She blinked. She pushed her glasses up higher on her face. The chubby professor in the baggy navy blue suit droned on. She blinked again, her brilliant azure orbs looking tired and forlorn. She was lost. Not exactly in the traditional sense of what "lost" would be depicted as, but lost soulfully. Words flew around in her mind, bursting at the seams of her thoughts. She so badly wanted to write them down. She glanced up at the professor blabbing on about which moves were the most powerful to the advantage of water-type Pokémon. She knew she would get an infraction if she wasn't paying attention to his lesson, but the words buzzed angrily in her mind, begging to be written down. Her hand gripped her pencil as she gave in and placed it on the paper, continuing her work of art.
"The sun glittered in the air, the light refracting through her small gold compact mirror. A small tear quietly rolled down her cheek as her hope slowly dwindled. "He's not coming back…" she thought as she turned towards the run-down house. "It's all my fault. I'm going to get punished." Another miserable thought popped into her mind as she shuddered, cringing at the chance of another beating back at the warehouse. Jamie took a last sad glance at her lush surroundings, the field where Ned promised he'd be back. Where Warner whispered sweet-nothings into her ear and then blabbed to her enemy. Where her Cottonee left. A figure floated in the distance as her tears hit the compact dirt. She gasped as she saw the Cottonee drifting towards her. She thrust her small hand towards the grass-type, her deep blue eyes wide and innocent with joy and love. The Cottonee jumped into the girl's arms, finding its home at last. Jamie's eyes welled up into tears as she cried, "Oh Cottonee! I can't believe you're back! I-I-I-Don't ever leave me again! I know it's bad in the warehouse, but we have each other. A-and Ned. It's okay." her shimmering eyes welled up with happy tears as embraced the Pokémon in a tight hug. "Let's face this together." She whispered to the animal as they walked up the steps of the creaking house. The rotting wood door disintegrated at her touch as she exchanged worried glances with her Pokémon. She gasped as a gloved hand wrapped around her-"
"TOUKO!" the balding professor shouted, his plump face growing red as he shouted at the girl. "H-huh?" she asked, looking around the room as she came out of a hazy stupor. The old man sighed as he rolled his eyes in impatience. "Is there something you would like to share with the class?" he asked, his eyes filled with annoyance. "Uhm…No. Sorry Professor Elm." She squeaked, her eyes trained at her black combat boots as her face grew flushed. Snickers were heard around the class as snippets of comments found their way to her red ears. "What is she doing in that notebook?" "Such a nerd." "Loser!" She brought her head up and looked at the faces of her classmates. Dawn Berlitz, glaring at her and rolling her eyes. Misty Waterflower, desperately trying to copy Dawn and flashing Touko an evil smirk. May Haruka giving her a sympathetic smile. "Thank Arceus that someone cares about me…" she thought, flashing her a small smile in return. Her eyes flicked towards the desk in the corner, not ready to meet the eyes of Professor Elm. She was met with a pair of chocolate brown orbs, and a deep and serious face of worry and curiosity. Those eyes pierced her soul, made her feel complete, and oddly satisfied. She flashed a perplexed look at the boy as he turned away, his look replaced with a placid serenity.
The professor raised his eyebrows at the exchange between the two, clearing his throat he sternly punished the girl. "Well. You do know that this means you'll have to stay for detention today. My room, until 5:00 after your last class." He said, staring down at the shy and timid girl. "Now then. Does anyone know the move power of Hydro Pump?" He asked, turning around to the class. May's hand shot in the air as the professor called out her name. "It's 120." She proudly stated, seeming confident of her answer. The professor cocked his head as he gave her a sympathetic smile. "Close! Really close. However that's just not correct." He stated as he looked around the white-walled classroom again. "Anyone else?" he asked, as Dawn carefully raised a slender, manicured hand in the air, her bracelets sliding down her wrist. "Dawn?" the professor asked, turning to face the bluenette. "It's 110. Better luck next time May!" she said in a sickeningly sweet voice. The professor disregarded her tone as he strode up to the board. "Correct! Good job Dawn." He replied to the girl, giving her a slight nod. "Does else anyone know what type is weak to water types?"
"Arceus that class sucked!" Touko exclaimed to May as they walked down the hallway of their high-school. "Yeah… I totally got that answer wrong! Then he gave me that smile he gives stupid kids when they try, but fail miserably… you know how much I need a good grade in his class. If I don't get good grades then I won't-" "I know. You've told me." Touko replied, "If you don't get good grades your parents won't let you go on your Pokémon journey, and if you don't go on your journey they'll force you to go to college and if you go to college you'll get stuck in a boring and stuffy office job doing other people's taxes for a living." Touko finished, reciting the speech she had heard a thousand times. Exasperated, the brunette tried again. "Well yeah. You know how much I need this. I just can't spend my days like… like Wally's dad. Or even mom. I want to be like dad! I'll make a gym and help people achieve their goals to get to the Pokémon league. Doesn't that sound amazing to you?" she asked Touko, her sapphire-blue eyes sparkling with delight.
"Not really… I mean, yeah it would be cool to travel around the world but I'm not much of a social person like you or Dawn. I have like zero social skills. I still have to go on an adventure anyways. We made a promise that we would travel the regions together and I'm not about to-" She paused midsentence as May leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Speak of the devil." She finished as the sound of impossibly high heels clicked on the tile of the school hallway. Shrill laughter cut through the air as she giggled and clung to her boyfriend, Green. He was captain of the varsity Pokémon battling squad, and the school heart-throb. You either tried to suck up to the popular crew or you were hated by them. There was no in between. "That's so funny babe! Tell us again. I want to hear all about how that nerd girl totally spilled coffee on your new white shirt because she was writing in her loser black journal and couldn't see out of her four eyes!" She giggled as she taunted Touko, and acted shocked as she passed by the brunette. "Oh! Tofu! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there! Please, let me make it up to you. I'll carry your books to your locker." Dawn's sickly sweet voice lilted through the air as she wrestled Touko's books from her hands. "Perfect." The bluenette smirked as her hands wrenched her journal from the stack of books. "Let's see what Tomu is writing in her little black book of nerdiness." Touko's gaze fell to her shoes as she gulped and wished she could melt into the lockers, wanting to disappear from the high-school forever. May, outraged, stepped towards Dawn. "Hey! You can't just take someone's private journal and read it! That's like girl code. How would you like it if I took your diary and read it?" May asked, feeling more confident as she glanced back towards her friend.
Dawn raised an immaculately plucked eye-brow as she opened the black book. "Oh really? Girl code? Who would have guessed that four-eyes over here was a girl? I mean, didn't we all think he was just a cross-dresser? Let's see what his inner-most feelings are." She concluded, flashing the two a triumphant, icy glare before her eyes skimmed the pages. Amusement turned to annoyance on the blue-haired trainer's face as she gaped, eyes skimming over the pages. "Well, well. Who knew the average nerd was a little writer after all. Let's read a little from the story of Jamie, shall we?" She taunted the brunette, as Touko's mouth grew dry. "Ahem." Dawn cleared her throat, waving her hand at Misty who quickly gathered up a crowd. "Now then. Who wants to see what a nerdling can really write?" Dawn announced to the crowd she licked her finger and placed it on a random page.
"Ned? Ned? Where are you?" Jamie cried, deep into the dark forest by now. Dusk was approaching, and she shivered as goosebumps prickled up her scrawny arms. The bright sun that had danced across the tree-tops was quite gone now, as it was replaced with a cold, and unforgiving pale moon that illuminated the sharp features of the girl. "C-Cottonee. Come on out." She shivered as a red beam of light refracted from inside a pokeball. The grass-type shot out from the capsule, looking expectantly at its master. "N-Ned is gone." She sorrowfully admitted as she shivered one more in the scattered winds of the verdant, chilling forest. Cottonee's mood became more somber as he reached out and touched its trainer. She was silent for a moment before she looked up at the canopy of leaves enclosing them." I love him! I said it world! I love Ned! I love how his chocolate-y gray eyes glint with mischief when we start an adventure together. I love the way his blonde hair is always wild, and untamed. I love the way he talks with such vigor and passion. I love the way he's not afraid of anything. But I know that even when the dawn of a new day rises, they'll take him once more." Her words turned hateful in spite as she spat out the words, her eyes narrowing and seething with hate. "Those good-for-nothing life ruiners who control everything about me and him. Garret. Coae. Bailey. Skye. They'll will tuck him into a corner and keep him out of my sight. They'll corrupt his vision until he becomes the puppet they want him to be. Bailey will torment me by hanging him over my head until I fall and crumble. Skye will keep corrupting Warner. Coae will keep up his ruthless tactics with more ways to torture me. Garret…" Her voice faltered as she involuntarily shuddered. She swallowed down a rising lump in her throat as she continued. "Garret. He'll keep us apart. He'll torture him until he's subdued. He'll be the ruthless man he is and fill sweet Ned's head with his rotten ideals. I swear to you Ned, I'll bring you back to the light." She softly spoke, her walls crumbling down as she admitted her heart to the starry sky.
"Well? What do you people think of Elm High's very own Tofu White? Amazing right?" Touko felt what seemed to be thousands of eyes shifting their attention over to her. In the back of the crowd a boy with mystical chocolate orbs idly stood, waiting, watching. "Won't you just tell us, who is this mystery Ned?" Dawn pressed on, her own eyes locking with the brunette. "Is he your boyfriend? Oh, whoops! Sorry. It just slipped out. I forgot you don't have one." She lightheartedly explained then leaned down close to the girl. Her breath was chilling on her warm skin, as her voice sent nervous goosebumps along her neck. "You're nothing but a geek who can't find a life so makes one up in her nerdy little world of boyfriends and magical ponies. This school is MINE, and if you do anything to harm it, or me, there will be retributions. I don't need your pimply little face and glasses ruining my senior year. You're just going to end up dragging everyone around you down, especially your little out-spoken friend. Tell her to lose the pigtails, it's so middle school." She straightened out before flashing Touko one of her fake smiles as she turned towards her entourage. "Come on Misty, Green. I've got chemistry." She hissed at the girl, before finding the nearest trash bin and dumping the notebook in there.
Her eyes pooled with salty tears as a sob racked through her body. She fled to the nearest bathroom and closed the stall, the white-walls of the bathroom closing in on her. She panicked as she lost her wits, taking shallow, raspy breaths. Hot and wet tears flowed from her eyes, as a sob caught in her throat. Her blotchy face grew more bloated and flushed as tears freely fell from her eyes. "Touko?" a soft, breathy voice was heard from outside the stall. A soft knock rapped on the door as she chokingly replied "Wh-who is it?" "Hey. It's me. Can I come in?" May asked the girl as the latch slowly turned in the door. The petite brunette slipped through the opening that was made as she gasped. "Oh Arceus…" May muttered as she unwrapped a piece of toilet paper from the roll. She pressed it into Touko's hands as Touko blotted at her red-rimmed and blotchy eyes. "Hey." May's voice grew soft as she extended her arms and embraced the girl into a hug. Touko sobbed as her tears stained the red jacket the other girl wore. "Ssh. It's okay. I'm here for you. Dawn's just jealous of your amazing talent. You know readers from all over Unova and even Kanto go CRAZY for the story of Jamie and Ned online. Don't listen to that crazy wannabe chick. You're better than her in every way. We've all been put down by her. She thinks she owns this school, but she's going to turn out to be one of those "I-peaked-in-high-school" girls. We're in it for the long run." May concluded as she took hold of the other girl's hand and squeezed it.
Touko smiled at May as a stray tear quietly rolled down her cheek. "Thanks." She whispered to the other girl as she squeezed her hand back. "Well." May awkwardly added after the two stood there in silence, "I noticed you were looking at that boy in class earlier. What's his name? Touya?" May ended as Touko silently nodded. Touko took in a deep breath before she decided to reply to May's statement. "W-well yeah. I mean, I've noticed him a few times but it was never like, a real thing. Or was it? I don't know… I'm so confused and there's a million things going on in my mind. I'm thinking about Dawn, and TOuya, and oh god what if I'm late to healing herbs class, and my suckish life generally, and I'm so conflicted." She quickly said, the words flying from her lips as she pressed her back against the cool metal of the door. Her body slid down as she crouched, tucking her head into her knees. Her head tilted up as she cocked her head to the side. She was silent for a moment before she flashed the other brunette a small smile. "This would make a great story for Jamie! I mean, Skye would try and kiss Warner or, take Jamie's compact mirror, and Ned could be turned against Jamie by Garret, and Jamie would fight against Skye and Garret and… Warner could be working for Skye and be a traitor!" Touko exclaimed as May gasped in surprise.
"No… Not Warner! I shipped Jamie and Warner… I know it's not cannon to the story but their playful banter made me ship it so hard! No Touko please don't! That would CRUSH me and the other 50+ fans who I've been talking to who ship it…" "50 fans?" Touko replied, raising an eyebrow. "I have that many?" "Well duh." May replied, rolling her sapphire-blue eyes. "I checked your hit-count last week. You do know that you're in the thousands right? Touko's eyes bulged. "T-thousands?" She stammered, holding onto the toilet-paper roll for balance. "Yeah." May agreed, thrusting out her hand as she caught Touko. She was silent for a moment before she continued to speak. "Touko, it's been this way for a few weeks… God you really do hate the spotlight… I'm sorry for not telling you earlier… I thought you knew! I swear I would of-" May was cut-off by a few chimes of the starting bell for class. "I guess we're late… Wanna ditch? I can beta the new chapter of Jamie for you!" May exclaimed, a pearly white smile appearing on her face. Touko looked up at the girl, a mixture of confusion and fear apparent in her face. "N-no. It's fine. We're already late for my next class and I have detention after school. We've already skipped so much…" the girl protested as the two exited the stall.
"Learn to live a little Touko. We're only in high-school once!" May squealed as she dragged Touko by the arm out the doors of the school. "Miltanks?" May phrased as she reached for her Pidgeot pokeball. "Miltanks." Touko agreed as a red stream of bright light shot out of the ball. The giant bird pokemon screeched as the two girls hopped onto its back. They took to the skies as the bird gracefully weaved and dove in the air. The wind beat on the two but neither cared, as both screamed and laughed as if they hadn't a care in the world for the first time that day.
Hey Guys! Thanks so much for reading this. Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated. I'm looking for a Beta Reader for this, so if you're interested please PM me! Thanks again.
Xx-Ivy
