Hello everyone! Ehehe, it's kind of been a while, hasn't it?

…I am feeling so bad right now. It's been about two months since I last updated. After vacation in December and exams in January, I actually did get some time to write… but somehow, I didn't finish the chapter. I kept you all waiting. :( And now, I have a trip I'm going to be heading off to tomorrow, and once I do, I won't even be able to start writing the next chapter, so the wait is going to be even longer… I am so sorry. Thanks for being so patient, though!

Now it's chapter time!


Chapter 9: Loss

Rudy Prince…

It says Rudy Prince…

Not Misty Waterflower…

Rudy Prince…

She had to be dreaming. No, be stuck in a nightmare! Rudy Prince? How had she not won? She had worked so sedulously, worked her absolute hardest, but the evidence was right there. She had not won. She had not gotten the votes. How could she have lost?

Misty stood there, feeling numb and paralyzed. The truth was seeping in slowly, stinging as it did. Why was she so shocked? Had her hopes really risen that high? She should have expected it; she wasn't popular or pretty or charming, not to mention half the school was afraid of her temper. She couldn't possibly have thought that she would win everyone over in less than two week.

And yet, her being so staggered by the loss was proof that she had been confident in her chances of winning. She had been so confident, so hopeful….

It was over. There was no point in standing there in regret. It was over, and the only thing she could do right now was continue on with her life. Go to class. Let Rudy handle his position. She was just another student.

With great effort, she managed to force her legs to mobilize and take her away from the bulletin board. But even though she was distancing herself from it, the image was plastered into her mind, and she could see nothing but that announcement sheet as she walked blindly down the hall.

She had not won….

"Hey, Waterflower!"

Misty blinked as the image faded from her mind, and she looked up to see who had called her name. Someone was standing right in front of her, but she stared blankly at him for a moment before realizing who he was.

"Rudy?" she said in surprise.

"Yup." He grinned amicably. "Well, looks like I won."

"Yeah," Misty said shortly. Do you have to rub it in?

"It was a good campaign, though," Rudy continued. Misty wanted to ignore him and continue on her way, but something rendered her unable to. "You know, I had been thinking all along that it was going to be a landslide win for me—not meaning that in a stuck up way, but that's what it looked like. But then you stepped into the picture. At first—I admit—I labelled you as just any candidate, and I didn't think you'd get much attention. Man, was I wrong.

"Seriously, you really gave me some competition. Especially in the last two weeks. And the voting, well, I asked Principal Lance, and according to him, I didn't win by nearly as much as I thought I would. So I would like to thank you for a great campaign. Call me crazy for supporting a rival, but somehow, it was actually nice for a change to see people considering candidates other than me. Actually thinking about what everyone was saying."

Misty stared dumbly at him. Here, she had been expecting him to boast, rub it all in. But it was nothing close to that. It took a moment for her to notice he was now holding out his hand.

"Good campaign, Waterflower," he said.

Misty stared at his hand for a minute before finally shaking it. "Yeah," she said, smiling despite herself. "You too."

"So you planning to run for class rep now?" Rudy said after they withdrew their hands.

"Huh? Well, I wasn't planning to, actually…."

"Really? You should. That was my second option, in case you beat me. I wanted to help out the student council, even if it meant from a position with… not that much power, I guess. But as president, I'm planning to give each rep some of my time. I mean, it's your choice if you want to or not, but I was thinking you might be the kind of person I'd like to work with."

"Uh, okay, I'll think about it," Misty said hesitantly.

"Better make your mind up quickly, though. You have until the end of lunch break to decide whether or not you want to sign up. It looks like Giselle might end up getting the votes in my homeroom. You might just get them in yours."

"Right…"

"Anyways, gotta get to first class. Later!"

Misty watched as the new student council president walked away. What had just happened? Rudy, popular, charming Rudy Prince, actually seemed like… a nice guy? The idea of it felt impossible. Everyone who was popular always seemed to come with the side description of 'mean'. But Rudy didn't appear to fit in that category. And, now that she thought about it, Dawn was also pretty and popular, and she wasn't a bad person either.

Not only that, Rudy had suggested that she try for class representative. And from what she had seen so far, he might actually let her have a voice on the council. She had somewhat of a chance, maybe. The council was made up of the president, vice president, secretary, and eight class representatives. Cerulean High had grades nine to twelve, and each grade had two sections, A and B, and there was a class rep for each section. And, to Misty's advantage, no one from her class seemed too interested in joining the council, and the more popular people who could win over her, like Giselle and Melody, were in the other section, 12A.

Misty shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was getting her hopes up again. Was she prepared to take another risk? If she did, then she would really become a joke. Someone who kept trying to win, but kept losing. Someone who couldn't get it through her thick head that no one wanted to vote for her.

But then again, the way Rudy had been speaking made it sound as if she had come in second place in the elections…

But he hadn't outright said it, had he? His exact wordings were, "I didn't win by nearly as much as I thought I would." He hadn't even mentioned her. Maybe she had been last.

But then why had he mentioned that to her?

It was confusing. She didn't know what to do. Class rep hadn't been her choice. She didn't feel it put her in a position to be of any use. But maybe it was. Maybe there just had to be the right president. But there was no guarantee she would even get on the council.

For now, all she needed to do was put on her confident face and continue on with her day. She had until the end of lunch to think about it, after all. She headed for her locker and took her books from it. Just as she shut and locked it, someone called out to her.

"Hey, Misty."

Misty turned around, her eyes connecting with Dawn's. Misty smiled.

"Congratulations on winning for secretary," Misty said.

"Thanks," Dawn said, smiling in return. Her face held a slight look of uncertainty. "Hey, um, I'm sorry you didn't win."

"Don't worry about it, really. I was sort of expecting it."

Lies.

"You did seem like you'd be a pretty good president."

"It would have been nice to win, but Rudy's a great guy too. He'll do well."

"You thinking of becoming class rep, then?"

Misty blinked. Rudy had suggested the same thing. Was this a common strategy everyone used?

"It did occur to me…" Misty said slowly.

"Well, if you do, can't wait to see you there. If not, I'll stop by at lunch. I mean, I still sort of have to return Paul's book, and you said you guys sit in the cafeteria, so…"

"Oh right! Before I forget!" Misty quickly unlocked her locker, reached in, and pulled out a pink book. "This is yours, right?" she said, handing it to Dawn.

"My book!" Dawn exclaimed, taking it from her hands. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Hey, I need to get to class now, so…"

"Yeah, us too." Dawn gestured to herself, and Serena, who had been standing behind her. Misty hadn't even noticed Serena there. That girl was so quiet, especially next to Dawn. "Later!"

Misty waved as they headed off, Dawn returning the friendly gesture as she and her friend disappeared into the crowd. Misty lowered her hand. Now two people had said she should sign up for class representative. But neither was in her class, so even if they supported her, they wouldn't be able to give her their vote. So who would support her for sure in her class? There was Ash, probably Paul, and… that was it. Gary and Leaf (well, she wasn't sure about Leaf) were in the other section.

She had to stop thinking about this. She had to clear her mind and focus on getting to first class right now. Especially with the bell about to ring.

Misty sighed and began to head to her homeroom class.


The topic of her not becoming president didn't come up again until lunchtime. Paul didn't mention it or even act any different in general. But then again, he never talked in class anyways, and Misty hadn't expected much of a reaction from him. Ash had been late to school, and they didn't get much chance to talk throughout the day, since the teachers seemed pretty intent on overworking them in class. Misty didn't see Leaf anywhere all day, and Gary was always surrounded by his fans congratulating him on becoming vice president. May, she was in a different grade all together, so they chances of them meeting up before lunch were slim.

But finally, Misty found herself at the lunch table, seated beside Paul, who was eating his lunch in a bored manner while she picked at her own meal. She was too busy contemplating the idea of her as class representative to eat.

"Hey, Mist!" Ash appeared, grinning boyishly as he sat down with a tray piled with food.

"Hi Ash," Misty said absentmindedly.

His face turned sympathetic. "Sorry you didn't win. I thought for sure you had it!"

"Hm? Wha'?" Misty had to think for a second to realize he was talking about the elections. "Oh, right. Yeah…"

"Hi, Misty!" May showed up, multiple bowls of noodles on her tray. She gave a sympathetic smile as she sat down. "Too bad for not winning. I voted for you. You want some noodles?"

May sacrificing a bowl of noodles for Misty was a sign of true and devoted friendship.

"It's okay, May. Not in noodle-mode right now." May looked appalled at the rejection, as if not wanting noodles was a sin. "Thanks you guys," Misty said to both Ash and May. "You guys really helped out a lot. I kind of feel sorry I didn't win, because your guys' work went to waste."

"Nah, I was glad to do it!" Ash brightly. "Any time!"

"Yeah!" May agreed through a mouthful of noodles.

Misty was about to respond when, suddenly, someone new arrived at the table.

Gary. And for some reason, he did not look that happy.

"Really, Misty?" he said when he stopped beside where she was sitting. "Seriously?"

"What?"

"How could you not win? You were supposed to win. How could you not? How could you do this to me?!"

"Do what to you? What are you talking about?"

"Leave me on the student council with no allies!" Gary said dramatically.

"…What?"

"You heard me! You and I were a team, sort of, so we were on the same side. And with you as president and me as vice president, we would have totally controlled the council! But noooo, Rudy wins. I already told you: Rudy and I do not get along!"

"'Controlled the council'?" Misty repeated exasperatedly.

"Yeah. Don't you get it? That's how it always works! You have to have people supporting you in the council. Right now, I have no allies! Giselle might be one, but she's tricky. Plus, I don't know if she prefers supporting me more or Rudy. And I don't know much about which other class reps will be voted, and I don't know if I can get them all on my side. But I know you would be, right?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I know we can work as a team." Misty sensed he meant they could bribe each other or make deals to get each other's support. "So you better win as class rep! Right now, Rudy's president and I don't like him, and Dawn's secretary, and she's on Rudy's side and sort of hates me at the moment."

"Since when has the council been about going up against one another?" Misty said irritatedly. "Isn't the whole point to work together?"

"Ah, the words of an amateur," Gary said, leaning against the table. "Don't worry, I'll have you functioning as a full politician in no time. Once you're class rep."

"Who said anything about me becoming class rep?" Misty said hotly. "I can make my own decisions, thank you very much. You can't just assume I'll do what you want!"

Gary rolled his eyes. "I was under the impression you were already signed up. You know, since you seemed so desperate to get on the council before."

Misty stood up, planting her hands on her hips. "And what if I'm not?"

"Then you've just ruined your entire reputation," Gary said, shrugging. "It would make me look bad too, I guess, since I'd been supporting you, but everyone's already suspecting bribery was involved. So I could just say the rumours are true and you pushed me into a deal or something."

"You wouldn't dare," Misty hissed.

Gary stepped back, giving a sheepish grin. "I'm kidding! I'm smart and value my life, so there's no way I'd do something like that. And, actually, I'd rather not play dirty. But you do ruin your own reputation by not going for class rep. You know that, right?"

Misty folded her arms. "How?"

"The whole point of the campaign was to convince everyone that you care about them, and would do anything to have their voice heard, correct? So now that you lost the position that would place you with the most power, you don't continue trying to get into council as everyone thought you would. Trying to get in would mean you meant what you said and are still trying to be a voice, even if it's not as loud. But not even signing up, it would look like all you wanted was to be in power, and now that you've lost that chance, there's no point in getting in as rep. See what I mean?"

"Sort of," Misty said, frowning. He was right. It would look as if she had just been interested in power. Especially with how everyone had already thought about her. But did people really sit around analyzing her to that extent?

And did she really want to become class representative? If Rudy, Dawn and Gary hadn't said she should, would she have considered it in the first place? It wasn't quite the position she was aiming for. But…

"Look, it's my decision," Misty said. "I don't care about reputation. I want to decide according to what I want, according what I think is best. So stop thinking everything will go the way you want it to, because, news flash, the world doesn't revolve around you, Gary."

Gary stared at her, slightly taken aback by the ferocity in her voice.

Ash let out a slow, long whistle. "Wow. You just got burned, Gary."

"You go girl!" May cheered.

"Fine then," Gary said, shrugging, though there was a hint of a grin on his face. "Whatever you want."

"Oh, and by the way"—Misty leaned in slightly and lowered her voice—"the deal's off. I didn't win, and I said I'd only keep my end of the deal if I won."

"Yeah, yeah." Gary waved dismissively. "I was suspecting some double-crossing on your part, actually. Leaf probably figured it out and made some kind of deal with you, right? Why else would there suddenly be a bunch of random strangers supporting you all of a sudden? Like the newspaper and stuff. Has Leaf written all over it."

Misty shrugged, not admitting anything. She sat back down to start her lunch. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Paul had already gotten up beside her and was about to slip off. Their table had gotten too crowded and loud for his taste.

"FOUND YOU!"

The shriek resounded throughout the cafeteria, catching everyone's attention. Before Misty knew it, there was a flash of blue, and, all of a sudden, a certain blue-haired girl was standing by the table. More specifically, right in front Paul, preventing his escape.

"Finally! Days of searching have finally paid off!" Dawn cheered, pointing straight at Paul's face.

Paul stared at her, unblinking.

"I have something I need to return to you." She held out a grey book to him, beaming.

Paul, however, did not take it. Instead, he glared at it as if it had somehow been tainted by Dawn's touch. Possibly because he found her cheerfulness offensive for some unknown reason.

"Come on, take it! It's yours, isn't it? I think we switched that time we bumped into each other—sorry about that! But I sort of ended up with your book, and I wanted to return it but couldn't because I had no idea where you were, but then I met up with Misty and she said you're sometimes in the cafeteria, and you're here right now so I found you!"

Dawn was talking so fast without break that Misty wondered how she even had time to breathe.

Paul continued staring at the book in disgust before finally roughly taking it from her hands. His eyes flickered toward the rest of the cafeteria for less than a second, and Misty suddenly became conscious of the fact that everyone in the cafeteria was watching the scene right now. Dawn seemed oblivious to it. Either that or she didn't care.

"Move," Paul said shortly, a tightness in his voice.

Dawn frowned. "What, not even a thank you? I try locating you for days to return this book—which, for all I knew, could have been super-important or something—and all I get is 'move'? Well, excuse me for taking the time to give back a lost item! And from what I know, you made no effort to give back my book, now, did you? No, you had Misty give it back for you! And I can forgive that, but could you at least show a little appreciation for my consideration? I only met you for one instance, and you were rude even then!"

Paul's eyes flickered toward the rest of the cafeteria again and, ignoring the furious blue eyes glowering at him, he slipped past Dawn and calmly made his way out the cafeteria doors.

"Why you—!" Dawn yelled after him. "I'm not done! Come back here, you plum of rudeness!" She stomped out through the doors as well, probably to reproach him further.

The cafeteria was silent after the two were gone, but soon there were snickers and chuckles and everyone returned to their chatty, bustling selves. Misty couldn't help but laugh herself. There was such a contrast between Dawn and Paul. Paul was saturnine and hated attention, trying to go unnoticed whenever he could; Dawn was bubbly and always in the spotlight, having the tendency to make quite dramatic scenes.

"There she goes," Misty heard someone say softly nearby. Serena. Again, Misty had failed to notice her somehow, even though Misty suspected she had been standing behind Dawn the whole time.

"Hey, Serena," Misty said nonchalantly.

Serena gave a small, hesitant smile. "Hi." She glanced at the cafeteria doors. "I'll go make sure Dawn doesn't drive him off a cliff or something." And then she left without saying anything else.

"You know, Mist," Ash said thoughtfully. "Maybe you should be class rep. Not because Gary said so, but because I think you'd be great at it. Really."

"Mm-hm," May agreed. "Mm-hmph mm-mm hm." Her mouth was currently full at the moment, rendering her unable to speak.

Misty sighed. "I'll think about it, guys. Just… I have until the end of lunch, don't I?"

The bell chose to ring at that exact moment.

"Now, you only have about a few minutes," Gary said. "Come on, if you run, you can probably sign up in your homeroom before class starts."

Misty huffed and stood up. "I'm thinking, I'm thinking! You guys go to class. I'll decide by myself."

When they all parted ways, instead of hurrying to her homeroom, Misty went to her locker to get her stuff. Should she sign up? The pressure was getting to her. She didn't have time to decide. Only about a minute…

Suddenly, she wasn't thinking. She was running down the hallway as fast as her feet could take her, which, with her being so athletic, was pretty fast. She arrived at her homeroom. No one was there, but the door was open. On the bulletin board was a sheet with a list of people who wanted to be class representative. At the end of the day, there was going to be a vote to determine who would take that position.

Misty pulled out a pen and brought it to one of the empty lines. There were only a few other names, but she didn't pay attention to those. Should she do it? Should she write her name down? Should she…?

The bell rang, signalling the start of next class. She was late. She needed to decide right now.

"Ms. Waterflower, what are you doing out of class?" a voice snapped. It was her strict, no-nonsense physics teacher, Mrs. Price.

"Um, I was—"

"To class, Ms. Waterflower. Now."

"But I just need to—"

"And I need to go home after school, but I'll stay to give you a detention if need be. To class."

Misty felt heat rise up her neck.

Don't snap, don't snap, don't snap… She's a teacher, Misty, you can't lose your temper at a teacher. Especially this teacher.

She had no choice but to obey.

She had missed her chance. She had missed her chance to write down her name. She remembered hearing a long time ago that lost opportunities were the worst. And now, she felt she could vouch for that.


The day slowly came to an end, and Misty found herself heading back to her homeroom class for the class representative elections. Everyone was given a piece of paper, and everyone had to sit at their desks. Mr. Randell began writing the names of the candidates on the board. Each student had to write the name of his or her choice of the paper.

Misty stared at the board blankly. She wished he would write her name up on the board as well. He wouldn't, of course, because she hadn't signed up, but she wished he would….

And he did.

Misty had to blink and rub her eyes to confirm what she was seeing. And, sure enough, the final name he wrote down was, indeed, 'Misty Waterflower'. But she hadn't signed up! Had there been some kind of mistake? Or maybe Gary had gone and signed up for her? But Gary had been in the cafeteria with her the whole time. Who in the world had…?

It didn't matter right then. Whatever the reason, she had somehow become a candidate. And she wanted to become the representative as well.


Once the elections were done, Misty couldn't stop thinking about it. Who had signed her up? It didn't make sense.

Gary wanted her to be in the student council, but he had been with her all lunch, and she doubted he would have gone signed her up himself. Ash? No, he and May wouldn't have wanted to force her into it. She'd told them she would decide for herself. Paul was a possibility, since he had made posters for her even though he didn't look like he would. But hadn't he been trying to escape Dawn at the time? Besides, he wouldn't meddle with her business when it was clear she was undecided.

Being so lost in her thoughts, Misty could hardly pay attention to where she was going. Until, that is, she was forced back to reality because of an unpleasant collision with a passing-by student.

"Omph!" Misty grunted as her books left her arms and fell to the floor.

"My apologies," said a calm voice. She turned to the speaker, and her eyes connected with the emerald-green ones of a teenage boy. He seemed familiar, and Misty was sure his name was on the tip of her tongue. But, at the moment, she could not recall it.

"Sorry," she said, bending down to pick up her belongings.

The boy bent down as well to give her a hand. "You're Misty Waterflower, correct?" he said suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, er, yeah," Misty answered distractedly.

"Hm…" He somehow sounded judging. Misty hated being judged. She was subjected to it every time her sisters were in the same room as her.

"If you have something you want to say, say it," she snapped.

"Oh, nothing." He smirked in a way that irked her even more. "Just was realizing I hadn't met you yet."

"So? What's your point?"

"Well, I voted for you in the elections, didn't I? Might as well know whom you're putting into power."

Misty straightened up after gathering up her books. She raised an eyebrow at the boy. He wasn't in grade twelve like her, she knew that much. But he didn't look much younger, so he must only be at most a grade lower. Possibly. He looked right back at her, calm and cool, a kind of arrogance flowing about his features.

"The elections are over and I didn't win, in case you don't know. So there really is no point in getting to know me now, is there?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. But it was probably pretty idiotic of me to vote for you without having even met you."

"Look, is there anything you want? I don't have the luxury of standing around here, you know. Who are you anyways?"

His smirked widened as he flipped the fringe of his hair. "Drew Hayden, of course."

Drew Hayden. That's why he'd seemed familiar. He was well-known throughout the school, but Misty never really paid attention to who was popular and who wasn't. Sure, most people, such as Dawn, were just known even if you never deliberately gave them any attention. But Drew was one of those guys whom everyone knew, but he never did anything to promote himself. He never went around trying to get to know people or trying to get others to know him. And, frankly, Misty had no idea how he had gotten popular in the first place.

"Okay then, Drew, do you mind not wasting my time? I'll be leaving, thank you very much."

Just as she turned away from him, he spoke. "Leaf's looking for you, you know."

Misty turned back to him with narrowed eyes. That explained why Drew had voted for her without thinking about it. Leaf must have told him to. "Oh, are you one of her little minions? Well, tell her I'm not interested."

"No, I'm not in her little club, actually, if that's what you're thinking. She didn't send me. But I just thought I'd let you know."

"And why exactly, may I ask?"

"Because she was looking pretty furious about something. Oh, there she is now."

"Wha—?" Before Misty had time to react, someone passed by her, snatching onto her arm with a vise-grip as she did, dragging her along without a word. Misty blinked, stunned, before realizing who it was. "Leaf?"

Leaf didn't answer, continuing to walk in brisk strides. She didn't even look at her. Misty turned to look at where Drew was and saw the boy giving her an 'I told you' smirk before walking off on his way.

"Leaf, let go!" Misty managed to wrench her arm from Leaf's grasp. "What are you—"

"Come on," Leaf hissed, grabbing Misty's arm again and forcefully hauling her along. Her tone of voice didn't seem to suit her at all, as, from what Misty had seen so far, Leaf was a calm, cool and collected girl.

But, apparently, not today.

"Leaf, I can walk on my own, you—" Before she could even finish her sentence, she found herself shoved through a classroom door. She immediately noticed that they weren't the only ones there. Some other people—students—were sitting in some desks, some looking up to see who came the door, some working on whatever they were working on. Leaf's 'nerd club'.

"I can't believe it!" Leaf said frustratedly, slamming the door shut, making everyone jump. "I miscalculated!"

"What?" Misty blinked cluelessly.

"I was so sure I was right, so sure I could guarantee your success, but nooo, I made a mistake! Ugh, I'm an idiot! How did I not see this coming?"

Misty suddenly realized what she was talking about. Leaf had guaranteed Misty's winning the elections. And Misty had not won. But it didn't really matter. She hadn't really expected Leaf to be able to wave a magic wand to bring her success. She wasn't a fairy godmother or anything.

"I told you she'd messed up," Trip, who was sitting lazily at a nearby desk, interjected. "When she decided to do her own speech, I knew something would go wrong."

"No you didn't," Leaf snapped. "You were just complaining that Misty had ruined it because you were annoyed that she didn't even use the speech you worked on. I, on the other hand, had correctly figured that the speech she did say would have a positive impact on the audience. But, for some idiotic reason, I hadn't realized that it didn't necessarily support Misty!"

"Hold on," Misty interrupted. "What are you guys talking about? Are you saying that my speech was the reason I didn't win, even though a lot of people liked it? How does that work?"

"Well," Clemont joined in. "From what I understand, it was a good speech, but it could have been taken in unintended ways. You didn't tell everyone to vote for you; you told them to vote for whoever they thought was best. Some might have thought Rudy was the best candidate, so it worked in his favour."

"Oh. Well that sucks," Misty said irritatedly. "But it doesn't matter now, does it? I lost; no point in bothering yourself over it now, is there?"

"There is point in bothering yourself over it. Ugh, I'm such an idiot!"

"Leaf, seriously, calm down. If anything, it should be a good thing for you, right? I mean, the deal between me and Gary's off, so you don't have to worry about me selling you out or anything anymore."

"I don't care about that! That's something I could handle. But making such a huge miscalculation… Ugh! So. Stupid!"

"Does she really beat herself up over small things like this?" Misty muttered to Clemont.

"Yup. Sometimes she doesn't get over it for days. It usually ends with her doing something to counter her mistake."

"You do realize I can hear you, right?" Leaf said, still sounding viciously furious over her mistake. She sighed frustratedly, turning to Misty. "Well, I might have not gotten you in as president, but I can assure you you will still end up on the council. You mark my words on this one."

"What do you mean?" Misty narrowed her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leaf rolled her eyes. "Who do you think signed you up as class rep?"

"It was you? You signed me up? Without even asking me?!"

"Well, of course. What, did you think I would sit back here while your stubborn pride prevented you from achieving your goals? Which, by the way, I was supposed to help you achieve, but failed because I was just that pathetic?" Leaf spat the last part quite bitterly.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Look, because I lost the spot as president, you had absolutely nothing tying you to your word that you'd help me. The reason you said you would was so I wouldn't be a pain to you because of my deal with Gary. But once I lost the elections, my deal with Gary disappeared, and so that meant my deal with you disappeared as well. And besides, I was the one who didn't go according to plan, not you. I was the one who ditched your guys' speech, remember? So you didn't make any miscalculation."

"Yes I did! I could have countered it! If I had realized that your speech was a mistake, I could. Have. Countered it!"

"Look, you're just being ridiculous. None of this should have mattered to begin with. So just drop it already!"

"You don't really get it, do you?" Trip drawled from his seat. "If the results of the elections didn't affect us, Leaf wouldn't be so frustrated over this."

Misty eyed him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"Us losing an opportunity to control the student council," Clemont answered, looking and sounding disapproving of the idea. He sighed. "Here's the thing. Leaf's always liked having someone in the student council who would make contributions according to what our club wants. And once she realized we could have direct connections with the president, well, you can see what a great opportunity it was for us."

"But I lost," Misty said slowly, the whole picture dawning on her. All this was sounding really familiar… "And so you decided to get me to at least be a class rep to have some say. And… you're… you're just like Gary!" she snapped suddenly, glaring at Leaf accusingly. "All your reasons for helping me, they're just like Gary's!"

Leaf shrugged. "No. I'm not like him. Gary's like me. I was always the brains, so he figured he needed to step up his game to compete. But I'm always a couple of steps ahead. That's why he's never going to catch up."

"Well, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him." Misty folded her arms. "If I get into student council, the decisions I make will be according to what I think is best. I'm not going to do stuff according to what you, or Gary, or anybody says because they want to control the council. I'm not your proxy! I don't care how many tempting offers you come up with. I don't! If you think everything's going to go according to what you want, newsflash, it won't. The world doesn't revolve around you, no matter how many brains you've got!"

Unlike Gary, who had been stunned, Leaf yawned disinterestedly. "Doesn't matter. At least we'll have some voice. You see that kid there?" She pointed to a green-haired boy sitting at one of the desks, studiously writing notes into a book. He looked up and gave a wave before getting back to work. "Sawyer, 10B. Also a future class rep. Might not be much, but he might be good enough." Leaf's face became slightly vexed. "Of course, I could get more voice… if a little pest would just cooperate."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Who are you talking about? Gary?"

Leaf waved dismissively. "No, not Gary, obviously. But it doesn't matter. It's not like I expected him to actually listen."

"Who?"

"If you're not an ally anymore, I suggest you leave," Leaf said suddenly, completely ignoring her question. "You'll get in as class rep. But since it's pretty clear that you won't be backing us up, we really don't need you here."

Misty gaped at her. There was something so… irksome about the way she was saying it. Something about her tone made Misty's blood boil. It was as if she were some employer firing her. But Misty had never been working for Leaf and her club. They had been working for her.

"Listen up!" Misty hissed. "Just who do you think I am? Some little Growlithe you can call and then tell to run along as you please? I never asked to get involved with you guys, and yet you keep acting as if I came here begging for your help or something!"

Leaf's eyes travelled to her face. "I don't really have time for your whining, you know."

Misty sneered. "Well too bad. Guess you're going to have to put up with it."

"Uh huh. Yeah. So you just stand there, and I'll get to doing my own thing. Leave whenever you like. Conway, you have that computer program ready?"

Misty glowered at the girl as she headed over to where Conway was working on something on his laptop. Then, the redhead furiously turned on her heel and marched out the door, slamming it shut behind her, feeling very tempted to strangle somebody.


Unfortunately, her day didn't get better. When Misty arrived home, she found, to her displeasure, that her sisters were inconveniently there. They normally were at some show or performance, so why were they home today of all days?

"Oh hey, Misty," Violet said tauntingly. "My, you look like you've had a wonderful day at school, judging from your expression."

"What are you guys doing here?" Misty said rudely as she paused at the bottom of the stairs to throw her question at them.

"Uh, we live here," Daisy said, raising an eyebrow, smiling teasingly. "Oh, and how were the elections?"

Misty's spine turned to ice. How did Daisy even remember the elections were today?

"None of your business!" Misty began stomping up the stairs.

"In other words, you lost!" Lily announced loudly, letting out a laugh.

"I knew it!" Violet said.

"I never said I lost!" Misty shouted down the stairs.

"But you did! Otherwise, you'd be swaggering all over the house right about now!"

Misty felt her head was on fire. She had so wanted to win as president so she could rub it all in her sisters' face. But she hadn't. Instead, she was the same little runt they would tease the life out of.

But she had enough. She couldn't stand it anymore! And the words just spilled out of her mouth before she even had a chance to think about what she was saying. "Yeah, well I DID win! I DID get in as president, so try processing that into you brains!"

Without even waiting for a reply, she stomped into her room, slamming the door shut behind her so hard, she could have sworn she heard it crack. She dropped her bag beside her desk and fell backwards onto her bed, seething. It took a while of listening to the quiet of her room before she could calm her raging brain.

That… was a pretty bad lie, she realized. One that could go horribly wrong. What had possessed her to say she was president? If her sisters found out the truth, it would be ten—no—a thousand times worse! But she couldn't go back and tell them the truth. It was too late.

But she knew one thing. Maybe… it was in her best interest to win as class representative. Sure, she wanted to, but at this point, with the fib she'd told, she had to keep up to date with whatever the student council was doing to keep her sisters convinced. And at this point, being class rep was probably the way to do that.


And that's that.

Again, I feel terrible for taking so long to update. And somehow, I don't feel this chapter did you guys justice considering how long you waited. Maybe if it were longer and it had more stuff going on…

As for the next chapter, I will have to start writing it after I come back. I really hope I can get it to you guys as soon as possible, but it might take a while. Sorry again.

But still, thanks for reading!

And have a great day, and be sure to smile all the way! :)