, okay?"

She nodded slowly, a small relieved smile breaking out across her otherwise distraught face.

"And you shouldn't have seen that, anyway... Wait, why are you down here anyway?"

"Oh! You left your wallet at my place! I didn't see it until a while after you left, so that's why I got here so late..." she trailed off, holding it out for him. Taking his paws off her shoulders, he took the wallet and gave her a smile – though she couldn't see it beneath his bandages.

"Well, it's getting late, Julie. You should head back home. And if Blaire's still wandering around, I don't want her to spot you and take all her anger out on you. So hurry back, okay?"

"Alright. And you're sure--"

"No, it's not your fault," he insisted.

"No, no, not that," she giggled with a wave of her hand. For someone who took almost everything so seriously, she sure seemed quick to get over things, he noted silently. "You're sure you want to invite everyone – including Blaire – to your party?"

"Of course," he said without hesitation, "Though I doubt she'll come. I'm not mad at her. Obviously, quite the opposite."

"Okay. Only if you're sure. I'll hand out the invitations tomorrow, alright?"

He nodded, and with a wave and a big grin, she was gone.