A/N: Hope people had a great Christmas! ^_^
Chapter Eleven
It was now four in the afternoon and all the walls were now finished with the paint still drying. With nothing to do, May sat on one of the leather couches and stared intently out in front of her. Leaf prodded her shoulder. "…What're you doing…?"
"I'm watching paint dry," May replied in a monotonous and serious voice and Drew sweatdropped at her literal statement before making a suggestion.
"Well, if that's the case, I was just about to start making dinner. I could teach you some cooking tips if you'd like…"
She processed this for a moment before leaping up from the couch and grabbing Drew by the shoulders. "Yes, please teach me the ways of the cooking world."
As Drew stared, slightly weirded out, down at May, Leaf stood from the couch as well and made her way to the back door.
"You guys have fun; I'm going to join the others at the pool."
Leaf stepped outside and slid the screen door shut, and the sound of the door shutting brought Drew back to his original motive.
"Alright, might as well get started."
He led May over to the kitchen area and opened up the refrigerator. "Anything in particular that you want to make?"
May sat on the kitchen counter and began swinging her legs. "Not really."
Drew was silent as he began to pull some ingredients out of the cupboard. Ever since the night before, something had seemed….off between him and May. It probably wasn't anything for him to wonder about, but he still had no idea what'd happened at the restaurant to have had their dates disappear. He was quite certain it had something to do with May and her friends, but he didn't think she'd tell him about what happened anytime soon and he certainly wasn't going to ask. That'd just be awkward.
"Hello? Earth to Drew?"
His thoughts were abruptly cut off as a hand started waving around in front of his eyes. The hand retracted from his vision and jumped off of the counter to face him.
"So, are we gonna get cooking or what?"
"Huh? Oh…yeah," Drew mentally slapped himself back to reality. May raised an eyebrow at him, taking note of his abnormal behavior, before she proceeded to pick up the sugar.
"This is salt, right?"
He stared at his cooking partner then at the giant neon label on the container that read "Sugar". Then he pointed at the door. "I think it'd be best if you go."
"What? But why?!"
Dawn stretched and sighed contently. Lying there on the padded pool chair underneath the cool shade of an umbrella, she felt as if though she were melting into a relaxed puddle. Lifting her shades from her eyes, she peered at the pool. Ash and Misty were currently having a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest. Leaf was watching the contest unfold from nearby and Gary was floating at the opposite end of the pool casually. As Dawn watched, Ash burst to the surface and began to take large gulps of air. Misty came up soon after and grinned over at the gasping boy.
"Never underestimate the lung capacity of a swimmer."
Dawn watched in amusement as Ash ceased his dying-whale sounds caused by his heavy breathing and reached over to dunk Misty underwater. While the pair of them continued their antics, Leaf pulled herself out of the pool and walked over to the chair beside Dawn's.
"It was getting too cutesy over there," Leaf sighed as she plopped down.
"But you gotta admit," Dawn pointed out with an enthusiastic smile, "They'd be a really great couple!"
As Leaf nodded in agreement, Dawn caught notice of Paul sitting on the edge of the pool. A sneaky grin appeared on her face as she decided upon a plan. Setting her sunglasses on the table and standing from her seat, she snuck up behind the unsuspecting plum-haired boy.
"HIYA!"
Dawn could've sworn she saw him flinch before she lurched forward and shoved the startled teen into the water. After a few seconds of bubbling water and laughter, Paul slowly emerged from within the blue waters of the pool. Laughing even harder at the sight of his scowling expression, Dawn nearly fell into the pool herself.
"You look like the Grudge," she giggled, "Except for more purple!"
Her laughter was abruptly interrupted, however, when a hand suddenly latched onto her ankle and tugged. Flailing, she lost her balance and tumbled into the water. Reaching the surface, Dawn spluttered for a moment and wiped some of the water away from her eyes before mock-glaring at Paul.
"How could you do such a thing?" she splashed some water at him. A wave of water came back at her in response.
"Karma," Paul stated calmly before climbing out of the pool. Dawn couldn't see his facial expression clearly due to the water blurring her vision, but she had thought for a moment that there was a slight hint of a smile in his voice. Smiling herself, she fell back and let herself float for a while and daydream.
"Hey!" Ash's voice sounded from the pool chairs area, breaking through her hazy thoughts. Moving to stand in the water, Dawn waded over to where her friends were all sitting.
"What's up Ash?"
The raven-haired boy frowned as he continued to scan the pool area. "Where's Misty?"
"What're you talking about?" the mentioned red-head inquired, "I'm sitting right next to you."
"No, not you, I meant-"
His explanation was interrupted by the sound of something plunging heavily into the pool. Spinning around, Dawn looked over at the source of the sound.
What the-?
"…Now we just put it in the oven." Drew directed. "Did you already preheat it?"
"Yep," May saluted him with a flour covered hand, smearing some of the white powder onto her face in the process. Sliding the casserole into the oven, May triumphantly slammed the door shut.
"I did it!"
"Yes, yes you did…" Drew flipped his hair and looked around at the mess of a kitchen. Flour was covering almost everything, and a broken egg was hanging out on the floor as well. Grabbing a cloth, he wet it under the faucet and began to wipe away some of the flour on the tables. Catching on, May grabbed a dustpan and broom from the closet and began to sweep the floor.
As they worked in silence, Drew's mind began to wander back to what he'd been thinking about earlier. It wouldn't hurt to ask, I guess.
"Hey," he started. May paused from her task and looked over at him.
"What is it?"
"Did you have anything to do with how Brianna and her friends disappeared from the restaurant last night?" he asked straightforwardly.
May flushed a little, thinking back to the previous night's events, before turning back to sweeping the floor.
"…Maybe."
Drew smirked a little before also turning back to cleaning the countertops. "Well, thanks."
"Huh?" May looked up, not expecting his response.
"You saved my life, pretty much," Drew continued with a sigh, "I don't think I could've put up with that crazy stalker chick for another second."
A short silence followed his comment, and he turned to look at May when he received no response. After another moment, May set her broom aside.
"Do you really not like Brianna?" she inquired, tilting her head at him.
Drew thought about this for a moment before shrugging. "Well, I don't hate her, but let's face it; she seems to like me a little too much."
"But…" May spoke hesitantly, "It's kind of admirable how she likes you so much without relent."
Drew flicked his hair. "I guess, but she hardly even knows me. All she knows is what I've told those dumb magazines and TV shows."
She blinked. "Oh, that's right…Y'know, most of the time I actually forget that you're famous."
Drew paused at these words for a moment. Then, he gave one last swipe at the counter before walking around the island to pick up May's abandoned broom. Turning towards her, he gave her a lopsided half-smile.
"And that's what I like about you the most."
He began to lean in towards her. May was paralyzed with shock as his face neared hers, and she shut her eyes instinctively, filled with sudden anticipation. What is he…?
Her breath hitched in her throat as something brushed her forehead. Then, she felt him move away and she opened her eyes to see Drew wiping his hand with the cloth.
"You had flour on your forehead," he explained, not quite meeting her gaze.
While he walked back to the closet to put away the broom and dustpan, May slowly raised a hand and placed it on her forehead where his hand had made contact. Moving the hand to her cheeks, she realized that they were flushed-and not from the sudden heat either.
Wait a minute, sudden heat?
May whirled around and was horrified to see smoke coming out from around the oven door. As the house's sprinkler system and smoke detector went off and began to shriek, the panicking girl looked around for her grass-headed companion.
"Drew!" she yelled over the sound of the alarm, "HELP!"
Instantly, he was back and in front of her. "What on Earth happened?"
"I don't know! Do something!"
"Didn't you heat the oven to 350 degrees?"
"I did!"
Drew waved away some of the increasing amount of smoke before cautiously approaching the oven and checking the screen.
"That's not three hundred fifty," he yelled upon inspection, "That's freaking three thousand, five hundred!"
"Oh shi-"
May broke off into a scream as Drew opened the oven door and the oven promptly somehow gave birth to a giant fireball. Closing the door just in time to stop the giant spherical flame from escaping, Drew backed away and ran to get the fire extinguisher he'd seen in the closet before.
May quickly took action as well and began to open all the windows while sighing in defeat.
That's it. I'm never cooking again.
Meanwhile at the same time…
"Misty!" Ash practically screamed, pointing towards the pool. At this point, Misty was almost certain that Ash was either hallucinating or she was suddenly invisible.
"I'm right here Ash!" she hitting him with her mallet, hoping it would bring him back to reality.
"I think he's talking about the dog," Gary sweatdropped, pointing to the dog floundering in the pool.
"Ohhhh," came a chorus of voices who finally got what Ash was talking about.
"Don't worry, I'm coming for you," Ash called out to his pet, ready to dive into the water. However, Misty was faster and was already in the water and swimming towards the drowning puppy. Grabbing hold of the canine, she lifted the animal up and above the surface of the water and slowly pushed herself over to the side of the pool. Setting the furry little being down, Misty leaned against the side of the pool to catch her breath.
"Thank you Mist," Ash sighed with relief as he draped a towel over his dog. He offered a hand to help Misty out of the pool, which she accepted gladly.
"Is she alright?" Misty nodded at the golden-furred dog between them.
Ash nodded with a grin. "Sure is, thanks to you!"
By this time, their other friends had gathered around as well.
"Thank goodness Misty's a great swimmer," Leaf sighed.
"Yeah," Dawn agreed, "But I thought that a dog like…Misty…would know how to swim anyway."
"Well, technically golden retrievers should all be able to swim properly," Gary interjected. "But sometimes they have a fear of water and can drown nonetheless."
"Thank you, Mr. Dog Expert," Leaf rolled her eyes as Gary gave her an indignant stare.
"Hey, I was just trying to explain!"
"So Ash," Misty continued her conversation with Ash, "Why'd you name her Misty?"
"I dunno," Ash shrugged and gave a sheepish smile. "She kinda reminds me of you; she drags me everywhere and she barks at me whenever I do something wrong."
Misty frowned.
"Oh, and she's cute too," Ash continued.
"You think Misty is cute?" Dawn gasped.
"Well, ye-"
Ash broke off as the meaning of the words he'd said came back to him. "Wait no, I meant the dog Misty was cute. Not that you're not cute either Misty. Wait, um, I mean…"
As Misty blushed at the words coming from the confused boy's mouth, said confused boy was saved as Gary changed the topic.
"I bet it's confusing for Misty, I mean human Misty, to have the same name as your pet."
At this, Ash frowned and turned to the red-head. "Is that true?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Misty admitted. "Although I am flattered you'd name her after me."
Everyone was quiet for a moment before Dawn voiced a suggestion.
"Why don't you just call the dog Misty Junior or something?"
Ash thought for a moment before perking up.
"Yeah! MJ for short!" he agreed.
"Ahem," Paul coughed, interrupting the ongoing conversation and subsequently received the attention of the whole group.
"I hate to interrupt, but I think I heard the smoke detector go off from inside a little while ago."
For a few seconds, everyone thought about how Paul had spoken that many words. Then, for another few seconds, everyone thought about how the smoke detector had gone off.
"I can't believe I forgot that May and Drew were cooking in the house," Leaf commented.
This brought everyone else back to life, and, with horrified expressions, they all ran for the back door of the house. Reaching the kitchen, they looked on with wide eyes. The kitchen was filled with smoke and its acrid smell, and as they watched, Drew emerged from within the smoke.
Turning to his friends with an exasperated expression, he sighed.
"We're ordering take out tonight, okay?"
A/N: So, since I live in Canada, today was Boxing Day (Canadian and commonwealth countries' version of Black Friday)! I was personally too lazy to drive into the city and brave the giant crowds, but, according to my friend, you had to wait an hour and a half just to get into one of the stores in the mall. It sounded like it was pretty busy out there. XP
Anyhow, thanks to Guest ("Contestshipper16" right?), videogamenerd101, Pokegirl185 and L. X. ie for your reviews. :) They mean a lot to me, so thank you, thank you, thank you!
Until the next chapter!