Chapter Four

~ To Buy a Ring ~

After the crashes

After the smashes

We're bleeding from gashes

Too big to stitch up with 'sorry' now

Since neither of us had a change of clothes and we both vehemently refused to leave the hotel in dressing gowns, Drew had sweet-talked one of the maids into getting us both a change of clothes from somewhere. (He also bribed her with a rather large tip.) They didn't fit perfectly but they were better than nothing, and we needed to go shopping anyway so they would do just for the day. On the way out of the hotel Drew had tried to ask the receptionist – not the lady from the night before, but an older woman with a large nose and caterpillar eyebrows that made me need to turn away to stifle a giggle – if there were any free rooms available on the fourth floor, but she had settled our argument by telling us that most of the rooms were booked for another couple of days yet. There were other rooms closer together, but seeing as neither of us wanted to move out of our current rooms Drew ended up just booking those for another week. (We'd decided to stay in the hotel until we'd figured out how to actually proceed with this insane plan.)

"What are we actually doing here?" I asked as we got off the bus in the town centre. "Apart from getting new clothes, I mean?"

Drew grinned, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his eyes. "Think about it: how does a guy usually propose to a girl?"

I clicked my tongue as I thought. "Er… On a beach at dusk with a trail of candles stuck into the sand leading up to him that the girl has to follow, and a circle of candles around him while he's on one knee? Ooh, and with a romantic note search the girl has to do before finally finding him on the beach! And in the summer, so it's not too cold. But at low tide, so the water doesn't put out the candles."

"Right… Not exactly what I meant. I'm not sure that's the most common way of proposing either, but I can see you've obviously had your perfect proposal planned for a while," he teased.

Wow… I guess I have. Maybe I did think I might marry him after all…

"What did you mean, then?"

Drew took my left hand from my side and held it up in front of me. "What does the guy propose with?"

Oh. "A ring," I muttered. My first answer was much more imaginative.

"Exactly," Drew said, satisfied. "We're going ring shopping."

"Yay?"

Drew shook his head at me. "You could be more enthusiastic, you know. If you don't smile when we're in the shop, then the shopkeeper is going to think I'm forcing you to marry me."

I pasted a bright smile onto my face. "Happy?"

"Yep."

We both began to walk at the same time – but in opposite directions.

"Where do you think you're going?" I called over my shoulder when I realised he wasn't following me.

Drew stopped. He turned around. He saw me halfway down the street in the opposite direction. And then he rolled his eyes. "Trust you to think you know where you're going," he called back.

"Excuse me? I've lived in this city my entire life – I think I know where I'm going!"

"So have I, and I have an impeccable sense of direction."

I placed my hands on my hips. "Okay, I'll admit that you can get to the ring shop that way, but this way is quicker."

"Is it now?" Drew smirked. "How about we both go our own separate ways and see who gets there first? The winner gets bragging rights and the loser has to admit that the winner is always right and in future disagreements they will remember this argument and submit to the person who won it?"

"Hmm." Would it be stupid of me to agree to that? Probably. But am I going to agree to it? Noooo… "Deal," I confirmed. "But – before you dash off – we should establish ground rules. And also swap phone numbers because I forgot which room you were in this morning and had to look all over for you, and I'd rather not have to search the whole town when you get lost," I finished, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him. I was a mature twenty-two-year-old, and mature adults did not stick out their tongues at people. Instead, I settled for a smug, yet angelic, grin.

"Fine by me. Ground rules first – no running, I presume?"

"Yep. We have to walk at our normal paces or it's not a fair test. Also no asking strangers for directions if we get lost."

Drew laughed. "Yeah, talking to strangers really isn't a good idea for us, is it? The last time we each spoke to a stranger we ended up getting engaged to them!"

I laughed too – it was funny when he said it like that, and it was good to enjoy a joke. "Definitely no talking to strangers. And just to be clear so that there are no misunderstandings, the winner is the person who touches the door of the ring shop first. Okay?"

"Got it." Drew nodded, not seeming in the least bit threatened by the fierce game face I was wearing. "If you come here I'll give you my number."

I took my phone out of my pocket (it was the one possession I had actually had on me when I left last night – I never went anywhere without it) and brought up my contacts page. "You should come to me; I was the one who suggested it," I argued. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about what I was saying.

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You're going to argue about this as well? Sheesh Airhead, is there anything you don't argue about?"

I glared at him. "Hey, it takes two to argue and I don't see you trying to compromise."

"I would make a compromise with someone who was reasonable."

"So you're saying I'm not 'reasonable'?"

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'.

"Urgh – you're so aggravating!"

"You're more aggravating."

"Well you're a grasshead!"

"You're an airhead, and that's worse."

It took seeing him grin for me to realise that he wasn't invested in our argument at all – he was just winding me up. Argh! I took a deep breath to calm myself down. I am a responsible and mature adult, I am a responsible and mature adult, I chanted in my head. "So who's going to go to who then? Actually, don't even bother answering that. I'm the more responsible and reasonable person here so I'll just come to you, shall I?"

"You do that," Drew said, still smirking. Arrogant grasshead.

I walked the few metres back up the road, which thankfully wasn't busy or lots of people would have witnessed our fight, and that would have just been embarrassing. We were in the quieter part of town at the moment and the shops didn't start for a couple of streets. The ring shop was maybe a ten-minute walk from where we were at the moment – my way, that is. Drew's way, it was a good fifteen-minute hike.

"Here." I shoved my phone into Drew's hand.

He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "You're not even going to read it out to me? Are you really that petty?"

"Yep," I said, popping the 'p'.

"Alright…" He added my number quickly, then gave my phone back. "I'll text you mine in a second."

"Okay. You can text it to me while I walk back to my starting pla-"

Before I had finished speaking, Drew had broken into a run, laughing, "Loser," at me over his shoulder.

For a second I watched him sprinting down the street, with a murderous glare on my face that would have stunned him if he'd been standing still. "Jerk!" I yelled after him, before taking off myself.

As I pounded down the road, crossed the street, turned a corner, and then jumped over the low fence that enclosed the park (who needs gates anyway?) in order to dash straight through the middle of it, I kept a running commentary of how arrogant, mean, petty, and horrible Drew was. It was those thoughts that gave my limbs the extra fuel they needed when they began to get tired, and it was an all-consuming desire to beat Drew that stopped me from turning around and chasing after him so I could tackle him to the ground and strangle him with my bare hands.

I was so caught up in hating Drew that when I reached the high street I ran right past the ring shop, almost completely forgetting about it. Skidding to a halt outside a chocolate shop (that I promised myself I would visit later), I turned back and was about to sprint the last few steps when I realised Drew was no-where in sight. Panting, I walked back to it and placed my hand on the door, wearing the king of smug grin a skitty would wear if it had just had a bowl of cream.

"Take that, Grasshead," I said triumphantly to no-one in particular. The couple passing me on the street gave me a weird look, but I didn't care. I'd beaten Drew (not that I was surprised), and I would get to see the look of utter defeat on his face when he finally arrived to see I had got there first. I couldn't wait.

However, I did have to wait, as seconds turned into minutes which turned into a quarter of an hour. Where is he? I was beginning to get slightly worried. Even coming from the direction he had, he still should have arrived ages ago. I got out my phone to text him only to realise he hadn't texted me his number yet, because he'd wanted the head start instead.

"Drat. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I'm never going to find him now; Petalburg's massive," I muttered to myself. Should I retrace my steps and hope he'll do the same? Should I wait here and hope he manages to find his way here? Should I go back to the hotel? – He has to go back there at some point… right?

I jumped, startled out of my thoughts when my phone started ringing. Glancing at the screen, I frowned. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?" I asked, answering the call.

"Hey – May? Where are you?"

Hmm… That voice sounds suspiciously familiar…

"Drew?" I asked warily.

"No, this is an ice cream man," answered the caller in a rather sarcastic tone of voice.

I was too relieved to be annoyed. "Thank goodness! I thought I was never going to find you again! Where are you? I've been waiting by the ring shop for ages," I burst out. A few people nearby gave me weird looks, but I ignored them.

"No you're not – I've been here for… fifteen – no – sixteen minutes and you're no-where in sight."

"Wait… what? You're at the ring shop? But you can't be, that's where I am. Hang on… Which street are you on?"

"Give me a second…" Drew (presumably) went to look for the street name. "Tonro Street?"

"Oh dear. I'm on Policon Street."

Realisation dawned on both of us, as we both said at the same time: "There are two ring shops…"

"Well, I still got to mine first," I said in the most amiable tone I could whip up.

I could almost see Drew rolling his eyes. "We have no way to judge that, Airhead. Since you didn't call me when you got to yours-"

"I would have, if you have actually texted me your number!" I barely stopped myself from yelling down the phone. I got even more weird looks from strangers. "Mind your own business," I muttered, not loudly enough for them to hear me.

"Yeah, yeah. Just save it after this call. Now we have to decide who's going to come to who."

I narrowed my eyes before remembering he couldn't see me. "Not this again. I came to you last time, so you're coming to me this time. It's only fair."

"Um…" Drew fake-coughed, as if he was embarrassed. "I, umm, don't actually know where the ring shop you're at… actually is. I only knew of this ring shop, which is why I, uh, came here," he muttered slowly.

A grin spread across my face. "Oh, really? So Mr-I-Have-An-Impeccable-Sense-Of-Direction's sense of direction is no longer impeccable?"

I couldn't resist – I began to laugh gleefully. And got even more weird looks. What was wrong with people? Could they not see I was just on the phone?

"Shut up – I still have an impeccable sense of direction; I've just never heard of a second ring shop in Petalburg before. It's hardly my fault."

"Sure it's not. Sit tight, I'll be there in a jiffy."

"A jiffy? Who says 'jif-"

I ended the call, a smug look on my face.

"Well hello there, Little Miss Gullible," were Drew's first words upon my approach from the other side of the street.

I scowled, my good mood vanishing. "Don't tell me you just set me up," I growled, crossing the street in the most threatening way possible. (By hunching my shoulders, baring my teeth, and pretending my eyes were flashing red, like lasers.)

Drew just cocked an eyebrow. "As you wish. So are you ready to find the perfect ring?"

I crossed my arms grumpily. "Never readier," I all but snarled.

"Good, good." Drew pushed open the door, a charming smile on his face. "After you, my darling."

I stomped past him. "Thank you so much, babykins," I cooed through gritted teeth.

Drew wrinkled his teeth. "Please don't call me that."

I had stopped paying attention to him the moment I had taken a proper look around the shop. It was fairly new, and I had never been inside before – though I had passed it on the street several times. It didn't just sell rings; it also sold necklaces, bracelets, watches, and earrings. And they were all sparkly. The whole shop glittered, like a glitzy treasure cove. It was beautiful. Forgetting all about Drew and his annoyingness, I dashed from wall to wall, trying to look at everything at once.

"Wow – they have so many pretty things – just look at this bracelet – and this necklace – have you ever seen anything so beautiful? – oh, and this watch is just – this necklace too! – oh my… is that… it is! It's an actual diamond! And this one is too! Oooh, just look at those sapphires – Drew – I think I'm in heaven."

Drew watched me with an amused smile. "May, you're making me dizzy just watching you."

There were a couple of other people in the shop, who I caught staring at me out of the corner of my eye, but I was too happy to care.

"Drew!" I ran back to him, and took him by surprise by clasping his hands in my own. "I forgive you for tricking me into coming here," I said, completely sincere. "In fact, I should thank you!"

"Uh… You're welcome?" Drew's face was tinged with a faint shade of pink. Was he embarrassed? I giggled, and let go of his hands. He appeared to breathe a little sigh of relief.

"Excuse me," said a calm voice from behind me, causing me to let out a little squeak of surprise. I hurriedly turned around to see a short, stout old man with white hair gelled up into a couple of spikes on his head and a moustache-beard which covered the whole of his lower face standing there, dressed in what almost reassembled a yellow builder's all-in-one, though it was made of lighter fabric, with an open camouflage shirt over the top. He had long, thin eyebrows that arched like maniacs above his eyes, and his mouth was open in a toothy grin to reveal a perfect set of white teeth. "Are you two looking for anything in particular, or would you just like to browse?"

"Um… Are you the shop owner?" Drew asked uncertainly.

"Hang on – aren't you Wattson, the Electric Type Gym Leader of Mauville?" I interrupted.

The old man apprised me with a secretive smile. "Ah, we have quite a worldly young lady here, don't we? Indeed, I used to be Mauville's Gym Leader, it's true. Did you, perhaps, challenge me, at some point? Forgive me – my memory is not as good as it used to be."

I shook my head. "I'm a coordinator actually, but my friend, Ash, challenged you while we were travelling. You're the cheerfully electrifying man!"

Wattson beamed. "Haha! Indeed, I am! Now, how can I help you's two?"

I frowned. "Do you own this shop now? What happened to your Gym?"

If possible, Wattson's grin became even brighter. "I left it! I fancied an electrifying change in my life, and I thought, what's more electrifying than precious jewels? So I opened up this store!"

"Wow, good on you," I said with a bemused smile.

"Anyway…" Drew had been quiet up until now, and I wondered if it was because, for once, he didn't know what to say because he was unfamiliar with everything relevant to pokémon trainers. I saved up that idea to use at a later date when he tried to act like he knew so much more than I did. "We were just looking for an engagement ring, since my proposal was kind of on the spur of the moment and I didn't manage to get one beforehand."

I snickered. 'Spur of the moment' was one way to put it…

Behind us, the door of the shop banged closed. I winced at the loud noise. Some people were so inconsiderate.

"May?" croaked a male voice from directly behind me. "You're… you're getting married?"

Oh, no…

I pivoted slowly to face the man who had just walked in. All the colour drained from my face. It was him.

"G-Gary? What are you doing here?" I asked weakly.

Sensing tension, Wattson squeaked something about 'leaving us to browse' and scurried off.

I knew I would have to face him at some point. I just didn't expect that time to be quite so soon.