Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or the song I used. Here is another chapter ;)
'Cause we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Gary walked over and took a seat next to Dawn, across from Leaf. After he settled in, he just smirked at her. May looked at him weirdly, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She turned to glance at Leaf.
"You'd think he would know what a black belt in karate was," she said, shaking her head, "but I guess he's too stupid to even know what that is." Gary rolled his eyes at May, scoffing.
"Wow, Maple. I don't understand how you're so popular with that sense of humor. Oh wait, you aren't," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Leaf slammed her hand on the table, finally fed up with his bullshit.
"It's my first day here, and you're already a pain in the ass," she said harshly. She narrowed her eyes, now glaring at Gary. "What the hell do you want from us?" she spat angrily.
"Haven't you bugged Leaf enough today, anyway?" Dawn asked rhetorically, also rolling her eyes at his immaturity.
"Dawn? Is that you?" Gary said, raising an eyebrow at her and faking a gasp. He stood up from the table and raised his voice for everyone to hear. "I haven't seen you since the day Paul told you he wanted nothing to do with you!" He shook his head with a dry laugh. "Still obsessing over him, huh?" he asked with a lopsided smirk plastered on his face.
At this point everyone was watching them, including Paul. Dawn's eyes were wide and her cheeks were bright red from the embarrassment. May and Leaf were glaring daggers at Gary.
Gary started laughing at her, and then glanced at Paul.
"Paul, buddy! Why don't you turn her down one more time, so she can finally get the hint?"
Paul glared at his brother harshly, shaking his head at him. He got up and walked out of the cafeteria, not even looking back at Dawn.
Dawn's eyes started to water when she heard everyone start laughing at her. She looked down at her hands on the table, her bangs covering her eyes and hiding her unwanted tears.
Leaf looked at Gary incredulously.
"Congratulations. Not even from you did I expect something so superficial and shallow," she said, with disappointment in her voice.
Gary narrowed his eyes at her and sighed, walking over to where she was sitting.
"You should really learn to get used to it. Who knows, you could be my next victim" he said with a grin on his face, before walking away from their table.
Later after school
Leaf closed the door and sighed to herself. She slid down onto the floor, leaning against her wall as she buried her face into her hands. "What a shitty day…" She thought bitterly to herself.
Mrs. Hayden knocked on the door, and entered Leaf's room. She frowned when she saw her adoptive daughter on the floor.
"I'm guessing you had a rough first day?"
Leaf looked up suddenly, feeling a bit startled since she didn't hear Mrs. Hayden come in. She quickly stood up.
"I'd rather not talk about it," she mumbled quietly, before throwing herself onto her bed, covering her face with a pillow.
Mrs. Hayden sighed again, and decided to leave her alone. She exited the room quietly, not saying another word, and gently closed the door behind her.
Gary slowly opened the door to his house. He glanced around to make sure no one was there, and sighed quietly. He then started to creep his way in, tiptoeing to get to his room upstairs.
When he finally made it to his room, he closed the door, trying to be as quiet as a mouse. He was just about to sigh in relief, when all of a sudden his father slammed open the door to his room, making a loud bang. Gary jumped back, looking at his father with shock and fear written all over his face.
"Where the fuck were you?!" Mr. Oak yelled loudly, glaring harshly at his son.
Gary got over the shock and rolled his eyes at his father. He turned away from him, throwing his backpack onto his bed and picking up the basketball lying on the floor.
"Does it really matter?" He answered, sighing softly.
"You missed football practice!" his father screamed at him again, getting angrier by the second.
"Oh right. I forgot that all that matters to you," Gary scoffed in disbelief.
His father clenched his fist, turning red from anger.
"Don't start with me Gary. You already missed practice."
Gary turned around to face him.
"Would you just quit it? It was one time! Who the fuck cares anyway?" he spat obnoxiously, spinning his basketball around on his finger.
Gary's father's glare hardened. He grabbed the basketball from his son's hands and threw it against the wall, making an indent. He stepped forward, snarling menacingly at his son.
"Don't you dare disrespect me, Gary Oak."
Paul was downstairs doing his homework on the dining room table. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud bang coming from upstairs. He frowned, furrowing his eyebrows and walked up stairs. He noticed Gary's door was slightly open, and he looked through it without making a sound.
"How am I disrespecting you? It's MY future. Stop trying to control it," Gary argued back with his father, laughing dryly.
Mr. Oak scoffed at his son.
"You better shut that little mouth of yours before I do something you will regret," he said, threatening his son.
Gary's eyes widened, suddenly getting afraid. He started backing away from his father.
"Dad please don't. Not again." But before he knew it, his dad's hands flew towards him, one grabbing his shirt while the other hit him hard in the face.
Mr. Oak dropped his son and kicked him a couple of times in the ribs. He smiled crookedly, seeing his son on the ground, whimpering in pain.
"That should teach you not to disrespect me again."
Gary groaned in pain. He had one hand on his stomach, and the other on his face. The bruises were already swelling up. He had tears in his eyes from the pain both physical and emotional.
"Sorry," he coughed out. "I won't do it again, sir."
His father cackled loudly.
"Sorry isn't going to cut it, son," he said cruelly, before starting to kick and punch him again, ignoring the cries of pain coming from Gary.
Gary was on the floor trying to cover his face with his arms. Through them he saw his little brother Paul, watching through the door with a blank look on his face.
Paul quickly ran downstairs. He found himself grabbing his backpack and running out the door of his house. Not looking where he was going, he accidently bumped into someone, causing them both to lose their balance and fall on the ground.
"Do you wanna watch where you're going next time?!" May screamed at him. She then noticed her phone faced down a couple of feet away from her.
"My phone!" she said with another shriek, standing and picking it up off the concrete.
Paul started picking up his backpack and a few things that fell out of it, completely ignoring May.
"A 'sorry' would suffice just fine, you know!" she whined again, waiting for him to speak up.
Paul finally stood up, but instead of apologizing, he started walking away from her.
May brushed the dirt off herself.
"Of course. I wouldn't expect an apology from you," she continued, complaining even though the conversation was completely one sided. She then noticed something shiny on the ground. She glanced closely at it, and saw that it was an injection needle.
She frowned while picking it up, glancing at it in confusion. She turned around to yell at Paul, but he was already gone.
Mr. Oak walked out of Gary's room with a calm look on his face. He made his way into the nearest bathroom and turned on the sink, placing his hands under the faucet and letting the cold water run over them, washing away all the evidence of the violence that just took place.
Gary gasped in pain, coughing and groaning about the ache he felt all over his body. He struggled, trying to crawl over to his cell phone. Managing to grasp it in his hand, he speed dials Drew's number.
Drew answers on the third ring with a laugh.
"What's up bro? Did your dad catch you sneaking in from that detention?" he inquired with a chuckle.
"Hayd—" he tried, gasping from the pain as he attempted to speak.
Drew grabbed his keys from the living room table.
"Dude? Are you alright? What happened? What's going on?" he asked in one breath, genuinely worried about his best friend.
"I—need—a—place—to stay," Gary choked out, moaning in agony once more.
Drew glanced quickly at Leaf, who was doing her homework on the couch, and hesitated for a second.
"I don't know, man. Can't you stay at Trip's place? Or Silvers? What about Ash's house? You know the whole school…Why my place?"
Gary grabbed a towel from his hamper, and finally sat up, whining from the pain.
"No one else knows and no one can find out. You know that man," he whispered, trying to ignore the pain he felt. It was making him a bit light headed.
Drew sighed loudly again, not wanting his friend to be alone.
"I'm on my way. Be there in ten minutes." With that he hung up the phone. He walked over to the couch where Leaf was.
"You need to go. Get out of here. You can't be here when I get back." He said roughly, shooting her a glare.
Leaf looked at him in confusion, and stood up from the couch with her book in her hand.
"What? Why? Where the hell am I supposed to go?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him in annoyance.
"Didn't you make friends today or something? Go to their houses!"
"It was my first day!" she said, laughing in disbelief.
He sighed softly, roughly shoving his fingers through his hair.
"UGH!" he exclaimed in aggravation. "Just stay in your room for the rest of night and don't leave there. I cannot have you embarrass me," he yelled at her, slamming the front door on his way out.
Fifteen minutes later
Drew had finally picked up Gary from his house, and was helping him inside. Gary started making his way to the guest room, and Drew started to panic.
"You can't stay in there!" he suddenly shouted out.
"Why?" Gary questioned, curiously.
"Uhh—because my mom stuffed more of her junk in there, and there isn't any room," Drew said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Okay…?" Gary said, confused, before walking back downstairs and gingerly sitting himself on the couch.
Leaf had heard the whole conversation. She opened up her door, glaring at her now "brother".
"What the hell is he doing here? I can't stand him and you bring him to stay here? What the hell is wrong with his house?" she hissed at him.
"None of your business. Stay in your room and shut up. You'll be fine, okay?" he said in a pleading tone.
Leaf shook her head at him, and shut the door with a sigh.
The next morning: 6:00 A.M.
Mrs. Hayden walked downstairs, dressed and ready to go to work. As she reached the living room, she noticed Gary on the couch.
"Gary? I didn't even see you come in last night. What are you doing up so early?" she asked him curiously.
Meanwhile, Leaf walked out of her bathroom and heard Mrs. Hayden talking to Gary. Being the nosey person she is, she stopped by the stairs and listened to their conversation.
Gary sighed softly, running a hand through his messy bed-headed spikes.
"Rough night at my house. Drew said you wouldn't mind me staying here, if that's alright…?" he explained, with hesitation in his voice.
"Of course. You know you're like a son to me. Don't even hesitate about coming and staying here. You are always welcome," said Mrs. Hayden, smiling warmly at him.
Gary let out a small grin, finally getting that homey feeling he has been missing for quite awhile.
"Thanks, Mrs. Hayden. It means a lot," he said in a quiet, yet appreciative tone.
Mrs. Hayden narrowed her eyes, finally getting a good look at him.
"Don't thank me just yet. Now, as 'my son', you need to tell me what happened to that eye of yours."
"Oh this? It's nothing." He laughed dryly, lying through his teeth. "Just playing football with Paul, he threw it too hard and I missed diving for it."
She raised an eyebrow at him, having a feeling that he wasn't telling the truth. She decided not to push him.
"You should put some ice on that. But I'm glad to hear that you and Paul are finally talking again," she mentioned with a small smile.
He looked down, suddenly getting upset because of her mentioning his little brother. He started fidgeting with his hands.
"Yeah, me too," he mumbled softly.
Leaf frowned, hearing the pain behind his voice. She walked back into her room, thinking to herself.
An hour later, Drew and Gary had already left for school. Leaf had to wait a few minutes extra, so that Gary wouldn't see her.
May walked right up to Paul with a blank look on her face. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked him, a no-nonsense expression on her face.
Paul gave her an exasperated expression and jerked his arm out of her grip. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at her impatiently.
She gulped slowly.
"I—found something yesterday, that I think is yours," she said hesitantly.
He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I don't think giving it to you in the middle of the hallway is a good idea," she said with a frown on her face.
Paul rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Meet me in the gym in five minutes," he mumbled, walking away from her without even a second glance.
May frowned, watching him walk away, wondering to herself if he would ever go back to how he was before.
Gary stuffed his backpack into his locker, not wanting to hold it at the moment, and grabbed the next book he needed for class.
Amber suddenly came up behind him.
"As hot as those sunglasses look on you, why are you wearing them inside?" she asked him curiously.
He rolled his eyes and turns around to face her, forcing a smile.
"Hey Amber."
She smiled at him and leant up to give him peck on the lips.
Leaf walked over to her locker, seeing the couple make out. She cringed in disgust. She hated the fact that their lockers are near each other. It meant she had to put up with crap like this. She rolled her eyes and put in her combination, opening up her locker.
Gary pulled away from Amber and sighed softly.
"How much longer is this gonna go on, Amber?" he asked her in irritation.
Leaf furrowed her eyebrows, casually eavesdropping on the conversation. Not that she really meant to. She kept putting things away and getting stuff for her next class.
Amber frowned at her boyfriend and gave him a confused look.
"Is what gonna go on?" she repeated.
He peeled off her hands gently.
"The fact that you're pretending to like me to keep your reputation in balance."
Amber narrowed her eyes at him, folding her arms against her chest.
"We talked about this. We made a deal, Gary."
Gary rolled his eyes at her impatiently.
"Can't we call it off? We don't like each other. What's even the point?" he questioned her. He was tired of this. Tired of faking a relationship, tired of his pointless life. Everything he did just wasn't important. When would he start to feel important to something? Would he ever matter to someone? His depressing thoughts were interrupted when Amber started speaking again.
"You're the school's primo guy, and I'm the school's primo girl. It just makes sense. This is how it's supposed to be." She pecked him on the cheek with a smile. "See ya later babe!" She gushed, giggling and walking away from him.
He glared at her retreating figure and turned back to his locker, clenching his fist in pent up frustration.
Leaf frowned at the whole conversation that she had just overheard, but shook her head and closed her locker, accidently making a loud thud.
Gary jumped, the noise freaking him out a bit. It made him think of last night, and how his basketball hit the wall just before he was beaten by his father. He glared harshly at her.
"Would it kill you to close a locker like a normal person?" he asked with a growl.
Leaf threw him an apologetic glance.
"Sorry, I didn't think it would slam that hard. I didn't mean to startle you."
"It didn't startle me!" he snapped at her aggressively.
Paul looked around before entering the gym. He wanted to make sure the coast was clear, even though he wouldn't really care if he got caught. He made his way into the gym and saw May sitting on the bleachers, waiting. He walked up and sat down next to her.
May sighed softly, and opened her backpack, taking out a small plastic bag with the injection needle in it.
Paul frowned, his eyes widening.
"Where did you get that?"
May gave him a concerned look.
"I could ask you the same question."
Paul looked down at his folded hands in his lap.
May knew he wasn't going to talk unless she made him, so she decided to play the good cop.
"You inject yourself with drugs? Which is it? Cocaine? Crack? Heroin?"
Paul finally glanced up.
"None of the above. I'm not that kind of guy," he said with a grunt.
"Then what are you doing with this, Paul?" she finally asked him, her voice taking on a worried tone.
He rolled his eyes, avoiding hers.
"You wouldn't understand."
She narrowed her eyes at him, forcing him to make eye contact with her.
"Try me."
Leaf raised an eyebrow at him.
"It sure seemed like it did," she said, trying not to let out a laugh.
Gary huffed angrily.
"Why do you even care if it did?" he asked her with a glare.
She looked at him, annoyed, and shrugged her shoulders.
"What makes you think I care?"
He frowned for a second, and mumbled to himself.
"You wouldn't be the first person that didn't care."
Leaf frowned when she heard his mumble, and stepped towards him.
"Why do you say that?" she asked curiously.
Gary felt his face get red from embarrassment.
"Just—just leave me alone, okay?" he sneered at her, suddenly wanting to be alone.
Leaf gave him a soft look.
"Okay." She turned to walk away, but stopped for a second. "And by the way, the sunglasses don't hide the black eye. I saw it last night," she whispered to him, quickly turning to continue her walk away from him.
He looked at her confused, and then grabbed her hand gently.
"Wait."
She looked back at him, waiting for him to continue.
"What do you mean you saw my black eye last night? How?" he questioned her curiously.
Her eyes widened in realization.
'shit.'
TBC ~
A/N: Hi again. Here is the second chapter, as I said before I will most likely update this story very slowly because I'm still working out the kinks and everything and trying to make this story perfect as I possibly can. PolarDawn here is another shout out to you, since you are helping me out x) But anyways, leave a review with your thoughts. Thanks again! OH also another side note: I will be using song lyrics to kind of describe the mood of the chapter and they are the title of the chapter as well :)
