"Thanks again for taking care of Gabite for me." Leaf told her best friend as she gently stroked the powerful ground and dragon type. "Of course, Misty and Dawn are great for taking care of Vaporeon and Ninetales for me too."
May smiled sweetly, her brown locks blowing gently in the breeze. "It's what friends are for." She reminds Leaf. "It's a pity that your parents don't let you keep more than three Pokémon."
Leaf nodded slightly, sighing in the process. "It's so that they can make sure that I can't get into competitive battling at all."
"That's a shame." Her friend said, looking genuinely sorrowful. "Hey, why don't you let your other Pokemon out so that they can play with the others here?"
The long-haired brunette's eyes lit up, and she excitedly pulled out two more Pokeballs from her bag and summoned the Pokémon entrapped inside. Her Venusaur and Gallade took form and roared out, scaring away May's pink Skitty, who was hopping around close by.
"Hey, guys." Leaf said, rubbing their heads in pure adoration. "Why don't you go play with Blaziken and Slaking and the others?"
Both Venusaur and Gallade snorted at the idea of 'playing', but trudged away, hoping to get a good training session in with May and her father's powerhouses. Leaf watched them leave; smiling weakly, feeling regret inside that she was unable to train them properly. She turned around and stared at May inquisitively when she heard the girl with the bandanna started giggling.
May calmed down, breathing deeply to try and stop her seemingly uncontrollable fit of giggles. "Oh, it's nothing." She said, waving her hand. "It's just that I can't believe that you had to lie to your mother to come here. A biology project, really? And she believed you?"
Leaf pouted and stuck out her tongue. "If it's for studying, she'd let me go anywhere."
"You lied to your mother?" a bubbly voice came from behind, causing the two brunettes to turn around and see their best friends come up to the door and walk through to May's greenhouse. Dawn's Piplup ran ahead, chirping loudly and tripping over, falling face flat onto the ground, causing his trainer to sigh and her friends to laugh. Despite falling, he got up immediately and started walking up ahead proudly, ignoring the laughing Pokemon.
Misty walked up and held out her fist to Leaf, who returned the fist-bump with a surprised look on her face. "What are you guys doing here?"
Dawn pouted. "You don't look very happy to see us."
Leaf shook her head, laughing lightly. "It's nothing like that. It's just that, how did you know that I was here?"
"May texted us." The fiery red-head explained. "So we decided that we'd bring your 'Mon over here to see you."
Leaf gratefully took a red and white capsule from each of her friends. "Thanks!" she said, throwing them into the air and releasing her Ninetales and Vaporeon, who bounded off to play without even being told. Leaf chuckled at their enthusiasm and turned back to the three girls.
"Why didn't you text us yourself?" Misty asked, sitting down on the grass. "We could have come even earlier then."
The emerald-eyed girl shrugged, settling down on the green foliage next to her friend. May and Dawn settled besides them. "I didn't have my cellphone." She explained. "You know my mom keeps it."
Misty nodded, making an "o" shape with her mouth.
Dawn tilted her head in confusion. "Why does she do that again?"
"So I don't get distracted from studying." Leaf explained, rolling her eyes.
"Wow." Misty mused. "She sure doesn't want you to waste your time."
"Oh, you have no idea."
(-o-)
"Mom, I'm home" Leaf called out, closing the front door behind her and proceeded to walk upstairs before she was stopped by a voice coming from her parent's room.
"Lay the table, Leaf!" was her mother's only response.
The brunette furrowed her eyebrows. "And what about Silver?" she cried, exasperated at the injustice she had to suffer.
"He already did some things. And he's studying. You, on the other hand just returned from your friend's house. So go." She said. The tone she spoke with was firm, indicating to her daughter that she didn't want any response, even if she was wrong. She wouldn't admit if she was wrong anyway.
Said daughter grumbled under her breath. She knew exactly what Silver had done-absolutely nothing. And she was confident enough to bet a thousand Pokebucks that he wasn't in his room studying, he was in his room playing on the Xbox that he had emotionally blackmailed into their parents into buying him. Trudging into the kitchen, she set the table, using up a lot of her emotional strength to refrain from throwing all the plates onto the wall and watch them shatter. She finished her enforced chore just as her father returned from work.
The four settled down to eat dinner, while the air around them radiated with tension. Leaf wasn't exactly always on good terms with her parents, and she couldn't risk saying anything that could potentially set them off. For that very reason, she chose to remain quiet, only answering when asked to, and choosing her words carefully so that she doesn't threaten anyone in anyway. And considering the things she was asked, it was very hard to do just that.
"So, how was school, little Bay-Leaf?" her father, dubbed Bruce, asked, guffawing at his own pun, which the said girl did not exactly appreciate. The rest of the family laughed along with him.
Leaf grimaced at her nickname. "Don't call me that." She said, trying to sound as polite as she possibly could. "Please." She added after a pause.
Her father reached out and pinched her cheeks, nearly pulling the flesh off her face. "Aw, Bay-Leaf, it's such a cute nickname. Come on, you know why we call you that."
Leaf knew exactly why. She frowned and turned back to her plate, suddenly losing her appetite, which was unusual but not uncommon. She wasn't called Bay-Leaf just because of the horrible (or so she thought) pun on her name, but also because the actual species Bayleef itself wasn't the most graceful of all Pokemon, giving the impression that she may be heavy or clumsy. In all honesty, it was a reference to her childhood, where she used to have (minor, if I must add) weight problems. She still dealt with them, with her having to face her mother's wrath if she gained a tad bit too much again. Leaf picked at her food, seemingly unable to eat any more. They fell into an awkward silence; however Leaf found it peaceful and comforting. Her brother, of course, had to break it by turning the attention back to her. "Leaf lost to Gary in a test, again." He announced.
Leaf inwardly scoffed at her brother's use of language. What is this, a competition?
Actually, to her family, it was.
Bruce shook his head, disappointed at his daughter's incompetence. "I was talking to Professor Oak today, I ran into him in town." He told his family. "He said that Gary got into Viridian Academy, although they rejected the offer. Apparently, he was offered a 75% scholarship."
Leaf's mother gasped. "Isn't Viridian Academy one of the most prestigious schools in the entire Kanto region?" Her theory was confirmed by a nod of the oldest Green's head. "If only Leaf could be like that." She sighed and looked at Leaf with such regret in her eyes; it made Leaf feel like she just committed a horrendous crime. "You should be more like Gary, Leaf."
The brunette bit her tongue, afraid of saying something that she might regret. Calm down, Leaf. Calm down. She counted to ten in her head and took deep breaths. She remained quiet, tuning out her parents' lecture about how great Gary is, and how lucky Professor Oak is, and how she should be working harder instead of wasting her time, to make everyone proud.
When everybody was finally finished with their meal, she was the first one to get up and clear the table, since Silver miraculously disappeared to the bathroom, (apparently his body was on a schedule). She completed her homework, studied for the test the next day, before brushing her teeth, undressing and dragging herself to bed, too exhausted, both mentally and physically, to give any thought about the day's events. She closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber immediately, as if she had been knocked out by a powerful Hypnosis or Sleep Powder.
(-o-)
Despite the previous day's unsettling events, the remainder of the weak passed relatively smoothly for Leaf, Apart from the occasional lecture from her parents regarding her apparent laziness, there wasn't really anything too difficult for her to get through. All her tests seemed to be going well, and she was pleased with her progress till, well, Thursday came. Then, everything changed.
It was a regular Thursday afternoon. Leaf had just done an add-maths test, something which she knew that she was horrible at. She could easily get an A* at regular maths, but as soon as the complexity of the problems increased, she lost all capability of solving them. The best grade she had ever achieved in a test was a C, and that was when the grade boundaries were really low. It was ridiculously crazy how anyone so good at everything else could fail so miserably at one essential subject. And the funny thing was that Gary did add-maths too, and he always came out top with a perfect score.
Leaf had been able to keep her grades a secret from her parents for all these months, but she knew that the Meowth would be out of the bag when the report cards for the semester would come out the next day. She feared the worst.
Leaf pulled her books out of her locker and slung her heavy backpack over her shoulders. Even though her bag was crammed to the brim, it wasn't enough to carry all her books. She was alone in the hallways as she picked up the extra textbooks. School had exhausted her, but it hadn't been over, as she had been required to stay after school to attend a Science Club meeting, something her mother only approved of because the extra credits would strengthen her university application. She clearly remembered arguing for over three days to get her mother to let her sign up. Her mother refused at first, but then finally caved in when Leaf mentioned the academic benefits of joining as well as the name of a certain student who had also signed up for the club. It is pretty clear who that certain somebody is.
Leaf smiled grimly to herself, as she recalled the fact that her mother never really approved of anything, including her friends. She thought that Misty was too aggressive, May ate too much and Dawn was just…annoying. It is best that it is just left at that. She wasn't really keen on remembering the words her mother had really used.
Leaf was cut off from her thoughts when she noticed a boy walk up and lean against the lockers, successfully catching the brunette's attention.
The said brunette tucked her bangs behind her right ear and gave the boy a smile. "Oh, hey, Rudy." She said to him. "What's up?"
Rudy returned Leaf's smile with a charming one of his own. "I was at soccer practice today."
Leaf nodded, signaling to him to continue.
He cleared his throat. "I wanted to ask you something."
Leaf turned back to her locker, and rearranged her books. "Sure, go ahead." She said.
Rudy took a deep breath, and smiled. "So, how would you like to go out with me?" The brunette froze, slowly turning her head towards the boy who was looking at her excitedly, eagerly awaiting a response.
Leaf sighed, and shook her head, feeling regret because he looked so sweet and innocent. "I'm sorry, I can't."
Rudy frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Why not?"
"It's not you, its just-it's complicated. It's a weird reason. You wouldn't understand. I'm really sorry."
She thought she saw the boy narrow his eyes, but turned back to her locker to continue arranging her books, before she felt an iron grip tighten around her wrist and pull her back. She yelped in surprise as she suddenly felt herself being pinned to the lockers with both of Rudy's hands on either side of her head, as her books tumbled to the ground. If she was even a little bit in her senses, she would have realized that she could have cunningly, and very easily, have escaped by just ducking underneath his arms from the side, but she was paralyzed by fear by Rudy's sudden hostile actions. Any girl would be.
She gulped, internally cursing herself for considering him even a little bit sweet or innocent without even knowing him that well. Frankly, he wasn't anywhere close to any positivity.
"Rudy, move." She said, struggling to keep a straight voice, but failing miserably. "Move." She repeated, but Rudy didn't react, instead giving out a small sinister laugh at her helplessness. Any boy would, after all, dang, boys are strong, and unfortunately, they use it to their advantage.
"Isn't it funny how you never date anyone?" he whispered. Leaf could feel his hot breath, and she shuddered.
"That's none of your concern." She managed to say. "I just don't want to."
Rudy laughed again. "You sure about that?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Maybe there's a different reason." He said, before Leaf realized that he had been leaning in and getting too close for comfort. Not that he wasn't already. Rooted to her spot, she closed her eyes, knowing that Rudy was going to kiss her. Tears threatened to fall, and she prayed that anyone would save her from this.
"Hey!"
Except him.
Both turned their heads to see the owner of the voice.
"Oak?" Rudy grit his teeth as Gary ran over as quick as lightning and aggressively pushed Rudy to the ground. If Leaf wasn't present, it would have turned into a full brawl, but Gary refrained from punching the jerk, as he called him, feeling that Leaf probably wouldn't want him to fight.
"Leave her alone." He growled threateningly instead.
Tony got up from the ground, dusted himself off and gave the brunet a dirty look. "Freak." He told him, before he turned to the still paralyzed brunette. 'I'll get revenge, Leafy." He smiled sickeningly before he turned around and left.
Leaf couldn't believe how close she was to something horrible happening. She didn't even want to think about what Rudy could have done. Trembling, she bent down and picked up her books and gathered her things.
Gary approached her. "You ok, Leaf?" he asked as gently as possible, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder for comfort. Instead it had the opposite effect, as she sharply pulled away from his touch and brushed past him.
Gary stood there, quietly watching her retreating form.
What have I done, Leaf?