Hey all, AltDark here~
Well, this is my first story, so yeah...Be nice? I'll give you a cookie.
Pain.
Splitting pain that's ripping me apart, like the kind you'd feel when you're tied to two horses running opposite ways. Not that I'd know what that actually feels like.
That's all I can comprehend right now, watching her dance with him. Maybe I should explain a bit.
When she was coming back from the Wallace Cup three years ago, she brought him with her. He was supposedly her childhood friend, and had decided to tag along with her to meet her "Coordinator friends."
He left two weeks later when he found out we were going to a town with no gym. During those two weeks, I found myself boiling, boiling at all the familiarity they had with each other, at how deep their friendship was.
And it hurt, hurt especially when I saw how she was able to good-naturedly wave off or retort to his teasing, while she'd blow up at me with all the force of a volcano when I did anything of the sort.
It really did hurt.
Three years later, she decided to join us (Solidad, Harley, and I) on our second journey around Johto. He decided to join her.
Once again, I was subject to seeing their signs of togetherness, of companionship. That boiling sensation, which had been dormant for three years, rose up in me again, and I was moody much of the time.
Solidad and Harley knew enough to not question me. I guess they knew that they couldn't really solve my problem.
But she got annoyed at my constant terse replies, and left with him a month into the journey.
That was three weeks ago.
Now, by some chance of fate, we were all in Goldenrod, at a party "reserved for the best of Trainers, Coordinators, and Breeders."
And now, I'm sitting here, gripping tightly at an ornate white tablecloth that's laying on a small, round table, the kind of table that you can find at coffee shops and only has enough space for two. I'm sitting, gripping the cloth so tightly my knuckles turn white, and watching May and Brendan dance.
And I'm feeling pain.
Solidad and Harley (who have somehow both grown just the slightest bit taller) are waltzing ever so gracefully on the opposite side of the room, but however much I want to keep my eyes on them, I always end up watching the other pair.
It's like they're magnets, magnets for my eyes. Always drawing my line of sight back to them…
May's laughing now, at something he said to her, her and only her. But then she glances over at me, and her face turns just a tad worried. When our eyes meet, she gives a small smile and faintly blushes. The moment of connection between us disappears when she turns back to him and whacks him lightly on the shoulder.
I can see Brendan's smirk, even from here, and I know he's mocking me.
I wrench my head away.
Then something hits me. A realization. One that I've been trying to keep away. And it's saying that May doesn't need me. She already has Brendan.
Three years ago, when I first started thinking that she'd never fall for me, I just pushed the suggestion aside. Now, thinking back on it, I was being foolish to think that she'd eventually like someone like me.
I should have given up on her three years ago, when I had first met Brendan. And now I'm paying for my stubbornness.
But then, I actually did try, once or twice, to move on from May. To find interest in another girl.
It just didn't, wouldn't work.
I'm staring at them again. This time, however, as much as I want to swivel my head around to stare at the now bunched up tablecloth, I can't. It's almost like I'm a child again, who's watching the clouds float by, flabbergasted at all the forms they can take, astounded at all the pictures the white in the sky can make.
Except in my case, there's also that sensation of pain.
She looks so pretty tonight, adorned with that dress that has all the colors of her first traveling outfit. For a moment, I'm able to escape my torture as my eyes drink up the sight, my brain hastening to make sure I can remember how she looks. But then I realize how his crisp white suit is able to complement her dress perfectly, and my mental picture is tarnished with his presence. I grind my teeth in frustration.
Finally, I notice something else.
Mutters. There's a lot of them. Some of them are about me, saying something along the lines of how alone I look, and how only my fangirls like me. Others are about Solidad and Harley, and how surprising it is that someone like her would get together with a freak like him.
Normally, I'd be annoyed at how stupid they're being. Harley's not a bad person.
I would go and figuratively punch in their faces, but this time, I don't really care. Those people can think what they want right now.
Because I can hear others around me murmur about how May and Brendan are such a nice couple.
They're right about one thing. The mutterers, I mean. Only one thing.
I am alone. Alone in my agony.
The pain eventually disappears, but disappointment and (almost) despair come as soon as it leaves.
Sometime later, Solidad and Harley come to my side. They ask me what's wrong.
I shrug. "Nothing."
They know, though, that in my world, nothing is not wrong. And I feel their sympathy.
But I don't want it. Don't need it.
Because having people sympathize with you doesn't really help, doesn't help at all, when the person that means everything to you doesn't think that you're anything to them.
They left, soon after I gave my short reply. And I sighed, thinking that I would be alone for the rest of the night, even if I didn't really want to be around people right now.
It's funny how that can happen.
Someone slid into the seat at my table that's been vacant ever since the party started. Until now.
Because she's here.
May.
I can feel her eyes boring into me as she asks, "Hey. What's wrong? You've been seeming down for this whole entire party."
I put on the mask I can so skillfully create, and say once more, "Nothing."
She's staring at me, searching my face for any betrayal of emotion. I turn my head away. She doesn't need to be bothered with my problems. My pain.
Suddenly, I feel her hand's warmth on mine. And I basically jump out of my seat. Mentally, at least.
My head whips over to face her, and there's ice in her eyes as she speaks. "You're really bad at hiding things, you know. Don't lie to me. There's something upsetting you, and I know it. Tell me."
Crap. She's already brushed my mask aside.
I decide to tell her the truth. Well, part of it, at least.
"Perhaps it might be because the person who's just about my best friend has ignored me for three hours, even though I haven't seen them in, what, a month?"
There's a bit of shock apparent on her face, and I don't understand why. Her mouth opens just the slightest bit, then closes right back up. "It was three weeks. But that's not the only thing, is it?"
In my head, I groaned. Why does she, of all people, have to pester me? Why can't she just go back to Brendan, who she actually likes, and leave me alone? Why can't she stop giving me this torture?
"Persistent little thing, aren't you?" I asked, a bit waspishly.
May blushed, then scowled quite a bit. After a second though, her face brightened up, like she had gotten some genius idea. "Come with me."
"Where are…" She grabbed my hand before I could finish, wrenching a startled me from the table.
Her answer was one word. "Somewhere."
She brought me outside, into the cool night air. The last few rays of sunlight were fading from the sky, casting a dark red glow upon the clouds. Even I would have stopped and gawked (yes, me, the "great" Drew Hayden,) if she hadn't been pulling me along.
"Just exactly where are we going? I've never seen you hurry this much before, except when you were hungry or late for a contest…."
"Shut up, Drew." She glared at me, and I smirked teasingly back, though inside I felt relieved that there was some normalcy between us again.
A few minutes later, she abruptly stopped, and I just about ran into her.
I looked around at my surroundings. A number of fountains glittered, causing the dark blue water of the pond to shimmer. In the distance, I was able to see the GTS building with all of its fancy lights.
May plopped down on the grass, and patted the ground beside her. "Sit," she said, looking beseechingly up at me. I got down next to her, my legs sprawled outwards and my hands behind me, supporting my weight.
"So…why are we here?" I asked for the third time.
"I, uh…want to tell you something."
I cocked my eyebrow at her. "And we had to come out here for that?"
She sighed exasperatedly. "No, but….Anyways, just listen, okay?"
"Alright."
For some reason, she suddenly found the ground extremely interesting.
"I don't like Brendan. I mean, he's a great friend and all, but that's about how far my feelings go for him."
At that statement, my heart started pumping harder, my blood flowing faster, coursing through my body. My mind tried to tell me to stop, to just give up before my hopes would get crushed once more.
Except my hopes were already soaring.
"So…?" I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
She looked at me for a moment before she continued. "So you don't need to be unhappy."
I smirked, it being the only thing which I was sure would not give me away. "Who said I was unhappy?"
"Your expression did. Now, what really matters is who I do like, right?"
"…Yeah, I guess so….But why are you telling me this?"
"Because…I like you." At the last sentence, her head finally turned over to me, her sparkling sapphire eyes gazing into mine.
"…Wait….What! You…you like me?" My mind rejected the idea as soon as it processed it. This couldn't be happening. No way. Not in a million years.
A somewhat teasing grin grew on her face. "Just what am I going to do with you, Mr. Andrew Hayden? Yes, I like you, you idiotic rose boy."
The smile turned crooked as she looked at me. "And I know you have something for me too, am I right? Solidad was always good at seeing people's feelings…."
I hate you, Solidad.
May then settled up next to me and laid her head against my shoulder.
I started getting nervous, which was totally perverse. I'm always in control, so I never get nervous. Why should I be, if I know what's going to happen? When I cause everything to happen? (Well, maybe I was a little nerve-wracked at my first contest, but that's not the point.)
When I decided to say something, I stammered. (Just like me, I know.) "Re-really? Is she?"
Now it was her time to smirk. "Look at you. Drew Hayden, stammering? And blushing bright red too! You've never done that before, have you?"
And with that, she kissed me.
We broke apart a minute later. "I just never thought you'd actually take the initiative," I said, regaining some of my composure, and pressed my lips to hers once again.
Little did I know that we'd soon be interrupted by two Coordinators, one pink-haired and innocently grinning at us with a camera in her hands, the other purple-haired and squealing like a fangirl at the sight of us.