[Chapter one: Let's call the whole thing off]
Sometimes farewells can be quite dramatic and bittersweet, right? When you turn the thin and fragile pages of life, there is no comeback: "to say goodbye is to die a little".
However, May's young and bright heart was full of excitement and aspirations about this new episode of her life adventures. She felt no reason to cry, neither to complain, no regrets, no pain; being alive didn't seem to be complicated anymore. After all, she had just graduated from PokeTech Institute... Meaning that all her problems were simply gone!
After so many years studying for crazy tests, writing mountains of essays, suffering from intense teenager drama, drowning in dreadful tests and papers... May's most desired dream was to be able to follow the career of her childhood fantasies - and she would soon finally be able to become an independent journalist! She couldn't possibly feel prouder of herself. It was time to conquer the world!
May Maple was a hopeful and pretty brunette from small Petalburg City, Hoenn continent: deep blue eyes, a very curious nature and a pair of expressively clumsy limbs. Energetic and passionate, she was that kind of cheerful girl who would love drawing smiley faces in double exclamation marks, writing down her notes with scented multicolored pens.
She wasn't the top student at PokeTech - still, there was something none of her classmates could ever deny: May always did her best. She was empathetic with people and really diligent with work - a true respected class representative. How to not feel revitalized by such contagious energy?
[Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.]
Crossing the wooded area of the main entrance gate, May enjoyed the vivid scenario that surrounded the institute, mentally saying goodbye to each old elm tree that watched over her shoulders during high and low times. The positive girl smiled to herself and wondered if, in the long and distant future, she would always associate that welcoming and faintly windy weather with her school days in PokeTech.
It felt good to sense the daily life things of her school years becoming something like... Distant and nostalgic.
May stretched her arms and pretended to record the campus with an imaginary camera, trying to save the best moments of "The last day of May Maple in PokeTech Institute: Road for the Success!"... She had this persistent habit of getting easily lost in her own thoughts - so it was no surprise that it took a while for her to notice the persistent vibration coming from inside her small sling bag.
[Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.]
"Hello? Hello... Huh?"
Answering the phone call from her PokeNav, the young woman stopped daydreaming in public, parking her old motorcycle next to the library's cafeteria, in front of a rusty mailbox.
"Brianna, is everything okay over there?"
May's sincere dedication was also what the tiny and shy Brianna Corrigan liked the most about her - May Maple was her idol, a strong, inspiring and spontaneous young woman... It was no surprise that such kind person attracted a lot of attention during their PokeTech days - after all, their class rep was someone who would be in a famous newspaper near in the future, reporting great explorations and making Hoenn a better place... Brianna was definitely looking forward to see the developments of her heroine's brilliant career!
"Hi, May! Sorry for being a bit late, five minutes and Mr Andrew will be there, I promise! Oh Mew, it's so hard to not panic when I'm talking to him... I promise he'll be there as soon as we finish saying our goodbyes! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I am really sorry!"
"It's okay, Brianna! I'm close to the cafeteria, I think I can see both of you near the obelisk... Anyway, tell him to come when he's ready, my scooter is the yellow one. Hahaha, it's not like you two will never see each other again, right? I'll wait for you guys, don't worry. Take your time!"
May took off her helmet and rested her chin on her arms, peeking discreetly at the two classmate chatting by the old pokeball obelisk. She didn't want to be nosy, but hearing that her shy partner had found a guy friend just triggered her super curiosity alarm. Her eyes were wide open in attention like a sly Meowth, completely aware and guilty of spying on people with no reason at all.
"Hehehe..."
At first, she chortled lightly like a happy middle school child, finding such situation a sweet adorable moment. Brianna's body expression showed insecurity bouts all the time - on the other hand, the mysterious guy with her seemed to be a very patient person, listening carefully to the girl's stuttering words without showing any signs of distress.
Oh, the bittersweet taste of 'end of the final school semester'. Quiet giggles, timid glances, smiles, reminiscence of good memories... Awww.
The observant spy was really happy to see Brianna opening out her hard Cloyster shell and making new friends - they should definitely celebrate that next time! After that road trip, she would probably befriend that guy too, maybe the three of them could be friends, then go out together with more friends, then plan some parties and then—
The stranger might have noticed the unwanted attention - he stared back at the curious cat for a brief moment, making her gasp out loud in surprise.
Nevertheless, he pretended to not mind being stalked and kept talking to Brianna. May held her breath in alert, mentally scolding herself for being so damn curious.
After being caught in action, waiting for the stranger stopped being fun. Although May Maple considered herself a romantic and idealistic girl, for some reason watching that slow talk started making her feel... sick?
That guy seemed to be dragging the conversation on purpose, while at the same time, subtly not paying full attention to her shy friend's words. May couldn't tell what was exactly the problem, but there was something strange going on with their farewell, now not so short anymore; why was Brianna taking so much time to say 'hey, see you later'?
Checking her PokeNav screen with puffed cheeks, May stared at the clock screen on her device with confused looks. Five minutes? No, it was past fifteen minutes and there was no sign that conversation would end soon...
'How come this farewell is not over yet?!'
"I... I really enjoyed your company in our philosophy classes, Mr. Andrew!"
Brianna blushed, clenching her hands tightly to her chest.
"Meeting you every week was great, it will be a special memory for me... forever!"
"Hmm, thanks. I'd say the same about you..."
Drew flicked the tip of his hair in an elegant fashion, then shook his hand in a humble gesture.
"Oh, please. You don't need to call me 'mister', Brianna. Drew is just fine."
"Oh... Alright! Thanks very much for being such a nice guy, Mr. Drew!"
Drew raised his eyebrows very discreetly. Politely, he smiled back without thinking too much.
"Um, yeah. You're a very nice person too... I had a pleasant time with you this semester."
"So... Ah, this is my phone number..."
Brianna offered him a small pink post-it note from her school planner, paying attention to her crush's lukewarm answers with a concerned expression.
"...Will you call me?"
The cryptic guy read the message written in round and cute numbers then glued it on the back of his black PokeNav.
"Of course I'll." He tapped the paper twice with a thoughtful expression on his face. "See, I will remember it now."
She didn't make any moves, neither he did say anything. The two ex-classmates watched each other for a couple of seconds in silence.
"Promise you'll call me?" Brianna looked deeper at Drew's charming green eyes, feeling worried and anxious about the vague answers. She didn't want to sound forceful but, at the same time, she didn't want to lose her only chance to keep in touch with him. "I'll miss you!"
"Of course I will," he said it again, trying to reassure her with his best smile. "I promise I'll call you as soon as we stop at the gas station... Don't worry about that. And yes, I'll miss you too, sweet Bri."
Drew held Brianna's hands gently, making her blush and stare at the ground, unable to react to his gesture. He grinned to himself then skillfully melted her heart, by kissing her forehead and speaking in a lower tone, "I had a lot of fun, you know? Maybe another day..."
"Mr Drew, I-I—"
[HONK HONK!]
"Ahhhh!"
Jumping in surprise, Brianna released Drew's hands from hers, frightened by the sudden loud noise blasting right behind her back.
"...Oops. My bad."
Smiling sheepishly, May took her hands off the buzz.
"...Wasn't intentional!"
Sighing in stress, Brianna took a long breath then smiled timidly, chanting some words to herself, "I'm almost there, next time... next time."
"Oh Mew, I'm so stupid!" May jumped off her old motorbike and tried to smile in an apologizing way about her clumsy (maybe not so unintentional) slip. "I'm sorry! Hahahaha, hands are too excited today!"
Drew watched the odd girl with a side glance: she had a big dorky grin plastered on her cheerful face. Sheer curiosity wanted to make him ask what the hell was she trying to do. He was about to make a sarcastic note on how rude that was, but the obliviousness in those naive eyes was too entertaining to be ignored - while that silly kid was self-aware of her guilty, she was clearly confident that it was just an innocent prank...
...In the end, he just pretended to be not paying attention at all.
Standing in between her two friends, Brianna presented her big crush to May with an affective and delicate gesture.
"May, this is Andrew Hayden, my... good friend from Philosophy classes. Mr Drew, this is my dear friend May Maple."
"The famous Mr. Andrew Hayden, huh?..."
Brianna was right... May had the impression her friend was overrating Andrew's features when she mentioned about him for the first time - yet everything seemed to be actually very accurate. Andrew Hayden was a very attractive man, nice clothes, pretty silky green hair, deep emerald eyes, mysterious smile... The complete fancy chic magnet kit in a single person.
Judging by first impressions, he seemed to be a fine guy (and what a fine guy).
May giggled, imagining how engaging and exciting the next hours with that interesting person would be. "Hi, Drew!"
"Nice to meet you, May."
They shook hands in a formal and polite way. Brianna smiled.
The tiny girl shyly clasped her hands together, still a little regretful about her lost chance, but willing to make Drew and May comfortable with each other. After all, they would spend a lot of time together - and it would be a disaster seeing them clash without any ice-breaking support, right? "May lives in Petalburg City! She's going home now and she can give you a lift if you want."
"Yeah, Bri told me you're going to Route 104. Well, I'm going to go through this road, then stop here, then take this way—"
May traced an invisible map in the air, steadily circling and pressing the key points of her planned route. "See? Free ride to 104! Wanna come with me?"
"Oh, really?" The young man raised his eyebrows in a slightly surprised expression, then slowly grinned in pleasure. "Thanks, Maple. I would appreciate that, sure it won't be a burden for you?"
"Ehehe, you can call me May... And don't worry, that's not a big deal!"
The upbeat brunette scratched the back of her head. What a relief, Andrew Hayden was actually a friendly guy!...
"Trips are usually better when I'm not all by myself... Besides, it's always a pleasure to help Brianna."
"I mean, isn't she the cutest?" May winked to the tiny girl, who hid herself behind her own purse in embarrassment. "Brianna knows how to pick a great company. I trust her skills!"
In addition to the blatant teasing, Drew just flicked his hair in vain; he didn't deny May's rhetoric question, which made a certain desperate face's melt deeper inside her purse.
"May!" Brianna's head became much redder than her hair. "I-I... No!..."
"Okay, okay... No more bullying, right? Let's hit the road, Drew!"
Offering him a black helmet, May smiled kindly. "Nice to meet you... I hope we can be good friends!"
She hugged Brianna and waited for Drew, who stopped to say goodbye to her friend one last time, in a long embrace full of 'I'll miss you's and 'Call me's.
"I will wait for your call... I will miss you..."
"We'll talk soon... Don't worry..."
"Bye, Mr Drew..."
"Take care, Brianna..."
"Uh, guys... Guys? Andrew? Hello? HELLO?"
Waiting not so patiently anymore, May rolled her eyes out. Raising her hand, she let it slam down freely to make a big fat buzzing... again.
[HONK!]
Against all the odds, the journey had a very quiet beginning. The two newly met colleagues didn't exchange a single word during the first ten minutes of their trip to Route 104. Perhaps they were too exhausted, deeply thoughtful about the end of their school days, maybe concerned about other issues...
May kept herself busy humming a happy tune to herself and dreaming about her future, while Drew just lazily flipped the pages of a hardcover book inside the sidecar.
Trying to break the silence, he decided to make the bubbly driver say something. "So what's the story of your life?"
May stopped her song almost immediately - as if she was pretending to not mind, but actually eagerly waiting for him to talk first. "Yes?"
"What kind of question is that?" She glared at her traveling partner - but right after making a playful scowl, she giggled in a cute way. "It's gonna take hours to explain all my looong seventeen years..."
"It will be a long day until we arrive at our final destination..." Drew shrugged, watching his partner with a questioning look on his face. "Just help me finding a topic or... do you actually want me to shut up and savor this uncomfortable silence?"
"Oh, you're right!..." May shook her head, laughing in embarrassment. "Sorry, hahaha! I was totally lost in my dreams... A-Alright, although I think the story of my life will only start now that we've just graduated... Before that, nothing really big happened to me, you know?"
"If your life is that bland..."
"Hah... ha." Her laughter toned down several levels. "Wait, I didn't say my life was boring—"
"...We can talk about the PokeTech then. You were from A1 class, right? Same as Brianna's. You didn't want to take philosophy classes, huh?" Drew closed the book, making a loud noise. "Not your favorite subject, I suppose?"
"Oh..." May blinked her eyes in confusion, once again glancing quickly over the sidecar. "Yeah, I didn't think it would help me that much in my future career. I took Basic Pokemon Language classes instead."
"What do you want to be?" The young man grinned in a devilish way. "A journalist, I guess? Travel around the word, live great adventures, fight for pokemon rights?"
"Yes! I want to change the world, I love traveling and I think I can make people listen to me!"
May's eyes sparkled in excitement, her fists gripping her bike harder and her voice regaining back the merry tone. "How did you know that? Is that your dream too?!"
Drew started to chuckle quietly, making May immediately snap from her romantic fantasy and become slightly uncomfortable. She was innocent but not enough to not notice the sarcasm tone in that laughter.
"Uh... What is weird about that," she spoke slowly, trying to glare at her road partner with the corner of her eyes. "Hey... Hey, tell me. What's wrong?"
Drew smiled with a shameless mocking grin.
"Oh... Nothing. I just imagined you as, you know, those extremely optimistic girls who see the world as a perfect place full of smiles, rainbows and sunshines. Do you like glitter pens, flower stickers and playing the class representative? That sounds so much like you."
How rude of him! Now she was really uncomfortable with that smug face. Drew's voice was calm but sharp enough to pierce May all over her body.
"I don't see anything wrong about being positive..." The dreamer girl pouted, failing to not sound annoyed at all by such uncalled remark. "It's a matter of personal taste. Being pessimistic about my future won't help me anyway..."
"Being realistic and being pessimistic are two different concepts," Drew spoke while crossing his arms, "I am more than ready to accept my darker and challenging future. Life now will be much harder than high school drama from PokeTech... Do you seriously think that you're going to be a happy and brave independent person as a freelancer journalist? With a decent incoming?"
"Well," May said each word with small pauses, thinking carefully about her answer, "I... Yeah, I think I can. I'll study and work hard for that. And no, I am not glamorizing my career as you believe I am!... What about you, what are your oh-so-realistic plans for the future?"
"Study Pokemon Laws. Become a lawyer specialized at Pokemon Reports. Get tons of money... Do whatever I want with power and cash in my hands... Humanity? Who cares about saving a lost cause?"
"Oh, how lovely," May muttered in indignation. "That's the spirit..."
"I understand, over-idealistic people like you find people like me 'filthy' and 'uncaring'. Innocence is a bliss..."
Mindlessly playing with a strain of hair poking out of his helmet, Drew couldn't stop grinning mischievously. "I wonder why you pretend to be Brianna's friend..."
"Huh?! What, what, what," May unexpectedly yelled out loud, almost hitting the brakes in shock. "I AM her friend!"
Drew held himself to not jump in surprise inside the sidecar. Instead of being a more sensible person, he decided to keep pushing the buttons - that weird kid was really something special and it had been a long time since he had seen someone so... unpredictable in a funny way.
"But she wants to be a PokeLawyer like me, if I remember correctly," the snarky guy casually dropped the information with a sly smile. "Besides, you even interrupted Brianna from... Sort-of-flirting with me? I guess that was kind of rude, don't you think? That's why I thought you two hated each other, you were trying to sabotage her."
"Andrew, you've just said some awful things."
"For instance?..."
May sighed, feeling slightly more disgusted by that annoying guy sitting right by her side. She felt completely betrayed by her own first impressions.
"First of all, I have nothing against lawyers... Not yet. Of course they can help both humanity and pokemon. Lawyers can be wonderful people too! Second thing, yes, Brianna is my friend and I would, obviously, know if she was romantically interested in you. She wasn't flirting, she's shy like that with everybody! Everybody! C'mon, I'm not that dense... besides, duh, she would have told me! That's what all close friends do!"
Drew couldn't hold himself and started laughing out loud.
"What is that now..." May frowned, starting to lose her temper. "I think you don't understand how women—"
"The fact I know which are Brianna's favorite places to have sweets and tea, how she would love to make out inside a dark and locked classroom, what is her bra size... I guess you don't want to know how I know these things, right, but guess, maybe she was trying to flirt."
"Unless she's not interested in romance, just making out... Ah, it could be that, I suppose." Drew finished his rant with a dramatic shrug. "I am not a woman to understand whatever you want to point out."
May blushed deeply, unable to answer her colleague. "Uh..."
"Alright, June Maple... Let's change the subject! Can we talk about your hobbies and favorite movies?"
Drew smiled like if what had just happened was something boring and unsurprising. "I enjoy some classic poetry, how about you?"
"How could she not tell me she liked you..." May muttered to herself, still more shocked by Brianna's 'betrayal' than anything else that sardonic douche had spoken before. "I cannot believe it..."
That was going to be a very long journey.
After stopping by a gas station, they decided to take a break at a delicatessen and eat something, before finishing the last three hours of the road trip. It was the perfect time to chill out with indulging food; because as expected, the two traveling partners had just started to quarrel about random topics again.
It seemed that anything could be a reason to trigger a heated discussion: even the smallest things, such as driving soundtrack choices or the weather conditions, were an efficient fuel to Drew lit a fire and create a huge explosion over May's overstimulated shoulders.
Not even the Cyndaquil line would be able to produce such powerful overheat...
"She was over him, Andrew."
"She was not."
"That's not reasonable... She was definitely over him."
"Was she?"
May never imagined that someday she would argue about... Cartoons.
Wasn't she too old for that?
Debating over cartoon characters' relationships... Who would ever discuss about something like that?
"Of course she was over him!" Rubbing her temples, the infuriated girl declared her opinion with absolute certainty. "Kasumi-chan would definitely not wait for him after all those eternal years! I know, the show got cancelled before the conclusion of their adventures... But c'mon! Satoshi barely talked to her after he departed to other continents!"
"Maybe they kept some kind of contact... Off-screen?" Drew shrugged in a nonchalantly way, making it sure to be a pain with his smug and confrontational ideas. He was enjoying every little anger fit from his new friend. "Why would they suddenly stop talking to each other? They had such a strong connection in earlier seasons..."
May pouted, refusing to surrender. "If we are going to make absurd speculation about off-screen moments, then I think she went after Kenji while Satoshi was away. There, your off-screen headcanon explanation, Drew."
"Kenji? Do you really think she had a backstage relationship with Kenji?" He crooked his eyebrows in disdain with a taunting frown. May rolled her eyes out in annoyance. "For real, June? Don't you think if Kasu had a good chance to reunite with Satoshi, her strongest and most intense feelings would make her run back to him? As quick as a thunderbolt?"
"Nah, women are very practical and definitely not as attached to childhood memories as men think we are..." May emphatically waved her hands in denial. She refused to let Drew win this stupid discussion. "Kasu was a strong and independent girl, of course she would be smart enough to end up with a stable nice partner..."
"You're saying then that you would rather marrying the vanilla support character... instead of traveling with the hero who makes you feel thrilled, passionate and, of course, in love?"
"Even though you are totally twisting my words, yes! Any reasonable girl would do the same. Gosh, responsibilities and necessities first, then silly crushes."
May wanted to kill that smirking jerk. She groaned, slapping her forehead. Why were they still fighting over that silly topic? "Besides, Satoshi could hook up anytime with Haruka. They definitely had a good chemistry and—"
"How about Haru's UST with Shuu, the boy who kept pining for her? I though they had something going on."
"Uh-ess-tee?" The girl blinked. "What?"
"Unsolved sexual tension," Drew just stated the expression as if that was a basic common knowledge, "I ask you, why would she hook up with her almost-brother-friend if she had this huge UST going on... with another guy?"
"Geez, Drew!... Shuu was a heartless brat, he humiliated Haruka all the time! He was a big jock, so arrogant, so awful! Besides, who would consider that UST thing as something important—"
"Ohhh, I get it now." Drew suddenly cut May's argument in half, raising a finger up with an obnoxious smile. "I know, of course it makes sense, now I know the reason."
"Reason?"
"Sheesh, I was so dumb." He shook his head, crossing his arms and pausing his speech with a dramatic condescending sigh. "How could I not notice this? Disgusting? You say that because... you obviously have never found a great man who drove you crazy."
"Wait..." May blinked again. Did she understand that right? Was he saying that... "Wait, what?"
"I think you don't know what is a great guy... or maybe you have never let anyone try being a great guy for you..."
Drew smirked.
"...Or maybe worse... Maybe both?"
Each 'maybe' with emphasis on 'may' sounded more and more offensive to May's already irritated ears.
"That's none of your concern!" She stomped her feet on the ground, trying to dissipate her annoyance before entering the restaurant. "I don't need to tell you that..."
"Sure, June."
Drew opened the door, entering the deli without looking anymore at May. She groaned loudly, perturbed by his comment and, mostly, due to the fact he didn't hold the door for her.
"I mean it, Andrew! I don't need to share my private life just to prove you're wrong."
"Okay, that's fine. I didn't ask you to share anything intimate, anyway." He lifted his arms in innocence, wearing a careless facade. "I don't care, you know. I kinda imagined you'd be one of those girls who—"
"...Steven Stone."
"I see—" Drew suddenly stopped talking then stared at May with surprised wide eyes. "—What? Steven Stone? That Steven Stone from Devon company?!"
May just stared back with a triumphant look in her eyes.
"I've dated Steven Stone. Steven was an awesome boyfriend, a good kisser and a super interesting company... He knew how to entertain a woman."
She picked a table nearby the window and smiled in a defiant way, now crossing her arms in victory.
"See, I have already proved that—"
"Steven must be really entertaining, he's so fun... that he's your ex now. Good example." Tapping his fingers on the tip of the table, Drew stared at his companion with a challenging glare. "If Steven was so good, then tell me why you left Mr Entertainment... I want details."
"Miss Maple, I'm all ears to hear stories about your raunchy kinky secrets. Explain me why you and Steven were nasty degenerates and I'll let you win this one."
At the same instant, the old big waitress overheard the young man's comment by sheer coincidence; she hid herself behind the menu, giving May a harsh judgmental look.
Drew just smiled politely, pretending that nothing had happened. "Pecan pie and double espresso for me, please."
"Uh..." Staring at the dirty wall, the young woman listed her order, clearly disturbed by the new awkward situation. "I would like to have pancakes with cream, bread sticks and mini toasts, strawberry jam and butter... Oh, also one takeout chocolate donut, please."
"Anything else?" The grumpy waitress kept firing a censoring stare at May, who refused to look back at her. "How about a very healthy double milkshake?"
"No thanks, that would be too much. Just a diet coke for me, that's enough."
The old woman just raised an eyebrow after hearing the last request and walked away from the table, leaving the two rivals alone.
"Are you silly or what," the furious girl whispered to her partner in annoyance, face burning in embarrassment once again. "Why should I tell you about my private life— What, what is it now! Why are you making this face?!"
"Pfff, diet coke... the little cherry on the top of the cake." Drew snickered discreetly. "It's nothing special, don't worry. That would be too much, May."
"Meh..." She blushed, twirling her hair with her index finger. "I... I just want to keep my body in shape."
Drew got extremely confused with the illogical explanation - but he just kept going with their intimate chat anyway. "So, let's go back to our great debate. Tell me why Steven Stone was a sex god and why did you leave Mr. Entertainment to oblivion. He wasn't enough for your lascivious standards, right?"
"Why do you think everything is about sex?..." May furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Anyway, that's none of your business."
"Alright, I don't care. It's fine."
Drew watched the waitresses waking around the deli, kind of waiting for May to blurt out anything remotely weird after one minute of silence.
However, he didn't get the time perfectly right - in forty seconds, the big serious waitress brought their orders; another five seconds later, May started to groan and complain.
Drew had a coffee sip and then she started talking.
It took less than a minute.
"Yeah, I know, Steven was our monitor, I wasn't sure about dating him since he was a bit older, and you know how people gossip a lot in PokeTech... But when we first met, I found him a lovely, mature and serious gentleman..."
Drew poked the slice of pie with a fork, not really interested in eating his treat. "Oh yeah, he did look like a serious dude. I remember him helping Professor Rowan give some interesting lecture about evolutionary stones."
"He was," May spoke as she took a bread stick out of the little basket. "Steven was really polite and calm in PokeTech. He was so intelligent, charismatic and helpful! I think everybody admired him back in those years. But outside the campus... Wow, he was so different."
"Steven Stone, different? Wow, who would know that." Drew smirked. "What kind of perversion did he like?"
"Uhh... Perversion?" The naive girl blushed a bit. "I don't know what are you talking about!.. I mean, he was different outside the classroom. He would flirt, he would try to hug me and steal small cute kisses, he would buy me chocolate and sweets, he would go to the karaoke plaza with me—"
The boy considered stop paying attention to what May was talking about when he noticed the slice of pie was more interesting, substantial and hotter than her relationship fairytale story. He wondered why did he order that, sugary sweets weren't his cup of tea - well, at least making his order with style looked pretty cool... That waitress completely ignored him for saying those silly obscenities because of that, huh. Anyway, at least he ordered coffee right...
The empty rambling was interrupted by something that just didn't fit right.
"...Well, that's why we broke up. He left me when I slapped him, I left Steven because he was too obsessive about precious rocks... I think he liked them better than me."
"Wait a minute..." Drew repeated some keywords, trying to understand clearly the whole previous sentence. "Slaps? Rocks?"
"Yeah, he was an avid gem and stone collector. I only figured out later how annoying and bizarre that could be... I mean, I thought he was giving more attention to his hobby as some way to protest when I refused some of his advances on me but... Oh Mew, I was so wrong."
"What happened?"
"Stones happened. In inappropriate moments."
Drew raised an eyebrow in silence. May didn't stop her ramblings. "You see, I understand people got their hobbies and some of them are really fanatic about it. I liked when Steven gave me a sapphire stone on my birthday and I kind of found it cute when he tried to explain the beauty behind the Regis..."
"Buuut?" Drew took a big bite of his treat, now paying full attention to the story. The pie was extremely sweet to his paladar - but such thing didn't matter in an important moment like that. "Then what?"
"Uh, after a while, it started getting really bad." She simply lost the track of how much did she let leak from her story. "You know, sorta creepy."
"...Eh?" He stopped eating his pie in shock. "Creepy?"
"Yeah... I saw that he named all his rocks in little purple tags. Then I saw him talking to his favorite stone collection. Oh well, everybody has a quirky weird habit, I think that's okay... But then one day, he tried to convince me to go on a 'romantic and hot date' at... Granite Cave. I understand it is romantic because of the ancient art on its walls, but he didn't want to show me that. To make it worse, I got the 'hot' thing completely wrong."
"...Granite Cave is literally hot place, so hot that I was nauseated as soon as we entered the place. While I wanted to breath fresh air, he was super excited about dusty, suffocating and dangerous dark cavern's... plain rocks."
May started quickly cleaning her pancake plate. Drew refused to interrupt the moment, knowing that in few minutes, she would continue telling more details about that story.
"It was so dark and damp... Ahh, Steven was so focused on watching rocks, he couldn't see that I was dizzy from the extreme heat. And I was wearing something special, some revealing stuff that my friend Dawn suggested, not even that grabbed his attention! I'd never imagine how embarrassing was to be ignored... while feeling sick and being dressed that way."
"Really? Oh boy..." Drew just kept tossing leaves and sticks to the firewood, forcing some dramatic empathy in his voice. "Are you kidding me? He did that to you?"
"I mean, maybe he did notice something when I told him, uh, are you feeling cold? or something like that. I couldn't understand how he was breathing in that hellish cave route." The frustrated girl took a small sip from her drink then rolled her eyes out. "But no! Of course rocks can solve everything! He covered my shoulders with his jacket and made us go deeper and deeper into that cave, telling me he had a surprise coming ahead."
"Like I've said, he was a great kisser... We walked to a narrow path, slightly darker than the other places, then Steven turned off the flashlight and kissed me. It felt very good, I was about to forget about that awful situation until I thought, hey, he's being naughty, what is this hand poking my butt—"
"—Steven? That wasn't his hand, unless it got morphed into a small bizarre shape." She shivered, remembering the weird episode from the past. "So, I looked back and saw lots of tiny creepy blue flames looking at me. Ugh, I wanted to scream, so badly! But I didn't. Can you imagine why?"
Drew patiently watched May in silence. He knew how answers were not necessary at that moment.
"Steven covered my mouth with his hand and turned the lights on. I looked at him with terrified eyes and... His face was glittering-in-happiness!" She punched the table to mark the last three words, making plates and leftovers jump around. "Can you believe it? He said that I shouldn't move because Sableye were very close to me... I thought that was a safety warning, until..."
"...Out of nowhere, I hear Steven activating his Dex's camera mode. Guess what, he happily whispers to me, look at this picture, what a rare and priceless moment! So awesome, I gotta show Professor Oak this! Then he waves his picture in front of me, excited with his photo opportunity."
May felt her cheeks burning, crossing her arms while shifting her gaze to a dirty spot on the wall. "A perfect frame with several Sableyes smiling to the picture, one of them clearly groping my butt. Thanks, Steven. I'm sure Professor Oak loved seeing that rare and priceless moment."
That was the end of the awkward episode narration. Silence.
Drew peacefully finished his coffee, then quickly revived the discussion with a simple question. "You slapped him right after that, right?"
"Yes," May stated in an oddly adamant way, "I feel bad when I lose my control, but... sharing your girlfriend's butt to your professor is not a nice thing either."
"Eh... Oh well. Fun story, but..."
Drew snickered under his breath.
"...Guess I was right all this time. You're a romantic teenager pretending to be a grown-up woman."
That unnecessary remark hit as hard as a slap on her face. It made her tremble with mixed feelings of surprise and annoyance - wait, how did he dare saying that?
"Hmpf," May shut her anger inside her chest and muffled it with a sigh. She replied Drew with a pinch of bitterness in her voice, "I think this is personal and it doesn't matter if I had, or not, more than one boyfriend in my life, thank you. Who says it make any difference, you don't know me, do you? Gosh, Andrew..."
"Well, it's what you're probably thinking... you know exactly why," he spoke in a fully-aware teasing tone, displaying a rash patronizing smirk on his face. "I'm sure I got it right or else you wouldn't look so mad at me now."
Instead of trying arguing with that, May closed her eyes, opened the takeout bag and angrily stuffed a donut inside her mouth. Drew celebrated his victory in silence, grinning mischievously and watching his partner eat in raging fury.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Let's hit the r—" Drew put some money on the table; however, he was immediately interrupted by two desperate clumsy hands. "Huh, what is it?"
"Nononono, don't worry! You don't need to pay my part, I got it..."
May blushed, opening her small red Torchic coin case and putting her share on the table. "Thanks, but I rather split the bill, proportionally. You only got coffee and a slice of pie, I'll feel bad if you pay for the entire meal..."
"Hahaha, I was supposed to share the chocolate donut with you, but I ate it in a frenzy att..." She stopped talking as soon as she noticed the change. "...Drew."
Tilting her head to the side with a curious look on her face, it was now clear how he was watching her with an interested expression.
May coughed on purpose, slightly perturbed. "What is it now?..."
"You're quite cute, you know?" Drew paused for a second, wondering out loud. Then added another observation, smiling in a less abrasive way, "Brianna never told me how cute you were. You're very pretty."
"Uhh... Excuse me?"
She could not believe this guy. Not a single word that had just came out of his mouth made any sense, not particularly after all their nonstop quarreling.
"Andrew, what the..."
"In fact, I think you're not 'quite cute'... You're definitely cute."
There was no irony in his words. Neither in his eyes.
May stared at her colleague with shock. It morphed into a confused disgusted stare, then a helpless expression. She finally managed to move by leaving the table with a very distressed look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Drew asked, now feeling confused as well. "May?..."
"Everything, Andrew." He tried to hold her shoulder, but she dodged his gesture with a weak slap. "Just... Everything."
He smirked in amusement but that triggered her anger button; May snapped, trying (and failing) to keep her voice normal and cool.
"How dare you. C'mon, Brianna is my friend!"
"Okay?" Drew raised his arms, honestly unsure about the reason for such radical mood swing. "So what?"
"You've just told me Brianna likes you! Brianna supposedly likes you and you like her back! You can't do this," the offended girl hissed, walking in a faster pace. "You can't flirt with me when my friend likes you and you supposedly likes her back!"
"Wait, what?" Drew stared at May with shock, honestly surprised with her answer. "I... I wasn't trying to seduce you!"
"No intention with that killing stare?" She continued walking away, putting her helmet on her head. "Even I know that wasn't just a compliment, Drew!"
"Okay, I've got it! I take back those words, Maple. You're violent as a wild Vigoroth. Normal as a boring Zigzagoon. There we go, sounds better now?" He crossed his arms, speaking in a sarcastic tone, "Dear Arceus, you talk like this was the end of the world! You're not supposed to become angry because of this, I mean, everything else from today I would understand, but, this..."
"You can't just do that," May answered Drew in a very annoyed tone. "Andrew, things don't work this way!"
She angrily tossed the extra helmet on him; he caught it with both arms and tried to negotiate a more peaceful common ground before the departure. "Why not? There's no reason to fuss about it!"
"Because the truth is already out!" She placed her hands on her hips, completely unsettled. "You cannot take it back!"
"So let's call the Jenny family for the rescue, May! It's out, don't let it run!" Drew copied her pose, placing his hands on his hips. "Oh, no! What we're going to do now!"
"I don't know but stop it!" May shook her head and growled, exploding in annoyance. "Don't screw it up! Can't you see I was trying to be your friend? You're really making this impossible!"
"You're right, I think men and woman cannot be friends, our instincts always get in the way. I'm pretty sure guys always want something more when trying to approach people from opposite sex."
"What? That's not true..." May replied quickly, bothered by such strange out-of-topic comment. "That's really not true!"
"It is."
His words were so short, still full of infuriating subtext.
"It is not... C'mon, I have dozen of guy friends and they so do not want something more than friendship!"
"It is."
"It's not."
"It is, Maple."
"It. Is. Not!" May snapped. "That's simply ridiculous! Are you implying I am unconsciously dying to sleep with my friends? That I totally lust over Sid, Wally, Brock... James?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure all your straight friends want you. You just didn't bother asking them. They must be super scared of your crazy mood."
Drew shrugged then put the helmet on his head. "Perhaps not the last one, if he's indeed gay as everybody says. Yeah, I guess my rule applies mostly to straight guys... but still, it works."
"They are my friends, they don't desire me!"
"They do."
"They do not."
"They do."
"They do not!"
The enraged woman shook her head, obviously reaching her limits. "I got proof they are just my friends, you don't. Your point?"
"They do, because they find you pretty. That's it, usually men talk to women they find attractive... Now you know why we can't be friends, I might hit on you because you're cute. By the way, you are also hot, did you know that?"
Forcing a fake shocked expression on his face, Drew covered his hand over his mouth. "Oops, I've said it. It is already out, what are we going to do?"
"That's it!"
May snapped, clenching her fists and shouting her ultimatum out loud.
"Put that helmet, go inside the sidecar, then shut up. I'll kill you if you try saying anything stupid again!"
"Finally. Here we are, Route 104. Time to go, Andrew."
As expected, the rest of the road trip was a long dead silence. No bickering, no arguments, no silly rivalry over pointless stuff, neither a single glance exchange. They didn't interacted at all after the fierce deli discussion - and May definitely refused to interact with Brianna's friend after he called her 'cute and also hot'.
At the end of the trip, she offered her right hand with a mildly displeased look, as if that was only a proof of disgust and hatred instead of a polite gesture of camaraderie.
"Yes... I don't think we can be friends, thank Arceus this is over. Goodbye, tell Brianna I said hi."
"Well, May Maple... It was a funny road trip, thanks for sharing your stories. Ah, the banter sessions... I really enjoyed them, good luck with your next adventures."
She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, honestly surprised with the lack of irony in his last words. She expected that annoying tiny smug smile but, instead, got received by a non-aggressive contemplative face.
"Until next time."
Drew slowly disappeared in the silent road, in the same direction as a flock of Tailow were heading up in the darkening sky.
May sighed, exhausted, hitting the road once again, praying to get a brain bleach at the next gas station stop and... just forget about that whole disastrous trip. After all, it was the beginning of her glorious and new episode of her life, wasn't it?
Right?
A/N:
Rewritten on Jun/2018. Chapter1!May is so naive, Chapter1!Drew is such a douchebag, lol.
Original A/N:
When Harry met Sally - Sally and Harry's relationship reminds me a bit of May and Drew's relationship, lol. I thought it was going to be a fun idea to mix some key plots of the screenplay to my story - but ofc it's twisted in my own way and I won't make characters go OOC just to fit their roles... So there are several new content to the plot. It will be clearer in the next chapters - it's timeskip time! /confetti
In other words, if you have already seen the movie, enjoy my little homage to WHMT if you have not seen the movie yet, enjoy it as well and check it someday if you can! It's a classic romcom story ;) (I found it nice and I'm not even a big fan of this movie genre xD)
About this chapter... Bad first time impressions, huh? They kinda chatted and bickered a lot for a first time interaction... And yeah, I have no idea of what anime they were arguing about. But I kinda see Drew's points in their anime argument lol /whistles. And I didn't forget to mention it in the plot - Drew did totally forget calling Brianna when they made a stop at the deli.
I have absolutely nothing against HoennChampionshipping (this pairing has few in game hints and has some beautiful fanart!), the Steven part was actually inspired by a funny Japanese fanart featuring May pulling Steven away from a rock wall (and he desperately doesn't want to leave it lol) and few others showing Steven completely obsessed with rocks (lol is there a shipping name for this?).
About Welcome Home... Well, I'm just polishing the last chapters of that story, I promise I'll update it soon xD.