Telltale Signs
A/N: Hello everyone! My first Pokemon fic! Wow! *Gasp* Well anyway please read and review, I shall appreciate it heaps. Thanks! ^___^
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Chapter One
"Bored... so... damn... bored..."
Ash was staring at the TV, which happened to be turned off, 'BORED' written all over his forehead (he had done that with biro pens out of sheer boredom).
It was the summer holidays, and he was home alone, with nothing to do.
What a holiday for a Pokemon League master.
Just then, the phone rang. After about 10 rings, Ash finally managed to drag himself over to the receiver and answer the call.
"Hello, Ash Ketchum speaking," he droned into the mouthpiece.
"Ash! What took you so long to answer the phone, dammit?"
a familiar voice growled into his ear.Ash bolted upright from his lazing position on the couch like a spring. His hands began to sweat. He could tell that his face was beginning to flush as well. "Misty? Is that you?"
"Damn right, it's me. What other girl has your phone number?"
Misty giggled."Urgh. I see what you mean." Ash steadied his slightly shaking hands and tried his best to think of beautiful scenery to calm himself down - vast oceans and waterfalls and lush green meadows and bouncing deer and deer droppings and -
"Are you there, Ash? Ash?!"
"Er, yeah! I'm just, uh -" The answer 'Just thinking of deer droppings' was at the tip of his tongue, but he knew that if he said that Misty would think he was crazy and might never talk to him again. "- drawing on my face with biro!" he blurted.
There was silence on the other end of the line. Ash's brain whirred nervously.
Then, Misty burst out laughing. "Bwahahahaha!! I can't believe the 'great' Ash Ketchum's been reduced to scribbling on his own face! Hahaha!!"
Now, Ash knew that his face was flushed. Thank goodness video phones weren't everyday household appliances. He made a mental note to remember to scrub off the giant word on his forehead ASAP.
"So... what's up? Why did you phone?"
"Well actually, I called to ask if you want to go skiing with me, Gary and May on Sunday? Today's Wednesday, so you'll have plenty of time to get ready. If you don't have equipment I heard you can rent everything you need at the skiing resort."
Ash paled slightly. Skiing? He'd only gone once, and that one time was enough to tell him that he wasn't exactly a natural, with all the bumps and bruises he'd acquired over the 3-day trip. He didn't think he'd would have gotten any better now. And Gary would be there too. Even though they'd formed a slight friendship after Ash beat the Elite Four, he knew Gary would still jump at any chance to taunt him.
"Uh, I'll ask mom. Are parents coming, too, or is it just us four?" Saying the word 'us' made Ash twitch involuntarily.
"Hm... good question. I'll talk to Gary about it later. Well, I'm pretty sure your mom would love for you to go, so let's meet at my house on Sunday, at 9:00am. We'll go join Gary and May at Gary's place later on."
Misty paused. " What do you say, though? Do you wanna go?"Ash thought about saying 'No thanks, I'd rather not let you see me trip over all the time or looking ridiculously like a snowman after rolling down the slope' but he held his tongue for a while before answering; "Sure. Of course I'd love to go."
[Maybe I put to much emphasis on 'love'? I hope I didn't sound forced...] he thought. [Or worse...!!] Swallowing silently, he began to tap his fingers on the coffee table.
Tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap... tap tap tap tap...
"Ok, great! Call me back to tell me if you get permission. If you don't ring I'll assume you can't go, and I'm sure you don't wanna miss out!"
[Of course not,] though Ash, grinning to himself. "Yeah, alright. Thanks for the offer. What's your phone number again? Yeah? Ok, I'll write it down... Ok, see you on Sunday. Call you tomorrow. Sure. Bye!"
He hung up after she did, marvelling at how normal he sounded throughout the whole conversation. Almost cradling the little piece of paper with Misty's phone number on it, he jogged upstairs, slipped the paper into his diary, and, humming tunelessly, went to the bathroom to clean up his face.
*****
"Ash? Ash, I'm home, dear!"
Ms Ketchum's voice drifted upstairs to Ash's room, where he was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. What was he thinking about? Well it was pretty obvious - the ski trip. He'd been thinking about it for the last 2 hours, since Misty had phoned. Sighing, he went downstairs. Whether or not he'd make a fool of himself in front of Misty and Co. would depend on whether he could actually go. A part of him secretly wanted Mom to say no.
Of course, no such luck. Ms Ketchum agreed to let him go even before he'd finished the sentence. Jokingly, Ash asked for a way to ski like a pro before Sunday. Amazingly, his mom said she had the perfect answer.
First, the two spent the night watching a skiing video. Ash managed to learn a handful of new things, like how to balance when going down a steep slope, how to stop (-_-), and how to gain better control while walking around with skis. The next day, Mom told him to strap on his skis and try 'gliding' down the nearby hill. When Ash protested and explained to her that he'd look like a idiot if he did that, Ms Ketchum pushed him firmly into the car and drove them both there. So Ash spent the day in his skis, tripping down the hill, receiving several stares from nearby picnickers. However, even he had to admit that by the end of the day, it had gotten pretty easy to 'ski' down the hillside, though he still doubted that he had the skills to ski smoothly without accidents for over half an hour.
When he arrived home from the practise session, Ash slumped down on his bed and called Misty. "Hi, Misty. Yes, I can go. I've got skis and everything. Did you talk to Gary? You did? So... Ok, so its no parents? Uh... great! Um, I'll go to your place on Sunday...? Y-yeah? Well, bye!" Putting down the receiver, he almost died of happiness. A whole week of skiing without parents?! That was fantastic. But there was the Gary problem...
Ash shook his head, took off his cap and closed his eyes, almost immediately falling into a deep slumber.
*****
Telltale Sign: Sweating hands, flushing face, and a pathetic attempt to look like a pro skier...
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There's the first chapter. Continue? Delete? It all depends on the reviews... ^___^
