A/N: Well, that didn't take very long at all…and I wasn't expecting it to be so quick. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed—and keep doing so, please! Also, this chapter will be more Contest/PokeShipping than the previous one. Also, the girls will be the focus of this chapter instead of the boys…Although, there is a pretty intriguing phone conversation yet to come…Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the characters…

\^*0*^/ {X} \^*0*^/Favorite Boy\^*0*^/ {X} \^*0*^/

{2} Chapter 2: Apologies and Melted Ice Cream {2}

"I-I can't believe we broke up!" Dawn sobbed, her head in a pillow on her bed. "Why does he have to be so mean? I-I miss…PAUL!"

Misty and Zoey exchanged a look as May attempted to comfort her friend. Zoey was sort of the outcast of the group. She was new addition to the "popular girls". Misty, Dawn, and May used to be the Three Musketeers, but then, Zoey came along. She was considered to be in the "punk" clique, but she was also popular because of how pretty she was. She was happy to have such good friends—especially Dawn. Then, Zoey met Paul…Paul the jerk. She didn't know how she'd fallen for her best friend's boyfriend, but she had. Zoey had concealed her feelings well, though, but Misty had found out somehow. Fortunately, Misty had agreed to keep it a secret for the sake of Zoey's friendship with Dawn.

"It's okay, Dawn," May said, still trying to cheer her up. "I know you're hurt, but it'll eventually fade. It's alright,"

May was the happy-go-lucky member of the group. Although she was smart, she was considered by many to be a complete idiot because of how optimistic she was. She was very pretty, though, with her chocolate brown hair and sapphire eyes. She was a cheerleader with many fanboys, so she was a popular girl, too.

"I can't believe she's so upset about this," Misty whispered to Zoey. "This is worse than when she broke up with Kenny,"

Zoey winced. She had also had a crush on Kenny, but since Girl Code clearly articulated that a girl couldn't date her best friend's ex, she could never tell Kenny how she felt.

Then, Zoey cleared her throat. "I think I'll go get all of you some ice cream. Ice cream is the most magical substance in the world, after all," she said with a smile.

May and Misty nodded, eager to get something for Dawn to stop her from crying. Even though this was her house, and they had been invited over, they hadn't been expecting to have their friend get so upset over a boy.

"I want chocolate!" May called after her, grinning as the door shut. "Chocolate is so much tastier than strawberry," she added with a smirk.

Dawn instantly puffed up, sniffing as she wiped her tears. "No way! Chocolate is boring! Everyone loves a sweet scoop of strawberry!" she argued.

The girls always playfully argued about which ice cream flavor was the best. Zoey always sided with May, saying that chocolate was better, and Misty felt that strawberry was the superior flavor.

"Well, there's only one way to solve this!" Misty said, picking a pillow up off the bed.

"Pillow fight!" May and Dawn said at the same time. They each picked up the pillows they'd brought with them.

Dawn and Misty took up the pillows, approaching May menacingly. Then, they began hitting her (playfully, of course) with their pillows. May shielded her face, her body shaking with laughter as she tried to block their blows.

Zoey entered the room, opening the door. She put the ice cream down as she saw her "ice cream buddy" was in trouble. She took two pillows from Dawn's bed and snuck up on Misty and Dawn.

"Two against one isn't fair!" Zoey cried as she hit both girls with the pillows.

Then, the pillow fight of the millennium began. Finally, exhausted, both sides called for a cease fire. By this time, their ice cream had melted, which made all four girls erupt with laughter.

"Well, I say that the chocolate will still taste better than strawberry, even melted," said Zoey, taking a spoonful of the melted substance. Then, she smiled. "May, you've gotta have some of this! It tastes like a milkshake!" she cried as she licked her lips. She handed her friend a spoon and watched as May took a tentative spoonful.

"Wow!" May said, taking another spoonful. "It's delicious,"

Misty and Dawn looked at the two girls doubtfully before taking spoonfuls of their own melted ice cream.

"Yummy!" said Misty as she licked the spoon.

Dawn did the same. "You guys are right! This is really good!" she said.

"I'll go get some cups so we can drink our ice cream," said Zoey.

"I'll come with," said May as she picked up one of the tubs. She tried to pick up the other, but she couldn't do so, so Misty took up the other one.

"I've got it," said the redhead.

May cast her a grateful smile. "Thanks," she said.

"No problem," Misty replied. Then, she turned to her blue-haired friend. "Will you put the pillows back on the bed, Dawn? Then, come downstairs, and your ice cream milkshake will be ready. We might even add bananas to ours,"

"Yeah, I'd like that," Dawn said. "Don't worry, I'll be fine up here,"

The other three girls nodded, and Dawn could hear them laughing and joking about whose would taste better on the way down.

Dawn sat on her bed. She still felt empty without Paul in her life. Truth be told, she really missed him…she wanted him back, but she knew that would just give him his way. No, she had to be strong now.

Then, she heard a familiar ring tone. Her phone wasn't in plain sight, so she dug through the pile of pillows until she found it. It'd almost stopped ringing when she answered.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice somewhat breathlessly.

"Hey, Dawn," said Gary's voice. It sounded slightly hurt, and Dawn suddenly felt a wave of remorse. She'd forgotten to call him. Crap.

"Gary, I'm so sorry I forgot," Dawn said. Tears already blurred her vision. Great, she'd just lost her very best male friend…just great. This was like Kenny all over again.

"No hard feelings," Gary replied. "I'm just happy you answered," he added.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Dawn was pretty sure that Gary wanted to talk about Paul, but she couldn't be certain. This was Gary Oak she was talking about, after all.

Gary's voice became heavy. "You okay, Dawn?" he asked gently.

Dawn felt her tears coming back, and she took a shaky breath, willing her voice to crack. "I miss him," she said simply.

"I'm sorry," he said. It sounded like he really meant it. He was sorry.

Dawn was surprised for a second. "You're sorry? But you have nothing to apologize for," she said, completely and utterly shocked.

"I know, but since he probably won't say sorry for a long time, I want to give you mine as a sort of…consolation prize," he said slowly.

Dawn started to laugh, and she could hear Gary laughing, too. "You're the best friend ever," she whispered.

"Well, I'm happy you think so," Gary replied. Then, he paused. "By the way, Dawn, if you need anyone to talk to—or maybe you just need a hug, call me. I promise I'll answer you," His voice was strong, and it made Dawn surprised that she heard real compassion and kindness in it.

"Thank you, Gary. I love you, big brother," she said. By the end, her voice had taken up a joking tone.

"I love you, too, Dawn," he said softly. Then, his voice regained its usual cocky edge. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Smell ya later," Then, he hung up.

Dawn smiled slightly. It felt like that smile had been the first one she'd actually felt that day. "Good old Gary," she said as she closed her phone.

She heard her friends downstairs, so, cleaning forgotten, she ran down the steps. The blender was running, and the ice cream tubs were empty.

"Hey, girls," Dawn said with a smile.

Misty, who'd known the blue-haired girl the longest, knew that the only way to induce such a smile was a conversation with Gary Oak. "So," she whispered in her friend's ear. "You talked to Gary, didn't you?"

Dawn nodded. Then, she projected so that her other two friends wouldn't feel left out. "Gary called, and he made me feel a whole lot better," she said.

May hugged her friend. "Gary's great, isn't he?" she said.

Dawn nodded again. "He's the best guy friend a girl could ever have, but his help wouldn't have done any good without the rest of you guys," she said.

Zoey reluctantly joined the group hug, and the girls stayed that way for a minute. Finally, the let go of each other, and Misty smiled at Dawn.

"I'm glad you're feeling better," she told her sincerely.

"Thanks. So girls, how about we take our shakes upstairs and play some truth or dare?" Zoey suggested.

May and Misty nodded enthusiastically, and Dawn jumped up and down. "I just love truth or dare!" she cried, taking her milkshake from Misty.

"Great, then let's play!" May agreed as the girls ran upstairs. Inside, she was ecstatic that her friend was back to her hyper self.

Finally, the girls arranged their sleeping bags in a circle around Dawn's bed, which was a Japanese style, so it was low to the ground. "Who wants to be the asker?" Dawn asked.

"I'll do it," Misty volunteered. Then, she looked around her group of friends. "So, who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first," Zoey replied.

May and Dawn nodded, not wanting to be the first one to go. This was a game of collaborative game of truth or dare, so they'd all have a say on what the person going had to do or what question she had to answer.

"Truth or dare, Zoey?" Misty asked, taking a sip of her milkshake. Just like she'd told Dawn, she'd put some banana into it. The strawberry ice cream complimented the bananas quite nicely.

"Truth," Zoey said instantly. She knew from experience with the Three Musketeers that the dares were usually quite bad, so she decided on truth.

May, Misty, and Dawn gathered into a circle, whispering to each other. Dawn knew exactly what she wanted to ask, so May and Misty just nodded to each other. After all, it couldn't really be that bad, could it?

"Zoey, do you like anyone?" Dawn asked.

Said redheaded girl flinched. She knew she didn't have to tell who she liked, but it still made her nervous that Dawn was even asking. Why, if she found out, Zoey would be kicked out of the foursome. Misty looked pretty scared, too, but she looked at Zoey and nodded.

Zoey took a deep breath. "Yes," she said simply.

May squealed. "Aww! You like someone! That's so sweet!" she cried. "I'm positive whoever he is loves you!" she added.

Misty and Zoey looked at each other again.

Dawn smiled, too. "Who is it?" she asked.

Before Zoey could answer, Misty cut in. "You can't ask two questions, Dawn. You can only ask one at a time. That's the rule," she said quickly.

Dawn looked a little miffed but nodded nonetheless. "I'll go next," she said.

Misty smiled. "Truth or dare?" she asked.

"Uh…truth," Dawn replied.

Misty, Zoey, and May deliberated. After what felt like an eternity of whispered arguing, they finally decided on a question.

"Dawn, have you ever laughed so hard you wet yourself?" Misty asked as they other two girls giggled.

Dawn blinked in shock. Sure, there'd been that time. "Yeah," she said finally. Then, she took a deep breath and launched into her story. "I was six, and Kenny and I were eating spaghetti. He'd somehow gotten it caught in his hair, and I laughed so hard that I wet myself," she said, casting her eyes down.

Zoey, May, and Misty took one look at each other's reactions and burst out laughing. They all looked amused and horrified at the same time.

"Okay, I'll go now," said Misty. "Do you worst," she added.

"Truth or dare?" Zoey asked, grinning evilly.

"Truth," said Misty.

"Aw, come on! You're all chickens!" May cried. Then, she, Zoey, and Dawn got into a football huddle.

"Yeah, Dawn, that's a good one!" Zoey said, her voice approving.

"And since you came up with it, you ask it," May added.

Dawn nodded, and the three girls left their huddle. "Misty, have you ever had a dream about kissing Ash?" she asked, giggles escaping her lips.

Misty blushed a pure red that rivaled Zoey's hair and twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I…um…he's so stupid!" she cried. "He was even stupid in my dream!"

"So you admit you had a dream," May said with a triumphant smirk.

May, Dawn, and Zoey burst out laughing. Misty soon became tired of their laughter.

"It's not funny," she said indignantly, her blush becoming an even deeper red as the other girls kept giggling.

"It really is," Dawn said as their laughter died down.

Finally, May stopped laughing, and the other three girls looked at her. "What?" she asked as they stared at her expectantly.

"You're the last one, May," said Zoey with a smile.

"Truth or dare?" Misty asked.

"Dare!" May said confidently.

Zoey, Misty, and Dawn looked at each other with smiles on their faces. They didn't even need to deliberate for this one. Finally, there was someone who'd been brave enough to do the dare. Too bad she'd either be humiliated or mentally scarred by this.

"You have two choices, May…" Misty began as May gulped.

"You can either kiss Drew…" said Zoey.

May gasped. Kiss Drew, kiss Drew, kiss Drew…the words kept echoing in her head. There was no way—

"…By the end of the week!" Dawn added with a giggle.

"That's not—"

"Or hang out with him for the whole week!" they all finished in unison, ignoring May's protests.

May paled. Then, her face turned red with blush. "That's not fair!" she said. Then, she folded her arms. "I'm not doing it!" she added.

"Ah, ah, ah, May," said Misty, her tone scolding. Her smile was small and slightly evil-looking.

May looked to Dawn pleadingly, but she shook her head. "You have to do a dare. That's the rule of the game," she said, giggling some more.

Finally, May looked to Zoey desperately, but no help was to be found there. "Besides, you're lucky we're even giving you a choice," she said.

"So choose one!" said all three girls.

May sighed. Finally, after a long pause, she spoke. "I choose to…" She gulped. "Hang out with him," May had to force the words from her mouth.

"Great," said Dawn. The other girls giggled, and May instantly regretted her decision. At least the kiss would've only lasted for a few seconds. Hanging out with Drew all day for a week—now, that lasted for hours…all that annoying smirking and hair flipping…

"By the way," Misty began.

"You have hang out with him on the weekend, too," said Zoey. "And you have to formulate an excuse to do so,"

"Which can be but is not limited to the following…" said Dawn, making her voice sound like Cynthia Shirona, the school's principal.

"A project," Zoey said.

"Homework," Misty added.

"A walk in the park,"

"A trip to the beach,"

"Or…" Zoey began.

"A DATE!" said Zoey, Dawn, and Misty, giggling.

May groaned, flopping onto her sleeping bag. Something told her the three girls had been planning this from the start. More than ever, she wished she'd chosen truth…

A/N: Well, there you go! By the way, this will be updated once the story receives: 6 more reviews. Until next time…