Many simple moments and a complicated love story… this was a sentence I randomly thought of while I was in the shower (is it just me, or is that, like, the best place to get inspirations?). Anyway, I really wanted to create a fanfic that was a) ikarishipping, b) included Paul's brother Reggie, I just love the stuff you can do when Reggie and Paul are in the same fanfic!, c) totally real-life, not in the Pokémon world. And so, the idea for this fanfic was born! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters. I hope that covers everything.
Simple Moments
Chapter 1- The Fall Dance-10/28-Evening
There she sat, Miss Dawn Hikari the wallflower, watching most of the student body of Woodsen High School dance and have fun. She glanced at the long row of chairs outlining the gigantic gym. They were pretty much empty, except for her, of course, and two geeky boys that couldn't seem to find a dance partner. Dawn sadly noted the fact that neither of them had asked her to dance. Not that she wanted to dance with them, but the gesture would have been nice.
Exactly why was she here again? She hated these dances. The only reason she would go is if she had some nice, cute boy to go with, but no one had ever asked her to a dance before, and she didn't have the nerve to actually ask a boy to go with her. No, Dawn was not at this dance because her prince charming had asked her to the dance and drove her in a limo, wearing a fancy white tuxedo with a black tie while she wore an elegant navy blue gown with a large black ribbon showing off her slim waist, her black high heels giving her the appearance that she was tall and graceful, then dancing every slow song with her prince and letting him kiss her good night when he took her home. Instead, she was dragged to the dance by her best friend May Maple after being forced into an short and itchy pink dress and black ballet flats (chosen after many failed attempts at walking in May's white high heels), then sitting lonely by herself while watching May being asked by Drew Hayden to dance twice and waiting for her to finally get tired and take Dawn home.
In short, she was miserable, and she wanted to leave and never come back. But she knew May would force her to come again. Dawn was too nice to refuse May, and she didn't want to hurt her friend. Really, May just wanted some encouragement and someone to go to in an emergency, where was the harm in that? How would May know that Dawn would be sitting by herself the whole three hours with no one to talk with?
Just as Dawn was thinking this, the wallflower was suddenly accompanied by a…a…what was the opposite of a wallflower? A floor flower, perhaps? Maybe a floor flower, since this boy would usually be on the dance floor during these kinds of things. The floor flower was none other than Kenny what's-his-face (Dawn could never remember his last name). The reddish-head plopped himself down on the chair next to her without a word. Dawn just stared at him. The idea of someone like Kenny sitting down next to her during a dance was unthinkable. Kenny was actually semi-popular. On a scale of one to ten on popularity, he would be a 5.5. Dawn, on the other hand, would be a negative two. That was a whole 7.5 popularity point difference. Regardless, this boy was sitting next to Dawn. It had to be a mistake.
Kenny turned his head after a good fifteen seconds (Dawn had been counting). "Um, is it alright if I sit here?"
Now you ask me. "Um, sure, why not?"
"Cool," Kenny said, nodding his head nonchalantly, or, at least, attempting at nonchalance. It wasn't really working, but Dawn didn't mind.
"So, um, why aren't you out there, you know, dancing with your, um, friends or something?" God Dawn, can you even TRY to talk like a normal person?
Kenny seemed surprised by this question. "Oh! Um, well, I was just, um, tired. Besides" Kenny took a deep breath and attempted a nice smile, "aren't you my friend, too?"
Dawn fought hard not to raise an eyebrow. Um, hello, you're in two of my classes, and we sit on opposite sides of the room. "Sure, okay."
Kenny breathed out a sigh of relief. "So why aren't you out there dancing? I saw May somewhere, are you too still…?" Kenny trailed off.
Still what? Do you realize a million different things could have ended that sentence? "Yeah, we're still friends."
"Cool. Cool." Kenny started with the nodding again. "Yeah, May's a nice girl."
"Mhmm." Dawn honestly had no idea what to say, and she was scared that if she did say something, it would sound stupid, so she kept pretty quiet.
There was an awkward silence before Kenny broke in with another question. "So, you into music or…?" Kenny once again trailed off.
"Yeah, isn't everyone?"
Kenny once again failed at nonchalant nodding. He was quiet for a time, until he realized the question was not rhetorical and Dawn was waiting for a response. "Oh! Um, sure?"
Why is this guy as high as he is on the popularity scale? Dawn wondered. This guy's an idiot. Or maybe, is it something else? She watched Kenny closely and could see his forehead was shiny, he kept rubbing his hands on his pant legs, and his eyes flicked around the room nonstop. Is he...nervous?
"So, you like wearing pink, huh?" Dawn asked, grinning despite herself.
"Um, yeah, sure, all the time." Kenny didn't notice his mistake at all, just continued looking about the room.
Yep, this guy's nervous. And sweating like a pig. Gross. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom really quick."
"Sure, sounds cool," Kenny said without turning to her.
Dawn quickly slipped out of the gym and walked down the hall to the bathroom. Thank God I get a few seconds away from him. She yanked open a stall door, locked it, and sat down on the toilet for a few moments to herself.
"Did you see how many times Drew Hayden danced with May Maple?"
"Yeah, aren't they dating?"
"No, but they might as well be. They obviously like each other."
Plus for me, I get to listen to some gossip I wouldn't otherwise hear. You know, since I have pretty much no friends and all. Dawn leaned forward so she could hear the girls' voices better.
"That's so cute! I always thought they would make a great couple." Dawn grinned when she heard this statement. Why did May need any encouragement at all? Sounds like she'll be dating Drew any day now.
"Yeah, but what about Drew Hayden's ex?"
"I don't think she would do anything to Drew if he started dating someone else."
"Who knows what Melanie's thinking…she's kind of…off."
"Huh, I sure hope she doesn't do anything. Anyway, did you hear?"
"Hear about what?"
"About Kenny?"
Kenny? Dawn put her ear on the stall door.
"Yeah, apparently he likes some girl and is planning on asking her out tonight."
"Oh, yeah! I did hear about that! Who was the girl again? Danielle or something?"
"No, it was something like Dawn, I think. I've never heard of this girl or anything before. Does she even go to this school?"
"Oh, Dawn! Dawn Hikari! Yeah, she goes to our school, she's in my English class! But she never goes to dances or anything, why would she be here?"
"I don't know, but apparently she is, and she's going to have a boyfriend by tomorrow."
"That is if she says yes."
The girls' voices got quieter as they walked out the bathroom. "Of course she will. She's a nobody, and if she can snag someone like Kenny, she will go for it."
…Ouch. So that's why Kenny was so nervous. But why is he asking me out? I've talked to him maybe twice in my life…
-Thinking back-
Last year
"Um, hey, can I borrow a pencil for the quiz?"
"P-pencil? Um, uh, sure, I guess. Let me just get the, um, dirt and stuff off it." He quickly turns his head, brings the pencil up to his lips, turns back, and hands the pencil to Dawn. "Here."
"Thanks."
Two months later
"Um, are you going to that, um, thing tonight?"
"Thing?" Who the heck is this kid? Kenny, right?
"Um, where you, uh dance?"
"You mean the spring dance?"
"Yeah! I mean, um, yes."
"No, I've got homework to do."
"Oh, um, okay."
-Back to the present-
Okay, maybe those conversations actually meant something to Kenny…he's an odd one. But I can't stay here any longer. I don't want to hurt Kenny…
She walked out the bathroom, first checking the hallway to see if the coast was clear. Then she quietly walked down the hallway, planning her escape route. The exit is in the gym, so my only chance is if I go out the front entrance on the other side of the school… Suddenly, a person entered her field of vision. Squinting, she determined it was not Kenny. This person was much taller and more toned. And the person was walking in her direction.
As the person walked closer, Dawn recognized who it was. No way. This guy was a total ten on the popularity scale, and the hotness scale, and quite possibly the awesomeness scale, in Dawn's opinion. It was Paul Shinji, dark-lavender haired, onyx-eyed, mysterious, and, most importantly to most of the female student body, single. Not that Dawn actually cared about that. She was more concerned with the fact she would be within a five-foot radius of him.
Might as well say hi, maybe he'll say hi back. That would be AWESOME. When Paul was close enough, maybe two feet away, Dawn began the most carefully thought out and important sentence she'd ever say in her life. "Hi, aren't you-"
BAM. Something covered her mouth and dragged her into the nearby closet. Dawn was freaking out. She wanted to scream, or at least turn her head to see who the heck pulled her into the closet, but the hand on her mouth wouldn't let her. She was breathing heavily, but she could still make out a few voices from the hallway outside.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know, Allie, but he's here somewhere."
"Let's keep going."
The three voices grew quieter and quieter as they walked away, and soon, Dawn couldn't hear them anymore. The hand on her mouth fell down so that she could actually talk and turn her head. "Listen here-" Dawn began, but trailed off as she took in the figure in the closet with her, barely two inches away.
"Paul Shinji?" Dawn was having a mental freak out. The hottest guy in my high school dragged me into a closet with him?
Paul put a finger up to his lips without looking at Dawn. He was studying the door, as if he could tell whether the voices were nearby or not by staring intently at the piece of wood. After a few good seconds of deafening silence, Dawn spoke. "Um, assuming we're past formalities since you just pulled me into a closet, what the heck are you doing?"
Paul finally looked at her. Dawn had heard rumors about his eyes, since she had never actually seen them before. She had heard they were a dark shade of grey, a very rare color. If they had a temperature, they would be cold, icy cold like the tip of the tallest mountain. If they could have endless depth, they would be as deep as the ocean. And if they could portray one trait of his, it would be his no-nonsense attitude, or maybe his mysterious desire to keep to himself. It was these eyes, among other things, that made the student body flock to him and made them give him some breathing space. Everyone knew not to mess with Paul Shinji. Dawn could see why, looking for the first time into his eyes.
"Shush," was all he said, and he continued to stare at the door.
Dawn didn't care about what they said about Paul Shinji. All she knew was that she did NOT like being dragged into a hot, muggy closet with a person she didn't know, and she knew that she wanted to get out of the closet.
"Tell me what you're doing. I don't like being put in closets." Dawn's voice was barely a whisper when Paul turned back to her.
"Shush," he said again, a bit more urgently.
Dawn was now irritated. She wanted out. "Tell me what you're doing or I'll scream."
Paul looked at her, but Dawn looked right back at him, her expression saying "you know I can and will".
Paul narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm hiding, you troublesome girl."
Dawn narrowed her eyes back at him. "Geez, what made you so irritated? I'm the one you pulled into a closet."
"And you're the one who won't shut up about it."
God, what is up with this guy? "Well, most people would like to know why they were pulled into a closet. I mean, what do you expect? That I'll say 'oh, wow, Paul Shinji's in a closet with me! I won't ask him any questions because I think he's so awesome'."
This time, Paul looked at her with a smirk. "Most girls would, actually."
"Wow, not only are you irritated all the time, but you also have a gigantic ego. That's nice. Now tell me what's going on or I'm leaving and telling everyone you pulled me into a closet." Dawn crossed her arms and turned away, accenting her point.
"So you're assuming everyone will take it the wrong way?" Dawn glanced at him and found that he was still smirking.
"I might," Dawn said, still keeping her head turned.
"And what will happen when I tell them you're actually the one who pulled me into the closet and blamed me when I wanted to leave?"
"But I didn't-" Dawn realized what he was saying. She crossed her arms again. "Fine then, I'm staying right here. Now give me some answers."
Paul sighed, annoyed. "Some girls were stalking me. Apparently one of them was trying to ask me out."
"Huh," Dawn thought, thinking back to what the girls in the bathroom were saying. I guess we're in the same boat. Might as well capitalize on this opportunity. "So are you trying to sneak out?"
"Of course, why would I go back to the dance if the girls are still there?"
Dawn grinned. "Take me with you."
"What?"
"You're taking me home."
Paul was absolutely shocked. "Why in the world? I don't even know you."
"Dawn Hikari, junior, 1735 NE Cherry Blossom Street."
"And saying that makes me know you now?"
"Yes, it does. See, the thing is, I kind of have the same problem as you, which is really odd, because this has never happened to me, and I'm sure it happens to you every day." Dawn didn't know what made her spew out all this information. Something about Paul made her talk too much. Maybe I'm nervous? "I mean, you are Paul Shinji. But why am I telling you this? A guy with an ego as big as yours thinks this is common knowledge. Anyway, a guy wants to ask me out, but, honestly, he's annoying and a barely know him. And I have no idea why he's asking me out. I would assume it's a prank, but he seemed really weird while he was talking to me tonight. So we're both in the same situation, and I have no ride home, so I thought, if you're leaving, too, you might as well take me home. So yeah."
Paul raised an eyebrow. He obviously wasn't expecting such a long speech coming from the little blunette. Noting his expression, Dawn turned her head away, slightly embarrassed. Now there's probably no way he'll take me home. What was I thinking?
Paul was silent, his eyebrow still raised. Dawn's face flushed. "Um, sorry to go off like that. I probably shouldn't have asked you for such a big favor, and you don't really know me. I don't know what I was thinking. Um, I'll leave I guess."
"Huh," Paul finally said. Dawn looked back at him, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Finally, he spoke. "You may be troublesome, but you have a point. Let's go."
"What?" Dawn was confused.
"I'm taking you home, Troublesome. Come on," Paul said, irritability present in his voice. He continued speaking, ignoring the disbelief on Dawn's face. "Now, we're going to have to do this so that no one sees us. I'll go first and start my car. Count to sixty before you leave. Go down the hallway to the left and go out the back door by the math hall. No one ever uses it so you probably won't be seen. If anyone asks where you're going, just tell them you're looking for your lost earring. Don't look anyone in the eye; you might give yourself away. I'm parked on the street across from the school. It's a black convertible. When I see you, I'll flash my lights twice. Get over to the passenger side, but don't act like that's where you're going. Then get in the car and I'll drive you home. Okay?"
Dawn's eyes were wide open with surprise and relief that Paul was taking her home and shock at how fast he had made a plan and how much she had to remember. She gaped at him.
Paul sighed. "It seems not only are you troublesome, but you're stupid, too. Do you remember what I just said?" Paul asked, annoyed.
Dawn nodded, but honestly she had only been half listening.
"Alright then, I'll go then. Remember, count to sixty." Dawn nodded again. She had remembered that.
Paul left without another word. Dawn put her ear up to the door. She could hear another voice.
"Hey, Paul, whatcha doing in that closet? Got a girl in there?" The voice chuckled.
"No, I just lost something yesterday and I thought the janitor might have picked it up," Paul responded coolly, ignoring the voice's joke.
"Aw, sorry man. Did you find it?"
"No, but it didn't mean that much anyway."
"Well, if it means anything to you, the guys and I will keep our eyes out for it. What was it?"
"My spare house key."
"Heck man, that's bad. We wouldn't want anyone getting into that monstrosity of a house of yours. I'll make sure I keep my eyes out for it."
Dawn could hear footsteps and knew the owner of the voice had walked away. Suddenly, she remembered that she had to count to sixty. Oh, crud, I forgot! Let's see, if I had started counting when I was supposed to, maybe I would be at sixty right…now.
With that, Dawn opened the closet door and popped her head out. She looked to the right. No one. She looked to the left. Oh, God! There was Paul, looking right at her.
"Get back in there," he mouthed to her.
"Right, sorry," she mouthed back, quickly slamming the door, then put her head in her hands for doing so. Why am I so stupid?
"Hey Paul, what was that?" Another voice appeared from the other side of the door.
"Nothing, Drew, that was a door from down the hall," Paul replied as coolly as before.
"You sure? I could've sworn that was coming from right here…" The doorknob started jiggling. Dawn sunk back as deep as she could in the closet and covered herself with a nearby rag.
"I'm sure. That's just the janitor's closet. What, do you expect to find May in there?" Even though she couldn't see him, Dawn could tell he was smirking.
"Shut up," Drew said. The doorknob stopped jiggling. "Let's go back to the dance floor."
"No, I'm leaving. I feel a little nauseous."
"I'm sorry, I hope you feel better. See you later." Footsteps indicated that Drew had left the hallway, presumably to go back to the gym.
Huh, I'll have to tell May what Paul said…but if I did, I would have to explain how I overheard him, and then how I got into a closet, and then how Paul dragged me into the closet, and that would mean May taking it the wrong way. I can't lie to her. Maybe I'll just keep that to myself.
Then Dawn remembered to count to sixty and began doing so. When she was finished, she once again popped her head out the door and searched the hallway. There was no one. Quickly, she slipped out and quietly shut the door. Alright, so I was supposed to go left to…where was the door again? Um…the math hall! Right!
Dawn turned left and searched for the math hall. Let's see…there's the science hall…there's the language hall…and there's the math hall! She walked down the math hall. Where was the door again? Oh yeah, it was by the math hall.
She walked out of the math hall and found the exit door by the entrance to the math hall. Here we go, now I'll just go out here and…
"Where ya goin', little lady?"
Dawn jumped and turned around. Phew. It was just the janitor. I hope he doesn't mind that I was in his closet for a little while…
Dawn remembered that he had asked her a question and was waiting for an answer. "Oh! Um-" What did Paul tell me…? Oh yeah! "I'm looking for an earring. I thought it might be outside."
"Ah, okay. Just makin' sure you weren't tryin' to sneak out or nothing." The janitor chuckled to himself. Dawn tried laughing along, but it didn't really work. "So, what does this earring o' yers look like?"
Crud, what do I say now? Why can't I be as smooth a liar as Paul? She started describing the first pair of earrings that popped into her mind. "Well, it's silver, and it looks like a small rose."
"Huh," said the janitor, looking closely at her ears. "You mean like the ones ya have on right now?"
"Uh…" Oh crud, what is wrong with you! "I, um, have, uh, two pairs. Yeah. See, my mom really liked these ones, and, uh, I got another pair for her…for Mother's Day."
"Uh-huh. Ya realize Mother's Day ain't 'til May?"
"Oh! Yeah! Um…" Think fast, Dawn! What would Paul say? "I wasn't sure if these ones would be in store until May, so I bought these early just in case."
"Alright then, little lady. You can look around outside for 'em. Just make sure ya come right back after. Them teachers don't want any kids leaving 'til the dance is done."
"Okay, um, thanks." Dawn ran outside the door, relieved she had gotten out of that situation. How does Paul do that so easily?
From across the street, she could see a car flash its lights. Right, that's Paul car. She tried acting cool as she made it across the street, but she forgot to check both ways and made a car slam its brakes so that it wouldn't crash into her. Then, after letting the car go by, she tripped on a bump in the road and scratched her knee. Nice going, Dawn. You can't even walk across a street. She made her way over to the passenger's side of the black car, opened the door, and sat in the seat. "Um, sorry about-" She froze. The man in the driver's side was not Paul, instead some football player-looking guy, a confused look on his face. Dawn's eyes grew wide. "Woops, um, wrong car." Dawn scrambled out of the care and slammed the door. Three cars down, another car flashed its lights. She walked over to it and sat down in the passenger seat without a word.
After taking a deep breath, she turned to Paul. One eyebrow was raised, but his eyes said nothing.
"Okay, look, apparently I'm not the best as sneaking out," Dawn said, trying to make up for her recent failure at escaping the school.
"No kidding," Paul said, smirking.
"Shut up." Dawn crossed her arms.
"I'm assuming that mix up with the cars wasn't the only problem?"
Dawn narrowed her eyes at Paul. "Why do you think that?"
"I saw your expression coming out of the building."
"Fine then," she said, "I might have almost gotten busted by the janitor."
Paul kept back a snort. "What did you do?"
"I told him the earring thing, then he asked for a description of them, so I described the first pair that came into my head, which happened to be the pair I was wearing. I had to make up some story about having a second pair of the same earrings to give to my mother for Mother's Day."
"Mother's Day?"
"Just shut up and drive."
Paul shrugged with a smirk, shifted the car into reverse, and soon they were on their way to Dawn's house. Paul glanced at her for a second then quickly turned his head and started paying attention to the road.
End of Chapter 1
Yay, it's done! That was probably the longest first chapter of anything I've ever written! I'm very proud of this.
So the whole idea of this fanfic is that each chapter will be in a different place. So, for example, next chapter will be "Dawn's house", because that's the next place Dawn will be. But the whole second chapter will be at Dawn's house. It will not shift settings until the third chapter. I hope that makes sense.
As always, thank you for reading, reviewing, whatever you do that may help with the writing of this fanfic. Remember, even criticism helps. I accept it all! Except for unnecessary rudeness. That never helps, just saying. Not that I've actually gotten any of that, but I'm just saying.
Anyway, thanks!