Author's Notes: Hello :D Thank you for everyone that has reviewed ^_^ Glad that many of you are enjoying the story so far :) Oh by the way this story is only 8-10 chapters long :p but it's still going to be good :D So no worries. Hm.. this chapter isn't much.. but it is something ;)

"YOU TALKED TO WHO?" May shouted into the phone.

"Paul." I responded as if it was no big deal.

"You're lying!" She accused. I could practically hear her smiling through the phone, she was so excited.

"I promise." I said with a smile.

"In all of my classes someone mentions his name. They say that he's a really good basketball player for the West Kanto basketball team. They're predicting that he's gonna go pro one day. You do know that he's NOT a senior right? These girls, at school, know that he's gonna be rich someday so they're trying to be his sweetheart now so they don't look like gold diggers..." May went on and on about him and what she heard. I was only half listening until she asked me a question that caught my attention. "What did he say to you? Did he mention me?" She asked.

I had to stop her right there."Mention you? Why would he mention you?"

"You know I think he's cute. I told you I was trying to date the most popular boy in school this year and he is it." May said. "Can you imagine if I, a freshman, dated Paul. Ooh~ all the girls would be so jealous." I frowned.

I knew exactly what she was trying to do. She was trying to claim Paul for herself, before I got the chance to do it so that he would be off limits to me. Everyone knows that you can't date any boy your best friend is interested in; it did not matter if the guy didn't even know the girl existed. If May liked Paul, then I couldn't, and because she had voiced her interest in him first, he was technically hers.

"Since when do you like him? You have never mentioned anything about him before!" I stated trying to hide the fact that I was mad a little that she called dibs on a boy that I had talked to first. "And I know you saw that little eye contact he and I had by your locker this morning."

"Dawn, what are you talking about? I didn't notice Paul! I must have been too busy at my locker, because had I noticed him, I would have gone over and spoke to him."

"Oh~, so you're so bold all of a sudden?" I asked. "So, you think you can just spot a cute guy you think you might like, go walk up to him, and start talking to him out of the blue?"

"What do you mean out of the blue? I've always liked him. Even when we were in middle school, but he was too old for me back then. Now I'm in high school and he's just my type. I think I'm going to talk to him tomorrow." She said confidently, oblivious to the fact that I was steaming on the inside.

"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes to the ceiling. The conversation with May was old and I was ready to hang up on her. Not once could I ever recall her mentioning having a crush on Paul. And I knew she saw us eyeballing each other that morning. I'd known May for a long time and she was always cool. I hope high school wasn't about to change her into a back stabber. Many good friendships had became a casualty of high school self-centered drama. I hoped May's and mines wouldn't be one of them.

"Hold on May, I think my aunt is calling me." I pulled the phone away from my ear. I knew my Aunt Joy wasn't due home any time soon, but still I yelled "Huh? Okay Aunt Joy! Here I come. Just give me one second!" I got back on the phone and said, "May, I have to call you back... my aunt needs me to help her with something."

"Okay, Dawn I will-"

Click!

I hung up before she could finish her sentence. I threw the cordless phone on my bed and logged onto my laptop, one of the last gifts my mother had gotten me before she died.

After a while I hopped up to start my chores before my aunt really did get home. I wasn't trying to hear her fuss if I didn't do them. She was always hollering about responsibility and taking initiative now that I was older, so to avoid another lecture, I began to wash the dishes. It didn't take me very long since I had the radio playing, pretty loud. By the time the a fourth song ended, I was finished. Five minutes later my aunt walked through the door, wearing colorful hospital scrubs and looking exhausted.

"Dawn, why is the radio so loud? Turn it down!" She fussed. It never failed; she always had something to say. I think my aunt was the only person in the world who could always find something to fuss about. If she died and went to heaven, she'd probably find something to complain about, there. Heck, if she died and went to hell, she'd probably even get on the devil's nerves.

"Hey Aunt Joy." I said as I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How was work?" You'd think I'd learn to stop asking that question by now, but for some reason out of habit I did it every day she came home.

"Don't worry about my job, Dawn. As long as I have one and is taking care of your little spoiled behind, that's all you need to know. Just enjoy being a kid." She said as she flopped down on our worn out couch. "Because pretty soon, you're going to have to work just as hard as me to make money." She flopped down on the couch and exhaled as she removed her shoes. "How was school?"

"It was okay." I said as I was instantly reminded of May stealing my wannabe crush.

"Just okay?" She asked. "I hear you and your friend talking about school all the time and it was just okay? Come on, you can do better than that. It was your first day back at high school, new friends, new teachers... humor me with some details. I need some laughter after a long day."

"Well.." I started as I got starry eyed and sat down in the chair across from her. "The most popular boy in school talked to me today." I admitted with a smile.

"A boy?" My aunt repeated as if she had heard me wrong. Her eyes scanned me up and down. "Did you not hear a word I said this morning?"

"Ugh~!" I said as I stood up, forgetting that I was talking to the wrong person about how my day had really gone.

My aunt looked at me up and down again. "And did you wear that little skirt to school? No wonder the most popular boy in school talked to you. He must be trying to make you the most popular girl, and not in a good way. Hm.. wearing that short little skirt, I'm surprised every boy in the school didn't talk to you."

I sighed, wishing that this conversation had never taken place.

"Answer my question, Dawn." My aunt said as I folded my arms. "Did you wear that to school?

I wasn't trying to be disrespectful by not answering her. It's just that she had been talking so much that I really didn't think she had wanted me to answer. I nodded and looked down at my outfit. "Yes, I wore this. Why? It's not too sho-" Before I could even get a chance to tell her that it wasn't too short, she cut me off and started going on and on again.

"Like I said, no wonder he talked to you today." She looked at my outfit again. "I can't believe I didn't catch that this morning. I've told you about wearing little skirts and tight pants." She shook her head. "I can't believe my sister used to let you dress like that. Your clothes send the wrong message to these horny, hard headed little boys. That boy probably talked to you because you put yourself out there for him. You are not grown, so don't come in my house talking about boys. You need to stay focused on your school work, because I can barely take care of you let alone a baby. I'm only forty and I'm too young to be a great auntie." She preached.

"Baby? Who said anything about a baby? See aunt Joy, this is why I won't talk to you now. Nobody said anything about having sex. I only said I talked to a boy. I doubt I will bring you a grandchild by just talking. I've never known anyone getting pregnant by having a conversation." I stated smartly. She was getting on my nerves and she had only been home for a few minutes. She thought I was stupid and I hated when she treated me like a child. I was old enough to take care of myself and I definitely wasn't thinking about having any babies.

"Dawn, you're not getting smart with me are you? You heard what I said! I don't want you talking to any boys. Is that clear?" She said in a warning tone.

"Yes ma'am." I answered in a deflated tone, knowing that there was no way I could possibly go up against her and win.

"Go do your homework while I fix dinner, it will be ready in a couple of hours." She said, her monotone voice revealing her fatigue.

I nodded and walked to my room. I looked back at my aunt who leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, while she rubbed her temples. Bright skinned, with dark blue hair, and petite features, she was a beautiful woman, but she looked ten years older than what she actually was. Someone would think she raised a lot of children because of how she appeared.

Looking at her, I kind of knew why she hadn't had the idea of taking me in with open arms. She seemed to work so hard, but yet had so little. The last thing I would ever dream of doing is to add to that.

Forget about adding another burden onto my auntie, what made her think I would want to add that kind of burden to myself? I didn't know why she thought I was trying to bring a baby home. I wasn't her. I had seen enough struggle watching her do it the short time I had lived with her, and the bad part about it was that she didn't do a very good job, because her own daughter ended up strung out.

That's right, my aunt knows a little something about being a mother. Her daughter ended up dying while she tried to give birth to a baby, before she turned eighteen. Sadly, the baby didn't make it either. That was not something I wanted for myself. I knew that my aunt didn't want that for me either, which was probably why she stayed on top of me the way she did. I understood the fact that she only wanted what was best for me, but sometimes she was on me too much. This just made me want to do things my way even more.

I knew that my Aunt Joy loved me. She was a really good aunt to me and I loved her for taking me in while I had nowhere else to turn. Although she only came around enough times for me to count on one hand while I was growing up, she was there for me when I needed her to be. If it wasn't for her, I would have been a ward of the state after my mother had been killed. Fortunately, she stepped up without thinking twice. Okay, maybe she did think twice, but at the end of the day she took me in, and that's all that matters.

I appreciated how even though my aunt didn't have the kind of money like my mother had, when it came to shopping for school clothes, she tried her hardest to keep me up to date with the latest fashions. Sometimes she worked eighteen hour shifts as a nurse in the emergency room just to be able to buy me new clothes. I think she tried to compensate the fact that I had lost my mother by buying me things. Even though it didn't make the pain go away, I appreciated her for trying.

Auntie Joy was working really hard to try to finish off what my mother had started by raising me, and although sometimes she could be a pain in the butt, I loved her for taking care of me. When she took me in, I knew in sense that she was giving up her life so that she could make sure mine was up to par. I was lucky. Not a lot of young girls had women to look up to like I did, so I guess I couldn't complain too much.

Once I got up to my bedroom, I lay across my bed and opened up my history book to study. I didn't get very far before my mind drifted from what was in front of me to the words that had been spoken to me earlier that afternoon...

"I still have two years to make you my girlfriend."

Author's Notes: So that was the chapter :) uh oh.. May likes Paul? O_o ahahaha :p What does this mean? Hm.. ;) I'm not telling you :p. Not much to say today :) Update for this chapter next weekend ^_^ Oh yeah, I think you guys will like the next chapter ;) and NO Ash won't be in that chapter yet xD lol. I know someone is thinking that :p..but hold your horses :) he's coming.

-Angel