37. Chapter Thirty-Seven #2
Yana frowned, but curled her hands into fists and let her [Life-Force] go dormant once more.
As they walked away, Henry remained on his rooftop perch.
Yana didn’t like turning her back on such a nefarious beast, but she didn’t want to slow down Cody as he tried to level up the townsfolk on his list.
They arrived at the pet shop and Cody opened the door, ushering Yana in ahead of him.
A young blonde woman was at the front counter.
She did a little wave when she saw Cody, and then ducked down, disappearing behind the counter.
When she popped back up, she was holding a stack of three hardcover books.
“H-here you go.” She placed the books on the counter and pushed them towards Cody as he walked over.
“Thanks.” Cody picked up the books, tucking them under his arm. “Marigold, this is my uh…friend from out of town, Yana. Yana, this is Marigold, manager of Cornerstone Critters.”
“H-hello,” Marigold said.
Yana smiled and nodded to the girl, even as she felt a tiny bit of jealousy creep into her heart.
It was different from how she felt about Morgan.
Morgan was already part of Cody’s life and Yana knew she’d need to accept that.
But Yana didn’t like watching Cody talk to another young woman, especially a pretty one, like Marigold, even if he didn’t seem remotely interested in her.
“Well,” Cody said, “I still don’t have a pet, so I guess this is all for today.”
“Um…okay, bye,” Marigold said.
They headed back out, and Yana looked at Cody expectantly.
“What?” he asked.
“Did you earn a Friendship Level with her?”
“No. I still haven’t figured her out. She might be even more difficult than Doug. Any ideas?”
“No.” Yana barely knew Marigold, and besides, she had other things on her mind. She scanned the nearby rooftops, looking for the evil chicken.
“What are you doing?” Cody asked.
“We are not being trailed by the chicken. He appears to be gone.”
“Good. Let’s keep going.”
They made their way to the library, where Cody returned the books to the librarian.
Once again Cody introduced Yana as his ‘friend from out of town’.
Cody gave no indication that he received a level up for Lexi after returning Marigold’s books.
Yana assumed he wouldn’t in front of someone like Lexi, who had no idea what was happening.
“Any more stray books you want me to pick up?” Cody asked the librarian.
“Bob has an overdue paperback,” Lexi said. “You could pick that up, if you’d like. I have no idea why you enjoy doing this, you weirdo, but I’m also totally cool with it.”
Cody slapped the counter and grinned at Lexi. “We’re on it!”
Lexi laughed and shook her head. And Yana felt that spike of jealousy again. Why did every woman in Cornerstone have to be attractive? It wasn’t fair.
Yana tucked those feelings away and did her best to compose herself as they left the library. She walked at Cody’s side as he led the way to Bob’s Bait and Tackle.
“Did you earn a Friendship Level with Lexi?” Yana asked.
“Yep. That brings me to two out of five for her.”
“That is good.” Yana performed another rooftop scan, looking for the stupid chicken. Thankfully, he was nowhere in sight.
“Hopefully Bob brings his reading material to work, eh?” Cody looked over at Yana and gave her a smile.
It was the same sort of smile he gave nearly everyone, but this time it was directed at her.
He made eye contact and everything. Yana felt that familiar tingly sensation in her stomach, but this time it spread through her entire body, all the way down to her toes.
She made an embarrassing little noise, something between a gasp and a whimper, and Cody stopped short.
At first, she thought he was going to comment on the weird and embarrassing sound she had made.
“Hey,” he said. “I got a notification that you earned a new Friendship Level. That puts you at three out of five. I didn’t exactly say something funny though…”
As he trailed off, his dark brown eyes lingered on her face. Yana looked away and immediately felt her cheeks heat up, which only made her more flustered.
“Anyway, almost there!” Cody announced and took off walking again, as if he was just as eager as she was to escape the moment.
Yana was relieved when she saw that this shop-owning Resident was an older man with a bushy mustache, instead of a young, good-looking woman. The man greeted Cody jovially, and once again Cody introduced Yana.
“Lexi tells me you have an overdue library book,” Cody said, getting right down to business.
“Does she now?”
“You happen to have it here? I told her I would return it.”
Bob’s thick eyebrows drew together as he looked Cody over. “I do have it. I read when the shop is slow. But I’ll return it to the library tomorrow. Lexi doesn’t have to send an errand boy out to fetch it.”
“It’s no trouble for me to return it. But she really wants it back today.”
Bob gave Cody another funny look, but walked over to a folding chair in the corner, behind the front desk. He picked up the paperback book that was sitting on it.
“You get more like your Grandpa Sam every day, you know that?” Bob said as he handed the book over to Cody.
Cody shrugged. “I don’t think anyone can fill Grandpa Sam’s shoes.”
“No, you’re right. But I see a lot of him in you, son.”
“I’m honored.”
“Well, you need any bait today? Taking your lady-friend fishing?”
Cody laughed. “No, not today. But thanks for the book, Bob.”
“He’s the one you need to catch the fish for?” Yana asked, once they were heading back to the library.
“Yeah, that’s his little quest thing. Maybe we can see if Nyrah feels up to helping out tomorrow?”
“I think she would like that very much.”
They dropped off Bob’s book at the library, and Cody informed Yana that he got another level up with the librarian.
He was now at three out of five Friendship Levels with Lexi.
As they headed back out into the sunshine, Yana’s stomach growled loudly.
She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
There was no way Cody hadn’t heard it. Why did she need to make so many awkward noises around him today?
“So, are you hungry?” Cody asked. “Do you want to grab some lunch at Frank’s Diner before we head back to the cottage?”
“I’m always hungry,” Yana said, since that was pretty much true. “I think my half-orc heritage burns through food quickly. My Stamina Bar is already drained to thirty percent, so I should probably eat soon.”
“Huh. Wanna see a cool trick?” Cody asked, but looked thoughtful: “Actually, I’m not sure if it will work for you. But since you’re already connected to a game system and can use my game-oven, I feel like it’s safe to assume it will.”
“What is it?” Yana’s curiosity was piqued.
“We need to find a cat.”
Yana had no idea what Cody was about to show her, but she followed him around until they found a fluffy black cat wandering down Main Street.
“Cornerstone has quite a few outdoor cats, if you keep an eye out for them.” Cody bent down to get closer to the friendly-looking cat. He made little clicking noises and held his hand out. The cat approached and rubbed her face on his hand before rolling onto her side so Cody could rub her belly.
“You like cats,” Yana said. “Nyrah and I used to see you pet cats, when we lived in the apartment above the gift shop.”
Cody looked up from where he was crouching, rubbing the cat’s belly. “You used to watch me petting cats?”
“You did it often,” Yana said, in her defense.
“I don’t exactly consider myself a ‘cat person’, but there’s a game reward if you pet a Cornerstone cat. C’mon. Try it and tell me what happens.”
Dubiously, Yana knelt next to Cody and rubbed the cat’s belly. The cat was purring now, luxuriating in all the attention and belly rubs she was receiving.
“Did it work? Did you get the notification?” Cody asked.
“Um…no?” Yana stood up and the cat let out a pitiful meow, begging for more attention. “What was supposed to happen?”
“Uh…petting a cat restores my Stamina,” Cody explained.
Yana quickly checked her Stamina, but it had not been restored at all. She shook her head as her stomach growled again. “It didn’t work for me. Did I do it wrong?”
“Nah, you did it right. I think it’s just a me thing. You want to get some food now?”
“Yes. I would like to have some lunch.”
Cody Hampshire Player Stats
Friendship Moments: Gracie: 3/5, Lexi: 3/5, Bob: 1/5, Nyrah: 4/5, Yana: 3/5, Doug 1/5
Full Friendship: Doris, William
Romance Moments: Morgan: 7/10
Relationship Status: In a Relationship, but…