Author's note: I'm so sorry. I know I've taken a long time with this update, but it's all this stupid college homework I've been getting lately. (shoots teachers)

Anyway, this chapter is fully dedicated to Random May Fan, lizzle2507 and Miich for guessing the shows Drew flips through correctly and partially dedicated to Megaman-NG and KugaNatsuki because they tried. Lastly, I own Brianna's last name.

EDIT: By the way, sorry, but the fact that Brianna is kinda OOC is due to me writing this chapter before seeing the episode that she was in. Aheh. However... think about it: underneath that niceness is a Drew-obsessed psycho. XD

Chapter Ten: May Against the World

"Drew gave you a what?" Misty screeched at recess, her bag falling from her grip and smacking into the concrete floor.

May sighed, moving her hand from its position behind her back to the front and holding up the rose for her friends to see. The two stared at it in disbelief, their eyes widening in shock.

"I can't believe he'd do something like that," Ash muttered.

"I know," May replied. "I couldn't believe it either... but he did."

Misty glanced up into May's eyes. "Y'know..." she said slowly, "if I didn't know any better... I'd say this means he... likes you."

May stared at her for a second, glanced at Ash, who was looking baffled, then looked back at Misty before bursting into laughter.

"Well, it's a good thing you don't know any better, hey, Mist?"

"What do you mean? Why else why he give you a rose?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention? It's for Ginger."

Ash blinked stupidly at her. "Your cat?" he asked.

"Um, yeah. How many other Gingers do you know?"

"And... why would he give your cat a rose?" Misty asked, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow.

"'Cause he'd insulted her and was apologising to her about it."

Ash shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense," he said.

"Huh? Which part? The insult or the apology?"

"Not that. I mean what guy, in his right mind, would give a girl a rose to give to a cat? It's just weird... and disgusting." He caught Misty glaring at him from the corner of his eye. "What?"

Misty huffed and looked away. "So insensitive," she mumbled.

As May approached her next class, Sewing, she spotted a group of chattering girls huddled together. She thought nothing of this until one of them noticed her and gasped, causing the others to turn round and gasp as well.

May began to feel very uncomfortable; they were staring at her unblinkingly, a couple with their mouths slightly open. A moment later, however, they looked away and began gossiping. Shaking her head, May tried to ignore them as she leaned against the wall.

"Hey! Are you that girl?"

May glanced up at the girls, who had their knuckles on their hips and were glaring at her.

"Is the rumour true?"

"Did it really happen?"

"'Cause it's never happened before."

"... Wait... what?" May asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"You know perfectly well what!"

"Yeah, don't act like you don't know!"

"'Cause everyone knows!"

"No, honestly," May said, "I have no clue what you're-"

"Where is it?"

"Yeah, what've you done with it?"

"Where's what?" May asked.

"The rose!" they all screeched at once.

May, taken aback, merely blinked at them. "Uh... how did you...?"

"A friend of yours saw you get a rose off Drew."

"Yeah and it ticked her off big time."

"Oh," May replied. "Who was that then?"

"Brianna."

Standing in the lunch line, May fidgeted with the rose in the bag around her waist, still feeling a little guilty about her friend. She knew Brianna liked Drew very much - she'd told her enough times during homeroom - so she knew the girl how the girl must've been feeling after seeing the passing of the rose. Hearing a squeal, she turned to find herself being crowded by a few over-excited girls.

"Oh, wow! Is it true?"

"Did you, like, get a rose off Drew?"

"Can I hold it please?"

"Can I take a picture of it?"

"Can I have it and pretend it's for me?"

"Uh-" May replied, cutting herself short as she glanced over one girl's shoulder.

She noticed a large number of girls glaring murderously at her in one area of the lunchroom. Feeling awkward, she avoided their eyes, looking elsewhere in the room... and saw the exact same thing; almost every female's eyes she could she were shooting daggers at her. She tried to avert her eyes from them, but she couldn't; all over the room, she was being glared at.

Her face burning a bright crimson, May suddenly wanted the ground beneath her to open up and swallow her whole, just to get out of the spotlight; it was killing her to get this much attention.

Why did I have to wear a red outfit? she thought, making a mental note to kick herself later. Of all the colours to like, it had to be one of the most noticeable ones...

Later, the three friends were sat outside on the warm grass, soaking up the afternoon sun. Misty had suggested going there instead of a usual bench, just to get May away from as many glaring girls as possible... and the brunette was very thankful for it.

Soon enough, however, she was found by the one girl she'd been hoping not to encounter: Brianna. The girl came striding furiously up to her and stopped directly in front of her. May looked up to see fury burning in her eyes and had a sudden urge to run away.

"Um... hi, Brianna," she said, her mouth managing something that vaguely resembled a smile.

Brianna's face contorted, her fists clenching tightly together. "Don't give me that!" she snapped. "I wanna know about what I heard and I wanna know now!"

May blinked. "Aheh, well... Drew gave me a rose to-"

"So it is true!"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"How dare you! How dare you!"

"Excuse me," Misty interrupted, "but how dare she what?"

Brianna rounded on her. "Don't act like you don't know!"

"Um..." Ash helplessly added.

Brianna turned back to May. "How dare you get a rose from Drew when I am so clearly his destined wife!"

May's eyes widened before she glanced at Ash and Misty to check their reactions; their eyes had widened considerably too. Turning back to Brianna, she opened her mouth to say something, but, unable to think of a single word, closed it again.

"Say what?" Misty asked, accurately voicing her thoughts.

"You heard me!" Brianna replied. "I knew from the very first moment I laid eyes on Drew that he was my true love!" The three friends just blinked at her. "Okay, that's a lie. I liked him as soon as I saw him... but, when I walked over to him that day, and said the weather was nice, to spark up a conversation, what did he do? He turned away from me and said 'Whatever'!"

"Uh, yeah..." May said, "I saw that."

"So, then, I guess you saw how upset I was. You see, no boy I've ever liked has liked me back! I'm always ignored! Always the annoying little fangirl! But not this time! This time, I went to see a psychic. Guess what she said, May?"

"Uh... don't know."

Brianna smirked. "Well... I asked her if he, Drew O'Cadhla, and I, Brianna Montgomery, would make a good couple... and she said that we were destined to be together for the rest of eternity!" She clasped her hands together as he eyes twinkled with emotion. "That we would become lovers in the near future, get married, have three children, grow old together and die in each other's arms!" She dropped her arms as her smirk returned. "What do you think of that?"

May just blinked at her, dumbfounded, before Misty spoke.

"You're taking advice from a crystal-gazer?" she asked.

Brianna frowned. "Yes! And she happens to be a true Seer! I can feel it!"

"Pfft! As if! There's no such thing as a 'true Seer'."

Brianna's mouth twisted unpleasantly. "Yes, there is! And I went to see one! And she said Drew and I are soul mates, so why the heck has he given May a rose?"

"If you'll let me explain..." May said, "yesterday, Drew insulted my cat, so I smashed him into a locker." Three gasps followed, but she ignored them. "And told him never to wish her dead. The next day, he came back to me with a rose and said it was for her as an apology. It's not for me."

Brianna blinked in confusion. "The rose... was for... your cat?"

"Yes."

For a few moments, there was complete silence... then Brianna spoke. "Your cat... So, I got all hyped-up... for nothing?"

"Sure did," Ash said.

"Oh..." Silence, once again, followed. "Sorry, May."

"Eh... it's alright," May replied, waving a hand in dismissal. "Sit with us until the bell rings, if you like."

"Um... okay... thanks." Brianna sat down beside May with her legs crossed.

May chuckled. "You didn't really think Drew was hitting on me with that silly old rose, did you? I mean, come on... that'd be about as likely as Pokemon walking the Earth around us."

Brianna chuckled too. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

May winked. "You don't need to worry; I'm not going to steal your precious Drew away from you. Trust me, he's all yours."

Brianna blushed, throwing a hand behind her head and scratching her neck. "Aheh... um... thanks."

"No problem."

Later that day, May was finally back at home... and the first thing she did, after heaving a deep sigh and throwing her bag to the floor, was a combination of slumping on the living room couch and channel-flipping. One and a half hours later, Max walked in, having just been picked up in the car and the journey having taken half an hour. May sighed again, slumping further into the couch.

"Something wrong, May?" Max asked, sitting beside her.

"No..." May replied, staring blankly at the television.

"You sure?"

"Yes..."

A short silence followed and May continued to stare at the game show, which looked vaguely like Catchphrase, playing directly in front of her, deadening herself to the world, picturing Drew handing her the rose over and over again.

"You definitely sure, May?"

"Yes, Max," May snapped, suddenly irritated that he wouldn't just leave her in peace. "I'm fine."

"Hmph... well sorry for being so concerned."

"So you should be. In future, just don't bother talking to me."

"Fine, I won't!"

"Fine!"

Standing up, Max stormed out of the room and up the stairs, his feet thudding against the floor, before slamming his bedroom door shut. May sighed again.

Later, May was chatting to various people on MSN when Ginger came from nowhere and rubbed against her leg, purring gently. Looking down at her, May smiled softly, reaching to her and stroking her silky smooth fur.

"Oh yeah, Ginge," May said, trying not to laugh, "I've got a present for you from Drew." Ginger purred in response.

Getting up, she headed across the room to her little yellow bag, still lying on the floor near the couch. Zipping it open, she first pulled off her left glove, passing it to her right hand, before reaching in and feeling around. After a moment, her hand brushed against a leaf and, grabbing the stem, pulled out the rose.

"What's that you have, sweetheart?" Caroline asked, entering from the kitchen.

May turned to face her mother, presenting the rose in her bare hand. "A present from Drew, Mom."

Caroline's eyes sparkled. "Oh, how sweet!" Lifting up her hands, she clasped them under her chin, a huge smile on her face. "Young love!"

May nearly fell over in shock. "W-What?"

Caroline giggled. "Oh, don't play dumb, May. If a boy gives a girl a rose, it obviously means he feels a great deal of affection for her."

"Mom! The rose isn't-"

"Oh, I haven't been this excited since I gave birth to Max eight years ago!"

"But, Mom..."

"My little girl's got an admirer!"

"Mom..."

"Do you love this guy too or is it unrequited?"

"Mom! The rose isn't for me!"

Caroline blinked stupidly, her arms dropping to her sides. "What?"

"It's not for me. Drew insulted Ginger and I attacked him, so he apologised by giving me a rose to give to her."

Caroline blinked again. "Oh... o-okay then." Turning, she walked silently back into the kitchen.

May sighed, shrugging to Ginger, who rubbed against her leg and purred, before the brunette walked over to the dark blue vase resting on the window-sill and picked it up. She turned back round and smiled at Ginger.

"Say, Ginge... would you mind if I put your rose in this vase? 'Cause if I just give it to you, it'll no doubt get ruined. You seem to have a thing with ripping whatever you're given to shreds." Ginger meowed, swishing her tail from side to side, and May beamed. "Thanks, girl." May then took the vase to the kitchen and filled it up with water. Once she retuned, she replaced it on the window-sill, dropped in the rose and stepped back, knuckles on her hips, to admire her handiwork. "Not bad, is it, girl?" Ginger purred, pawing at her leg. Now, if only it was as simple to convince everyone that Drew and I are not and will not ever be in love... she thought, cringing. Just the very thought is enough to give me nightmares.

She couldn't, however, resist giving the rose-filled vase before her one last smile before seating herself, once again, on the computer chair, suddenly noticing she'd been nudged several times; she'd forgotten to turn the volume on, so she hadn't heard a sound.