DISCLAIMER: CarpeDiemEveryday does not own Pokemon or "The Man Who Can't Be Moved." If you're hunting down the owners of said intellectual property/franchises/songs, go bother Tajiri and his affiliates or The Script. If you really don't care about this disclaimer, stop reading it and enjoy Chapter 4!

Chapter Four: Monday: Bandanas and Photographs

"Hey, Drew?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Drew and Max were leaning against the cool brick wall, thinking their own thoughts. Now, Drew shifted, stretching his arms and back without standing up. He shrugged at his younger friend. "Yeah, sure, ask away."

Max twiddled his thumbs, looking a tad nervous. "Well, I was just wondering, so, what's this May person like? I mean, she must be pretty special, if you're doing all of this for her."

Silence. Drew stared at his feet, his expression unreadable. Max wondered if he'd gone too far, asking about May. He was just about ready to apologize and tell Drew to forget it, when Drew moved. He reached inside his shirt pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and handed it to Max.

"Here, they're pictures, so you can see what she looks like… and they kind of show her personality, I suppose…" Max unfolded the photo paper. He now saw that he held four pictures from one of those machines you find in malls and similar places; you sit down in the booth, take the pictures, and laugh when they come out. These particular ones were with a girl, who Max guessed would be May, and Drew. Drew?!?! He doesn't seem like the type who'd do this, but, whatever, maybe this May girl made him do it. Max now turned his attention to the photographs themselves.

For the first photo, the two were smiling normally, allowing Max to get a good look at May. She had long brown hair wrapped up in a red bandana and wore a matching red shirt, but that's not really what drew Max's attention. He saw, instead, the sheer happiness radiating out of her shining blue eyes. Her bubbly aura, even in a picture, was strong enough to make Max feel like smiling, too. Drew looked pretty happy too, which surprised Max. Sure, Drew had smiled a bit when they were talking, but mostly he had sat in silence, staring expressionlessly across the street. He continued down the pictures.

In the second one, May appeared to be pulling off her bandana. The picture-Drew watched her, evidently confused. Apparently, this was some spur-of-the-moment plan. Moving on to the next picture, May was now tying her bandana around Drew's eyes, making her green-haired friend look even more confused. His mouth was open, and he appeared to be asking May what the heck she was doing. But May was still smiling, so she must have been ignoring him.

Max reached the last photograph, which made him smirk slightly in spite of himself. May had successfully tied the bandana around Drew, and was now kissing the blindfolded (and heavily blushing) boy on the cheek. But, though Drew in the picture was blindfolded and blushing, making it difficult to read his emotions, Max had a sense that May hadn't been the only one having a good time…

He looked up at Drew and noticed that his cheeks were a little pink. "Um, she forced me to do that, by the way."

Max just shrugged. "She seems like a happy person," he commented. Drew nodded, and motioned for his pictures back. Max handed them over and watched as Drew carefully folded them up and returned them to his shirt pocket. Close to his heart, Max observed. After that, the two returned to silence.

On the other side of town, the girl in the pictures was just waking up. May cracked her eyes open, examining the quality of the light streaming through her window. Way too bright, so I must have overslept. Huh, that almost never happens… She opened her eyes fully and stretched, yawning and scratching her head. As usual, her fingers brushed her tired red bandana. That bandana had gone through so much, yet it somehow always stayed firmly on her head. Except for that time when… oh, God! This is the one that was on HIS head, and, and…

All of the previous day's events came swooping down on her, destroying her morning calm and almost driving her to tears. She found herself incapable of dealing with all her tangled thoughts, because puzzling out her problems would involve THINKING about them, and that was something she was incapable of… May's mind went in circles, trying to divert her thoughts from Drew. She unconsciously attached her confused and angry feelings to her poor bandana, making it temporarily the reason for her misery. Yanking the fabric from her head, she gazed at it once more. Tucked within the crimson folds was her half of the pictures taken in the photo booth that day… Tears burned in the corners of her eyes. I can't deal with this now. Not now. Quickly, the brunette balled up the red cloth around the photos and stuffed the sad lump into the back of her sock drawer, far out of sight. She sighed in relief, yet all was not right.

May felt the top of her head ruefully. It's too weird, not wearing a bandana. Hey, don't I have another one? She gazed around her room, looking for a promising piece of cloth, but none appeared. Sighing , May set to ransacking her room.

After a few minutes of fending off dust bunnies under her bed, May unearthed an unused, emerald green bandana. Dusting it off, she sat on her bed, staring at the cloth in her hands. Now, where did I get this from? Oh, wait, I remember, it was a couple Christmases ago… I'd been home for the holidays, and, hey, wait, it was Brendan who gave this to me! May smiled as she recalled her childhood friend presenting her with it, grinning. He'd said that it never hurt to change your look every once in a while. May wondered whether she'd actually ever worn it. No, I was waiting for the red one to get worn out before I put on the new one. But it had worn out, she remembered now, when she'd been on the road by herself. And then, whoa, didn't… Drew give me this new one tied around a rose?

May stood abruptly, shaking out the emerald bandana. Aloud, she said, "Definitely time for a new look." With that, she tied the fresh cloth around her head, then glanced in the mirror. You know, green isn't usually my color, but I like this. It's time for an update, in any case.

May's mother Caroline walked upstairs slowly, being careful not to tip the precariously balanced pile of clean clothes all over the floor. She never quite understood how her husband managed to get so many shirts dirty in three days. She sighed. Some mysteries may never be solved…

When she reached the upper floor, Caroline bustled towards her daughter's room, wondering if May was still asleep. That's odd; May never sleeps in this late. Maybe something's wrong… I should go check.

Caroline used her laundry basket to bang twice on May's door, saying, "Honey, are you up yet?"

"Yeah, Mom," came the clear reply, telling her mother that yes, her daughter had been awake and was not merely saying such to gain a few minutes' extra sleep.

"Could you open the door, please, May? My arms are full of laundry, and I'm worried I'm going to drop it!" There was a hurried rustling, then May's door opened wide, allowing her mother to scuttle in and drop her laundry on the nearest flat surface (in this case, her dresser), and heave a sigh of relief. "Phew, any longer and I would have had to wash all of that laundry all over again!" Caroline then noticed her daughter was wearing a different bandana, green instead of that red. May saw where her mom was looking and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, you know, Mom, you can't wear the same thing all the time, right?"

"Um, I guess…" Caroline was puzzled. Green was the one color May ever expressed disdain for. Although, she thought to herself, smirking a bit, that's probably because a certain "friend" of hers has green hair… Ah, young love, I miss it so… "So, honey, are you changing your look for a 'certain someone'?" May blushed, and her mother actually squealed with delight. "Oh, I knew it! I knew you liked him! Did he ask you out? Oh, to be young again! I remember when your father-"

"Mom, calm down!" May was now nearly as red as the shell on a Pokeball. "Seriously, Brendan's just taking me to a McDonald's! And he said it didn't have to be a date, in any case!"

"Oh, May, of course Dr-" Caroline stopped suddenly. "Wait. Brendan? Really? As in Brendan Birch?"

May nodded, now confused herself. "Yeah, Brendan, our next-door-neighbor. Why, who were you thinking of?"

Caroline thought fast. Should I bring up Drew? Probably not. She looked at her daughter and noticed that May's eyes were slightly puffy, as if she'd cried herself to sleep. Make that definitely not. They've probably had some silly argument, and now she might be trying to make him jealous. Ah well, I won't meddle. For now.

Shaking herself out of her mini-reverie, Caroline forced a smile. "Oh, no one, sweetie. But, really, Brendan finally asked you on a date? I mean, he's clearly had a crush on you since you were little, I remember when-"

May's face turned, if possible, redder. "Mo-om, you're embarrassing me! It's not even really a date! Come on!"

Caroline smirked at her daughter. "Sure, hon. Whatever you say." With that, she scooped up the remaining laundry and sauntered away, humming romantic songs to herself. Once out of earshot, she dropped her cheery, obnoxious attitude as she transitioned to 'concerned-parent' mode. After all, Brendan was two years older than her little girl, even if he didn't act like it. She grimaced. Oh, Norman's going to scare the heck out of that poor boy… But that's what fathers are for, you know… She sighed as memories of her youth came flooding back...

Okay, I know this was kind of short, but still, I'm happy with it. A lot of stuff happens everyday, that's why Monday isn't over yet. One more chapter, then (insert drumroll) the wonderful world of Tuesday will be upon us! Huzzah!

What will happen next? If you want to know what will happen next, then review! I get all inspired to write the next chapter when I see reviews, so naturally I'm about three chapters ahead! Hope you're happy, but if you aren't, you can review too, and I will try to improve, honest.

Until next time,
Carp