Ok I have a lot of authors' notes today.
Once again, sorry about the delay and be sure to review, please?
Just as a matter of interest, this is the longest story I have ever written to date. YAY!!! (starts playing 'celebration')
And as well, not that anyone should be interested, but I did an oral presentation on Pokemon for my communications class in college.
Also, this is pretty stupid I know, but I'm becoming slightly discouraged with AAML lately but I still love it and Misty is still my favourite character from anything I've ever seen or read and I'm also planning on posting fan art up on the web. One picture I'm proud of is actually related to a story I'm working on and do not yet know whether I'll post it.
I'm giving serious thought to drawing out the characters in the costumes gave them in this story and drawing them in the clothes I gave them as well. Hmmmm
We still haven't found a cat, which is very strange, because we've been looking since November and I need something small and cute and furry to pet and cuddle
Anyway
Please read and review and as usual the characters aren't mine but you already know that, if you don't, you should.
Hope you enjoy it
Chapter 13
It was the last day before the musical and things had only gone from bad to worse with Ash and Misty.
They were both snubbing each other.
Even though every now and again, one of them would look at the other one with a sad, hurt look on their face when their pride would take over and their faces would cloud over with anger.
One particularly bad day, they both ran into each other and both avoided eye contacts for fear the other one would see the loneliness reflected.
Misty walked away first, raising her foot and pushing down on it with as much as she could, while trying to look subtle.
Ash yelped when he felt his toes being crushed and glared at the back of Misty's retreating form.
"For some someone so scrawny, she can sure put weight behind everything she does" he grumbled.
Ash's mind was in a direct conflict, so much that, he lay awake at night listening to the voices in his head arguing about the choices at hand.
They were arguing so long now that Ash named the three voices and was seriously considering taking out bets on who would win.
The first voice, Louie, was a stern voice that had no pity for Ash. Louie was telling Ash that Misty was being sincere and that Ash had screwed everything up by not apologising to Misty.
Louie annoyed Ash.
The second voice was Ash's pride, he was called Bruno and he told Ash that he was right and that was being manipulative and this was all simply because she didn't want any link to Giselle and was just being immature.
The third voice, a tiny soft voice way at the back of his mind, called Jimmy, said that Ash knew Misty, he knew she would never be that manipulative and that she had huge respect for the concept of love. She would never throw the word around lightly to get her own way.
That voice, soft and quiet as it was always seemed to overpower Bruno and Louie but then Bruno took over.
Richie, Tracey, Lisa and Snap watched from a distance.
"This is tearing the whole group apart" Tracey sighed.
That was true enough, Misty and Ash weren't speaking, Brock and Duplica weren't speaking to Ash and were angry at the other three for siding with Ash which in turn was causing tension with them.
Ash was mad at Misty for trying to manipulate him or so he wanted to believe and he was angry that Brock, one of his supposed best and one if his oldest friends wouldn't believe him and he was angry at Duplica for being so unreasonable.
Oddly one of only pair friendship's undamaged by this was that of Duplica and Snap.
Duplica seemed to forgive him and him alone for siding with Ash.
Snap for his part was doing some serious thinking regarding his lovelife or lack thereof.
He felt himself noticing someone else more,
Misty was still as beautiful as she was the first day he met her and had sprayed his drink on her.
But he was slowly realising things about her that weren't for him.
She was perfect for Ash and on some level he was seeing that she would
never be perfect for him.
"I know, who would have thought those two were our glue?" Richie remarked, trying to be nonchalant about something this was upsetting him greatly.
Melody strolled over to them.
"Hey, loser in the green" she addressed Richie who rolled his eyes and gave her an annoyed look.
"The art teacher is looking for you"
"You know, I find myself not caring"
"Really? Well maybe I'll just tell her to find someone else and she will, very, very fast" Melody narrowed her blue eyes at him.
"Maybe the art teacher should do that if she's sure that every student wants to help in the name of art"
The two teen locked eyes and neither one was backing down.
Richie sighed and gave a small smile.
"I should help her then," he admitted.
"She doesn't want your help now! You took too long and she'll find someone else" Melody said, pouting slightly.
"Well, I'll convince her that I'm the only person who should be helping her" Richie replied and walked away.
Melody stood with her arms folded, sulking but then hurried after him.
"Don't you find it a bit strange that for the last week the art teacher has been asking for Richie non stop and she always sends Melody to find him?" Tracey asked.
"Especially since Richie doesn't have art" Snap agreed.
Lisa looked at them in disbelief and then sighed, closing her eyes.
"Do you guys ever listen to yourselves? Or is strictly whichever girl is hanging out at the time has to do the thinking for you?" Lisa said, shaking her head, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.
"Hey!" both boys objected.
*****
"Misty?" Duplica asked tentatively.
They were both sitting in an empty class waiting for maths.
Ever since this whole incident blew up, Duplica noticed that they were early for class, the guys must have always held them up although they never minded.
Misty looked up from the notepad she was scribbling away absentmindedly on.
"Yeah?"
"Listen I know you're furious at Ash and that's totally understandable. But you're still crazy about him so maybe you should try to work it out with him. Of course he should have to pay for what he did" Duplica trailed off, thinking that maybe it was just her and Misty's dislike of Giselle that was really causing the big rift. She shook her head trying to clear her head.
She was supposed to support her friend at times like this.
"What makes you think I even like that dweeb anymore?" Misty asked casually.
"Cause you want to be Mrs Dweeb" Duplica replied.
Her eyes flicking down to the sheet Misty was scribbling on which went like this.
"Ash Jerk Ketchum,
Jerk Ketchum, lord of the jerks
Dweeb
Mr Dweeb Ketchum
Dweeby Mcdweeb Ketchum
Poopy head
Poopyhead Ketchum
Mrs Misty Poopyhead Ketchum"
Misty blushed, ripped the page out of the pad and scrunched it up.
"I was just testing the pen" she muttered.
"You'd seriously take the name Poopyhead?" Duplica asked, a thoughtful expression crossing her features.
"Look I don't care about Ash!" Misty snapped.
"Misty, the only reason you're so angry at Ash is because you care about him so much. If it had been anyone else, you would have mocked them for their taste, when it was Ash you gave the girl a shiner!" Duplica argued her tone sounding as exasperated as she looked.
Misty looked down, letting all the argument settle in her mind.
She knew that Duplica was right because she had been thinking those things herself but to have it said back to her hurt.
"It's your pride" a small annoying voice taunted in her head.
"This will be your biggest mistake but your pride won't let you back down" the voice continued in a sing song voice.
"I don't have time to deal with this" she said abruptly and grabbed her stuff, leaving Duplica sitting on the table watching her leave.
She let out a sigh and shook her head.
"You know, her pride may be her biggest fault but at least she's got enough stones to show people she cares about them" a voice remarked from the door.
Duplica spun around.
Giselle was leaning on the doorframe of the room, arms folded, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Excuse me!" Duplica demanded her eyes flashing.
"Misty's got a whole set of problems but at least she's showing how much she cares about him and she showed some conviction in her love for the guy. Whereas you, you stand around and watch your guy with big doe eyes and whine when he doesn't notice you and he's making eyes at Misty.
Its no wonder he's making eyes at her, she's the only one with passion while you can barely make a spark " Giselle continued.
"So what, you stick your tongue in Ash's mouth, you think suddenly you know everything about us?" Duplica demanded.
"Well for one I know that Ash had no intention in kissing me and I know that he hated the kiss and me" Gisselle answered in a low voice.
Duplica's mouth hung open and she stared at Giselle in silence for a few moments.
"Then why did you kiss him in front of Brock and Misty?" Duplica asked once she found her voice.
"I didn't know they were there well I knew Brock was there I just wanted to prove to Brock that I didn't care about him"
"Well not that you have that accomplished and so much more, what's next? I hear there's some puppies hanging around, you could always kick them for your own amusement or why not drop into the local crèche and ransack their supply of lollipops?"
"You think I'm proud of what happened?"
Giselle brown eyes were narrowed and yet, filled with desperation and sorrow.
"You know I don't think you care what you do or how it affects others so yeah, your a little spiteful bitter witch who revels in others pain, I think this has got to be one of the proudest moments in your life"
Giselle winced at the acid in the others girl's voice and when she raised her eyes to meet Duplica's, she met a frosty gaze that told her Duplica had meant every word she had said.
With that, the green haired teen left the room.
"You're wrong" Giselle whispered to herself, looking out the window.
Duplica let out a sigh and leant against the wall. Her head snapped up as something dawned on her.
"I've gotta find Misty and tell her that Ashy boy was telling the truth" she said to herself.
"You believe him?" a cynical voice asked from behind her.
She turned around, only to have Ash standing behind her, arms crossed across his chest.
His eyebrows were knitted and he wore a sceptical expression.
"Yes I believe you and I guess I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you"
"Now if Misty could do that, we'd have no problem" Ash cried out and walked away, Duplica ran after him and quickly blocked his method of escape.
"So what are you going to do now?" she asked, determined to get things back on track now that she had a renewed friendship with one of the trouble makers.
"Well leaving was the original plan but it looks like my plan is very different to your plan"
"No! Now that you have me helping you out, then you'll be sure to prove your honour to Misty"
"And what turned this all around?"
"Well Giselle told me"
"And you took her word over mine, what kind of friend are you? I mean..."
"I'm sorry. But you know you're a guy, guys have a very difficult time trying to keep their hormones in check and you had a lot to lose, Giselle didn't"
"But you still wouldn't believe me and.."
"Ash I'm really, really sorry" Duplica used the puppy dog eyes on him, her bottom lip jutting out and quivering while her eyes watered.
"Awwh no fair using that look" Ash objected.
"Yes it is, because your stubborn but you also happen to be a stubborn softie which is why you always help everyone and you can't resist puppy dog eyes and why you're still absolutely crazy about that girl"
*****
"You're never gonna win, Trace" Lisa scoffed, sitting on a desk, swinging her legs.
"I'm not trying to win anything, it's just so .... enticing" Tracey replied, tilting his head, his eyes never leaving the lamp that stood on the desk.
"And all this time, I thought you were staring at me" Lisa joked.
"But look at it, Lisa in all its lava like mystery" Tracey continued, staring at a lava lamp.
"What's so mysterious about it? It's a load of wax in oil that melts when it gets to a high enough temperature and floats through the oil. It's definitely not wroth the staring match you're giving it" Lisa answered, stretching her hands above her head.
Tracey looked at her, impressed.
"And where did you pick that up?" he asked curiously.
"You'd be surprised what I know, maybe I'll let you in...someday" she grinned at him.
"So remind me. Why are we hiding away from your friends?' she asked, surveying the small changing room they had taken over.
"Well I'm just tired of all that romantic trauma going on. I just want to hang out with a friend and talk normally"
Lisa rolled her eyes, 'loving' how he had just dismissed romance so easily.
"I mean it should be easy right, you find a girl, you like a girl, you ask a girl out, you take the girl out, you go out with the girl again if it went well, you ask the girl to be your girlfriend if you go out enough and care about her that much"
"Oh yeah I agree, so where are you taking your mannequin?" Lisa asked raising an eyebrow.
Tracey looked at her, puzzled.
"What?"
"Well I didn't hear your girl say anything about any of the events that just happened in your head, did she just smile at you while you went through every phase of your lovelife."
"Well of course the girl has input" Tracey argued, blushing.
"Well that's a relief....for your imaginary girl, I mean"
"It's just that if I really liked a girl, I'd think, well I'd hope that I could ask her out without a melodrama"
Tracey looked over at Lisa and tried to hide his reddening cheeks.
She was so pretty today with her long blue hair held back with strands falling around her face, her brown eyes glittering and looking just as beautiful in a sleeveless white tee shirt and jeans, as any extravagant gown.
"Well have you tried it?" Lisa asked, softly, barely daring to make eye contact.
"Um well no but I uh um well. Ahem, Lisa...would you...liketogoouttodinnerwithme" he finished in a hurry, breathing out a sign of relief.
"Sorry, but I think I would have had to be running at supersonic speeds to catch that, what did you say?"
"Ok, here I go...you..I mean would you like to...dine me.. wha...I mean would you like to have dinner with me?"
Lisa bit her lip and shook her, looking up at him from under thick eyelashes.
Tracey's face fell and he looked crushed.
"Yeah that's ok, I mean, you probably have a whole lot of other guys who and I'm just"
"I'd love to go with you. But I don't think either of us can afford a dinner like that" she said, smiling sincerely at him. With a toss of her hair she continued.
"Besides I'm much more of a cinema girl myself, huge buckets of popcorn, huge drinks and a cute guy by your side. Who could ask for more" she giggled.
"You're serious? I mean you're not messing with me"
"I never joke when it comes to the cinema" she told him seriously then beamed at him.
"The cinema it is then" he said brightly and opened the door for her.
"So what kind of movie are we going to see?" Lisa asked as they made their way down a hall
They both jumped back in surprise when Richie and Melody stumbled out of the art supplies closet, looking flustered and somewhat scruffy, which you might expect, from Richie but never from Melody.
Richie stared at his two friends in shock when Melody spoke up.
"See, I told you that wasn't the door to the art room, idiot!" she snapped, throwing him a glare and then walked away.
As she walked away, she was trying to straighten her clothes and fix her hair but she still had such a confident stride about her.
Richie stared after her in awe whispering the word "genius".
He walked away himself, making no such effort to right his appearance.
"That was..odd" Tracey said after a few moments stunned silence.
"Still not one of the strangest things I've seen you guys do yet" Lisa replied.
She grabbed Tracey's hand and headed up the hall.
"C'mon artist, we have to get to class"
*****
"Duplica, are you sure this is going to work?" Ash asked, a note of worry in his voice.
"Of course and then when you two have this all ironed out, everyone will be back to normal, well after we handle a couple more things...it'll be back to as normal as it had been" she amended.
Misty was rummaging through her locker and pulled out the books she was looking for.
A picture stuck to the door of her locker caught her attention, well two pictures.
One picture was of the whole group and the other was one of Ash and herself taken by a friend.
It was after one of those nights when everyone had slept over in Misty's house and everyone was so exhausted that everyone crashed out in front of the T.V.
One pair, Ash and Misty, were asleep on the sofa.
Ash was leaning on the armrest; one arm propped up on the armrest and the other hand was wrapped around Misty who had snuggled into him while they slept.
They had been teased mercilessly over that picture but it had always seemed to her that it was like a promise for the future.
Even now, she couldn't help but feel a tingle in her stomach after looking at that.
She shook her head and slammed her locker door and jumped when someone was leaning against the locker beside her.
"Rudy you're being good and creepy" she muttered.
"Well, red, I couldn't help but notice that we both have the leads in this musical and well as it's tomorrow, I thought we should go to rehearsal together and sort out some things and work together" he flashed his most dazzling smile at her.
"Well I suppose you're right and stop grinning at me like that"
"Melts your heart, don't it?" he smirked
"Oh yeah I don't think I can control myself, hold me now" Misty pleaded, her voice dripping in sarcasm.
With that she walked away
Rudy's smile faded.
"You know I thought you'd wanna go with some guy you know you're little boyfriend wouldn't like. You know, a bad boy like me. After everything that happened"
Misty spun on her heel and stalked back towards Rudy.
"He's not my boyfriend. You're about as bad as I am Giselle and it is not any of your business what happened!"
Rudy cleared his voice and spoke in a calm cool voice that did a great job hiding his problem with controlling his bladder at that moment.
Misty was scary, sometimes.
"Hey, I'm just saying it would a great way to get back at him. Although I always knew you could do so much better. Your days of underachieving are over, sweetie"
Misty suddenly calmed down, shaking her head and giving him a mirthless smile.
"Maybe I am too good for him or maybe we're exactly the right match for each other but in any case, it's no ones business but our own. And I would never use someone to make someone else jealous, I mean how petty and cruel could that be, that's like something..."
Suddenly a small voice called out in her head. "She kissed me ok!"
"Something Giselle would do! He was telling me the ...which he means he loves... Oh my God" she squealed with delight and without thinking, she flung her arms around Rudy and hugged him with joy.
Rudy as shocked and just as he was about to react he felt a sharp stinging pain across his cheek.
"What?" he cried, his hand flying to his red cheek.
"That's so you know I don't like you in any shape or form"
"Yeah I got that" he murmured.
"I can't believe he really...Oh no,"
Misty grabbed her bag and dashed off, her voice wafting through the air as she ran.
"Don't ever call me sweetie again!
*****
"So this will really work?" Ash asked.
"Yeah of course well this and weeks of sucking up but hey, that's love" Duplica grinned as she led Ash towards Misty's locker.
"So um what kind of huge romantic gesture are we talking?" Ash asked nervously.
"Hey you're the guy in love with her. You've known her the longest, you know what would make her eyes water" Duplica said, smiling dreamily.
"A Caterpie in her hair?" Ash asked, confused.
Duplica sweatdropped and pushed him in front of her, propelling him along.
"Uh huh, but supposing that neither of are five year olds, then what?"
Ash froze when he saw them both embracing.
He looked so wounded, Duplica wanted to grab him in a hug until he felt better.
He reminded her so much of a small child lost and alone.
"Screw this" he said softly and walked away, his head bowed in defeat, his walked turned into a run and he was gone before Duplica could stop him.
*****
Gisselle cleared her mind and tried to focus, but she couldn't.
Oddly it wasn't the fact that she was going on stage in few minutes for their opening night that was distressing her, it was the way she had left things with Brock.
She stood up, checked her make-up which was flawless as usual.
"Funny how this is the one thing I never mess up and I don't even know if I want it to be my priority anymore" she said to herself as she inspected her appearance.
She left the mirror and went off in search of Brock who was pacing back and forth, looking over the last of his lines.
He knew them perfectly but it gave him something to do.
"Hi" she began with a degree of uncertainty.
(This is so stupid; I never get nervous around a guy)
Brock looked up and grunted a rough hello.
"I want to talk about what happened," she said softly.
"You've got great timing, you know that?" Brock retorted, angrily.
He still couldn't help but admire her.
She was wearing a satin gown; the skirt flowed out elegantly and made her appear taller.
The bodice was tight but not too tight in that it showed her curves and slim waist but kept it subtle.
The sleeves were a light lace and were bound at the elbows by small gold bands and then flowed down past her hands and ended past her knees.
The dress was the palest pink and lavender, which contrasted perfectly with her long dark tresses that were, held back a glittering tiara.
Her dark brown eyes really seemed bigger with the eye shadow she had subtly applied and her lips were a pretty rose colour.
Brock himself was wearing a full length orange sleeveless robe with intricate patterns embroidered on it and a white shirt underneath.
"I know but I really have to say this. It wasn't Ash's fault; he had nothing to do with it. I'd love to say it was his doing and I was an innocent bystander because then you could be mad at him and you could be nice to me again, like you were but lately I think I've grown a conscience and I couldn't do that.
So you should be mad at me...but I really don't want you to be because I really like you and I think we should go out but after what I did, I can understand if you don't want to...so that's it"
She scurried off to some corner where she could be by herself and blinked rapidly trying to prevent the tears from spilling over.
*****
Ash stood in front of a huge group of Pokemon giving them a pep talk.
Richie walked over to him and placed his hands in his pockets.
"How's it going?" he asked casually.
"I look like Peter Pan" Ash complained, gesturing to his costume.
His part in the play was one the magic wielders and as such, he didn't wear the villagers clothes, the magic wielders had to wear these bright exotic costumes.
He wore a dark green tunic tied with gold, sparkly belt.
The dark green hood of the tunic was pulled over his head.
Underneath the tunic he was wearing a long sleeved blue tee shirt but the sleeves grew looser and floppier towards the end where the hand should be.
There was also a brown leather band across his chest, which had a small pouch on it and held some fruit and vegetables in it.
Richie looked at him for a moment and nodded.
"You really, really do"
Richie himself was supposed to be noble magic wielder so he wore a purple and blue full length tunic with a white long sleeved tee shirt unearth the tunic and he had a dark purple cloak.
On his head he wore a small gold crown.
"Well not all of us get crowns and capes, your majesty" Ash joked.
"Quiet, subject! I am your prince and as such, you shall respect me" Richie cried out in a pompous voice, waving his hand as regally as he could.
Soft music filled floated through the air, causing the actors and crew to stop all action as they listened to it.
Melody was sitting on one of the desks with costumes piled high on it, already in costume, and was playing her ocarina.
Her eyes were closed and her body swayed with the music.
Her chestnut hair was pulled back in a plait, decorated with flowers.
A lace veil fanned out around her head and rested around her face, framing it.
She was wearing a pink lacy dress.
The skirt was made up of light pink and white; tear dropped shapes of the material.
It ended at her knees at the front and grew longer around as it was past her ankles around the back.
She wore pink tights and white slip on shoes.
The bodice was like a gypsy top in make.
A white ribbon ran around the waist and ended in a bow at the side, tightening above the waist but letting it rest gracefully against the skirt and the style was cut in a very wide v- neck so that her shoulders were exposed. The sleeves were tight and went to her wrists and ended in another teardrop shape.
"Wow" Ash breathed.
"She's really good" he continued, speaking softly.
"She's something special alright" Richie agreed.
"Who is?" a curious voice asked from behind them.
They both turned and saw Duplica standing behind them.
"Well you look different" Richie teased.
Duplica smiled and twirled around.
"Cool, isn't it?" she asked with a wink.
"Her long green hair was piled up on top of her head in two buns with gold ribbons holding them in place.
Her costume was a full length pale green dress.
A small gold belt hung around her waist and dipped around the front. The skirt almost glowed as the material shifted around her legs.
The bodice was yellow and blended into the green of the skirt the closer it to the skirt; the sleeves were the same way yellow blending into green and the neck was a v- neck with yellow ribbon running along it.
"Ok you ready for a completely guy like question?" Ash asked.
"Sure"
"How can you guys take a whizz with those skirts?" both boys asked at once.
"Oh that's easy. See, cause we have such big skirts, we can easily fit a toilet bowl underneath them" she replied.
"C'mon it was a reasonable question" Richie objected.
"That's true, ok. See there's this tiny flap in the skirt, every one has it and see we can open the flap and we slip in a bottle and...well I think you can imagine the rest" she said, her face as serious as she could make it.
"Good luck" she called over her shoulder as she walked away, she nearly burst out laughing when she saw their faces, very unsure of whether she was making it up or not but too confused and lost to question.
"I was born to be on stage" she grinned.
Her expression darkened when she saw Rudy but she did see some humour in the way he was darting about trying to avoid Misty at all costs.
His costume was very simple; it was a dark red tunic that ended at his hips and a pair of black trousers underneath.
His outfit was fashioned to look old and shabby yet still high light his good lucks and she cursed the fact that it did.
She hadn't seen Misty in costume yet but she was sure that Lisa did a great job on it, she did a great job on everyone else's
Mr Crefell bustled backstage.
"Ok my little actors and actresses, time to get out there and perform "
To be continued
Well that was it.
Please review!
Lots of love
Nibbs
Once again, sorry about the delay and be sure to review, please?
Just as a matter of interest, this is the longest story I have ever written to date. YAY!!! (starts playing 'celebration')
And as well, not that anyone should be interested, but I did an oral presentation on Pokemon for my communications class in college.
Also, this is pretty stupid I know, but I'm becoming slightly discouraged with AAML lately but I still love it and Misty is still my favourite character from anything I've ever seen or read and I'm also planning on posting fan art up on the web. One picture I'm proud of is actually related to a story I'm working on and do not yet know whether I'll post it.
I'm giving serious thought to drawing out the characters in the costumes gave them in this story and drawing them in the clothes I gave them as well. Hmmmm
We still haven't found a cat, which is very strange, because we've been looking since November and I need something small and cute and furry to pet and cuddle
Anyway
Please read and review and as usual the characters aren't mine but you already know that, if you don't, you should.
Hope you enjoy it
Chapter 13
It was the last day before the musical and things had only gone from bad to worse with Ash and Misty.
They were both snubbing each other.
Even though every now and again, one of them would look at the other one with a sad, hurt look on their face when their pride would take over and their faces would cloud over with anger.
One particularly bad day, they both ran into each other and both avoided eye contacts for fear the other one would see the loneliness reflected.
Misty walked away first, raising her foot and pushing down on it with as much as she could, while trying to look subtle.
Ash yelped when he felt his toes being crushed and glared at the back of Misty's retreating form.
"For some someone so scrawny, she can sure put weight behind everything she does" he grumbled.
Ash's mind was in a direct conflict, so much that, he lay awake at night listening to the voices in his head arguing about the choices at hand.
They were arguing so long now that Ash named the three voices and was seriously considering taking out bets on who would win.
The first voice, Louie, was a stern voice that had no pity for Ash. Louie was telling Ash that Misty was being sincere and that Ash had screwed everything up by not apologising to Misty.
Louie annoyed Ash.
The second voice was Ash's pride, he was called Bruno and he told Ash that he was right and that was being manipulative and this was all simply because she didn't want any link to Giselle and was just being immature.
The third voice, a tiny soft voice way at the back of his mind, called Jimmy, said that Ash knew Misty, he knew she would never be that manipulative and that she had huge respect for the concept of love. She would never throw the word around lightly to get her own way.
That voice, soft and quiet as it was always seemed to overpower Bruno and Louie but then Bruno took over.
Richie, Tracey, Lisa and Snap watched from a distance.
"This is tearing the whole group apart" Tracey sighed.
That was true enough, Misty and Ash weren't speaking, Brock and Duplica weren't speaking to Ash and were angry at the other three for siding with Ash which in turn was causing tension with them.
Ash was mad at Misty for trying to manipulate him or so he wanted to believe and he was angry that Brock, one of his supposed best and one if his oldest friends wouldn't believe him and he was angry at Duplica for being so unreasonable.
Oddly one of only pair friendship's undamaged by this was that of Duplica and Snap.
Duplica seemed to forgive him and him alone for siding with Ash.
Snap for his part was doing some serious thinking regarding his lovelife or lack thereof.
He felt himself noticing someone else more,
Misty was still as beautiful as she was the first day he met her and had sprayed his drink on her.
But he was slowly realising things about her that weren't for him.
She was perfect for Ash and on some level he was seeing that she would
never be perfect for him.
"I know, who would have thought those two were our glue?" Richie remarked, trying to be nonchalant about something this was upsetting him greatly.
Melody strolled over to them.
"Hey, loser in the green" she addressed Richie who rolled his eyes and gave her an annoyed look.
"The art teacher is looking for you"
"You know, I find myself not caring"
"Really? Well maybe I'll just tell her to find someone else and she will, very, very fast" Melody narrowed her blue eyes at him.
"Maybe the art teacher should do that if she's sure that every student wants to help in the name of art"
The two teen locked eyes and neither one was backing down.
Richie sighed and gave a small smile.
"I should help her then," he admitted.
"She doesn't want your help now! You took too long and she'll find someone else" Melody said, pouting slightly.
"Well, I'll convince her that I'm the only person who should be helping her" Richie replied and walked away.
Melody stood with her arms folded, sulking but then hurried after him.
"Don't you find it a bit strange that for the last week the art teacher has been asking for Richie non stop and she always sends Melody to find him?" Tracey asked.
"Especially since Richie doesn't have art" Snap agreed.
Lisa looked at them in disbelief and then sighed, closing her eyes.
"Do you guys ever listen to yourselves? Or is strictly whichever girl is hanging out at the time has to do the thinking for you?" Lisa said, shaking her head, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.
"Hey!" both boys objected.
*****
"Misty?" Duplica asked tentatively.
They were both sitting in an empty class waiting for maths.
Ever since this whole incident blew up, Duplica noticed that they were early for class, the guys must have always held them up although they never minded.
Misty looked up from the notepad she was scribbling away absentmindedly on.
"Yeah?"
"Listen I know you're furious at Ash and that's totally understandable. But you're still crazy about him so maybe you should try to work it out with him. Of course he should have to pay for what he did" Duplica trailed off, thinking that maybe it was just her and Misty's dislike of Giselle that was really causing the big rift. She shook her head trying to clear her head.
She was supposed to support her friend at times like this.
"What makes you think I even like that dweeb anymore?" Misty asked casually.
"Cause you want to be Mrs Dweeb" Duplica replied.
Her eyes flicking down to the sheet Misty was scribbling on which went like this.
"Ash Jerk Ketchum,
Jerk Ketchum, lord of the jerks
Dweeb
Mr Dweeb Ketchum
Dweeby Mcdweeb Ketchum
Poopy head
Poopyhead Ketchum
Mrs Misty Poopyhead Ketchum"
Misty blushed, ripped the page out of the pad and scrunched it up.
"I was just testing the pen" she muttered.
"You'd seriously take the name Poopyhead?" Duplica asked, a thoughtful expression crossing her features.
"Look I don't care about Ash!" Misty snapped.
"Misty, the only reason you're so angry at Ash is because you care about him so much. If it had been anyone else, you would have mocked them for their taste, when it was Ash you gave the girl a shiner!" Duplica argued her tone sounding as exasperated as she looked.
Misty looked down, letting all the argument settle in her mind.
She knew that Duplica was right because she had been thinking those things herself but to have it said back to her hurt.
"It's your pride" a small annoying voice taunted in her head.
"This will be your biggest mistake but your pride won't let you back down" the voice continued in a sing song voice.
"I don't have time to deal with this" she said abruptly and grabbed her stuff, leaving Duplica sitting on the table watching her leave.
She let out a sigh and shook her head.
"You know, her pride may be her biggest fault but at least she's got enough stones to show people she cares about them" a voice remarked from the door.
Duplica spun around.
Giselle was leaning on the doorframe of the room, arms folded, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Excuse me!" Duplica demanded her eyes flashing.
"Misty's got a whole set of problems but at least she's showing how much she cares about him and she showed some conviction in her love for the guy. Whereas you, you stand around and watch your guy with big doe eyes and whine when he doesn't notice you and he's making eyes at Misty.
Its no wonder he's making eyes at her, she's the only one with passion while you can barely make a spark " Giselle continued.
"So what, you stick your tongue in Ash's mouth, you think suddenly you know everything about us?" Duplica demanded.
"Well for one I know that Ash had no intention in kissing me and I know that he hated the kiss and me" Gisselle answered in a low voice.
Duplica's mouth hung open and she stared at Giselle in silence for a few moments.
"Then why did you kiss him in front of Brock and Misty?" Duplica asked once she found her voice.
"I didn't know they were there well I knew Brock was there I just wanted to prove to Brock that I didn't care about him"
"Well not that you have that accomplished and so much more, what's next? I hear there's some puppies hanging around, you could always kick them for your own amusement or why not drop into the local crèche and ransack their supply of lollipops?"
"You think I'm proud of what happened?"
Giselle brown eyes were narrowed and yet, filled with desperation and sorrow.
"You know I don't think you care what you do or how it affects others so yeah, your a little spiteful bitter witch who revels in others pain, I think this has got to be one of the proudest moments in your life"
Giselle winced at the acid in the others girl's voice and when she raised her eyes to meet Duplica's, she met a frosty gaze that told her Duplica had meant every word she had said.
With that, the green haired teen left the room.
"You're wrong" Giselle whispered to herself, looking out the window.
Duplica let out a sigh and leant against the wall. Her head snapped up as something dawned on her.
"I've gotta find Misty and tell her that Ashy boy was telling the truth" she said to herself.
"You believe him?" a cynical voice asked from behind her.
She turned around, only to have Ash standing behind her, arms crossed across his chest.
His eyebrows were knitted and he wore a sceptical expression.
"Yes I believe you and I guess I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you"
"Now if Misty could do that, we'd have no problem" Ash cried out and walked away, Duplica ran after him and quickly blocked his method of escape.
"So what are you going to do now?" she asked, determined to get things back on track now that she had a renewed friendship with one of the trouble makers.
"Well leaving was the original plan but it looks like my plan is very different to your plan"
"No! Now that you have me helping you out, then you'll be sure to prove your honour to Misty"
"And what turned this all around?"
"Well Giselle told me"
"And you took her word over mine, what kind of friend are you? I mean..."
"I'm sorry. But you know you're a guy, guys have a very difficult time trying to keep their hormones in check and you had a lot to lose, Giselle didn't"
"But you still wouldn't believe me and.."
"Ash I'm really, really sorry" Duplica used the puppy dog eyes on him, her bottom lip jutting out and quivering while her eyes watered.
"Awwh no fair using that look" Ash objected.
"Yes it is, because your stubborn but you also happen to be a stubborn softie which is why you always help everyone and you can't resist puppy dog eyes and why you're still absolutely crazy about that girl"
*****
"You're never gonna win, Trace" Lisa scoffed, sitting on a desk, swinging her legs.
"I'm not trying to win anything, it's just so .... enticing" Tracey replied, tilting his head, his eyes never leaving the lamp that stood on the desk.
"And all this time, I thought you were staring at me" Lisa joked.
"But look at it, Lisa in all its lava like mystery" Tracey continued, staring at a lava lamp.
"What's so mysterious about it? It's a load of wax in oil that melts when it gets to a high enough temperature and floats through the oil. It's definitely not wroth the staring match you're giving it" Lisa answered, stretching her hands above her head.
Tracey looked at her, impressed.
"And where did you pick that up?" he asked curiously.
"You'd be surprised what I know, maybe I'll let you in...someday" she grinned at him.
"So remind me. Why are we hiding away from your friends?' she asked, surveying the small changing room they had taken over.
"Well I'm just tired of all that romantic trauma going on. I just want to hang out with a friend and talk normally"
Lisa rolled her eyes, 'loving' how he had just dismissed romance so easily.
"I mean it should be easy right, you find a girl, you like a girl, you ask a girl out, you take the girl out, you go out with the girl again if it went well, you ask the girl to be your girlfriend if you go out enough and care about her that much"
"Oh yeah I agree, so where are you taking your mannequin?" Lisa asked raising an eyebrow.
Tracey looked at her, puzzled.
"What?"
"Well I didn't hear your girl say anything about any of the events that just happened in your head, did she just smile at you while you went through every phase of your lovelife."
"Well of course the girl has input" Tracey argued, blushing.
"Well that's a relief....for your imaginary girl, I mean"
"It's just that if I really liked a girl, I'd think, well I'd hope that I could ask her out without a melodrama"
Tracey looked over at Lisa and tried to hide his reddening cheeks.
She was so pretty today with her long blue hair held back with strands falling around her face, her brown eyes glittering and looking just as beautiful in a sleeveless white tee shirt and jeans, as any extravagant gown.
"Well have you tried it?" Lisa asked, softly, barely daring to make eye contact.
"Um well no but I uh um well. Ahem, Lisa...would you...liketogoouttodinnerwithme" he finished in a hurry, breathing out a sign of relief.
"Sorry, but I think I would have had to be running at supersonic speeds to catch that, what did you say?"
"Ok, here I go...you..I mean would you like to...dine me.. wha...I mean would you like to have dinner with me?"
Lisa bit her lip and shook her, looking up at him from under thick eyelashes.
Tracey's face fell and he looked crushed.
"Yeah that's ok, I mean, you probably have a whole lot of other guys who and I'm just"
"I'd love to go with you. But I don't think either of us can afford a dinner like that" she said, smiling sincerely at him. With a toss of her hair she continued.
"Besides I'm much more of a cinema girl myself, huge buckets of popcorn, huge drinks and a cute guy by your side. Who could ask for more" she giggled.
"You're serious? I mean you're not messing with me"
"I never joke when it comes to the cinema" she told him seriously then beamed at him.
"The cinema it is then" he said brightly and opened the door for her.
"So what kind of movie are we going to see?" Lisa asked as they made their way down a hall
They both jumped back in surprise when Richie and Melody stumbled out of the art supplies closet, looking flustered and somewhat scruffy, which you might expect, from Richie but never from Melody.
Richie stared at his two friends in shock when Melody spoke up.
"See, I told you that wasn't the door to the art room, idiot!" she snapped, throwing him a glare and then walked away.
As she walked away, she was trying to straighten her clothes and fix her hair but she still had such a confident stride about her.
Richie stared after her in awe whispering the word "genius".
He walked away himself, making no such effort to right his appearance.
"That was..odd" Tracey said after a few moments stunned silence.
"Still not one of the strangest things I've seen you guys do yet" Lisa replied.
She grabbed Tracey's hand and headed up the hall.
"C'mon artist, we have to get to class"
*****
"Duplica, are you sure this is going to work?" Ash asked, a note of worry in his voice.
"Of course and then when you two have this all ironed out, everyone will be back to normal, well after we handle a couple more things...it'll be back to as normal as it had been" she amended.
Misty was rummaging through her locker and pulled out the books she was looking for.
A picture stuck to the door of her locker caught her attention, well two pictures.
One picture was of the whole group and the other was one of Ash and herself taken by a friend.
It was after one of those nights when everyone had slept over in Misty's house and everyone was so exhausted that everyone crashed out in front of the T.V.
One pair, Ash and Misty, were asleep on the sofa.
Ash was leaning on the armrest; one arm propped up on the armrest and the other hand was wrapped around Misty who had snuggled into him while they slept.
They had been teased mercilessly over that picture but it had always seemed to her that it was like a promise for the future.
Even now, she couldn't help but feel a tingle in her stomach after looking at that.
She shook her head and slammed her locker door and jumped when someone was leaning against the locker beside her.
"Rudy you're being good and creepy" she muttered.
"Well, red, I couldn't help but notice that we both have the leads in this musical and well as it's tomorrow, I thought we should go to rehearsal together and sort out some things and work together" he flashed his most dazzling smile at her.
"Well I suppose you're right and stop grinning at me like that"
"Melts your heart, don't it?" he smirked
"Oh yeah I don't think I can control myself, hold me now" Misty pleaded, her voice dripping in sarcasm.
With that she walked away
Rudy's smile faded.
"You know I thought you'd wanna go with some guy you know you're little boyfriend wouldn't like. You know, a bad boy like me. After everything that happened"
Misty spun on her heel and stalked back towards Rudy.
"He's not my boyfriend. You're about as bad as I am Giselle and it is not any of your business what happened!"
Rudy cleared his voice and spoke in a calm cool voice that did a great job hiding his problem with controlling his bladder at that moment.
Misty was scary, sometimes.
"Hey, I'm just saying it would a great way to get back at him. Although I always knew you could do so much better. Your days of underachieving are over, sweetie"
Misty suddenly calmed down, shaking her head and giving him a mirthless smile.
"Maybe I am too good for him or maybe we're exactly the right match for each other but in any case, it's no ones business but our own. And I would never use someone to make someone else jealous, I mean how petty and cruel could that be, that's like something..."
Suddenly a small voice called out in her head. "She kissed me ok!"
"Something Giselle would do! He was telling me the ...which he means he loves... Oh my God" she squealed with delight and without thinking, she flung her arms around Rudy and hugged him with joy.
Rudy as shocked and just as he was about to react he felt a sharp stinging pain across his cheek.
"What?" he cried, his hand flying to his red cheek.
"That's so you know I don't like you in any shape or form"
"Yeah I got that" he murmured.
"I can't believe he really...Oh no,"
Misty grabbed her bag and dashed off, her voice wafting through the air as she ran.
"Don't ever call me sweetie again!
*****
"So this will really work?" Ash asked.
"Yeah of course well this and weeks of sucking up but hey, that's love" Duplica grinned as she led Ash towards Misty's locker.
"So um what kind of huge romantic gesture are we talking?" Ash asked nervously.
"Hey you're the guy in love with her. You've known her the longest, you know what would make her eyes water" Duplica said, smiling dreamily.
"A Caterpie in her hair?" Ash asked, confused.
Duplica sweatdropped and pushed him in front of her, propelling him along.
"Uh huh, but supposing that neither of are five year olds, then what?"
Ash froze when he saw them both embracing.
He looked so wounded, Duplica wanted to grab him in a hug until he felt better.
He reminded her so much of a small child lost and alone.
"Screw this" he said softly and walked away, his head bowed in defeat, his walked turned into a run and he was gone before Duplica could stop him.
*****
Gisselle cleared her mind and tried to focus, but she couldn't.
Oddly it wasn't the fact that she was going on stage in few minutes for their opening night that was distressing her, it was the way she had left things with Brock.
She stood up, checked her make-up which was flawless as usual.
"Funny how this is the one thing I never mess up and I don't even know if I want it to be my priority anymore" she said to herself as she inspected her appearance.
She left the mirror and went off in search of Brock who was pacing back and forth, looking over the last of his lines.
He knew them perfectly but it gave him something to do.
"Hi" she began with a degree of uncertainty.
(This is so stupid; I never get nervous around a guy)
Brock looked up and grunted a rough hello.
"I want to talk about what happened," she said softly.
"You've got great timing, you know that?" Brock retorted, angrily.
He still couldn't help but admire her.
She was wearing a satin gown; the skirt flowed out elegantly and made her appear taller.
The bodice was tight but not too tight in that it showed her curves and slim waist but kept it subtle.
The sleeves were a light lace and were bound at the elbows by small gold bands and then flowed down past her hands and ended past her knees.
The dress was the palest pink and lavender, which contrasted perfectly with her long dark tresses that were, held back a glittering tiara.
Her dark brown eyes really seemed bigger with the eye shadow she had subtly applied and her lips were a pretty rose colour.
Brock himself was wearing a full length orange sleeveless robe with intricate patterns embroidered on it and a white shirt underneath.
"I know but I really have to say this. It wasn't Ash's fault; he had nothing to do with it. I'd love to say it was his doing and I was an innocent bystander because then you could be mad at him and you could be nice to me again, like you were but lately I think I've grown a conscience and I couldn't do that.
So you should be mad at me...but I really don't want you to be because I really like you and I think we should go out but after what I did, I can understand if you don't want to...so that's it"
She scurried off to some corner where she could be by herself and blinked rapidly trying to prevent the tears from spilling over.
*****
Ash stood in front of a huge group of Pokemon giving them a pep talk.
Richie walked over to him and placed his hands in his pockets.
"How's it going?" he asked casually.
"I look like Peter Pan" Ash complained, gesturing to his costume.
His part in the play was one the magic wielders and as such, he didn't wear the villagers clothes, the magic wielders had to wear these bright exotic costumes.
He wore a dark green tunic tied with gold, sparkly belt.
The dark green hood of the tunic was pulled over his head.
Underneath the tunic he was wearing a long sleeved blue tee shirt but the sleeves grew looser and floppier towards the end where the hand should be.
There was also a brown leather band across his chest, which had a small pouch on it and held some fruit and vegetables in it.
Richie looked at him for a moment and nodded.
"You really, really do"
Richie himself was supposed to be noble magic wielder so he wore a purple and blue full length tunic with a white long sleeved tee shirt unearth the tunic and he had a dark purple cloak.
On his head he wore a small gold crown.
"Well not all of us get crowns and capes, your majesty" Ash joked.
"Quiet, subject! I am your prince and as such, you shall respect me" Richie cried out in a pompous voice, waving his hand as regally as he could.
Soft music filled floated through the air, causing the actors and crew to stop all action as they listened to it.
Melody was sitting on one of the desks with costumes piled high on it, already in costume, and was playing her ocarina.
Her eyes were closed and her body swayed with the music.
Her chestnut hair was pulled back in a plait, decorated with flowers.
A lace veil fanned out around her head and rested around her face, framing it.
She was wearing a pink lacy dress.
The skirt was made up of light pink and white; tear dropped shapes of the material.
It ended at her knees at the front and grew longer around as it was past her ankles around the back.
She wore pink tights and white slip on shoes.
The bodice was like a gypsy top in make.
A white ribbon ran around the waist and ended in a bow at the side, tightening above the waist but letting it rest gracefully against the skirt and the style was cut in a very wide v- neck so that her shoulders were exposed. The sleeves were tight and went to her wrists and ended in another teardrop shape.
"Wow" Ash breathed.
"She's really good" he continued, speaking softly.
"She's something special alright" Richie agreed.
"Who is?" a curious voice asked from behind them.
They both turned and saw Duplica standing behind them.
"Well you look different" Richie teased.
Duplica smiled and twirled around.
"Cool, isn't it?" she asked with a wink.
"Her long green hair was piled up on top of her head in two buns with gold ribbons holding them in place.
Her costume was a full length pale green dress.
A small gold belt hung around her waist and dipped around the front. The skirt almost glowed as the material shifted around her legs.
The bodice was yellow and blended into the green of the skirt the closer it to the skirt; the sleeves were the same way yellow blending into green and the neck was a v- neck with yellow ribbon running along it.
"Ok you ready for a completely guy like question?" Ash asked.
"Sure"
"How can you guys take a whizz with those skirts?" both boys asked at once.
"Oh that's easy. See, cause we have such big skirts, we can easily fit a toilet bowl underneath them" she replied.
"C'mon it was a reasonable question" Richie objected.
"That's true, ok. See there's this tiny flap in the skirt, every one has it and see we can open the flap and we slip in a bottle and...well I think you can imagine the rest" she said, her face as serious as she could make it.
"Good luck" she called over her shoulder as she walked away, she nearly burst out laughing when she saw their faces, very unsure of whether she was making it up or not but too confused and lost to question.
"I was born to be on stage" she grinned.
Her expression darkened when she saw Rudy but she did see some humour in the way he was darting about trying to avoid Misty at all costs.
His costume was very simple; it was a dark red tunic that ended at his hips and a pair of black trousers underneath.
His outfit was fashioned to look old and shabby yet still high light his good lucks and she cursed the fact that it did.
She hadn't seen Misty in costume yet but she was sure that Lisa did a great job on it, she did a great job on everyone else's
Mr Crefell bustled backstage.
"Ok my little actors and actresses, time to get out there and perform "
To be continued
Well that was it.
Please review!
Lots of love
Nibbs