I've had this idea for a story circling around my head for a while. The idea is from Flipped, by Wendelin Van Draaen, which is one of the best books I have ever read. Don't ever suggest that I should read Twilight. That's a poorly written book, and the main character is a little whiny twit.
Obviously, there are going to be changes to the original story, but there will some similarities. I'm keeping the alternating perspectives, but I'm going to make it from three perspectives- Gary, Misty, and Ash.
I have a vague idea of how this story's going to turn out. For now, just now that it's an AxMxG love triangle.
Read + review! I need someone to check up on my spelling + grammar mistakes. And I'm always looking for ways to improve.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or Flipped, which this story is based off of.
Flipped
Gary
I've always been popular with the girls. There's no doubt about that. Even Ash Ketchum, my best friend agrees with me. They just swarm around me, which I don't mind most of the time, except for the fact that she is one of those girls. One that swarms around me that is. Not one that thinks I'm incredibly charming and sexy.
Who is she exactly? She is Misty Waterflower, the bossiest redheaded tomboy you will ever meet on this side of the earth. Even worse is that she's been practically stalking me since she moved to Pallet. Which was pretty much when she was in the fifth grade. Now, we're just about going into the tenth grade, which makes things just so… bah. I can't even describe it.
I was sitting in the driveway with my sister when the Waterflowers pulled into the driveway. Misty came out first, absent mindlessly tossing her soccer ball up and down. That's when her three older sisters stepped into the car and the four of them started moving things from the car inside into the house.
The thing you should take in mind is that even then, the three eldest Waterflower sisters were absolutely stunning. I couldn't tell you which one's which. Even though they aren't triplets and have different shades of hair, they all pretty much radiate the same aura of ditzyness mixed with sincere intentions.
Misty Waterflower however, fades in comparison, partly because she is so much younger than her sisters, and partly because she is the most boyish girl I have ever seen. Even now, she's still the resident tomboy of Pallet Town.
Anyways, my sister, May, being the person that she is, immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me across the street to help the four girls out and introduced us. It turned out that she was the same age as Violet, the middle sister, so the four of them ended up chatting it up, leaving me to Misty.
I still remember what she wore the first day we met. Blue jean shorts, a yellow shirt and suspenders. Her red hair was cropped short and hidden under a baseball cap and the only thing that remotely identified her as a girl was a bracelet with tentacruel charms around her wrist.
"Little brother!" May sang, as she bent down, putting her arm around my shoulders. "Why don't you help Misty unpack her things? She's such a pretty little thing you know! I'm going to talk with her sisters for a bit and if you finish before we're done, you can go back home."
With a little smile, she pushed me towards Misty, who had already turned away and began to unload her things from the car. Being a short little runt at the time, she couldn't completely reach inside the trunk, so I helped her. The first thing I reached was a bike, and as I was turning around to set it down, I bumped into her. The bike went sailing onto the road where a large garbage truck ran it over and Misty stood shell-shocked, staring at her now-crushed bike.
It was then she spoke to me for the first time.
"You! You mantled my bike!" She shrieked. Looking back, even as a little ten year old, she had a voice that would carry out for miles. And her voice was always very distinctive, too.
"Um, I'm sorry, I-" I began, but before I could apologize, Misty punched me in the gut. My gut still winces to this day.
"You're going to pay, Gary Oak, for destroying my bike!"
That was the day I signed my death warrant.
The first day of fifth grade was brutal. Of course, as the fates would decree it, she ended up in the same class as me. The first thing I heard as she stepped into the classroom, was her angry scream.
"That little bugger! Let me at him! He ruined my bike. He owes me!" She was held back though, by a dark haired boy with brown eyes. "Let go of me, you punk!"
"Hey, no more fighting for now, okay? We'll settle this like fifth graders later." He said. To this day, I am grateful to Ash Ketchum, no matter how much I make fun of him. The problem is, when they decided to 'settle it' with rock paper scissors, they became friends. Not sure how that happened, but whatever. Ash had the decency to keep the time he spent with either of us apart.
Fifth was a torture. Every time I looked around, there she was, harping about her bike. Sixth wasn't too much better. Seventh was worse, if that was even possible. Although as she was just about to let her grudge go, something else happened to infuriate her. Something called hormones and preteen girls.
They started surrounding me all of a sudden. And they were all pretty much the airheads that would end up either a, dropping out of school, b, getting knocked up and then quit school, or c, use their parents' money to get into some c-class movie or modeling agency. But nothing really important.
The thing is though, these girls were pretty, if not beautiful. The one girl that ended up sticking out of this group though, was Macey Embers. Every time I turned around, she was there. And the thing is, Misty hates Macey. Maybe because they represent complete opposites. I don't know why she hates Macey. She's nice and kind and all the guys like her. But for some reason, Misty always had something against her. So, once Misty started telling me off about Macey, all hell broke loose.
It ended up being a catfight, with Macey as the initiator. She started screaming and calling Misty names, telling her that I was hers and that she wasn't going to lose me to some tomboy. Where she got the idea that I liked Misty Waterflower though, I have no idea.
Other than that, the rest of the year went smoothly, although Misty seemed both furious and disappointed that I'd go and associate myself with Macey Embers. Either way, she still held onto her grudge. And I spent until the end of eighth grade, wallowing in her grudge, telling myself that next year, when high school started, it was going to be over. Finally over.
Misty
Gary Oak is the most insufferable, annoying, arrogant wanna-be Casanova to ever walk this planet. The only thing in this world besides bugs, peppers and carrots that I can't stand more than him is his fan girls, who are the biggest bunch of airheads I have ever seen. They all fit in the typical, spoiled, rich cheerleader stereotype. It's girls like them that makes me extremely ashamed of my gender.
I've known Gary Oak since I moved across the street from him in the fifth grade. That was the day that he mantled my little red bike, a present I got from my best friend Sakura, before I moved to Pallet. It was the one thing I absolutely would and could not leave behind, but not even a minute in, at the new house, it was completely destroyed.
The first day of fifth grade, I almost knocked him down, if it hadn't been Ash Ketchum stopping me. Strangely enough, the two of us became friends and we've been close ever since, even though we argue all the time. It's our way to show we care about each other.
One of my biggest faults- and I will acknowledge it, is that I hold grudges for ages. Even stupid childish ones like a smashed bike. I was actually on my way to apologize to Gary, when I spotted that latching onto his arm.
If you were to look up the word 'shallow', you would find Macey Embers' picture next to the definition. If you were to look up the word 'hypocrite', you'd see Macey Embers winning the gold medal for that department. If you were to look up 'fake', you'd find Macey Embers as a Barbie doll, with those plastic smiles in a plastic box. If you were to look up the phrase'bitchy drama prone whore'… Well, you get my point.
You'd think guys would see past Macey's façade. But no, they're all taken in by her fake smiles and short skirts. I'm proud to say that the guys I actually care about realize how much of a cold hearted ice queen she is.
When I saw Macey clinging onto Gary, I almost felt bad for him. At first, I thought he wasn't doing anything to spare her non-existent feelings. It was then I pulled him aside and told him to not hang out with her. Of course, Macey, being Macey, took it as me flirting with Gary, or the other way around or something. Before I knew it, she had tackled me to the floor and was reaching for my hair, calling me names.
Girls like her make weak fighters. They exalt all their energy within the first few minutes throwing tantrums. I should know- although I love my sisters, they can be no better than Macey. I kept her down planted until a teacher came and led her to the nurses' office.
I was about to talk to Gary when he turned and headed after Macey. So he didn't fight her off because he didn't want to.
That was strike two in my books.
The story that went around after the little incident was that Macey had stolen Gary from me and I was mad at her for doing that. Whispers circled the three of us for about a week, but I ignored all of them, because as far as I was concerned, it was only my friends whose opinions really mattered.
If anything, the whole Macey incident brought me and Ash closer as friends. He didn't like hanging out with Gary because of his little possy, and frankly, I didn't blame him.
Nor, was I ever going to complain.
Ash
I have three big influences in my life. The first one is my mother, who has single-handedly taken care of me since I was born. She's an amazing cook, incredibly compassionate, and I think that sometimes, I get some of my stubbornness from her.
My mom's lived in Pallet since she was little. Her parents were friends with Professor Oak, and thus, Gary and I have hung out since we were in diapers. It was always pretty competitive between us. We always tried to beat each other, whether it came to riding bikes, fishing, you name it. He's the one that brought out my competitive side, and his sister used to laugh at us, saying that if she ever needed help, two ready, eager soldiers were ready to get the job done.
This being said, Gary is the other big influence in my life.
It was just those two until the fifth grade. Then, the fiery storm came along.
The first thing I remember is her being angry at Gary. It was something about her bike. She looked about ready to pummel him when I stepped in, diverting her by saying that Gary was a weak boy, so I would step in and settle it for him.
Well, a fifth grader's way of 'settling' things is a good old way of rock paper scissors. If conflicts were solved this way, we'd have fewer wars.
Misty can be such an irrational gambler. Before we played rock paper scissors, she bet her scented markers and I threw in the chocolate chip cookie my mom had packed in my bag. Even though I won, I didn't take her markers and split half the cookie with her. From that moment, we became close friends.
It's relatively easy to make friends with Misty, and stay friends with her, but it's even easier to get on her bad side. If you're lucky enough to become a close friend though, there's nothing she won't do to help you out. She's also honest- she won't mince words or do things like Macey Embers.
I have disliked Macey Embers since the moment I set my eyes on her. I have to say, I was fortunate enough to see her stealing the crayons out of one of our classmates' cubbies in kindergarten and blaming someone else. I've never been taken in by the deceitful mask she hides behind, which Misty is extremely proud of.
Throughout fifth up until seventh, I was back in forth between my friends. I still hung out with Gary, of course, but I also spent time with Misty. It was a little exhausting, but I liked the both of them.
Then, in the seventh grade, Gary got popular all of a sudden. He shot up an inch or two and girls started appearing everywhere he was. No girl I saw was even comparable to Misty, though. The girls were all simpering gold diggers. It started to become annoying hanging out with Gary, so I began to spend more and more time with Misty to the point where the only time I really saw Gary was in class or when Mom had Professor Oak and his grandchildren over, or vice versa. Even then, we didn't really talk. We just drifted apart.
The other big thing that happened in the seventh grade was the Misty/Macey smackdown. I knew from the second Macey initiated the fight, Misty was going to win. I remember Macey calling Misty a slut, whore, flirt … Which was ironic because Misty was still the tomboy of the time. The only guy she ever hung out with was me. Pretty much, Macey was calling Mist everything she was.
After the teacher took Macey away, Gary went after her. I wasn't going to tell him, but Misty had been on the verge of forgiving him. It doesn't matter if he knew or not now, but it might have made eighth grade easier for him.
We're going into high school now- and my mom's told me to make a list of resolutions. Of course, she added some onto my list. Mainly better grades and to change my underwear every day. But there's one goal on my list above others.
That's to finally tell Misty how I really feel about her.