I'm not going to lie, but I've been reading a lot of my past works. Some parts of them surprise me, but TOO many elements of my stories made me cringe. It's absolutely crazy how I can write something like what I have written in the past and cringe a year later. I'm going to be actively changing many elements of my current and previous writings. You guys may probably notice some shifts in my writing as well, perhaps less passionate than usual. It's hard to explain, but ever since I've stopped feeling emotions for others, everything seemed extremely dull. I really did try to write past my emotional blockade, but it's been extremely difficult. If anything, I feel like it got worse.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

p.s my phone broke a couple of months ago, so that's why I stopped writing if anybody was curious.

A seething loathing emotion spread throughout my body as my sanity was thrown out the window. Emily and Tyler have already made it towards the darker end of the section. I trailed behind them because I was cautious about what they are doing. The two seemed really well together. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it seemed as though they were much closer than I would have liked. My mind kept trying to push me to return to Anna, but I couldn't help but figure out what they are doing. They went behind the place where there was a building blocking their view. I slowly peeked around the corner within hearing distance.

"I mean, I'm kinda surprised I met you on campus," I heard Emily say. "What a nice guy, I'm jealous."

"Haha, it's nothing," Tyler said, laughing embarrassed. "I'm glad I bumped into you. Anyways, this was what you requested, so I mind as well give it to you now."

My eyes widened as he reached his hands into his bag and pulled out something white. I couldn't exactly see what it is, but I assumed it was a powder of some sort.

"Thanks," Emily said, reaching out for it.

The next thing I knew was that I reached forward and snatched the white object and glared at Tyler.

"How dare you give something like this to Emily!" I snarled. Tyler looked shocked... and confused?

"Aiden! What are you doing here?!" Emily said, stepping back from surprise.

"I'm the one to ask you!" I yelled, glaring at Emily. "And you!" I turned back to Tyler, "giving drugs like this to the students on campus! What are you thinking?"

"Hey, uh-" He tried to say, trying to cover his innocence.

His soft and smiling expression was so infuriating to me that I threw a punch at his jaw. I felt a force, almost like a hand, enclose around mine as I was twisted into a submission hold. The pain of my arm twisting forced me to look up to Emily who was grabbing my arm.

"Are you trying to protect him?" I yelled. "What the fuck?!"

"What are you talking about?!" Emily slapped me. I reeled back to avoid another slap. She released my arms. I stepped back to gain distance.

"What are you even doing!" Emily yelled, clearly furious. "What drugs are you talking about?"

"This!" I said, looking at my left hand.

The damn misunderstanding. A wave of shock spread over me.

This wasn't a drug. It was a slip of paper. It had somebody's phone number on it. Emily snatched it back and put it into her purse.

"Arceus, mind your business," Emily said loudly.

"Wha-" I tried to say.

I heard footsteps approach us. I saw Anna clutching her supplies in one hand and looking at me worried.

"Aiden what are you doing?!" she said, bewildered. Her eyes lay on Tyler and Emily together. "Oh hey, Tyler and Emily."

Huh? She's... what?

"You here on the art project?" Tyler said, smiling. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, I was over there. But then I heard Aiden yelling so I decided to investigate," Anna said, looking at me confused. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, we were just on a walk," Tyler said. Emily glared at me and I cast my eyes down.

"Come on, let's go eat something. This isn't the best place to talk," Anna said.

We ended up going to a fast food place. The lobby was empty and we sat in the far corner of the store.

"So Aiden came with you to finish your art project?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I dragged him along," Anna said, sounding somewhat guilty. "I'm really sorry he bothered you guys. Why did you attack them like that though?" Anna asked me, demanding answers.

"Well, I thought they were giving drugs or something..." I mumbled. Emily looked as though she wanted to slap the shit out of me. Even as pissed and embarrassed as I was, she had all the right to.

"Why would you assume something like that?" Emily said angrily.

"Hey now," Tyler said, trying to calm everybody. "It's okay, nobody's extremely hurt."

"Yeah, wait no-" Emily started.

"It's fine. I understand where he's coming from," Tyler said, sitting back. The sound of his chain scratched against chairs. "There are rumors going on that I deal with drugs to students. Probably because of my appearance but..."

"..."

"I mean I thought it was normal to dress like this as an art major, but I guess students from the other departments thought differently," Tyler said, shrugging.

"Yeah, I heard lots of the rumors, but I didn't believe any of them," Anna said. "Hey Emily, how did you meet Tyler?"

"Oh, he's a friend of another gardevoir, who happens to be my best friend," Emily explained. "I thought it was quite lonely at first, but then I saw Tyler. I haven't really kept in contact with my friend, so I decided to meet Tyler to get her contact info. It seems as though somebody here thought I was getting drugs from Tyler," Emily said, glaring at me. I exhaled strongly and looked outside the window. Oh, how the tables have turned. I did not want to be here right now.

"Ok, my bad for looking out for somebody." I retorted.

"You don't need to feel bad," Anna offered. I huffed at the thought of her giving me pity. "But Emily, he was only looking out for you."

"Oh how flattering," Emily said, sinking her glare into me. The pressure of the atmosphere was suffocating. "Aiden, you don't have to do these kinds of things, like looking out for me. We are both partially adults, I can look after myself."

"I-" I coughed. "Yeah sure, okay. My bad, I'll stop." I directed myself towards Tyler. "I'm sorry Tyler, I shouldn't have reacted violently. Please accept my apology."

He raised both of his hands with a sense of panic and embarrassment. "No dude, it's fine. No harsh feelings."

A momentary silence followed before Anna spoke, clearing up the awkwardness.

"So... did you guys still have plans?" She said.

"Well, I did want to show Emily around the mall here since she's never been to this area before," Tyler said. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Thanks for the invitation Tyler," Anna said, with a smile, "but Aiden and I were going head back actually haha..."

"Oh is that so?" He said, sounding sad. "We should catch up next time, it was a coincidence to see you here."

Please just let me leave... I thought awkwardly as Emily continued to send me hate signals.

"Haha, it was. I'll see you in class next time Tyler." Anna said, getting up. "Come, let's go."

Thank you! I thought, standing up. I followed Anna out of the store and down the escalator. She didn't say a word to me until we reached the first floor.

"What were you doing?" Anna asked.

"I don't even know," I said, ashamed. Everything happened so quickly and I'm still trying to register what was happening.

"Did you try to attack them?" She asked me, as though I was some kind of beast. Ironic.

"No, I didn't," I said, at first. "Well... yes, I did. But for a reason."

"Because you thought Tyler was handing out drugs?" Anna asked.

"Yeah..."

"How could you have mistaken a piece of paper with a pouch of drugs?" Anna asked.

"I... Look, I don't know. Everything just happened so quickly and I acted rashly I know." I said, rubbing my eyes with frustration.

"I don't do drugs but... wouldn't it be kinda messed up to share something so valuable?" She said.

"Drugs rings, Anna. Once you get somebody addicted, you can get a ton of money from it if they keep on buying from you." I said.

"Looks like you know a lot huh?" Anna said, in a somewhat joking manner. My mood soured as I thought about something unpleasant in my past, but I shook it off when Anna realized and apologized.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She said, immediately afterward.

"It's okay," I said, breathing in deeply. "I just... like to be honest, like real honest, I'm a mess today. Well not just today, just ever since Emily came. I wanted to look out for her. Maybe I was a little jealous too, but that's kinda hypocritical of me, considering that I was the one in the wrong in the first place. Oh god, I feel like shit."

"Hey, don't worry about it, you are doing fine." Anna said, trying to comfort me. "it's not your fault for looking out for somebody, even if it's your... Uhm... ex, you know? You are just nice."

I took a shaky breath. "Like, I feel like I'm just doing everything wrong and I can't pick myself up."

"I know that feeling," Anna said, walking alongside me. "It's only a period, you have to push on and everything will be fine at the end."

"... maybe," I said, feeling more depressed than ever before.

That night, I stared at my ceiling all night. I barely got a wink of sleep because I kept on replaying that scene over in my head. I kept on thinking. Why. Why did I do that? I used to never do these kinds of things. What made me step out of that boundary? Emily? Stress? Jealousy? It's almost like I lost a grip on my life. It felt like I was doing everything wrong when I previously was perfecting everything. Everything was crumbling down ever since Emily came. Don't be silly, just one person's appearance won't make such a big deal, I thought. I fully agreed with that, as logically, it shouldn't. Maybe the feeling of hopelessness is caused by a deviation from what you like to do? You haven't been going to volleyball lately. Maybe that would cheer me up? I would if I could. But the amount of work being assigned, as we are heading towards the winter, is starting to pile up. I haven't even been on top of my studies. How could I ever dream of getting that scholarship? With a frustrated sigh, I pinched my nose bridge. I tossed around in the bed like a madman, trying to find the perfect position. I don't think I've even prepared for the upcoming midterms. Ah fuck that, I'll do that later. I closed my eyes but shot them open again. I can't do that! I have to study! Frantically, I propped myself upwards on the bed. I glanced at the clock, which read 2:13. I slapped myself, leaving behind a stinging pain. I have to go to sleep. I have to go to sleep. I'll take up at 6 and work extra hard tomorrow. With such a makeshift resolve, I took a deep breath and exhaled, and allowed the darkness to envelop me to what seemed like hours later.

"Yeah no," Anna said when she saw me in the morning. "You should go back to bed."

"Wha-" I coughed horribly to clear my dried-up vocal cords. "I'm fine I swear."

"Go wash your face. I'll let the attendance office know you are taking a day off." Anna said, wearing her dress-coat. "I'll leave some porridge for you during lunch and check in with you later." Sleepily, I stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the tap. I let the water brush through my hands and cleaned my face with it. I had a double-take at the mirror when I saw myself.

"Holy-" I said, examining my eyes, which were bloodshot. I don't remember this much redness and blood being there. Were my eye-bags really this bad? I thought, poking it. A wave of nausea washed over me horribly. Holy shit.

I climbed back into my bed. It's weird how I felt so at ease in bed, especially since I had such a bad night. I closed my eyes. I knew that for this moment, for this day, I'll feel much better. The process will only start again tomorrow. I lied in bed for much of the morning, only taking occasional trips to the fridge to go get ice cream and water. Judging by the sound of the other rooms, it seems that everybody had left and I was the only one at home.

How depressing. I thought, staring at the clock.

The sound of the main door got my attention. Hm? It doesn't sound like Anna or Emily's footsteps.

My door cracked open and I saw a familiar-looking ear.

"Oh Arceus, what happened to you?" Lizelle said, eyes widening when she saw me.

"Smoked up a bunch of crack, what about you?" I said, lying back down.

"Don't say that." She said, closing the door behind her. She brought a white bag and produced a bottle of Calpis and papers.

"You are a live-saver," I said, reaching for the bottle.

"Oh please," she said, leaving the papers on my desk. "The teachers gave me this for you since you were out. Anna told me you were sick so I came here in a hurry."

"Aw thank you," I said, in a whiny voice. I reached out a hand to caress her ears, but she moved away.

"Why didn't you pick up my calls?" Lizelle said, with a huff. I racked my brain for a second.

"I'm sorry, I was out with Anna at night. Then..." I trailed off, debating whether I should bring up Tyler. "We didn't check our phones most of the time. I'm really sorry."

Lizelle's ears quivered for a moment, as though it was trying to hear a lie.

"Is that the whole story?" She said while eyeing me down. She had a great ability to tell lies. Saying away, I clutched my bedsheets.

"No, sorry. I saw Tyler. The guy from the art department. I thought he was selling drugs to somebody, then I got in a huge fight." I admitted.

"Tyler? The guy with the chains?" Lizelle inquired. I nodded. "I guess that's... reasonable." The atmosphere got dark since we both had a history of the massive drug crackdown in the past.

"Do you want to come in?" I asked, moving over. With a sigh, she put aside her bag and slid her legs next to mine. Our bed was fairly small and I had my arms around her. Even in this intimate position, I suspected that she was still mad.

"I'm sorry Lizelle," I said, breathing into her neck. "Please forgive me."

"I will." She said, pinching my leg. I yipped and she giggled.

I rested my head upon hers and brushed her soft fur somewhere around her midriff.

"How has work been?" I asked.

"It's okay, though I'm going to have to take a week off from school to travel to a new location for filming." She said.

"The entertainment industry has it hard," I commented. "I will get your work from the teachers?"

"No need, I have already informed them." She said, massaging my sides.

"Got it," I said, weaving my fingers into her paws. For some reason, it made me sad to think that she would be going away. Was it a sense of worry? Not really. Probably a sense of jealousy.

"I'll be leaving this coming Monday," Lizelle said, somewhat absently. "So in around... 3 days. I won't be gone for long."

"Where will you be?" I asked, curiously.

"A state away from us. My company already prepped tickets." She said.

"You will have food and everything covered right?" I asked. She nodded.

"No need to worry about me, so look after yourself," Lizelle said. "I'll make sure to bring you back a souvenir."

"Please do. But if you can't don't force yourself, I don't want to distract you from your work."

We stayed silent for a while. As we enjoyed each other's company, it began to darken outside because of the early winter days.

"What are your plans for the break?" She whispered. I glanced at my calendar that hung on the wall aside from us. The winter break was rapidly approaching, a thought that had just occurred to me.

"Finishing up all my work," I told her.

"Mmm."

"You want to do something together?" I asked. She sighed into my neck and bit it. "Want to spend the week over at our place? I'm visiting my family, they would love to have you over."

I thought about it. Lizelle's family somewhat frightens me, if I were too honest. There was no threat, but rather I didn't know how to conduct myself, being in a family with all species that were different from me. It would be around two weeks from today, seeing that Lizelle will be gone for the next week and the break will be several days following that.

"Yeah sure, that's fine with me," I said.

She smiled and laid dormant again in my arms.

"You're still getting taller?" I asked, briefly sizing her up.

"Shush," She retorted. "Speaking of which you want to join the wrestling team with me?"

I blinked in surprise. "You think my height will get me anywhere?"

"Hehe," she giggled. "You don't have to, but I think it would be interesting."

"No way, I'm not built for wrestling size-wise or technique-wise. I would probably get matched with the smallest person there."

"Damn, not even a chance?" She asked.

"No."

She whimpered and I nudged her. She responded by grabbing my abdomen.

"Ack-!"

The next thing led to the next, and we found ourselves sexually invested, but it didn't continue very long when the door opened.

"Anna?" She asked, lifting her ears to listen. Her expression frowned when she confirmed that the footsteps were not hers. I think my face went a little cold.

"I think it's Emily," I whispered.

"Aiden!" Emily yelled suddenly from outside. Lizelle glanced over at me with a questioning expression. I too cast a concerned expression to Lizelle. I didn't know why she was asking for me.

The footsteps got closer and stopped by the door.

"Aiden?"

I realized that she was going to come in and tried to warn Lizelle. Grabbing her right, which was located somewhere around the sides of my chest, I frantically tried to get Lizelle off, but she was too busy listening. Yet, the next thing I knew was that Emily peeked in with Lizelle on top of me.

"Excuse me for interrupting," Emily said, stepping away from the door.

"No wait-" I said.

"Oh hey there!" Lizelle greeted, in a cheery voice. Lizelle got off and skipped over to talk to her.

"Hello there," Emily said, standing at a distance.

"I've never seen you around, are you a transfer?" Lizelle asked.

"Yes I am, I only recently came over," Emily replied. I glanced over at her. She was holding several pages of paper in a binder. Did she grab my work for me?

"I'm Lizelle," Lizelle introduced herself by pointing to herself. "If you ever have any trouble around school or want to request something from the student government or administration, let me know! I've got your back."

"Thank you, Lizelle," Emily said curtly. "I am Emily, I look forward to working with you."

A brief pause.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to go back to Aiden's room. It was nice meeting you." Lizelle said, retreating back into my room. After shutting the door and locking it, she clamped down onto me.

"Who is she?" Lizelle asked, in a curious manner. Her arms were above mine and I could only look at her.

I drew in a sharp breath. "That was the gardevoir that I was talking about from before."

"Ah," Lizelle said. "Giving you a hard time? I can't imagine living with somebody who is as fake as whoever she is."

"I-Well, I wouldn't say fake, but rather closed off," I said. Lizelle gave me a look. A quizzical expression. Perhaps she was doubtful?

"Well it doesn't matter, but watch out for yourself. I don't really like her living as your roommate." Lizelle said, in a jealous tone.

"Why don't you switch dorms then?" I asked, reaching out. She pondered the thought while I felt her neckline. Tracing my fingertip along her neck, collar bone, and to her chest, her ears twitched.

"I might. But I doubt it because dorm rules are strict once settled with the school administrator." She sighed.

"Nothing you can do about it then," I said. "It's getting dark, want me to bring you back?"

"No, it's okay." She said, stopping me by holding me down by the chest. "You still aren't feeling particularly well, so don't push yourself."

Lizelle stood up and took her belongings. She leaned over and gave me several kisses before standing up again. "Your homework is over there. I come again before I leave for work."

I gave her a small wave as she left the room and our apartment. With a small sigh, I couldn't shake the sense of worry that began to encroach onto my feelings. With the number of hectic issues that have been raised, I didn't look forward to what the future had to provide.