Someone Like You

.:Sixth Period:.


Five minutes in History, and Dawn was already bored out of her skull.

After lunch, all people could talk about was Brock's stunt for Suzy. Even in class, he could feel the hum of conversation around her. Sure, she was all for good gossip. But all the good details were hashed out at lunch with her friends. May, who secretly gave Brock the key, filled her in. By now, all of this was old news to her.

Professor Claire, the freshman history teacher had attempted to gain control over the class, but she gave up easily. She gave them a book work assignment instead. It was Friday, after all.

So, instead of going in on the conversations and wild rumors of Brock ("I heard they cut class to get married!" she heard someone squeal) she actually opened her textbook to page 179 and started answering the questions.

Unfortunately, she didn't get very far.

The door slammed open, and out of her peripheral vision, Dawn watched Professor Claire frown at Paul. "Late again?" she scolded him, "I'll have to give you a demerit, you know."

"Fine with me," Paul said coolly. He took the only free seat- the one next to Dawn.

Perfect! Dawn thought, fighting a triumphant grin off her face. Turning to him, she delivered a line she found on the internet: "Hey, tall, dark and obnoxious!"

Paul froze. Well, that caught my attention, He thought. Without even facing Dawn, he put his textbook on his desk and said, "If you haven't noticed, I'm not that tall, nor dark."

"But you are obnoxious." Dawn quickly picked up. This time, she did smile, a grim of pure triumph.

Paul paused, looking at Dawn. "Do I know you?"

Dawn blinked, before the offhanded comment sunk in. Then she growled, fiery rage sparking in her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Dawn! From Journalism!"

"Oh. I never forget a face, but I'm glad I made an exception in your case."

Why, that- Dawn inhaled and exhaled quickly. Calm, she soothed herself. If I just get angry, he'll get the upper hand. "Well, that's too bad. I kept thinking about you all day… I just couldn't place where I've seen you before…." Dawn put a finger on her lips, pretending to be deep in thought. "I got it! Didn't we dissect you in Science class?"

"Aren't you forgetting something? We take Earth Science- you don't dissect anything in there." he retorted, smirking. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got that out of a joke book."

Dawn gritted her teeth at this true statement, not saying a word. She thought about her notebook, filled with sketches, and she thought about how she spent hours and hours drawing. She turned back to her class work, ignoring him.

Paul took her silence as a yes. "You shouldn't rip off other people's ideas." Dawn pressed her pencil hard on the paper. "Try to come up with your own. But I guess it's hard when you have that empty feeling in your skull. "

"Shut up." she whispered, barely audible.

"It's hard to be an artist when you don't have a creative bone in your body."

Those words were like body blows, hitting her hard in her chest. Suddenly, her throat was constricted and she had difficulty breathing, and she was suffocating on the words he just said. Dawn grabbed her messenger bag and ran.

She felt people's stares as the door slammed quietly behind her. Alone in the hallway, she collapsed against the wall opposite the classroom, breathing heavily. How did he know…? How did he know of my drawings and sketches? My dreams of being an artist? How did he know? And how did he know what was my greatest fear?

Regaining control over her breath, Dawn stood shakily. She suddenly had the impulse to run, to run far away from this building away from him. And for once in her life, she didn't want to fight it.

She began to walk down the hall when she heard the door shut.

"Missing this?"

Dawn turned around. Paul was standing there, holding a notebook. My notebook!

She ran over to him and snatched out of his hands. "You! You had it all day! I can't believe you!"

"I found it." Dawn scowled and turned, storming off. "Don't tell me you're leaving."

Once again, she turned to face Paul. She took in his strong face, his dark eyes, and his ashy hair. When she looked at him this time, she didn't see his muscular, handsome face or mesmerizing dark eyes. She saw his arrogant, ugly sneer, a smile that never reached his eyes. She saw dark eyes, yes, but they weren't as captivating as before. They seemed empty and hollow.

"You know something Paul?" Dawn said suddenly. "I used to have a crush on you. But you probably knew that if you started making fun of my drawings." She waved her notebook. By the looks of Paul's arrogant smile, she was right. "But I just realized something, something that just cured a six-month crush. I didn't really know you at all. I knew your name and what classes we shared. I knew what you looked like and what you would do with the spare class time. I kept trying to imagine you with a personality, and I kept failing." Dawn exhaled deeply. "But I didn't know you. "

"And now, after today, I think I do know you, just a tiny bit more than I did yesterday. I mean, I know a lot of jerks, but you're above that name. You're an asshole, Paul. A genuine asshole." Dawn trembled a bit, fighting off pushing tears. "You found my dreams that I've been practicing all my life and you ripped them apart in one minute. Congratulations."

"Sure, it was a fun little game, Paul, fun while it lasted. But what happens now? I walk away with my hopes in pieces, but I can put my dreams back together, and I've got friends to support me. But what about you? What do you have? At the end of the day, you're still alone." She paused, looking into his face for the longest time. His sneer had transformed into a frown. "Think about that."

Dawn turned again, clutching her notebook to her chest, and started walking away. But she spun on her heels one last time. "You should do some soul-searching," she told him, ice forming on her words, "Maybe you'll find one."

Dawn did not wait to see his reaction to those words. She turned around and walked confidently. This time she never looked back.


"Hello, dearie!" the elderly secretary said to Brock as he slipped into the office. "Principal Cynthia will be with you in a couple minutes." She smiled at him, making her face seem more wrinkly.

"Okay, thanks." The old woman nodded to him and continued typing. He took a seat, not feeling very thankful at all. He just felt like running out of the room. Brock sighed. This will all be worth it if Suzy saw that, though, he reminded himself. And it would be. It's just too bad that he wouldn't know until he was done here.

He watched the clock's second hand tick by silently. Then minutes.

"When will she be able to see me?" Brock asked the secretary.

"Oh, any time soon, dearie, anytime soon." She answered distractedly. "If anyone asks when I am, just tell them I went out to the copy machine." The old woman told Brock, standing up. With amazing speed, she hobbled out the door.

Brock sighed again. Anytime soon did not seem soon enough.

The door slowly creaked open. To his surprise, Suzy creeped though the doorway, smiling almost shyly at him. "I thought you would be here."

Brock laughed quietly. "The principal won't see me for another couple minutes. So take a seat."

Suzy looked around, and finding no adults, she did sit next to him. Awkwardly, they sat in silence, listening to the tick, tock of the clock.

Brock almost couldn't believe that Suzy was sitting with him. After this morning's hellish events and all the plans, she almost seemed like a dream. He was almost afraid that he would wake up.

"So, I guess you caught GHS Live! today." Brock said out loud, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Suzy laughed, a soft musical laugh. "What were you thinking, Brock?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking that no one was letting me explain myself. And that I wanted to apologize for being such an idiot." He looked at her. "I was thinking that I wanted to be with you."

Suzy fell quiet again, feeling that lump form in her throat again. "Oh, Brock…"

Brock smiled.

"You know," Suzy found her voice, "No one's ever serenaded me before."

Brock laughed at that. "Well, it wasn't my first plan to spend my Valentine's Day."

"Oh?" Suzy giggled. Gently, she slipped her hand into his. "Well, I'm glad it worked out this way."

Brock once again drank Suzy in with his eyes. He could never think of another girl who was as beautiful as Suzy was after this hell of a day.

"Me too, Suzy. Me too."


May glanced at her bouquet of roses again and sighed. She'd helped out Ash easily; she just wished she knew what to do about Drew as well.

Fiddling with her flowers, a sudden memory flooded into her. On May's thirteenth birthday, Drew had given her flowers. "Happy Birthday." He'd said, thrusting the roses in her hands. "Be careful with those. Those are thirteen of my best roses." She remembered the shock of realizing that Drew was a gardener. His eyes softened as he watched May delicately smell his roses.

The ice in her stomache twisted in deeper. What if….what if he grew those too? Oh, no. May's heart plummeted. I didn't just insult him. I insulted his prized flowers!

No. she fought off the feeling of guilt. This isn't about how I insulted him, isn't about how I hurt him. It's about how I feel about Drew. She closed her eyes, just clearing her thoughts. Drew was always handsome, always. But it was in a hard, graceful way. He smile was always hard, almost mocking…but sometimes there was that split-second where it would melt into something softer. Sometimes, later on in the year, the stony traces would fade away easier. His eyes would glow when I asked him about his flowers. And when I told him stupid jokes, that sarcastic, complex smile would be forgotten and he would laugh; his perfect, amazing laugh…

That was the Drew I knew.

"May, could we talk for a second?"

May opened her eyes to see a girls standing next to her. One was a petite girl with reddish- brown hair. Her eyes were brilliantly aquamarine, but had an anxious tint to them. The other was a tall, shapely girl with luxurious curls of blonde hair. She stood her hands on her hips and had a look of determination in them. "Um, okay." She tried to recall their names, but failed. "I'm sorry," she said, half-laughing at herself. "I'm really bad with names. You guys are?"

The brunette opened her mouth to answer, but the blonde cut her off. "I'm Lauren. And this is Brianna."

"Well, hi!" May chirped. "What's up?"

"Are you familiar with the Drew Hayden Fan Club?" Lauren asked bluntly.

She blinked. The what? "No, I don't think I am."

"I didn't think so," Lauren purred. "I am the President of the Drew Fan Club. And I'm sorry to say that you broke one of the cardinal rules. "

"Which is?" May had a sinking feeling about where this was going.

"You do not make a play for the Prince."

"You've got to be kidding me." she laughed in disbelief. She didn't know what was stranger- that this girl was seriously telling her to back off or that they were using Drew's nickname so reverently. Lauren smiled, in a predatory way. May glanced at Brianna, who wouldn't make eye contact.

"I'm afraid not." Lauren icily responded. "We are strict on that."

"I hate to tell you this," May actually felt no remorse at all "but not only am I not a member of your…club, I did not make a 'play' for him."

Lauren threw her gorgeous blonde hair of her shoulders as she laughed deeply. "Oh, May. We don't care if you're in the club or not. We want you to stop lying about our Drew and leave him be."

Our Drew? "Who said I was lying? Drew gave me those roses, not someone else!"

"Are you sure your 'friend' Ash didn't, May?" Lauren's voice had a dangerous edge to it.

Realization dawned on her. "It was you who started that rumor!"

"The Club has to protect our Drew from girls like you."

May glared at the taller girl. "'Your Drew'? He's not yours, he's not anyone's! You're talking about him like he's a possession, not a person. He has his own thoughts, his own dreams, and his own wants! He can't be owned by a club. He should do whatever he wants, and if that means giving me or any girl flowers, then so be it!" Lauren gasped, and Brianna smiled shyly, but a flush of excited pleasure flared in May as she said the last words "But he picked me. So deal with it."

"Why, you little—" Lauren spat out, all honey dried up from her voice.

"Delivery!" A boy called from the doorway of the Math class. He was holding a bouquet of deep red roses.

"Splendid!" Wattson boomed. "Who's it for?"

"A" the boy flipped over the card that was attached to them, "May Maple?" May blushed brilliant pink. Noticing, the boy walked over and gave her the roses. "I guess that's you!" When the boy left, she looked on the delivery receipt- To: May Maple. From: Drew Hayden

"I'm sorry, Lauren," May smiled evilly, placing the receipt on her desk so she could clearly see Drew's name on the sender line. "but it seems our conversation is over. " Lauren flushed a bright scarlet, and gave a 'humph!' while she stomped back to her computer, gorgeous flaxen hair bouncing wildly as she huffed away.

"I'm sorry for that," Brianna said. "I'm not as fanatical as Lauren is, and I'm really sorry she ruined your day like that." a small smile of apology hesitantly made its way to her lips.

"Oh, it's okay." May told her. "In fact, if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have realized some things."

When Brianna left for her own seat, May opened the note that was addressed to her.

May-

A rose for every month I've missed you. As a friend and my chance.

-Drew

May counted quickly. There were eight roses.

She shut the note gently, not bothering to fight off the wide, dreamy smile off her face.


Ash stared unblinkingly at Professor Roark, and appeared to be engrossed in the lecture. Instead, May's voice echoed in his ears and rolled around in his brain

" She's expecting a Valentine's Day miracle. She's expecting you to be there, waiting for her, to finally tell her what she's been questioning for two years…" May's voice whispered.

Misty wanted a Valentine's Day miracle and I'm not sure if I can give her one. Ash thought bitterly. Misty has and always would be a romantic. When everyone was reading Pokémon manga, she was reading romantic novels that where two hundred pages long. When other girls were gossiping about which boy was the cutest in the class, Misty was dreaming of her prince charming.

And Prince Charming has always been the same guy since the fourth grade: handsome, suave, tall, and knows exactly what to say at the right time A guy who'll take her out to fancy candlelight restaurants and recite sonnets. Everything—everything that I'm not. Ash gritted his teeth to remind himself that.

And this guy might be Prince Charming.

"So, you're just going to give up?" May's voice asked him.

Misty deserves all that!, he argued. She deserves someone who will give her roses and sweet compliments, and poems devoted to her. She deserves to be happy!

May's disembodied voice was silent in his head. Ash smirked. He won.

And yet…

He couldn't fight off the sick feeling in his stomach at what he just said. He couldn't imagine Misty, with some other guy. He didn't want to see some guy take her on dates and reading her poems. His gut wrenched every time he even thought about Misty with another guy. Another guy holding her hand, hugging her, kissing her…

Ash clenched his fist, accidently crumpling up the class work that was underneath it. I've already went through that hell with Rudy. And I can't do it again. I won't let it happen again!


Finally! Misty thought when the last bell rang. She snatched up her backpack and bolted out of the door before her other classmates were getting up.

This is it! Excitement seeped into her heart, making it beat quicker as she pushed open a metal door leading outside. The February air hit her straight on with breathtakingchill. It's finally going to happen! All those years of dreaming and wishing are finally going to happen!

She no longer cared about why Ash left a secret admirer note and asked to see her after class. The only thing she cared about while running to meet the guy of her dreams. And he said I was the girl of his dreams! Misty blushed almost as red as her hair. The woman of his dreams!

One more corner and then we'll live happily- Misty smiled, and rounded the bend, finding herself in front of the track field.

She slowed to a stop, as if her heart and her high spirits sank to her feet and weighed her down. It wasn't Ash waiting for her at all. "Y-you?!"


Author Notes: You all didn't think it would end there, did you? :) I promise, one chapter left... if you can all stomache the OOC. Sorry if everyone seems crazy in this, but I can't help it.

Since Dawn actually told Paul off, what's going to happen now? Brock's got Suzy back...but what happens from here? Will May find Drew before the fangirls get to him first? Who's the guy waiting for Misty if it's not Ash? And will Ash get there before it's too late?

WARNING: Major OOC next chapter. Don't like, don't review please.