A/N: Hey guys! I've got some news regarding the updates my stories are going to get within the next few weeks. At the end of the month, I am going on a big trip to the other side of the world, and I'm going to be staying there for 5 months. Now what does this mean for my stories? Well, I'll tell you. Over the next three weeks I'm going to be getting ready for the trip almost every day, so I'm not going to have as much time to write, but I am determined not to leave you guys hanging.
I have gotten so many reviews from people who absolutely love this story, and every time I read them, it fills my heart with joy. I never could have imagined that this story would be so liked, and I am grateful to everyone who reviewed. That said, I really don't want to put off writing, even if it is to get ready for my trip, so for the next 3-4 weeks, I'm only going to update on Monday's. Now at the end of the month, when I go on my trip, I'm going to be dealing with some major jet lag, and a huge time difference. So if I ever update at like, 4 in the morning, its because where I am it'll be like 4 in the afternoon. It'll take me some time to plan out when to update so you guys will get to read it at normal hours.
I am not going to take a break from writing just because I'm in a different country. I will be keeping busy doing things when I'm on my trip, but I promise I will take the time to write, and keep updating. I don't want to let you guys down! Okay, that was a long note today, so I won't keep you waiting any longer.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. I don't own Pokemon or the characters you read about.
Onward to chapter 8!
Chapter 8: Bonds and Grudges
Paul
I pretty much avoided having company all of Saturday. Dinner the night before had put me in a bad mood, and truthfully I just wanted to be alone.
Maybe I had been lulled into a false sense of security when I'd met Drew, Gary and Ash. They hadn't asked me questions that were too overly personal, and I was glad for it. They didn't pry or demand to know information about me that I wasn't willing to share, so I'd assumed that either they didn't care that much or they were just respecting my privacy. It felt nice to just be accepted for a while without being examined like a specimen in a lab.
This brings me to what I had expected to happen when I transferred here. Acceptance, or in this case the lack there of.
These people came from a different world than I did. They were pampered, rich, and they had standards set for them. I was different, which is something that I realized quickly that everyone would notice. Drew, Gary and Ash, they noticed they just didn't care. But the cross-examination I got from that girl last night had awoken my original concerns. That I wouldn't be accepted here and that I wouldn't belong. I'd never worried about fitting in or having friends before, but no one had ever questioned whether I belonged anywhere or not.
But that girl... she'd just confirmed my suspicions. That people would demand information about me that I wasn't ready to share and that would make me an outcast. Not that I cared about being by myself, it was more about proving my talents despite what I'd been through and where I came from. That would prove to be difficult if the whole school turned against me.
Maybe I was just over-thinking things. A part from that annoying girl, no one else at this school seemed overly interested in my back-story. A small part of me hoped it was just her.
I got up from my bed and grabbed my skateboard. Drew had invited me earlier to go hang out with him and the guys but I had declined. I needed time to think this through.
I headed out into the living room, knowing Drew wasn't going to be there. I exited the room, key card and board in hand, and rode the elevator down.
I just needed to clear my head for a bit. Skateboarding was usually a good way to do that, so I started north. I felt the world fade away as I concentrated. I didn't particularly care where I was going; I just wanted to feel the wind on my face. I wore my usual all black outfit, which was one thing I learned that set me apart from the crowd.
Everyone here was so colorful, I thought to myself. So open and creative. There were so many differences between me and the people of HPA Academy.
The familiar doubts started to cloud my head.
Was this all a mistake? Would I ever get the chance to prove myself in a place like this? Would the guys start asking questions now that Dawn had brought them up? Could I answer them?
No, I knew I couldn't. Maybe it would just be better, easier to be on my own again. Shove away everyone else, never letting them get close. That was the way things had been for a long time. To think that would change here was just a dream.
"Paul?" I heard someone say. I flinched a bit, afraid that it might be one of the guys, but it was a female voice. I looked behind me in the direction the voice had come from, and met spring green eyes.
"Leaf," I said. I had stopped boarding and stood still, staring at the girl who had defended me last night against her friend.
She wore an emerald green silk blouse and blue skinny jeans. She was about to mount a blue bicycle, but had stopped when she saw me. She smiled and walked towards me.
"Where you headed?" she asked. I didn't really have an answer for her.
"Don't know," was all I said, and it was true. All I had wanted to do was clear my head, but I wasn't really going anywhere.
She closed her eyes and looked like she was thinking about something, then she nodded to herself and looked back at me.
"Hey, if you're not busy right now, can I ask you something?"
The next thing I knew I was boarding downtown, with Leaf riding her bike right next to me. Why she'd asked me to come with her she didn't say. All she said was that she wanted to show me something.
On Saturday, downtown Hearthome was crowded with people, so we rode on the streets. The cars were basically always at a stand-still in Hearthome city, so we weren't too worried about getting hit by cars. Leaf directed our journey, motioning and trying to yell over the sounds of the traffic where to go next. After a while we got past the crowded main streets and headed onto the slightly less crowded side streets.
These streets didn't have cars driving on them all that often, as they looked like a sort of shopping district. There were store-fronts all lined up with people carrying shopping bags walking up and down the side-walks. Arceus, I hope she didn't bring me here to go shopping.
"It's just a little further. Turn right up ahead," she instructed.
We turned right, around the corner and onto an even emptier street than the last. This one had barely any people on it, and no cars were parked on it. There was graffiti on the building walls and trash littering the sidewalks.
I vaguely wondered if I had misjudged this Leaf girl, as this seemed like a pretty sketchy neighborhood. She seemed so nice though, so I wasn't ready to pass judgment just yet. She stopped her bike ahead of me in front of a storefront that had a black sign with blurry words written on it. The paint had been smudged, but I could make out the letters on the sign. It read 'House of Sound' in streaked white block letters. Leaf locked up her bike to a nearby stand.
"Come on. I have a feeling you'll like this store," she said, leading me in to the shop.
The glass door swung open to reveal a black and grey painted room. It was obviously a music store given the name and the merchandise. It wasn't very organized, what with piles of CD's just being stacked beside the racks, but it had a very lived-in feeling. Leaf walked over to the racks and started to flip through the music. I browsed around the store a bit more. It wasn't a small space, but it wasn't large either. It was medium sized room, but it had an awful lot of stuff crammed into it, making it feel smaller than it was. I picked up a large square folder on one of the racks.
"They even have vinyl here," I thought out loud.
"Yeah, they pretty much have everything here. A group of us discovered this place freshman year when we were exploring. It may be kind of grungy, but believe me, it's the best music store in the city," Leaf explained, walking up behind me. "I've checked."
We browsed around the store some more, and Leaf wasn't lying, they really did have everything. They had vinyl records, cassette tapes, CD's, and music of all genres. I saw stuff from as old as classical, to stuff released this past summer.
"Come on. You haven't even seen the best part!" Leaf said, pulling me along by the arm of my hoodie. She led me to a hallway that connected to another bigger room, which was also a part of the store. It was lined with instruments.
They had a lot of different guitars, ranging from acoustic to electric and base. They also had a few drum sets, and some amps for sale as well. Every instrument came in a different color, making a stark contrast to the black and grey walls. Like a rainbow during a thunder storm.
There was a man sitting behind a glass counter who looked up when we approached.
"Hi there, can I buy this?" Leaf asked, holding up a CD that looked like Three Days Grace. Not that I knew Leaf that well, but I was a bit surprised. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who listened to that kind of rock music.
"Yeah, no problem," said the guy behind the counter. He had a black Mohawk tipped with red and a lip piercing and he wore a black shirt with a skull design it. He looked like a hard core punk fan, but he acted pretty friendly. Not that I was judging him, it was just that his attitude didn't really match his look.
"Can I also get….." she was looking down at the glass counter, which held inside it an array of guitar picks and straps, along with other instrument accessories. "That guitar pick?" she asked, pointing to a lime green pick that had a white heart with wings design on it.
"Yeah, of course," said the guy, whose name-tag said his name was Terry.
"You really like the color green don't you?" I asked, noting her shirt.
"Yeah, it's my favorite color! You see anything you like yet?" she asked curiously.
I looked down at the glass case. They certainly had a big collection of picks and such. I'd have to come back with my wallet. One bad habit I'd never been able to kick was losing all my guitar picks. I would always end up putting them down somewhere and then forgetting about them. I looked over to the straps. I had been meaning to get a new one for my electric as it was getting pretty worn. One was plain black with a silver barbed wire design crisscrossing back and forth. That might be a contender….
"Can I also get that strap please?" she asked Terry before I knew what was happening.
She had been pointing to the strap I was looking at. She paid for her purchases, then took them in a bag and led me outside again.
"Here," Leaf said, fishing the strap I'd been looking at out of her bag and holding it out to me.
"Why did you do that?" I asked. Is she taking pity on me? Cause if she was, I would not be hanging out with her again. I hated when people felt sorry for me.
"I saw you looking at it. Come on, take it," she said while smiling, like she was doing me a favor. I looked away from her.
"I don't need your pity," I said. I was about to get on my board and skate away, but she grabbed my arm.
"Hey, this isn't a pity gift, it's a peace offering!" she exclaimed hastily, holding onto my arm firmly.
"I don't understand," I said back.
"For yesterday. I don't blame you for being mad. Gary and the other's told me earlier today that you hadn't talked to anyone since last night," she explained.
They told her that? I thought.
"That's why I wanted to show you this place. I thought it would cheer you up!" she explained, smiling up at me innocently. Is that all this is?
"But why?" I asked again. Why is she doing this for me? She doesn't even know me that well. Why is she worried?
"How about I explain over lunch? I'll buy," she offered, unlocking her bike. She walked it up beside me.
"Will you please take this?" she asked, holding out the guitar strap again. "I didn't mean to make you think I was taking pity on you. I just bought it 'cause I saw you staring at it is all. I thought it'd make you happy."
I didn't get this girl. Why was she being so nice to me? I looked down at the strap in her hand. I decided that I didn't think she was lying to me. I took the strap from her and shoved it into the pocket of my black hoodie.
"Come on, let's go!" she said as she started to peddle away. I followed on my skateboard.
She led me to a food truck that was set up outside of Amity Square. It was called the 'Blue Mew' and it sold sandwiches. Leaf paid for us both, and we went to sit on a bench to eat.
"So, what's this about?" I asked, curiosity burning in my brain.
"Wow, you don't waste any time do you?" she replied, taking a bite of her sandwich after.
I silently waited for her explanation while she ate.
"So, what do you want to know?" she asked.
"I want to know why you're being so nice to me. Why do you care about what happens to me when you don't even know me?"
She smiled sadly at me before turning her head to look straight ahead.
"You want to know why," she said, biting into her sandwich again. She swallowed and dropped her arms away from her mouth, holding the sandwich in her hands.
"I guess, I care because I can relate to you….. A bit," she said vaguely, eyes looking forward.
"How's that?" I asked.
"Because I know what it's like to be new," she said. A memory triggered in my mind to the day I first met her, in Instrumental class.
"Hey there, I don't think we've met before. Are you new?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"I know that feeling. Sucks, doesn't it?"
"It happened a long time ago," she spoke up. "But it still stays with me, even now.
"I was only ten when I moved to Sinnoh. And it was so far away, it was like I'd moved to a different planet when I came from Kanto. It was just so different here…." she stopped.
"I was so different here," she looked far away when she spoke, like she was living the memory while she was talking about it.
"Everyone thought I was weird when I first moved here. I dressed different, my name was different, my Pokémon was different. They rejected me before they even knew me because they didn't understand. It was a very lonely time for me," she recalled. I hung on her every word, seeing the similarities between our stories as she continued.
"I guess, that's why I cared so much. I knew what you must have been feeling because I already went through it. I sympathized with you," she finished. I looked away, letting the new information sink in. This girl knew nothing about my back story or my heritage but, she still found a way to relate to me. I leaned back against the bench.
"So, now that I've answered your question, do you mind if I ask one?" she asked. I froze a bit at this, hoping that she wouldn't pry like her friend did.
"What do you think of Drew, Gary and Ash?" she asked. I don't know what I expected her to ask, but I sure wasn't expecting that.
"They're fine, why?" I asked.
"It's just…. I noticed that you act kind of unsure around them. I get the feeling that you haven't had many friends before."
"I never needed them," I responded quickly. How was this girl reading stuff about me so easily?
"Right. But now you have them," she stated.
"I don't know if I'd call them friends yet," I said. I was still unsure whether keeping them around was the best idea. I didn't want them asking questions.
"Well, I'm afraid your too late," she said, going back to eating her sandwich.
"Huh?"
"Drew, Gary and Ash might seem like popular guys, but at the end of the day, it's always just been the three of them. And now, they've accepted you into the group. Which might not seem like a big deal, but believe me, it is. Whether you like it or not, those guys are your friends now, plain and simple. There's just no fighting them once they've made up their minds," she finished her sentence, and her sandwich, throwing out the wrapper in a nearby trashcan.
"Mmph," I articulated.
"Paul, you're not concerned that what happened with Dawn is going to happen with them are you?"
"Stop doing that."
"Stop doing what?"
"Reading my mind, it's annoying."
Leaf laughed at that. "Paul, that's not going to happen. The guys like you, they're not going to pry into your life right now..." she looked sad for a moment.
"Paul, please don't be mad at Dawn," she said.
I looked over at her with confusion written on my face.
"What happened last night, that wasn't her. I don't know what came over her, but I promise you she isn't really like that. The Dawn I know is sweet and kind," she looked like she was thinking about something, then spoke again.
"You know, it was thanks to Dawn that I got through being the new girl."
"Really?" I said, having a hard time believing that.
"She didn't care that I was different. She was one of my first friends in Sinnoh, and if it weren't for her, I don't even know if I'd have ever come to this school. But things changed when we came to Hearthome. Dawn just got so serious; she wanted to win and become a singer so badly. I just think, that some of the fame went to her head a bit. But she isn't really like that, honest," Leaf explained.
I thought it over a bit. It wasn't that I didn't trust Leaf, it was just that I had a hard time believing what she was saying. The girl I had seen last night was spoiled and controlling, but I didn't really have anything to compare it to. If I ever saw this 'sweet and kind' side of Dawn that Leaf claimed existed, then maybe I could forgive her.
"You know, I'm so used to being the good listener in my group of friends, it's kind of nice to have someone listen to me for once," she said, smiling. "So thanks Paul, for listening to me."
"It's fine," I said. I was still having trouble contemplating what Leaf told me. Could I really believe that everything would be okay? Could I believe her about the guys?
"You know, I think I get why the guys wanted to be friends with you. You may not talk a lot, but your serious nature kind of grounds them." Leaf said. "You're like the mature big brother of the group."
"Yeah right. I wouldn't know how to be, I was the younger brother in my family."
"Well, you'll get lots of practice if you start hanging out with us. The guys can be pretty immature at times. You've got them, and now you've got me!"
"And what are you?"
"I've decided. You and I are going to be friends now, and there's nothing you can do about it," she declared.
"What makes you think I want to be friends with you?"
"I'm levelheaded, I play guitar, and I'm excellent company."
"Don't forget modest," I added sarcastically.
"Oh ha ha! You know, I'm an only child, but I've always wanted an older sibling.
"Where are you going with this?"
"Why whatever do you mean bro?"
"Do not call me that."
"Make me!" she yelled, running away from me and over to her bike.
All I did was role my eyes as I followed after her on my skateboard. After hanging out with Leaf for the afternoon, I was starting to feel better. All those pathetic doubts had been wiped clean from my mind, and I wasn't so angry anymore. Talking to Leaf today, I did feel like I had a better connection with her. Maybe even a stronger one than I had with the guys. Looking at her, I definitely did regard her as more of a younger sister than a friend.
The younger sister I never had and hadn't asked for.
We rode back to the school, all the way back to Valor Hall. Leaf locked up her bike as we headed inside.
"Paul!" I heard someone shout when we entered the lobby. It was Drew.
"Where have you been? I went back to the room and you weren't there."
"Went out to get some air. Why?" I asked.
"We got our studios assigned today. We were gonna go check it out."
"Remind me how those work again."
"The studio building is the one beside Verity Hall. It's filled with studio rooms where students can rehearse or study or whatever. Groups of eight are assigned to one studio. You, me, Gary and Ash make four for Studio B3."
"Right," I said, vaguely recalling this explanation on my first day here.
"Hey Leaf," Gary greeted as he appeared beside her.
"Hey Gary," she responded. "You going to check out the studio too?"
"Yup. Wanna come with?" he asked.
"Sure, if you guys don't mind," Gary looked shocked that she took him up on his offer, but pleased.
"Hey guys! You found Paul!" Ash yelled, running up to the group.
"Uh-huh. All set to head out," Drew said, flipping his hair. The group of five of us headed out the way we came, and up the paved path towards the Studio building. It was wide and large, with tall windows. It was ivory in colour, like all the other buildings, but it had a beige entryway. The five of us made it up to the second floor, called floor B, and then to the third studio.
It was freaking huge. The room had a high ceiling and one wall that was completely made out of glass, acting as a huge window to the front of the building. Another wall was completely mirrored, while the remaining two were beige. The floors were a laminated beach colored hard wood. There was a black grand piano in the center of the room.
"The studios are pretty big aren't they?" Leaf asked out loud.
"Yeah, but all the better to practice in," Gary retorted. We all headed into the room, Drew sitting at the piano bench, where he looked most comfortable. The rest of us stood.
"That reminds me, I wonder what studio I'm in this year," Leaf pondered.
"Huh? That's weird, why is the door already open?" we all heard a voice from the doorway. Three girls were standing there; Misty, May, and the annoying one.
Misty wore black leggings and a blue tunic dress. May wore blue shorts and a loose red shirt, and the annoying one wore black yoga pants and a loose, white crop top over a pink tank top. They all looked very confused at the five of us standing in the room.
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Leaf asked.
"Same thing you are, we're checking out our studio. Did you invite the guys over?" May asked.
"No December, she didn't," Drew said, "We invited her. This is our studio."
"No it's not, it was assigned to us," Dawn said, pulling out a piece of paper and showing it to them. "It says right here that we have B3."
"Well it says right here," Drew said holding up a similar piece of paper, "That we have B3 too."
"Well, there are eight of us," Gary spoke up, doing the math. Then there was silence.
May and Drew were glaring at each other as usual, Leaf looked shocked and was avoiding Gary's eyes, Misty and Ash looked frightened of the others, and Dawn did not look impressed.
"So, all eight of us have to share B3?" Dawn quavered.
"Looks that way," I interjected, causing Dawn to look at me.
"Dawn…?" Leaf asked warily, noticing her friends stare. Dawn walked up to stand in front of me.
"I apologize," she said stiffly, "For the way I acted yesterday."
I could tell she had struggled to get that out. That bothered me. Did she not think she did anything wrong?
"Well?" she insisted expectantly..
"Well what?"
"Are you going to forgive me and apologize back?"
"I don't remember doing anything wrong," I grunted.
"WHAT!?" she yelled. "What you said traveled around the whole school! Everyone knows about it!"
"So?" I asked, not caring what other people thought.
"So you embarrassed me in front of the whole school," she snapped.
"Well then you should learn not to care what others think of you. That, is not my problem."
"Come on, guys-" Leaf tried to interject.
"You are so rude! You don't even care!"
"Why should I? What other people think of you isn't of any concern to me," I shot back
"What is wrong with you? Why are you so cold?!
"Why do you care? The way I see it you embarrassed yourself when you tried to pry. Again, not my problem."
"How did you even get into this school with an attitude like that?"
"Last time I checked, you got in based on your talent, not your personality. How you got in with a shallow song like yours I'll never know."
She gasped at that remark. The others had crowded around us during our argument, and now they stood frozen, probably never having seen this side of me or her before. Whatever Leaf claimed this girl had been five years ago was obviously gone now. Now all that stood in front of me was an obnoxious, self-consumed drama queen. I would not bend to please her, because she was just some random girl with an empty song. I respected people with talent, and if this girl thought she deserved respect without proving it, then she had another thing coming. She had done nothing to earn my respect thus-far, so she wasn't getting it.
"Who do you think you are?" she asked angrily.
"Someone who cares about music. That's more than you are," I shot back coldly. This girl thought she owned the school, but she didn't. You didn't understand music in the slightest if you were willing to sing about things you didn't care about. There was no emotion in her song, no heart. She had a lot to learn.
"We'll just see about that. Guys, help me out!" she ordered. She fished a speaker out of her purse and plugged an iPod into it.
"Here we go," Misty drawled. Leaf and May followed. The girls set themselves up in the middle of the room, in front of the mirrored wall. The music started.
(Hold it Against Me- by Britney Spears, cover by Glee. The cover is faster paced, so I recommend the Glee version, but the original will work too)
They ended their routine there. Apparently all four of them had taken dance last year, so it wasn't surprising that they all knew the routine off by heart. They were all panting hard, dancing having taken a toll on them. Dawn was smiling, proud of her performance. I just shook my head.
"What!?" she snapped, noticing my disapproving gaze.
It was sad really. She had a nice voice, but she was wasting it. Her song was a performance and nothing more. She didn't put her whole heart into it. And as long as she held back, she would never go any further.
"All you did was prove my point for me," was all I said, before I walked out of the studio.
A/N: Do NOT start shipping Paul and Leaf. I wrote this chapter to establish a more sibling-like relationship between the two, and nothing more. Also, their friendship will make Gary jealous, and I find that hilarious. I've currently finished 2 more chapters of this story, and I'm editing them now, so look forward to chapter 9 on Monday!
