And hello there, dear readers! Welcome to my first published work on this site. I'm actually quite excited to write this, and hopefully you'll enjoy how this unravels. It's only six chapters, however. It'll be fairly short compared to what I'm hoping to write in the future.

Now, I'm actually quite a supporter of Amourshipping. It is by far my favorite shipping in the entire series, and I sincerely hope that Serena and Ash do become canon. This story, however, is leaned toward Pearlshipping, my second favorite. The characters will be quite OOC as they are in an AU. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.

Based off of Six Degrees of Separation by The Script, here you go.

Chapter One

First You Think the Worst is a Broken Heart

Not a single soul had seen the breakup coming.

Serena and Ash had been the type of couple that everyone envied. She was beautiful with honey-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and he was handsome with black spiked hair and chocolate guys that every female swore she could become lost into. They were always smiling when they were together, always laughing. No one had ever seen the two teenagers fight, and if someone had, word never got around.

They were the king and queen of the student body, and everyone knew it.

So when rumor had spread that the two had actually separated, every single student at Kalos High School was astonished. Who dumped who? Had there been a fight? Did someone cheat? What happened?

Neither Serena nor Ash wanted to divulge the information that the crowds so desperately wanted and craved. Serena Chamberlain spent her now-ample free time drawing and painting in the art wing of the school, and sometimes she could be heard playing the piano in the music room. Ash Ketchum had put in a significant amount of more effort into his athletics. While Serena still sat at the same lunch table with Hilda and Rosa – her two best friends – and their boyfriends, Ash had taken to sitting with Dawn Berlitz and Brock Takeshi at the far end of the lunchroom.

It wasn't as though everyone twiddled their thumbs away and patiently waited for either of them to let out what happened; there were questions, there were assumptions, there were rumors. Yet no one knew the absolute truth.

Rosa had attempted every method known to male and female to get her best friend to spill as to why she was now single, but Serena had simply brushed her off each time. Hilda had cornered the blonde-haired girl in the art room one day and threatened to use violence as a means to receive answers. Serena had laughed and called Hilda "crazy." So both girls had finally quit trying, and that was the end of it from Serena's group of friends.

Nate, Rosa's boyfriend, had been extremely close ever since the raven-haired boy started sitting with them at lunch and began to talk to him at their practices. Rosa ended up sending her brunette boyfriend on a mission to obtain information. Seeing as both boys were on the football team, it wasn't hard to find time to ask questions. The difficult part, however, was getting Ash to actually talk about Serena and their breakup. The only piece of information ever received was that "people needed to move on and explore other options."

Whatever the hell that meant.

So, in the midst of it all, no one knew the exact reason as to why the power couple of Kalos High had split up. And students were beginning to question whether or not they would ever find out.

It was pouring rain outside again, dark gray clouds obscuring the normally blue sky. The weatherman had predicted that it would storm today, but Serena hadn't really been listening to the news; she had been too busy trying to get ready for another day at school. The honey-blond had been running a tad bit late, and she had known that if she didn't hurry, she and her best friends would have ended up being late for first period.

Of course she didn't pay attention to the weatherman as he rattled on about the weather.

"Just as well," she said aloud, resting her head on her palm and clicking her iPhone off.

"What?" Lyra, a classmate of Serena's in second period, looked up from her iPad. "Did you say something?"

Serena shook her head. "Oh, no," she responded quickly, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "I was just thinking out loud, I guess." Her eyes locked with her brunette friend's for a moment before Serena looked away.

Lyra shrugged. "Okay,"

The blonde senior glanced down at her phone again, which was nestled between her thighs. The screen was black, and Serena clicked on the center button so she could look at her lock-screen photo. It was a picture of Aria and Ezra from Pretty Little Liars, one of her favorite shows. Serena, Hilda, and Rosa were obsessed with the television series; every Tuesday, the trio would get together at one of their houses to watch.

She sighed. I'm going to end up looking again, she thought dejectedly before unlocking the phone and coming into contact with a picture that made her heart ache. It was Ash and Dawn together under the bridge. Both had large smiles etched onto their faces, and Ash's brown eyes seemed to sparkle in the still-photograph. His black hair was spiked as usual, and he was wearing a dark brown hoodie and regular jeans.

Dawn looked fucking gorgeous as usual. She had blue-black hair styled in layers that suited her oval face perfectly. And as much as Serena hated to admit it, Dawn had some of the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. They were just so blue and full of depth, and they always hinted that Dawn was hiding something – a secret, maybe? And while Dawn was pale, she wasn't a sickly pale that most people made fun of. No, she had beautiful, almost porcelain skin and a body that had to have been sculpted by the gods themselves.

Yeah, Dawn was pretty. And Serena hated her for it.

It just wasn't fair. Why did everything have to be so screwed up in Serena's once perfect world? What had happened that made Ash decide to break up with her. Serena had never thought herself as a bad girlfriend. The blonde-haired girl had made sure that Ash had kept his independence whilst being in a relationship with her. Serena had never been the clingy type anyways.

So why exactly did Ash dump her after over two years of dating?

Serena had a suspicion that concerned Dawn, and she didn't like it.

Ash and Dawn had been spending more and more time together, and sometimes, Ash would have brushed off dates with Serena to hang with his new "friend." Serena had tried not to mind at first. She knew what it was like to have friends and feel that urge to hang out with them. But not once had the blonde bailed on a date because of her friends. The girl was capable of balancing friendships and relationships.

Serena scrolled up and down through Dawn's Instagram feed. It was the same routine she had been doing for the past two weeks. After she would stare at the photo of them together, Serena would stalk the blue-haired girl's entire page. Then she would move onto Ash's Instagram and glance at the two photos he had posted during his time over the Christmas holidays.

He had spent the three weeks with Dawn in Florida.

Serena was beyond pissed and beyond jealous. That should be me, she though angrily as she finally returned to the photo of Dawn and Ash. They just looked so happy, and it upset her to know that he could move on so fast from their relationship. Like what the hell? They hadn't even been separated for two months and he was already spending all of his free time with Dawn. It was no wonder as to why Serena was suspicious of his reasons for dumping her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek, and Serena reached up to catch it. She had already spent so much time crying over Ash, and yet, she couldn't seem to stop. Her heart felt so shattered and broken. Why did she have to be the one in pain? Ash seemed to being just fine. So why was it Serena spent much of her time crying over someone who didn't seem to love her anymore. Had their relationship meant nothing to him? It just wasn't fair.

Tch, whatever, she thought sullenly before closing out of the picture and sending a quick text to her best friends.

To: Hilda & Rosa

From: Serena

Are you up for some Cozumel after school? I'm totes craving Mexican!

She shoved her phone into her diamond-studded purse and attempted to finish the Calculus homework that was due next period. Serena had always been a procrastinator, and she knew it was one of her worst qualities. But when she had Physics first and a free period second, it was no wonder as to why she waited to do her schoolwork. But Calculus was easy, and she ended up finishing the work rather quickly.

Which was actually a terrible thing for her. She needed a distraction. Because every time she had a spare moment, her mind would flood with Ash.

Fuck.

It wasn't as though Serena wanted to still be in love with the douchebag; she didn't want to feel the aching pain in her heart anymore. She had purchased books from the local bookstore that had promised her surefire ways of getting over her recent breakup. "Block all forms of communication" was a line from one of the books. Serena had blocked Ash on Facebook, Twitter, hell even MySpace. His number was blocked and deleted from her phone. The only reason that she had never blocked him on Instagram was because she truly loved his account. He had such a vibrant page, and she didn't want to lose that just yet.

And when blocking all forms of communication did nothing to help her, Serena had begun to watch television shows that included Dr. Phil in an effort to find a way that would help her through the situation at hand. All that did was give her a more narrow view on the world, and she had established firm and clear opinions on topics such as rape, abortion, marriage, even the law itself. Who was she becoming?

Her depression only deepened. She paid to be hypnotized. Of course that didn't work. Television made it look so simple. The blonde tried meditating, and while her "ammmms" were sounding significantly better, she was still hurting on the inside. Every night, Serena would curl up in her room and just cry. She still loved Ash, and she desperately wanted to be with him.

Her phone buzzed from her purse.

To: Serena

From: Rosa

Hell yeah, I'm in! I'll pay too!

Serena grimaced. She loved Rosa – she really did. She was her best friend, after all. It just sometimes bothered her that Rosa could throw around money as though it was nothing. The brunette never really thought twice about using her credit card to buy unnecessary items, and most of times, she wasn't even using her own card. She would use her father's!

Now, Serena was wealthy herself. Her mother was a successful cosmetologist, and Grace Caldwell often traveled around the world to sell her own products. She was hardly home. Serena didn't really care anyways. Grace would only freak out if she saw her "perfect" daughter crying in her room every night.

Anthony would be the same way.

Anthony Caldwell was Serena's stepfather. He was the CEO of Tepig Live, the hottest music industry in the country. He was a kind man, and Serena could see that he truly loved her mother. But Anthony didn't really know how to treat his new stepdaughter. Serena kept him at an arm's length, and while she genuinely cared for the man, he wasn't her father. But he would often leave her a couple hundred dollars when he went out on his daily business, and she didn't really hesitate to take the money.

If this was going to be his only attempt at showing his love, then she was chill with it.

But Serena didn't spend her money on stupid things. She bought art supplies, school materials, and whatever she honestly thought she needed. Her wardrobe was fashionable, and it was probably a little more on the expensive side. Cute clothes were clothes after all. But Serena wanted to save up for as soon as she graduated. She wanted to travel the world and sell art.

Her phone buzzed again, this time with a confirmation from Hilda that she would join them for Cozumel.

Serena smiled. Her friends were so amazing. Both Hilda and Rosa were very pretty girls with a love for clothes. But that where the similarities ended. Rosa was more girly and sweet-natured. Hilda was a little more tomboyish and on the blunt side. They were so different but such good friends. And they always looked to Serena as the leader of their trio. She had the final say in anything they did, and sometimes, it felt as though they sought her approval. Serena both loved and hated her position.

"'Rena," a voice broke the girl out of her thoughts. She looked up at Lyra who was giving her a strange expression. "The bell rang."

"Oh, thank you!" Serena exclaimed before rushing to grab her things and leaving the guidance office. Calculus was her next class, and Serena did everything in her power to never be late. Wulfric hated her because she would always talk to Rosa.

Her third period was upstairs. As Serena jogged up the stairs, she caught sight of blue-black hair pressed against a wall. Dawn was in fierce make-out session with some guy with black spiky hair. Their hands were intertwined, and it looked as though things were getting heated between them. Serena rolled her eyes and continued to her class when she caught sight of who it was that Dawn was sharing spit with.

Ash.

Serena wanted to puke. Her suspicions had been correct. Ash had broken up with her for Dawn Berlitz, and now he was battling tongues in the stairwell.

Oh my God, Serena thought before she rushed past them, blinking back tears. Oh my God. Oh my God. She could feel her entire heart shattering as she thought of the new couple, the memory of them locking lips forever etched into her brain. To see them together honestly killed her on the inside, and she could no longer hold back the tears.

He really didn't love me, she thought as she walked into her Calculus class and took her place at her desk. She ignored Rosa and put her head down on the desk, wanting to block out everyone and everything. To know she had been dumped for another girl was a feeling that Serena didn't think she could handle. It just hurt so much.

The worst feeling was that of a broken heart, and Serena was experiencing it head on.

Hope you enjoyed! Leave a review, and until next time!