8th grade is so awesome!

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'Riiiiiiiiing'

The alarm clock flew across the room, landing on a pile of dirty clothes, ringing furiously when the sleepy teenager punched it off the nightstand. He pulled the blanket over his head, trying hardly to ignore the ears-piercing sound of the clock. The thing that Ash Ketchum hated the most about school was the fact that he had to wake up so early. Apart from that, he liked going to school. He was a studious and smart student. This year, however, was going to be a bit harder for him. He was finally eighth grade, the last year in elementary school, and he was going to high school after that. New classmates, new teachers. First day in high school is like the first grade in elementary school. Everything is new to you.

Seeing that the clock wasn't going to give up so easily, Ash pushed the blanket off him and walked to the clock, stopped the alarm and stuffed it into the drawer. He whipped down the stairs, jumping from the fourth step directly on the kitchen floor, his socks sliding slightly on the wooden floor.

"Hey, mom!" he greeted the brown-haired woman, who was leaned over the sink, washing the dishes. Before she could greet him back, he already left the kitchen, leading to the bathroom. Mrs. Ketchum shook her head slowly.

"This boy is really excited to begin school." She murmured.

Ash washed his face, drying his face with a towel, rubbing so intensely that his face became a bit red, blood rushing to his cheeks. He brushed his teeth emphatically, rinsing his mouth with some fresh, cold water.

Back to his bedroom, he carefully got his uniform out of his wardrobe, trying not to tousle it. He put on the black pants, white shirt and red tie and combed his messy black hair. He could hear some voices coming from the kitchen. He recognized his friend's, Misty, voice shouting at him.

"C'mon Ash, we're gonna be late!" Ash walked down the stairs, looking at his friends. May, Misty and Brock, dressed in uniforms, were standing the kitchen. Misty crossed his arms, throwing him an angry glare. "Where have you been?"

"Don't worry, Mis." He calmed her down as he was putting on his shoes. "We'll arrive just in time."

--

The school's courtyard was filled with students when Ash and the group arrived, from the sheepish, little first graders to the tall, arrogant eighth grade students. Ash eyed a small group of eight grade students, standing near the wall of the school. In the middle of the group was Gary Oak, leaned against the wall and looking sneeringly at the first grade pupils.

"Look at those scared faces." He snickered. "We're going to have so much fun this year." The rest of the boys laughed. A little boy looked up at them, then tailed off scared. Ash frowned, walking confidently in front of them. Gary Oak had been his rival since they were little kids. Ash would do anything to show that he was better than Gary, even defending some little children of him and his band.

"Gary!" he almost shouted, startling two of the boys which had their back turned on him. "Just because you are eighth grade now, this doesn't mean you have the right to bully them." Gary pushed himself off the wall, advancing on Ash until they were face to face. Gary was taller than Ash and more muscular, and Ash quickly started to regret he had interfered.

"Ashy boy," Gary said with a smirk spreading on his lips. His hand stretched quickly and caught Ash's shoulder, squeezing him until he let out a small squeak of pain. "When are you going to learn this lesson?" Ash's hand tightened around his wrist, trying to make him loosen his grip. A voice behind him stopped Gary.

"What's going on here?" Gary let go of his shoulder immediately, taking a step backwards.

"I was just playing a bit with him." He said, before he turned around and left, his band going after him. Ash rubbed his shoulder gently and turned around to look at the person.

"Thank you." He said, then stopped. In front of him was a young man, not older than 20, with longish purple hair and black piercing eyes. Ash blushed slightly, lowering his head, trying to avoid his stare. He had never seen that boy before.

"You should have been more careful." He answered before turning around and leaving him alone. Ash watched him until he disappeared inside the school. He stood there for several minutes. Why was he feeling so distracted? Why those black eyes affected him so much? They were so…beautiful.

He shook his head, looking around for his friends. Misty went to greet Dawn, May was instructing her little brother Max. Finally, Ash eyed Brock, who was standing on a bench, looking extremely desolated after the most popular girl in school rejected him (again). He went over, sitting next to him.

"Don't tell me you asked her out again!" he said, placing a hand on Brock's back. "C'mon, Brock. There are a lot of pretty girls in this school." Much to his surprise, Brock's face lightened immediately.

"You're right, Ash. I'll go out with other girls and show her that I'm good enough for her." He stood up and started running through the courtyard towards a group of giggling seventh grade girls. Ash slapped his forehead. Brock will never change.

The first bell rang and Ash felt some weird shivers running down his spine as he sat between a curly brown haired girl and a green haired boy, both from his class, looking at the teachers. He was curious to see if there were new teachers. There were new teachers indeed, talking to the old ones and smiling encouragingly at the students, especially to the little ones.

Ash looked at the new teachers. Finally, Ash saw him, leaned against the wall, his purple locks falling over his face. Ash studied his handsome face features, his well defined cheek bones and sharp chin. He seemed lost in his thoughts, but he raised his head just in time to notice Ash staring at him. Ash blushed and lowered his head, just like he did the first time he was looking at him. There was something special about those eyes. They were special for him.

He elbowed the curly haired girl. "Who is that young man with purple hair?" he whispered in her ear.

"It's Ms. Paul Weiss." She replied. "He's the new Chemistry teacher." Ash nodded, looking again at the black-eyed boy. The new Chemistry teacher… This year was going to be harder than he expected.

--

Should I continue?