Playground Crisis

by Pokemonfanthings

It is a typical day at Pallet Town's public grade school.

WELCOME!

Author Notes:

All cannon characters and places mentioned belong to The Pokémon Company. All the OCs in here belong to chipotlepeppers. Visit chipotlepeppers' profile for more stories like this one and for background info on these OCs.

I currently have four stories posted on my account and I am actively writing more. So far all of them feature the OCs Amber Ketchum and Jay Morgan as the main characters.

Thank you to Chipotlepeppers and Julie Togepi for your suggestions and edits.

I am a new fic writer and nonprofessional.

If something doesn't make sense or you have questions, leave questions in reviews and I will answer them via guest review asap. Or you can PM me if you have an account.

This story is a oneshot. It is about 6,000 words and complete.

I would like to get some feedback, so even if you don't like it, leave a review. Just word them kindly, especially if you are responding to someone else's review.

Thank you for clicking!

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Playground Crisis

Description: A typical day at Pallet Town's public grade school.

It was an average day at school for Jessie and James Morgan's seven-year-old son.

He had math class the first block, and as usual, it was boring. Art was in the second block. Though Jay's math skills are…horrendous…his art is incredible. No one his age could draw dresses and costumes as well as he could, and the same was true for hair. The models in his drawings had a range of styles: a dark blond ponytail, dark magenta French braid, equally dark magenta pigtails, a crown braid of rocket-red, a navy-blue pixie cut, black waves, kinky blond cornrows, blue and brown locks done in a braided ponytail, and his favorite, loose dark ginger strands with the occasional ringlet that falls off the forehead. Most of the girls were in dresses, except for one who was in full archery gear. She is the one with the Pichu, the only one he felt he needed to erase five times and then redo in order to make it look perfect.

The bell rang and Jay hung his drawing on the wall next to those of his classmates. The girls of the classroom were in awe, and Jay noted how several of the boys stared at his artwork longer than the others. Jay took a picture of his masterpiece with his smartphone, and then it was time for lunch.

He moaned when he saw that there was a substitute teaching assistant. Subs always mess something up. The sub led them to the bin where the second graders keep their lunches. He lined along with the rest of the class and waited for the sub to check him in and then hand him his lunchbox.

"What is your name?" she asked as she looked into his blue eyes.

"Jay."

"What a pretty name. Hmmmm, I don't see your name on the list."

"It's J-A-Y," he responded.

"No…. I'll keep looking, looking, wait, uh silly, there was a mistake. Someone put your name on the boys' side. We have the names written in two rows. I'm new, I didn't know that there was an error here. Sorry, Jay. You can take your bin out of your bag and sit down. I'll mark you as present."

Jay laughed to himself a little, amused by the sub's mistake. He took his pink lunchbox to the table where Soledad and her three friends Jenna, Jewel, and Josephine were seated.

"Oh…Hey, Jay," Jenna said hesitantly.

"Don't you want to sit with someone new today?" Jewel asked in a voice that was too high-pitched to be truthful.

"I would like to sit in this spot," Jay replied.

"Can you at least move down a little?" Josephine asked.

Jay sighed. This is why Jenna, Jewel, and Josephine are Soledad's friends and not his friends.

"Be nice, girls," Soledad admonished. "Jay, I want you to sit with me."

"We sat with him all last week and the week before that," Jewel whined.

"We just want girl time. Is that so wrong?" Jenna asked.

"My mother doesn't want me sitting next to boys at lunch anyway," said Josephine.

"It's okay, I am not even hungry, actually, I am going to move on to recess. Bye, Soledad."

"Jay, are you sure? You must be hungry. We just had two hours of classes, plus a twenty-minute homeroom," Soledad worriedly responded.

"Not feeling hungry today."

Jay stood up and walked to the door. His plan was to hand the substitute teacher-assistant his lunch box so that she could check him out and he could go outside early. But on his way over there, he passed his least favorite people all sitting at one table, and one kid stuck their foot out just in time to trip Jay. He slipped and fell on his face. The boys laughed, and every kid in the lunchroom watched as the teacher assistant and Soledad ran to help Jay.

"I'm okay," Jay assured them as he sat up. I just…"

He looked over to Damien's table. Jay knew he didn't just fall. He has been wearing heels since he was three. he might not be good at sports but walking on heels was an art he had already mastered.

As Jay was thinking about this, the teacher assistant kept asking him questions, like why he fell and if he needed to go to the nurse, or if he hit his head hard against the tile, and why he wore such tall heels under his dress. He answered, 'I don't know', to every question.

"It was Damien and his friends Kyle and Erik," Soledad said as she pointed to the table. "One of them tripped him."

"Boys, is this true?"

"No way!

"Miss ummm, what's your name?" the sub asked Soledad.

"Soledad. I'm Jay's neighbor. These boys always pick on him. I see it all the time. They thought they could get away with it in front of everyone here at lunch because you are a sub. They are always mean to him."

The sub was impressed by Soledad's explanation, but was confused too.

"Him?" she asked.

"Jay's not a girl."

"Oh, Jay, you are…"

The almost the entire room was laughing. Soledad felt bad for embarrassing both herself and Jay. She tried to help but all she did was make things worse. The sub apologized to Jay a bunch of times.

"What usually happens when these boys misbehave?" the sub asked.

"They usually sit in the office for an hour," Jay answered.

The sub nodded and called the office while Jay miserably sauntered over to Soledad's table. Jenna, Josephine, and Jewel were gone.

"I'm sorry Soledad. I chased your friends away," said Jay.

"It's okay. I didn't like them that much," she responded.

It wasn't entirely true because Soledad always had fun with those girls. They made necklaces, groomed Pokémon and did karaoke at her house. They often go swimming in Jewel's pool and they paint each other's nails at the salon Josephine's mother works at. But they never invited Jay. Soledad was hoping she would be able to get them to like Jay, but they never gave him a chance.

"I just saw their true colors for the first time," Soledad told Jay. "And there are other girls in this school who I haven't even talked to yet. You and I will have friends one day. As soon as I get home, I am going to tell my mom to call the school."

"Same," said Jay.

Jay ate some of his carrots and the apple that Annastasia had packed just because he was starving and he didn't want to make his sister feel bad. Twenty minutes later, they were all out on the playground.

"I can't wait until we are in fourth grade and we get to eat lunch after recess instead of before," said Soledad. "I always want to eat but my tummy hurts if I jump rope right after I eat, but I also like jumping rope. At least we get almost a whole hour to play. I'll be by the jump ropes. See ya."

Jay walked over to the playground while Soledad stayed in the parking lot area where all the kids jumped roped, hula-hooped, or ran races. He climbed into the slide tunnel and sat there. He picked the paint off his nails and waited for recess to end.

"Boo!" a voice yelled suddenly.

Jay yelped and tumbled down the tunnel slide. There was someone waiting for him at the bottom.

"Amb! You came!"

"I told you I'd come. I didn't bring Pip, though. You know how those Pichu are, always thunderbolting people on accident…. but, I managed to slip away," said Amber. "And you still have forty minutes until your next class starts."

"Your parents are going to be mad when they realized you ran away from school again."

"Maybe. I'd don't care though," Amber responded.

"Wow. I love you, thanks," Jay said as he hugged her.

"No problem. I was bored as a brick staring at a wall at my school."

"Huuh?"

"I was bored. I wish there was enough room for you to come to my school. Stupid district rules."

"Yeahhh. Did you ride your bike through the Viridian forest to get here?"

"As always."

"You are so brave."

"I know."

Jay and Amber climbed on the jungled gym. Jay watched Amber do tricks and he attempted to copy her. Jay took out his phone to show her the picture he drew, but the sun made it difficult to see.

"Amb, I gotta show you something. Let's go into the tube slide," Jay requested. "It's too bright out here."

Amber and Jay squeezed into the tunnel. They were a tangled mess of limbs as they tried to make themselves comfortable in the area meant for only one person at a time.

Once they were settled, Jay brought the picture up on his phone and held it so that she could see.

"Jeez. This should win a prize," she commented.

"My dad says I could submit it for a prize that I'll get at this spring's Cherryblossom Festival. I think I'll enter something, but not this one. I have a different one in mind," he responded.

"Which one?"

Jay scrolled until he got to the picture he began painting last month but only finished yesterday. He hesitated to show her because he only wanted to show her the best.

Amber knew Jay was good, but it's been a while since she saw some of his human and Pokémon-centric artwork. It was Amber and her dream team: Pip as a mega-Pikachu (a concept that the two of them invented), a mega-Pidgeot, mega-Fearrow, mega-Gyarados, mega-Unfeasant, and mega-Charizard. On her bow was a flaming arrow, and it was aimed directly toward the eye of the art's beholder.

"This is sick," she laughed.

"You don't like it?" Jay asked anxiously, fearing that over thirty hours of effort had gone to complete waste.

"No, I love it. Sick is good. Sick is amazing, like this is super-sick."

"Whoa. Thanks."

"Wanna see my latest accomplishments?"

"Definitely!"

Amber pulled out her flip phone and showed off some of her low-quality photos to Jay. Arrows and nets. Fruit and nets. Lately Amber has been attaching nets to her arrows, shooting them at trees, and collecting lunch that way. Jay noted how she improved since last weekend, when they played in the forest and she attempted to knock apples off the trees in the orchard behind her house. Last Saturday her method barely and rarely worked, now he saw that it was beyond impressive.

"Are you going to catch Pokémon that way?" Jay asked as he thought about the journey the two had been planning since kindergarten.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because archery is an art. Fashion, makeup, hair—that's your art. Archery is mine. And how do you think people caught Pokémon before there were Pokeballs?"

"I dunno. I never thought about it before."

There was a sudden pounding on the tube slide. Jay whimpered, predicting what was going to happen next. He clung to his friend, as if she alone would protect him from—

"It's Damien!" the bully announced. "Jay-Jay, you and I have business! Come out!"

"How does he know we are in here?" Jay whispered to Amber.

"I noticed how some of the glitter on your dress fell off and it sorta led a trail here. Plus, we hang out in here all the time," she reasoned.

"Oh yeah…"

"Jay-Jay!" Damien called out again.

"I hate that. There is only one 'Jay' in my name," Jay moaned.

"Let's go defend your title," Amber suggested as she offered her hand.

"You can defend my title and I'll watch," Jay replied, though he knew Amber wouldn't let him dull his own potential.

"Or we'll do it together."

"Or we can hide."

"Damien might come in here and rip out your guts."

"That's disgusting! Do you really think he would do that?"

"Maybe."

Jay was ALMOST certain that Amb was exaggerating, and besides that, he liked watching Amber confront his giants. She doesn't do that for other people.

"Jay said that you got sent to the office. Why are you out here?" Amber asked as she and Jay climbed out of the slide.

"There was no proof that I tripped him. the principal says that is what he gets for wearing a dress and heels to school. Makes it easier for him to trip," Damien responded.

"Only if someone forces him to trip," said Amber.

"Mr. Lee doesn't know that. Who are you, anyway? Are you some crazy lady who lives in the forest? You never comb your hair and you smell like the woods," said Damien's friend Kyle.

"She doesn't go to school, either," said the other sidekick, Erik. "I know I've seen her hear a bunch of times before, and she doesn't go to class. One time, Officer Jenny picked her up. You're a freak."

"So what?" Amber retorted.

"She goes to school! In Cerulean City! She combs her hair too, it is just naturally messy and sometimes the tie to her braid falls out when she's riding her bike, and—"

"It's okay, Jay. You don't need to defend me. But thanks. All of that is true. What's your problem? Did someone have nightmares last night? Did you leave your blankies at home? Why can't you think of something better to do than pick on my best friend?"

"Go back to the woods," said Damien.

"You know, I am tired of you, Damien. As I was riding my bike over here, I thought about how the worst part of my day would be the moment it came time for me to consider your stupid face and remind you of how stupid you are."

That made a bunch of the guys laugh, and a few girls who were jumping rope and braiding each other's hair nearby caught interest and joined them on the playground.

"What makes you so smart? You know how to ride a bike? You know how to run away? What makes you so smart, huh?" Damien asked.

"Number one, the fact that I am a woman makes me automatically smarter by at least a point, but since I have red hair, that raises me up a second. But that is not the kind of contest I want to have right now," Amber responded.

"What the hell is she going on about?" one boy asked another.

"Amb, maybe we should just move somewhere else," Jay suggested.

"Amb, if that is your name—doesn't sound like a name to me—but anyway, if you were so smart, then you would know how dumb it is to defend a freak like Jay Morgan. He's not a real boy. He's weak. He's embarrassing. He's not going to go anywhere in life. He might as well learn that lesson now."

"I have an idea. We are going to settle this once and for all!" Amber exclaimed.

"Yeah, how?" Damien asked as he rolled his eyes at her.

"You and your supporters will go to the other side of the playground and write a list of three things you think Jay needs to do to be a real boy. Whatever you write, Jay will have to do. But, Jay and his supporters will stay on this side of the playground and make a list too, and you'll have to do everything on Jay's list. Three things in total. Everything on the list has to be something that you either did in the past or could do right now. It all has to be over before the bell rings. Losers will be called chickens. Deal?"

"No way. That's dumb. It's so obvious that I'm better that I don't even need to prove it," Damien retorted.

"Are you afraid that a boy in dress and heels is going to beat you? Are you calling yourself a chicken?" Amber asked.

"CHICKEN BAAAAAUK!" the kids of the playground squawked.

Jay's face was gleaming, and laughing. Amber assumed everyone was cheering because they wanted to see the show. Jay assumed it was because they wanted him to win. Either way, neither of them would ever know the answer, because there was no time to discuss such things.

"I'm not afraid of a girl," Damien angrily huffed.

"Which girl? Me? Damien, I think you are afraid of me. Either that or you are in love. Awwwwe he has a crush. Everyone laugh!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

"I AM TALKING ABOUT HIM!" Damien shouted.

"Hey," Jay said with a little wave.

"Oh Damien, sweet, sweet, smelly Damien," Amber continued in her mocking-tone. "If you want to win my heart. You gotta beat him first."

"No problem," Damien haughtily replied.

"Then let's do the challenge! We need pens, people, pens!" Amber yelled.

The kids of the playground scourged their backpacks for crayons, pencils, colored pencils, lip balm…anything that would write. The Damien supporters went to one side of the playground, and the people on Jay's side stayed with Jay. But there was only one other person on his side.

"Amb, look! They are all over there, helping Damien write his conditions. They are going to make me do something horrible," Jay whined.

"We'll turn it up," said Amber. "Let's see…something that would make him—"

"Amber! Jay! What are you doing?!" Soledad exclaimed as she entered the scene. "Amber, you don't even go here!"

"How much do you know about what's going on?" Amber asked, unabashed.

"The third graders are talking all about it already. Jay, you are going to get hurt."

"I'll be fine. Don't you want me to prove that I am real boy?"

"You are…you are in a dress! You are almost always in a dress. You like being a girl. What is so bad about being a girl? Go tell them that you are a girl and they will leave you alone."

"But I am not literally a girl."

"Lie to them!"

"Hmmm I never thought about that before," said Amber. "After all, you do like pretending to be a girl. We might as well lie about it. None of those suckers are brave enough to punch a girl."

"Except two things," Jay said as he held up his fingers. "One, you just screamed to them how I was a boy and how I was gonna win this. Two, they know I am a boy because I have a boy's name and I use the boy's bathroom and my nametag on my desk is blue. If we give up now, they are going to call us all chicken. Soledad too since she's on our side."

"Jay, I make so many sacrifices for you," Soledad sighed. "Can't you just pick a gender and stick to it?"

"I didn't know I had a choice! I would have asked for a pink nametag! The pink ones are prettier!" Jay replied.

"We'll stick to my original plan," said Amber.

"The plan which was…?"

"We'll make Damien do 'girl' things. We'll make him wear your dress. He'll have too…hmm dance in high heels! And he will have to say 'I'm gay' in front of everyone. If you can do all those things, why can't he?"

"That's great but I am still worried that Damien's gonna make me eat a bug or something," Jay replied.

"Don't worry about that. Let's keep making up things, "Amber said as she put crayon to paper. "We got this."

"I wanted to spend recess doing double-dutch, but I feel like I should stay now," said Soledad.

"Soledad, you aren't so bad. You're just as cool as your dad's lab. I can see us being good friends one day. After all, we both have this plum-topped fairy prince in common."

"Yeah, maybe," Soledad mumbled doubtfully.

The kids on each side spent about ten minutes writing their lists, and when they each had three things, they met under the monkey bars.

"Who's going to oversee this? We need a referee," said one of the girls.

"I'll do it," said Soledad.

"I don't know…. Soledad is popular but she also hangs out with Jay a lot…"

"Then pick Kate," Soledad said as she put her hands on the shoulders of this girl who she didn't know but had a good rep. "Kate, you'll be fair, right?"

"Yes!" Kate said. "Yay! I never got to judge anything before."

"You are going to do great," Soledad told her. "I'll help you out."

"Okay, so Kate is the judge. Kate, who is going to go first?" Amber asked.

"I'm going first. I say that he's gotta be able to kick a soccer ball all the way across the parking lot," said Damien.

"Can you do that?" Amber asked Damien.

"He can. I've seen it," said one of the boys.

"Yes, just the other day," Jewel agreed.

"It's true, I see him practice soccer all the time," Kate sighed. "Okay, Jay, we'll get you a soccer ball. I hope you can do it too!"

Jay was on the verge of panic but Amber was laughing to herself.

"What are you laughing? I can't do this! I never even kicked a soccer ball before!" Jay whispered anxiously.

"Yes, you have. At my house. Remember?"

"Yes, but not at school. And I couldn't aim at all. I almost broke a window," he replied.

"You don't need to aim the ball, dummy, just kick it. You'll win as long as you can get it across the parking lot. If you relax and then concentrate your power, you'll make it. And here, wear my shoes."

Jay felt only slightly reassured by her words. Nevertheless, he pulled off the heals, put on Amber's sneakers, and took the soccer ball from Kate the moment she returned.

"Okay, Jay. According to Damien, all you have to do is kick it across the parking lot. That's all," Kate reminded him.

"He can't even hit a ball off the tee in t-ball!" Erik laughed.

"Or shoot a hoop in a basket that's shorter than he his!" said Kyle.

"And in gym he can't run more than three laps without running out of breath!" Damien laughed.

"And look, he's wearing cavegirl's sneakers now!" Kyle shrieked.

"Good luck, Jay," was all Amber said as she backed away to give him space.

Jay stared at the ball and tried to picture his sister in the yard. She sometimes runs and kicks the ball because her Lillipup likes to chase it. He thought about her style, how her foot made contact with the ball. He backed away. Some people started to chant 'chicken', then without hesitation, he ran towards the ball and smacked it with his foot with all his might.

Jay had shut his eyes the moment the ball bounced off his foot. He was certain that the ball was going to soar straight across the parking lot, like a Pidgeot, and it would land beyond the required territory, but that isn't quite what happened.

"He…. didn't make it," Soledad sighed.

"Wait!" Kate exclaimed. "Look!"

The ball had lost speed about a yard from the brick wall that it needed to hit for Jay to win, but it was still moving, slowly, for the school was built on a slight hill. When it tapped the brick wall, Soledad, Amber, and Jay cheered.

"That doesn't count," Damien moaned.

"It counted. For sure," said Kate.

"She's the judge. Excellent work," Amber told Jay.

"Thanks. You can have your shoes back now," He responded.

"No, leave them on. I don't mind being barefoot for a little while longer, and you are going to need to wear something so that Damien can do his challenge," she replied with a smirk.

"Oh yeeha," Jay replied.

"It's your turn, Jay. Read what you wrote," said Kate.

"Damien has to walk around in my heels for five minutes straight, and it has to be where all of us can see him," Jay read.

Most of the kids laughed, some said 'I knew he was going to say that', but Damien angrily responded:

"That's stupid. There is no way that counts! Heels are for girls!"

"Well, Jay is a boy who wears heels, so clearly, heels are also for boys. Now put them on or be a chicken," said Amber. "You look like you two have the same foot size."

"The straps adjust too," said Jay.

"Perfect," said Amber.

Damien growled and ripped the heels from Amber's hand. He sat on the grass and struggled to get them on. He did eventually, and after that, it took three friends to help him stand up.

"Ha-ha! He looks like a fairy!" an onlooker exclaimed as he pointed to Damien.

He did his best not show it, but the comment cut Jay deeper than he expected. While everyone laughed at Damien walking around in Jay's beloved heels, Jay froze.

"What's up?" Amber asked Jay when she noticed his distraught expression.

"This isn't fun," Jay whispered.

"I think it is. Look, Damien's blushing and cursing. He can't stand this. I think you are going to win."

"Maybe he likes mocking me."

"He's not enjoying this one bit. I promise. I can tell."

"Okay."

Damien's next challenge was something Jay had once said he would never do in a million years.

"You have to go pee in the forest," said Damien.

"That's not allowed," Soledad said as Jay gagged.

"It is if he doesn't get caught," Damien retorted.

"You have to go pee in the woods too then," said Kate.

"No problem."

"Who is going to check to make sure you do it?"

There was a long pause among the children. Jay was holding his breath. Amber was doing her best to hold back a laugh.

"We'll be able to hear it," Kyle finally said.

"Yeah," Damien agreed.

"Boys are so gross," Soledad grumbled. "Jay, are you sure you don't want to be a girl?"

"I am seriously considering it now…" Jay mumbled.

"I knew it," said Damien. "I knew he—or—she was a freak. Looks like I win the challenge."

"Not yet," said Jay. "I'll do it."

The girls made grossed-out faces and whispered among one another while the boys headed to the woods. Amber went with Jay for 'moral support'.

"I am going to get in big trouble. I might get grounded for the first time ever," Jay told Amber as they hopped the fence.

"Don't think about that now. Go," she instructed.

"What if they turn around and see me naked?"

"They won't do that. It is too gay for them. You'll be fine."

"No, I won't be."

Amber leaned in close so that she could whisper into his ear.

"I slipped my water bottle into your backpack. When it's your turn to go, slowly pour it out. They will hear that and no one will know. And if they turn around and see, we'll get the last laugh."

"Oh, I get it. Thanks."

"Np."

Damien moaned and groaned and almost punched a tree when the judge and her cohorts reported that Jay has successfully completed the challenge.

"What do you have next?" Kate asked Jay.

"Damien has to let me give him a makeover," Jay replied.

"No way. I am not wearing makeup. That is literally like the most girliest thing," Damien argued.

"It's even marketed towards girls," said Jewel.

"The only men I have ever seen where makeup are clowns at the circus," said Josephine.

"Movie stars wear makeup," said Soledad. "All those male actors you see on TV wear foundation and eyeliner and lip-gloss. That is why their skin looks flawless, their eyes pop, and lips appear soft. And like the heels, boys can wear it too. Do it."

"It's part of the deal," said Kate. "Unless you want to back out and be a chicken."

"I peed in the forest for you," said Jay. "It will be quick, and I will make you look good."

Somehow those comments convinced Damien to continue the challenge. Jay squealed with delight as he pulled out his to-go makeup kit. Bubblegum lip gloss, beet blush, dark cherry eyeliner, Jay was in his element.

He was completely without shame for the first time at that playground.

"You look pretty," Kyle teased as he photographed Damien. "But it's a good thing you are a boy. You'd make a hideous woman."

"If anyone posts pictures of me online I will make sure those accounts get deactivated," Damien groaned.

"You did a decent job," Jewel told Jay.

"If we knew you were so good at makeovers, we would have invited you to our house," said Josephine.

"I told you he was good, but you ignored me," said Soledad.

"We just didn't think a guy could be any good at this stuff," Jewel shrugged.

"Hey, now is your chance to go stick up for yourself," Amber whispered as she and Jay witnessed the girls' conversation.

"I invited you to my house and I was going to show you, but you didn't want to come," Jay announced, his eyes tearing. "And Soledad said you talk about me behind my back. I don't want you to hang out with me just because you like one thing that I can do well. It shouldn't work like that."

"Take him or leave him," Amber added.

"We have plenty of friends already," said Josephine. "It's not like we need you."

"Jay, you are better than this," Amber told him. "And cheer up. We still have one challenge each."

"And for Damien's final challenge!" Kate announced, building the excitement.

"You have to kiss a girl!" Damien exclaimed. "To be a real boy, you have to be able to convince a girl to kiss you."

"No problem," Jay said confidently. "Amb, can you do me a favor—"

"Not her," Damien interrupted. "A different girl. She doesn't count because she's a dyke."

There was silence except for some low 'ooooohs' and whispers. People couldn't believe that the eight-year-old had used that word, though three quarters of them had no idea what it meant.

"So, what you are saying is, Damien, that because I touched Jay, I am gay. Hey Jay, do me a favor and touch Damien."

Jay nodded hesitantly and gulped, still nervous, especially after Damien had called her that. But despite this, he took three little steps in Damien's direction.

"Hey, what are you…. get back. Seriously, get back! Move!"

Jay laughed as Damien ran away. Amber high fived him and then said:

"Now go chase him! Go Jay! Jay! Jay!"

Jay took off running after Damien in his sister's old pumps. The kids of the playground started cheering Jay's name while some of Damien's friends threw balls at him, hoping to knock him down. Amber picked up several dodgeballs, handed a few of them to Soledad and Kate, and convinced the girls to join the battle. Soledad knew in her heart that Amber was crazy…but it's also obvious that she wanted Jay to come out on top, and that it had nothing to do with her own pride.

Five minutes into the pursuit, a teacher came out to scold them.

"You gotta hide before you get in big trouble," Jay whispered as she handed Amber her shoes.

"This is the third time you've incited a war on this playground," Soledad commented. "He's right: you need to hide."

Amber grimaced, knowing that her fun was over and that within the next hour, she'd be back in Cerulean. But she knew it was worth it, and that got her through.

She hid in the tunnel slide until the lecture was over. They were given a warning and the teacher left to go break up another fight.

"We can still do the challenge if and only if we are quiet about it," said Kate. "Even though Damien was totally a chicken already, we still have to get through all the conditions in order to have a champion."

"It's the same. You have to kiss a girl, and it can't be cavegirl," said Damien.

"I'll kiss you," said Soledad.

Where were once again 'oohs' and 'ahhs' among the children. Excited whispers increased when she stepped forward and took his hand. Several people whistled when she kissed his red face.

"You have to kiss a girl too," Kate pointed out.

"That didn't count because it wasn't on the mouth," Damien responded.

"No one ever said it had to be on the mouth," Soledad retorted.

"She is correct," said Kate.

"I know. So…"

There were only seven girls in their gathering: Amber, Soledad, Kate, Jewel, Jenna, Josephine, and Kyle's little sister. They all backed away from Damien.

"Come on, Damien. Real boys kiss girls. Do it," said Amber.

"I am…"

Damien looked around helplessly. He was about to forfeit when Amber said:

"I have an alternative. We will leave it up to the judge to decide if it is fair," said Amber. "Damien, you can kiss a boy instead."

"No way," he said. "That is the opposite of how it should be."

"Two boys kissing, no girls are even involved. It seems pretty boyish to me," said Kate.

"Kate, you and I are going to be friends," Soledad told the girl.

"Thanks," Kate replied. "And I think that Amber's alternative make sense. Unless you want to give up."

"Jay is the winner. Now as part of the deal, you have to shake his hand and promise to never trip him again. If you do, I will make sure you get detention every day," said Kate.

"You can't do that," said Erik.

"Kate's mother is this school's largest shareholder. She can do whatever she wants," Soledad replied.

"Fine. I give up," Damien declared.

"Shake his hand and apologize, and say what you are apologizing for," Kate commanded.

"Sorry for calling you a girl," Damien mumbled.

"Now tell him that he is more of a boy than you are."

"No way."

"Hey everyone, Damien is a loser chicken who isn't as tough or as charming as the boy in the dress!" Amber[6] loudly announced.

There was laughter all throughout the playground. Almost everyone on the playground squawked Unfortunately, that remark got Amber busted.

"I thought I saw that wild red hair," said one of the teachers. "Miss Ketchum, we are going to call your parents."

"I'm going home now," Amber said as she tried escape from the teacher.

Security guards blocked the exit. Amber sighed and then surrendered her bow and bike keys: the usual routine. She gave Jay a hug goodbye and then turned to the guard.

"I'll see you later. You made me proud, Mr. Jay," she told him.

"Thank you for making my dreadful day a delightful day," Jay replied.

The action was over, so all the other kids turned away, except for Soledad. She was intrigued by Amber. She is Jay's near opposite. She didn't understand how two kids who have almost nothing in common could be so infatuated with one another.

The next few moments occurred in spilt seconds. Soledad and Amber met eyes for a brief second. The teachers weren't looking. Soledad stop staring at the pair. She was about to turn away when she saw Amber kiss Jay on the other cheek, just for a moment. They laughed a little, and Soledad ran after Kate before she could become jealous of what the two had.

"In case you are wondering, I'm not gay," Amber told him.

"I wasn't wondering," Jay lied.

"Liar."

"Okay, so I sometimes would wonder a little bit, but what does that have to do with today?"

"Nothing," she vaguely replied before turning to the guards who were presumably going to escort her home.

"I'll see you online!" she called before they were separated.

"See you!"

Despite their victory, the upcoming summer break melted away the ardor of what Jay's team had accomplished, for several of his bullies returned full-force in the fall. But then Jay left that school for another, and then another, until he was out of school.

And while other kids still teased, Damien and his gang were the exceptions. While they didn't have enough humility to become friends with the former enemy, a quiet acquaintanceship was formed, and for Jay, that is better than what he expected.

XOXOXO

+ Another cheesy fic down!

+ Soledad did make a Mean Girls reference.

+ Thank you to Julie Togepi, It's-Bri-Again, Chipotlepeppers, Crazywriter9, and Irocketships for your reviews. Feedback helps me write better. 'Machinzzzzz', I have no idea what your review means but I appreciate you reading:)