A/N: So…this took me all summer to write -_- I mean, I worked really hard on this chapter to get it just right but, seriously, I have lost any ability for speedy updates. That has to do with school and personal motivation I guess. But you guys don't wanna hear about that! You guys want to read the chapter already! And I don't blame you, you've waited long enough.

Just so you know though, remember a few times I told you all that I wanted to keep my chapters under 10,000 words? Well I've decided to just throw that word count out the window. I have a plan for these last ten or so chapters, and I don't want to split anymore of them up. Plus, it means that no matter how long it takes to update the story, you lovely readers will get a lot of content all at once! Feast or famine, am I right? Okay, that's enough out of me until the end. Hope you guys like it!

Standard disclaimers apply. That is all.


Chapter 53: Cold Light

Misty

When I was twelve, I had my first experience with hospitals.

Having known Ash Ketchum for two years' prior, most people would be surprised it took me so long.

Winter was always mild in Kanto, but even the moon turned blue once in a while. Four years ago, the region was completely unprepared for the freak blizzard dubbed "Hurricane Articuno" by the newscasters, named for the only explanation of it being the wrath of a god-like legendary bird. Every mainland city was effected, and the population of Kanto was forced to adapt to the harsh conditions with collective exasperation; all the while Ash and I and every other kid our age or younger celebrated the first and possibly only chance we'd get to play out in actual snow.

But somewhere amidst the snow angels, Pokémon sculptures, and ultimate snow-fortress building (followed by the most bloodthirsty snowball-war Kanto would ever see), I'd lost my gloves somewhere or another. However, instead of worrying about it, I'd simply proceeded to enjoy the rest of the day with just the bare skin of my hands in negative degree weather.

I hadn't even noticed them hurting until Ash's mom was dropping me off in front of the gym. Delia was the one to notice, her usually sweet and comforting voice rising in pitch when I went to open the door of her car. By then I'd realized I could barely even feel my fingers as I gazed down at my new waxy, pale-blue skin in one-part fascination and two-parts unease.

Delia was the one to drive me to the hospital that day. Delia was the one who stayed with me as the doctors warmed up my skin. Delia was the one who comforted me when blisters started to form all over my skin as my blood circulation returned to normal. And Delia was the one who looked at me with a sad sort of understanding when she realized I wasn't crying, complaining, or panicking through the experience of my blood tendons thawing. She had just held my shoulders and assured me that I'd be okay.

Meanwhile I couldn't stop myself from mulling over this new information. Frostbite, I had learned, was when your skin and muscles started to develop ice crystals and freeze from the inside out. It started out painfully, but then became numb over time. And even when you eventually couldn't feel it, it was still hurting you regardless of your awareness of any pain.

Finally, I'd thought to myself, now I have a name for that feeling. The pain that kept on killing you long after it had stopped hurting. The same feeling I'd get whenever I thought about my sisters, and how none of them were even at the gym that day to let me in the front door, let alone get me to a doctor. Not that they would even if I asked them too. My fingers could start falling off one at a time and they probably wouldn't bat an eye in my direction.

I realized that day that my best friend's mother had more concern for my health and well-being then my flesh and blood guardians. I remembered that insight hurting for a brief moment, but then soon it faded into unfeeling as my mind accepted the explanation for just about every other memory of my sister's negligence. Just like my fingers. Internal frostbite.

I felt that interior frost now like an inner avalanche, burying me in ice so thick that I couldn't breathe. The three young women looked at me expectantly from down in front of the stage, glares of varying hues ordering me to come to them while I stood frozen in the blinding spotlights, everyone waiting with baited breath to see what I'd do next.

For a split second I considered running away. A fail-safe plan back when I was ten. I could lose them easily enough in the crowd, but where would I go after that where they wouldn't find me? It also didn't help that I presently couldn't feel my legs.

I barley registered the nudge to my shoulder. "Mist," a voice that sounded like Leaf's called out to me quietly, "Are those three girls who I think they are?"

The orchestrators of my eternal torment? The famous dance trio? The worst gym leaders in all of Kanto? My sisters? All of the above.

I found that while thinking the words came easily, my mouth was undergoing a system reboot. It felt like someone had poured about a pound of wet cement down my throat and now it was starting to harden. I nodded dumbly in response to her question, no doubt she'd be able to realize the neon-haired harpies identities from my many past (and unpleasant) descriptions of them alone.

"Oh boy," Leaf murmured dreadfully. I registered movement from the way the image of my ever-pristine siblings vanished from the center of my field of vision. Leaf seemed to be pulling me by my arm down the stairs, the sound of footsteps pounding against the metal stage behind me was the only indication of May and Dawn's following.

I dared not look back at them. I could only imagine what would be written across their faces.

Whatever Leaf's plan had been when we got down into the crowd went up in smoke as the sea of on-looking students backed up and formed a semi-circle several feet away from the four of us. It was reminiscent of the kind of rings that formed when a fist-fight broke out. Daisy, Violet and Lily easily cut us off from any escape route our fellow students could have provided us.

Not that I was at all surprised. The Sensational Sisters has gone to the trouble of making an attention-drawing entrance. They weren't going to pass up the chance to put on a show. Especially if it meant publicly berating me was their added bonus.

Daisy stood in the center of the three of them, always a step in front of the group, the superiority of being the eldest garnering her the status of a leader (if only in her own head). Her green eyes were like sea-glass as they cut into me, but I was too busy remembering how to breathe to muster a glare back at her. My thoughts were caught somewhere in the middle of denial that this was actually happening and trying to muster my usual angry defensiveness that had protected me against them for all these years.

This time they'd blind-sided me, leaving me to spin out of control on an icy stage. The three of them just looked on, admiring their work with smug satisfaction, while I was left dazed and fallen for the whole world to see.

The on-going cacophony of the gawking student's murmurs drew my eldest sister's gaze away from me, as if she'd briefly forgotten about the audience of young people that encircled us; bloodthirsty carnivores waiting to watch the slaughter. Every muscle in her face contorted together at once, shifting her expression from bored annoyance at the distraction, to curious intrigue. Her jade irises slid back to me, without their cold intensity from seconds ago.

Daisy Waterflower smiled, the upward crack of her lips like a splitting iceberg. My jaw fell of its own volition, that small grin striking more dread into my gut than any look of rage ever could.

"Oh my," Daisy's voice purred loudly, silencing the audience instantaneously The quiet of the some-hundred rich-kids was punctuated only by the rapid beating of my pulse. How one woman could capture so many people's attention with such rapid ease would be impressive, if I hadn't already seen it dozens of times before.

"It seems we're interrupting something here, girls," Daisy said as if talking to the others at her side, when really the sheer volume of her projecting made it blatantly obvious who she really wanted to hear her. "What a mess! We were in such a rush, we didn't even notice! Breaking up such an awesome party!? That's not something the Sensational Sisters would ever do!"

And there it is. They've been here all of, oh, five minutes? Time for some shameless self-promotion amidst my downfall.

The saddest part was, it worked. Like it always did. Not a second after the disgusting alliterative title left her lips, the crowd was already abuzz with fandom chatter. The Sensational Sisters? The famous dance trio from Kanto!? Here!?

Just kill me now before I have to do it myself, I pleaded, knowing it was only going to get worse from here.

"You're right Zee," Violet's eyes spun on the buzzing crowd, always the first to rush to Daisy's prompts. "And after coming all the way to a city as beautiful as Hearthome! With an even more beautiful school full of such promising students!" she laid it on thick, her cool voice caked with fake sincerity.

"Like, totally beautiful, Vee," Daisy agreed. "What kind of first impression on our international fans is that? To just up and surprise everyone without ANY warning or communication!? What kind of person does that?"

Arceus, buddy, don't leave me like this! All I need is one tiny hole to open up and swallow me. I'd rather take my chances in the distortion world with Giritina than face this! I prayed hopefully.

"We've got a pretty good idea though, don't we?" the cruel taunt coming from the last of the trio, Lily's signature arrogance on full display as she latched on to her older sister's game. "In fact, I'd say WE were just as surprised as anyone here, if not more by that shocking performance just now."

Guess I'm on my own. Thanks for nothing, Great Creator! Although if this all goes poorly, I may just get my death wish after all.

I'd seen this same song and dance routine for as long as I could remember, each of my sisters taking turns in what looked like a rehearsed skit while they deliberately dragged out blaming me for whatever they'd collectively decided was my fault that day. Only now was I realizing that the one thing I'd taken for granted about all those past naggings was that they'd always happened in the privacy of my own home, away from the public, prying eyes of the ever-judgmental people of the world.

It seemed that particular luxury had been revoked this time around. Now the Waterflower sisters were here, at my school, in front of my best friends, throwing their sugar-coating all over the spectators like it was confetti, and trying to make themselves look like the victims in all of this. All for the sake of an out-of-context argument I'd been purposefully avoiding by ignoring all their attempts at contact since the start of the year.

But I hadn't thought they'd be so persistent as to actually HUNT ME DOWN for whatever was so important that they just had to talk to me about it! Oh, who am I kidding? Why was I even surprised! This was exactly the kind of attention stealing, over-the-top stunt they'd pull. But if they were already fueled with enough spiteful anger about several missed phone calls to consider cross-continental travel necessary for this confrontation, then the pubic verbal humiliation added on top of that was just about as overkill as they could get-!

Oh.

Shocking performance, Lily had said.

The band.

Shit.

Their looks of sincerity-evoking, wounded-Lillipups snapped away from the audience members and back to me in chilling unison, disappearing as easily as if taking off plastic masks. The full weight of their combined feelings of betrayal and anticipation at having caught me in my lie barred down on me like a landslide of free-weights.

"Well now, it seems we all have something in common then. The three of us, as well as everyone else here deserves something of an explanation. Don't they, Misty Waterflower?" Daisy punctuated every single syllable of my name as if she was sharpening them like knives to throw at me.

"Fifty missed phone calls, a five-hour overseas flight out of our own pocket, AND one big secret held over us for what, six months minimum? I'd say the Runt owes us much more than an explanation, but I guess it's a start," Violet added, her voice devoid of any emotion. If logic was an emotion, it would've been personified in the dead-pan of her tone.

And if it was possible to feel the colour my knuckles were turning; I'd know they were bleaching white without even having to look at them, while my fingernails carved out little red crescent-moons in the meat of my palms. They were baiting me. I knew it, I'd fallen for it before. And I knew very well that relying on the steadily boiling rage rising in the pit of my stomach would only lead them to turn whatever I spewed out back at me.

Usually I wouldn't care though. It would be worth it just to release some decent insults back at them. But shaking off the shock of their presence here, in Sinnoh, at my school, IN FRONT of my school, in front of my friends, was proving to be more difficult than expected.

Say something! Stop gawking and say something! My brain screamed silently at the muscles in my slackened jaw and ever-tightening vocal chords.

"I…uh-I…" I gasped in half-formed mumbles. Never had I thought the day would come when I actually felt stupider then the bimbo's posing in front of me.

Lily jumped right on that moment of hesitance with a smirk. "Well that's a first. Not a word to like, say in your defense? That's not like you at all little sister. You usually can't say enough, even when all you've got to say is never very intelligent."

"Well," Daisy raised her arms, gesturing to the wide audience like I could possibly forget it was there, "We gave you several chances to do all of this in private, but since you're apparently not mature enough to handle that, we just figured that you must prefer to have an audience to explain yourself to! Either way, maybe now you'll think twice about lying and sneaking around behind your family's backs!"

"Not to mention ignoring us for months in favor of acting like a spoiled brat." Violet tacked on. "This hissy-fit has gone on long enough. Your loud-mouth temper is officially out of control, and that's like, really saying something considering its you."

"And don't forget, like, tarnishing the Sensational Sister name with that sorry display! I mean, wow Misty. We always knew you were jealous of our success, but pretending to be a rock star to try and compete with us? Now that's just sad," Lily went on.

"Not surprising though," Daisy continued again, the three women never even pausing in their verbal assault. "Getting the shallow end of the gene pool made you totally obsessed with trying to prove yourself. But in the end, all you proved was how incompetent you are without us keeping you out of trouble."

"HEY!"

It was only a matter of time before something gave way to my sisters predictably dramatic (and horrid) behavior. I just hadn't expected it not to come from me.

There was a collective gasp that cut the cord of the on-lookers collection of excited whispers and curious mumblings. Now the attention of our fellow students, enraptured by the unraveling of my life, froze up like they were watching a suspenseful twist in a horror movie. One where the killer stabbed the innocent teenage victims with a chainsaw.

The exclamation had the opposite effect on myself. The frostbitten shock and cold rage that had turned me into a mute ice sculpture all but shattered as the portrait of my three sisters sneering faces became obstructed by a sea of dark blue hair. Every nerve in my body felt like they were all thawing, the tingling of relief slowly coaxing my appendages into feeling again.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Dawn snarled at the model-tall sisters. Until then I hadn't thought it possible for Dawn of all people, even in the peak of her Pop Princess phase, to vocally produce something as dangerous sounding as a snarl. But that was really the only way to describe the noise that had just barked that demand out of Dawns mouth. Despite her petite size, the threat in Dawn's voice alone put her up to equal height with the grown women before us.

Daisy, unsurprisingly, didn't share my awe of the fifteen-year-old girl ordering her to cease and desist her verbal onslaught. Instead she looked down at Dawn like some sort of filth stuck to her designer shoes.

"Excuse me?" Daisy asked slowly, her valley-girl mannerisms all but disappearing, replaced by disrespected outrage.

Dawn didn't even flinch. She even dared to take a step closer, hands planted firmly on her hips as she returned an equally intense glare back at my sister's ever-darkening eyes.

"Don't. Talk. To. Her. Like. That." Dawn repeated, albeit with many intentional emphatic pauses. "There, was that slow enough for you to understand? Or would you rather I spell out every word so you can keep up?"

The blonde certainly hadn't expected such an unafraid response. Daisy, for the first time in my memory, actually looked taken aback, if the widening of her eyes and the flush of her cheeks was any indicator.

"W-Why…you little-!" It was Daisy's turn to stutter, probably debating whether to let Dawn have a real taste of her wrath or preserve her face with the captivated crowd.

"Look, whoever you are," Violet jumped to Daisy's defense, flipping her indigo hair over her shoulder in an act of superiority. "In case it wasn't obvious, this is strictly a family matter. Whatever your association is with our little sister, this is like, really none of your business," Violet explained as if talking down to a child.

"Actually it, like, totally is our business," Leaf stepped to Dawn's side, flipping her hair as well and doing the most astounding valley girl impression I'd ever heard. Frankly I'd never known Leaf was capable of something so accurate yet so insulting. "Because we're not just Misty's bandmates, we're her best friends. And whether or not you have a good reason to be mad at her, we're sure-as-hell not gonna stand back and let you gang up on her like this."

Violet's response to that was even less intelligent than Daisy's had been. Mainly sputtering and scoffs filled in the blanks where words should be as her mouth gaped like a Magikarp. But not even two of our older sister's failure to retaliate could deter Lily from trying to defend their honor.

"Aw, how adorable! Misty's got her own wannabe bodyguards to fight her battles for her now. Guess she figured she was obviously no match for us with words as well as in beauty and talent! Too bad the girls she got don't measure up any better," Lily laughed obnoxiously.

"The only thing the three of you obviously are in comparison to Misty is OBVIOUSLY FAKE!" May looked like she'd been waiting for an excuse to jump on in to this fight. "You think that just by saying that you guys are more smart, beautiful and talented actually makes it true!? You're all talk and no action, you pink-haired freak!"

"What did you call me!?" Lily growled, a temper similar to my own flaring in her blue eyes.

"You heard me, cotton-candy head!" May responded with equal fire.

This…this was new. For all my life, I'd gotten so used to taking all of my sisters words point blank. Most of the time I would give back as good as I got but, by now I was used to the sting of the fight, deflecting each slur with ease even when some of them left dents in my armor. I was hardened and prepared for vocal shot-taking because it was just another part of my life. This was…

This was sunlight. For whatever reason, the only thing that came to mind, watching the three girls I'd known for two years now, laughed with, argued with, practiced with, celebrated with, going toe-to-toe with the women who raised me to think of frostbite as comforting, was sunshine. The warm yellow rays that soaked so deep into your skin you could almost forget what it was like to be cold. For someone like me, who found security and solace in winter weather, this warmth was a pleasure I'd never known in such a way.

I felt warm, watching the six girls look like they were about to strangle each other any second. Every cell in my body felt like it was vibrating with the warmth building up inside me from witnessing such a comical display. Soon every cell turned into every vein, every muscle, until it felt like my whole body was shaking with the balmy, cheery feeling. And the heat kept on building, threatening to split me open unless I gave in and released it.

I burst out laughing. I didn't even try to hold back as I broke the oh-so-serious silence and laughed long and loud at the situation in front of me. I didn't know if I was happy, terrified, or just plain going insane, but I honestly couldn't think of a better response to all this. Clutching my stomach, I let go and let the hysterical laughter pour out of wherever it had come from. I was unsurprisingly, the only one who found such an arrangement so amusing. But I honestly didn't regret a single snort.

"You think this is funny, Runt!?" Daisy recovered first, sounding as if she was losing the battle to contain her fury.

That easily broke me out of my fit, my giggles calming down and letting me catch my breath; my sister's demand for attention bringing the gravity of the situation back down on me. Wiping the moisture from my eyes, I felt more like myself than I had since my sister's arrival. The cold shock was gone and not a single bone in my body felt stiff or tight anymore. I met all three angry gazes with every ounce of confidence I owned.

"Yeah actually," I admitted, wiping away the last of my tears. I squeezed my way in between my friends, coming to face the three flower-themed girls alongside them. "But enough is enough, I suppose. Unless you three want to continue losing your argument to three girls a decade younger than you. If that's the case than feel free to keep going, but I can't promise I won't laugh."

I could tell Daisy had officially lost any patience she'd had when she got here. I'd recognize that angry crease in her forehead anywhere. I could hear the blood vessels in her brain simultaneously popping in rhythm.

"Now you listen here-" Daisy started, her angry whisper building slowly to a raspy rumble.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Daisy was abruptly cut off. The crowd quickly receded like the drawback of a shoreline getting sucked away by an approaching tsunami. Parting the sea of students was none other than our principal, Cynthia's mane of platinum blonde hair swaying behind her on the evening wind as she approached our small group of pent-up young adults. Flanking her sides were several members of the staff, none of which looked remotely pleased at the altercation taking place at what was supposed to be an event to let off some stress.

My eldest sister's sigh of relief would make even the cheesiest actors groan. "Finally," she breathed, purposefully throwing a tired look our way. "Someone who will listen to reason."

I rolled my eyes so hard at the irony that I swear they reached the back of my skull.

Daisy approached the towering ex-Champion with enough swagger in her step to make anyone believe she was the principal instead of Cynthia.

"Are you the one in charge here?" Daisy asked bluntly.

"That I am," Cynthia responded equally as direct. "And who, might I ask, are you three?"

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We three are 'The Sensational Sisters', hailing from the beautiful city of Cerulean in the Kanto region. It's an honor to meet you Headmistress."

"Principal Cynthia Veil, if you please," Cynthia responded to Daisy, her gaze twitching between the three of them. My blonde sister's sweet act didn't seem to have taken her even slightly off guard. "I can't say that I'm familiar with your reputation."

The three of them flinched at that, not having expected their star-power to not work in their favor here. No one could really be prepared for Cynthia though, even self-absorbed idols like them.

"O-oh? Is that so?" Daisy waved it off. "Well the Sinnoh region is awfully far away from our base of operation, so it's natural to run into someone or another who hasn't heard of us yet. Perhaps you'd prefer a different introduction Principal, ma'am. I'm Daisy Waterflower, and these are my sisters Violet and Lily."

"Kiss-ass," I muttered under my breath. Always trying to impress everyone, JUST to sway them over to her side, that manipulative little-

"Waterflower?" Cynthia's silver gaze glided right over her shoulder to stare at me. "So you're family members of Misty then?"

"Hardly," Lily smirked over her shoulder at me. My fists closed tightly once again on instinct.

"What she meant," Daisy stressed, correcting Lily's flub that sent a look of suspicion crawling across Cynthia's face, "Is that while we're all Misty's older sisters, I'm also her sole legal guardian."

"You say that as if it acts like an explanation as to why you are here," our principal countered. "Though from the looks of this display you've all put on, I'd wager that this is anything but a friendly family visit."

Daisy seemed perturbed by her inability to win Cynthia over. That fact did not however stop her from pressing forward, as usual. Anything the Waterflower Sisters wanted, they usually found a way to get. No matter what obstacle stood in their way.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Daisy asked, her brown-noser act abandoned once proved to be ineffectual. "Well, while it is true that our little sister is in fact the reason for our visit, seeing as you are the principal around here, perhaps we should be directing our concerns to you instead. The main one being…"

Daisy rose up to her full height. The antagonistic look in her eye revealing the uglier of her two faces, the one she only ever used for intimidation to the ends of getting what she wanted, should her innocent sister-knows-best face fail her. I could say whatever I wanted about Daisy behind her back, but in this moment, she looked every bit as much of a gym leader as she bragged she was.

"Why," Daisy stressed, "Was our sister able to switch her major without proper consent?"

I knew it was coming, but it still shot through me like a frozen bullet. I could practically feel the wind passing through the fist-sized whole her question had punched through my abdomen. I hid from the gaze of everyone who stared at me, including the three friends who'd come to defend me.

Cynthia narrowed her gaze at the blonde. "That information is strictly classified between the students, their parents and myself. Why would you wish to be privy to such knowledge?"

"As Misty's legal guardian, I AM privy to that information! And with all due respect, I'm not leaving here without answers, whether it be from her or from you! And if that means standing in the middle of a crowd of high school students to prove my point, then the three of us will be happy to have that long, involved, classified conversation with you right here for anyone to listen to freely. We aren't the ones with anything to hide!"

Cynthia turned her attention away from my demanding sisters to the eyes of the crowd, who once-upon-a-time had been partying freely without a care in the region, looking at the small group of us like we were some sort of freak-show attraction. Their expressions had changed from excited to concerned, and everything in between. It became increasingly obvious that the intent of a night-off from any stressful commotion had vanished as soon as my sisters had waltzed on in.

The look on our principal's face seemed very tired as she turned back towards me, looking almost like she was apologizing. "Misty? Would you come with me please?"

I fought hard not to cringe. Of course Daisy had gotten her way. She always did.

"Everyone, break this all up. It seems the event has ended early, all staff can start ushering the students back to the dorms," Cynthia gave the order, the staff members keeping the crowd back complying as soon as the words were spoken.

"Principal Cynthia, you can't be serious!" Dawn exclaimed, stepping forward in panic.

"I'm sorry Dawn, but as her legal guardian I can't deny her the right to discuss the matter. And I'm afraid that a subject of this magnitude simply cannot be discussed in front of an audience. Misty will have to come with me, along with her sisters to my office to settle this."

Dawn was about to argue further but my hand on her shoulder stopped her. I shook my head as I passed her by, and tried my best to smile. "It's fine Dawn. I knew I'd have to deal with this sooner or later."

"Misty…?" my lead singer trailed off, not knowing how to respond.

"Hang on a second!"

Ash, I thought wistfully. He burst out of the crowd and past the staff trying to push everyone back, pulling everyone's attention to him. He continued from there to ignore the three sisters and focus his outcries purely on our principal.

"Did you not see or hear anything those guys said when they showed up? And you expect Misty to go off and defend herself against them all by herself? No disrespect Cynthia, but that's not fair!" Ash proclaimed.

"Again, you have my sympathies, but there's nothing I can do in this situation. The dealings of school records are between the student in question and their parent OR guardian. No one else should be allowed to intervene in this private matter…" Cynthia explained while Daisy, Violet and Lily sent scathingly victorious looks at my friends as I approached them. Seriously, how old are they supposed to be?

"Then again," Cynthia went on, cutting my sister's victory tour short. "You do make a good point Mr. Ketchum. This may be a family matter, but the Waterflower sisters handling of the situation…left some to be desired."

If Principal Cynthia wasn't my favorite person to have ever walked the earth after that night, then I didn't know who else could surpass her. She stepped around my flabbergasted, open-mouthed sisters as if they weren't even there, choosing to stand between me and them like some kind of referee, although it felt more like she was a shield rather than a person in my eyes.

"Misty, perhaps there's something you can do," Cynthia offered me with a smile so warm it almost made her look like a completely different person than before while she was dealing with the other Waterflowers.

"Huh?" I had no response more intelligent than that.

"We have no choice in the matter of confronting this problem, but I notice that while you only have one guardian, you have here three sisters who all wish to be part of this discussion," Cynthia explained. "In order for me to remain unbiased in hearing both sides of the story, it does hardly seem fair to have you recount your version by yourself. So if you want, I will allow one more advocate as long as you give them permission to be informed of the knowledge we'll be discussing together."

"I…I-uh, yeah! Sure, I-I don't care about that!" I replied enthusiastically.

"Well then? Would you feel more comfortable bringing one of your friends along?" she asked.

I looked back with an unsteady gaze. Only one? When all of them, Ash and the girls included had come to defend me so quickly? How did I choose one person to drag into this mess I'd made?

How could I know if any of them would understand why I had done this?

I looked at Ash, and it was almost like I could read his mind. I knew he wanted nothing more than to follow me and stand between my sisters and I like a brick wall. My last line of defense against their selfishness. I looked then to Dawn, who's eyes shone with a mixture of determination and sadness. I knew she'd fight on my side no matter what I'd done, but she looked so hurt to be totally in the dark about why this was even happening. May was still glaring daggers at Lily, who was probably glaring right back. She'd certainly be my pick if we could settle this all with a wrestling match.

The thing was, as drained as I felt that night, I knew that the thing I always needed to match the Sensational Sisters in a fight was anger. I relied on it so much and so often that it came to me as easily as oxygen, and I always had plenty of it on my own. But this fight wasn't just between the members of my horribly dysfunctional family. Anger by itself wasn't going to win me the day, or even a single match. I had to play this smart.

And as much as I loved them, Ash, Dawn, and May were all too angry to be on the level I needed them to be right now. They were all like me, and I had more than enough anger to spare on my own. What I needed right now, was someone who could keep a cool head.

"Leaf?" I met the worried eyes of my roommate, the very same girl who'd seen how much shock I was in and acted quickly to get me offstage when this whole disaster started. "Will you come?"

Leaf practically jumped in surprise. She looked around as if unsure, gazing at the other three of our friends as if asking if it was okay that she be the one to go. They all looked equally as shocked to have not been asked, but collectively the rage in their eyes dulled. They nodded their heads, pushing her on.

That was all the sign she needed. Leaf rushed to my side and intertwined her fingers with mine, squeezing my hand in support that made my legs feel ten times more stable. "I got you, I promise."

"Let's be off then," Principal Cynthia decided. And with that she started leading the way, not looking back once at the three young women who followed after her.

I glanced back at the three people we were leaving behind. My chest felt like it was constricting every step I took further away from them. But forcing myself to look forward at the backs of my sister's heads just made that tight feeling accelerate.

In the end I settled for looking at the ground and pressed on. My grip on Leaf's hand the only thing giving me the courage to not run away.


"This is unacceptable!"

I jerked from my dozing for the umpteenth time as one of my sisters yelled another complaint at the head of Hearthome Academy. The plush green armchair I sat in was not helping me stay awake as the debate of my alleged crime continued on into the late hours of the night. The sky outside the tall windows framing Cynthia Veil was as black as coal, and the warm lighting of the mahogany office was doing a fine job of putting me to sleep. Had it not been for my loud sisters, I knew I'd be out like a light then and there.

Even Leaf was yawning, looking close to falling asleep standing up from her spot behind my chair. It had been more than an hour of back and forth between my sisters and the principal, mostly just repeating the same things again and again with different wording, all amounting to one thing:

Daisy, Violet, and Lily were upset that I'd transferred to the band program without asking them.

And now they expected some sort of compensation for that.

"I understand you're upset ladies. But I don't know what you want me to do about all of this," Cynthia repeated again. Daisy was bristling at having to actually explain why she deserved to be remunerated instead of just getting what she wanted by putting up a fuss. The golden blonde women took a deep breath as she prepared to start her spiel from the top.

"I want an explanation!" Daisy demanded. "Misty Waterflower was admitted to this school based on the dance audition she submitted. She was allowed to attend this school for a year under the assumption that she would be studying dance! So why was she allowed to switch her program to music!?"

"And as I explained to you," Cynthia sighed. "All students have the option to change their majors within the first half of their full four-year education. Misty is a sophomore, so that opportunity applies to her as well. This school is program focused, but if a student shows tremendous potential in more than one subject, they're more than welcome to switch their majors as long as their grades are acceptable. We have plenty of students here pulling more than one major, or who spend their first year involved in multiple classes across all majors. We only accept students into one program based on their admission information, but we welcome higher pursuit of another field of study should the student have second thoughts."

"I don't care about other students!" Daisy snapped. "Misty is the youngest member of a family of dancers! We allowed her to come here to prove herself as that! A dancer! And to my understanding, you need to get permission to switch programs which I surely didn't give and was never contacted about!"

"Misty Waterflower was given permission to switch her major, it just wasn't from you," Cynthia explained. "It's all here in her file. Misty contacted her mother, who was in the Unova region at the time of the call back in October, and I talked to her myself. She faxed all of the proper paperwork over the next day."

"Misty's- ugh, OUR mother is NOT Misty's legal guardian!" Daisy groaned in exhaustion. "How many times do I have to repeat myself!? I am Misty's sole legal guardian, our mother signed paperwork to grant me legal custody to make the decisions concerning Misty's life! Our mother travels around the world and is never home! Therefore, she had no legal right to give permission for Misty to switch programs because she gave up that right when she made me Misty's guardian! I'm the one who should have been contacted!"

"Our policies state that a parent or guardian can give permission for a major transfer, but if the legality of your claim is true…" Cynthia pondered quietly. "Misty? Were you at all aware of these legal restrictions with asking your mother instead of your sister?"

I shrank down a bit into the verdant velvet lining. It had surely been a while since I'd felt so small.

"She knew exactly what she was doing Principal Veil," Lily answered for me. "She went behind all of our backs on purpose and knowingly kept us in the dark just to get her way!"

"I would thank you to let her speak for herself," Cynthia's voice was like metal, slicing through the air as a warning to Lily to keep quiet unless spoken to. It wasn't often that I got to see my older sisters scolded, so I savored the sight as I prepared myself to speak.

"I…" I started hesitantly. "I asked my mom because I knew she'd be okay with it. And I knew that even if I did ask my sister, she wouldn't even discuss the issue with me. She'd just say no."

"So you did know," Cynthia breathed out, sounding troubled. "While I can sympathize with your reasoning, what you did was still wrong. And now every record we have of your last six months in the band program may become voided now with this falsified consent."

My nails stabbed into my kneecaps. Now that the truth of my deception was out, it felt like my chest cavity had been pried open and now everyone could see my beating heart, exposed to the open air of the office. I'd never had open-heart surgery, but I could easily imagine how it would feel in that moment.

"However," the once-Champion mulled. "This is a rather unusual situation. We've never had a case like this before, and while you did receive invalid permission to switch your program, this isn't just about you anymore. Your major now influences three other gifted students, and now whatever happens involving you will directly impact them as well."

Leaf's hands were steady on my shoulders. I wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure me or herself, but never the less the contact reminded me that I wasn't alone in this.

"So what? You're just going to do nothing?" Lily dared to ask.

"What would you rather I do? The school year is already three-quarters over so it isn't even possible to switch her back into the dance program at this point, neither would that be fair to the three other girls whose grades all depend on your sister's involvement in their performance. And if pursuing music is what Misty really wants, then I must take that into consideration as well," Principal Cynthia reasoned.

"This is unbelievable," Daisy rubbed her temple in annoyance. "We let Misty come to this school strictly to improve her dancing. That intention wasn't, like, pointless! It was my hope that she'd get the training she needed to become an official Sensational Sister, not be given the means to shirk her responsibilities."

"HA," I laughter bitterly. "That's rich! My whole life you told me I'd never be good enough to be a Sensational Sister. You isolated me from every god-damn thing you did! You only started training me yourselves to dance so you could have another excuse to berate me! And now you want me to join you!? You're just using me, like you always do!"

"You are a part of this family, whether you like it or not!" Daisy argued back. "You were always next in line to join the group and you were given the same opportunities and dance training we all had because of that! You always knew that, so don't pretend like this is news to you! This is who we are Misty, and it's who you are too! You acting out and fighting against us at every turn just because you're too sensitive to handle the pressure is no one's fault but your own!"

"WHAT!? You honestly think that's the reason I fight with you all the time!?" I exploded at the hypocrisy of her claims. "You don't know me at all! And you never asked what I wanted, you just up and decided that for me! So what if I asked mom if I could choose something for myself for once in my life!? I don't regret it for a second!"

I collapsed back into the chair behind me, slightly embarrassed at having to lash out in front on Leaf and Principal Cynthia. "Whatever, it doesn't matter anyways. I only needed to buy time until my birthday. I'm sixteen now, so your precious legal custody won't get you anything. You're not the boss of me anymore! I'm not your slave, so just leave me alone!"

"I beg to differ! We are the Sensational Sisters Misty! We have a legacy to uphold! You need to learn how to be part of the team, and you have to answer for this irresponsible behavior! Or should we just get your acting Principal to make you answer for it!?"

"That's enough!" Cynthia silenced us all, standing up from her desk to tower over all of us. My sisters may have been on their feet in heels, but even they didn't measure up to her sheer Champion presence. "Throwing around your success will get you nowhere on the grounds of my school. You may be famous in your home region, but in case you didn't notice you're in my region now. And I didn't give up the title of Champion of my own choice to take orders from the likes of you, OR to stand by while you harass the students under my care!"

"But...Principal Cyn-" Lily started,

"I don't care if you are her family, if you cannot behave civilly than this will never get resolved. Now it's already late and we haven't made any progress. We need to either make a decision on what to do next or reconvene at another time to discuss this further, after we've all had some rest. Any objections?" Cynthia asked, straining to contain her frustrations any further.

Violet was the first to speak again, controlled and as humble as she could manage to sound. "Please, forgive our mistake ma'am. We meant no disrespect, but you must understand where we're coming from. To be kept out of such an important decision, one that violates the terms of why our sister was allowed to attend this school, surely you must consider our position?"

"Well it seems pretty obvious to me what needs to be done," Daisy spoke up, turning away from the principal's desk. The whole foot of height between us made all the difference as she looked down at me. "Misty, we trusted you to study hard and become a talented dancer on your own, and you violated that trust. So if staying here at this school is encouraging this kind of behavior then...maybe we shouldn't wait any longer to make you a Sensational Sister."

The cold came back. I couldn't even lift my head and meet her eyes. The inference of her words were as quick and painful as two hands twisting my neck until it snapped.

"What are you saying?" I asked quietly.

"You'd already know by now if you hadn't ignored all those phone calls. But…the reason behind all those calls you ignored was, our manager finally pulled off the impossible. We're going on tour Misty," Daisy admitted, proud yet serious in her self-congratulations. "And not just around Kanto this time. We're talking several regions wide, the Sensational Sisters and other acts like us. We're not gonna be a Kanto exclusive group anymore! Anyway, our manager suggested that we take this opportunity to repackage ourselves for our potential new fans, like for example…adding a new member, or something like that. That's what I wanted to discuss with you so urgently! That's why we came all the way out here! But I figured something was wrong the more you kept ignoring us."

I heard ever single word she said like a new needle being stabbed into my brain. It was like the words themselves were viruses eating me alive, gnawing through my flesh and down to my skinny, brittle bones.

"The tour is one year long, but I figured you could keep up with your studies on the road and come back for your senior year after the shows were all done. It was an opportunity we couldn't pass up," Daisy kept going, each sentence chewing off more of my body parts, forcing me to feel every prick of pain.

"So you decided without me?" I said, unsurprised but still betrayed.

"I would have talked to you about it, but you didn't want to listen!" Daisy claimed, though I remained unconvinced. "If you'd just picked up your phone and said you weren't ready or a good enough performer yet to join us, I would have understood! But now it's not about what you want! Now you've made it about what you need. And maybe what's best for you right now is to be with us, and to be away from this school!"

It's over.

"Daisy, please be reasonable. Surely such a drastic measure isn't necessary, let's not be hasty," Cynthia interjected.

"I'm thinking quite clearly ma'am. As Misty's legal guardian, I believe this is the best course of action for her. Coming here was a privilege, not a right. So you might as well draw up the papers for us to take her along with us when we leave," Daisy finished, strong and unstoppable.

That's it. It's over. No more discussion, no more arguing. Just as usual. I wanted to be angry, but I was too tired and defeated to care. I didn't even have the satisfaction of knowing I was right when all this time I'd been fully aware of the rules I'd broken. It had only taken my actions coming to light for everything I'd worked for to unravel. This painful truth was all-consuming.

I just wanted to sleep now, and hopefully never wake up again.

"Wait!" Leaf yelled out.

The girl who'd been carefully listening for the past hour finally spoke. The reactions of everyone else in the room led me to believe that they'd all but forgotten she was even there. But now her voice rang out clear amidst the frayed women deciding my fate.

"Y-you don't believe in Misty," Leaf accused, uncharacteristically blunt for someone so sensitive. "Isn't that right!? That's why you're so mad about her switching to the music major? You want her to be a dancer, but would she really be able to be a good one if you forced her into it?"

Violet and Lily were rolling their eyes, already writing off the points my friend was making as filler to stall for time. Daisy however, looked to be listening.

"Even if you believed you were doing it for her own good, I know Misty, and she'd fight you every step of the way!" Leaf claimed knowingly. "So, is there any way you could give us some time? If we can prove to you that she is good enough to stay here and choose her own path, would you let us?"

"I don't see how that's possible," Daisy replied monotonly.

Leaf stepped around the chair to face them. "The Platinum concert is coming up. Concert's in the music program are how we get judged and graded on how good we are. We get scored based on our performances, and at the end of the night we get a ranking out of every student in the music program. You don't need to take Misty away right now, do you? When does the tour actually start?" Leaf asked.

"We need to give our manager the signed deal at the end of the month at the latest. We leave for the tour soon after that," Violet informed her.

"The last concert is in three weeks. Let Misty stay for three more weeks so we can participate, and if we can win it with the highest score, then that'll prove Misty has what it takes to make it with us as a band! And if we come up short..." Leaf's voice became small. I raised my head from in between my hands.

"Then I'll go," I spoke up, finishing her thought. I turned my eyes to meet theirs, my confidence returning as Leaf's idea churned inside my head. "I'll go with you on tour, and I won't put up a fight about it. I'll work hard and be just another part of the team. But if we get first place, then I get to stay, and you agree to give your written consent that I can remain with the band program. Sound fair?" I propositioned.

The three of them exchanged glances, mulling over the proposal.

"Whoa, an actual promise that she'll behave? Pinch me, I'm dreaming," Lily muttered sarcastically.

"And I wouldn't oppose the idea of hanging around this city a little bit more. Could be fun, like a vacation before we have to get to work," Violet theorized.

Daisy was quiet the longest, caught between stubbornness and compromise if I had to guess.

Finally, she sighed, her green eyes looking up to the ceiling. "It's true I guess; you do throw a fit whenever we force you to do anything. But if you try and fail, fair and square, at least you'll have had the chance to, like, prove yourself."

I stood up from the chair and she stepped forward, the two of us standing a foot apart. My sister crossed her arms over her chest as she inspected me like she was seeing me for the first time. "Don't get me wrong, your odds are pretty pathetic but...as long as you promise to accept whatever happens, even if it isn't like, in your favor, then..."

She turned her questioning gaze to Cynthia, as did I. Cynthia nodded in agreement, as happy with this arrangement as she could be considering the consequences if I failed.

"I'll be generous, and give you this one last chance. Deal?" Daisy surrendered. Though from her expression alone, it looked more like she was agreeing to delay the inevitable than to actually give me chance to prove her wrong.

Admittedly, there was a small voice inside me that agreed with her. Maybe this was just putting off something I couldn't change. But the bigger voice inside of me, the one that burned with fire and rage, would never let me lay down and accept that.

I had to try. I had to.

"Deal."


Ash

"And, that's the agreement we came to."

Leaf finished recounting the story of the night before, the seven of us crowded in her dorm room listening. She and Misty had gotten back so late last night that neither of them had had the chance to give us the complete story of what exactly had transpired in Cynthia's office after the Stage Step. And then we'd had school the following morning, pushing it back even more. Whoever thought that scheduling a school social event on a Sunday deserved a thunderbolt to the head from Pikachu.

Throughout the day Leaf had tried giving us bits a pieces of what Misty's sisters had said and done the night before, but getting the story in full had needed to wait until classes were out for the day. And seeing as I hardly had any classes with Leaf, the wait had been unbearably longer for me considering…

I continued staring down the hallway towards Misty's bedroom. She'd skipped all her classes that day, and she wasn't here now to add any details to Leaf's retelling. Truth be told, I hadn't seen her since Leaf took her hand and led her away last night.

The separation was slowly driving me crazy.

"I can't believe this is happening," Dawn commented, curled up in the armchair, knees pressed to her chest. "Why didn't Misty tell us all this sooner?"

"I don't know," Leaf admitted, tight to Gary's side on the couch, his arm around her in an attempt at comfort. "But you know her, she's always hated talking about the drama that goes on in her family."

"Well now I can see why!" May added as she paced the room. "Five minutes of watching those walking-talking plastic dolls and I was itching to hit something! Preferably that pink-haired one!"

"That one was Lily," Gary interjected. "And are you sure it's a good idea to be picking fights with them, Firecracker? Lily's like six years older than you."

"I could take her! You think I can't take her!?" May pointed an accusatory finger at my oldest rival.

"It's not about whether you could, Sunshine," Drew clarified. "It's about whether that would be conducive to the situation."

"I think…" Dawn's voice was soft. "I think this is my fault."

Everyone was quiet as their eyes fell on the young girl curled into herself. Even Paul, who'd been silently absorbing the story from his spot by the window turned to look at the trembling lead singer with her head pressed to her knees.

"Dawn, why would you think that?" Leaf asked, startled to even hear such self-blame from her.

"You guys wanted to start a band…because of me," Dawn reminded us all. I looked away from the hallway at my guilt-ridden friend, wanting to say something to make her feel better; to convince her that that wasn't true. But the words wouldn't come.

"You and May were already in music, but Misty had to switch majors. You guys wanted to be there for me because I was so out of control, and so she...she had to…" Dawn choked on her words. All I could do was stare.

"She made a choice."

Dawn's eyes shot across the room to the only one who had the courage to speak. Paul didn't look away and met her gaze seriously. It felt like the rest of us suddenly weren't even there.

"Considering how invested Misty was in Changing Grace from the beginning, it's clear that this was what she wanted all along. You simply gave her a good enough reason to act on her own desires. She didn't have to lie about it. And you didn't put her in the position she's in now."

My nails scrapped against the denim of my jeans in aggravation. This wasn't Dawn's fault, I didn't want her to think it was, and Paul had said the truth as he saw it to ease her mind. Which was more than I could ever say to convey that to her. But why did he have to say it like Misty had done this on purpose? How could he dump all the blame onto her so easily, when he didn't know any better what she'd been through in order to come to that decision in the first place!?

Pikachu did his best to show concern for me, his snout nuzzling the side of my face, but I wasn't able to appreciate it.

May stopped her pacing in the center of the room. "Paul is right."

I felt like the floor was dropping out from underneath me. Paul I could understand criticism from, but May? About her own friend?

"As much as I want to defend her, Misty knew what she did was wrong," May continued, placing a hand on Dawn's knee in support. "And hey, it's not over yet! We can still beat those sorry-excuses for sisters and win the Platinum Concert! We're a band after all, and a band is about talented people working together. Misty made a mistake, but we can all help her fix it!"

Fix it, like it was something she broke. Even shutting my eyes didn't block out the red. They didn't understand. All they knew was the topsoil covering up the hole that Misty's life had been growing up, a hole she'd had to crawl out of with bleeding nails and torn muscles to get herself here. Had any of them sacrificed anything to be able to go to this school? Had any of them needed to compromise their dreams to get permission to even apply!?

Had any of them watched Misty slave over her application for weeks, practicing dance until she was too tired to stand? Did they even think about how hard she'd worked to come here, to study something she didn't even love? Did they know how heartbroken she'd looked all those days she couldn't even pick up her drumsticks because she was too focused on getting accepted to take a break? Did they know what it was like to be told that the things she wanted had to be given up, and that she wasn't even allowed to fight for them?

Who were they to call this a mistake? Misty took a risk for her dreams. What had any of them ever risked?

"Speaking of the aforementioned Spitfire, where is she?" Gary questioned Leaf. Her head slumped back against the couch in response.

"I'm not sure," Leaf moaned. "I couldn't exactly blame her for not wanting to sit through class after last night. She left a message this morning that she was going off to clear her head. I haven't heard anything since."

"She probably just needs some time. Don't worry," Drew suggested.

I couldn't sit there another minute. I felt like steam was building up inside of me with all the tension under my skin. I stood up and strode towards the door, feeling like I was going to explode the longer I had to look at these people.

"Ash? Where are you going!? Hey!" May's voice cut out as I slammed the door behind me. Pikachu whined softly at the noise, but I was running on auto-pilot. I needed to go, I needed to get out of there, to scream at someone, to talk to Misty, to gorge myself, I didn't even know! I wasn't even sure how I could feel so full of pressure and so hollow at the same time.

I shut myself in the stairwell, the empty metal corridor echoing with the sound of the door closing behind me. My breathing was haggard, coming in and out quickly as though my lungs were trying to vent out all the hot air filling them up. The more I breathed, the hotter my throat got, as if I was a chimney breathing out smoke. I started to march down the stairs, desperate to get anywhere else but inside this building.

I barely made it one flight before the same door burst open at my back.

"Ash! Hey, wait a sec!" Surprisingly, it was Drew's voice that called out to me from the top of the staircase. Had I been asked to guess, I would have thought it'd be one of my childhood friends who would have followed me.

I paused on the landing, my whole body trained forward towards the grey wall in front of me. A few tiny beams of dull sunlight streamed in from the small window and cast shadows around the empty stairwell. I knew if I looked down the center of the winding staircase, I'd see the same pattern of light on each of the five floors below us, bouncing around the enclosed space as if trying to escape back outside. Like I was.

"What do you want?" the voice that came out of me was cold, impatient, and unfamiliar.

Drew's footfalls echoed as he started towards me down the flight. "Look, I know you're upset and worried about Misty. I get it-"

"No you don't," I cut him off. "None of you understand. How could you?"

"Ash?" he asked, like he couldn't recognize me anymore.

I stared out the window, feeling trapped in here like the light from the window. Like the anger inside of me. Anger at everything. "None of you even tried! Not a single person in that room thought about how Misty must be feeling right now. You all just wrote her off!" I accused blindly.

"No one's writing anyone off! All we want to do is help Misty, so she can stay here and-," Drew tried to say.

"Well what do you know!?" I yelled at him, not believing his words after what I'd just heard. "You're all like that stupid audience! The Sensational Sisters waltz in and tell you a pretty story, and you all just buy it, no questions asked! You were supposed to be her friends. But you abandoned her!"

"You need to calm down."

"I don't know how!" My fist flew forward and hit the window frame. My fingers throbbed beside the glass, and the weak sunlight continued to burn the back of my eyelids. My head followed the length of my arm, the concrete wall holding me up while my body deflated against it. "I don't know how…to do anything."

Pikachu had jumped off my shoulder when I'd punched the wall. His ears folded against his head as he cooed his name worriedly up at me from the floor. Pikachu's cries and Drew's footsteps mixed together as he made his way down to my level. Then only silence followed as he waited patiently behind me.

"I didn't see it…or...maybe I did. I should have done something," I muttered miserably to the wall. "I'm so stupid. I knew she was avoiding something, but..."

"Look," Drew finally spoke. "I know I'm not your first choice of confidant, but... I'm also the only one with any idea of what you're going through. Someone you care about is about to be taken away. You're pissed, you feel powerless, and you want to take that all out on the closest thing or person nearby. Trust me, I know what that's like."

I looked over my shoulder, forehead still glued to the cold concrete. Drew shrugged, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "It's cool if you need to take it out on me. I can handle being an outlet or whatever so you can get this out of your system. Arceus knows I've endured worse. Or if you'd rather resort to brooding, that's fine too. You don't have to say a word." Drew turned towards the rest of the stairs. "But as your friend, I'm not gonna leave you alone when you're like this. Take all the time you need, but I'm not going anywhere Ketchum, and that's not negotiable."

He gestured down towards the staircase. Drew and Pikachu appeared to be waiting for me to make a decision. For a moment we all just stared at each other.

I forced the air back into my lungs, then exhaled, pushing myself away from my concrete crutch to support my own weight. Yeah, I thought to myself, I'd probably do the same thing as him if our roles were switched.

"Okay," I submitted. "Let's go then."

We started our descent side by side, leisurely making our way down to ground level in moderate silence. Pikachu was back in his usual spot on my shoulder, fidgeting as if the lack of conversation bothered him. The wet sensation of his tongue licking my cheek snapped me out of my own head. It was a nostalgic feeling.

"Hey, did I ever tell you guys how Misty and I first met?" I asked suddenly, the memory sparked by Pikachu's affectionate behavior.

"Huh? No, don't think so," Drew responded in confusion, not expecting me to say anything even remotely close to that.

"Figures. Gary already knows that story," I reminded myself as we continued down the stairs. "Let's see...it was about, a month after Leaf moved to Sinnoh. Without her around, Gary and I sort of had a falling out, and whenever we saw each other around, you never would have guessed that we used to be friends."

The winding path of the stairwell was soothing in a way. I didn't need to think about where I was going or how long it would take to get there. The repetition of our footsteps was mind-numbing, allowing my memories to come freely while the world traveled forward without focus.

"Anyway, most days I'd go off with Pikachu and play by myself. But back then, Pikachu and I didn't exactly get along too well. And one day when we were out we ticked off this huge swarm of Spearow! They chased us like crazy for miles, and then as we were running away, we fell into this river and got washed downstream.

"And there was Misty," I guffawed at the image of her face, twisted in confusion and annoyance in my head. "Just minding her own business. She snagged my jacket on her fishing line and reeled us out. But the Spearow were still after us, so I sorta stole her bike in order to make my escape. After that a bunch of other stuff happened, and we ended up showing those Pokémon whose boss with a wicked thunderbolt attack! But we also kinda fried Misty's bike along with them."

Thinking back, that was when Pikachu and I really became friends too! I realized as I placed my hand on Pikachu's head.

"Anyway, after that I had to walk all the way to Viridian city to get Pikachu some help. Even got a police officer to drive us to the Pokémon center. And stubborn as always, Misty followed right behind us, carrying her totally trashed bike on her shoulders the whole way and everything! When she caught up to me, she was so mad! And when my mom had to come pick me up and found out what I'd done, both of them totally scolded me for stealing and being so reckless.

"My mom was so sorry, she asked Misty if there was anything she could do to repay her, and ended up inviting her over for dinner and giving her a ride home. And then after that, Misty just kept coming over."

My voice echoed off the walls as we walked through patches of light. My legs moved so slowly, it was like wadding through knee-deep honey to get to where we were going.

"Every day in fact, she'd come over and yell at me, check up on how Pikachu was doing, stay for dinner, then she'd go home and come back again the very next day. Back then, I thought she hated me so much that she was only coming over to make my life miserable as revenge for wrecking her bicycle. But then one day we got into a really bad fight, I don't even remember what about, and Misty stormed out of my house and didn't come back for two days. I remember I was so relieved, but then my mom sat me down and explained something to me.

"The reason Misty kept coming over… was because she didn't want to go home. It was why she was all the way out by Viridian city when she lived in Cerulean the day we met, and it was why she kept coming back no matter how much we argued. Misty had grown up having to argue all the time with her sisters every day, so to her, fighting was only a defense mechanism. She wasn't doing it to be mean, it was just her instinct. That's why my mom kept inviting her over, because she wanted to give Misty a place to escape to where she didn't have to fight all the time. Where she could just...be.

"After hearing that, I made up my mind. Even though Misty was an angry, temperamental mess, if she needed a place to come to and someone to care about her, then that's what I'd be for her. Because it was the right thing to do. And eventually, she became comfortable enough to let her guard down around me, and it turned out we had a lot in common. Before we knew it, we were best friends in no time! And we've been together ever since!"

Then I noticed where we were. The bottom of the stairs. In one direction was the lobby, the distant sound of student's voices just beyond the porcelain white door. Behind us was the emergency exit that led to the back of the building, outside. My feet remained rooted at the foundation of the stairwell, in the center between these two points.

"You two have been through a lot together," Drew commented. He did not speak of the fact I was currently immobile. He just waited by my side with patience.

I'd wanted to get away so badly only moments ago. And now I was here, and I couldn't bring myself to move. If I went forward, the rest of the students would be there, talking about everything that happened the night before. Talking about her. Could I face that and move forward despite it? Or did I turn and sneak out the back, avoiding the situation like I did with my friends upstairs?

"Things used to be so much easier," I recalled, tugging down the rim of my hat.

"So what are you gonna do now? The Scandalous Sisters have ridiculously bad timing, considering you were going to..." Drew left his sentence open-ended.

I should have been asking myself that same question. But just thinking about what had happened, what was supposed to have happened, made my insides feel raw. "I... I still want to tell her. But, not right now."

Drew came around to face me and sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "But Ash, worst case scenario, the girls don't win and Misty has to leave. Wouldn't you regret not telling her how you feel about her? She deserves to know! And who knows what that Rudy guy's game plan is now that this crap has hit the fan!"

All valid points, I noted. But even that wasn't enough now that Daisy and the others were here. After what they'd threatened to do, and what would come to pass if Changing Grace lost…!

"I hear you Drew, but... Misty might be forced to leave everything she cares about behind. If I told her I liked her, and she returned those feelings, it would only make leaving here, leaving me, hurt even more. I just… can't do that to her."

Drew looked away, seeming as if, in a disappointed way, he understood my choice. I knew he was right, I would regret not telling Misty all of this if we were forced to go separate ways. But if I could spare her even a little bit of pain if this came to pass, it would be worth the guilt I'd burden in the process.

Drew eventually turned back around towards me. "Well, I hope you're making the right choice. But at least you don't have to suffer alone." His hand came up and clasped my unoccupied shoulder. And strangely enough, talking about all this with him did make me feel considerably better. Lighter, if anything else. "So? Where to now?"

The acid churning in my stomach answered with a growl before I could respond. I scratched the back of my head on instinct. "I don't know about you, but all that talking sure works up an appetite."

Drew rolled his eyes. "Lead the way."

I took one look at the white door leading to the rest of the building, and then took one breath to match. Having shed some of the weight these past hours had stacked on me, I willed my feet forward and opened the door, the bright electric lights leading us out of the dark crevice.

We couldn't go back. All we could do was move forward. It didn't matter how long it took us to take that next step. Because I believed that anyone could choose to keep going, no matter how difficult it became.

I would never believe that it could ever be too late to make that choice.


Paul

"I've noticed a pattern here."

Gary was speaking to the ceiling tiles, his body reclined along the entire length of the booth we were occupying in the student lounge. As soon as Ash had stormed off somewhere and Drew had gone after him, the meeting of the bands had broken up quickly, and then we'd found our way here. Nothing but cups of coffee and a one-sided conversation filled the secluded space.

I said nothing in response, knowing the loudmouth would continue speaking his observations out loud even if no one was listening to him. As predicted, he kept talking.

"Every time it gets close to one of these concerts, something in our lives goes horribly wrong," Gary surmised, his hands clasped behind his head as he laid back. "Dawn's meltdown, Leaf and I fighting, and now Misty's sisters. I mean, freshman year had its fair share of drama too, this being a school full of rich theatre kids, but somehow it feels worse this time around."

"Mmhm," I grunted in response, more fascinated by the rings on my coffee cup than the fantastical connections the base player could be drawing.

"Don't ever change Paul," Gary said suddenly.

"Wasn't planning to," I didn't miss a beat.

I could see in my peripheral Gary turn to look at me. "It must be nice being so emotionally distant. You don't have to worry or care about anything," Gary theorized without objective, continuing to talk just to hear his own voice. "It's a skill I sort of envy. You just react to the situation without having emotions to cloud your judgement. Level-headed, yet detached."

If only that were true, I internally replied.

"Or… wait," Gary rambled on. "Maybe that's not entirely true. You did just go out of your way to make Dawn feel better back there."

I carried on staring in the depths of caffeine, but I could still clearly hear Gary shift from his stretched-out pose to sit in the seat, facing me properly.

"Why did you do that?" Gary questioned, a hint of cunning coming through in his voice. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's not exactly the kind of thing that 'September Paul' would've done."

I finally looked up. I could tell he was fishing for something, but I wasn't exactly sure what. Aside from intense curiosity, Gary gave no ulterior motive away on his face. I wondered how long he could keep that up.

"Because I'm in love with her," I said with the straightest face possible.

Gary's eyebrows rose up to his hairline for a second or two, before dropping back down to form a glare.

"You really are a bad liar," he leaned back from the table, as if he thought I was serious for a moment.

"What gave me away?" I asked, purposefully piling on the cynicism.

"Even if that were true, you'd never admit it," Gary answered back.

I took a swig of the black liquid. He persisted in studying me, and I was no closer to figuring out his motive.

"Dawn's got a guilt complex. No need to add unnecessary guilt on top of it when she can't even forgive herself for her own mistakes," I answered his question from earlier.

"Well then why didn't you just say that?" the youngest Oak questioned further.

"Because you were looking for an answer to a question you didn't ask. So I gave you an answer you weren't expecting to throw you off."

"Cryptic, much? And why would I even do something like that? What could I possibly be hoping to learn?" he replied, somewhat nervously.

I didn't buy what he was selling. "I'll let you know when I figure it out."

Gary moaned dramatically, throwing his head back towards the all-knowing sky he seemed so fascinated in. His coffee cup jumped on the table at his movement, but didn't spill a drop.

"Would you relax? The whole world isn't conspiring against you, ya' know. You've been acting so on edge lately," Gary accused.

There it is. He didn't outright ask, but he'd shown his hand. It was only a matter of time before he finally phrased the question burning up all the oxygen in the room. I wasn't surprised he had noticed. It was hard to ignore when someone was always looking over their shoulder.

"Hey," he snapped his fingers. Gary's gaze was worried, flecks of gold and brown clouding over as his fingers drummed rhythms on his own paper cup. "I'm on your side, okay? You know that right?"

That's what concerns me. I looked away from him. Between this and Reggie's constant checking in, little in my life was helping to lower my stress levels. If Misty weren't drowning in her own problems, she would be the first to aid me with relaxation in the form of punching things down at the gym. But for the moment I was on my own, with Detective Oak here unintentionally adding to an already intensifying state of paranoia.

"HEY! GUYS!"

Pulling me free from the spiraling web my thoughts were weaving, I turned in the direction of the familiar exclamation. Within seconds, the lead singer of Changing Grace had skid to a stop in front of our table, looking red in the face and out of breath from her sprint. Dawn bent down to a tripod position, supporting her upper body on her knees while she wheezed for breath.

"Speak of the princess herself," Gary mocked, picking up his almost-forgotten cup of coffee. "What's up, buttercup?"

Dawn breathed haggardly and just gestured wildly with her left arm in my general direction. "Paul..." she gasped in her breaths. "I... I need...you-"

Before Dawn's sentence got to its point, Gary's mouthful of coffee made it impromptu exit onto the surface of our table. The bitter spray making both Dawn and I flinch in disgust while the spiky-haired teen coughed up one of his lungs.

"What the hell!?" I blamed in revulsion, pressing my body as far away from the puddle of backwash between us.

"Oh God, it's happening!" Gary coughed, pounding his chest and staring towards the blunette with eyes as wide hub-caps.

If Dawn had any inclination of what he meant by that, it didn't show past her repulsion of his spit-take. "Ugh, gross," she groaned, trying not to look at the mess. Suddenly, she was shaking her disgust off as if the display hadn't ever been witnessed. "Wait, no time for that! PAUL! I need your help!"

"Damn, false alarm," Gary swore under his breath.

"What are-?" I wanted to ask what the hell he was on about, but the blue-eyed singer was practically bursting at the seams to get my attention instead.

"Come on, right now! Can't wait another second!" Dawn visibly vibrated beside us.

"I know I'm gonna regret this but…Why?" I asked the first in a long line of questions.

"Practice! Lots to learn, no time to start, I'll explain more on the way! We're losing daylight! Please just come with me now!" she rambled on hurriedly.

I wasn't sure if it was her desperation or the lingering disgust of the spit-soaked table that convinced me, but I decided that I didn't care what the extra reasoning was to get out of there. Whatever Gary's intention might've been; his particular brand of help wasn't what I needed right now. Dawn acting troublesome was as good an excuse as any to get away.

"I doubt taking a minute to explain yourself would irreversibly impact whatever you're so wound up about," I complained as I slide out of the booth. "But fine, whatever. If it will get you to calm down already."

"Great! Come on, to the studio!" Dawn cheered as she poorly attempted to drag me after her, which resulted more in me going at me own pace while she struggled in vain.

"Have fun, you two! Don't get into any trouble!" Gary waved us off, not seeming at all insulted at us abandoning him and instead choosing to poke fun.

"What are you, twelve?" I hollered back.

"Yeah! On a scale of one to ten!" was the last remark I heard before the doors cut Gary off. I rolled my eyes anyway if only for my own satisfaction.

The breeze hit us lazily on the way out of the building, the chill a refreshing change from the sweltering heat wave. Spring seemed to have finally gotten back on track, not that any of us had time to enjoy something as mundane as the weather lately. Dawn walked with speed and purpose, abandoning her feeble efforts to pull me along in favor of riffling through her backpack. I walked after her, breathing a little easier outside despite the dead weight still on my chest.

"Here! Hold this!" A hand-full of paper was thrust into my face. Dawn didn't even look my way, just held her arm out expectantly waiting for me to take the sheets from her clenched fingers.

I took the papers in one hand and glared at her, Dawn sparing no glance in my direction. "So, are you going to explain or...?"

"What you are holding there," she nodded her head towards the crumpled sheets of paper, "are the top two songs we've picked out for the Platinum concert. You're here to help me with them."

"Help you, what? You don't expect me to believe that you don't already know both these songs forwards and backwards by now, do you?" I accused.

"I know the lyrics. I need you to help me play them."

An ellipsis was all I could think of to represent my reaction to that. This girl was so casual in her request you'd think she was asking for a stick of gum. Dawn finished her riffling and zipped up her back, throwing it back over her shoulder as she strode on forwards.

"On guitar," I stated the obvious. "You only know how to play two songs right now, and now you want to double that in three weeks?"

Dawn finally looked up at me, smiling without a care in the world.

"Yes," she grinned. "And did I mention that they were written for an electric guitar specifically?"

I stopped walking, blank and unsmiling, almost going so far as to ask myself if she were serious or not, as if there were any chance she could be joking about this. Perhaps one of the others would joke about this.

But there was no doubting her intentions. This was Dawn. Determined, enthusiastic, deluded, troublesome Dawn. And when it came to the concerts, she never fooled around.

"You want to learn two new songs, on a type of guitar you've never worked with before, in three weeks?" I asked for clarity.

Perhaps if this was months earlier she would've backed off. If this was months ago, she never would have worked up the courage to ask me at all for something this outlandish.

The most she did was look a little sheepish. "I want you to teach me how," Dawn confirmed, bright-eyed and expectant as always.

"I agreed to teach you how to play guitar, not do the impossible," I said, glancing over the songs in my hands.

"Impossible is just a word used to describe a problem that no one's figured out a solution to yet!" Dawn defended optimistically.

"I think you vastly overestimate my skills as a miracle worker," I countered with deadpan.

"Then I'll do the miracle-working!" I looked up at that and started. Dawn's confidence had gone from full boil down to a simmer. She looked at me with nothing less than total enormity. "Doing something is better than sitting on my hands worrying over what I can't control! We've got too much riding on this next concert for me to not take any chances. I've gotta pull out all the stops, for Misty."

The breeze pushed her hair back as her gaze dropped. She sighed. "This is...the one thing I can do to help her the most now."

From the first time I saw Dawn on my brother's laptop screen, it had been obvious what kind of person she was. Back then, I'd pointed out more of her flaws than anything redeemable. But while I could justly sit and criticize her performance, she'd still managed to win the whole damn showcase before I'd even learned of this school's name. That work had come from somewhere.

It had come from her resolve. Dawn wasn't perfect but…she worked hard. And she was always determined to do everything in her power to put her absolute best forward.

This willpower of hers was only multiplied I realized, when the work she did was for the sake of someone else.

"Alright."

She looked up as I found myself complying. If this was what she thought she needed to do, then I'd try as well. I couldn't promise success, but there wasn't any chance of talking her out of it either. I'd agreed to help after all, and I wasn't one to go back on my word just because things got hard.

We continued walking again, in silence this time. The world moved on around us, other students passing by, pieces of their conversations floating on the wind without context. Every step alongside Dawn was taking us in the same direction, within the same space all those other people occupied, but it felt like we were walking out of time to everything else around us. It all felt strangely disconnected.

It was peaceful. And yet…

The daylight around us was clear and bright, but I couldn't feel it. I watched with every step as the light moved across the world we walked by, hitting it and moving on as the clouds danced around the sun. Even the sunlight was different in Hearthome city than in Veilstone. Like it had weight, the highlights and shadows each standing out, but intertwined together softly, like watercolor does with water. Veilstone always seemed to be a stark contrast. Every shadow blocked off, darker than the object that cast it. Separate. Frigid. Alone.

It didn't make sense. Location couldn't alter a fundamental element of reality. So then why did it look so different?

"You doing okay?"

Dawn's question pierced through the calm. A flippant remark that could have been passed off as causal conversation. But that wasn't what she'd meant. I didn't need to ask to know that. I breathed and remembered what she'd asked of me weeks ago, and what she'd been so worried about the day before.

The lead in my chest was my answer.

"Getting there," I went with, the best attempt at hope I could give.

"Good. Glad to hear it."

My bones themselves relaxed at her simple response. Even though I'd decided myself to be forthright with her from now on, since worrying about me was apparently non-negotiable, my instinct to go on defense still remained automatic. It would take practice to not put my guard up so quickly, at least around her.

"Thank you," Dawn continued unexpectedly. I looked at her questioningly, and caught her looking away from me to duck her head low again.

"For doing this, I mean. I know dealing with me and all the drama with Misty must be the last thing you wanna think about," she clarified, brushing her hair back with her unusually fidgety fingers.

I must have been losing my touch. Combining Dawn and Gary, that was roughly twenty-eight percent of the people I associated with who'd voiced concern about me. Drew and Leaf, intuitive as they were remained unconfirmed in their position of anxiety, and Ash and Misty had their own problems. Should the former two confirm my suspicions, that percentage would rise to over half.

The idea of half my friends giving me anxious looks made my skin crawl. They shouldn't be worried. I didn't fully understand why they were. It wasn't their problem to deal with, and I was gonna keep it that way. Still, I wasn't so in denial that I couldn't recognize when I myself was behaving abnormally. My friends would've all had to be brain dead for at least some of them to not notice something was wrong. It was bound to happen.

Why they felt the need to care about it as if I couldn't handle it myself, that was a conundrum.

"I don't mind," I said. I really didn't. Misty's current dilemma may have been unfortunate, but it was a refreshing distraction from my own possible predicament. Maybe Gary had been on to something earlier. Everything was falling apart all in time with each other.

That, or maybe his dramatic reasoning was contagious.

"It's only April," Dawn spoke up again, changing the subject while she kicked away small stones along the path. "The last two weeks, and these last few days especially, it all seems like it's moving so fast. But the year isn't even over yet. September feels like it happened years ago. It's weird, everything feels like its speeding up and slowing down all at the same time."

"September Paul…" I thought out loud. Now it was Dawn's turn to question me with her stare. "Something Gary was saying. Mostly about me not caring about anything," I explained.

"Well that's not true. You care about lots of things. You wouldn't work so hard if you didn't," Dawn quickly defended.

You don't care enough to tell them, my thoughts betrayed me. But that was the point. I needed to keep them as far away from this as possible. At least until I had something more concrete to tell them. There was no point in dragging them into this unless I had no alternative. I needed to know more before I moved.

"Not caring would make things a lot easier."

For as much as he annoyed me, Gary was, at heart, a good person. As was Dawn, and everyone else. All of them. And now that Misty's carefully constructed house of cards had crumbled down, everyone was scrambling to pick up the pieces. They didn't need to worry about my own fold in a game that hadn't started yet. I didn't want to worry about what, despite my weariness, could be nothing but a false alarm.

I tried desperately to hold on to those excuses.

"Easy isn't always better," Dawn cut wistfulness out of the conversation like a butcher. She turned on me. "And besides, there's no point wishing things were different. You gotta work with what you got. So I guess you're going to have to live with caring about some things and having other people care about you too."

She noticed my eyes widen.

"What?" she smiled. "You didn't think I was just being over-dramatic when we were locked inside a room together, did you?"

As long as you're not okay, none of us will be either! Because we care, Paul!

In that moment, Dawn seemed so sure of herself. Not like an hour ago when she was blaming herself for her friend's choices. Not at all like yesterday when her worry had broken her down to tears. How she'd gone from then, yelling about how unfair it was that she couldn't tell what I was thinking to here…like the truth was laid out before her.

I felt like I was made of glass and she was looking straight though me.

Transparency deeply disturbed me.

"How could you tell that I wasn't okay back then?" I asked, genuinely perturbed by her sudden shift in confidence on this topic.

"It wasn't just me who could tell, you know," Dawn pointed out. The inclination of my problems being broadcasted to anyone else made my soul feel cold.

"You are a super observant person," Dawn explained, watching the clouds roll by. "You can remember so many details. Even when you're trying to ignore us, you're still always listening. You're usually such a hard person to read but...I think that's why everyone picked up on it so fast. You're so hardworking and focused, but lately you seem so distracted. You basically proved single-handedly that actions speak louder than words."

I swore silently. The truth in her words was chillingly accurate. I wondered though…had I gotten so comfortable that I'd become careless? Had less than a year really changed so much? Why couldn't they all just let me be?

I didn't want to think about this. I didn't want to feel any of this. Panic, dread, contempt. Any feeling would put me at a disadvantage. I didn't want…I just wanted it all to-

"Stop."

Dawn's voice cut through the fog. I froze in place and looked up, our destination staring us down with glinting glass windows and white stone against the blue sky. I hadn't even noticed our arrival I was so wound up in myself. Dawn stood a step ahead of me, speaking towards the building with her back towards me.

"You answered my question. That was all I asked you to do. So we can stop now," Dawn offered gently.

I heard what she'd said. I understood the things she wasn't saying more.

And the wall rose again. Her insinuation was like a sedative, numbing my nerves and quieting the turmoil I hadn't fully realized was building up inside. I'd made a promise to Dawn about honesty, but I never imagined keeping it could be so hard. I allowed myself to breath, any lingering thoughts of the past escaping with the carbon dioxide.

Could she tell what her words were doing to me? Had she pushed me on purpose? But then why would she just stop now?

"But..." Dawn turned back around, and midnight blue became the saddest colour of them all. "If whatever's bothering you got really bad, would you tell me? Would you tell someone?"

Troublesome girl, I thought, the two-way mirror between us switching back. Her glassy eyes were the only thing I need to see to comprehend her intentions. As if there'd ever been a doubt she would pry for malicious reasons.

Of course she'd pushed because she was still worried, even if she tried to hide it.

For all the things she'd said and done, all the different sides I'd seen of the troublesome girl with the dark blue eyes, I looked at Dawn against this world and she had always belonged. The world of Hearthome city was bright and loud and vibrant, and she fit inside this world like a painting. She was all harsh light and vivid colours, and even she had shadows about her.

And I was not even that. Shadows were something at least. You needed light to cast shadow, one did not exist without the other. A shadow was attached to something solid.

Dawn fit inside this colorful world while I simply faded out. What I couldn't figure out was why she chose to keep looking deeper. Why she chose to look for me as if I belonged in that world too.

I nodded.

Dawn smiled again, and I could feel the ease I put her at. "Okay. I believe you."

Then she strode up to me and snatched the papers she'd originally given to me away from my hands, the sadness gone from her like the last gust had carried it off. "Though for someone with such a good memory, you sure do forget us a lot. You're not alone here, you know. That doesn't have to be a bad thing."

It almost sounded like a lecture. But Dawn just turned and started skipping off as if she'd just won a prize. "Now come one! If I'm gonna make a miracle happen, I'll need all the time I can get! So let's go! Onwards to victory!" Dawn yelled as she passed through the shining glass doors

I entered the building behind her, my feet carrying me away from the rest of the world for now.

No matter how far I walked behind her, I couldn't shake the feeling. I felt like the distance I had set myself between Dawn and I was shrinking.

I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.


When I returned to the dorms later, I hadn't thought Drew would be back yet. But when I opened the door to my own bedroom, I was startled by his voice calling out through the adjacent wall.

"Hey Paul, is that you?!" Drew yelled unnecessarily loud. Probably from wearing his headphones if I had to guess. "You got some mail! I put it on your desk!"

I took my phone out of my pocket as I shut the door behind me. Then I proceeded to pull up the contact labeled 'Roommate', typed out Stop yelling, you twit and sent it off before I even saw the alleged delivery.

Perhaps I took that normalcy for granted.

A white envelope. I thought it was odd, but it wasn't unlike the one Reggie had sent me in November. It was almost completely blank, no address to its sender, no return address or stamps, just my first name written neatly in the center of the white block. It could have been a school form or something else just as medial.

I thought nothing of it and lifted the seal.

Inside there was another square, not of paper, but of film. A polaroid photograph. And for a moment I thought maybe this was another message from my brother, sending me old photographs to try and inspire a dried-out hope from a better time long forgotten.

I pulled the photograph out from the confines of the white, paper envelope.

All I could do was stare.

"What the hell?" I whispered, confusion hitting me like a wave of ice water. I gaped at the slick film between my fingers as I slowly recognized exactly what the image was that I was looking at.

It was me. And Dawn. The bumper of an ambulance was cut off by the very edge of the snapshot, the two us standing on the sidewalk. Neither of our faces were visible from this angle because I was holding her, her profile pressed against my chest. I stared down at the familiar street and heard the sound of crunching metal and sirens replaying in my ears as the memory flooded back.

This was…three days ago. When Dawn almost got hit by that car.

I felt unclean, looking at this scene from an outsider's perspective. I was looking through a stranger's eyes. Someone had been watching us, seen this scene unfold for themselves, and then had the audacity to have taken a picture and sent it to me, with the intention to make me feel once again how this moment in time had.

Vulnerable.

I turned the polaroid around, inspecting every inch of its surface for any kind of clue to its originator.

There was a message. Each word flashed across my vision, and then the message behind the words hit me, and it burned. I dropped the film like it physically had, and stumbled away from it like it had come to life and sunk its jaw full of poisonous teeth into me.

I ended up on the floor, slipping down the edge of the mattress; I heard it when my elbow slammed against the wooden frame to halt my fall, but I didn't feel the pain. All I could feel was those words, like cigarette ash in my eyes. The weight in my chest returned, turning all of my organs to stone that weighted me down, locked me in place, unable to move, to breath, to think of anything else besides those bitter, scalding words. My constant state of unfeeling abandoned me, and the raw fear from long ago creeped back in and took its place.

This couldn't be happening. It was too soon. I needed more time.

"No…please no," I stared down at the message, branded onto every section of my brain that still functioned.

So you like blunettes' now? She's a pretty one.

I look forward to meeting her.

-Ryu


A/N: And the prize for favorite moment of the chapter goes to…*drum roll*… ITS A TIE! Between Paul sarcastically confessing his love for Dawn, and Dawn saying that last September feels like it happened years ago!

But forth-wall-breaking-jokes aside, I am so glad that this chapter is done. I'm gonna repeat all of this in my profile update later, but I just wanna emphasis how much it means to me that, even though I take forever to update because of school and stress, people out there are still finding my story and liking it. Like, that is just unreal to me! It really gives me hope and motivation to see people still discovering and favorite-ing my story even when I update like a Slowpoke.

I start my third year next week and…that means I probably won't update for a while because of it. Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm gonna end up when my program is done, but I'm taking the steps to figure it out. Hopefully next year when this college program is behind me, I'll be able to motivate myself more to write faster. Because honestly, this college program robbing me of my energy is a big factor in why updates take so long. I will go more into this in the profile if you're interested, but I just wanted you guys to know why these chapters are so few and far in between.

Thank you everyone who has stayed with this story for the three years I've been working on it, and the newcomers who have found it along the way. You guys give me the strength and confidence to continue writing even when I am at my lowest. I will keep you updated on my profile for when the next chapter is expected to be finished, but until then, stay lovely you beautiful readers! 3