Opposite Passions
Chapter 9: More than a Surprise
By Finaille Nailo
A/N- I'm sorry this took so long!
Thanks to all who reviewed! You guys are really great!
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Friday, September 12. What a day, and it's only 7:40am… Well, school has started. It's ok so far. I like most of my teachers, I have a few classes with Misty, and I've made a new friend. I also have one cow of a health teacher.
Ash runs breathily into an entrance to the Villa Square Apartment Complex. And guess what? I was supposed to be at Misty's house to walk her to the bus ten minutes ago. If she's already ready, maybe we won't miss the bus like we did two days ago… my mom got pretty pissed off…
He runs towards the apartment building in the middle left of the nine apartments. He runs inside and jolts up the stairs. The one thing that I'm only looking forward to is…
He knocks on Misty's door.
…My birthday.
Ash grins sheepishly as Misty's mom opens the door.
"Morning Mrs. Yawa! Is Misty ready?"
"Yes, she is. I was just about to run her to school, since I was afraid she'd be late like she was two days ago…"
Ash turns crimson. "I'm sorry, ma'am."
Mrs. Yawa just smiles and pats Ash on the head. "You're like family, you know I'm not mad or anything. Hang on a second." She goes back in. "Misty, get down here! Ash is here!" She turns back to Ash. "I'll just drop you two off at school, since I have to be at work early."
Ash bows embarrassedly. "Thank you ma'am."
Moments later Misty is downstairs and Mrs. Yawa is ushering them into her car. Misty and Ash both climb into the backseat, and the car pulls out of the complex.
"You better be glad she had to be at work early, Ash…" Misty smirks.
"Hey, I can't help it if my alarm clock can't wake me up." Ash whines.
"Uh, yeah you can. It's called, GET A NEW ONE!"
Ash cowers behind his backpack. "Sorry…"
"What's with the sudden burst of sarcasm?"
"Dunno."
They both look at each other and laugh hysterically.
"So, what are you doing after school?"
"Detention with the cow. She always finds a way to get me in trouble…"
"Well, don't sleep, doodle, or play with your Pokedex during class, and you won't get detention, Ash…"
"Everyone else does all of that… why do I have to be the one who gets in trouble?"
"Because you snore, you make funny sounds when you draw, and you don't know how to control your volume on your Pokedex."
Ash blinks. "At least I have my surprise birthday party to look forward to."
Misty cocks an eyebrow. "If it's a surprise, why do you know about it?"
"It's just a tradition. Every year since I can remember, I've always had a surprise party. It's just not that big of a deal anymore, seriously."
"Oh gee, I'd love to know that my sixteenth birthday party is a "surprise" too, but doesn't that take all the fun out of it?"
Ash just shrugs as the car comes to a stop in front of their high school. They grab their backpacks and wave goodbye to Mrs. Yawa. After getting out of the car they resume their conversation.
"So, are you helping my mom this year then?"
Misty looks confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, every year since I was about 12 she's coaxed my good friends to help out with it." Ash grins from Misty's expression.
"She hasn't said a word to me." Misty looks off to the side, trying to think to herself.
Ash notices her sudden side-glance. "Sure she hasn't…"
Misty rolls her eyes. Maybe she hasn't, but maybe I can fix the surprise this year… Misty tugs on Ash's sleeve. "Come on; let's get inside before the bell rings…" She runs off ahead of him as Ash just stands there dumbfounded.
"Girls are weird." He runs off behind her.
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Thank God Ash has detention today… I'm going to have to come up with a good excuse for why I didn't wait for him like usual though…
She gets off of the bus a few houses away from Ash's. Sure, I might not get a birthday party like Ash always does, but this year is his special birthday. Maybe Delia will like some of my ideas for his party…
She walks up to the Ketchum house and rings the doorbell. Almost immediately, Delia answers.
"Why, hello Misty! What brings you here? Come, step in." Delia smiles happily.
"Well, I figured I should catch you while Ash isn't around. He told me that you always throw him a surprise birthday party." Misty tells her.
"Yes, I do."
"Would you call it a surprise if he already knows about it?" Misty asks.
Delia blushes somewhat. "No, I guess not. Why are you telling me this?"
"Well, I think I have an idea for his birthday party this year…"
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It seems awfully bright this morning… Ash rolls over on his bed to glance at his alarm clock. He squints from the sun shining in his eyes.
Joy, it's only 8:00am… wait, it's ONLY 8… something isn't right about that… at least today it is…
Ash yawns and rolls out of bed. My mom should have been here at least an hour ago with breakfast…
After Ash puts on his clothes he drags himself down to the kitchen to find his mom about ready to head out of the garage door.
"Where are you going, Mom?" He asks, extremely confused.
She smiles at him, and goes up to him. She kisses his forehead. "Happy birthday, Ash! I'm so sorry, an important meeting came up today and I told them I'd show up. It's probably going to last all day! I'm sorry we can't do anything for your birthday, maybe we can go out to eat tomorrow night. But sweetie, I really need to run."
Ash gets a crushed look on his face. "Oh. Alright…"
"Maybe you should call one of your friends."
Hey that's not a bad idea! Maybe Misty would want to hang out! "Alright. Have fun at your meeting!"
"I'll try to be home as soon as I can. Don't forget to put on clean underwear!" She kisses the top of his head and runs out the door.
He rolls his eyes. Maybe one of these days she'll actually treat me like a 16 year old. He grabs the phone and jumps on the couch. He quickly dials Misty's number.
He hears a dial tone, then a voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey, this is Ash!"
"Oh, hey Ash! Happy birthday!"
"Thanks Misty! So watcha up to today?"
"Not much, so, when's your surprise birthday party? I haven't heard a thing about it." Misty tries not to laugh while she says this.
"Oh… yeah… turns out mom had a meeting… so I guess there isn't one."
"Oh, too bad."
"Want to hang out?"
Misty grins. "Well, I have to go visit my aunt up at Indigo Plateau. Sorry."
"So you wouldn't have been able to make it anyways?"
"Umm… nope. But Ash, I really need to get going. Have a fun birthday!"
"Yeah… I will… bye."
"Bye!"
He hangs up the phone, with a crushed look placed back on his face. Huh… that is really weird. Oh well, I'm sure somebody else would want to hang out…
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An hour later, Ash is calling the last person he knows.
"You can't hang out either?" Ash asks, completely dumbfounded. Andrew was the 37th person he had called. The others had something going on today too.
"Yeah, my mom and I are picking up my sister from college. Normally I wouldn't go, but mom thinks I need the driving practice. Sorry."
"Oh, ok. See you on Monday, Andrew."
"Yeah, bye Ash!"
He hangs up the phone for the last time. Wow… I called all my friends… and all of them are busy! What a birthday!
He eats breakfast, then goes upstairs to brush his teeth quick. He's about to lie on his bed to watch some TV when the doorbell rings.
Huh, wonder who that could be? He goes to the door and opens it.
Two people dressed completely in black and wearing sunglasses are standing right in front of him.
"We have come for you, Ash Ketchum." The one on the right says.
The person on the left grabs him by the arm, and the other one shuts the house door. For a split second, Ash is completely confused, but all of a sudden he screams,
"HELP! SOMEBODY IS KIDNAPP…" His mouth is covered by a hand and something is covered over his eyes.
"Shut up or we'll revert to torture, Ketchum." One of the people says sharply.
Oh great, it's my 16th birthday, and today someone finally tries to kidnap me because I'm this hotshot trainer. Oh boy…
Ash is thrown into the car by the two people, then they slam his car door shut. Before they enter, they smile, and take off their black hats and sunglasses.
"Ready Misty?" Sam asks.
"Yeap, phase one complete." Misty pulls out a walkie talkie. "Underwear freak, this is Little Mermaid. We'll be at Indigo in about an hour!"
"Little Mermaid, hear you loud and clear! Everybody's setting up, be careful driving you two!"
"All right, Little Mermaid out!" Misty stuffs the walkie talkie back onto her belt as Sam gets behind the wheel. Misty sits in back to keep an eye on Ash. Misty tries not to laugh as Ash squirms for majority of the car ride, but finally quits after about a half hour. In her best low voice, Misty tries to freak Ash out even more.
"Scared yet kid? There's a lot more coming to you… just you wait and see." She laughs manically.
And because of evil comments Misty gives him, Ash just shivers nervously the rest of the ride.
I hope they don't kill me… I want to tell my mom I love her, and my friends… and Misty… hell, what would I tell her?
Underneath the bandana, Misty notices a small teardrop fall down his cheek. She starts to feel a little sympathetic.
Poor thing, he really must think this is real…
Luckily, the car finally passes the 'Welcome to Indigo Plateau' sign.
Not much longer… Misty thinks to herself. At last the car pulls into the Indigo Plateau amusement park. Sam parks the car as close as she can to the entrance. Ash can feel the car stop.
"Where are we?" Ash asks.
Misty hits him lightly over his head. "I told you to shut up, Ketchum!"
Misty pulls him out of the car; excited screams from the children are heard…
Well… Ash didn't quite get that they are… 'excited' screams. He grows rigid.
"Come on!" Misty grunts, having to push him with all of her might to get him into the park. Sam takes care of the tickets, and they drag him into a large room. Sam shuts the door, and Misty takes off Ash's bandana. But the room was dark; Ash still could not see a thing.
Holy crap! They are really going to kill me!
"Take this, Ketchum!" Misty yells at the top of her lungs, and lights pop on. Ash screams as a whole room full of people yell,
"SURPRISE!"
Cheers of happy birthday are said all around. Ash looks around to see all 37 people he had called, and his mom, standing in a room full of balloons and streamers. He just stands there shocked.
Misty throws her arm around him. "You ok there, Ashy-boy?"
His eye twitches once. "I think I damn near wet myself…"
"You didn't, right?"
"No."
"Well," Sam pipes in. "Don't just stand there! It's your party!"
The day is spent eating junk food, playing games, and riding rides. Everybody at the party has a terrific time. Ash quickly gets over the shock of being 'kidnapped,' luckily. At the end of the day, all the kids are underneath the stars, waiting for the lights and fireworks show.
Misty spots Ash, sitting all alone and smiling to himself. She plops herself down right next to him.
"So, did you have a fun birthday this year?" She asks.
"Yeah… it was one hell of a surprise." Ash says breathily. Misty gives him a sly smile. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"Maybe…" She winks.
Ash takes her hand, and kisses her cheek. "Thanks Misty… as much as that act scared the shit out of me… no one has ever done anything that nice for me."
Misty smiles, nods, and quickly turns her head away from Ash. Thank god it is nighttime… I don't want him to see me blushing so badly…
"You ok Misty?" Ash asks.
She turns her head back to him quickly. "Yeah, I'm great! And… thanks…"
Ash looks dumbfounded. "For what?"
Misty stammers with her words for a moment. "For… being such a good friend." Ash squeezes her hand, and doesn't let go until the fireworks end.
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A/N- I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY THIS TOOK ME FOREVER TO UPDATE! I promise I will get another few chapters up this summer!