"Oh, Liam!" cried Ruth, sliding down the muddy back to meet him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Everyone has been looking for—."
"Yeah, I'm fine Ruth," said Liam, feeling not-so-secretly pleased at how excited Ruth was to find him. Her round face was beaming with joy.
"Christine will be very happy to see you," said Ruth. "Everyone will."
"I'll be happy to see them too," said Liam with a weary smile.
Murkrow had led Liam back up the stream, now receding back to its old volume as the rain slowed. It took less than five minutes to make his way back to the eastern boundary of the camp, where Ruth had spotted him with her flashlight. The sun was finally rising, and although he was cold and wet, Liam felt relieved. It had been a very, very weird night. He was glad it was over.
"Oh, thank Arceus," said Miss Snyder as Ruth led Liam back into camp. "Liam, are you okay? Where have you been? We almost called the Everspring police."
"Sorry to worry you," said Liam. "I fell in the river last night and got swept downstream. I spent the night in a cave waiting for the rain to stop. I only just got back."
"Wait, you fell in the stream?" said Miss Snyder, narrowing her eyes. "What were you doing near the stream in the middle of the night during a storm?"
Liam flushed.
"Well, when you put it that way it does sound… kinda stupid," Liam granted. "I was out helping the people that lost their tent, and I thought I saw someone standing by the river. I ran to see who it was, and I slipped in the mud and went straight into the water."
Liam looked warily at Miss Snyder, wondering if the lie would take.
"Well, that was stupid, but at least you were trying to help," said Miss Snyder with an exhausted sigh. "Ruth, go get Stephanie, and tell her to bring the First Aid kit. Let's make sure our human Swampert here didn't get hurt."
Ruth nodded and scurried away in search of Stephanie. Miss Snyder gestured for Liam to sit on a plastic stool beside her tent.
"When did you notice I was gone?" asked Liam casually.
"Taylor and Vasilio woke up Professor Wort around midnight," said Miss Snyder. "Me and the girls got involved around two in the morning."
Liam checked his PokeGear.
"5:05," said Miss Snyder. "And yes, we have been looking the whole time."
She yawned.
"We're sending everyone home after breakfast," Miss Snyder continued. "So as soon as Stephanie patches you up, go and pack up your things."
"Wait, sending everyone home?" said Liam in alarm. "Just because I was missing for a few hours?"
Miss Snyder rolled her eyes.
"Believe it or not, Liam, not everything is about you," said Miss Snyder. "We're going home because of the rain."
"But the rain's done," Liam countered.
"Yes, and everything is still soaked," said Miss Snyder. "Including the ground, the grass, the tents, the students, the Pokemon, and me. So we're going home. Get used to it."
Liam didn't really know why he was arguing—going home to a warm bed and a change of clothes sounded amazing. If anything, he was relieved. But cancelling Fall Camp still felt like a victory for Claire, and he didn't like that.
"Oh, there you are!"
Stephanie had arrived with the First Aid kit under her arm. She immediately set to work examining Liam with the nonchalance of a trained physician—her parents were doctors, after all. Liam tried his best to act normal as Stephanie studied him with her beautiful sea-green eyes and felt around for bruises and scrapes. As she touched the side of his head, Liam winced.
"Did you hit your head?" she asked.
"I think so, yeah," said Liam.
Stephanie took an Icy Rock out of the First Aid kit and wrapped it in a rag.
"Hold this to the bruise," said Stephanie.
Liam did as he was told. With Stephanie this close, he didn't trust himself to express himself coherently.
"Oh my gosh!"
Chelsea and Marsha came sprinting up to Miss Snyder's tent. Before Liam knew what was happening, Chelsea had shoved Stephanie aside and nearly tackled him off the stool.
"You're not dead!" she squealed. "You're not dead, you're not dead, you're not dead!"
"C-correct," Liam choked.
"Chelsea, please let Liam go," laughed Stephanie. "He needs to rest."
"What happened?" said Chelsea. "I was afraid you had been kidnapped by Team Power or something."
Chelsea's intuition was so near the mark it almost made Liam suspicious.
"I just fell in the river," he mumbled. "It was my own fault."
"See, I told you."
Vasilio and Taylor, both wet and shivering, grinned down at Liam from over Chelsea's shoulder.
"Taylor bet me 500 Pokedollars you had been eaten by a wild Ursaring," said Vasilio. "I thought you probably did something dumb because of a girl."
"Well, you were closer," said Liam, wincing as he pressed the Icy Rock against his bruise. "Sorry, guys."
"We are glad you are safe and healthy," said Marsha.
"Me too," said Liam.
"You let her go?" said Mori in disbelief.
"Well, yeah," said Liam. "What did you expect me to do, beat up a girl?"
It was Monday, and Liam had finally found the time to bring Mori and Vasilio up to date with what really happened the night of Fall Camp. Without mentioning the kiss, of course.
"He's got a point, Mori," said Vasilio. "Liam would have had to overpower her and drag her all the way back to camp by himself."
"I would've done it," said Mori sullenly.
"Well, I'm not you," said Liam.
He took a large bite of fried noodles.
"So, what did you think of her?" asked Mori.
"Stubborn," said Liam. "And petty. Very self-pitying."
"That all checks out," said Vasilio, whacking Mori's hand with his chopsticks as she tried to steal his meat.
"But also… I dunno. She's human to me now, I guess."
"She's not human," said Mori. "She's some kind of blonde demon-spawn."
Liam laughed.
"She does have a heart, believe it or not," he said. "I could tell what happened to Chelsea's Scraggy really bugs her. Turns out they used to be friends. I never knew that."
"They were, yeah," said Vasilio. "Not… close friends. I don't know if Claire had any close friends. She was too abrasive."
"Abrasive!" said Liam, jabbing his chopsticks appreciatively at Vasilio. "That's the other word I was looking for."
"Understatement of the year," said Mori. "I don't think anybody ever liked her. I know I never did. Even from the first day, something was off."
Liam wondered for a moment whether he should break his promise to Claire and tell her about the valentine. He decided not to. He knew it wouldn't change Mori's feelings about Claire, but something else was holding him back. Telling Mori would feel like a betrayal. That was an odd thought. You couldn't betray an enemy.
Claire, Liam realized with alarm, was his friend.
"So, now for the real question," said Vasilio with a grin. "Was she pretty?"
Mori's Misdreavus gave a gleeful cackle as her trainer fixed Liam with her intense gaze. Liam squirmed in his seat.
"Okay, so she is pretty," said Liam, raising his hands defensively. "I mean, she's no Stephanie, and I don't really like blondes, but... "
"You're disgusting," said Mori, rolling her eyes, "All boys are disgusting."
"C'mon, Mori," said Vasilio, giving her a flick. "Give us another chance."
Misdreavus stuck her tongue out at Liam.
As they were walking back from lunch, Mori suddenly pulled Liam aside.
"Keep walking, Vasi," snapped Mori as Vasilio glanced at them curiously. "This has nothing to do with you."
Vasilio shrugged and did as she asked. Mori glanced around to make sure no one else was within earshot, then fixed her large, dark eyes on Liam.
"Don't feel sorry for her," Mori whispered. "You're not allowed to feel sorry for her."
"I don't—Mori, I know Claire was horrible to you," said Liam earnestly. "Don't think just because I didn't leave her to drown that—."
"You don't get it," said Mori. "You don't…"
She gave an exasperated groan.
"Mori, I've seen the things she wrote to you," said Liam. "I know about the way she humiliated you. I'm really not—."
Liam noticed that Mori was fidgeting with her left sleeve.
"Don't make me do this," Mori pleaded. "I can tell. I can tell you don't understand, and you're gonna make me—."
"Mori, what's going on?" said Liam. "Are you—."
Mori rolled up her sleeve. Turning away from Liam, she held out her bare forearm.
"Look," said Mori. "Just… look."
At first, Liam didn't know what he was looking at. Then, he noticed them—pinkish marks, like small scratches, crisscrossing Mori's arm from her wrist to her elbow. Most of them were faded—barely noticeable except at close range. A few were long and dark, and Liam wondered just how long they had been healing.
"Mori…" said Liam. "I…"
She rolled her sleeve back up.
"Do you understand now?" said Mori. "She wanted me to do it. Don't forget that. Don't think for a moment that she's just misunderstood. She told me I deserved it. She wanted me to hurt myself."
Liam didn't know what to say.
"Don't feel sorry for me, by the way," said Mori. "I'm not some kind of broken emo girl who needs to be saved or anything like that."
Liam snorted.
"A few weeks ago, Vasilio told me that something started for you after Claire's… valentine. Was he talking about.. ?"
"Yeah," said Mori. "I started cutting then. And you don't have to tiptoe around that word, by the way. I cut myself sometimes. Surprise, surprise. Gothy girl with daddy issues living up to the stereotype. I should take up some really out-of-character hobby to balance it out."
"How about basketball?" suggested Liam.
"Ew, not sports," said Mori. "Crap, I'm already off to a bad start."
They caught up with Vasilio at the school's main gate.
"So you showed him?" said Vasilio.
Mori merely nodded.
"Can I tell him the rest?" Vasilio asked.
"Sure," said Mori listlessly.
Vasilio lowered his voice.
"Mori has a deal with me and Taylor that if she ever starts cutting or thinking about killing herself, she'll switch her ring to her right hand. Now it's your deal too. Right, Mori?"
Mori shrugged.
"Welcome to the goth girl surveillance regime, I guess."
"I get the feeling this is kind of an honor," said Liam. "So thanks, Mori."
"Don't let it go to your head," said Mori. "Oh, and if you tell anyone about… this, I'll tell Missy to eat your soul. So keep your mouth shut, especially around that nosy redhead. I don't wanna get suspended again."
The bell signalled the end of the lunch break rang.
"Ugh," Mori groaned. "Battle Class. Liam, you wanna go missing again so we can skip?"
"I don't think it works like that," said Liam with a smirk.