Amv: I'm writing as often as I can now! Watch me!!

Drew: Good to know.

Amv: Uh-huh. Anyway, I have a message to Tomoyo Kinomoto… thanks for the constructive criticism… I wrote chapter one a long time ago, and since then, my writing style has changed and improved (I like to think.) I hope this chapter is better, 'cuz I thought the first chapter stunk, too.

May: Okay, amv doesn't own pokemon. Or any of the songs in this chapter.

Amv: Like "It's Not My Time" by Three Doors Down , "Long Shot" by Kelly Clarkson, or "Take a Bow" by Rihanna. I only say that I don't own the song if I use the lyrics. And is that all I have to say? I'm just wondering… well, enjoy!

Chapter Four: Opening Night

As the door closed, a ringing silence fell over the four girls. It was as if they were frozen; Misty, Dawn and Bethany looking both shocked and confused, May looking angry. Her sapphire eyes were brighter than usual.

"What was that about?" Dawn asked, "One second, things seemed… well, okay, the next, May and what's-his-name were all up in each other's faces!"

"Pff. Speak for yourself." Misty scoffed. "Ash was an absolute pig. There's no way I'm spending two months with him."

"Well, his eating habits aside, he seemed a bit… dense. Kenny wasn't bad, and that Jack guy… he seemed nice," the optimistic, though honest Bethany said calmly. Bethany acted as the intermediary on the rare occasions the girls disagreed.

Dawn giggled. "Y'know, Beths, you and Jack would kind of be a cute--"

"Don't even go there, Dawn," Bethany interjected. "I know we've discussed this at least a thousand times; I can still write the songs, but I've given up on the thing itself."

"It's been three years," Misty said softly, "Maybe, on this tour, one of these guys…"

"Weren't you just telling us that there was no way you were spending two months with the honeybees," May asked, indirectly taking a stab at the band.

"No I was just saying there was no way I'd spend two months with Ash." Misty retorted. "And that goes for you, too, May."

May glared at her angrily. That, she thought, was hitting far below the belt; Misty noticed this and bit her lip. "Sorry… got a bit carried away there…"

"It's cool," May said shortly. She reached up and rubbed her temples gently with her index and middle fingers, then she glanced at her watch. The show would be starting in an hour. "Hey, I'm going to get ready, 'kay?"

"Yeah, me too," Dawn said, jumping up. Misty and Bethany followed suit.

They left the room and went down the sparsely decorated hallway, which had nothing more than a hard concrete floor, white-painted walls, and florescent lights.

May stopped outside a room with a piece of paper on it reading "MAY" on it and went inside. Her makeshift dressing room greatly resembled the hall outside, with the addition of a mirror, table, chair, and May's own cosmetics. However, there was something else she noticed; since the last time May had been there, someone had left a bouquet of red roses on the table. She went over to them, lightly fingering a few of the velvety petals; May loved roses. May flipped open the card and read, "Good luck, sweetie! Love Mom, Dad, and Max."

May smiled, then changed into her clothes for the show: a skimpy-looking vest over a snug-fitting but concealing red, elbow-length, v-neck shirt, and long white pants made out of the same slightly shimmering material as the vest. Then she applied some makeup in front of the mirror; mascara, eyeliner, shimmering eye shadow, pink lip gloss, and the smallest touches of blush. As she brushed her hair, she heard a voice call her from the door.

"Yo."

From her seat, May could see Bethany standing there, leaning against the doorframe. Her outfit was identical to May's, except that the shirt was blue. "You nervous?"

"Yeah," May said truthfully. "But it's the good kind of nervous, you know?""Mm-hm," Bethany nodded. The she said slowly, "Tonight… the song's going out, isn't it?"

May's grip on the brush handle tightened; her knuckles whitened. "Yeah… tonight's the night."

She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and looked at it. "You think we should still do this?"

"You tell us," Misty said as she and Dawn came into the room. Misty's shirt was orange, and Dawn's was pink.

"It's up to you," Dawn told May.

May breathed in deeply. She gave the paper one last look, and slammed it almost roughly onto the table next to her roses. "Let's do it. I'll meet you out there."

She swept past her three friends and out into the hall.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"There must be five thousand people out there…" Jack said as he peeked through the curtain at the massive crowd that had already accumulated. Many of the audience members -most of them girls- were talking excitedly about the never-before-heard band opening for Iridescent.

"Actually, we're expected to hit around twenty thousand people tonight," a passing stage hand told him, before calling out, "Twenty minutes to the show, let's move it, people!"

Jack went pale. "That isn't helpful," he croaked. "Not at all…"

"We'll be fine," Kenny assured him, patting him on the shoulder. In a low voice, ha added, "What the heck was with Drew earlier?"

"I heard that," Drew told him. A small frown creased his face. "I don't know myself. I screwed up for all of us, guys. So much for giving Iridescent a good impression."

"Why did you flick your hair like that?" Kenny pressed. "Like you were trying to make yourself seem cool."

Drew shrugged. "Weird, huh? I don't know that either- it was, like, automatic. Like the A7 chord. And why're you only hatin' on me? Jack kept flirting with that Bethany girl."

Jack flushed. "Yeah, right. If anyone was, Kenny was flirting, acting like a little spokesman, telling Dawn all about the band--"

Kenny slapped the back of his head. "Was not."

"Were so," Jack shot back.

"NOT!"

"Chill," Ash said calmly as he fished in his pocket for his guitar pick. "It's cool. Kenny likes Dawn, Jack likes Bethany, I like Misty, and by process of elimination, Drew likes May."

"Dude, I just met Dawn, how could I like her?" Kenny asked incedously.

"Well, I've never liked a girl before, so I don't exactly have much to compare to," Jack mused.

"Like I'd ever fall for little miss Pop Princess," Drew said, clenching the hand he had in his pocket into a fist. "but you're right, for once, Ash, this is a stupid argument. Let's just-- HEY!" Something suddenly sunk in, and he spun around on Ash. "Did you say you liked Misty?"

Ash shrugged. "Sure. She was pretty."

"It's the night of our big break, and you're focusing on some chick you met an hour ago?" Drew asked furiously.

"And, uh, Ash… I don't think she was all that into you. " Kenny said tentatively.

There was a short, tense moment as they all remembered the disgusted look on Misty's face as she'd asked, "Are we going to just sit here and watch spiky hair gorge himself?"

Ash's face fell. "Ah. Good point."

"I need my guitar, we go on in ten minutes," Drew said as he wheeled around and left. He found that he was irrationally angry at the others for thinking he could possibly like May, despite that he knew it was completely false. Ironically, as he had been thinking how he felt absolutely nothing for the girl, as Drew turned a corner, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw May sitting on top of a couple speaker cases, tuning her red electric guitar. Her left leg was propped up on one as her right leg touched the ground lightly, helping to raise her guitar.

Suddenly Drew's heart and stomach turned over; somehow, something about her, the way her hair fell over the side of her face as she looked toward the guitar's neck, struck him as indescribably beautiful.

She had sensed his gaze; May glanced up and met his eyes as he walked over on slightly shaking knees. He nodded shortly to her as he picked up his emerald electric guitar and slung the strap around his neck. He was about to walk away, but she spoke.

"Nervous?" May asked. Her voice was loud enough for him to hear, but something in her tone was soft.

Drew considered lying for a moment -he still wasn't exactly happy with her- but his previous irritations melted away as he met her eyes again. Instead, he leaned against the case to and laughed slightly. "Nervous? I'm terrified."

"Me too," May sighed and strung a few notes on her guitar.

"No, Pop Princess?" Drew teased. Then his smile fell away, "Wait… was that "Sunshine of Your Love?""

"You recognize it?"

In response, Drew smirked and fingered through the rift effortlessly. May rolled her eyes.

"Show-off."

"I won't deny that," Drew told her with another laugh, flicking his hair aside. Suddenly he heard Brock calling him; Drew jumped. Somehow, in about two minutes, he had completely forgotten about the show that would probably change his life. "Ah, crap. Later."

Her started off, weaving through the frenzy of stage hands, wondering to himself: why was his heart suddenly pounding so fast? Was it because he was about to open for the most popular band in the country? Or because, for some reason, he almost wished he was back there with…

"Hey guys," Drew said when he reached the others, "Sorry, I, uh…"

Jack snickered. "You hypocrite, Drew. It's the night of our big break, and you're focusing on some chick you met an hour ago?"

"Huh?" Drew asked.

"Your face is RED, dude!" Ash laughed. "Ran into May, did you?"

"Well--yeah--but--" Drew spluttered as they all laughed. Brock sighed.

"Ah, Drew. We'll discuss your previously nonexistent love life after the show. Ready, guys?" He put his fist in the middle of the group of boys.

"You betcha," Jack put in his hand.

"All for one," Kenny put his hand on top of Jack's.

"One for all," Ash put his hand on top of Kenny's.

"Let's do this!" Drew grinned and put his hand on top of Ash's.

"KILLA BEEZ!!"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Hey, May. Greenie and Co. are starting in about thirty seconds. Wanna see if they're any good?"

May jumped as she heard Misty speak. "Huh? Uh… oh. Yeah. I'll be there in a second." She stepped down and met Bethany and Dawn by the edge of the stage. The boys were already under the lights, and the crowd was already revved up for a night of music.

Drew, standing in front of the microphone, took the handle in his hand. "Hey, La Rousse. And… world." He started awkwardly. May heard Misty slap her forehead. "…Just wanna ask… don't be too hard on us, 'kay? We're new to this."

The crowd roared to assure him that they would be nice, and looking heartened, he said, "Alright, then… this is called "It's Not My Time.""

A slow guitar chord started up, Drew playing in sync with Ash. After a few seconds of this, Misty muttered, "Okay, they suck."

As if in response, Jack slammed onto the drums and the real song got going. Backstage, the Iridescent girls jumped as one. Sensing the jolt to the system, Jack turned from his spot behind the drums and grinned at Bethany; she smiled weakly back as Drew started:

"Looking back at the beginning of this
And how life was
Just you and me and love and all of our friends
Living life like an ocean
But now the current's only pulling me down
It's getting harder to breathe
It won't be too long and I'll be going under
Can you save me from this?

'Cause it's not my time,
I'm not going
There's a fear in me and it's not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know, ooh, but I won't go"

"On second thought…" Misty said slowly.

"…They're not bad," Dawn finished.

"Not bad?" Bethany repeated. "They're great. Check out those drums. I'm not quite sure I could manage that."

"You could," Dawn scoffed.

"Are you alright, May?" Misty asked. "You seem kinda off."

"Yeah, I'm fine." her voice sounded fake to her. "I'm just thinking about the show."

Misty, Dawn, and Bethany exchanged looks; they all translated "the show" to mean "the song." Knowing that May was probably worried about how it would sound, they let the matter drop and turned back to the stage.

But they only knew half of what was bothering her.

The other half was standing out there in the spotlight, his fingers running all over the guitar's neck as he played the song - "It's Not My Time," it was called?- which had reached the bridge. Despite their little scuffle earlier, May found she could remain angry at Drew. As shallow as the thought made her feel, something about him was just… wow. The carefree grin on his face, his hair falling in front of his eyes, those eyes glinting as he did something he clearly loved to do…

Sure, it was fine to find a boy physically attractive, May thought as she turned away, but she could not, would not allow herself to feel anything. But…

Flashback:

"Wonder what this new band's like?" Dawn wondered as the band walked down the hallway.

"Who knows?" Misty shrugged, "Diamond Star skipped out on the tour at three o'clock this afternoon, it's incredibly lucky Cori found another band almost immediately afterward. Even if it is all boys."

"As long as they don't wear nothing but black, have so much metal in them they wouldn't be allowed on a plane, and scream their lyrics over the bass, I'm cool with whatever they are." Bethany said.

"Hear, hear," May agreed as she pushed open the door. Sitting on the leather couch in suddenly tense positions were four boys. May didn't look at them as she sat next to Bethany on the couch facing them. After avoiding romance for three years, she had mastered the basics on avoiding noticing a guy--just don't look at them.

However, seeing as she'd probably be spending the next two months with the group --she made a mental note to kick Cori for that later-- May allowed herself a quick once-over of each boy. She raised her eyes and glanced at each male: messy black hair, dark brown eyes; red-brown hair, brown eyes; blond hair, hazel eyes; green hair, greener eyes.

By chance, this last boy glanced her way. Their eyes locked.

And every single one of her body functions froze in place. Those perfect, emerald eyes… they seemed to be staring straight through her, crumbling the resolve she had so carefully maintained for so long… May was brought back to earth with the aid of a burning sensation in her chest; she had forgotten to breathe. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she looked away at her hands. The moment couldn't have lasted longer than two seconds.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

'If we were a movie, you'd be the right guy, and I'd be the best friend, that you'd fall in love with…' May sang in her head as her fingers slowly moved from string to string on her guitar, tuning it. Ah, that song brought back memories… and not all of them were good. At least it kept her mind off of Drew.

'What was that all about?' she wondered furiously, strumming the sixth string as she went to double-check her work. Maybe things just got blown out of proportion… or a miscommunication… or they were too vocal with their opinions… 'Or whatever,' May thought, 'Who cares? What does it matter? Why am I obsessing over this? I DON'T CARE!!' she screamed in her head as she looked up.

May nearly dropped her guitar pick in shock as she found herself staring straight into a pair of dark emerald eyes. Drew had come to get his guitar, which explained the ownership of the electric model May had admired when she first sat on the speaker case.

He nodded to her in acknowledgment before turning away.

"Nervous?"

May spoke the word without thinking, but she couldn't help it. Inexplicably, she almost… wanted him to stick around.

He turned back to her, a look of slight mistrust on his face. After a few seconds, however, Drew's eyes softened and he leaned against the speaker case, a chuckle escaping from him.

"Nervous?" He repeated, "I'm terrified."

May knew how he felt; on the night of her first concert, she had tuned her guitar obsessively for two hours. It was the only thing that calmed her nerves. Now she was on her first headlining tour at age fifteen. "Me, too."

She absentmindedly played the chorus to Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," a guitar classic. It was another one of the only things that made her feel better.

"No, Pop Princess?" Drew asked, his voice tinged with good-humored sarcasm. Then his smile faded. "Wait… was that "Sunshine of Your Love?""

May stared at him surprised. It was quite an achievement to hear an unamplified guitar over the racket the stage manager, Scott, was making. "You recognize it?"

In response, Drew grinned and, keeping her eyes, almost lazily strummed the rift.

"Show-off," May murmured, refusing to be impressed.

End Flashback

Now… it was very hard not to be impressed. The Beez next song, "Move Along," was just as well written and balanced as "It's Not My Time." While she had known that they would have to be good to earn Cori's A-okay, May guessed she hadn't thought the Beez would be this good.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A half hour later, after five of their best songs -- "It's Not My Time," "Move Along," "I'm Just a Kid," "Rockstar," and "Politically Correct,"-- Drew knew it was time for Iridescent to sing. He called Jack, Ash, and Kenny to his side for them to take their bows. After a round of cheers that shook the floor, the Beez exited the stage, congratulating each other on a job well done. They met the girls at the edge of the stage, preparing for their opening song.

"Nice job!" Dawn said, though she looked at Kenny as she spoke.

He grinned. "Thanks. Good luck"

Beside him, Ash fumbled with his guitar pick in his sweaty hands, telling Misty, "Uh, good luck."

Misty glared at him, then said abruptly, "Thanks. Nice guitar."

Ash grinned like a little kid in a candy shop; Misty had to smile back.

"How did you do those drums?" Bethany asked Jack as she spun her drumsticks between her fingers. "That was incredible."

Jack chuckled. "Hours of obsessive practice. Oh, and I got grounded a lot when I was thirteen, so I had a lot of free time. But I'm talking too much, good luck."

Bethany nodded.

While all this was happening, May and Drew stood a little way away from the group. Drew's legs were shaking from the adrenaline rush, and he leaned against a speaker case.

"Exhilarating, isn't it?" May said, also leaning against the case but looking toward the stage.

Drew nodded, his voice coming out as a croak as he said, "Yeah… Good luck."

"Mmm…" May murmured, standing up straight.

"I mean that," Drew added softly, still looking at the stage.

May looked ready to say something, but Dawn's call of "C'mon, May!" made her turn and run out onto the stage, to the roars of the crowd. She stood at the front of the stage, in front of the microphone Drew had used, surveying the crowd.

May took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She reached up and clasped the her hand around the microphone. Somehow, the fact that Drew had done the same thing made her feel more confident.

"Heyyy…" She said with a goofy grin to the crowd. Raising a fist to the sky, she asked, "What's up, La Rousse?"

After the crowd quieted its responsive yells, May said, "How 'bout the Beez, eh? They were good!"

"I know!" Misty added as though shocked.

They boys exchanged looks, and Jack pointed his head around the corner of the stage and asked, "You had doubts?"

"Yep," Dawn said simply.

"Oooh!" Bethany hit the drums and the symbols at Dawn's cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. We just wanted to mess with you people," May said, waving her hand in dismissal. To the crowd, she whispered, "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble with Cori, she wants us to get along with these guys… Oh, well."

A violin began in the background, and while Drew thought the beginning of the song was a little strange, it was fine once the words came in.

"I felt it, the wire touched my neck
And then someone pulled it tighter
I never saw it coming, I started to black out
And then someone said good morning
I took it as a warning
I should have seen it coming
So now I'll take a chance on
This thing we may have started
Intentional or not, I don't think we saw it coming
It's all adding up to something
That asks for some involvement
That ask for our commitment
I think I see it coming
If we step out of that limb

My heart beat beats me senselessly
Why's everything got to be so intense with me
I'm trying to handle all this unpredictability
In all probability

It's a long shot, but I say why not
If I say forget it, I know that I'll regret it
It's a long shot just to beat these odds
The chance is we won't make it
But I know if I don't take it, there's no chance
'Cause you're the best I got
So take a long shot"

"Huh," Jack said. "Once you get past them insulting us onstage, you gotta admit they're pretty good. Wonder why Bethany was asking me about my drumming talent, she's got more than a bit herself--"

Kenny snorted. "And you say you don't like her."

"Who said I didn't like her? All I said was that I didn't have a crush on her because I met her about two hours ago."

"Don't get started, you two," Ash said, rolling his eyes. "There's no point."

"Yeah," Drew agreed. He found that he was too in tuned to the music to really listen to what the others were saying. Despite that Deena played the CD 24/7, this was the first time Drew had acknowledged their music as more than annoying background music.

While the sound was outside Drew's usual tastes, he could deny that they were excellent. Everyone's instrument wove neatly with each other, not too loud, but not so soft it couldn't be heard. As for the vocals… well, Drew could only describe May's voice as being absolutely incredible.

Suddenly, Kenny wave his hand in front of Drew's eyes. "Dre-eew." He called as if from far away. "Quit zoning."

"Huh?" Drew asked, standing up.

"You've been staring at may for the pat ten minutes," Kenny told him in an undertone, "Try not to be so obvious."

"Whaddaya mean, 'don't be so obvious?'" Drew asked hotly.

Kenny shook his head and looked back onto the stage. Drew did, too, as May called to the crowd, "Hey, who wants to hear a new song?"

The crowd roared in anticipation.

May smiled, then took a breath. "Okay then… well, this song was written by me, Bethany, Dawn, and Misty. Like every other song we've written. But, but, but…!" May held up a hand to quiet the crowd beginning to yell. "This is different. This song has a story. Also like every other song we've written. But, but, but…!" May raised a hand again. "This song is in its own category. Because… well… how do I put this…?"

"May I?" Bethany asked. Jack noticed an icy gleam in her eyes.

"Sure." May said.

"'Kay," Bethany said, standing up and taking her microphone into her hand. "Well, a long time ago, one of us was in a relationship with a guy who ended things in a really jerky way. After that, we hadn't heard anything from him 'til about three weeks ago. And that was in a really BS-y letter. We're hoping that this song will feel like a slap in his face from us, wherever we are, every time it's played on the radio."

"Well said," Misty said.

May nodded. "Definitely. That's exactly what I wanted to say. Dawn let's get this rolling."

"You got it, chief," Dawn replied, staring up the piano.

"How about a round of applause
A standing ovation

You look so dumb right now
Standing outside my house
Trying to apologize
You're so ugly when you cry
Please, just cut it out

Don't tell me you're sorry cuz you're not
Baby when I know you're only sorry you got caught
But you put on quite a show
You really had me going
But now it's time to go
Curtain's finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now
Go on and take a bow"

"Wow," Ash said, "What a song."

"It's great." Drew said, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Wonder which of them was with that guy?"

"They probably won't tell us," Kenny shrugged. "Either we'll never know, or we'll have to guess.'

"How will we do that?"

"Let's not." Ash said wisely. "It would be a huge intrusion of that girl's privacy if we were to go snooping in her business. If they want to tell us, they can, but if not, leave it be."

"Impressive speech, Ash," Drew said, nodding. He then turned his attention back to the stage, meaning May. As the song came to a close, he noticed something strange: her eyes seemed to be watery, and just before the end of the song, he saw her lips --though barely moving-- mouth a name. But he didn't know what it was.

"But it's over now…"

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Okay, I know I haven't updated in a long time, but this was really long! It was 12 pages in my notebook (and it's big!) and I didn't write the lyrics! I hope this maws good enough for you all! I'm FINALLY on summer break, so I'll be able to update more often.

With love, amv!!

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