Hello to all the new and old readers! Here's the new and improved chapter 3. Mostly the same, just a couple of minor plot changes that must have made sense 7 years ago but seem completely pointless now lol. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and forgives me for the weird disconnect that is occurring between all my chapters during the rewrite.

Now enough of my incessant rambling and let's get on with the chapter!

~Deepika

Chapter 3

.:.

"Ok...so tell me again?" Dawn asked and Blaze sniggered. Dawn looked both ways while crossing the street, her bag slung on her shoulder like a purse. "What?! It's not like I come from a rich family..." By now, the five had stopped walking.

"Dawn, your mom is a retired coordinator and CEO of a company and father is one of the biggest business men in the world...and you tell me you're not rich?" Sha gaped and Dawn blushed, look down while shuffling uncomfortably.

"Anyway, it's simple really. The Oak ball is something that takes place every year. Me and Gary's closest friends are invited, along with some of the most intelligent, rich, and famous people of the world. This is like, the event of the year, something everyone looks forward to. As always, Gary and I are the secondary stars of the party. We usually have an 'entourage' as some people like to call it. Gary usually has Drew, Paul, Byron Carter, and Rocky Santiago, who you haven't met yet. I usually have Aisha, Blaze, and Mist. But this year, I'm hoping to add you to the crowd...pretty please?" May pouted as she explained. Dawn gaped.

"That sounds...huge," she swallowed uncomfortably and May sympathetically nodded. "We don't need, like, a date or anything, right?" Dawn asked and May nodded once more.

"But don't worry; it's not for another five months or so. Gramps just loves to freak us out with him being super organized about every little thing in life," May laughed, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's get to school. The real classes start today,"

"Joy," Misty sarcastically cheered. The five girls entered the huge one story building, only to find everyone staring at them. As they walked towards their lockers, Dawn looked at either side of the hallway and turned to her new friends.

"Um...is this normal?" she whispered. Aisha cocked an eyebrow as she flipped her sleek black hair over her shoulder.

"We get minimal staring; May gets the most, but never this much," Aisha replied and Blaze nodded, running her fingers through her now pixie style short hair. "That reminds me, why did you cut your hair Blaze?" she asked, turning to the fiery girl. Said girl rolled her eyes.

"Way to change the subject? And I thought it would be a nice change. Besides, doesn't the fiery orange hair suit me?" she stopped to pose, causing giggles to erupt. "What?" she whined, sticking her tongue out. Her hair was now up to her ears while all the hair in the front was swiped to the left side. The bang covered her eye, giving her a sultry and sexy look and, as Blaze mentioned, her hair was now, indeed, a bright orange with the trace of red highlights. Dawn nodded thoughtfully as her newly evolved Solaceon purred at her side.

"Are people staring at Solaceon?" Dawn whispered to May who snorted and turned to her with twinkling amused eyes.

"Dawn, they're staring at you," she laughed as she reached her locker. "Alright, now let's get our books, drop them off at homeroom and hang out," May grinned as the girls all fanned out.

"1114, 1115, 1116, ah B1117," Dawn muttered to herself. "42, 8, 20," Dawn muttered as she entered the combination. She pushed the locker lock up to open it and grabbed the dial. "Open...OPEN!" she growled and fell backwards as the force of the locker pushed her. "Oh!" the bluenette grunted and scrambled up as she heard a noise below her.

"God, not you again," the voice scoffed and Dawn scowled. "Can't you look where you're going? Honestly, it's not that hard."

"Sorry that I can't control where I fall, Paul," Dawn spat as she bent down to gather her things. She briefly looked up to see Paul flick his long purple hair out of his eyes and smirk.

"Get off the floor before everyone looks at us. God, so useless," he rolled his eyes and Dawn bit her lip, trying to suppress the rather colorful retort she knew would come out if she didn't control herself. She picked herself up and dusted herself off. Grabbing her books, she quickly shut her locker and ran away to her friends.

oOoOoOo

"There you are Dawn! I was looking for you, I wanted to make sure you didn't get lost on your first day," May waved her arm, dragging her down the hallway. As they rounded the corner, May stopped short. "Dawn, there are two other people you should probably meet. Yo guys, over here!" May hollered, startling. "Dawn, this is Rocky Santiago and Byron Carter," May replied. Dawn immediately recognized Rocky as the boy who had been announcing for the battles yesterday. His mocha hair was floppy and he had a charming smile that seemed to dazzle the girls as they walked by. Next to Rocky was his Hariyama. Byron, on the other hand, had short blonde/brown hair that was spiked up into mini spikes. His skin peeled in some places and it was obvious that he spent far too much time in the sun. Next to Byron was Saumurott, his trusty surfing sidekick.

"What's up, the name's Rocky," Rocky grinned and Dawn nodded. His voice was quite low and had a slight Hispanic accent. "You're the new girl, aren't you? Haven't seen you around here," he commented just as Aisha walked over to them, Blaze and Misty following.

"You do realize that the reason you haven't seen her around is because she's new, right?" he rolled his eyes and spoke in a tone that sounded like he had to explain simple things to Rocky every day. Dawn thought he sounded like a typical surfer guy from all those movies she watched. He even almost had the accent down although he had a deep voice that was undoubtedly sexy.

"Wow Byron, I'm even surprised you managed to put those two things together as quickly as you did," Blaze smirked. Byron let out a hearty laugh.

"Not as surprised as I am to see that you decided to match your hair to your personality."

"Whatever Carter; now get out of the way before I make you get out of the way," Blaze snapped and Dawn rolled her eyes at her friend's short fuse. Dawn could see that Byron was enjoying taunting the fiery girl and she could see that said girl was getting ready to beat the guy into pulp. Dawn quickly stepped in between the two.

"Guys, guys calm down. Byron, seriously, just shut up; you're asking for a freaking beating. Blaze, he's just trying to get under your skin. Seriously girl, just walk around him," Dawn laughed but not before she shot a meaningful glare at the surfer boy, who put his hands up as if to signal that he was backing off, sent Dawn a small smile, and walked away. Rocky quickly ran after him. Dawn turned around to see May, Misty, and Aisha looking at her in amazement. "Why are you guys looking at me like I'm a saint?" Dawn asked and Misty shook her head a little.

"No one, in the history of knowing Blaze and Byron have been able to stop one of their lovers' spats," Misty giggled at Blaze's face. "Girl, calm down; I kid," she laughed and leaned towards Dawn. "Sort of. Haven't you heard of opposites attract?" Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Whatever; all I know is that Byron needs a life and a new book of insults," she scoffed and pulled out her schedule. "So what's your first period?" she asked and Dawn looked at her own schedule.

"It is...chemistry. Oh gosh I hate chemistry! It's my worst subject" Dawn groaned and May laughed then sobered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're in advanced chemistry? Finally, a girl who's in my class! Get ready for seventy-five minutes of pure boredom with Drew...and Paul" she muttered as an afterthought although Dawn heard.

"What? Both of them are in our class? But Paul is such a jerk!" Dawn whined and May shot a sympathetic glance towards her friend. She grabbed a piece of brunette hair and twirled it around her finger. Blaze looked at Dawn weirdly.

"Oh great, three brainiacs were enough, but now we have a fourth? My mom's never going to let me hear the end of this! She's part of the education board, so she knows what goes on," Blaze sighed as Dawn shrugged at her. Misty smiled brightly.

"Well, I for one don't mind not being in any advanced classes, mostly because I suck at science. It's not meant to be for us! I'm more of the athletic girl, if you guys know what I mean. Honors chemistry is enough for me so I guess I'll see you guys!" Misty smiled and Blaze followed her. Aisha was the only one left and she turned to Dawn and May, clutching her books.

"I, uh, skipped chemistry and I'm going to physics since I have a kind of double major- medical and dancing," she smiled sheepishly and Dawn gawked at her. "So uh, have fun with Drew and Paul!" the raven haired girl giggled nervously while dancing away leaving a groaning bluenette who had just remembered why she hated her first period class in the first place.

"Dawn, Paul isn't really that bad; take it from someone whose seen the best and worst side of him," May assured grabbing Dawn's hand. "Besides; it's only one period that you really need to tolerate him since we all meet up for second period gym," May grinned. "Now come on; we should get to class before the bell rings," she laughed and the two girls ran to their class that was in the next building, the D building.

As Dawn and May took their seats, people started whispering. The bluenette looked around nervously, obviously aware of their words. She gave a silent look of help to May who smiled sympathetically at her. Dawn looked at the classroom. It was a regular classroom and the desks were paired in twos but if you looked behind, there was a huge high-tech chemistry lab in the back. The mandatory power-shower and eyewash were there along with various beakers and flasks full of chemicals. The walls were filled with pokemon anatomy posters and the periodic table of elements. Dawn turned her head as she heard May make a small noise and turned around. Her bright and bubbly smile faltered once she caught sight of Drew and Paul making their way to the two girls. Drew took his seat directly behind May and Paul sat next to Drew, meaning that the purple haired demon was sitting right behind her. Dawn groaned while rolling her eyes, slamming her head on the desk.

"Ow..." she muttered, earning laughs from May and Drew, and a scoff from Paul. What else is new? Dawn scornfully thought. The chair next to her scraped against the floor and Dawn had a mental image of May turning around to talk to Drew.

"Are purposefully trying to take yourself out today?" a gruff voice reprimanded her as Dawn banged her head on the desk once more. The bluenette rolled her eyes in frustration and angrily turned around in her chair.

"Yes, of course Paul. I'm a glutton for pain," she spat and turned back, leaning into her notebook and started to doodle. The door opened just as the bell rang and Dawn looked up to see a good looking man with amazing hazel colored hair. He wore chemistry goggles and took them off, but kept his white lab coat on. Dawn could hear the excited murmurs of the females in the class.

"Good morning class. I'm sure all of you sure as hell don't want to be here, but too bad. I'll try to make this as fun and pain-free as possible. If y'all don't believe it, I used to hate chemistry with a burning passion. Literally; I burned a guy's pants off. That's when it started to be fun," he smiled a charming pearly grin and the girls in the class giggled. Dawn turned around just in time to see Drew roll his eyes and flick his green hair. "As you guys know, this is advanced chemistry. Now how many of you are sophomore students?" he asked and Dawn and May along with a few other students raised their hands. The teacher smiled. "Well good luck. Anyway, my name is Mr. Tanner and I'll be your advanced chemistry teacher for the year,"

Dawn looked at the brunette next to her, her expression confused. May quirked an eyebrow and Dawn leaned closer to May. "Drew and Paul aren't sophomores?" Dawn whispered and May shook her head, smiling slightly. A few minutes later, the gorgeous teacher was droning on about basic bonding and Dawn was struggling to pay attention to him despite how attractive he was. It wasn't long until shrill bell was heard and everyone jumped out of their seats.

"Ready for...gym?" May gulped audibly and Dawn cringed. "Ugh...the uniforms are gross and all the guys stare at you," May rolled her eyes, grabbing her bag full of books. Dawn cracked a grin at May's expression.

"It can't be that bad, right?"

oOoOoOo

Ten minutes later, Dawn screamed and ducked as the red object of doom, more commonly known as a dodge ball, came whizzing by her ear. May, who was somewhat behind her gracefully dodged it and the brunette turned around to see Dawn trying to dodge a barrage of balls that came near her face.

"May, remind me I feel like this entire gymnasium is out to kill me?" Dawn asked, frustration creeping into her voice. May rolled her eyes, the anger obvious in her sapphire orbs.

"The queen of subtlety herself," May spat, side glaring at the strawberry blonde devil. Dawn bit her lip, feeling a pang of sympathy for the brunette. "God...she just...urgh," May growled, turning away and nearly getting hit with another dodge ball. She caught it in her hands, a demonic look appearing in her eye. "Don't you dare aim for me again!" she screeched and hurled the ball over to the other side where it hit Brianna square in the face. Stifling a laugh, Dawn grabbed May and they ran to the back, breaking into a fit of giggles.

"God May, you're really riled up. I wonder how funny it is from Aisha and Blaze's side," Dawn remarked, still giggling and glancing over to the other end of the gymnasium where the redhead and the black haired girl were shaking with laughter. May glanced over as well and a smile overtook her face, replacing the hatred look in her eyes.

The whistle blew and the girls ran to their locker room where the stench of sweat mixed with deodorant and perfume wafted throughout the air. Dawn cringed and went to her locker, stripping off the sweaty gym apparel. As she was changing, she glanced at the schedule on top of her books and sighed in relief as she saw that she had Fine Arts II next, which was just drawing class, something that wasn't too major. She slipped on her jeans and tank top and put on her boots. Dawn turned around and picked her books up, heading out the door.

Unfortunately, this was the first class that Dawn didn't have May around with her so she was completely and utterly lost. She was vaguely aware that the bell had just rang and that class was starting. After wandering the vast hallways for an embarrassing amount of time, Dawn finally found a janitor who kindly gave her directions and sent her to the correct door. Thankfully, though it had felt like a lifetime, Dawn was truly only a couple of minutes late to class.

Dawn looked at the door and took a deep breath as the Solaceon by her side pawed on the ground. The yellow pokemon looked at its trainer and nudged her a bit forward. Dawn quietly yelped as she stumbled forward and grabbed the doorknob for balance. May wasn't there to make some sort of comment or offer some kind of guidance. Solaceon nudged her again and Dawn had no choice but to actually go inside. The bluenette felt the stares of her peers as she awkwardly walked to the front of the classroom, giving the mandatory paper to the teacher. The teacher was a young woman who had a kind round face. Her eyes were big though warm and inviting and she was petite. A pencil was tucked into the hazel blonde hair that was wrapped in a bun and she was looking at the attendance.

"Hey, Dawn, it's nice to meet you. All me to introduce myself to you formally. I'm Cindy Pearce, but you can just call me Ms. Pearce, and I'll be your teacher for Fine Arts II. I'm guessing you already have a bit of experience with drawing and such as seen from your papers," she said in a voice that was somewhat peppy. Dawn cracked a shy smile and looked around, immediately spotting Aisha with Espeon by her side. Apparently, Ms. Pearce had noticed how Dawn somewhat brightened when she saw Aisha, so she smiled. "Miss Sharma? Would you be so you kind as to let Dawn sit next to you?" Aisha smiled as she looked up, her almond eyes warm as she patted the seat next to her.

"Not at all Ms. Pearce. And you know better to call me Aisha or Sha," Sha smiled as the bluenette made her way over. Dawn took a seat on the wooden stool as she took out her sketchpad full of drawings she had made when she was bored. The raven haired girl looked at the book with interest, her eyes widening at the beautiful realistic sketches that Dawn had managed to capture. "Wow these are amazing!" she whispered softly, causing Dawn to blush.

"So what are we doing?" Dawn asked, her voice dropping low into a whisper. Sha rolled her eyes, though her smile betrayed her annoyed expression.

"Ms. Pearce likes to use the first day for us to relax and let our creative juices flow. I honestly think it's a waste of time, but seeing as how she's the teacher, I guess it's not really my call. Besides, it just gives me more time to draw. So how are you enjoying your first day?" the tanned girl asked, a curious expression etched across her face, her body leaning forward. Dawn sighed and her lips curved into a small smile.

"Interesting, to say the least," she laughed. "It's a lot to take in, from the massive school to all the staring,"

"Oh, I completely understand. It must be really overwhelming, especially for someone who came from a smaller town like Twinleaf right?" Dawn sighed, a twinge of sadness aching in her stomach as she thought about her happy times in her old home town.

"Yea, it was a good time there," she said softly, reminiscing. Blinking, she came back to reality. "But this is my new home town, and I've got a new group of friends which I'm really thankful for. So I'm going to make the best of it!" she said determinedly, more to herself than anyone else.

tbc