"Here you go, Claire," said Sylvia. "Five for you."
Clair received the roses with slightly trembling hands. Ordinarily, she would have been flattered—even though three of the beautiful flowers had been from her dad. But her thoughts were on something else. On someone else.
She watched Mori carefully as Sylvia approached her desk.
"Here you go, Grace," said Sylvia, handing her a single rose.
Mori looked at the gift with evident surprise.
"Who's this from?" she asked.
"Anonymous," said Sylvia, adjusting her round glasses mysteriously. "But it does have a note."
Claire couldn't take it anymore. She pretended to look at the roses her dad had given her as Mori opened the card. When Claire did glance back over, she saw that Mori's face had turned a deep red.
"Who's that from, Mori?" asked Vasilio, leaning over to try and read the card.
"None of your business," said Mori, stuffing it into her pocket.
"Love letter from a secret admirer?" asked David teasingly.
"Maybe," said Mori.
Claire noticed something odd in her voice. She wasn't offended, or angry, or dismissive. She was… happy. Claire's heart pounded. She couldn't focus on anything—her entire being was lost in the expression on Mori's face. She had made her happy.
The bell rang. Claire did her best to act normally as she gathered her notebooks. She desperately wanted to look back at Mori, to see some hint of her thoughts. But she didn't. Rain and Sylvia were waiting for her at the door.
"Are you okay, Claire?" asked Rain as they walked to science class.
"Yeah," said Claire. "I'm fine."
It was the biggest lie she had ever told.
"You're sure you don't know?" asked Mori seriously.
"Yeah," said Vasilio. "I promise I don't. Have you talked to Taylor? Maybe he—."
"I already asked him. He said he doesn't know."
Claire heard the note of urgency in Mori's voice. She really wanted to know who sent the rose and the note.
"Maybe you should ask Sylvia," David suggested. "She, like, gave them out."
"I did that too," said Mori. "She said she doesn't know who sent it, and she wouldn't tell me even if she did."
They all glanced over at Claire, who was pretending to search her locker for a missing… something. She didn't know what she was pretending to do. And she felt herself blushing under Mori's intense gaze.
"She wouldn't tell," said Mori, lowering her voice.
"You can try," said Vasilio. "I'll ask her, if you want."
They whispered together for a moment. Claire couldn't take it anymore.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to sound like she didn't know.
"It's none of your business," said Mori.
Claire flushed. She decided to persist.
"Is it about the… the valentine?"
Mori's eyes widened a little.
"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, it's… oh my gosh, you know who sent it."
Mori grabbed Claire by the sleeve. It was a strangely intimate act.
"Tell me," said Mori, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Please."
Claire's pulse was racing, She avoided Mori's dark eyes, but it didn't help.
"C'mon, I really wanna know," said Mori earnestly. "I won't tell them you told me."
Claire swallowed. She couldn't think of anything to say. Mori was bearing down on her—their faces were so close, Claire could smell the cherry of her lip gloss.
"I did," blurted Claire. "It was me."
Mori's face hardened. The expression in her eyes went from surprise, then to hurt, then to hatred.
"S-so this was your idea," said Mori, her voice trembling with fury, "Of a joke, huh? Just another way to m-make me feel…"
Claire's heart was racing. She wanted so badly to tell Mori the truth, that she thought she was pretty, and wonderful, and that she couldn't be happy apart from her. But she couldn't. Other kids were watching. Alibis, excuses, and explanations rushed through her mind. What could she say, now, to Mori, as she looked at her like that?
"Yeah," said Claire. "Something like that."
Mori clenched her teeth. Claire could see the tears welling in her eyes.
"I hate you," she choked. "I—."
She shoved Claire away and raced down the stairs. Claire couldn't move. She was so consumed by trying to hide her expression, hold back the tears. She dug her fingernails into her palms. Vasilio and David were staring at her.
"What?" she said.
She was surprised by the coldness in her own voice. It reminded her of someone. It reminded her of her dad.
Liam checked the clock on his PokeGear. It was long after midnight. He and Claire had been sitting in silence for a long time.
"It doesn't make me feel sorry for you," said Liam abruptly. "If that was what you were trying to do."
Claire showed no signs of hearing his words. She was watching the rain outside.
"Why did you send that valentine in the first place, anyways?"
Claire shrugged.
"I liked her, and I wanted to tell her."
"Then why did you lie?" said Liam.
Claire shrugged again.
"I don't know."
"Do you still..?" began Liam hesitantly.
Claire shook her head.
"No. Not for a long time. I got over it."
She turned her blue eyes back on Liam. He felt a pang of shame as he found himself admiring them. Mori was right—he needed help. His girl-craziness was out of control.
"So you're her friend, huh?" said Claire.
Liam nodded.
"So I guess there wasn't any way that… Nevermind."
"Nevermind what?" said Liam.
"There wasn't any way you would give me a chance."
Liam frowned.
"A chance to what?"
"To… help you understand."
Liam chuckled.
"What?" said Claire suspiciously.
"You know, I do like you a little more than when I first dragged you into this cave," he said with a smirk. "But only a little."
He picked up the belt of Pokeballs and passed it to Claire. She accepted it cautiously, as if sure he was about to snatch it away the moment she reached out.
"You can leave if you want," said Liam. "Or you can wait for the rain to stop. But if you stay, I might ask you more questions."
Claire was putting her belt back on.
"I'm only just getting dry," said Claire. "I'll wait."
Liam smirked.
"Okay, well I warned you," said Liam, trying to get comfortable against the uneven cave wall. "Why did you join Team Power?"
"Do we have to start with that?" said Claire.
"No," said Liam. "We can start with why you bullied Mori if you want."
Claire gave a sullen sniff.
"I joined Team Power because I respect my dad," said Claire.
"What does that mean?" said Liam.
"My dad… he runs Team Power," explained Claire reluctantly. "He's the Grandmaster."
"Wait," said Liam. "Didn't your dad used to be principal of the school? How did he go from that to running Team Power?"
"He's… well, like I said, I respect him. He was already working on Team Power even back then, before he got forced out."
"Forced out?" repeated Liam.
"Yeah," said Claire with a frown. "Didn't you know that? The parents and teachers ganged up on him. They said he was trying to micromanage everything. The owners fired him in the middle of the year. That was… why we left."
That certainly explained Claire's sudden departure halfway through the 8th grade year. Liam decided not to mention the obvious relief that all his classmates had felt.
"So what happened after that?"
Claire blinked.
"Ask something else."
"Fine," said Liam. "I'm guessing you're responsible for this downpour. How'd you manage it?"
Claire swelled with pride, as if Liam had asked a very flattering question.
"Cloudseed," she explained. "If you crush a Damp Rock into powder and launch it into the atmosphere, it's like a dozen Rain Dances all at once. Something my dad came up with."
"So how long will it last?"
Claire looked at her watch.
"I used more than you're supposed to," Claire confessed. "Cloudseed was made for farming, Nanzo gets really bad droughts, if you haven't noticed."
"I haven't, actually," said Liam. "Wait, so your dad made Cloudseed to help Nanzonese farmers?"
"Kind of," said Claire. "He made it to sell to the Nanzonese government, but they wouldn't pay what he deserved."
"Wait, so you're telling me your dad invented a way to solve Nanzo's drought problem, and he's just sitting on it because they wouldn't give him enough money?"
Claire's eyes hardened.
"You don't understand," she said bitterly. "He's going to use it. But only after Nanzo belongs to Team Power."
"Okay, here's my next question," said Liam, who was getting a little annoyed with Claire's attitude. "Do you really believe in what Team Power stands for?"
"Of course," said Claire. "Don't you see what Nanzo is like? The other Pokemon Teams are a joke! The Pokemon League is completely corrupt—look at the people Silas lets become gym leaders! Everything in Nanzo is so dirty, and chaotic, and—."
"Oh, I get it," Liam interrupted. "Moving to Nanzo gave you culture shock, and instead of accepting that Nanzo is different from Unova, you and your dad decided to take over Nanzo and force it to be Unova. So this Team Power thing is just a convenient excuse to—."
"Shut up!" shouted Claire. "My dad follows the ancient teachings of the School of Power. He's not some clueless foreigner. Nanzo looked a lot like it does now back when the School of Power first took over, and—."
"You know Team Power lost in the end, right?" said Liam. "Team Virtue beat them."
"After a hundred years!" Claire railed. "It took Team Virtue a whole century to pull together enough losers to—."
"You know Chez is part of Team Virtue now," said Liam.
Claire stopped mid-sentence. What Liam had intended as an offhand remark had taken her off-guard.
"No," Claire said. "I… I didn't know that."
She sighed and stared down at her feet.
"Can I tell you something else?" said Claire. "Something else you're not allowed to tell anyone?"
"Go ahead," said Liam.
Claire swallowed.
"I… miss having friends. I miss Chelsea, and Stephanie, and Rain… I know I shouldn't. I know I'm their enemy now. And when Team Power does take over Nanzo, I'll fight them if I have to. But…"
Claire rocked back and forth, digging her nails into her palms.
"I don't know why I told you that," she said in a hoarse voice.
They were both quiet for a long time.
"You know something, Claire?" said Liam at last. "I think… I think we would have been friends. If I had been at Everspring three years ago, and you—."
"I'm glad you weren't," said Claire. "I couldn't have told any of this to a friend. I like you better as a stranger."
Liam laughed.
"Rain's almost stopped," Liam observed as he climbed to his feet. "I'm gonna try and find my way back to camp. Why don't you come with me?"
Claire raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I think you're not happy with Team Power," said Liam bluntly. "So you should come with me and leave it behind."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"I can't do that," she said, simply, "Not anymore."
She followed him into the light drizzle outside. To the east, Liam saw the faintest hint of the coming dawn.
"Why?" said Liam. "Why can't you come back?"
"Do you really think any of them want me back?" she asked, pointedly.
Liam didn't know how to answer that.
"I do," said Liam. "I mean, I want you back. So that's one person."
Claire scoffed.
"That's because you've only ever known me as your enemy," said Claire, "It's different for the others."
"You're not my enemy right now," countered Liam, "And you don't have to be again."
Claire closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I need to go," she said, reaching for the first Pokeball on her belt, "And so do you. They're probably looking for you."
"If you change your mind," said Liam, "You know where I am."
"I won't," smiled Claire.
Liam shook his head.
"There's just one last thing," said Claire, after a long pause.
To Liam's surprise, Claire stood on tip-toe, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him forcefully and awkwardly on the mouth. Liam only had one other kiss to compare it to, but he was fairly confident most kisses didn't feel like two mouths crashing into each other and didn't end with a slight twinge of mutual hatred. It lasted only a moment, and before he had time to react, Claire had let go of him.
"I think I can safely say that will be our secret," she said, blushing, "Hey, what's your name, anyways?"
"Liam Holbrook," Liam stammered.
"Well goodbye, Liam Holbrook," said Claire. "It was fun being strangers. We're back to being enemies now."
Claire sent out her Braviary and climbed on its back.
"One last question," said Liam. "As strangers. Did you come all the way to Nanzo just to ruin Fall Camp?"
"Basically," Claire mumbled.
"That's Mori-level petty," said Liam with a mischievous smile.
Claire tugged at the reins of her Pokemon and soon both had disappeared into the swirling gray clouds overhead. He had never felt so emotionally confused in his life. Claire's returning to Team Power was inexplicable to him. Claire was proud, and sometimes cruel, but she lacked the true indifference Liam found in the classic texts of the School of Power. She cared a lot about others, even if just what they thought about her. Yet her devotion to Team Power hadn't wavered. She had gone back without a second thought.
"C'mon," said Liam, releasing his Murkrow from its Pokeball. "Let's find our way back."