¤~A Thousand Miles~¤
by Scrat with a G
Chapter Four
Ash glared at Chris, who glared right back at him.
"Girafarig, Psychic!"
"Charizard, use Flamethr-"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh?!" Both Ash and Chris turned to see who was yelling at them. Ash paled when he saw Riley standing there, tapping her foot with her arms folded. She was looking at them with one eyebrow raised.
Uh oh, Ash thought. He recalled Charizard and grinned innocently at Riley. Chris did the same with his Girafarig. I'm in for it now…
"I thought I had made it clear not to battle without my supervision," she said calmly. Behind Chris, Jesse stifled a snicker. Ash stared at the ground. Misty was looking at him smugly, as if she were dying to say I told you so! And, naturally, Brock was looking as though he were about to faint. "Don't do it again." She walked off.
"Pika!" Pikachu laughed.
"Hush, Pikachu."
"See ya around," Chris said. He and Jesse walked off, laughing.
"Don't let them get to you, Ash," Misty told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ash felt his whole body tingle at her touch. "They're just going to get you into trouble."
"Yeah…" Ash agreed softly.
"Besides," Misty continued. "You're gonna end up hurting yourself!" She laughed and punched his shoulder lightly.
"Hey!"
"Its true!"
While Ash and Misty argued, Brock tiptoed after Riley, who was headed to her cabin. He waited until she was inside, then he peered in the window.
The cabin looked exactly the same as everyone else's from the outside, except for the fact that it was behind the mess hall, not by the arena. Inside, however, there was one bed, not a cot or three sets of bunk-beds, and in the corner was a desk with lots of paperwork scattered haphazardly all over the surface. There was a computer placed on the far edge, and a cheap desk-lamp lit up the registration records. A small stereo system was hooked up on a shelf just above and to the left of Riley's bed. A light bulb hung from a bare wire in the middle of the ceiling, dimly lighting the room.
Riley grabbed the remote, which had been laying on her bed, and turned the stereo on. She flicked through a couple of tracks on a CD, then pressed play and turned up the volume a bit. Brock could clearly hear the music through the thin glass of the window.
Oh, I get a high whenever you're around, sweeping from my head to my toes, I gotta get my feet back on the ground… Lyrics blasted out of the speakers. Cause you make me go out of my way, crossing the line, making me say what I have in mind… Brock watched as Riley shifted through a pile of papers, selected one of them, and, sitting on the edge of her bed, began studying it. You make me so excited, and I don't wanna fight it, I start to blush, you are my sugar rush, ain't nothing better baby, is it for real or maybe, I'm losing touch, you are my sugar rush… She finished reading the paper. She crossed the room and placed it back in the stack. She tamped the stack on the desk to neaten it and set it back down. I got a sweet tooth and a taste for you, and it might be too obvious but, I can't help myself from what I do… Brock watched Riley crouch down, reach under her bed, and pull out some clothing. Probably her pajamas, judging by the cut of the cloth in the pants and the shirt. The pants were baggy with a drawstring around the waist. They were blue camouflage, and the shirt was a plain white tanktop. Cause you make me go out of my way, crossing the line, making me say what I have mind…
Oh no… she's getting undressed… I can't watch that! Brock thought. He tore his eyes away and crouched under the window, covering his face with his hands.
You make… I don't… You are… Cause there ain't… For real… You are… Once Brock was sure she was fully clothed, he peered back in the window. She was sitting at the desk in her pajamas, looking over the papers and randomly scribbling things in the margin with a pencil. Occasionally, she would cross two lines through a word and start over. Baby you're my sugar rush, I get weak and talk too much, you're the sweetest thing I've ever tasted…
Brock spent almost three hours watching Riley, until he noticed that it was past sunset, and it was becoming difficult to see outside. Reluctant to leave, Brock crept along on all fours until he was sure Riley wouldn't be able to see him, then sprinted back to his cabin. He pushed the door open silently to find his cabinmates all still awake.
Chris was sitting on his bunk with his feet dangling in the air, listening to music on his headphones. His eyes closed, he bobbed his head with the beat of the music. Jesse was played Solitaire with a deck of cards on his bunk. The cards had a pattern of Shellder on the back. Ash was reading a book, with Pikachu asleep on his lap.
"So nice of you to join us, Brock," Jesse commented, not looking up from his card game. He moved three cards into a different column and turned another card on its face.
"Stalking your crushes now, are we?" Ash said. A tiny grin spread across his face. Brock didn't say anything. He went over to his bunk and took off his shirt, exposing his muscled chest.
"I just experienced the best three hours of my life," Brock said softly. A dreamy look crossed his face. "Watching Riley through her window."
"Wow, I just had the best three hours of my life too!" Ash laughed. "You weren't here!" he teased.
"Shut up." Brock chucked his pillow up in the air, arcing it so it would land on Ash.
"Thank you," came Ash's muffled-yet-sarcastic voice from beneath the pillow.
"Pi pika," Pikachu complained. Ash tossed the pillow on the floor. Just as Brock picked it back up and set it back in its position at the top of his bed, Riley's voice came over the loudspeaker.
"Lights out in ten minutes, I repeat, lights out in ten minutes," she announced. "Thank you!"
Jesse, Ash and Brock began a scramble to get into the tiny one-person bathroom first to brush their teeth. Chris was still on his bed, listening to his music. Ash won the race and was taking his time with the task, just to annoy his roommates. Brock stood just outside of the bathroom, leaning on the doorframe casually. Jesse threw a pillow at Chris to get his attention.
"Dude, Chris," Jesse said once Chris had removed his headphones. "Lights out in ten minutes. You might wanna start getting ready." Chris hopped down from his bunk and began changing into his pajamas.
Five minutes later, after everyone had finished brushing their teeth and putting on their pajamas, there was a knock on the door. Brock answered it.
Riley was standing there, in her pajamas and fluffy blue slippers. She grinned at him.
"Just making sure you guys were getting ready to go to sleep." She peered around his bare shoulders to see Jesse just hopping onto his bunk, and Ash allowing Pikachu to snuggle under his blankets. "Remember, I'm waking everyone up at seven tomorrow, so get a good night's rest. I'm gonna go check on the girls' cabins now. Night!" She walked off.
"…Night," Brock replied softly, feeling his knees go wobbly. He shut the door, turned off the light, and climbed into his bed.
(a/n: You like? Then review!)