Yes it's me again, with another pearlshipping one-shot. I actually came up with this idea a long while ago but I didn't really know when the perfect time would be to publish it.
Ok warning: On certain occasions, you may 'aww' at this fanfic and you may cry. Not saying that you will, I'm not good at making emotional stories.
Also…parts of this story will be based upon A Walk to Remember, both the movie and the book. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch the movie, read the book and come back to this. Or don't, whatever, I ain't forcing nobody.
One more thing: this is based on Ash's POV.
*DawnForever101 tries to explain the disclaimer, but she is too lazy to do so*
I tried to stifle my laughter, or rather we tried to stifle our laughter. Gary, Drew and I had just risked our lives by playing a sick prank on our Math teacher, Mr. Doof-for-brains. We knew that we would probably regret the action later on, but it was so worth it. The two boys and I waited in anticipation for Mr. Doof-for-brains to enter the classroom. He was a very strict teacher, always giving detentions and insulting students for no particular reason. His very demanding and strict behaviour agonized me to the very least and as a result, we had done various demeaning pranks on this goof of a teacher. Drew, Gary and I were always part of the pranks and sometimes we'd get caught and sometimes we'd barely escape alive.
Gary and I practically knew each other since we were toddlers and being sixteen now, we were practically bros with different mothers. We were both from Pallet Town in the Kanto region and grew up together. Gary was quite the ladies charmer and always boasted to everyone about his good looks. He had spiky, brown hair that almost never seemed to be combed, brown eyes and he was quite tall for his age, standing at almost 6 feet. He had a toned body, he wasn't that muscular but his impressive body was caught by all the ladies.
Drew and I had met each other right around during middle school and he eventually joined Gary and I, to become really close mates. Drew was quite the ladies charmer as well, except over the past few years, everyone seemed to be noticing his undying love for May Maple, a girl that we knew from middle school as well. Unfortunately, he could never muster up the courage to reveal his feelings about May to anybody, but he also couldn't deny it. Drew was arrogant and egoistical, similar to Gary but the one thing he always seemed to admire about himself was his unique chartreuse green hair.
The anticipation slowly increased when footsteps were heard and the door handle opened slightly. Drew, Gary and I had matching grins on our faces when Mr. Doof-for-brains entered inside, "Good morning-eaahhh!"
The class erupted into laughter and several students were pointing in laughing at Mr. Doof-for-brain's flushed face. He was covered in a pile of brown, sticky mud, some earthworms crawling and some weeks old yogurt and expired milk. I stole glances at Gary, who was laughing his ass off and at Drew, who was laughing so hard that it looked like it hurt.
He slowly gritted his teeth in anger as he proceeded to wipe off some of the mud that had spread onto his face and his nostrils flared in anger, "This isn't funny! Stop laughing at once!" He commanded, yelling at us.
However, we still continued erupting in laughter. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" At that point, most of the students including me, stopped laughing hysterically immediately, but I could still hear chuckles from others.
"Alright," He narrowed his eyes, "Who did this?"
Everyone remained in silence and nobody dared to speak up. I silently smirked to myself and mentally thanked my classmates for not ratting us out since they were all witnesses to the prank.
"Fine, be that way…if no one speaks up, I'm making sure that the whole class is suspended." He threatened with his cold and powerful voice.
"Lighten up, teach. It was just a prank." One of the students told him.
"Quiet, Daniel! You're not the one covered in earthworms and reeking of mud and expired milk!" He told him and then he turned to us again, "If nobody wants to share how this happened, I'll make sure you get expelled. All of you."
The looks on Drew's and Gary's faces were probably matching mines, because our cheeks were heating. We certainly didn't know we went to those types of extremes. Could he even expel us for a harmless prank?
Our world came crumbling apart when a hand was raised into the air. Shit, no!
Damn it, of course it was her.
The nerd.
"I know who committed this crime on you, Mr. Bailey." Crime? What the crap?
"Then please reveal," He told her, adjusting his glasses.
My eyes narrowed at her but she just ignored my intimidating stare and she proceeded to rat the three of us out, "It was Ash, Gary and Drew. They're the reason why you're covered in mud." She said, adjusting her glasses as she closed her chemistry textbook.
Bloody hell!
"Hm," He muttered, staring at the three of us, "Why am I not surprised?" He said, a bit of amusement in his voice. "Well, looks like you'll be spending long, good afternoons in detention for the next three weeks."
The three of us groaned in exhaustion and I looked back to see Dawn buried in her textbook, not paying attention to the matter at hand. Dawn Berlitz.
Dawn was described as the geek or the nerd of the entire school. She was always known for getting perfect scores on her tests and assignments and an extremely impressive GPA. She always kept her unique blue hair tied in a bun and she wore glasses upon her blue eyes. She was a loner; she'd always just be found alone reading in the library or writing something in her blue notebook. She was a plain and ordinary girl; she wore no makeup at all. She wasn't extremely beautiful but she wasn't hideous either.
"You should be thankful I'm not suspending you little twerps!" Mr Doof-for-brains exclaimed in anger. "I'll be right back; I have to wash this stuff off from my face." He muttered in annoyance as he exited the classroom.
The three of us looked at Dawn in anger; however she paid no attention to us as she continued writing in a little blue notebook that was placed on her desk. I walked over and sat in a vacant seat next to her.
"What the bloody hell is your problem?!" I exclaimed and she glanced at me, adjusting her glasses and giving me a 'Are you really talking to me' look.
"Yeah," Gary joined in, "You ratted us out. You never do that!" He added as he crossed his arms.
"Can't believe that the nerd would actually rat us out," Drew spoke under his breath.
Dawn exhaled before glancing at Drew, Gary and finally at me, "For your previous question, I do not have a problem. And the reason I reported to Mr. Bailey about your tomfoolery is because you all need to realize the importance of responsibility. You three need to be civil." She said with a straight face.
Drew, Gary and I raised our eyebrows and after a few seconds, Dawn flinched because we started to laugh at what she just said. "Responsibility?" Drew exclaimed, laughing.
"Civil?" I said, between laughter.
"Yeah, right," Gary remarked sarcastically while chuckling.
I stopped laughing when I noticed Dawn still keeping a bored expression, "Oh, you were serious." I said and the others stopped laughing.
"I am very serious. This is a serious matter. You three will have to mend your immature ways if you want to progress in life." She continued until the bell rang, signalling for the next period.
While she was closing her textbooks and packing her backpack, Drew said, "Dawn, cuz of you, we have to be in detention for three weeks." He complained.
"Yes, however, that punishment is far too minute for the crime that you three committed. In other words, it's better if you remain thankful." She stated while slinging her backpack across her shoulders.
Gary raised an eyebrow, "Crime? It was just a harmless prank…" He said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, you're acting as if we murdered someone," I said, smiling a bit at Dawn's exaggerating.
And again, she always had to bring up a point, "Research has proven that immature students who aren't performing academically well drop out of school and engage themselves in negative offenses such as gangs, rape and indeed murder to sustain them-
"Yeah, yeah, we don't have time for an essay." I said, rolling my eyes at her and looked at the guys, "Come on, let's head to the next class before the nerd starts another essay about poverty or something." I said while walking away, with Drew and Gary laughing along with me.
"Man that girl is annoying, it's like she's not even human!" Gary exclaimed.
"I know right. Civil? Who says these kinds of things?" Drew laughed, mocking Dawn.
"Don't forget that we committed a crime." I said, putting air quotes around the word 'crime' and the three of us laughed, as we made our way into our next period: Chemistry.
Chemistry was not one of my strongest subjects in school, I usually have to rely on cheat notes to pass the class, or majority of the classes for that matter. And these two idiots beside me weren't really helpful either, because they generally sucked at school in general. The only reason we happened to be barely passing these classes is because we're extremely talented with the concept of cheating.
"Ash, may I speak to you for a few minutes?" Ms. Morgan asked after the class was over.
I looked over to my right, where Drew and Gary previously were, noticing that they ditched me, "Assholes." I mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
My head whipped towards her and I realized she may have heard that, "Nothing," I said, trying to cover it up. I walked up to the desk.
"What'd you wanna talk to me about?" I said coolly as I relaxed against a chair.
"Your grades." She said as she looked at me in the eyes. "How do I put this?" She asked herself. "They're not…good," She finished.
"Yeah, I know have a couple of F's and D's-" I started but she cut me off.
"No, you have a lot of F's and you only managed to get two D's. You need to start doing better in this class, otherwise you'll fail." She told me and I gulped. Damn.
"What can I do?" I asked her.
"You can submit two projects to me and do a makeup test." She said and I groaned.
"But…that's a lot of work!" I exclaimed.
"Well, this wouldn't happen if you had been doing well in Chemistry. If you want to pass, I suggest you do it." She said, while opening some drawers, probably looking for a file.
I groaned at the thought of doing more work to pass this class and I realized that this probably wasn't the only subject in school that I needed to some extra work for.
"I also recommend that you get a tutor." She said, looking at the file.
"Tutor?" I said as if it were poison.
"Yes and from this file…the person who's been performing the best academically is...oh, right. Dawn Berlitz."
I dismissed the thought immediately, "No way. She's a nerd, there's no way that she'll help me out." I couldn't bear Dawn in class earlier and the thought of her being my tutor just sickened me.
"Well, Ash, she'll be able to help you out. I suggest you take my advice." She said, putting back the file in the drawer.
I rolled my eyes, "Okay, whatever." And with that she nodded her head and I headed out of class.
"Now would you two son of a bitches tell me why you practically ditched me earlier?" I said, as I brought up a tray with hot dogs and some eggs on one of the cafeteria table.
"We didn't ditch you, man." Drew said, "We were just trying to ditch Ms. Morgan."
"Yeah, she's boring as fuck. She can't teach shit," Gary said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah. By the way, we need to make a plan to ditch detention, I ain't staying in there for two hours!" I exclaimed, taking a bite from my hot dog.
"Right, like I wanna stay in there for two hours too." Gary said sarcastically and then took a sip from his water bottle.
"I don't think we can. Because Mr. Rowan will be watching and we know better than to mess with him." Drew stated and I groaned.
"Damn, you're right! Last time we messed with him, it wasn't pretty." I said, recalling the time when the three of us put glue on his teacher's desk. When he had found out that it was the three of us who had pulled the prank, he had banned us from entering his class for at least two months and that hurt our grades tremendously…not that the three of us really cared.
"Yeah. Still worth it though." Gary smirked at the memory.
"Guess we have to sit through detention for three weeks then," Drew sighed irritably.
I sighed, "Yeah."
When the bell rang, signalling the end of last period, it was time for the three of us to trudge in detention. We grimaced at the thought, but I made a mental note to just deal with it and maybe sleep through it for a while. As we entered, I saw Mr. Rowan writing on the chalkboard. He eyed the three of us.
"Of course. You three again," He said, turning to face us. "You know the rules. No talking or any kind of conversation at all!" He raised his voice a bit, pointing to the words 'NO TALKING' on the chalkboard. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the chair, looking at the clock.
Tick tock…tick tock…tick tock…
Can't this thing go any faster?!
I eyed around and noticed Drew playing with a pencil and Gary staring outside the window. I decided to lay my head against the desk, closing my eyes in the process to pass the time. I didn't even know when I had drifted off to sleep until I heard Mr. Rowan's powerful voice.
"MR. KETCHUM!"
"Wha-Ahhh!" I exclaimed as I fell off my chair, onto the floor, causing Drew and Gary to start laughing their asses off at me. I gave them a death glare and they seemed to shut up at that.
"No sleeping in detention!" He said, hitting a ruler against the desk, causing me to flinch.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms in annoyance. I glanced at the clock again at only five minutes had passed. I groaned internally and decided to just doodle in one of my notebooks. After drawing some hilarious and horrible drawings of what I think was a tiger and a basketball, I heard the door open. I didn't look up from my drawing though, but when I took a glance and recognized that blue hair, I was extremely shocked.
Dawn Berlitz was sitting in the back of the classroom, writing something in her notebook. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I looked over at Gary and Drew and they seemed to be surprised as well. Dawn had never gotten a detention in her entire life. We were practically looking back and forth at each other as if we were saying 'Is Dawn Berlitz, the nerd of the school, actually in detention?'.
Ten minutes had passed and I decided to continue doodling, but still with confused thoughts on why the nerd was in detention. After two hours, I had a couple goofy drawings all over my notebook and when I looked back at Dawn, she was still writing in her blue notebook, adjusting her glasses. I suddenly became curious and wondered what she kept writing in that blue notebook.
'Must be some sort of diary.' I thought. 'Wait, do nerds have diaries?' I added as an afterthought.
"Alright. Time's up. You're free to leave." Mr. Rowan said and I sighed a breath of relief.
"Freeedoooom!" Gary exclaimed as he practically ran outside of the class, earning a shake of disapproval from Mr. Rowan.
He took the words right out of my mouth. I looked back again and noticed Dawn placing her blue notebook back in her backpack as she was starting to head out of the classroom. Before I could talk to her, Drew looked at me, "Is today opposite day or something?" Drew said and I chuckled.
"Maybe. I intend to find out," I said.
"Okay, well I'll seeya tomorrow, I'm really hungry." He said and I nodded.
I eyed around for Dawn and noticed her walking down the halls, "Hey Dawn! Wait up!" I said and she looked back at me, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes?"
I cleared my throat, licking my lips, "Why were you in detention earlier? You never do anything bad." I said and she sighed.
"I know it was quite peculiar to find me in detention, however it was the first and last time I will be found there." She said as she continued walking.
I walked along with her, "What did you do? Cheat? Skip class? Play a prank on a teacher?"
She looked at me with curiosity and I could see her crack a smile. She adjusted her glasses before facing me, shaking her head, "No. I accidentally slammed the locker loudly today and while it was an accident, the principal didn't believe my words."
I stared at her with a look of disbelief, "That's it?! You're kidding right?!"
"No. I never…kid." She said as if 'kid' was a new word in her vocabulary. I rolled my eyes.
"Look, I need some help." I said and she eyed me with curiosity again.
"Ash Ketchum is asking me for help?" She said, her tone clearly surprised.
I shrugged, "Yeah. I've been flunking my classes and I need some help to make up for my grades. Would you be willing to tutor me?" I asked.
"Why should I lend you my assistance? After all, I've been nothing but teased and made fun of, especially from the three of you." She said, with a questioning look.
I groaned a bit before looking at her, "Okay. Fine, I agree that we may have insulted you. But I really need to improve my grades and you're the nerd, so you can help me."
She sighed in exhaustion, "You know nothing about me, Ash. Nobody does." She said, looking to the side.
I sighed, ignoring her comment, "Please. I really need your help." She looked at me again and after a while of hesitating, she finally gave in.
"Fine." She said and I smiled, "However, I want something in return." She said.
I raised an eyebrow, "Okay, what is it?"
"I need you to assist my mother this Saturday afternoon in a cookie sale." She said and I burst out laughing.
"Yeah, not gonna happen." I said and she nodded her head.
"Okay, glad we had this talk," She said as she began walking away from me. I sighed irritably and then walked up to her. I can't believe that I was willing to do this.
"Okay. I'll help your mom with her cookies." I said irritably. "Why can't you do it?"
She remained silent for a while and hesitated before speaking, "I have…other important tasks to take care of."
"Riiiiight," I exclaimed sarcastically but she just ignored. "So when are we going to start?"
"Will tomorrow at six be an appropriate time?"
I rolled my eyes at her nerdy behaviour, "Sure." I shrugged, "I'll be at your place."
"Oh! I also have another condition." She said and I raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You have to promise you won't fall in love with me." She said and I grinned maniacally at her words. Was she being serious?
I looked at her, still grinning, "That's not gonna happen,"
The next day at school, I was by the lockers with Drew and Gary and Gary was telling me about his grandfather, Mr. Samuel Oak. I had met Gary's grandpa when I was just three years old. He was a lively man, always joyous and so energetic and he often lit up the room. He was a successful researcher when he was young and he was very passionate about his job. Apparently, his health had been deteriorating and Gary was devastated. He lived with his grandpa ever since he was eight; the same time around when his parents had passed away. He had been dependent on him for years, both financially and emotionally but Gary couldn't do that anymore.
"Yeah, gramps' blood pressure's beginning to increase," He said to us worriedly.
"Maybe the work pressure's getting to him," Drew commented, shrugging.
"Don't worry, man," I tapped his shoulder, "He'll be fine," I said and he smiled, giving me a fist bump.
"Thanks, Ashy boy," He smirked.
Gary developed that nickname when we were little toddlers and he picked it up from my mom who used to call me that when I was a toddler. As we grew up, he kept that nickname and continued teasing me about it.
"Stop calling me that!" I retorted, childishly.
I pouted while Drew and Gary were just laughing their asses off and I rolled my eyes, thinking what dickheads I have for friends. Ignoring them, I took out my books from my locker when I noticed Dawn approaching me. Today, she was wearing a dark grey long-sleeved blouse with a long black flowing skirt and some simple sandals. As usual, she kept her blue hair in a tight bun and glasses in front of her blue eyes.
"Ash, I just wanted to confirm our meeting tonight," She spoke, cocking her head slightly to me.
I was about to reply when I noticed Drew and Gary raise their eyebrows in confusion, as if they were saying 'Is this nerd really gonna meet you tonight'. Therefore, I decided to be smug and said, "Pshh, in your dreams." I slightly smirked and Dawn slowly nodded her head and walked away, a frown on her face. Drew and Gary were laughing at my comeback, however I couldn't help but feel guilty about it. And I had no idea why.
The rest of the school day passed and I had noticed Dawn ignoring me all day. She wouldn't even glance at my direction. Wait, why should I give two damns if she does? I've never cared about Dawn and I never will. She was just a nerd.
Shaking my thoughts away, I headed home and was about to knock on the door when the door abruptly swing open, revealing my mom. My mom smiled at me and she gave me a warm hug, once which I return with ease to her. She let go and smiled.
"How was your day, dear?" She asked as I entered inside, practically throwing my backpack on the couch.
I shrugged, "The same," I said, heading for the fridge.
"Well," my mom started, "I got some calls from the school today," she said and I groaned, knowing that this was bad, "And I've come to know that you pulled another prank?!"
I smiled creepily and said, "Yeah," I said proudly but my mom was giving me a look of disapproval.
"Honey, this has got to stop. You need to change and be more focused. You're going to be seventeen soon and soon these kinds of behaviours aren't going to work our for you." She said, while putting her hands on her hips.
I rolled my eyes, "Mom, please, I don't want to grow up and be mature. It's...boring. Being a teen is much more fun. I mean, who wants to wake up everyday and work?" I said rhetorically.
She sighed, "I'm not asking you to change entirely. Life is not about jokes, Ash. It's time to get serious. I know nobody wants to grow up; I didn't, but it's an inevitable part of life itself." She said as she turned on her heel and away from me, but not before looking at me, "And I think I'd start with getting my grades up. Your teacher told me you weren't performing well at school either," She said before leaving the kitchen.
I groaned, partially because she was right in a way and also because I was fed up with her constant lectures. I drank some water before walking across the hall, noticing my backpack. I flashbacked during when I had insulted Dawn earlier in school, but I shook my thoughts away, trying not to feel guilty. Soon, I took my backpack with me and headed outside to my car to go to Dawn's place. On the way, I had texted my mom that I was going to a friend's place, I didn't tell her the truth because I didn't want her to know that I was taking her advice.
I parked in Dawn's driveway and headed up to her porch, knocking on the white door. I had become familiar where Dawn lived when I was about nine years old, when she was a new student back then. It was pretty funny now that I looked back at the memory, because I had never visited Dawn and look at me now, about to enter Dawn's place of residence for the first time ever.
Soon enough, the door opened to reveal Dawn, giving me a stern expression through her glasses. Before I could greet her, she quickly slammed the door shut, making me flinch in the process. I groaned a little before knocking on the door, "Come on, Dawn, open the door! Open up!" I yelled, while knocking.
Thankfully, she did open and she walked outside, crossing her arms and said, "What do you want?"
I scratched my auburn hair sheepishly, "Well, I was hoping that you could tutor me for a while,"
She slowly nodded her head, "Yes, but in secret, correct? As secret friends?" She narrowed her eyes.
I smiled, perking up, "Exactly. Exactly, it's like you read my mind," I said and she smiled a bit.
"Great, well perhaps you can read mine," She said as the smile slowly decreased and she was now giving me a killer look.
I was at a loss for words and then she turned around to go back inside, "Dawn, I-"
"Ash, I'll be honest. I thought I saw something in you. I had the assumption that you had potential. However, I was very wrong." She said as she closed the door, but I placed my foot in between to prevent her from closing it. She eyed me in curiosity.
"I-I'm sorry," I said, looking away from her.
She raised her eyebrows, a bit confused, "And what are you sorry for?"
"Being a jerk. Look, I really want to pass. And..I really need your help, so please..." I said, biting my lip. She crossed her arms, hesitating for a while as she began to contemplate.
"Okay," She breathed, "Come in," She said and I slightly smiled as I entered.
"Have you gotten the concept?"
"No...this shit is fuckin' hard," I retorted.
We had started my tutoring lesson an hour ago and Dawn was trying to explain a few topics in Chemistry, but I couldn't really grasp anything what Dawn was saying because she made it sound extremely complicated.
"Okay, fine I shall explain once more. You see, concentration refers to the amount of solute that is dissolved in a solvent. Once the solute and solvent is identified in a solution, the concentration is ready to be determined. Concentration-"
"Wait, wait, slow down! First, what's a solute and a solvent?" I asked.
She sighed in exasperation, "I believed I had explained those a few times," She said, adjusting her glasses.
"Well, please explain it again and this time make it simple," I said, pleading. She sighed again.
"This topic in Chemistry is quite simple in itself; I'm quite perplexed with your lack of understanding in this." She said and I rolled my eyes.
"Easy for you to say. I'm not a nerd like you," I said.
"Fine, I shall explain again and I will attempt to keep it simple," She said, "First a solute and solvent are the two components of a solution. A solvent is a substance that dissolves the solute. And the solute is the substance being dissolved." She continued and added, "I will give an example," She stated as she poured some water from a jug into a glass. I watched in curiosity as she walked into the kitchen rummaging through some closets before she approached me with what looked like some salt. She grabbed a spoonful and dipped it into the glass of water. "Now, as you notice salt and water mix easily together. When salt is dissolved in water, it changes from solid to liquid. While the water remains as liquid. Hence, the salt is the solute and water is the solvent." She finished.
"Ohh..." I nodded in understanding and she smiled satisfactorily.
"Excellent! Your key to understand is visual concepts."
"Come again?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You understand when you see. You need to see in order to understand," She said in simpler words.
"You know, I think you're right." I said, smiling, "I understood the concept much better when you were showing me the water and salt solution,"
"Yes, now we just need to keep that in mind for other topics." She said as she continued flipping through the Chemistry books.
Next week at school, I had gotten my test results back from a recent Chemistry test and a few projects and I was very pleased. I immediately went up to the school library, most likely where Dawn would be and much to my liking, she was there writing in her blue notebook once again. I came inside and sat next to her and she widened her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice full of shock.
"I want to thank you," I said and she raised an eyebrow, "Because of you, I have three A's now." I smiled as I handed her the test papers for her to glance on, "I'm sure I would have failed if it weren't for you,"
She smiled, adjusting her glasses, "Ash, this was a result of your hard work. You put in the effort and the results were sweet in the end. In conclusion, you deserve it." She said, while making a few writings in her notebook.
I shook my head, "No, its because of you. You were the one who tutored me and made me understand. That's why I was able to get these grades."
She seemed speechless at that and she brushed her hair with her fingers and I could see her cheeks turn pink a little, "You're welcome..." She said softly.
"Look," I started, "I know I've not been the best person. But...I can change." She looked at me, her eyes widening, "I hope you can forget everything. Friends?" I said, holding out a hand.
She stared at my hand in curiosity and then looked at me before her lips curved into a small smile. She took my hand in hers, "Friends." I smiled as she shook my hand. "This seems...weird."
"Weird?" I said in confusion.
"Yes, weird." She nodded, "Until you approached me for help, I've never had someone other than my mother to confide in. I've never had anybody whom I can talk to on a friendly basis." She said, as she twirled her pen between her fingers. "I've been labelled as a nerd throughout high school and nobody has really gotten to know who I really am."
"Well," I started, "You are a nerd." I smirked and she smiled at my joke, "But I realize where you're coming from. That's why I offered myself as a friend," I said.
"Well, thank you." She nodded, smiling. "Your friendship is appreciated."
Before I could say anything, a girl came up towards us. I recognized that pink hair; it was Ursula, the queen bitch of the school. She was top cheerleader and she was often very snobbish and rude to almost everybody in the entire school. She was currently wearing her cheerleading outfit.
"Hey nerd," She spat, "Do my math homework for me," She said, practically throwing some papers at her face, making Dawn's glasses stumble and fall from her face. I narrowed my eyes at her as I picked up her glasses and handed it to Dawn, but not before noticing something. It was her eyes. I wasn't sure what it was about her eyes, but now that the glasses were off, I noticed Dawn in a completely different light. She looked different without it; good different and her face was flawless. She wasn't perfect but she was no doubt pretty without her glasses.
"Thanks," She mouthed to me as she put her glasses back on and then eyed Ursula.
"Great, thanks so much nerd," She smirked and turned around. I looked at Dawn as if she had gone crazy. Why didn't she defend herself?
"Ursula!" I yelled and she turned to face me, "Dawn isn't your robot, okay? You can't take advantage of her like that."
She rolled her eyes, "Oh Ash, Dawn is perfectly fine with doing my homework. Besides, she's a nerd." She said. I saw Dawn's expression turn dark and I clenched my fists. I took the math papers and threw it back into her face.
"Do your own bloody homework and stop taking advantage of Dawn!" I spat and Ursula scoffed.
"Ugh, you're such an ass! Since when are you so defensive about Dawn? You've never even liked her!" Ursula retorted.
"Well, you're a huge bitch. Not only to her, but to everybody! And Dawn's my friend. So of course I'll defend her," I said back and she just crossed her arms in annoyance. I notice Dawn giving me a soft expression and I smiled, to which she returned.
"Whatever, I'm out," She said as she turned on her heel.
"Wait," I said and she turned back giving me killer look.
"What?" She gritted her teeth.
"Oh, nothing I just wanted to show you something," I said devilishly as I raised my middle finger making her gasp. She mentioned something about getting revenge, I wasn't really paying attention because I sat back with Dawn.
"Wow, Ash. Thank you...I appreciate it," She smiled shyly.
"You're welcome. You really should put your foot down and defend yourself, you know." I stated matter-of-factly.
"You're probably right, but I help most people to make my life much more worthwhile to live." She said absentmindedly.
"What do you mean by that?" I raised an eyebrow.
She sighed heavily, "It's not important." She gave me a light smile.
"Okay...if you say so." I said.
"Dude, wanna hang out Saturday afternoon?" Drew asked me after school.
"Nah, I can't. I'm having another tutoring lesson with Dawn," I said and Drew scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.
"Dude, but this new movie came out. You've gotta come!" He exclaimed, his eyes popping with excitement.
"I told you I can't. I still need some lessons with Dawn and I have to improve my grades if I want to get into a good college," I said.
Drew grew suspicious, "Since when have you been concerned about getting into college? Or getting good grades?"
"Since I realized that I have to change. Drew, I can't keep messing around with life. I have to stay focused." I said and Drew had his mouth opened.
"Oh..my...fuck...that nerd has changed you." He said, slowly, with a tone of shock.
"She hasn't changed me,"
"Yes, she has. Look at you. Before you started hanging out with the nerd, you hung out with us all the time. Now you don't even have time for us. What happened to our trio?" Drew said.
"Drew, look. You won't understand, but I'm tired of playing games, alright? Life isn't about games. And I'm going to do great things one day. So, while you stay around continuing to pull pranks and struggle to pass high school, I'll already be in college and probably finding a good job." I said and Drew's jaw dropped.
"Since when did you turn into a giant ass? Ash, come on we've been bros since forever," He said.
"As bros, you should be understanding me." I retorted.
Drew rolled his eyes, "I had a feeling this would happen. Fine, go ahead. Continue to hang with Dawn and forget about the two of us who's been with you since childhood," He said angrily as he stormed off.
I shook my head in disapproval wondering why I chose that dick of a brain to be my friend.
"So, have you understood?" Dawn asked as she pointed to a whiteboard. The whiteboard was filled with different scribbles and writings regarding math.
"Yeah, I think so," I nodded my head.
"Excellent, now to test...let's do a problem," She said as she uncapped a marker and began to write a random problem on the whiteboard. "Okay, solve that." She stated and I began to write the problem in my notebook. After about five minutes, I handed her the notebook for her to see and she smiled satisfactorily.
"Congratulations, Ash, the problem is correct." She said, grinning as she handed me back the notebook, "I have to admit, you're improving significantly since our first tutoring lesson."
"That's only because I've had the best tutor." I said sheepishly, pushing my hands in my pockets.
I could see her cheeks warm as it turned pink, "Thanks," She said shyly. "Would you like to take a break?" She asked hesitantly.
"Sure," I shrugged, "What've you got to eat?"
She smiled as she headed for the fridge and pulled out a box of pizza and some sodas, "It's pizza. Do you like?"
"Of course, who doesn't like pizza?" I said rhetorically as she grabbed a seat in the dining table and I did the same.
"Pizza haters?" She grinned and I laughed.
These past few weeks, I've grown closer with Dawn, not only in tutoring but our friendship had slowly developed. No one knew much about Dawn, but I've learned so much about her. She may not seem like it, but she was a great girl to engage a conversation with, she was pretty funny with her corny jokes, sweet, a bit clumsy and most importantly she was extremely smart. From looking at her, I guess one would say that she was just a plain and ordinary girl, but she was just shielded by her nerd look. Without her glasses, she looked extremely stunning and she was really beautiful, on the outside and inside.
"So...what have you always wanted to do in life?" I asked in between eating.
She raised her eyebrows, "Interesting question. Well, I've always wanted to be two places at once. I've wanted to see space and...I've always wanted to publish a book." She said, hesitating a bit at the last park.
"Wow...the first two seems kind of farfetched don't you think?"
She smiled, "But not impossible."
"The third one though...is that why you're constantly writing in that little notebook of yours?" I asked.
She passed a finger through her hair and nodded, "Yes. It's always been a dream of mines."
"Cool! I'd like to read it!" I said but she just shook her head.
"No," She immediately retorted, "You can't."
"Why not?"
"It's...private. I don't feel comfortable sharing it," She said, looking down.
"Dawn, you can tell me anything," I protested, "Don't you trust me?"
"I do," She said, "I just...don't want to hurt you."
"What? I don't understand."
"Ash...it's better if some things remain unknown. Please," She begged and her eyes was filled with mercy. I wondered what that meant. But I disregarded it for now.
"Alright. It's okay." I said and she smiled, continuing to devour her pizza.
She was confusing. But at the same time, I liked it. There was more to her than just a nerd, way more. As we sat there engaging in small talk, the thoughts kept lingering in my head. She was enlightening. She was inspirational. And she was starting to change me.
That's the first part! It was going to be a looooooong one shot but that's not possible considering this is already way too long. Please send me your thoughts with a review, I worked really hard on this, so I'll appreciate it very much.
Oh and did I manage to make Dawn a nerd?
Next part coming soon. How soon? I don't know but in the meanwhile, I'll see you guys next time.