Teenage Dream: Thirty-Three Misadventures to Love

A/N – With Forever and Always winding down, I wanted to start another Contestshipping project. I'm planning on thirty-three chapters, with each one representing a day. I'm playing it off a love at first sight thing so enjoy(:

Summary – AU: May, a successful wedding planner, has lost the spark in her life. Then she meets Drew and her whole life changes. There's just one problem. Drew's engaged to Brianna. Inspired by Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", Taylor Swift's "You Belong with Me" and "Speak Now"

-Drew-

"Brianna!" I yell as I pound on the bathroom door. Brianna peeks out, holding the curling iron.

"Yes Drew-y?"

"Our wedding's in thirty-three days and you still have yet to hire a wedding planner," I state exasperatedly.

"Oh silly! Of course I hired one! She's just been crazy booked!" Brianna looks at me with hopeful green eyes. "Her name is May Maple, Princess of Hoenn! She's planned tons of weddings for all the stars of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and even some from Unova!"

I blinked once. Twice. "Are you serious?"

"Totally!" Brianna chirps.

"We can't afford some fancy celebrity wedding planner!" I burst. "I'm a small time model who's constantly looking for a gig! My normal job is playing as the entertainment at random bars and cafes! You run a small boutique downstairs that only appeals to teenage girls! We can hardly pay our rent! My family disowned me because they didn't deem you to be the right girl for me! Your family isn't much help either! We can't afford a fancy celebrity wedding planned by the Princess of Hoenn!"

Brianna stares at me with slightly hurt eyes. "Drew," she starts, "don't you want to express our love to everyone? Maybe this wedding will get media attention for your modeling career. Maybe my business will get some buzz. Maybe —"

"We'll go broke, get kicked out of our apartment, live as hobos," I list negatively.

Brianna pouts. "You're so pessimistic sometimes!" She pauses, waiting for me to say something. When I keep my mouth shut, she continues. "It's too late now. I already paid her the basic fee for a consultation meeting and the basics of planning our wedding."

"Well when's our meeting?"

"Today. At two. We're meeting her at her main office in Petalburg City."

I look at my watch and nearly have a heart attack. "It's twelve o'clock right now! Quit curling your hair and let's get out of here! It takes at least an hour and a half to get to Petalburg!"

-May-

"Hey, May, you want to come with us to get some sushi?"

I look up from my computer where I was busy designing the stationary for the invitation to the wedding of Sinnoh superstars Candice and Volkner. Misty was standing over me with a hopeful expression. "Ash, Paul, Dawn, Leaf, and Gary are going to be there."

"Uh… I'm kind of busy," I reply, looking at the half-designed stationary.

"Come on, May," Dawn begs from the background. "You haven't gone out and enjoyed yourself in a while! When you're not busy talking to lovebirds, you're busy working your butt off for them! I'm sure Candice and Volkner would be fine with some other design you used in the past for their stationary."

I shook my head. "I promise each and every couple a unique wedding with special touches of their own. I can't go back on my business' promise."

"Well you need to go back to your promise of living!" Misty retorted. "You practically live in this office now!"

"Well, wedding season's in full blast and a lot of people want me to help plan their weddings…"

Misty groaned. "That's no excuse for not living! You're alive, May, but you're not living."

I opened my mouth to protest but Misty would have none of it. "Come on, we're going to the restaurant whether you like it or not." Then she grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of my chair, into the elevator, and out of the building, where Paul, Ash, Gary, and Leaf were waiting.

"You convinced her to come?" Gary asked incredulously.

"More like forced," I scoffed as I brushed off my wrist.

"Misty's right you know," Leaf says. "We know you're busy, but you sacrificed nearly all of your social life for your work."

"Come to think of it, it's kind of ironic you're in the love industry but you haven't had a boyfriend for months," Ash muses. I know he didn't mean it as an insult, but still, that kind of hurt…

"Ash! You thick-headed dimwit!" Misty scolds.

"Well it's the truth," Ash says as he backs up.

Dawn rolls her eyes. "Either way, you need to get out of that office once in a while, May," Dawn says authoritatively. "Let's go!"

While we're walking, I think about what they all said. It's true I haven't had a boyfriend in a while… The last boyfriend I had dumped me because he thought it would be easier than constantly fighting for my attention. He said he would take me back when I started having fun again.

I couldn't help but wonder, was I really that out of control?

-Drew-

One hour of agonizing driving down, another half hour to go. As much as I love Brianna, if there's one thing I would change about her, it's her taste in music… and her singing. That makes two I guess. Anyways, Brianna is a radio shark. She refuses to let anyone change the station, so anytime we're driving it's always the same bubblegummy pop songs sung off key.

"Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, it's the party in the USA! Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah, it's the party in the —"

"We get it! She's partying in the USA! Can we please change the station?" I burst.

Brianna pouts. "But I like this station!"

I groan. I wanted to play some music on my iPod but it was out of batteries again and I needed to charge it. My phone wasn't much help either. Anytime I played music on it, the batteries would drain quicker than what should be possible.

"Just turn down the volume," I say through clenched teeth.

Brianna pouts even more but complies.

The rest of the drive was mostly bearable. Brianna kept her music down a bit, which I was grateful for.

We pulled into the nearest "decent" restaurant after Brianna complained she was hungry. It was a small sushi restaurant. It seemed to fit Brianna's standards as far as size, hygiene, and superficial quality.

"Hi! Welcome to Wasabi. Table for two?"

I nodded. The waitress led us to a small table next to a larger table filled up with a group of chatting friends. There was a red-headed girl, a guy with messy black hair, a brunette with a white hat, a guy with spiky brown hair, a plum-haired guy, a blunette, and another brunette. This one seemed to be fazed out and not at all invested in the conversation.

"I'm Solidad. Would you like any drinks?"

"I'll have the ginger raspberry iced tea," Brianna requests.

I didn't even look at the menu. I was too transfixed on the brunette next door. "Water," I reply absentmindedly before going back to studying the brunette. The first thing I got from her was lifeless. Though her eyes were the most vivid blue I've ever seen, they were dull and lifeless. There was no spark in them. Something in me wanted to go up to her and charm the spark right back into her eyes.

"Drew! Are you even paying attention to me?"

I look over at Brianna. She was snapping her fingers impatiently.

"Sorry," I replied absentmindedly, still hung up on the brunette.

Brianna sniffed indignantly. She hated not being the center of attention. Born an only child to Carrie and Bruce Wakana, Brianna was used to getting all the attention in the family. She was also used to getting everything she wanted, whether it was a puppy or an engagement to me, even if it costs them every last cent of their savings. Losing something as small as a couple minutes of attention was huge and must be retained.

She reached over the table and turned my head towards her. "We're going to be married in thirty-three days," she stated. "I can't faithfully marry you knowing you're not giving all your attention to me." She gave me a puppy-dog face of pleading.

"Sure," I comply, still halfway in another world.

Brianna smiled. "We're going to be together forever, Drew-y Bear," she cooed.

I smiled weakly and pushed her away gently to make way for the drinks.

Internally, I shook my head and sighed. That last sentence still made me wonder. Every now and then, I can't help but wonder if my family was right about Brianna not being the right girl. I know she really loves me, but I don't know if I love her back. I'm trapped in this world with Brianna and to back out of it now would be rude. I'm from the Hayden family and backing out of a marriage now would just absolutely disgrace my family. I feel like a rose tangled in between weeds.

-May-

The sushi was great. I had my friends. What more could I ask for other than a unicorn? There was just this nagging feeling in my stomach that there was something missing. I felt the need to go back to work, and Misty took my iPhone away so I couldn't design stuff for any weddings.

"May!"

The sound of Misty's sharp voice woke her up from her daydreams. She looked to her left to see Misty's disapproving face. "Stop destroying your sushi!"

I looked down at my plate of sushi. Sure enough, one of the pieces was completely unraveled and picked apart while the others were beginning to show the same signs of deterioration. Then I looked at everyone else's plates and realized they all finished their sushi.

"If she doesn't want it, I'll take it…" Ash volunteered sheepishly.

Misty, too busy with other matters to pull out her mallet, simply balled up her fist and jammed it into Ash's forehead. "Be more considerate!" she hissed.

"It's fine, Misty," I said passively. "I'll just box it to go. Besides, my next appointment is at two."

"We don't need to leave now," Dawn piped up. "It's only 1:15 and your office is just a couple blocks away. Fifteen minutes traveling time is all we need, tops!"

I shrugged. "I like to be there a bit early, just in case my customers arrive early," I explain meekly.

"May, you hardly ever go out anymore. It's been a really long time since you had a boyfriend, and yet you still have a ton of guys you met on the rare occasions you do go out begging you for a date," Leaf said. "Just enjoy this moment."

I sighed. There was cold, hard truth behind Leaf's words. My old boyfriend left me months ago. And yes it's true I have a couple of numbers on my phone that are always texting me, hoping for a reply, but I'm too busy. As for not going out often, I didn't really have a reason. There was no one to do cool stuff with. When there was no one to do stuff with, things seemed to have lost that sparkling glow about them. Sure, I had Misty, Dawn, and Leaf, but they were usually busy whenever I rarely had time off.

"I can't," I said after a long silence. "I have so many people depending on me for the best day of their lives." I stood up. "Ash, eat my sushi or whatever. Box it. Send it to my office. I don't care. I need to get going." I looked down at a sea of sad and disappointed faces. "I'm sorry," I said softly before running out.

I slap down a twenty-dollar bill to cover my part of the sushi and part of the tip. Just as I turned around to move through the maze of chairs, I saw a flash of sparkling emerald green eyes and matching hair. In the split second, I could tell he was looking at me too.

He had an unmistakable charm to him, the kind of the charm that would instantly draw girls to him like moths to a light. However, it seemed to be repressed. His smile was half-drawn with a ghost of a frown. The sparkle in his emerald green eyes was carefully split in between the girl in front of him and me. Those eyes seemed to be confused and unsure of who he should focus on more. He reminded me of me back when I was actually dating. Unsure of what was more important and what was more important in life.

I speed walked back to my office. My newest clients would arrive in half an hour and the place was a mess. Usually I don't mind having a couple stacks of paper here and there, but today, the papers were everywhere. I began shoving stacks together along the wall, promising myself that I would organize them later when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in whoever it is," I call with my back turned, still shoving around papers.

"I'm more than whoever."

I spin around and I see Gary and Leaf at the doorway. Gary was holding my box of sushi while Leaf was standing by with a smile.

"Finally going to let me plan your wedding?" I ask jokingly. Every one of us know that Gary and Leaf like each other, a lot. They know it but are just too stubborn to admit it. Gary insists he can't be tied down to one girl. Leaf says she'd rather go shoot herself than date "that playboy of a pig."

"Haha," Leaf replies sarcastically.

"Come on, Leaf," Gary says in a playfully flirtatious voice, "you know you want me."

"Yeah… no," Leaf replies before breaking out into peals of laughter.

While Leaf was guffawing in the background, Gary stepped into the office and dropped off the box of sushi. "You better enjoy it. I went through a lot of trouble delivering this box to you," he said as he rubbed his shoulder.

I laughed. "How so?"

"Ash tackled me for the sushi…"

Leaf stopped laughing for a minute, heard us, before breaking back out into laughter at Gary's pain.

"Not funny," Gary complained.

"You're right," Leaf said, "it's hilarious!"

Gary rolled his eyes. "You're laughing to hide the pain of seeing me getting hurt," he said smugly. "I know you care about me."

"In your dreams, Oak," Leaf retorted. Then she quickly peaked out the door. "I think your new clients are here, May," she said to me.

A moment later, a redheaded girl confidently strode in. Her hair was perfectly coifed and her eyes were a vicious teal shade. She wore a tight, fitted, black top and a pair of skinny jeans followed by a pair of black stiletto heels.

A split second later, a guy emerged. I felt my breath leave me for a moment. It was the same guy from the restaurant with the green hair and emerald eyes. I felt my heart skip a beat as our eyes connected. He seemed to remember me too.

Gary smirked, instantly sensing the connection as he's held that connection with numerous girls before. He leaned in and smugly remarked, "We'll leave you with the couple. He's a keeper, May."

I turned my head and gave him a shocked expression. I was going to give him a well-deserved slap but he knew it was coming and quickly ran away, taking Leaf with him. Leaf looked back and gave me an apologetic look.

"What can I say?" she mouthed.

Just then, the two walked up to me.

"Hi," the redhead said. "I'm Brianna Wakana and this is my fiancée, Drew Hayden. I believe we have an appointment at two?" she asked sweetly.

I gave her a tense smile. Immediately I didn't like her. "Of course," I reply professionally. "Right this way." I gesture towards the conference table in my office. "So, when's the wedding?"

-Drew-

It was her, the same girl from the restaurant. May Maple. On the magazine spreads that Brianna always left around the apartment, she looked a lot happier and brighter. Right now, she looked unhappy and ready to explode at a moment's notice. She may not have noticed it, but her eyes were dull and adorned with bags and dark circles. Her smile was pulled tight over her lips, like it was forced and unnatural.

Even then, there was still an unmistakable beauty about her. I can tell, just by a couple minutes with her, that there was a dying ember deep inside, still yearning to burst out into a roaring fire, and that was the key to her beauty. It dimly showed through all the stress and fatigue evident on her face, but it was there. The deep blue sapphire eyes. The soft brown hair. I closed my eyes for a minute, imagining her without the stress and fatigue. Iridescent blue eyes, shining brown hair, and a smile that could light up the world.

I was unmistakably drawn to her.

"So when's the wedding?" she asked tersely before taking a sip of her water

"In thirty-three days!" Brianna piped up proudly.

Her eyes widened. Then came the inevitable spit-take. "Thirty-three days?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep!"

She shook her head. "Alright. I've never done a wedding in such short time but I'll do my best. First thing, individual conferences. You," she said, pointing to Brianna, "go to the third floor and ask for Tori. She'll get you started on wedding dresses."

"What should I do?" I asked.

"Individual conferences," she replied. "It's like an interview on your personal tastes."

"Alright," I reply as I moved my chair closer to hers. I could smell her perfume. It was a light strawberry blended with the sweet scent of roses and jasmine. Immediately, I was whisked back to my family's botanical garden back in LaRousse. It was my favorite place to go in our mansion before they disowned me.

Not looking up from her laptop, she asked, "Any kind of theme in mind?"

"Not really," I replied.

She looked up and flinched when she realized my proximity. "Nothing in mind at all?" she asked, her voice slightly quivering.

I shook my head.

She typed it down quickly. "Anything specific you would like at your wedding?"

I think carefully. There were many things I held close to my heart, but not many of them I shared with Brianna or would make sense at the wedding. Then I thought about what was generally at weddings. Flowers. What was my favorite flower? I reached into my pocket and wrapped my fingers around its perfectly thorn-less stem.

"Roses," I reply.

She smiled at me. "They're beautiful flowers aren't they?"

"My family cultivates them," I reply, feeling the warmth of the LaRousse sun on my skin again. "I loved spending time in our garden. We even had our own breed of roses. The Hayden Rose." I sigh in happiness, remembering all the great times I had in the garden.

"You're from the Hayden family?" she asks curiously.

I take a deep breath. I hardly ever tell people I'm disowned, and I've only told the people whom I've known for a long time and trust with all my heart. I've only known her for a couple minutes and yet I feel like I can trust her. Everything just comes so naturally when I'm talking to her. The words come out easily before I could stop them.

"I was from the Hayden family," I reply. "They disowned me after they found out I'm engaged to Brianna. They don't approve of our engagement."

Her expression was unreadable. I decided to let it go.

The questions kept coming and I kept answering, ranging in everything from food to music. For most of them, I answered, "Anything's fine," or "Not really."

"You really don't seem to be all too concerned about how your wedding looks do you?" she asked at the end.

I shrugged. "All I wanted a small, simple wedding. Something with a little class and style but nothing over the top. At first, we weren't even planning on hiring a wedding planner, much less someone as famous as you are."

She smiled. "Well I'm glad you hired me," she said with a genuinely warm smile.

"Why's that?"

She hesitated, caught off guard by my question. "I love a challenge," she replies quickly. When she saw my slightly confused expression, she stood up and opened the door. "You are now going down to Robert who's going to be showing you some different suits and tuxes. I'll call up your fiancée and start her conference."

"Alright," I say as I'm walking out the door. "Nice meeting you Miss Maple."

"Please, call me May," she replied, extending her hand out for me to shake.

I accepted her handshake and looked her dead in the eye. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I saw her eyes twinkle with life the way I imagined they would, and dang they looked gorgeous.

-May-

What was I thinking? Here I am one moment, perfectly fine being eternally single. The next moment, I'm falling for Drew Hayden, fiancée to Brianna Wakana! I felt like I betrayed myself. As someone in this particular industry, it was a sworn oath that we were not allowed to fall in love with any of our clients, especially the ones that were already engaged! Personal life and business did not mix.

But you felt the chemistry.

I shook my head. Chemistry or not, I can't. I can't. I can't. I can't!

Don't deny it, May. You know there's something there and you know he's not as happy as a man going to marry the supposed love of his life should be.

I will deny it. There will be other men. There will be other men. There will be other men… ?

Voices in my head kept bickering back and forth during my entire conference with Brianna. She showed a lot more interest in the wedding that Drew did, giving me in-depth descriptions of what she wanted in her wedding. She bubbled to the brim with excitement over marrying Drew, not taking the least bit of interest in anything else.

"I think we have all the information we'll need to plan your wedding, Brianna," I say sweetly. It's been two hours with her already and I was frustrated with her.

What could a guy like Drew see in a girl like her?

Jealousy! Why? It's not my place to question relationships. And what's with the jealousy? Drew's was never even mine to start with!

I shook my head. "Go head down and talk to your fiancée," I said, spitting out the last word. "I'm going to go get some Advil and meet you down there in a sec."

Brianna bubbled happily before skipping off to see her "Drew-y-kins."

My head was pounding. There was no doubt she was happy, but she was too happy for me. I didn't like her. Not one bit. She was Drew's fiancée and for all that matter, she was not the right girl for him. Someone like Drew shouldn't be marrying the wrong girl.

I walk to my personal desk and open up my drawer where I keep all my personal treats. Piles of candy oozed out from the cherry case as I dug in to find my bottle of Advil. I popped a pill and drank some water before heading down to meet up with Drew and Brianna.

When I got down there, Brianna was clinging to Drew's arm while he absentmindedly stared at the pictures of happy couples on the walls, all centered around my own larger-than-life picture. I looked happy in the picture. It was taken back when I had him. I can't say I've seen that girl in the mirror for a while.

"I'll start making plans for the wedding soon," I say smoothly. Brianna smiles while Drew just looks at me with a quiet, unreadable expression. "Call me if there's anything else you would like me to know. All I need is your phone numbers and e-mails and you may leave." I handed them two pads of paper and two pens. They scribbled their information down quickly before handing it back to me.

"Thank you," I say graciously before sending them off.

Brianna gave me a cheerful wave goodbye while Drew's eyes lingered on mine for a moment. I felt the sparks, the tension, and I'm pretty sure he felt it too.

I looked down at his number and e-mail. Underneath it was a little note from him.

Meet me in the park tonight at ten.

-Drew

My heart fluttered and I felt a bit faint. He was something special… and he wasn't mine.

Eh? Eh? What do you think? I loved writing this chapter!(: Unfortunately, I was so eager to write this chapter, I neglected writing the next chapter for Forever and Always... I'll get working on that ASAP!

Reviews would be kindly appreciated!

~ Limmeeee