Sorry that this chapter is short.

"So, how was studying yesterday with Emilie?" Lyra asked Carlos as he sat across from her at lunch. Proton now sat with Lyra and her friends at lunch, and Carlos claimed that Lucia was going to help him with science at lunch, so he joined their table as well. Which, was true, she was helping him with homework. Lyra loved having both boys at her table. She got to hold Proton's hand and steal his food and be very happy with him. She also got to hear Carlos and he's little arguments that made them all laugh.

"He fucked it all up." Emilie said, overhearing them. She crouched between Jo and Lyra and shook her head.

"What? He couldn't get what you were teaching?" Jo asked. Breeding was difficult, but even she was understanding it.

"No. He ran into Nate yesterday and fucked it all up with her."

"Nooooo, I was rooting for you two." Sakutaro whined.

"What the hell did you do?" Proton asked, looking at him.

"I, uh, well, I was tired and frustrated. I was in a really foul mood." He started. "And I did bad on my mythology quiz and Nate looked really disappointed when I told her and I thought was going to say something mean to me so I told her-"

"To not be a bitch about it and that all she ever does is bitch at him." Emilie interrupted, tired of him taking forever to get to the point.

"What the hell!" Proton exclaimed.

"Dude!" Jo shook her head.

"I can't believe you said that." Lucia murmured.

"Oh Carlos…" Lyra sighed.

"I know and I feel horrible. She looked so hurt by it. She hates me now, I know it." He frowned, running a hand through his hair. "She called me an asshole and told me to fuck off. She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you." Sakutaro said. "That's probably how she reacts to things like that. She didn't want to show you that you really hurt her feelings, so she got angry and acted like she didn't care. Nate is the type of person who would do that. I bet you really hurt her feelings."

"Great." Carlos groaned. "She won't even look at me."

"Just give her a day or two." Lyra said, trying to cheer him up. "She'll probably be better tomorrow."

"She tried to kill me today in gym class." Carlos announced as he plopped down in his seat. His eyebrows looked they someone attempted to burn them off.

"We noticed…" Lyra shook her head.

"You ass!" Lily said, glaring at Carlos. She approached the table and put her hands on her hips. "How the hell could you say that to her after she agreed to help you?"

"I didn't mean to."

"But you still said it." Lily growled. "She just told me about it. You know how upset she was? I could destroy you!"

"Please don't!" Lyra said. "He's really sorry, you know that Lily. You know he would never say that to Nate and mean it. He's just under a lot of pressure right now."

"He better fix this." She threatened. "I refuse to let another asshole come in and make her so unhappy!"

"He will fix this." Proton said, his eyes fixing on Carlos. "But you need to fix all of this first." He told Lyra. "Before the Magmas decide to jump Carlos and beat the shit out of him."

Lyra looked at all the gangs lined up outside where gym class was normally held. She had planned this all out. Once she was done and went home, she was going to upload all the pictures from Spring Break so they would all be able to see how much fun they had together to really get them to see what they could be if they just got along.

"Okay, the people I call, please step forward." She announced. "All of the Plasmas, Emilie, Saturn, Cassius, Gabi, Brodie, Nate, Proton, and Carlos." Everyone except Cassius looked confused, since he knew what was going on. "Congrats!" Lyra cheered. "You have all won the game! Please step to the side by me!" She pointed to a spot and the all moved there.

"What's going on?" Ariana asked.

"Time for me to come clean to you guys. The teachers didn't want all of you competing against one another to see who the best gang was, they wanted you all to get along and bond, so you wouldn't fight as much. I honestly was not keeping score of anything you did." She said, a little nervous, but pushing it aside when Cassius gave her a supportive nod. "I'm sorry that I lied to all of you. Really."

She took another breath. "The people that won were the people that accepted other gang members. They didn't care at all. You…" She said, glaring at the ones who were in front of her, "are the absolute worst friends I have ever seen. You forbid your gang members to be with people that make them happy, just because their friend is in another gang. I'm still talking!" She shouted, glaring at Ariana when she tried to interrupt her. "Once again, I'm sorry I lied, to all of you." She turned to the people beside her. "But remember how happy we were at the beach and you were all getting along? Before they ruined it?" She questioned, pointing to the people standing in front of her.

She turned to the people in front of her. "Most of you probably don't like me, I don't really care to be honest. I just want you all to see what you did to your 'friends'." She said. "You made them miserable. You made them sneak behind your back so they could be with people they had common interests with, who they got along great with. You stressed them out, all because of a stupid rivalry. Well, guess what? None of you will be here next year. They will be running the gangs. You won't. So get over it." Lyra said. "You won't have control over them, and right now, you have no control over them. You all need to rethink what you did. You're dismissed. Congrats again to the winners." She smiled, everyone still in shock.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Proton asked as he walked to his car.

"I wasn't allowed to tell. Lucia and the others knew, Cassius too, but that's because I needed to use his beach house." Lyra shrugged, holding his hand tightly. "I'm sorry, you're not mad, right? Besides, I did tell you the point of the games weren't to crush one another. Remember? I told you when we went and got ice cream a while back.

"No, why would I be?" He asked. "Oh yeah…I do remember that…that was a long time ago. Well, it feels like a long time ago. Do I get a prize for being a winner?"

"Hm, well you get a kiss. I won't kiss the others." Lyra smirked, kissing him. "I just hope they still want to be my friend…"

"Of course we will." Minuet smiled, coming up from behind her. "The plasmas dominated today."

"That's just because N runs you guys and he hates it when we all fight." Cassius rolled his eyes as he unlocked his car. "Glad I won though."

"We won." Gabi reminded him, sliding into the car. "Thanks Lyra." She smiled and Cassius gave her a thumbs up and got into his car.

"Told you." Proton smirked, opening the car door for her.

"Psh, I owned all of you guys!" Emilie exclaimed as she started her car, music already blasting. "I HEAR THE PEOPLE SING. SING A SONG OF A VICTIORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL, YOUNG WOMAN!" She sang happily. "ALSO KNOW AS ME!"

"Sounds more like Lyra." Carlos winked at Lyra and Proton elbowed him as he climbed into the back of Proton's car. "Library time!" He said, needing to study for the math test that was tomorrow. Thursday was going to suck

"They adore you." Proton told her, giving her another kiss before shutting the door and going around the car to get in on his side.

Carlos felt himself relax as he continued to jog Thursday night. He only had one more exam to take, mythology. Math had gone better than expected. He knew he should be at home studying for the exam tomorrow, but he could barely focus. It all reminded him of Nate and he started to feel horrible about what he had said to her. She still wouldn't look at him. If she saw him in school, she would just turn the other direction and act as if he wasn't there. He'd rather have her yelling at him than ignoring him.

He slowed down as he entered the park. It was empty, except one lone person sitting on a bench as their arcanine raced after a ball.

"Nate?" Carlos asked as she approached the bench from behind.

"What the hell!?" She was startled by him and dropped her book. She picked it back up and glared at him. She looked for her pokemon, but it was still chasing after the ball. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Jogging." He answered, looking at his phone. It was only 11pm. "What are you doing out here?" He knew she was pissed at him.

"Playing with arcanine and reading." She put her book into her bookbag. "Plus I sort of got locked out of my parents' houses."

"What?"

"I left my keys on the kitchen counter in my mom's house. She's gone until tomorrow afternoon and my dad is in the next town over on business, so, I'm locked out." She explained, embarrassed and still mad at the boy.

"Nate." He sighed. "I'm really really sorry for what I said to you the other day. I really am. I didn't mean it at all."

"I don't care." She said, sitting down on the bench. He sat down next to her, even though she didn't want him too. She scooted away from him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Yes, I know you do care. Lily told me today that you were really upset about it."

"She can't keep her mouth shut.." Nate growled.

"I've barely been able to focus on anything because of it. I know, I'm an asshole, I suck, I'm awful. You didn't deserve what I said to you, and I didn't mean it, trust me, I really didn't. I love it when you nag me and yell at me."

"You do?" She asked and arcanine trotted up. He smelled Carlos and rubbed his head against the boy, who scratched the pokemon's chin.

"Yes, I love it. I think it's cute. It means you care enough to nag me and worry about me." Carlos said, looking at the large pokemon. "Why don't you stay at my place tonight? I can't just leave you out here. I promise not to be all cranky and grumpy."

"Fine." She grumbled, getting up. "I'm not cute."

"Yes, yes you are. Look, you're getting all pouty." He smirked down at her and she glared, her face getting red.

"Shut up!" She said. "Or I won't help you study for the exam!"

"Carlos." His brother whispered, waking him up. "Don't want to alarm you, but there's a girl sleeping on our couch.

"What the hell?" Carlos yawned, it was 5am. "I know. It's Nate. Locked out of house. Tired." He mumbled out and hit his brother. "Sleep." He was up until 2am studying with Nate. It ended with her handing over her book filled with sticky notes, doodles, and notes all about the legendary pokemon for him to study.

"Never thought you'd be so calm about it." His brother left the room and Carlos fell back asleep. He didn't know how long it had been, but someone was now shaking him.

"Carlos, get up." Nate's voice broke through his dream and he cracked open one eye. She had her hands on his arm and was shaking him.

"Let me sleep." He whined, falling in and out of the dream world. She shook him again.

"It's 7!"

"7?" He questioned, sitting up in bed.

"We're going to be late! Maxie is going to kill us if we're tardy, you know he hates it when people are tardy to his class." She said frantically. "Please tell me you have like, a plaid button up shirt I can wear and pull off as my own shirt. I can't wear the same shirt two days in a row." She said and went through his closest. Carlos watched her, amused. She found one and ran out of the room to change. "This will work!" She exclaimed, coming back in and buttoned a few of the buttons up. It was a little big, but fit fine. She continued to rant about being late and Carlos watched her leave his room then come back in, trying to get her hair into ponytail or bun, he wasn't listening to her at all.

"Carlos!" She said, pulling his arm. "C'mon, get out of bed you lazy bum!" She exclaimed. He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, making their lips collide.

"Both of you tardy?" Maxie asked as Nate and Carlos scurried in a few minutes after the late bell.

"Car trouble." Carlos lied, shrugging. Lily shot Nate a look, knowing that the shirt she was wearing was definitely not her's and that she had tons of explaining to do.

"My alarm clock died on me and didn't go off. Sorry sir." Nate lied and Maxie believed her, but gave Carlos an unsure look.

"Looks like someone got some." Minuet joked and Nate glared at her.

"We just showed up at the same time." Nate said, shrugging. "It happens."

"Lie." Lily said, her eyes narrowing.

"What are you? Some lie detector?" Carlos asked, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "It's just a coincidence." He said and looked at Nate. "Right Nate?"

"Right." She said back, nodding her head. "Things happen."

"They have to be dating." Lily murmured to Lyra at lunch that afternoon. Lily was about to go sit with Flint, but she had to get Lyra's opinion.

"I don't think so." Lucia shook her head. "She's not mean to him, but they aren't acting like they're seeing each other."

"I have a gut feeling. That shirt she's wearing reeks of Carlos." Lily explained.

"What's going on?" Proton asked.

"Lily thinks Nate and Carlos have a thing going on or something." Lyra explained.

"I need to know too." Jo said, narrowing her eyes.

"I think they're being silly." Lyra said and held Proton's hand. He smiled at her and shrugged.

"Ah, I think there is something going on. Maybe they aren't dating, but, they are something." Proton said.

"What's up?" Carlos asked, sitting down at the table. Lily looked at him and he looked back. "….What's….going on Lily…?"

"I'm watching you buddy. If you make her cry I will end you." She threatened.

"Okay." Carlos said. "Well, that was great."

"Are you and Nate dating?!" Jo asked, needing to know.

"Who the hell told you that?" He asked, surprised. "Not dating."

"I don't believe you." Sakutaro said, shaking his head.

"What are you two then? You guys keep sneaking looks at each other." Jo exclaimed. "Something happened. Did you kiss her?"

"What?" He asked, his jello falling off of his fork.

"They must have." Sakutaro said, nodding his head.

"We just happened to show up late to first period together!" Carlos exclaimed. "Seriously."

"When did she give you her book?" Lily asked.

"What?" Carlos asked, looking down at the sticky note filled book.

"That's hers. She's had it for two years. She carries it with her whenever she goes. It's her legendary pokemon book her dad got for her. She never lets anyone borrow it."

"You know…Carlos…I've seen you wear that shirt that Nate is wearing before…" Proton muttered as he looked at the girl at her table. They all turned to look at her. She noticed. Her face went red and she looked down.

"Something happened." Sakutaro announced.

"Last week of school, aren't you excited?" Lyra asked Monday morning as she and Proton walked to his second period.

"Sort of." He shrugged, looking at the door to his class. "It says to go to gym this period. Guess Professor Oak is out sick."

"Yay! That means you are in gym with me." Lyra beamed and pulled him down the hall. "It'll be so great."

"I hear your gym class is usually very exciting." Proton said as they headed outside for the class.

"We just have a wide range of personalities." Lyra sighed.

"Guys!" Carlos exclaimed, startling both of them by how suddenly he appeared. "Guys guys guys I passed!" He waved a paper in front of their faces. Proton took it and read it over.

"With A's and B's at that." Proton said, nodding his head in approval. "Good job."

"You did it!" Lyra hugged him, excited. "I told you that you could do it!"

"I can't believe I did it." He hugged her back and then let her go. "I told Emilie and she sang some song. It freaked me out."

"That sounds like something she would do." Lyra said and looked around the gym class. A lot more people were here than usual. Probably because Professor Oak was sick and his class was told to come to gym.

"Did Carlos tell you?" Gabi asked as Lyra and Proton walked over to her and Cassius. Shelly was off in some battle with some other student.

"Yes!" Lyra smiled.

"I'm so happy for him." Gabi smiled back and Cassius rolled his eyes. "Don't be grumpy. You know you would hate it if you didn't have Carlos to argue with next year."

"Did he pass?" Lucia asked as she came outside. "I can't believe professor Oak is sick."

"I know. Yeah, he did." Proton told her.

"Good!" Emilie nodded her head and joined them. "I refused to let him fail, especially after I tutored him. I have wonderful teaching methods."

"Probably the yelling method, right?" Minuet joked as she joined the group.

"Are you for real!?" They heard Nate shout and turned to look at her and Carlos. "You did it!" She exclaimed and he hugged her, lifting her off the ground.

"No moving for me!" He said happily, planting a kiss on her head while he hugged her tightly.

"What the fuck?" Emilie questioned, looking at the two. "When did they….ARE YOU TWO DATING?!"

"We are now!" Carlos replied, putting the girl down.

"WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME? NO ONE TELLS ME ANYTHING." Emilie shouted.

"To be fair, we didn't know either." Lyra said to try and calm her down.

"Yeah, we were only going to date if I passed." Carlos said as he and Nate joined them. "Nate's rule. She said there was no point in us even going on a date if I was going to end up moving away."

"So you were wearing his shirt Friday!" Lily exclaimed, joining the group.

"Yes." Nate sighed.

"I knew it!" She said and shook her head. "WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME THINGS?"

"SAME HERE I DESERVED TO KNOW!" Emilie whined.

"This is why." Nate grumbled, but Carlos ruffled her hair and smiled.

"Aw, did we miss you two's first kiss?" Lily asked.

"Blame Carlos for that one…"

"You know, none of this would have happened if you didn't come here." Proton said after the two left the chatty group.

"It's pretty amazing now that I think about it.." She smiled, watching all her friends laugh and talk with each other. She held Proton's hand and looked at him. "I wouldn't have you if I didn't come here."

"I know. How sad would that be?" He chuckled. "I'd still be mean and cruel if you never showed up."

Lyra smirked at him and he put his arm around her.

"Hey! Stop being all lovey doveyyyyy!" Minuet shouted at them. "Let's battle! Couple style!"

"We're in." Gabi said and Cassius grabbed one of his pokeballs.

"Us too!" Lily exclaimed and Flint nodded his head.

"Time for us to win!" Emilie said with Cheren beside her.

"We'll win." Jo said as Morty joined her.

"No, we will." Lucia said confidently as Saturn joined her.

"Are you kidding? We'll light you guys up!" Nate exclaimed and Carlos grinned.

"Guess we'll have to show them who's the best, right?" Proton asked, looking at Lyra.

"Of course."

FIN

(No worries, I still have the epilogue to post)