Chapter 10

"Because I like you." Serena said in a confident voice.

The words echoed in Ash's head. His heart thumped a little faster, but he sat there, speechless.

Serena started to lose her confidence and became anxious. She waited a little longer for Ash to say something.

Finally, having waited over 30 seconds or so of awkward silence and no feedback of any kind, she felt as if she were rejected. The girl's eyes were rimmed with tears and she was on the brink of losing it however she held it in her. The girl stood up and said, "If you're not gonna say anything, I'm going to go home now."

Turning, she started to walk away and a tear trickled down her cheek.

Just then, a hand grabbed her wrist and turned her.

Ash embraced her in a loving hug. He nuzzled his head in her neck and had his hand on the back of her head.

Serena was shocked, frozen solid- as if she was struck by an ice beam.

The raven haired boy held her face in his hands and kissed her lips tenderly. Her eyes slowly started to close after being startled.

Ash let go. He was still holding her face and he said, "That girl that I said I like? It's you Serena." Ash said.

Serena couldn't hold in her tears any longer. She hugged Ash and cried in his chest.

"You idiot Ash! You meanie. I thought you liked someone else. I really thought- that I was going to get rejected by you."

Ash rubbed her back and held onto their embrace. He kissed the top of her head.

The pair started to walk home hand in hand.

"You're cute Serena." Ash said. Serena was blushing the entire time.

-The next day…-

Ash was already at the door waiting for Serena to come out so they could walk to school together. Although aware of each other's feelings, the two decided to keep it a secret. They both treated each other like best friends still.

While walking, Serena looked at Ash's hand.

"Should...I grab his hand?" Serena thought. "Ahh! So embarrassing!" She blushed.

Their hands started touching and soon enough, Ash intertwined his fingers in hers. She looked at him in confusion.

"We keep bumping hands, so why not I just hold yours for a while?" Ash said slyly.

This made Serena turn even more red than she already is.

The two couldn't make eye contact with each other however could carry a normal conversation while walking to school.

About 5 minutes before they reached school, Serena let go of Ash's hand. Now it was his turn to be confused.

"I think it's best if we don't hold hands or act like this in front of the student body. It's already bad enough that Calem confessed to be on Friday. If people find out...you know….we're…" Serena started.

Ash put his finger to her lips. "Its okay. I understand."

They also distanced themselves and continued on the path to school.

During Lunch….

Serena had just gotten her food. She walked over to her table. Misty, Dawn, May, and Iris were conversing and once Serena sat down, all eyes were on her.

"So, how did it go?" Misty asked.

"Did you get rejected?" Dawn asked.

"Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?" Iris questioned.

"Oh shut up you guys, let the girl have some space." May defended.

Serena sweatdropped. "Uhhh It was alright. We just chilled and walked around the city." She said as she took a bite of her food. Serena was trying to pretend like nothing happened between the two.

"WHHHHATT!?" All the girls roared except for May who already suspected what really happened on Friday night.

"Bummer….that was your time to confess dudeee" Misty said.

"I don't like him that way. He's just a friend." Serena exclaimed.

Serena looked at her piece of cake. She took out her knife and evenly split it in half.

Then she put one half on a plate and grabbed a fork.

"Be right back guys." She said.

The girl got up and walked over to the Elite 4 table. Ash was eating when she slid the cake to his elbow so it was in his peripheral.

"Thanks Serena." Ash said. All the boys eyed the two.

"Oh come on, you couldn't even get ME a piece of cake Serena?" Gary complained.

"Ash letmme have a piece will ya" Clemont said eagerly.

"Serena gave this cake to ME and only me." Ash rebutted stubbornly.

Calem was nonchalant and silent while the others started clamoring and bickering.

Serena started to walk off. She turned around to glance at the raven haired boy one last time. Their eyes met and he winked at her with a slight smile.

The girl turned around and smiled to herself.

She returned to her table and looked up to see her friends eye her suspiciously.

"Do friends give each other cake?" Iris said, with crossed arms.

"Yeah. Do you guys want some?" Serena asked- trying to change the subject in a nonchalant way.

"OKAYYY" They all said happily as they took a bite of her cake.

The bell rang which meant lunch was over. Everyone started to clean up and head to their next class. Serena waited for Ash to finish and she came over to his table. The two walked to class together since they had Rowan next.

The elite (3) boys glanced at the two in suspicion. The girls also came up to the boys and asked them, "we're not the only ones that think something's up right?"

The boys nodded and Gary spoke up. "Called it."

In Serena and Ash's class they were learning about pokemon evolution. Serena yawned in boredom. She already read ahead and learned this chapter last week. Ash passed a note to Serena.

Do you want to do homework at my house? Don't worry, strictly studying only. (;

She smiled and nudged him and giggled a little.

It was the last class and unfortunately for Serena, Calem sat right behind her in Jupiter's class.

Feeling awkward, Serena tried to make conversation with the boy. She turned to Calem.

"How are you Calem? Are you ready for your battle tomorrow? How were the rest of your finals?" She asked.

"It was okay." He said in a monotone voice.

"Are...you okay?"

"I'm fine." He said.

"Well it doesn't look like you're fine. What's bothering you? Is it about yest-"

Calem slammed his book on his desk. The entire room was silent. "IT'S NOTHING OK. Can you stop meddling into other people's business for once Serena?"

Serena jawdropped. "Oh-... I was just worried about you….that's-"

"Well...you don't have to anymore." Calem said as he opened his book. He started vigorously writing down notes and ignored the girl.

Serena turned to face the front of the classroom. A little hurt, she opened her textbook and started doing the homework to herself, quietly.

School ended and after Serena stopped by her locker. She turned and saw her crush standing there and talking to his group of friends. The two met eyes and Ash excused himself.

The boys saw him walk up to Serena.

Gary wolf whistled and yelled, "GET AT IT YOU TWO"

The two blushed and tried to ignore whatever the boys hollered.

At Ash's house…

Delia was at work so the two had the house to themselves.

Serena sat down on Ash's bed. She started to open up her textbooks. "Okay Ash, let's finish homework really quick. If we finish early, we can chill afterwards."

"I'm hungry." Ash complained. Serena turned her head and shot him a glare.

Ash took out pocky from his backpack. "Do you wanna play the pocky game?"

Serena looked up. "What...do you have to do…?" She asked suspiciously.

The boy put one end in his mouth. "We each eat away the ends and the last person to let go...loses."

The girl turned beet red. However, she hated losing.

Ash took the first bite. Then Serena bit the other side, turning more red as their lips started inching towards each other.

Then, Serena grabbed his collar and kissed him- still blushing madly.

Their lips met for a while.

Ash was the first to pull away. "You...really hate being in second place...don't you." He teased as he wiped the chocolate off her mouth.

"Everything you do sounds so kinky…" Serena teased back.

The two got back to their studies.

After an hour, the two finished their homework. Serena stretched and thought about Calem. Her eyes were saddened at the thought of how rude he was to her today. Ash noticed her changed mood.

"Something wrong Serena?" He asked as he sat down next to her.

"Today in class..Calem got snappy at me. It's like he doesn't want to be friends with me anymore…" She said sadly.

"I'll teach him a lesson. Don't worry Serena, he's gonna get it." Ash said with determination.

"By the way..speaking about that dumbass… I'm battling him on Friday. If you say that he's treating you like this…. This just gives me more motivation to train harder and show him how to respect girls." Ash added. Ash jumped up off his bed. He got fired up.

Serena looked up and giggled a little. The boy looked at Serena in confusion.

"You're cute when you get defensive." She said with a smile.

Ash grabbed her wrist. "LET'S GO TRAIN THEN!" He dragged her out the house and into the fields.

"WAIT BUT I'M NOT A BATTLER…." Serena said. "I suck at battling." She whined.

"That's why we gotta train! Starting from the bottom….and now we're here right?" Ash said. "Don't give up!" He fist pumped the air.

"CHARIZARD, I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE! LET'S GO." Ash called out his orange pokemon.

"Pikachu! Come out buddy wherever you are!" Ash called.

The mouse pokemon's ears twitched and it jumped off the balcony and onto Charizard's back.

"Pi pikachu!" It said cheerfully.

"We got a very important battle tomorrow and it's all up to us to train hard to keep our #1 place. Let's work hard and never give up!" Ash said with full on motivational tone of speech.

The next day…

The whole school gathered into the gymnasium for Ash and Calem's big battle. On the home side, it was Ash Ketchum's fans and on the guest side, it was Calem's. Ash's side was blue and Calem's was red. Serena was able to get a guest pass and sit in the VIP section along with May, Dawn and Gary.

Iris, Misty and Clemont went on the other side to cheer on Calem.

The MC spoke, "With 8 wins and 1 loss this semester….in the red corner we have….CAAAALEEEEEM from Vaniville town!. Calem is currently second place in the whole school for Class A. Will this match be Calem's 9th win? Or 2nd loss?"

"Now...in the blue corner...we haveeeeee our undefeated champion…. ASH from Pallet Town! He's currently 9-0. People are wondering….will he be able to keep his place and reign as undefeated? Or will he have to step down after this match?!"

The crowd went wild as Ash and Calem stepped out onto the area.

Ash had a determined look on his face. He looked down and closed his eyes.

Serena had her hands clasped against her heart. "Never give up Ash." She thought to herself.

The referee took out the flags. "We will be using 6 pokemon with substitution at anytime. The party who ends up with pokemon unable to battle loses. Trainers….ready? BATTLE...BEGIN!"

Ash opened his eyes. "This one's for Serena." He turned his hat around and took out his first pokeball.
"I CHOOSE YOUUUU….GRENINJA!"

DUN DUN DUNNNN. That's all I can say.