A/N — Hi, so this chapter got replaced with another chapter (chapter 12) accidentally because I was careless and dumb when doing revisions and I did not have a backup draft or the original document. I rewrote most of it based on my memory of the major events that occurred, and I hope I got everything somewhat almost the same (not too sure since it's been a while since I read it)! Though the dialogue is vague in my mind and I do not remember all of it in some of the scenes, I at least kind of remembered the main points and events that occurred in this chapter! Sorry for the change guys! (ya girl Mai is crying over the loss of 8K words)
Chapter Eleven — Stalkers and Scandals
Silver looked the girl up and down, and gave her a look.
"... Okay?" he replied, not caring for her introduction.
He attempted to shut the door on her, but she stopped it with her foot.
"Hey! I wasn't done!" she snapped, her cheeks pouting.
"What do you want?" he asked her.
"I'm looking for Crystal Lee! I want to know if she's here!"
Hearing Crystal's name, Silver stiffened up and suddenly became suspicious of the girl. Crystal was famous, so of course, it was natural for him to hide her and keep her home a secret.
"Of course, she's not here. Bye now."
He shut the door again, and she shoved her foot between the crack again, letting out a small crying sound. Silver looked at her again, noticing that she was about to cry from the pain.
"... Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes, of course I'm fine!" Soul lied, folding her arms. "Anyways, let me clarify, I'm not a fan, I'm Crystal's twin sister! I know you're her co-worker, Silver!"
Silver observed her appearance again. Now that he was looking closer at her face, she did seem to have the same face as Crystal. Although they had the same hairstyle, her hair was brown and her rainbow childish outfit contrasted Crystal so much that he didn't really notice or think of the possibility.
"Well, I wasn't lying. Crystal isn't here, she's at work," Silver told her truthfully.
Hearing the news, Soul's face fell. "Really?"
He nodded.
Soul groaned. "Aw man! To think I came all this way to see her too!" she grumbled, sighing. "Can you tell her I stopped by?"
"Okay."
Silver was about to shut the door in her face one more time, but before he could, Soul reached out and snatched the box of cookies from his hand.
"Oh, I get hungry when I'm sad, so I'll be taking this!" she told him, earning a look. "Bye Silver!"
The redhead gave her a strange look as he watched her skip down the driveway. He closed the door, thinking how weird that meeting was and how odd it was for her to be related to Crystal when she was so... different.
"Hey Silv! Who was it?" Gold called from the living room as he returned back.
"Crystal's sister came by."
Red and Gold raised an eyebrow, both confused. "Crys has a sister?"
"Apparently."
"What about this color?"
"It's okay?"
"And this color?"
"It's okay too?"
"What about this?"
"Why do ya keep showin' me the same color?!"
Ruby let out an offended gasp, clutching onto the fabric. "It's not the same color! One is sky blue, and the other is ocean blue! There's a big difference!"
Sapphire rolled her eyes, her patience running out with him. "I don't care! They look the same!"
After she returned from the bathhouse with Crystal and Blue, Ruby immediately dragged her out to buy fabric. The movie premiere was around the corner, and now that he had the perfect model and design, Ruby couldn't risk wasting time and doing the project last minute, so he forced her to use the little free time they had to go shopping with him.
Ugh. Sapphire was okay with shopping, but when it came to shopping Ruby, it was the worst. She did it once because White forced her to go, and she ended up spending five hours in a store— one store. She thought Blue was bad when it came to shopping, but she changed her mind that one traumatic day.
"Focus on the mission, barbarian," Ruby told her, snapping to get her attention. She growled in response, upset that he's treating her like a Pokémon. "We have to spend the little time we have left to find the perfect fabric for you!"
"Why are ya in a rush?! I'm pretty sure it doesn't take that long to make it! We still have lots of time!" Sapphire snapped.
"Perfection needs time! Besides, you lost the bet, so you have to listen to me! I didn't go through all of that mud and the trauma of ripped clothes for nothing!"
Sapphire rolled her eyes and let out a defeated sigh. "Fine! Let's get this over with!"
Ruby gave her a satisfied smile, happy with his victory. "Great!"
He held out another shade of blue fabric in front of her.
"Now, what do you think of this one?"
Sapphire's eye twitched, her patience running out yet again. "It's the same color!"
"No, it's not!"
"Great job! That's a wrap!"
Crystal relaxed her shoulders and gave the staff a polite bow before walking off the set. She glanced over at White who was talking with the director about something, and she took this opportunity to get some water. After drinking a nice sip of cold water, she wiped her sweat off her forehead with her sleeve and placed a hand on her forehead. The whole time, she felt dizzy or out of it, and she kept feeling hot.
Am I sick? she thought.
She couldn't be sick, could she? It's been too long since she remembered the feeling since she always took good care of herself. Well, honestly, she wasn't sure, but the thing that she was sure about is that she wasn't feeling well. She felt so dizzy and she felt like she was going to puke.
"Hi Crys!" White came over to her once she finished talking with the director about something. "Are you ready to go meet the new Pokespe Drama actors for the Sinnoh region with me?"
"Um, actually, I'm not feeling too well," Crystal informed. "I think I'm going to go home."
White frowned and looked at the girl with concern in her eyes. "What?! Really? Are you okay, Crys?!"
"Yeah, I'm fine right now. I think I'll get better if I just go home and get some rest," Crystal reassured, not wanting the manager to worry. She already seemed like she had a lot on her plate.
"Alright, well, I'll drop you off real quick and get to—"
"—No, it's fine, you don't have to," Crystal cut her off. "I'm pretty sure the house is around the corner, and I can get there easily on foot. You go ahead and meet with the new actors, don't worry about me."
"Are you sure? I can call a cab in case, it's not that big of a deal," White told her.
Crystal gave her a small smile to reassure the manager. "It's fine! I know my limits!"
White had a skeptical look, but she knew she couldn't fight Crystal. "Alright, well, call me if you need anything, okay?"
Crystal's POV
I regretted my words from earlier.
I coughed into my sleeve, and touched my forehead again. I wonder if I'm getting hotter, it's hard to tell. I'm so dumb, I should've taken a cab like White had told me. I thought it wasn't far, but it feels like it's been forever. I need to take a break.
I looked around at my surroundings. I'm pretty sure this is the park near the house which was a couple blocks away. If I'm right, there's a bench somewhere— Ah, it's over there.
I went over to the bench to go take a break. My head is throbbing like crazy, I don't know if I can handle getting home from here. Should I call White? She seems so busy with everything, I kind of don't want to bother her.
I pulled out my phone. I need to call someone, but the question is, who should I call?
White is out of the question, she's super busy. Yellow and Rald should be doing their concert right now, so of course I can't call them. Red, Blue, and Green are behind shooting, and I know they're working today. I remember Ruby dragging Sapph off to go shopping for the movie premiere then shooting later, so I think they're busy too... that leaves Gold and Silver. They should be free until later for shooting. Ugh, no, I can't call them. I know they're off, but if I call them, Gold would get on me and make fun of me. I'm pretty sure if I call Silver individually, he'll tell Gold too. Okay, I should just call Sapph since she's the most available one. I hate to bother her with my problems, but hopefully, this helps her get away from Ruby.
I clicked on her contact and rang her phone up. After a few seconds of ringing, the call got connected.
"Hello?"
Huh? Sapphire's voice is much deeper and huskier. Gosh, I must be hallucinating. This fever is driving me crazy.
"Hey Sapph, I need your help to get home. Do you mind stopping by the park near our house to pick me up?" I asked her, my voice all hoarse now.
"What?"
"I'm sorry to ruin your plans with Ruby, but I'm feeling sick and I'm coming down with something. I don't think I can make it home because I'm so dizzy, can you come walk me home?"
There was a short silence before she spoke up again. "... You said you're at the park?"
"Yeah, the park near our house. I'm on the bench near the school."
"Okay, I'll be there right away! Hang tight!"
"Thanks, Sapph."
I clicked the phone off and leaned back on the bench. I let out a sigh. I bet it's because of that stupid rainstorm that I ended up like this. I hope Sapph comes quickly.
Normal POV
"Silv! I'm bored!" Gold whined, laying on the couch upside down. "Play video games with me!"
"No, I don't feel like it," Silver replied, not even looking at him.
Gold pouted. "Man, you're no fun! This is our day off too, c'mon! It's boring without Red here! I can't believe he just abandoned us for work! I need someone!"
"I told you I don't want to play—"
—DING-DONG!
The two boys shot their head towards the door when they heard the doorbell go off. Gold got up from his seat and jumped on his feet, ready to go get it. He usually didn't get it, but he was interested to see who it was since he didn't expect any of the others to come back so early. Before he could go and get it though, Silver suddenly grabbed him.
"W-What is it?!" Gold exclaimed, caught off guard.
"Don't answer it, I bet it's that crazy girl again," Silver told him, earning a confused look.
"You have to be specific, all of the gals that live here are insane," Gold replied.
"No, not them! It's probably Crys's sister again," Silver whisper-shouted, lowering his voice in case she would hear him. Soul stopped by earlier too, and Silver saw through the peeping hole and decided not to answer the door so he didn't have to experience another weird encounter. Gold was in the restroom, so he didn't have the chance then.
Hearing this, Gold's interest peaked. "Really? I want to see her then if she's super serious gal's twin!"
Silver punched his arm. "I told you not to answer it!"
"Gosh, stop overreacting Silv, you're acting like she's selling drugs! If you don't want to see her again, then just let me answer the door and tell her you're not here," Gold proposed the idea.
"Okay, go do that," Silver told him, rushing to the back so that she wouldn't spot him.
Gold had an amused look, finding it funny that Silver didn't want to approach the girl. He wondered what kind of person Crystal's sister was to make him act like this.
Going over to the door, Gold swung it open and answered it. Upon seeing the girl in her rainbow getup that was accessorized with the large white hat and giant red ribbon, Gold found it completely hilarious that Silver was scared of such a cute girl. Well, scared wasn't the word, exactly, but it was funny that he was avoiding this type of person.
"Hey there!" Gold greeted her.
"Hi, my name is Soul Lee, I'm your new neighbor and Crystal Lee's twin sister!" Soul reintroduced herself. "I was here earlier in the morning, and I was wondering if Crys came back yet?"
"Sorry, she's still at work," Gold informed.
Soul deflated again. "Gosh, you actors are always busy, huh?" she commented. "Well, is Silver around at least?"
Gold raised an interested eyebrow. "Do you know Silv?"
He was sure Silver had just met her today and they only had one meeting, so the fact that she was asking for Silver all of a sudden confused Gold. It also interested him a lot.
"Oh, I just wanted to give him the cookies I brought earlier. I kind of feel bad taking them back," Soul replied.
"Aw, well, he's not here right now, but I can give 'em to him for you," Gold offered.
"Really? Thanks!" Soul beamed, handing him the cookies. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way now. Can you relay the message to Crys that I was stopped by?"
"Of course!" Gold told her.
"Great, thanks Gold!" Soul said, giving him a bow.
Gold nodded and bid her goodbye before closing the door. He went over to the living room where Silver was hiding in the back just in case she saw through the crack of the door.
"What the heck did she want?" Silver asked, coming out from the hiding spot.
Gold tossed the box of cookies into his hands. "She said these are for you. Wow, isn't it nice to have an admirer, Silv?" he joked.
Silver rolled his eyes. "Shut it," he hissed, tossing the box onto the dining table without a care.
"Hey! I could've just sold you out, but because I'm a generous person, I didn't. You're welcome," Gold told him cheekily, making the redhead roll his eyes once again.
"You're annoying," Silver mumbled.
Gold didn't hear that comment so he didn't react to it. He plopped onto the couch again. "Who knew Crys had such a sister though. She has the same face, but she looks so different!"
RING! RING!
The two stopped their conversation when they heard a phone go off. Gold dug in the pockets of his shorts and pulled out his phone, the letters "SSG" appearing on the screen.
Silver cocked an eyebrow. "Who is it?"
"Oh geez, speaking of her, it's super serious gal. I wonder what she wants, she never calls me," Gold replied, answering the phone and putting it up against his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey Sapph, I need your help to get home. Do you mind stopping by the park near our house to pick me up?" Crystal's voice came from the other side of the line.
Gold furrowed his eyebrows, completely confused as to why she wants Sapphire to come and why she thinks he's Sapphire.
"What?"
"I'm sorry to ruin your plans with Ruby, but I'm feeling sick and I'm coming down with something. I don't think I can make it home because I'm so dizzy, can you come walk me home?"
Gold paused for a moment, taken back from the fact Crystal was sick. "... You said you're at the park?"
"Yeah, the park near our house. I'm on the bench near the school."
"Okay, I'll be there right away! Hang tight!"
"Thanks."
Gold ended the call and shoved his phone in his pocket. He went over to go grab his house key and got ready to leave, making his way over to the front. Silver gave him a confused look, wondering where he was going.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I have to save a damsel in distress! Super serious gal needs me to walk her home!" Gold replied, rushing out before Silver could question him further about it.
Sapphire threw the numerous bags and boxes onto the floor beside them and took a seat, finally catching a break after shopping for hours. Not only did Ruby drag her around and force her to look at different colors (she still thinks they're all the same color), he also made her carry the bags since he needed both of his hands and a steady mind to go shop. Honestly, the fact Sapphire didn't punch him at that point was amazing.
"I'm starvin'!" she exclaimed as she flipped through the menu. "I could eat ten whole plates!"
Sapphire glanced over to Ruby when he didn't respond, and the boy seemed too into his sketchbook. She leaned over the table to see what he was drawing, and quickly, Ruby noticed her snooping and shut the sketchbook before she could see. She frowned when he did.
"The dress is a wonderful surprise, so no peeking," Ruby told her.
"That makes me want to look even more," she mumbled.
"I know you're waiting for my beautiful creation, but I hope you can resist the urge."
Sapphire rolled her eyes at how cocky he was about his design. "Nevermind, let's just eat! What are ya getting?"
"Oh, I'm not getting anything, but you're getting a salad."
"What?"
"Yes, I need you to stay very nice and fitting before the movie premiere. I heard the salad here have amazing healthy effects too, so I brought us here," Ruby informed.
"Well, what if I don't want it though?"
"You lost the bet."
Sapphire resisted the urge to punch him again, it was annoying that he kept mentioning the loss to her and using it as an excuse to boss her around.
"Hello there! I'm your server, Kimberly! Are you two ready to order?" the waitress interrupted their conversation.
"Yes, we would like a salad for her and two iced waters," Ruby ordered.
She quickly wrote down the order and took the menus then left the two to get their orders. After she left, Sapphire growled at Ruby.
"That's not goin' ta fill me!" she complained.
"Don't worry, I heard the portions here are huge," Ruby reassured.
"I don't get why ya're not gettin' anything either! Aren't ya hungry after all that shoppin'?"
"I ate earlier when you went with Crys and Blue," he replied. "Besides, I might have to go eat later again. I'm very busy, White wanted me to meet the new cast members with her later. Y'know, the one who will be taking the roles of the Sinnoh region."
Sapphire heard about this from Crystal earlier since Crystal was one of the members who was chosen to meet them as well. White wanted some of the seniors to greet them since they're going to join them soon, and she went with the nicer and friendlier choices of the group. White would've chosen Sapphire as one of them too, but in the end, she didn't want the girl to overwhelm her juniors.
"After we eat, I will drop you off home then meet her," Ruby announced, pushing his glasses up.
"I wanna go too! I'm interested!" Sapphire said.
Ruby looked her up and down. "I don't know about that..."
Sapphire frowned, and felt offended. "Hey! I'm nice!"
He shrugged. "Well, I guess I don't care too much about what they think. Make sure you ask White before you show up," he told her. "We still have to stop by the house though because I need to drop my stuff off."
The brunette glanced at the piles of boxes and bags she was forced to hold because of Ruby. "Why'd ya buy so much random stuff?!"
"Um, excuse me, they're not random stuff! The stuff I bought is essential for me to make the dress of my dreams for you, and the other stuff is gifts for Wally!"
Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "Ya're visitin' Wally?"
Wally was an extra actor on the set of their drama. Sapphire somewhat knew him and befriended him, but Ruby seemed much more closer since Wally was an acquaintance of his dad's. Though the boy was sickly and weak, he had a dream of being on the show. Unfortunately, that was short lived, and he ended up in the hospital after a mishap where he fell and broke a couple bones.
"Of course!" Ruby replied. "You can come too, I'm planning to make a visit maybe tomorrow or something."
Kimberly came back and dropped off the food quickly. "Enjoy!"
"Thanks!" Sapphire told her politely, quickly digging into the salad that Ruby picked out.
"How is it?" he asked her, eyeing her food.
Sapphire stabbed her fork into the leaves and shoved a large amount into her mouth. "Hmm... This is actually good," she commented.
Ruby watched her eat silently for a while, then pulled out his sketchbook to look at the design again. He checked the bags, he was pretty sure he bought everything and wanted to double check.
"Done!" Sapphire exclaimed, showing him her empty plate.
Ruby hid the design from her again and looked at her. His eyebrows scrunched up and without warning, he got a napkin and reached over to wipe her face for her. At this, a small blush appeared on Sapphire's cheeks at the sudden contact, and she swatted his hand away.
"Hey!"
"Your face was dirty. I know we're in disguises, but I appreciate that you at least maintain your appearance," he told her.
"Ya know, ya—"
—SNAP!
Ruby and Sapphire stiffened up when they heard the familiar sound of a camera shutter go off. They looked over to the source of the sound, and saw that a man in his late twenties stood there with a giant camera, along with a whole crowd. Other people were there as well, looking at them. Their hearts dropped when they realized that paparazzi and the public had found them. Just when they were staring, they came running towards them.
"Crap, let's go! Hurry up, Prissy Boy!" Sapphire whisper-shouted to him, scooping up all of the bags and boxes.
"Wait!" Ruby called out to her, getting up from his seat as well.
"For what?!"
"Give me the bags and boxes," he told her in a hushed tone, surprising her.
"Why?! It's better if I hold it since I'm stronger and faster! Why do ya wanna suddenly hold it now?!"
"Well, obviously, I can't look like a bad boyfriend," Ruby explained his reason.
Sapphire narrowed her eyes and gave him a look. "Ya're annoyin'! Let's go already!"
Crystal tried to take deep breaths to ease her mind. She could feel her cheeks heating up even more, and her headache slowly growing worse.
"How long has it been since I called Sapph..." she muttered to herself.
A shadow loomed over the front of her body, blocking out the view of the sun. Crystal looked up, anticipating it to finally be Sapphire, but instead, a tall man in his late twenties stood there. He was so tall that the shadow covered her whole head and he wore dark black clothes along with sunglasses.
"Hey, pretty girl."
"Sorry, not interested," she said, getting up from the bench.
When she tried to walk away, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Aw, c'mon, baby! You should get to know me more instead of just flaking out on me like that! I didn't even get a chance!"
Crystal tried to rip her arm out of his grip, but it was difficult for her since she was weak and out of it. "Let go..." she mumbled, her energy fading.
He went closer to her face, surprising her
"You know, looking more closer, you look kind of familiar—"
"—Hey!"
A familiar voice called out to them, and they both turned to their left to see who the voice belonged to. Crystal squinted, trying to clearly see the person, but it was proving to be difficult since she was dizzy and she saw multiple images of them. The person came closer and wrapped their arm around her, yanking the stranger's grip.
"What do you think you're doing to Crys?!" he yelled.
Crystal looked up and now that they were close, she could finally see who the person was, and it was none other than Gold.
Why is he here instead of Sapph...? she thought.
A cough came out of her mouth, and she felt her knees grow weak. Crystal fell out of Gold's hold and collapsed onto the floor, barely holding herself.
"Oh hey, are you okay?" Gold asked her, bending down to help her.
She didn't have the energy to answer him.
"Hey, don't ignore me!"
Gold's attention averted from Crystal to the stranger who tried to grab her earlier.
"Don't touch my girlfriend, man!" Gold told him, lying that she was his girlfriend. It seemed very plausible at the time.
"Well, you're 'girlfriend' obviously wanted to come with me! If anything, you're the one who should leave!"
Gold released Crystal and stood up, standing up to the stranger. He was kind of intimidated since the other guy was much taller and had more muscle than him, but he knew he couldn't back down and look lame. Plus, he had an attitude of his own when it came to dealing with people.
"I think you should leave!" he told him.
Without warning, the guy swung a punch at him, his temper finally running out. Luckily, after dealing with everyone, especially Silver who would punch him constantly, Gold was able to dodge the punch swiftly and land one on him. The stranger fell onto his back by the swing of Gold's punch, and the raven-haired boy stood there and watched him. Quickly, Gold went over to Crystal and tried to help her off of the floor.
"Damn, Crys, you couldn't just kick him or something?" he mumbled to her, grabbing onto her arm.
"S-Shut it..." she muttered.
After Crystal stood up with the help of Gold, she quickly collapsed into his arms, and fainted.
"Woah, Crys!" Gold exclaimed, grabbing onto the girl's unconscious body.
"You asshole!" He heard a growl come from where he had just planted a fist on the stranger and saw him rise up from the floor.
Gold knew his punch wasn't going to last long against a guy like that and that he was going to recover quickly. Deciding that he couldn't win the fight, Gold scooped Crystal's body off of the ground and began running in the opposite direction.
"Miss White!"
The curly brunette looked up when she heard her name get called. With the biggest smile she could muster on her face, she waved excitedly at the five people approaching her. Three of the people were younger kids, a girl with blue hair and two boys, one blond-haired, and the other with black-haired. They were being escorted by Director Oak and another old man that White didn't recognize.
"Hello there!" she greeted, bowing politely to them. "I'm White, and I'm in charge of the BW Agency! I heard you three are the new Pokespe Drama crew for the upcoming Sinnoh region? It's very nice to meet you!"
"Hi! I'm Pearl, and this is Dia!" the blond one greeted, pointing a thumb at himself. "The girl is Missy!"
The blue-haired girl gave her a soft smile and bowed back to her, while Diamond gave a little wave.
White raised an eyebrow, confused as to why she was addressed as "Missy" when she read in the file that her name was Platina, but still kept her smile. She recognized Diamond and Pearl from other T.V. segments like small comedies, but she didn't really recognize Platina at all. She admitted the girl was quite pretty though, and she seemed to have lots of money with the heaps of gems she had on. Well, it didn't matter, she wasn't the one who got to pick her clients.
"White, this is Prof. Rowan of the Sinnoh region," Director Oak introduced. "I will be working with him on the production of the show! He's well known in Sinnoh for Pokémon research!"
"I see, it's very nice to meet you as well, Prof. Rowan!" White greeted.
"Yes, hello, young lady! I heard you are very capable, and I hope you take very good care of these three. I've known them for quite a long time," he said.
"Of course, I will!" White reassured.
He smiled at her, nodding.
"These three will start the drama after Dia and Pearl finish their little comedy competition they have coming up!" Director Oak announced. He looked around White. "Oh, and speaking of casts, I thought Ruby and Crystal were supposed to come and meet them?"
White gave them a nervous smile. "Yeah, it turns out Crys is a bit under the weather, so she couldn't come. As for Ruby... I think he's busy hanging with Sapph."
"Wow, they must be so in love like their dramas!" Diamond exclaimed.
Her sweat dropped at his ignorance. "Um, yeah, you could say that, I guess?" she said, letting out a nervous giggle. "I'm pretty sure they're quite busy with shooting. They're a tad bit behind schedule, but Ruby will be here later to meet you three!"
Yellow let out a sigh to release her stress. She laid down on the enormous fluffy bed in their hotel room, and rolled around. She had just finished a rehearsal session with Emerald to check out the stage, and make sure preparations were going underway, and she was tired.
Emerald was tired too, he plopped himself on the other bed and was scrolling on his phone.
"Good work today, guys! I think tomorrow will be amazing with the rate we're going at!" Black complimented with a pumping fist.
"I hope so," Emerald mumbled. "Black, you're doing quite well for someone who isn't an official manager."
Black rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, kind of embarrassed by the comment. "Oh, really? Thanks! I guess I picked up some things while watching the prez!"
Yellow sat up. "Speaking of White, I wonder how she's doing with the others."
"She said she was going to meet with the new cast today, so she should be plenty busy," Emerald reminded.
"Oh yeah, I'm so excited to meet them! I wonder what they're like!" Yellow remarked.
"Hey, I just hope they're not as aggressive as all the others. I don't feel like ripping another fight apart," Black mumbled.
Yellow's and Emerald's sweat dropped, feeling sympathetic for the boy. Now looking back, he was there to stop a lot of their fights and got hurt while doing so. Yellow could imagine the claw marks Sapphire gave him because she always saw him restraining her from Ruby the most.
"Speaking of which, I hope Ruby and Sapphire are doing well without you," Yellow said. "White isn't there to stop them from fighting since it's their break."
"Relax, don't worry about those two lovebirds too much," Emerald told her, sticking his tongue out in disgust.
"Rald is right! We still need to focus on our schedule," Black agreed. "Let's watch some T.V. and rest for a while."
The brunet grabbed the T.V. remote off of the nightstand and clicked it on. The first channel they were on was some gossip news channel.
"Ooh, I like this show. They always expose celebrities for random things," Black remarked.
Yellow frowned. "Really? They're so mean to get into their privacy though."
"Well, yeah, it's annoying, but the stuff they always report is always true," he responded.
"I wonder what celebrity they're exposing today," Emerald said.
"Breaking news! We have some inside scoop on the most famous celebrity couple, Ruby and Sapphire!"
Hearing their colleague's name, all three of them widened their eyes in panic and surprise, and Black turned the T.V. to clearly hear what they were going to say about the couple.
"—Today, we were at Cafe Angela and we spotted Ruby and Sapphire there! This cafe is known for their special salad dish that helps pregnant women have easier labor, and Sapphire eats it!" The news reporter put a picture of Sapphire scarfing down a salad, her mouth full. "We also have extra knowledge that Ruby paid extra just to get this special salad! Everyone, let's give congratulations to Sapphire's pregnancy!"
All of their jaws dropped at the big news.
"OH MY GOSH, WHAT THE HECK?! THEY DID THE DIRTY DEED?!" Black screamed, freaking out and pulling his locks in distress.
"More importantly, they did it while we were in the same house?!" Emerald commented.
"I can't imagine those two doing it..." Yellow muttered, her face turning red at the thought. "They're so young too!"
"HURRY UP AND CALL THEM!" Black yelled, still panicking. "WE HAVE TO INFORM PREZ TOO!"
"I AM, STOP YELLING!" Emerald shouted in return, tired of his loud voice.
"GUYS, CALM DOWN!"
Now, even Yellow was screaming too.
Silver laid on the couch peacefully, his eyes closed.
It was rare for the house to be this quiet in a while. The boy's dorm was actually quiet most of the time too, but with ten people living in one house, it never happened. He didn't know whether it was because of the arguments or the fact he couldn't go to his room, but he wasn't going to question it. After all, he was finally home alone.
The front door was slammed open, and the redhead's eyes shot open when his body stiffened up unconsciously.
He groaned.
He knew he could never catch a break, or get what he wanted. The universe is always against him.
Silver heard the door slam shut and he got up from the couch.
"Silv!" Gold called out from the hallway.
Of course it's him, Silver thought, sighing.
"You idiot, why are you so loud— Woah, what happened to Crys?"
He quickly changed his expression from an irritated one to a worried one when he saw Crystal unconscious in Gold's arms. Gold went over to dump her on the couch gently, and he was panting heavily. The boy wiped his sweat off his forehead with his sleeve and let out a sigh of relief.
"I don't know! She called me earlier because she wasn't feeling well, and when I got there, some dude tried to grab her! Of course, I beat him up and got away!" Gold summarized. He bent down, exhausted. "Gosh, super serious gal is heavy! She needs to lay off the snacks!"
"Well, we should take care of h—"
—KNOCK! KNOCK!
A knock interrupted them and the two boys looked at each other, wondering who it was.
"Geez, who's at the door at this time?! It better not be that girl again..." Silver grumbled, going over to go get it.
"Wait!" Gold called out to him, stopping the redhead in his tracks.
"What is it now?"
Gold lowered his voice into a whisper. "I think it's the guy that was harassing her."
Silver narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said you beat him up!" he chided.
"Okay, technically, I was the one who hit him and knocked him down for a while, but he got up and followed me here!" Gold told him.
Silver clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Great! You let some random dude you punched follow you all the way to where we live? You couldn't lose him on the way?! You're supposed to run around the block a couple times to avoid them and then come back!"
"To be fair, I'm running on adrenaline, and Crys is not the lightest person in the world, okay?!" Gold hissed.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The knocks continued.
"That guy isn't going to leave. We have to go answer it," Silver said.
"Ooh! I have an amazing idea! Turn on the sprinklers, and maybe he'll leave!" Gold proposed.
Silver looked at him like he was an idiot. "I'm not doing that!"
Not only was the plan dumb, neither of them didn't even know how to even turn on the sprinklers. Gardening was always Yellow's job because she liked it.
He let out a distressed sigh. "Okay, I'm going to go chase him away and tell him you're not here. You go hide."
"Great plan," Gold remarked, giving him thumbs up and going into the pantry.
Silver looked back at Crystal, and decided she was hard to see from the doorway since she was laying down. After deciding that his friends were out of sight, he went over to finally answer the knocks. He opened the door, and at the doorway stood a man much taller than him. Silver could see why Gold ran away from him— he basically looked like a gangster by how big his muscles were and how he towered over him.
"Yes?" he answered.
"I saw an asshole with explosive black hair come this way! Is he here?!"
Silver acted like he was confused. "I'm not sure what you mean... Ah! Are you talking about Roger?"
The stranger raised an eyebrow. "Roger?!"
"Yeah, he's annoying. He lives in this neighborhood down the block, but he always uses this street to cut through. Everyone on the street hates him because he talks too much and makes too much noise," Silver informed. The redhead leaned out the doorway and pointed down the street to the left. "He lives over there."
"Okay, thanks!"
He quickly left in the direction that Silver pointed at, and the redhead closed the door and went back into the living room.
"He's gone," Silver announced.
Gold peeked out of his hiding spot in the kitchen and came out. "Okay, now that the creep is gone, we should take care of Crys!"
Silver nodded, determined.
The two stood there silently for a second then looked at each other.
"... Are you finally going to be useful and do something?" Silver gestured him.
"I thought you were going to do something," Gold replied.
"I've never been sick! How should I know?!" Silver snapped. "What do you do when you're sick?"
"And you think I get sick?! You know how amazing I am, Silv!"
Silver ran his hand through his red locks in distress. "I should've known idiots can't get sick!"
"Hey!" Gold hissed. "C'mon, it's not like it's rocket science to take care of a sick person! We just need to make sure she's warm, duh!"
"What are you talking about?! Crys is sweating! The last thing she needs is to be more warm!" Silver snapped.
"Well, I don't see you doing anything!"
"I'm thinking right now!"
Just then, a bunch of loud noises were heard outside, and Ruby and Sapphire came rushing in, slamming the door shut. Gold and Silver looked in the hallway at the front, and saw the two tired, numerous different colored boxes and bags in their arms. The pair went over to the living room, yelling about something.
"Ugh, ya're so slow, Prissy Boy! I bet ya kept draggin' me down!"
"Hey! It's not my fault we got caught! I bet it's because you suck at disguising and they saw your face first!"
"No, they didn't!"
"Yes, they did!"
"I SAID, NO, THEY DIDN'T!"
"AND I SAID, YES, THEY DID!"
"SHUT UP!"
Both of them turned to Gold and Silver, finally realizing their presence after Silver's shouting. Sapphire gasped when she saw Crystal laying there on the couch.
"Oh my Arceus! Ya two killed Crys?!" she screamed. "What happened?!"
"More like, saved her life!" Gold corrected.
"Stop yelling, she's sick and trying to sleep," Silver told the juniors.
Sapphire threw all of Ruby's shopping bags and boxes onto the floor, and went over to the girl. Ruby shouted an offended "hey!" and went over to gently clean up his bags.
"Wow, I've never seen Crys get sick even at the dorm!" she exclaimed, putting her hand on her forehead. "We should make her some food! I bet she'll want some pancakes! It's her favorite!"
Ruby rolled his eyes. "As if a sick person could eat that, you caveman!"
Sapphire growled at him. "What did ya say ta me?!"
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The arguing pair tensed up when they heard the door knocks and heard loud chatter outside through the walls.
"No one answer it, I think it's the paparazzi," Ruby told them in a hushed tone.
"They must've followed us!" Sapphire mumbled.
"Man, we have to leave soon too! We have to go to the studio soon!"
"Quick, Silv! Turn on the sprinklers!" Gold said.
Silver shot him another look. "Stop with the sprinklers! That won't drive anyone away!" he snapped. "What's up with you guys?! Stop leading people to our house!"
"It's prissy boy's fault!" Sapphire pointed the accusing thumb at her co-star. "He's too slow, I'm tellin' y'all!"
"If anything, it's your fault!" he retorted.
"Stop!" Silver chided. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to just ignore the door and any knocks from now on, and focus on nursing Crys. No arguing."
"Oh yeah, poor Crys!" Sapphire cried, bending down to the girl. "What should we do?"
"Isn't it obvious?! We should cook her rice porridge and get her an ice pack to cool her down! It's best to make her comfortable!" Ruby instructed. "It's like you've never taken care of a sick person before, or been sick!"
"It's not my fault I have perfect health! I'm not as weak as you!" Sapphire snapped.
Gold and Silver didn't want to reveal the fact that they were arguing about not knowing what to do a minute ago, and stayed silent about it since it was embarrassing.
"Alright, let's help Crys get comfy!" Gold cut in. "We need someone to go get the ice pack and blanket, and the others should make her porridge! Let's split it up—"
"—I'll get the ice pack and blanket!" All four of them said at the exact same time.
They all looked at each other.
"..."
It was obvious no one knew how to cook except for the patient herself.
"... Do any of us know how to cook?" Ruby brought up, realizing that factor.
"..."
"Great," Silver mumbled sarcastically.
Sapphire raised her hand eagerly. "I'm willin' ta learn ta help Crys!" she volunteered.
"Oh, no!" Ruby exclaimed. "You're the last person I want in the kitchen! Last time you were cooking food, Blue set the place on fire and ruined one of the aprons I worked so hard on!"
"What are ya talkin' 'bout?! I'm the one who put out the fire!"
"Gold and Silver should do it, I bet they'll cook better than you," Ruby said, earning a growl from Sapphire.
Another sigh escaped Silver's mouth (he's lost count how many now), and he gave up. "We'll do it. It's not that hard to just cook rice and add water."
Gold gave him a look. "That's not what rice porridge is."
"It's not like she'll be able to tell," Silver said, ignoring him and going over to the kitchen to prepare it.
Gold shook his head disappointingly and followed the redhead to the kitchen, while Ruby and Sapphire went to comfort Crystal's heated body.
"I hope Crys gets better soon, we can't even stay here for long because we have to go to work soon," Sapphire mumbled. "Will anyone be home?"
"Silv and I can just skip a day of work, don't worry, Wild Gal!" Gold reassured her from the kitchen.
RING! RING!
"Who's calling at a time like this?" Ruby inquired when he heard Sapphire's phone go off in her pocket.
Sapphire put the ice pack on Crystal's head and quickly went to answer it, putting it on speaker. "Hey—"
"—OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!" Suddenly, Black was screaming from the other side of the line, so loud that even Gold and Silver could hear him from the kitchen. All three boys raised an eyebrow, interested in the call.
"BLACK, CALM DOWN!" Now, they heard Emerald screaming.
"CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! THEY'RE SO YOUNG TOO!"
"Guys! Stop yelling, I can't hear Sapph!" Yellow scolded them in the background.
There were some tapping noises and more screaming, and finally, Yellow took the phone. "Sapph!" she called out.
They heard the blonde making shushing noises to them.
"Hey, what's up? Is something goin' on? Why is Black freakin' out?!" Sapphire inquired, puzzled by the screaming.
"SAPPHIRE! I'M SORRY YOUR LIFE IS OVER ALREADY!"
"BLACK, STOP!"
"IT'S TRUE THOUGH! OH GOSH, YOU BARELY STARTED YOUR CAREER TOO!"
"—WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Sapphire screamed into the phone when everyone ignored her. She covered her mouth when she realized Crystal was next to her bedridden and unconscious.
"YOU'RE PREGNANT!"
Gold, Silver, and Ruby looked over to Sapphire, whose face was stunned.
"HUH?!"
