So, apparently, raining Jello isn't "logically sound" in the path of this story, so that subplot is out.

Thanks a lot, logic.

The Deal

Early the next morning, before her first class, May took a deep breath and headed over to Drew's locker, which he was digging around inside. She gulped deeply and clenched her hands into fists, and told herself that she would not fail today, that she would go to the winter dance with Drew, and they would have a great time, and she would get a kiss that she would be able to respond to right because she wasn't sick and near delirious with fever and there wasn't a nearby nurse planning to kill her if she ever tried to sleep.

She leaned against the locker next to his, breathing deeply and trying to calm herself down and hoping very hard that he didn't notice her nervous behavior. Eventually, he looked at her, locker open with a math book in his hand. She told herself to not get lost in his eyes, even though they were deep and green and nearly a pastel, and though she had seen people with green eyes she'd never seen that shade before and-

"May?"

She stood up straight suddenly, all dreamy thoughts of his eyes gone, and squeaked, "Why do we have lockers?"

He stared at her, for the first time in a long time looking genuinely surprised by her topic, and explained as best as he could, "To put our stuff in."

"I get that," she said, starting to blush, and cursing herself mentally, continued, "but we have rooms, and we live on campus, so what's the point of having lockers then? It's kind of a waste of money, isn't it? To have all these lockers when we could just keep our stuff in our room, since most of us can go back in between classes anyway."

"Goldenrod is a big city, May. Plenty of students actually live here," Drew said calmly.

"Oh."

He was about to slam his locker, but her hand shot out, gripping it hard and holding it open, so that he stared at her, raising his eyes. She took a deep breath, preparing for the worst, and blurted, "Hey, Drew, the winter dance is only a week away," however, she didn't stop there, her mouth kept going, the blush rising even hotter up her cheeks, "But…you know, the contest is three weeks off though! Are you ready for it?"

"I'm ready for the contest, but I'm not going to the dance." He shrugged and gave his locker a light tug, but May's hand was still clenched around it in fear and nervousness and a bit of self hatred. He let it go with a sigh, instead opting to fill up his backpack with his math book. "There's no one here worth asking. I probably would have gone if there was a girl who just had the courage to invite me, but we go to a school of cowards."

He zipped up his back pack, stood up straight, and smiled, "I probably won't go to one dance all year."

She grinned suddenly, letting go of the locker happily. "Really, because I was-"

"Doesn't matter now. I have to go to my aunt's birthday party." He sighed very long and very slow, as if it were his aunt's funeral rather than her birthday. Then he shut his locker, spinning in the first two numbers of his combination so he could get into his locker quickly later, then looked her way. "Sorry, May, you were saying something?"

"You know," she accused, shoving her index finger in his face, shaking it accusingly an inch from his nose.

"Sure I do, creeper," he said, pushing her hand away from his nose and heading down the hallway.

May let her head fall heavily against the locker with a groan, and was just about to slide down and curl up into a tight ball of despair on the floor, when something stopped her.

"Don't worry, kiddo," said a reassuring voice, and a warm hand was on her shoulder. Opening her eyes revealed a smiling Melody, looking at her over her sunglasses. "I think Drew really likes you. Eventually, you'll be ready emotionally to have a relationship with him."

"I am emotionally ready," May protested, and opened her mouth to interrogate Melody more.

However, the older girl cut her off. "Well, clearly not. Let me tell you, you are one hundred percent physically ready. Zapdos, what are you already, a C-cup? And your breasts might keep growing until you're eighteen."

May blushed. "Could you not-?"

"So it has to be an emotional thing, it just has to be. But you're in one of those years where it could be very emotionally developing. You could finally become a real woman. Or something. If you want to know want I mean I suggest watching nearly any teen movie from the 1980s. Those were always about finding yourself. Or The Sandlot, great movie about growing up in a single year. A single summer, really."

May gawked at her, jaw dropping. "You're so weird."

"I grew up on a small island," she said seriously. "There was a lot of incest in our past. In fact, I'm pretty sure my parents are cousins, first cousins, because that is the only way our family tree makes sense."

"Oh, Melody," May said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I'm screwing with you." Melody laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. "Good luck asking Drew out! You'll get it sometime, kiddo."

And May stared, slack jawed and horrified at the way her morning was turning out, and could only hope that, perhaps, her friends would have a better day.

Considering the only story worth telling on Misty's side started with a shriek of, "Where the hell is Ash?" it was safe to say that at least one of May's friends was not having a better day.

Misty was angrier than she should have been, considering she didn't enjoy tutoring Ash and she didn't like hanging out with Ash and certainly she could find better things to do than run around campus trying to find the stupid boy. It would have been bad enough for May to see her acting this way, who she was intending to meet up with, but far worse for Dawn to look up from her math book and arch an eyebrow in a way that was so insinuating she blushed.

She stared for a moment, panting after her run down from the boys' dorm, and trying to ignore the fact that Dawn was, for certain, thinking of hundreds, if not thousands, of horribly embarrassing sexual jokes all directed at the goal of utterly embarrassing the redhead. She decided to meet Dawn's eye contact and try to hold her voice steady, "So, I don't suppose you know where Ash is right now?"

Dawn smirked. "Why do you want to know where Ash is?"

"We have tutoring to do."

The blue eyed girl's smirk widened. "Is that what they call it nowadays?"

"Do you know where Ash is?" Misty fumed.

She tapped a finger on the top of her book, her smile grew and she accused, "Why haven't the two of you said I love you yet? Are you cheating on Gary?"

Misty eyes widened. "How'd you know we hadn't said I love you?"

"Because I can keep a secret, I swear!"

"No, I mean it," the redhead insisted. "How'd you-?"

"You can tell me that you're a two timer and I won't hate you at all. You just have to tell me in case I have to cheat in the future." She set her book aside very seriously and got on all fours, leaning towards her, and clearly aching for a good secret. "Then it's mutually assured destruction."

"How is this anything like nuclear wa-forget it." Misty groaned and knocked her head softly against the wall. She clenched her fists tight enough for them to ache, then, very slowly, saying, "I'm not cheating on Gary and I'm not going to say it yet. We've barely been together a month. You don't say I love you that early and ruin everything."

Dawn scoffed. "Yeah, you do."

"Mew!" she cried, exasperated. "What teen drama have you been watching?"

"Please, like saying I love you means anything these days!" She rolled her eyes at the idea and moved to the edge of the bed, leaning so far forward that Misty was amazed she didn't topple forward and crack her head open on the floor, saying firmly, "It's just how you let everyone know that you've claimed him as your boyfriend and everyone else needs to keep their grimy paws off."

Misty glares, spitting, "Stupid frosh."

And, with just as much venom, she retorted, "Stupid senior."

Misty stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, then realized she still hadn't gotten an answer as to where Ash was. Her fists clenched furiously and she marched back in, hissing, "Listen, Dawn, do you know where Ash is or not?"

"What do you need him for?" she taunted, filing her nails into perfectly rounded ends now, the math book suddenly gone after just a few seconds outside, and she was laying back against the mountain of pillows that covered her bed. "You know, since you don't like Ash and tutoring sounds like hard work, I think you'd be way happier spending time with your real boyfriend."

"Dawn," she warned, gritting her teeth.

"Unless you're actually sneaking out to have an affair, then I could probably tell you where he is." The nail filed pause, and she giggled, looking up at the older girl. "Since he invited me to go with him before he left and everything, and he hangs out there all the time."

"I swear to Moltres, I will-"

"Oh, don't call down the legendaries on me," she said rolling her eyes, and waving her perfectly manicured nails at her. "Ash went down to the stables. He always does whenever he gets antsy. But you might as well give up on that tutoring thing."

"Why?" Misty said, wrinkling her nose. "Because we're going to make out?"

"Because he spends hours down there," Dawn explained angrily. "It's the closest thing he has to Oak's ranch. He won't come back until he's good and ready, so just go back to your room."

"He listens to me."

"Not this time," Dawn hummed.

Her arms crossed. "Every time."

She grinned. "You really have to get to know Ash better."

"I know him just fine!" she shouted, and slammed the door behind her.

She didn't spend too much time dwelling on why she found it so important that she knew Ash well. She didn't spend too much time dwelling on anything. Despite the fact that it was freezing and snowing, she walked right by her room and headed down for the stables, pulling up a map of the campus in her head and trying to find the shortest way to get there.

Misty hadn't gone to the stables for a long time, not since she had a class a year or two before where they brought a tauros out and quizzed them over attacks and anatomy. As a consequence, she had forgotten exactly how far it was. She hadn't grabbed a sweater, and went out in jeans and a t-shirt, and ten minutes into her walk was shivering as she tried not to stumble down a snow covered hill, because she couldn't remember for the life of her where the actual stairs were.

Twenty minutes and she was opening the door and sliding into the warm wooden stables, breathing in the heavy scent of hay and dirt and livestock. She wrinkled her nose, not fond of the scent, and rubbed her arms as she wandered the two aisles, trying to warm herself up. Ponyta and rapidash and tauros and miltank lifted their heads from their feed to glance at her before dropping their heads, and meowths and delcatty darted around the stables, nose to the ground as they hunted the pests that lived there. She was unlucky enough to come across one that was actually feasting on a rat, the insides steaming as drafts blew the smell to her nose.

"Entei, Raikou and Suicune," she hissed, covering her nose and racing down the aisle.

She continued her search, and jumped when a door pounded open behind her, and she turned to see Ash on a rapidsah. Despite the chill, the horse was sweating, flames bright on its mane and tail, tossing its head proudly and sending a bit of foam from its mouth across the floor. He caught sight of her and grinned, dismounting, and leading the creature by the rope he had attached to its halter. She gaped, realizing there was no saddle, no bridle, just a huge wild creature with a lead rope.

"I didn't know you came around here, Misty!" he chirped. "I've never seen you."

"I was looking for you," she snapped icily, wanting to step closer to the rapidash just for its warmth. As it was, just having the thing inside, full of flames from its run, was making the whole stable feel warmer. "We should have started tutoring forty minutes ago, Ash! I have things to do! You can't just run off and do whatever you want, dammit!"

"I forgot, Mist," he said with a shrug, leading the rapidash by her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't you call me Mist," she snarled. "Don't you say sorry! Don't you…don't you do anything! Just…just put the rapidash away so we can get the tutoring done with."

"I have to clean her first," he argued, walking her into a nearby stall. He closed the door and unclipped the lead and the halter, petting her face softly then kissing her velvety nose. "I have to brush her and pick her hooves and put on her blanket, or else she'll get sick, and that can take a lot of time. Just go back. We'll skip the tutoring today."

"I can wait for that. It won't take that long."

"I want to run another one," he said, shrugging, collecting the tools he needed to clean the horse from a nearby tack box, then going back into the stall. "A ponyta, actually. He's not big enough for me to ride him, and he could really use the exercise."

"We have things to do."

"Do you like riding?" he asked calmly, taking up a brush and making small circles on the rapidash's flank, scrubbing hard as he worked out the worst of the sweat.

She glared. "I don't know how to ride."

He paused in his brushing, grinning at her. "Want to learn?"

She stiffened. "Mew, no! I'm a water pokémon trainer, the last thing I need is-"

Somehow, Ash was instantly by her side, and then she was by the side of the rapidash. Her hand was surrounded by blue, hard rubber, her back pressed to Ash's front. Then, his hand covered her hand, moving it in small circles. Her stomach clenched strangely as he spoke, his breath hot on her neck, telling her that it was a curry comb, and this is what brought up the sweat and dirt and loose hair, and the other brush would take it away, and that the curry comb was the most important after a ride. She could hardly focus on his words, and couldn't believe she wasn't protesting.

"It's a lot different from taking care of water pokémon, right?" he asked.

She nodded mutely, wondering when he had switched the curry comb from a normal looking animal brush, and finding herself very curious about the rough spots on his hands that Gary didn't have as he moved her arm in a slow, smooth flicking motion. She heard herself talking, voice sounding distant, saying, "There's special soaps and things, and there really aren't brushes, just sponges, though sometimes I use pumice on staryu to get rid of algae."

"That probably gets cold."

"Mmm," she hummed her agreement. "I don't mind the cold. Gym Leader blood, you know? I could last a lot longer than you could in this weather, even if you had a thicker coat. It works best when I'm swimming, but when I'm running or just standing in the cold, it's still better. I'm usually pretty comfy in the cold. Do you like the cold? Since you're from Pallet, you probably like it warm. I know Gary does."

He felt him shrug, and noticed that there was an even softer brush in her hand that made the rapidash's coat shine. "I like it hot, actually."

Her heart lurched in her chest, and she jumped suddenly, darting away and scaring the rapidash. "We have tutoring to do!" she said firmly.

Ash rolled his eyes and sighed, then finished tending to the creature, picking the hooves clean and taking a wet hair brush and running it through the mane and tail so the flames hissed before calming and looking fresh and groomed. He left the stall, and she followed, still scolding about tutoring, scolding louder when he brought out a ponyta, clearly big enough to be ridden, and saddling it with one of the big, bulky saddles with a little horn on top, rather than the tiny compact ones, and attaching a lead rope to the halter.

"Put your foot here," he said, cupping his hands low.

She eyed him suspiciously. "My shoes are dirty."

"Put your foot here," he said again, more firmly. "You're learning how to ride."

"I don't need to know how to-"

She wasn't able to finish her thought, because she felt a gentle spark on her hand and looked over to see Pikachu sitting on the ponyta, patting the saddle in a reassuring way. Misty's eyes flicked back and forth between Ash and Pikachu, then, with a quiet groan of defeat, knowing that this was, quite possibly, the only way she would get her tutoring done tonight, she allowed Ash to help her onto the ponyta, who shifted curiously under her weight, and perked up his ears when he felt her grab the horn tight, trying to keep her balance in the large saddle.

Ash clucked quietly, and put his hand on the ponyta's nose. "Dancer, be nice. It's her first time." One of Dancer's ears went sideways, the other staying up, and the tension eased from his body, and he leaned to one side, resting, ignoring Misty desperately clinging to the horn. Ash stepped to the side and grinned up at her, trying not to laugh at her awkward position on the ponyta, and understand instantly why Dancer had thought that he could take advantage of her inexperience. "How have you been here all this time and you've never ridden before?"

"I'm a water trainer," she said fiercely. "I don't do a lot with land, and even less to do with fire. You'll notice that the most common thing to ride is made of fire."

"So, just because you were a water trainer, you never wanted to try anything else?" he pressed.

"Well, I…" She paused, looking down at the horse, then frowned as the blush spread up her cheeks. She couldn't find it in her to tell him that, no, she had never wanted to try riding or flying or many of the other things that weren't related to her specialty. "Let's just get this stupid thing over with so we can go back to tutoring."

He did laugh this time, urging Dancer to walk and ignoring Misty leaning forward, barely balancing on the wide saddle. "We are tutoring, Mist. Think of it as payment. You help me with my classes, and I teach you not to be like Gary."

She scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you do what you're supposed to all the time."

"And what's wrong with that?" she snapped.

"What's wrong with that," Ash said, very serious as he walked her up and down the aisle, Pikachu now sitting on his shoulder and looking at Misty with interest, "is that you've been in the biggest, most beautiful stable in the world for years, and you never even thought to ride."

Misty glared, but she didn't have a thing to say to that, so she stayed silent. She wasn't nearly falling off anymore, but she certainly wasn't comfortable in the saddle. It moved, and she tried to move with it like she would on her bike, and found that it wasn't working at all. The rhythm was far different, with a bike going smooth and fast and Dancer's body swaying from side to side as he walked, like a wide hipped woman.

A few moments, later, she was bouncing in her saddle, clutching the saddle horn and closing her eyes tight as they moved into a faster pace that Ash called trotting. Ash jogged alongside her, and, horrified, she realized that he was not going to tire anytime soon. She tried to relax, tried to sit like she would in a chair, which served only to make her bounce harder and made her crumple forward, wanting to curl up even tighter but afraid to get too close to the flaming mane she was absolutely positive would burn her.

And then it stopped, and she squeaked as she felt the warmth of his hand, guiding her leg, making her stomach twist. She stared at him, pushing her foot back so it was under her hips. He tugged on her shoulders, keeping another hand on her back so she sat up straight, and then put a hand on her stomach. She jumped at that, squeaking again, and she glared at Ash's giggle and blushed, both of them knowing that he'd accidentally tickled her, and that was definitely not something she wanted him to do.

He cleared his throat, and then, in a horribly teasing voice began, "So, you're ti-"

"Shut up," she snapped. "And stop touching me. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"It's easier to show you the first time. You felt how it was before, and now, hold still, get a feel for this position." He began walking again, leaning Dancer, glancing back at her to make sure she was indeed holding her position. She was, surprisingly well, but he supposed that she'd probably instructed her body to do far more complicated things than holding a position for a few minutes. "Besides, you're in a western saddle. Be happy I didn't put you in an English one. You probably would have fallen off already. This is broader, and you can be a bit sloppier with your position when you're doing slow stuff like this."

"I don't want to be in any saddle," she said, not wanting to admit that, yes, she was much more balanced in this position, and her mount didn't seem quite so unhappy with her as he did before.

"No, today you're having fun. Tomorrow you'll be sore, and then you'll really hate me."

"Where am I going to be sore?" Ash didn't answer, and she took a hand off the horn to jab his shoulder and insisted, "Come on, where am I going to be sore tomorrow?"

He smirked wickedly. "You're ready to trot again, huh?"

She gulped, grabbing the horn. "No, probably not."

"You're not sitting right," he pointed out. She glared, and he taunted, "Need me to position you again?"

She snapped into the correct position, back straight, shoulders back stomach sucked in and legs back, and a few seconds later they were trotting, falling into a two beat rhythm and a lovely sound of clip-clopping on the concrete that she usually associated with hoof beats. She still bounced, but nowhere near as much as before. It was almost comfortable, and kind of fun, and after a minute or so of bouncing her grip loosened on the horn and she reached forward to give Dancer a pat on his shoulder, and grinned up at her, and she tried to avoid his gaze, mostly because she knew by now she was smiling, and she was positive if he caught her he would rub it in.

"Want to canter?" he asked.

"What's cantering?"

Ash clucked to Dancer and picked up a run, and after a bit of reluctance, he picked up a quicker, rocking stride. It wasn't nearly so bouncy as the trot, and she gasped, smiling like an idiot as they went around the stable, until Ash slowed to a trot, then a walk, and ran his fingers through Dancer's mane. He caught her smiling this time, and, to her surprise, only smiled back and continued walking around, cooling the creature. Misty was panting, both from excitement and from using new muscles, and laughed merrily.

"That was really cool." Out of habit of rewarding for good behavior, she stroked Dancer's neck, not noticing when her hand went up into the mane, which didn't feel like fire but hair, warm and flowing strangely under her touch.

"You did well," he encouraged. "Next time we'll put on a bridle and I'll try and get you to make him walk and trot on your own."

"And canter," Misty said eagerly.

He shook his head. "There's no way you'll be ready to canter on your own next time."

She fixed her position again, then took her hand from the horn, holding imaginary reins as they walked slowly to prove that she had her balance and the position down now, then boasted, "Hey, I'm a candidate for the Elite Four, Ash. I pick up on things way quicker than you think. You just wait. The next time we do this, I'll be cantering around outside the barn all on my own."

He laughed. "I thought you didn't want to ride?"

"Shut up, Ash." She tried to put on a cruel expression, but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "And we're supposed to be studying you know. Tonight was supposed to be English, too. You know you're terrible at English."

Ash promised, "We'll do English next time."

"We should be doing it this time," she argued.

He stopped looking up at her with his annoying, overly cheerful smile. "So, what you're saying is that you didn't have fun?"

She shrugged a little, starting to look down at the floor. "Well, yes, but-"

"And when was the last time you had real fun?"

"I have plenty of real fun!" she argued, looking around her. "How do I get down?"

"How do you have fun?" he retorted pleasantly, running his hand up and down Dancer's nose.

"Well, I…I sneak out of my room with May sometimes."

"So, when you break the rules," he said, smirking.

"Not just then! Other times! Like when…" She wracked her brain, trying to think of something.

"You never do anything you want."

She glared. "I do too, Ash, I-"

"You're going to be an Elite, that's what everyone told you," he said. "So you're getting ready for being a Gym Leader, and being an Elite, and you only practice your water pokémon and your school stuff and you never try anything different. You just do it because everyone told you to do it. So you never had any of the fun that you should have had because you were too busy working on being the best Elite candidate possible."

She crossed her arms, slouching a bit as she grumped and losing her picture perfect riding pose. "Will you let me down, Ash?"

"I'm going to teach you how to have fun," Ash promised.

She grit her teeth. "Will you get me off of this-?"

"One question."

"Fine. Ask your question, then get me down."

He leaned on Dancer's flank, looking very mischievous, and taunted, "Are you really ticklish?"

She stiffened. "Why do you want to know?"

"Blackmail."

"Blackmail for what?"

"Tell me first," he said in a sing song tone.

She held up a fist. "Would you just-?"

"If you don't tell me, I'll have to find out myself."

Her demeanor changed instantly, eyes widened and hands snapping down around her stomach protectively as she rocked back away from him as far as the saddle would allow. "Don't you dare."

"That bad?"

She scowled, drummed her fingers on the saddle horn, and finally snapped, "Yes. So don't you dare do it. I don't like it. Now let me down."

He held up a hand. "Hold on, one last thing."

She groaned, eyeing the floor and wondering if the concrete would really hurt that bad if she fell. "Would you just let me down?"

"Once a week," he began, "we'll do something I want to do. We'll go riding, or we'll watch a kids' movie, or we'll go do laser tag or something. No getting out of it. If you get sick or something, that's one thing, but nothing that would stop you if you were tutoring. If you do, I'll tell the whole school that you're ticklish."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, that small secret is enough to-"

"And," he said very seriously. "I'm going to let them imagine all on their own how I found out."

She stared for a moment, mouth dropping open at the plan which was remarkably smart for Ash, then squeaked, "Wednesdays good for you?"

Now, wouldn't that have been better with raining Jello?