JENNY

Jenny and Kishi leant against the side of the coach, their packs safely stored inside it along with the rest of the students'. Jenny's hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she was wearing khaki cargo pants and a turquoise blue long-sleeved shirt. Her hiking boots had traces of irremovable mud along the sides, but that mud was flaking off onto her thick blue socks.

She watched James and Gary handball a football back and forth, and then diverted her focus to Cassidy and Snap making out on a park bench nearby.

The two Year 10 buses and their soon-to-be passengers were waiting at Cerulean Park for they're overweight, sweaty bus-driver, who was having a smoke under a tree.

"What a feral," Joy noted bitchily, herself and good friend Jessibelle wandering up to Jenny and Kishi's side.

Jenny's hair prickled...was Joy referring to her?

"I know, that guy contradicts the entire theory of everybody having their own beauty!" Jessibelle cackled.

Jenny didn't find it at all amusing, but she noticed Kishi's mouth stretch into a grin, and suddenly everyone was laughing. Everybody except her. Everyone except Jenny. It seemed like that sentence was becoming her reflection of life, judging by the current events.

"I bet there are wild animals in his butt-hair!" Kishi blurted, and set everyone off laughing again.

"I bet you could hide a 747 in his nose!" Joy chimed in.

"I bet you could land helicopters on his man-boobs!" Jessibelle exclaimed hysterically. Kishi and Joy couldn't barely themselves laughing, and Jessibelle was well and truly beyond control.

"Oh dear," Kishi sighed, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

Finally Jessibelle's laughter slowed to a cease, decreasing in both speed and volume until it had completely stopped.

"I bet he smells a little bit, too," she added with purposeful understatement. Kishi and Joy laughed again, but the joke was over.

Jenny just leant there looking rather dour, which caused Joy to get a bit nasty.

"What's the matter with you today, Jen? Nervous?"

Jenny stiffened. That was the snide comment she'd been expecting to hear from Joy ever since Jessibelle had dumped Butch. Well now she'd heard it, what was she to say? On one hand, she didn't want Joy to walk all over her, and on the other hand, she didn't want bitches like Jessibelle and Cassidy on her case.

"Nah," she said with a sweet smile "Just a bit tired,"

Joy cast Jessibelle an amused raised eyebrow, and Jenny tried to ignore it. God, could things get any worse? She hated being walked all over, by people as previously mousy as Joy or those as assertive as Brock.

This camp, she vowed, I'm gonna tell these guys where to get off. She looked at Joy's smirking face and sighed inwardly. Everything was changing.

JAMES

James looked wistfully at Gabby. He tried to imagine her as knowing something about himself that no-one else did, like she was his private confident. He'd wanted things to change after he'd broken down in front of her. He'd expected them to grow so much closer.

Well they hadn't. They'd remained the distant friends of old, and Gabby was still more interested in talking to Jessi (of all people), or flirting with Gary.

Well perhaps not flirting, James considered, punching the ball to Gary, but getting close. Perhaps good-friends close, or perhaps not-so-subtle hints close.

Suddenly James felt really bad, it wasn't really any business of his what they did. He should be happy for him, and he would be, if he truly did love Gabby, and wasn't just holding her as a prize for his vanity.

James stared on, completely out of it, as a red Sherrin football buzzed his nose.

"Ya let that one go, man!" Gary hooted.

James looked at the football bouncing away, and then at Gabby flouncing away. He'd let one go, alright.

ASH

"ALRIGHT KIDS! BUS!" yelled the mental busdriver as he unceremoniously picked his wedgie and got his legs into gear. "If yer not in it by the time I'm there, I'll leave yer behind, got it?"

Ash raced for the door of the bus where most of the Year 10s had gathered. The other bus, stretched out like a monolithic white slug behind it, was near deserted, save the popular kids.

"Hey! Kishi! Tracy! Lance! Jen! Come on the second bus with me!" Ash yelled, leading them up to the doors of the bus to be driven by a more placid looking guy, with a ginger beard and owl spectacles. Ash and his friends boarded the bus and carefully selected seats in the middle, in this order;

Hitmonchan

Ash Jenny

Kishi Lance

Tracy

They were all very careful to spread themselves out so as they would take up the entire seats, so as not to have undesirables seated next to them.

Ash watched as the trickle of kids slowly but surely filled up the bus, each making sure they had an entire seat for themselves, saving Cassidy and Snap, who were wedged tightly into the first seat from the back together, arms around eachothers shoulders.

"They are so cute," Kishi commented to Lance. He smiled and nodded as the bus roared into life and pulled onto the road with a mighty grunt and shove.

Ash stroked his chin, wondering if possibly there could be something on between them. They always left school together, and headed in the same direction as well. In fact, you often didn't see one without the other. He looked at there faces for enlightenment, both Kishi and Lance had a light flush dusting their cheeks...could something actually really be going on after all?

His mind still wandering and his mood not for talking, he shifted his gaze to Jenny, whose pretty face was wrung tightly with preoccupation. A rush of emotion hit him, something forgotten since they had gone on their first date. He suddenly felt really bad, after all the troubles that Misty had brought him, he'd abandoned Jenny.

"Excited?" Lance asked blandly, keeping the beginning conversation to its most basic form.

"Yeah," Kishi smiled, but her face remained still.

"You bet," Jenny said with such a lack of enthusiasm that Ash wondered for the rest of that day why she didn't say 'no'.

"I am," was the response Ash opted for, though he said it in such a way that it revealed nothing of what he really felt.

"Same," Lance smiled warmly, exchanging a small glance with Kishi.

"Yeah, it'll be good," Tracy replied genuinely "A lot of fun,"

Ash nodded, his mind fixed on Lance and Kishi's odd body language. Surely that was the biggest clue that there was something going on between them.

"*I'll get to battle some tough hillbilly Pokemon*" Hitmonchan said gruffly, raising his gloved fists in false anger.

"It's a good experience," said Kishi with little conviction.

"Mmm," Ash nodded.

"Good to get away from the homework, too," Jenny said boldly, her chocolate eyes narrowing uncharacteristically.

Such a shock was this to Ash, to see her look so bitter, that it rendered him speechless for a good few moments. And then, at the end of that time, Jenny's harsh face seemed to slump, rearranging itself non-commitedly to form the sweet mask that it always had.

Ash's back unstiffened, and he breathed out with inaudible relief.

"Truly, I am the master, but you will find method to my madness!" hailed a familiar voice as he sat himself behind Lance. "Hey Ash, Kishi!"

"Hi Gary," Kishi smiled.

"Hey, man!" Ash cried, slapping his friend a high five.

Gary raised an eyebrow and smirked teasingly at Lance. "Hey, Lance me bro!"

Lance raised his middle finger slowly and scathingly, and then broke into a grin. Two seats behind him, Hitmonchan was rubbing his hands together greedily, as though Gary was a big, buttery strawberry danish that he was about to polish off, but of course, the reality was something less sugarcoated.

Gary puffed himself up, stuck out his chest and said in what he seemed to believe was an Austrian accent and declared "I no waste my effort on you. You puny human specimen, me prime human specimen,"

There were several laughs behind him, and always the comedian, he stood up on the moving bus to accept them. And of course, when one stands up on a moving bus there is generally only one place they end up. Gary ended up there, and he complained of a swollen @$$ for the rest of the trip.

MISTY

Misty had wisely chosen the first bus, there were no annoying geeks like Kishi, and no stupid bimbos like Jessibelle. It was a perfect situation, though there was of course the matter of Brock from a seat behind that kept staring at her, and Jessi on the other side of the aisle was giving her daggers.

Misty crossed her pale arms over her bare stomach, wishing for her sake that she hadn't worn the indigo belly-top, anything to stop Brock's libidinous glances. Besides, Brock was supposed to be going out with that feral scrag Jenny.

Misty's eyebrows tilted into the middle evilly. If I tell that stupid slut, Jenny, that her f***ed up boyfriend tried to crack onto me, she'll dump him for sure...

But is that what you really want to happen? Taunted her mind, because then the most likely result will be Jenny running to Ash, and him welcoming her with open arms.

Misty's smile dropped several degrees in its baneful quality. She knew she shouldn't care about that freak, but part of her still did, very much so indeed.

BUTCH

Butch caught a glimpse of himself seated at the front seat on the left in the rear view mirror. He was looking very gothic, though without a trenchcoat. That lack, however, was made up for a studded dog collar, black kohl lined eyes and black attire. His looks were almost frightening, something he never would have dreamed have looking like when he was with Jessibelle.

It still occurred to him how softly he said her name, as though he wanted to blame the sins of Satan upon her, but his soul wasn't strong enough.

Feeling rather poetic he removed a small object (his notebook, covered black, funnily enough) from his pocket and opened it and scrawled in his last statement.

I'm a bitter soul, he thought momentarily, though before a chance to finish his sentence was obtained, it was brutally dislodged from his head as the bus lurched forward on a bump in the road.

His neck swiveled around to look out of the window at the scrolling scenery. For a second his mind shifted back to his motorbike races, just the way the road blurred beneath him and the buildings swept by. Perhaps he shouldn't have given it up, but after he'd stacked it that time...

As quickly as the sudden memory pang had hit him, it fled him, and he was left to ponder why, even in his most resentful moods, he was never able to escape the tenderness he'd felt for Jessibelle.

GABBY

Gabby noticed James quietly staring at her, and she nervously thrust herself into Cassidy and Snap's conversation.

"Weepinbell most definitely has a bigger mouthspan than Victreebel." She giggled anxiously, spouting the first thing to enter her mind.

Looking rather annoyed, Cassidy nodded in bewilderment. It wasn't like Gabby to jibber like that, much less loose her composure.

Oh crap, Gabby cursed mentally, now Cass thinks I'm nuts. Damn! But it sure stopped James staring at me...what is his problem...and when will Gary come back so I can talk to him and steer clear of James?

Gabby picked up the clasp of her silver charm bracelet between two fingers, twisting it around the chain insistently. She vaguely noted that the bracelet fiddling was becoming a little nervous idiosyncrasy of hers, and her popular peers did not look highly upon nervous little idiosyncrasies.

"So, Gabs, looking forward to camp?" inquired Cassidy, straightening out a crease mark in her red basketball T-shirt.

"Ah...kinda..." she responded, her answer ending more like a question than a return.

"I am, heaps of photo opportunity," Snap chimed in enthusiastically, placing his arm around Cassidy's shoulders again.

"Hey, I am trying to keep this top straight!" Cassidy lamented jokily, batting Snap's arm away. He laughed and then threw himself forward to kiss her.

Gabby looked away, Cass and Snap had obviously closed off her part in the conversation.

A minute later, Cassidy exclaimed, "Now my lipstick is ruined!"

JOY

Joy was seated close to the back, across the aisle from Jessibelle. It was the first time she'd ever sat so near to the popular group, and to tell the truth it kind of unnerved her. She wasn't sure when she should speak, what she should say, how to obtain the right consistency of conversation and silence...all the popular kids were so effortlessly cool, how she envied them.

How she envied Cassidy and Snap, too, for their picture-perfect stable relationship. She herself had never been in a relationship before, save an unfortunate moment with Butch, though that was never a relationship. She was partly jealous of Jenny too, for it seemed Jenny could get guys if she wanted them. Joy had never tried to get a guy, not outright, and she'd never really had any strong feelings for one particular one. She knew Jenny had, and back in the Before Butch times, Jenny's wild crushes had annoyed her. Now it was just Jenny as a whole that annoyed her.

Jenny was being so uptight and edgy around her, as though grumpily intimidated. Or in the shits. But Joy didn't know what she'd ever done to her; Jenny was just being stupid, cracking it for no reason at all.

Her mind drifted a little. She was feeling like she should have a crush on someone, just so that she could make conversation with Jessibelle. It embarrassed her to hear of Belle's many amorous encounters, when she had nothing to compare. Well, she had something, but was far too uncomfortable to bring that up between them.

She wondered if she would ever freely tell Jessibelle about her experience with Butch. That night at the party he'd told her that he had admired her for so long from afar, and wanted to get close. Sure, he had been drunk, but his eyes still gleamed truthfully. Had Belle known that she and Butch had been drifting apart, or indeed that he had fancied another girl?

Joy wanted to ask Belle those very questions, but her reticentness held her back. Perhaps on camp the truth would come out.

JESSI

"Nowwww...whoa!" Mr. Gyabunga started, trying to stand upright at the front of the bus, and tripping unsuccessfully when the bus lurched forward.

Jessi pretended not to listen and picked at one of the many clearing scabs on her legs, both from Cassidy's attack and the bicycle accident.

"OK, well...have you all got your Pokemon? I hope you all have because as you'll remember last week we announced that Pokemon was a necessity for this trip, but if you forget them we'll be stopping in Lavender for an amenity sojourn and you can use the Transporter in the Pokecenter. Any questions?"

Brock stuck up his hand self-consciously. "What is an 'amenity sojourn'?"

"Going to the dunny," Mr. Gyabunga hissed, causing several kids to laugh.

Even if she had been in the mood, Jessi wouldn't have laughed at Mr. Gyabunga's lame attempts at a joke. All through the excruciating three weeks of exams leading up to camp he had speculated the cause of her visible injuries, announcing a new derivation every day.

That un-caring, humor-seeking attitude had driven her wild with the rage that so often consumed her. He didn't have any right at all to put himself above her and try to turn her sufferings into a raillery.

At least that was one thing she and Misty shared; a mutual hatred for Mr. Gyabunga.

She turned to look at Misty then, watching her occupied face curdle with scathing and bitter thoughts. The timid Misty of old was being replaced by some kind of beast.

I know it isn't really good of me to talk, Jessi told herself mentally, but Misty has changed into the biggest bitch I've ever met, even more then Cassidy. Before I used to hate her because she was so much the moppet, but now I don't think I have the confidence to even openly glare at her now. She's creepy.

Jessi looked at Misty's stupid midriff top. Not only was she a total bitch but also dressed like cheap trash.

A sudden flash of memory made Jessi whirl her head away in sorrow and shame. She remembered the day at the cafeteria when James had called her a tart.

I'd had my blouse unbuttoned almost all the way, my skirt was hitched up...I'd talked like an eight-year old trying to shock, my make-up was an over-applied mess...God, I was so f***ing stupid, how could that unchaste cow be me?

Jessi shivered. It was who she was, and she shouldn't care. She'd vowed to be respectable after that, but looking at her face in the driver's mirror she saw nothing of that dream. It had all been in her mind, that she had been glamorous and clean-cut. Really she had been overdone, under-dressed and coquette-like.

But then, who said there was nothing unattractive about that? She was Jessi after all, and she wasn't going to change for anybody except herself. She pitied the days when James had had that effect on her. She would have done anything for him, and he'd shitted her. Well she wasn't going to let that ever happen to her again. She deserved so much better than she was getting. She wasn't going to let Cassidy phase her, or let Misty irk her, or even let James speak to her.

She was renewed, refreshed, and reborn...

But then, what good was a new emancipated self with no one to share it with? Her mouth set itself into a tight frown, her eyebrows raised in thought, she turned again, looking towards the back of the bus. She didn't exactly see the desired figure, but the thought was there.

The thought was very much there.

She frantically smoothed back her wild flame of her with her palms, and applied a heavy coating of cherry lip-gloss.

Then, with a satisfied smile she sank back into her seat. Anyone would think she was trying to impress someone, but that wasn't on her cards at all. She was just happy, and she wanted the world to see it.

GARY

Gary waved to his friends and then traipsed comically to the back of the bus, winking happily at Gabby, who blushed, and quickly neglected her anxious bracelet twisting action.

"Hey Gary!" she called with her usual confidence, throwing James a worried glance, "Come sit next to me!" she gestured the space next to her with one hand.

"Righty-o, woman," he responded, using the metal handle on the seat in front of him to swing farcically onto Gabby's lap.

"Get off!" she giggled, pushing him over onto the vacant position next to her.

"But you love me," he grinned.

"Yeah," she said in joking resignation "I gotta love ya,"

Gary did a silly smile to play up his audience, silently thanking himself for being so wonderful. He looked discreetly at Cassidy, and her questioning look. For a second he thought he saw a little regret dance across her face, but within that instant it was gone.

Gary looked away, neglecting his comedious act, switching his mind to Cassidy. Is it possible that, his overconfident mind asked, that she is regretting not going out with me when I asked? After all, I am a highly desirable male, popular and single. Who wouldn't want to go out with me?

Cassidy, was the immediate response the more sensible side of his brain offered, she loves Snap, not you. Look at how happy she is, would you try and break them up?

He didn't respond, the sly smile spreading itself out like a snake across his face was answer enough.

JESSIBELLE

Gary was up to something, she could see it, and it probably concerned Gabby, seeing the two were so close.

She remembered asking Gabby about her relationship with Gary a while back, and Gabby had testified that she and Gary were best friends, nothing more. Jessibelle wondered wryly if Gabby still maintained her story.

If Gary and Gabby were to get together, it would be so cute, Jessibelle thought to herself. For a second she considered setting them up, but then by the look of Gary's smile, he had that plan in the bag.

And anyway, it had been a long time since Jessibelle had helped anyone other than herself, well sure, she had helped that pathetic no-hoper Joy to get friends, but that was only to annoy to Butch.

At her mentioning of his name, his face floated in front of her, in all its gothic glory. He had been looking full on feral recently, like he'd escaped from that dead-body place or whatever.

She turned to James, who seemed to be keeping rather quiet up in his corner of the back seat.

"What's wrong?" she asked, excited that she might find out some new and exciting gossip.

"Oh, nothing," he replied distantly, his eyes staring hollowly at her, his voice wavering monotonously. It was very clear that there most certainly was something wrong. Jessibelle found herself being interested for reasons beyond information.

"Yeah, some nothing," she scoffed, making direct eye contact "What is it?"

"Just stuff," he said gruffly, shaking his head.

His blunt answer didn't in any way deter her interrogation.

"Like what stuff?"

"Family stuff," he heaved eventually, as though saying it took great effort.

Jessibelle put a finger to her mouth, her eyes clouding over as she thought about her family troubles. Well, one of them, and that one was none other than Lucinda. Jessibelle still bore the scar on her forehead where her older sister had attacked her with a chair, and the emotional damage ran deep. Lucinda had forever bean so uncannily mean to her, and Jessibelle remained quite at a loss to why.

"I can understand that," Jessibelle nodded, hoping to gain his confidence by agreeing with him.

"You have no idea what it is like," he told her "I understand you're trying to help me, but really, you have no idea."

Jessibelle reared back, her courage dampened. But she never gave up, and she was taking it on as a challenge, rather than a simple friendly questioning.

"I do, trust me, see this scar on my forehead? I do understand."

James half-heartedly inspected it. 'That was Charlene, right?"

"Lucinda," Jessibelle corrected. Her statement was followed a by a long silence on James's part.

"Well it is nothing like that," James said at last.

"Well then what is it like? Is it like, you know, a guy thing?" Jessibelle prompted, swiveling all the way around in her seat so she was directly facing James.

James paused, as though considering the option of answering 'yes' to get her off his back, but he seemed to cancel out the idea.

James isn't very good at acting, Jessibelle cogitated, perhaps I could give him a lesson or two.

"Look, Belle, I appreciate your help and the fact that you are taking an interest, and I know you really don't want to leave this bus without finding out, but it is really personal, OK?" James uttered in a fast-paced, agitated voice.

"Come on James, we're friends aren't we?" she persisted, tilting her head flirtatiously to the side.

"Jessibelle," he sighed, turning to her "Don't you know when to leave it alone? No wonder Butch looks like hell, you must have bloody dragged him through it,"

Jessibelle's face wrenched itself into a mask of shock. Sure, she admitted that she was a headstrong and determined person, but she was quite sure she knew when to give up on things. Never, you could never give up. James was just overreacting because he was sensitive about the topic.

"OK, when you are in a better mood, we'll, like, talk it over, OK?"

James replied with a thickened silence, his dull green eyes fixed on the scrawling scenery passing by the bus window.

LANCE

With a stiff, bored smile, Lance pretended to listen to the mellow conversation being exchanged by Kishi, Ash and Jenny. Hitmonchan was silent, Tracy engrossed in a book. On inspection Lance noted the book to be Mewtwo Strikes Back.

He and Hitmonchan had gone to see that at the cinema in Viridian, when he had been twelve. It had been so long ago since he had stood at the doors, his fresh face beaming with excitement. He had a photo of that day tucked away somewhere, a picture of Hitmonchan and himself with an arm around eachother, smiling a wicked smile of electrified excitement, pure anticipation of the movie.

Such a long time ago. Lance had never known himself to be as excited as that day, ever since he had left home.

That would have been about two or three months back. He'd spent a bit of time in various cities, then he had spent the money he'd earned doing battle with trainers on his education, a semester at Poketech High. Of course, he didn't have time to keep up his battling with all the emotional stress and homework Poketech had supplied him with, so he wondered how he was going to pay for the four semesters of school he had left. His PCE years...it was still pretty amazing for him to think that he was just over two terms away from them. Half a year away from his deciding courses.

He wanted to get heavily into Advanced Strategy, also do a lot of Metal Work too. Perhaps shift to medicine, though it was probably too late to change...but Gabby had changed out of Maths B (the dumb class) and into Maths A (the smart class) only a few weeks ago, so maybe it wasn't that late after all.

Lance had been surprised at how often Gabby was over at Kishi's house, or vice versa. He'd known they got along, but they were more like best friends then cousins. Last week had been the first time Kishi had left Lance alone in the house, with just her parents. It hadn't been as uncomfortable as he'd imagined, he really liked Mr. And Mrs. Ogawa. And they weren't prying into his past, as he'd been dreading ever since he'd moved in.

No-one except the Ogawa's knew he was staying there. Thankfully, every time Gabby was over Kishi had invited Ash or Gary or someone as well, so Gabby never really got suspicious. Lance wasn't particularly worried about her putting two and two together, she wasn't all that bright. Well, she might be good at Maths...but things kind of escaped her. She was a bit dreamy most of the time.

Freeing a large sigh, he risked a glance at Kishi. What, he asked himself, thinking back a few weeks, what exactly happened the day I moved in? The scene rushed back to him with a crashing swell of perplexed emotion. They had been alone in his new room, on his first day as part of her family, and he'd moved forward, touching her arm. She'd smiled and looked down, avoiding his gaze. Then she'd looked up at his face with glistening eyes and he'd sworn they'd been about to kiss.

But they hadn't. Kishi told him it was the quickest way to stuff things up. And she was completely right in that statement. But why was he still wishing something had happened?

SNAP

"I would rather be dead then eat cheese! I hate it!" Gabby lamented playfully, refusing the Vegemite Cheese Stick Gary was offering her.

"I love cheese!" he yelled, taking an exaggerated bite, accentuated with loud chewing and blissful grunts.

Cassidy made a choking face and buried her head in Snap's hair. "Snap!" she wailed "He's gross! Gabby! He's being gross! Stop him!"

"Oh, poor baby," Snap smirked, rubbing his girlfriend's shoulder. He paused, not really wanting to speak to Gary, the bane of his existence.

"Snap, man, these women are pissweak!" Gary hooted, thrusting the morsels of much ado under his nose. "Try some! You'll be instantly converted! I swear!"

Snap contemplated this proposal carefully. Gary didn't offer anybody anything unless it was disgusting, poisoned or rigged to blow up. He never shared his lunch or chips, not even with his best friends. If he wouldn't offer them a sip of Big M, what would he offer to someone he hated? It had to be laced with arsenic, that was the only explanation.

"I won't kiss you if you taste like cheese!" Cassidy hissed in mock viciousness. Snap silently thanked her for saving his life.

"Oh I couldn't have that, could I?" Gary sneered, suddenly turning mean.

Gabby clutched at his arm, making a desperate face.

"Watch it, Gary," Cassidy warned in the guarded voice that always meant a serious threat with her.

"Yes, Gary," Gabby said forcefully "Snap doesn't want any cheese,"

Snap mentally laughed to himself, about how Gary could get so worked up about not eating cheese, and he also sighed, because Gary had obviously gotten out of control, really, really mad at Snap, but Gabby and Cassidy hadn't really admitted it. Sure, they'd tried to calm him down, but they'd glossed it over and treated like a joke. It was that niggling dishonesty that really fed Snap up sometimes, the way no one he knew was open anymore.

"I'm allergic to cheese," Snap lied hurriedly to Gary, just as a desperate attempt to gain his approval "If it was something else weird, like Spam or a persimmon or leaves I'd do it..."

Gary winked at Cassidy and tapped the side of his nose. "I might just hold you to that one, Snap m'boy."

Snap swallowed firmly, wondering what he'd got himself into.

One day Gary will have to like me, Snap thought desperately, I've been as nice as I could to him...He must have really loved Cassidy...a lot.

Snap's brow seemed to collapse, the furrowed pressure releasing and giving way to a smooth, tranquil surface devoid of stress. Underneath his undisturbed face lay a worried thought, a worried, spiraling chain that was slowly weighing him down with uneasiness.

What if Gary loves her more than I do, and I don't love her enough? She deserves the one who loves her most...

His hands turned cold and clammy all of a sudden, the revelation hitting him and knocking him back with its impact.

And that one is Gary...

BROCK

Brock watched Misty wriggle uncomfortably in her seat with underlying interest. The way she had changed was fascinating on its own, but the way she looked was more the miracle.

Back when he had looked upon Misty as nothing more than the nice, little girl who was on and off with Ash, she had been pretty, but not overly appealing. Now, taking another look at her, he was astounded that he hadn't noticed her true beauty earlier.

Though there was the absolute, grounding force of affection he felt for Jenny, there was a wild, clandestine effect caused by Misty, an excited longing to be with her if for nothing but the sheerest thrill.

He wondered secretly if she had a boyfriend, as far as he knew, she was single, but he had heard her devotion lay within James.

It was funny, the way someone as clearly gay as James could attract so many females when he, a specimen of such purity and gruff muscle, could not. The situation was almost exactly like Gary's. Gary was a total asshole, nasty and snappy, though he was almost always surrounded by a bustling gaggle of girls.

Brock couldn't help but wonder where he went wrong every time, why he was fated to have the big metaphorical 'L' for loser tattooed upon his forehead forever...

He couldn't help but wonder where it was that a woman's attraction came from, or what he could do to impress one.

He couldn't help but long for a stable, totally devoted, affectionate relationship. A relationship he'd hoped to achieve with Jenny, but it was his suspicion that she was a tiny bit apprehensive.

Rubbing the edge of his fists in his eye sockets and yawning, he drew his attention away from Misty and settled back in his seat.

During camp, he told himself seriously, you have to find some way to impress everyone and show them all how good you really are.

TRACY

While his eyes restlessly scanned the page before him, his mind focused on what he intended to make of the camp. All his life he had loved to fantasize about such things, about what lay around the corner, about who he would meet, about what would happen...

As a result he had often become disappointed when his outlandish daydreams fell, though within time he had stopped getting upset over the downfall. Now he was just happy to dream things up.

There were a lot of sequential reveries floating around in his mind too...starting with the very first day...

I'll be in a group with Ash, Lance, Gary and Hitmonchan...oh, and Brock, and we'll be the tent that wins the tent-putting-up competition. Then we'll be the fastest walkers, arriving back to the campsite first, and then we'll start a luscious campfire and then Kishi, Jenny and Joy will get back and then my eyes will meet Joy's through the flames...

The image created in his mind of his eyes locking with Joy's through the blazing orange flames lodged itself into the right side of his brain, and he instantly discarded his puffy novel for his sketchpad and pencil.

The first things that he drew were Joy's eyes, widened and full of adoration mixed with an electrifying shock.

Framed around them leapt remarkably abstract fire tongues, nimbly deficient of any emotion, starkly contrasting the pure tenderness captured in the sapphire globes sparkling with excitement.

He started to add Joy's fringe shimmering with the jumping, erratically waving light, but then realised that the picture was far too revealing of his emotions to display the final detail of identity. He quickly flipped his pencil over and rubbed the strands of hair out. He instead added to the towering flames, and then blackened the background to that of a very dark night sky.

Tilting his head he held the drawing at a relaxed arm length to gauge what he needed to add to it. He quickly put the book back on his lap and shaded the lower corners of the fire.

And then our eyes will look away, he continued, and all will be forgotten until the next day when fate will have us paired up for a bushwalk and we will discover a gorgeous, mossy little glen and then I will turn to her...

He stopped, hanging his head. His fantasy so romantic it was embarrassing. Were any guys as soppy as he was? He had always been so sweetly softhearted, and ever-so creative. The perfect combination for a romantic fairy-tale daydream, as far as he was concerned. He didn't even know if girls dreamt like he did, and he was fairly sure that no other guys did.

I'm not gay, he told himself carefully, if I was I would know it, and I'm not bi either. I'm straight...but just romantically inclined...

Feeling shamefully embarrassed about the conversation in his mind he shut off for a few minutes, concentrating wholly on the scene he was illustrating. He wiped his brow, even though no sweat had beaded upon it, and ran a casual hand through his longish green hair.

He then slammed the cover of his skethpad down so that it made a noise as loud as one could muster with a flimsy piece of cardboard and stowed it safely in his bag.

KISHI

"So," she said quietly to Ash, leaning across the aisle to speak to him "Do you think you'll be OK with Misty over camp? Are you worried she'll crack it at you again?"

Ash's voice cracked as he said his reply, as though bits of it were flaking off and floating gracefully to the ground. "No...I'm really worried, Kishi. I don't think she'll ever forgive me for being such a pig,"

With that sentence relieved from his mouth, little tears accumulated in the corners of his chocolate coloured eyes.

Kishi immediately reached over and held his hand in hers, stroking in a gentle, sisterly way. "Oh Ash," she whispered, her voice getting caught in her throat "Don't think that...this is Misty remember, we've known her all our lives, of course she'll forgive you. She hasn't changed inside, remember, she's still the little girl she was back then,"

"I don't know," Ash sighed, though there was evident relief in his straightened posture. "She sure seems different,"

"Yeah," Kishi agreed in softened tones, as though she were humoring a small child "She is different, but only on the outside. She'll change," Kishi promised.

"When?" Ash asked with a small sniff, on the verge of tears again.

"Soon, I hope," Kishi responded, reaching over and putting an arm around Ash "Just to spare the pain she's bound to cause us all,"

"Kishi?" Ash spoke suddenly and sharply

"What?"

"I love her,"

"I know,"

TO BE CONTINUED...