YUA: *sigh* Sorry people. I haven't updated for a while. I'll say it again, high school eats all of my time. Anyway, I'm sure most of you are ready to beat me with a steel pipe, so here's the next chapter! Remember, Misty first then Ash, then Misty, so on so forth.

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"Catch yourself before you fall."

---Myself

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The Good, The Bad, and The Popular

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I open the door to my room, only to find my darling Togepi crying. She lets an ear- piercing scream out, and I swear that my mirror was about to crack.

"Togepi, hush! C'mon, please? I'm back, look!" Her eyes open just a little bit, and her crying stops immediately.

"Toge! Brriiii! Togebriii!" She waves her arms above her head, obviously happy to see me.

"Hello! I missed you! Yes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jesus, I still can't get over the fact that she had a gun in her drawer. On campus, no less! She could get expelled!

"Wake up already, you two." Richie and Sabrina are still asleep on his bed, and he smiles in his sleep.

"WAKE UP ALREADY!!!"

"CHRIST!!!!" Richie rolls off one side of the bed, while Sabrina just pops up yawning.

"Ash, what the hell was that for?!"

"It's one in the afternoon! You're wasting your whole day sleeping!"

"Sleeping is good for the mind." Sabrina helps Richie off of the floor, then sits back on the bed.

"Says you." There's an awkward silence, and Sabrinas eyes went wide.

"Oh my…"

"Sabrina? What's wrong?" Richie sits next to her, a worried look on his face.

"N-Nothing…um, Richie, would you mind if I talked to Ash in private for a moment?"

"Sure thing." He gets up and pokes me.

"Nothing funny, Ash." He smiles and heads for the door. He closes it softly, but I can't tell if he's standing outside the door or if he's going to Sabrinas room.

"Ash…"

"Uh, yeah?" She sounds weird. Like she's shocked or something. She's hardly ever surprised. She pauses for a moment, and places a finger to her chin.

"Misty, huh?"

"DAMMIT!! I keep forgetting that you're psychic…" Her eyes narrowed and she let a faint smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

"You're a nice guy. She could use someone like you." My mouth drops, but nothing comes out.

"Good luck." She pats my leg, and walks out of the room, leaving me astonished. As soon as she leaves, I can't help but say it.

"You read my mind…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Togepi was fast asleep. She had tired herself out while we were playing. Her egg body gently swayed back and forth and a soft "brii…" escapes the egg. A slight beeping makes her stir a bit, but she remains sleeping. I turn to look at the source of the beeping. It's my alarm clock.

Crap! It's ten o' clock!! My next class!!

I quickly grab my things and give Togepi a quick kiss, which sends her on her side, still sleeping on my bed.

I may be in a hurry, but I know better then to wake Togepi. I close the door softly, then race downstairs to the car.

I'm gonna be late!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ugh…It's time for my next class. Chemistry is so boring, except for the occasional explosion.

I grab my books and walk out of my room. Going down the stairs to the ground floor, Sabrina passes me, letting a sparkling smile show itself.

"Good luck," she says again. She's so strange. She can read everyone's thoughts, and yet she just keeps on coming back to me. It's not like I need help with women. I had a girlfriend before…well, several actually, but why does she always keep watch on me?

I exit the stairwell, and enter the parking lot. It's totally empty. I must be late for class. I hurriedly cross the lot, but stop when I see her running across the lot.

"Misty!" She stops and looks around before spotting me. She smiles, and we meet each other half way.

"Hello Ash." We embrace in a quick hug, and she checks her watch.

"You in a hurry?"

"Yeah, I'm late for class."

"Yeah, I am too. Just curious…uh…" Why is there a gun in your room?

"Ah, nevermind. Sorry for holding you up."

"No problem." She plants a quick kiss on my cheek, and runs off in the other direction. I stand there for a moment, watching her run. Then something hits me.

Can Sabrina also read the future?

Something taps me this time, and I turn around, only to be met by my Administrator.

"Mr. Ketchum! Late for class again." Her eyes narrow insidiously, but she smiles.

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry…I'll, uh, just get going now…" I run off, and she turns to go to wherever she was heading.

About five minutes later, I arrive at chemistry class. It seems they've already started the lab.

"Mr. Ketchum, so good of you to join us." Mr. Lance gives me a dark glare, and tells me to sit down at table number three. He walks over to me, and sits down next to me and whispers low enough so the others can't hear.

"Ketchum, I have a favor to ask of you. Your Administrator has just switched a student into this class. Your Administrator said that you would work best with the new student, and requested that I place you two in a lab as partners."

"Who's the new student?"

"I don't know yet. But she should be here in about-" A rare silence swept over the class. No one was even working anymore. All heads were turned in one direction.

"That's her." Mr. Lance pats my shoulder and gives me a reassuring look, and goes to greet Misty. He motions for her to sit at my table, and she nods. Her face turns a slight shade of crimson as she walks past with everyone staring at her. She sits down, mouthing 'Hi Ash.'

"Okay everyone! Back to work!" The noise starts up again, and Misty turns to me.

"What are we doing?"

"We're supposed to make a non-combustible material from what's in front of us."

"Man…"

Exactly an hour later, Mr. Lance told everyone to stop working and present his or her materials, one at a time.

Jackson's exploded into green smoke. Diana and Morgan accidentally dropped their stuff in the sink. Mr. Lance came to our table, and once more, everyone turned to stare.

"Mr. Ketchum and Ms. Waterflower. I trust you were able to do it correctly?" His glare turns to me, then to Misty, who stands up with the match in her hand. She strikes it across the box, and it ignites. She seems a bit nervous, but the flame touched the blob of light blue material that we had made. A wisp of smoke rises, and disappears. The whole room began to clap.

"Very good, Mr. Ketchum, very-"

"Misty did most of it."

"Did she now?" He looks at her, and she looks at me.

"Well, it seems she has a promising future in Chemistry class…" He checks his board, and moves to the next table. Someone whistled. An unfamiliar voice yelled out.

"Hey Ketchum! Seems you two got great chemistry!"

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YUA: Erg, end of chap…lost my free will for a while there…DAMN YOU HIGH SCHOOL. One of these days, Godzilla's going to leave Japan alone and come stomp on CHHS.

Merry Christmas everyone!