Amv: Your reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks especially to: LaChicaMika, Stormy Sunshine, KengoGirl (I've missed you!), Gin, blazingeyes, condawg1, xSapphirexRosesxfanx, and TheFifthCharmedOne. Thanks so much for your support!
Drew: Aw, are you getting all teary?
Amv: I think I am…
May: Wow, you've been gone for a while. It's good to have you back. Here's a cookie.
Amv: YAY!-munches on cookie-
Ash: Well, she hasn't changed. Anyway, Amv, our long-dead author, has returned. And she STILL does not own Pokemon. Let's get this party rolling…
Chapter Two
May bit her lip as she reached for her eraser for the sixth time on question 3A for her history homework. Somehow, even though she'd read the chapter three times through already, she couldn't seem to absorb any information. With a sigh, May went back to the section and reread:
In medieval times, society was held together by the strings of the feudalism system, which was a caste system based on power and population. At the top was the king or Monarch, and below them was the class of nobles and noblemen, who were loyal to the king. Knights, who pledged loyalty to the nobles in their turn, served the nobles in exchange for a fief. Last were peasants and serfs, who managed the land and made goods.
A short description of each caste followed, and the question she was struggling on was, "where in the world was there a similar system to the feudalism system? Write a short paragraph comparing and contrasting the two."
May knew she knew the answer—it had something to do with Japan—but, somehow, there was a block around it. She couldn't seem to concentrate.
She sighed again and rolled over onto her back. May was doing her homework on top of her red satin bedcovers in her room. In a corner was her bookcase, which was next to her reading lamp and chair, which was next to her window. Against the opposite wall was her dresser and the jewelry case she rarely touched, beside her closet. May loved her room; it was where she spent all of her down time.
May sat up and rumpled her hair with her hand and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It read 6:32 pm. Next to it was a photo from her fourteenth birthday party. Her father, Norman, her mother, Caroline, and her younger brother, Max, were in it, as well as her friends: Bethany, Misty, Dawn, Ash, Jack, Paul, and (though she had only invited him because her parents had bullied her into it) Drew.
As she slowly picked it up and held it in her hands, May founder herself gazing at his face; Drew's appearance hadn't changed much in the past year. He had grown taller, and his hair was longer, but it was still the same light green, his eyes still shone with a glimmer like polished emeralds, his slightly cocky grin still lit up his face…
"What?" May asked herself aloud in disbelief. "Hello, May, this is Drew you're thinking about. Your rival. Nothing more. Get a grip."
Emphasizing the last word, she roughly set down the photo and picked up the textbook again, setting it in her lap and steadfastly forcing herself to write. But… the work seemed harder than usual; probably because a part of her brain was still seeing that grin on his face from earlier that day.
That smile had suddenly become devastatingly attractive to her.
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The skeletal system does six main jobs for the body: it provides shape and support, enables us to move, produces new blood cells, protects vital organs, and stores minerals and other materials until the body needs them…
The introduction to the chapter entered and left Drew's thoughts without leaving a trace of meaning behind. As he tried to go through it a second time, his mind remained stubbornly blank. Giving it up as a bad job, he tilted back in his rolling desk chair and let his hair fall into his face.
Work that would have normally been very easy for Drew seemed to be taking him hours that night. Indeed, in two hours, he had gotten only his History, Spanish, and English homework done. He frowned slightly to himself as he spun around, stood up, and walked over to his bed and collapsed on top of it. He crossed his arms under his head, creating a kind of pillow as he stared at the ceiling.
As much as Drew tried to ignore it, he couldn't help thinking about the strange events of that day. Working with his rival on a school project, a chemistry project of all things…he shook his head at his and his friend's stupidity, for imagining the double meaning of the word…
And yet… somehow, he couldn't see it all as just a coincidence. After all, what had Mr. Peters said? "I've heard the stories of you two being less than friendly to each other…but I look at it a little differently than the others do." What was that supposed to mean?
Oh, and another tidbit to keep him distracted: why were his friends acting so smug about how he always teased May? Did he need a reason to mess with his rival? Why was it suddenly bothering him that he didn't seem to have a reason?
Drew decided to investigate that later; there was one last aspect of the day that was weighing on his mind. During lunch, somehow, when May just glanced at him, his stomach had flipped. Like he was on a roller coaster, or had missed a step going down the stairs. Last he checked he had never felt that before around May.
And that's what was on his mind the most: he had never felt that before around May…
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May yawned widely as she felt a cool spring breeze blow down the street. Though she had eventually finished her homework at nine, she hadn't gotten to sleep until midnight. Exhausted as she was, she had tossed and turned for hours.
As a result, she slept fifteen minutes late and rushed to throw on long blue jeans, a plain red t-shirt, and a gray jacket, the sleeves of which were pushed up to her elbows and the hood over her head.
She barely had two second's warning; a clatter of wheels on the cracked sidewalk behind her, and a pair of seniors flew by on the skateboards, skirting through a puddle of late-melted slush and splashing her up to her knees. As they laughed and continued down the street, May screamed after them, "YOU LAUGH NOW, I'LL BE YOUR BOSS SOMEDAY!"
"Someone's cranky," a cocky voice said from behind. May spun around to see Drew, clad in long blue jeans and a green under armor, long sleeved shirt with a dark green and white plaid shirt over it. As he moved closer, May noticed that, like her, there were dark purple circles below his eyes.
May glared daggers at him. "It looks like you didn't get much sleep, either."
Drew smirked. "I wasn't going to deny that. At least I'm not wasting my breath yelling after some seniors with one-point-five GPAs for almost running me over with their skateboards. Even if it was rude and inconsiderate."
May opened her mouth to give him a snarky comeback, but the realized what he had said. In a small voice she mumbled, "Oh. Um…"
Drew's smirk widened. "I didn't say I wasn't okay with it."
She stared at him for a second, her face flushing crimson in her fury. "Why, you…" she couldn't think of a bad enough word; she grabbed his collar to give him a hard shake, and he grabbed her arms to push her away, just as a new voice rang out.
"Well, well, what have we here?"
Startled, May and Drew turned to its source. It was none other than Dawn. Paul was walking a few steps behind her. A slightly perverted grin lit up her face. May looked back at Drew and noticed the compromising position they were in. She quickly released him, unexpected heat rising to her face.
"Your friend is very violent, Dawn," Drew sneered slightly as he dusted off his shirt as if May's touch had dirtied it. "She ought to carry a stress ball around. C'mon, Paul."
Paul gave a short nod and ran to catch up to Drew. May stared after Drew's shrinking figure, seething. Of all people to leave her alone with after that, it had to be Dawn.
"So, what was that about, May?" Dawn asked, her grin back.
May slowly turned to her. "None of your business Dawn," she spat. Then she yelled into the sky, "I HATE HIM!"
"Either you're really mad or you're blushing," Dawn said matter-of-factly as she walked past her friend.
May put a hand up to her cheek as if she had been slapped. True, the skin under her fingers was slightly warm, but was she really…?
"What am I doing, thinking about this? I'm gonna be late!" May cried aloud as she started to sprint to school.
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The homeroom bell rang just as May slid into her seat. She heaved a deep sigh and laid her head on top of the pile of books in front of her, a drop of sweat running down her temple. After sprinting the rest of the way to school, May had thrown her things into her locker and pulled out her supplies in a similar fashion. She had then dashed downstairs to her homeroom class.
"Nice," Bethany complimented from across the aisle. "Two seconds to spare."
May cracked open an eye and grinned. "Thanks."
Bethany looked furtively around the room, then leaned over and said in a low voice, "Yo, May. You know I'm not a big gossip girl, right?"
May picked up her head to rest it on her arms. "Um, you're my best friend. Of course I do. Why?"
"I just needed the full story on this… Dawn ran up to Mist and I about five minutes ago and told us that she ran into you and Drew on the way to school, um… about to share lip gloss."
May sat straight up: the return of her previous irritations with Dawn had caused her to wake up. "She wishes. Some seniors just skirted by on their skateboards, Drew made a comment on it that I didn't appreciate, and I decided to strangle him. She just came by at the wrong time."
Bethany's lip twitched. "I thought it might be something like that. I'll tell Misty the truth too if I see her."
"Wonderful," May replied.
The bell releasing them from homeroom rang at that moment, and with another sigh, May picked up her things and bid Bethany a short good-bye. Bethany's first class was Spanish, while May's was History.
"Hey, May," Misty said as they lined up outside the classroom. "Bethany tell you about Dawn?"
"Yeah. Dawn just came by at the wrong time." May told her.
"I figured. Dawn doesn't have much common sense, you know? I love her, but she drives me nuts," Misty rolled her eyes.
"Yeah." May nodded, and Mr. West let the class in. May sat in her seat at the back corner and took out her homework. Mr. West, with his fluffy white hair, think glasses, and kindly face, stood up at the front of the room and motioned for quiet.
"Good morning, and happy Tuesday." He smiled at the collective groan that rose up from the students. "Well, I've decided that I wasn't feeling well, so you'll just get to read the textbook and take notes today. I promise we'll have a fun class next time," he added in response to even louder moans. "Please do the chapter on the Church Reformation on page 561."
May reached under her desk and grabbed her notebook and opened it to a fresh page. After dating it and titling it "Reformation" she reached under her desk for her textbook only to find that it wasn't there.
Huh? Ah, crud, did I leave it at home? May wondered. Come to think of it, she didn't have a clear memory of putting it in her backpack, meaning it was still on her dresser back home. That day was getting better every minute.
At that moment, Mr. West stopped nest to her desk. With a knowing look in his twinkling eyes, he asked, "Did we forget something, Miss Maple?"
May grimaced. "I left my textbook at home. Sorry."
Mr. West waved an airy hand. "No need to apologize; this is the first time, after all."
May smiled. "Thank you. May I share with Misty?"
Mr. West's smile grew broader. "I heard about the science fair project groups from Mr. Peters. Why don't you work with Drew? You two ought to work on your, er, co-working abilities? You'll be working as a team for two weeks, after all."
Drew looked up at the sound of his name and said, "Sorry?"
The genial teacher clapped a frozen May on the shoulder. "Miss Maple will be working with you today!"
Drew stared uncomprehendingly at him. "Sorry?"
"Didn't you hear? I'm working with you," May said with false enthusiasm as she went over to his desk. She dragged a chair up beside his.
"Yippee," Drew muttered sarcastically.
May ignored him, scribbling down different bulleted reasons why people were unhappy with the Catholic Church in the 1500s. But just as she was about to write the definition for "indulgences," Drew tried to turn the page.
"No, wait, wait!" May cried.
"Hurry up. You've got three seconds."
"Wait!" May repeated, writing faster.
"Three…two…one…"
"I said wait," May snapped, her hand enclosing his as he tried to turn the page.
What neither of them was prepared for was the electricity-like jolt that rocketed up their hands and into their arms. They looked straight at each other for a few moments, then glanced in opposite directions.
Drew pulled his hand free and coughed awkwardly. "Fine, whatever."
May bit her lip and returned to the page, surreptitiously closing her left hand into a fist. The nerves of her hand were still tingling as if the had run a live wire through them.
The rest of the class went by quietly for May and Drew; the only words they shared were "are you done?" or "yeah" or "what does it mean when it says…?"
Finally, after what felt like eons, the bell announcing the end of class rang. May jumped slightly, then rushed to get her things. She bumped into Drew again at the door. Just like yesterday outside the library, they both suddenly felt very awkward.
"Well… I'll see you in science," May told him. Drew looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. He nodded shortly and weaved through the crowd to second-period Spanish.
May stood watching the back of him disappear in the rush of students, which took less time than May found she cared for.
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Drew stared at the poster of –er verbs next to his desk, his pencil held loosely in his hands as he doodled in the margins of his notebook. His brain seemed to have disengaged.
Actually, no. His thoughts had been fuzzy since the beginning of History, when May had grabbed his hand to stop him from turning the page.
Drew looked at the back of his hand as if fascinated by it. Why had he gotten this… lukewarm, tingly feeling? And why did his stomach do a back flip again? And when she met his eyes… he could have sworn his heart had skipped a beat.
He blew out a puff of air, making his bangs float upwards for a moment. All he had wanted to do was figure out why he teased her, to ease the feeling of almost guilt from the pit of his stomach. That's why he had made her mad on the way to school and in class: and he'd found out why.
Drew had noticed it when he annoyed her on the way to school, and more so in class: the way her face flushed pink across her nose and cheekbones, her eyes narrowed and glinting dangerously, it wasn't cute; it struck him as adorable.
He felt himself going red as he went through his memories. It wasn't as if antagonizing May was a new concept to him; he'd been doing since he had met her. She'd always made that face.
So why was it so cute to him all of a sudden?
And why was he just starting to notice it?
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"Hey, May!" Misty called to her friend in the hallway, Bethany and Dawn close behind her. They were all heading down to the library, where their science classes would be for the week. "How was history with Drew?"
Dawn gave a theatric gasp that made everyone within a ten-foot radius stop and stare. "You worked with Drew in history? This just keeps getting better and better!"
"You're a freak. I left my textbook at home and Mr. West made me work with him." May rolled her eyes.
"Dawn, we have to give you a few lessons in subtly," Bethany said irritably as Jack came up to.
"Uh-oh," He said. "You've got the angry face on. How about some easy tunes to brighten your mood?" Then, despite his arms being full with heavy books, he shifted them into the crook of his arm and dug a blue iPod out of his pocket.
"Nah, I need to crank up the My Chemical—MY iPOD!" Bethany screamed. "YOU FOUND IT!"
"Bethany, you left it at my house last night, you can't have been without it for more than fifteen hours," Jack said with a grin as he lay it on top of her Spanish textbook.
"You were at Jack's house? Ooh-la-la, Bethany!" Dawn trilled.
"Why does it always have to go there?" Misty asked, exasperated.
"Because she's Dawn and that's what Dawn does," Ash said, guessing at the topic of conversation as he joined the group with Paul close behind.
"But we love her," May said as she pat Dawn on the head like she was a puppy.
The others laughed as they entered the library. They all set their things on a table and went to separate sections of the library that had the information they needed. May didn't see Drew, but she had an idea about where he was. Sure enough, when May went to look, she found him in the Chemistry section, craning his neck to see the titles on the highest shelves.
He heard her footsteps on the wooden floor. He turned and flashed her one of those fleeting grins that she was suddenly so crazy about. "Hey."
May smiled back for a moment. "Hi." She quickly went to the books on the other side of the aisle, scanning the books. After a few minutes, Drew spoke.
"So, how was reading?"
May looked back at him over her shoulder. "Boring."
"Shocker," he muttered sarcastically. May laughed softly.
"How about you? In Spanish?"
"Er…I wasn't really paying attention," Drew admitted. It was true: his little epiphany about why he teased her had kept him distracted for the entire class. He was having trouble thinking straight now. "Well, I mean, I heard Senora Gomez yelling at someone that double L's are pronounced 'y,' but other than that, I was sorta out there."
May eyed him curiously. "Why? That's hardly like you."
Drew met her eyes and suddenly felt rather warm around his face and neck. Tugging at his collar, he said, "I told you I didn't get much sleep last night."
May shrugged. "True."
They reached the end of the row and slowly turned to face each other, empty handed. May said, "You didn't find anything?"
"Obviously not." Drew said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But, really, what were we looking for?"
May stared at him. "That's why I asked. I thought you knew. 'Cuz I didn't!"
Their eyes met, and they broke out into nervous laughter that became real laughter at their stupidity.
"What a waste of ten minutes," Drew said finally. "So, what should we be looking for?"
May thought for a moment, then said, "Well, let's think. What category does the Diet Coke-Mentos thing fall under?"
Drew frowned. "Chemical? Chemical chemistry?"
May laughed, applauding him for a moment. "Very good, Maxwell."
"I always told you I was the smart one," Drew said proudly. "Go me!"
"Great. Now go down there and get all the books you see on 'Chemical Chemistry,'" May told him, getting serious.
Drew blanched. "That's…a lot."
"You wuss," May rolled her eyes. "Come on." (A/N- there goes all the flirtation…)
She went down the row, studying the shelves again. May grabbed a book on the chemistry required to make carbonated sodas. Drew found the Ten Scientific Phenomena book from yesterday. They sat at a table for the rest of the period, taking notes and telling each other interesting or random facts they found.
But whenever the reading grew dry, or the reading grew difficult, May found herself glancing at Drew's profile once or twice.
It's so weird, She thought, I act like I hate him for my entire life, but one school project… and it's like he's almost my…friend. Is this what it would be like if we actually tried to get along?
With a sigh, she went back to the book. Time will tell…
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"Okay, May, can I just say one thing and I'll let it drop for today?" Dawn asked.
"What's the one thing?" May asked suspiciously.
"I saw you two laughing together on the other side of the library, and I know I caught you staring at Drew when you were sitting together." Dawn said with a smirk.
Maybe I wasn't just 'glancing' at him, May thought while the other two girls leaned in.
"May? Were you?" Misty asked.
"'Course not," May lied. "Why would I?"
Dawn smirked. "She's in denial," she told Bethany and Misty.
"Pff. May will tell us what she wants to when she wants to. No pressure." Bethany said as she leaned down to get something out of her backpack.
Over her shoulder, May had a clear shot of Drew, sitting with his friends across the cafeteria. As if her gaze alerted him, Drew glanced her way. For a moment, he held her gaze.
Strange… So much power, so much influence that gaze had over her, making her heart suddenly beat erratically. May was starting to like that. She smiled at him, then looked quickly away. She couldn't help but wonder if her smile did anything to him near what his smile was starting to do to her.
But was exactly was it doing to her?
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Amv: Finally, this is done! Did anyone else want to punch Dawn during this chapter? Because I did! Please review!