Gary blinked in surprise, before he looked away from Serena as he spoke to Dawn. He felt himself tear up, and he didn't want to cry in front of his best friend.
"Thank you for telling me.." Gary replied, sounding hurt. "I'm sorry it had to come from me instead of Misty herself.. I didn't want to be the one to break it to you." Dawn sighed. "It's alright.. I appreciate that you told me. Look i'm gonna go.." Gary said, before he hung up the phone.
-
Dawn sighed, taking her phone away from her ear. "I feel terrible for him.." She admitted. "You did the right thing by telling him, hunny." May said, leaning her head on Dawn's shoulder, as she still sat on the hood of her car. Dawn put on a smile, but still.. she felt awful for the brunette.
"Hey Deedee," Hilda began, changing the topic for a moment, though she earned an instant glare from Dawn. "When are we gonna start planning for the school carnival? Aren't the vixens going to have a part in it?" The girl asked. "First of all, Iris! Why did you tell Hilda about my horrible childhood nickname!?" Dawn asked, embarrassed. May burst out laughing at this. Iris just giggled mischievously, "Aw Dawny don't be mad, I kinda tell my girlfriend everything." Iris said innocently, as she squeezed Hilda's hand playfully.
"And to answer your question, Hilda." Dawn turned back to the brunette. "We'll start planning next cheer practice." She decided.
The annual school carnival was next Friday. There would be lots of carnival rides and games, as well as snacks.. but there'd also be competitions for singing and performing. There was a stage in the middle of the carnival where Dawn and the cheerleading team would do a performance as apart of the competition.
-
Gary took the phone away from his ear. "Gare? Is everything okay?" Serena asked, as Gary looked glassy eyed. "I uh.. just need a minute.. i'll be back.." Gary said, though he didn't make eye contact with Serena as he spoke. The brunette then walked back inside his house, Serena watching him walk away with concern.
Gary brought up Ursula's contact, and rang her. He put the phone against his ear, and stood in his vacant kitchen. "Hello?" Ursula answered. "Hey uh.. I just talked to Dawn." Gary began. "What did she tell you?" Ursula asked.
"Dawn told me that you both caught Misty and Paul making out.. please.. please tell me that Dawn was lying.." Gary pleaded, still glassy eyed. He wanted it to be a lie, he didn't want to believe that Misty would do such a thing to him. "I'm sorry Gary.. I can't tell you that.." Ursula replied.
"I know you're probably hoping it was all a lie but it's not.. Misty was basically on top of Paul and they were.. very intimate.. it was disgusting." Ursula said, sounding like she was breathing out smoke as she spoke. "Oh god.. I can't believe she'd do such a thing to me.." Gary sighed, as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"I'm sorry man.. I know you really love her. If I were you, I'd break up with her." Ursula said. "Yeah.. I guess I have a lot to think about.. I'll see you on Monday.." Gary said, before he hung up.
Once he was alone, he finally let it out and cried. Gary had so much love for Misty and could never see himself with anybody else, it broke his heart to think she didn't feel the same.
"..Gary?" A soft voice spoke up, as the boy turned around, to see Serena. "S..Sere sorry I-" Gary could barely get the words out of his mouth. Serena blinked in surprise to see Gary crying, "It's okay.. don't be sorry.. what happened?" She asked, as she stepped closer to her best friend.
Gary tried to wipe his eyes, not wanting to be seen like this, but Serena kept saying it was okay to cry. "Misty is.. cheating on me.." Gary finally confessed, feeling more tears run down his cheeks. "Oh my god.. Gary I'm so sorry to hear that.." Serena said, sympathetically.
The girl took a step forward, and wrapped her arms around Gary as an embrace. The boy put his arms around Serena too, as he sunk into the hug. Gary tried to stop crying, but the boy was completely heartbroken. Sure Serena didn't like Misty, but she felt so bad for Gary.. she knew how much he loved her.
"Gary didn't deserve this.." She thought to herself.
-
The next day
-
Dawn had awoken in her bed. She let out a yawn before she sat up, and got out of bed. She skipped out of her room, and went over to Serena's room to knock on the door.
To her surprise, there was no answer. "..Sere?" Dawn asked, before opening the door. The bed was empty. "What the.." Dawn sweatdropped.
She exited the room and went back into her own, to grab her phone. The blue haired girl let out a sigh of relief when she realised she saw a message from Serena, the night before.
Serena: Hey Dawn, I'm staying the night at Gary's house. I'll see you tomorrow morning
Dawn went downstairs to see Johanna and Fantina making breakfast. "Morning Mum and Mum two." She teased, earning a laugh from Fantina. "Morning dear." Johanna replied.
Dawn had jokingly called Fantina "Mum two" as a kid, but now it'd kinda stuck. She saw Fantina more as a second parent than her biological father, so she called her Mum as well.
"Do you know where Serena is? We're supposed to be going to the police station today." Johanna explained. Dawn blinked in surprise, before she texted Serena.
-
Serena's phone buzzed causing her to awaken. What she didn't expect, was that she'd woken up in Gary's arms. "Oh my god.." Serena blushed, recalling what'd happened last night.
Serena had gone full best friend mode and bought heaps of snacks so herself and Gary could eat them while watching movies together. This was to get Gary's mind off of Misty.. he knew he had to confront her, but he wanted to sleep on it as he didn't know what quite to say at the time.
They grew tired and ended up cuddling as they finished the movies, and alas Serena woke up in Gary's arms. Carefully, Serena moved away from Gary, trying not to wake him up. She grabbed her phone to check her messages, to see she received one from Dawn.
Dawn: Hey lovely, Mum is asking where you are, apparently she's taking you to the police station today.
Serena's eyes widened, "Shit-" She blurted loudly, causing Gary to wake up. Serena quickly put her shoes on, and went to collect her belongings that were scattered around the lounge room. "Going somewhere?" Gary yawned. "Yeah.. I'm going to the police station with Johanna today and she's waiting on me." Serena said, before realising she still had to shower and get changed when she got back to the Berlitz house, she was still wearing her clothes from the day before.
"Goodluck with it all." Gary said, standing up as he got off the couch. "Thanks Gare, I'll speak to you later." Serena said, before she walked over to hug Gary. Gary hugged her back, "Thank you for last night.. it was nice of you to stay over and comfort me. I'll talk to Misty today." The brunette said. Serena smiled, "Anytime best friend, bye! Take care.." Serena said before she headed to the front door to leave.
-
Serena raced in the front door of the Berlitz household. "Sorry Johanna, I'll be ready to go soon." She said, before she went up the stairs. "That's fine dear, don't rush!" Johanna insisted.
Serena was in her room, picking out clothes to wear for the day, during this time Dawn poked her head in the doorway. "How's Gary doing?" She asked, sympathetically. "He's pretty heartbroken.. he's gonna call Misty today and hopefully break up with her. He deserves way better than that." Serena replied. "True that.. Goodluck with today." Dawn smiled. Serena looked up and smiled back, "Thanks hunny." She replied.
Dawn walked downstairs again, "Mums, I'm gonna go to Starbucks.. see you later, love you both." She announced, walking to the front door. "Bye dear!" Johanna and Fantina replied at the same time.
Serena walked downstairs moments later and entered the kitchen. "I'm ready to go." She said, though she looked nervous. Johanna grabbed her car keys, "Awesome." She replied, before turning to Fantina, "Bye hun." Johanna said, before the pair kissed. Once they broke apart, Johanna and Serena walked over to the front door. "Bye lovelies, drive safely!" Fantina said as they left.
-
Dawn approached Starbucks, though something at the front of the store caught her eye.. or more so, somebody.
"Is that.. Ash?" She asked, as someone was sitting at one of the tables just outside of Starbucks, asleep as they leant over the table. As Dawn got closer, she realised it was Ash.
She peeked over his shoulder to see he had a notepad. At the top of the page, it was titled "Looking for Calem" and there was a list of places underneath it, some scribbled out. Dawn blinked in surprise, wondering what had happened to Calem. Thinking about it, she hadn't seen him in a couple of days.
Quickly, she went into Starbucks and ordered two takeaway coffees. Once the order was complete and she received the coffees, Dawn walked back outside and placed one of the cups in front of Ash, causing him to wake up.
Dawn then sat in the seat opposite Ash, and placed her coffee on the table. "Rise and shine." She giggled, as Ash yawned before he stretched his arms out.
"You're a site for sore eyes.." He admitted to Dawn, as he looked at her now. Dawn blushed, "Uh, thank you?" She replied awkwardly. Ash blushed when he realised what he said.. though he wasn't lying. He'd been so tied up with helping Brendan, he'd miss seeing Dawn's beautiful face.
"Oh, thanks for this! It's just what I need!" Ash boomed, looking at the coffee Dawn had bought for him, before he took a sip of it. Dawn smiled in response, "You're welcome!" She said, before her eyes darted down to Ash's notepad. "Is everything okay with Calem?" She asked, pointing to the title. "Oh man.. do I have a story for you." Ash sweatdropped.