And here it is! Chapter 2!

Again, it was the same old morning, except this time Dawn had remembered to finish her homework so she had time to sleep in… maybe sleep in a little too long. The sound of someone yelling at her outside made her jump and wake up instantly.

"Hey Dawn! It's 8 o'clock and you still didn't come out yet! You're going to be late if you don't hurry!"

Instantly as if on cue, Dawn opened her eyes, raced out of bed, threw on her usual clothing, grabbed her backpack and sprinted outside. By the time she was out the door, she was huffing so hard that she didn't notice the person in front of her.

"It took you long enough! Imagine what would've happened if I hadn't came by!"

Dawn lifted her head and faced Ash directly. Her face flushed from the closeness of their faces and she had to look away in fear of Ash catching her blushing.

"Hey Dawn, you alright?"

"Um… yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the heads up."

"Hey, no problem. Let's get going."

Dawn nodded her head before she and Ash both started walking towards the school; silently. The silence was interrupted when Dawn's stomach growled from the hunger.

"Dawn? Don't tell me you skipped breakfast today."

"Heh heh…" Dawn rubbed the back of her head while holding onto her stomach. "I guess I did."

"Well, it's a good thing I missed breakfast too. Or else I wouldn't have brought this sandwich along." Ash unzipped his bag and pulled out a sandwich. He broke it in two and handed Dawn the bigger piece.

"Ash, you don't have to be a gentleman. Just eat it all for yourself."

"With that stomach of yours growling? I don't think so." He placed the sandwich in Dawn's hand which she again accepted gratefully. Dawn thought to herself as she began to munch on the sandwich. "Wow… he's so sweet…"

By the time they had finished their breakfasts, they had arrived at school.

. . .

Surprising, school had ended pretty quickly; perhaps a little too quickly for Dawn. During Science Class, Mr. Weaver gave out a school assignment which involved group work and he paired Ash with Misty. Misty somehow persuaded Ash to come over to her house after school to work on the group project together and Dawn was left out. She was jealous that Misty had an excuse to invite Ash over but moreover, she was just lonely. She was walking home from school alone today because Misty and Ash were walking towards the opposite direction. She had her head swung down and was walking slowly, trying to understand why she was feeling this way. "I know the exact reason… It's because Ash isn't here…" Dawn continued her route towards her house feeling depressed; very depressed.

Meanwhile…

"So Misty… What part of the project are we going to start on first?" Ash asked.

"Let's talk about the project once we get to my house Ash. Have you thought about what I asked you yesterday, about the dance?"

"Misty, I'm not going to the dance with you. I know we're friend and all but I'd like to keep it that way."

Misty kept silent while she continued walking but even a blind person would've noticed that she was upset; upset by the way Ash had rejected her. Ash took notice of this and immediately felt ashamed for what he had done. Before he could give her a reply, he was interrupted by Misty.

"Is someone else going to the dance with you?" she asked.

Ash felt as if he was cornered. He didn't want to tell her about Dawn but then again, he couldn't lie to her either. He decided to tell her the truth without actually telling her, 'the truth'.

"I'm not going to lie to you Misty. I am going to the dance with someone else."

Misty's expression of sadness instantly changed into an expression of shock.

"Who is it Ash!" she almost yelled.

They stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

"How does that concern you Misty?" Ash replied in a cold tone.

Misty felt as though she had been slapped across the face. As a result, she slapped Ash across the face for no apparent reason other than slight embarrassment. Ash fell backwards but thankfully, didn't land on his head. He got up to brush himself off before heading towards the opposite direction.

"Where do you think you're going Ash?" Misty asked.

"Home, we'll finishing the project at school tomorrow." He replied without even looking back.

Misty felt as though she had done something terribly wrong but didn't shame herself for it. "Nah, he deserved it. But I wonder who he's going out with…"

. . .

Dawn was lying in her bed. But for some reason, she couldn't sleep. She had finished her homework and was done all her chorus but just couldn't sleep; and she knew exactly why.

"Ash..."

Ash had been on Dawn's mind lately. He was the only thing that she seemed to be able to daydream about too. It was 7 pm in the evening and she knew it was way too early to go to bed but decided to wake up earlier tomorrow in the morning. Just as she was about to turn off the lights, her cell phone on her desk rang. She hurried over to pick it up to check the caller-id. After seeing who the caller was, she quickly flipped open her cell phone.

"Ash!" she exclaimed loudly.

"Ow! Could you quite down a bit Dawn?"

"Oops… Heh heh… sorry about that." Dawn rubbed the back of her head slightly embarrassed.

"Hey, are you allowed to go out right now?"

"Of course, I'm done all my chorus so my parents won't mind as long as I come back before 10."

"That's great! You want to hang out tonight Dawn? Just me and you?"

Dawn felt as if her heart had skipped a beat. "Did Ash just ask me out?"

"Hey, earth to Dawn? You still there?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! I'm here Ash, and I'd love to go out… I mean hang out tonight!"

"Huh? Oh, alright. Meet me at the park, you'll know where to find me."

"Huh? Wait! Where?" Dawn asked desperately.

"*Sigh* Does the word 'bench' ring any bells?"

"Oh there! Alright, I'll be there before you know it!" and with that she hung up the phone. Dawn quickly changed into the clothes she had worn today, grabbed her cell phone and wallet before sprinting out of her bedroom door. Before she ran outside, she scram out, "MOM! I'M GOING OUT! BE BACK SOON!"

"Alright sweetie! Be back by-"

The front door slammed shut.

"ten…"

. . .

Dawn was waiting for Ash on the bench they had sat on 3 years ago; when they were both 12. They always used to sit down on this bench to take a break sometimes from all the playing and running. But most of the time, they just sat on this bench to chat.

Dawn had been sitting on the bench for the past 10 minutes and couldn't find Ash anywhere.

"Hey Dawn…" someone said in a weak tone.

"Huh? Ash?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, I'm over here." Ash waved his hand weakly as he strolled over to sit beside Dawn. Dawn laid back on the bench like she'd use to and began the conversation.

"So Ash? Why'd you bring me here?"

"I wanted to tell you something Dawn."

Dawn swallowed hard. "Wait, what did he just say!" Dawn thought.

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