Disclaimer: Pokemon isn't mine :(

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I honestly didn't expect so many reviews on the prologue, especially since it was so short! Here's the next chapter, as promised :D

Replies to anonymous reviews:

Ready to fly: Thank you! Hopefully you'll like this chapter :)

Moo2: Don't worry, May and Dawn aren't going to get all the attention in this story. Actually in this chapter the drama kinda revolves around Dawn but each character will have their fair share of the limelight, and the story is ultimately about Leaf. Thank you so much for your review and support! :)

Oh and just to confirm, the story is written from Leaf's POV. I haven't decided yet whether to include other POVs or not.

Enjoy.

Chapter One

~ The Start ~

It was a normal day at Celestic Arts High School and despite it being early November the sun was shining, giving the dull school corridors a sense of warmth and light.

Since it was lunch break I was headed to the cafeteria with Gary. We had last period before lunch together every Tuesday and plus we were best friends, so it made sense for us to walk together, but his fangirls were annoying me so much I had half a mind to ditch him and make my own way there.

"Can't you do something about them?" I asked in annoyance, jerking my thumb over my shoulder at the five or six cheerleaders who were basically stalking us through the corridors.

Gary glanced back at them and smirked. They all swooned and one fainted, falling to the floor because her friends were too busy gawking at Gary to notice her. Some friends she has, and seriously? Shallow, much?

"Aw but Leafy, I couldn't be so mean as to deprive them of my glorious presence. You know they live for me," he pouted, turning back to face me.

I punched his arm and he staggered sideways as we turned the corner into another whitewashed, freshly cleaned corridor lined with turquoise lockers. I may be a small girl, but I certainly know how to pack a punch. "If you 'deprived them of your glorious presence," I quoted, mocking his voice, "then they would actually be able to get lives of their own instead of wasting their time stalking you. Don't you ever tire of them? And besides, don't you have a girlfriend?" I reminded him.

Gary raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like someone's jealous," he teased. "And Veronica doesn't count. She is a cheerleader." I rolled my eyes. Gary was always like that; he never cared about the girls he dated.

"Just because a hoard of idiotic, brainless boys don't stalk me it doesn't mean guys aren't interested in me," I informed Gary loftily, trying to block out the sound of the cheerleaders calling out for Gary to pay them some attention. He obliged, turning round to wink at them, and I pinched his arm.

"Ouch," Gary winced, "Such a violent little girl you are." I smirked, but frowned when his words registered. Then he added, "Guys are interested in you? Like who?"

"I'm not little!" I shot back as I scanned the crowded corridor and picked out a face at random. "Like Red," I said, pointing him out. Red was actually Ash's cousin, so I'd known him for as long as I'd known Ash (basically my whole life), just not as well, since he only came to visit Ash a couple of times a year.

"Oh yeah?" Gary asked disbelievingly. Is it really that hard to believe that some boys actually do like me?

"Yeah!" I retorted. "Hey Red!" I called over the chattering students between us. The boy with naturally (by natural I mean without even a sniff of hair gel) spiky brown hair and warm brown eyes like melted chocolate looked up from his locker. A smile tugged the corners of his mouth up when he spotted me and he shut his locker, weaving his way through the crowd to come and greet me.

"Hi Leaf!" Red said enthusiastically. "How're you doing?"

I smiled at him, glancing at Gary's unimpressed expression out of the corner of my eye. "Great thanks, I just saw you over there and wondered how you were?" I said, "I hadn't seen you yet today."

Gary scoffed, interrupting before Red could say anything. "You can live without him. You managed all of last week, and the week before that, and the week before that, and the week before- oof!" he gasped as I elbowed him in the stomach. Hard. He doubled over but I kept my eyes fixed on Red and a smile firmly in place on my face. Red gave Gary an amused look as he answered my question.

"Yeah I'm not bad, but I have to run – I've got extra-curricular swimming as catch up lessons because I missed several last month," he apologised. "I'll catch you later though?" he added uncertainly.

"You can bet on it," I assured him and he grinned happily.

"Great! Bye," he said, taking off down the corridor, keeping his eye on his watch. Behind us the cheerleaders renewed their efforts in trying to catch Gary's attention, but I blocked out their whiny voices and turned to face Gary, who was still doubled over from when I wacked him.

"See? Boys do too like me… Gary?"

"He… I… Can't…breathe…" Gary gasped out, staggering dramatically over to the wall.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen," I scolded, "it didn't hurt that much." When Gary didn't drop the act I frowned, looking more closely at him. "Gary?" I questioned, a hint of worry seeping into my voice. I was about to offer to take him to the nurse when he straightened up, brushed off his shirt, and strode away up the corridor, leaving me staring after him with my mouth gaping. Immediately the cheerleaders pounced on him, swarming around him like bugs.

Getting over my initial surprise, I narrowed my eyes. "Gary!" I yelled after him. He raised one hand in a half-wave to show he'd heard me but kept walking. "Gary! Get back here! That wasn't funny – Gary!"

When we eventually entered the cafeteria (with Gary looking so smug you'd think he had won the lottery and me slightly red in the face from fighting through the cheerleaders to catch up to him) it was full of noise and hustle and bustle. Lunch was already in full swing as we went to get our food, still with Gary's stupid cheerleaders in tow. Don't they ever give up?

At least they finally left us alone when Gary and I took our seats at our usual table. Ever since an incident involving an incredibly angry Paul and a wild Misty last year, no-one bothered any of us at lunch any more unless they either wanted to die or they're desperate.

See, I suppose you could call us 'the popular group', but we only acquired this high social status because so much happens in our group. There's always some kind of drama going on and Melody (the school gossip and aspiring news reporter) is always trying to work her way into our group because whenever something goes on at school you can bet at least one of us is involved somehow.

Misty, Ash, Drew, May, and Paul were already eating so I slipped in next to Drew and Gary took his place besides May. Paul was the other side of Drew and Misty and Ash were on the other side of May.

"You both took your time," Drew commented after we sat down.

I shrugged, munching a ham sandwich. "Gary's cheerleaders were annoying me – they seriously need to learn the meaning of personal space – and Gary said I was just jealous because no boys follow me around, and so I had to prove that some guys are actually interested in me. Then he was being a jerk and pretending to be hurt," I explained.

"Hey! You elbowed me in the gut – it hurt!" Gary protested.

"No it didn't. You're just a big baby. Sometimes I think you're even more of a drama queen than Dawn," I retorted.

"Am not," Gary argued.

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-"

"Shut up the both of you!" Misty yelled in exasperation. "I'd like to eat lunch in peace and quiet for once. Do not make me bring out my mallet," she warned.

Gary and I paled simultaneously. "That's quite all right," I said quickly. "Gary accepts he's a big baby and a drama queen and he has no need to argue anymore," I assured her, warily eyeing her hands, which were luckily both visible above the table. Misty's talent may be swimming but she takes magic lessons on the side and so knows a thing or two about magic tricks. If she doesn't make it as a professional swimmer (which she will) then she'll become a magician.

See, she has this 'magic mallet' which is hidden somewhere on her person at all times so she can pull it out of seemingly nowhere and whack anyone at any time she deems appropriate. I've been whacked once (by accident), and I'm not keen to experience it again. It hurts. She usually reserves it for the boys, or for when Dawn is being overly dramatic. Speaking of Dawn…

Before Gary could protest and draw me back into the pointless argument (because I am obviously right) our beautiful, over-dramatic friend came storming up to the table.

Slamming her tray down so hard she made even the stoic Paul jump (and that's not an easy feat to achieve), she took her place by Gary. If she didn't look so mad I would have congratulated her.

However she didn't launch into a long rant like I expected her to. She simply sat and fumed in silence, eating her apple so angrily that chunks flew off and landed in random places. One piece even landed on Ash's head. He reached up and fished it out of his hair, popping it into his mouth. I wrinkled my nose. Gross.

"Mm, crunchy," he commented happily.

"Ew, Ash," May groaned. Misty and I echoed with our own noises of disgust, but Dawn glared daggers at him.

"Ash! That is disgusting!" she shrieked, blowing up at him. It was completely out of character for her – Misty, I would expect to get mad over something like that, but Dawn? Never. Something must have really upset her.

"Hey, calm down," Drew said, looking surprised at the ferocity of her tone.

Dawn shot him a murderous glare. Drew sat as calm and collected as ever, but he did look slightly uncomfortable under her glower. I didn't blame him. If I had been in his position I would have been cowering under the table by now, so I had to give him credit for his bravery.

I gestured at Misty to talk to Dawn. Since Misty was the most mature out of all of us, I thought she was the most appropriate person to deal with Dawn right now.

Misty rolled her eyes at me but she spoke up. "Dawn, what's wrong?" she asked gently, as if Dawn were a minefield which might blow up at any moment. A pretty accurate description if you ask me.

Dawn turned her glare on Misty and for a moment I thought she was going to ignore her, but then she opened her mouth to speak. "Lucas!" she burst out. Several heads in the cafeteria turned to stare at our table so I stood up and flapped my hands at them, telling them to mind their own business. The last thing Dawn needed right now was to be gossiped about. As I sat down Dawn continued, "Lucas was flirting with another girl! Flirting! Right in front of me!" she exploded. Then she clammed up, refusing to speak another word, but her eyes were begging us to enquire further.

I was curious so I decided to oblige. "What exactly happened though?"

"I'm glad you asked," Dawn began loftily. The apple lay discarded on her tray and I noticed Ash reaching across Misty and May to try and steal it. Unfortunately for him, Misty noticed his hand sneaking under her nose and slapped it away. He looked like a cowed dog and I had to stifle a giggle as I paid attention to Dawn. "I was talking to Lucas by his locker when another girl came up to him. Then right in front of me he began flirting with her and ignored the fact I was standing right there!" she told us heatedly, curling her hands into fists.

Gary rolled his eyes. "Drama queen," he muttered under his breath.

Dawn turned to him with blazing eyes. "What did you say?" she hissed.

Uh-oh. I could feel another argument coming along.

"Drama queen," Gary repeated loudly. "You're blowing this way out of proportion."

"How dare you-" Dawn began, but Gary held up his hand to silence her.

"Uh-uh. You and Lucas have only been going out for three weeks and you've already have seventeen arguments, according to him. Seventeen," he pointed out. "None of your boyfriends last more than a month anyway, so what's the big deal?"

Dawn's mouth gaped open slightly as she stared at him, not used to being talked to like that. I decided I needed to intervene so I kicked Gary under the table. He winced. "You can't talk," I told him sternly. "You have a new girlfriend every five minutes."

"So?" Gary asked, yawning.

"So, at least Dawn tries. She doesn't go round breaking hearts on purpose," I pointed out.

Before Gay and I could get into another argument May interrupted us. "Um, Dawn, who was the girl?"

Dawn's attention snapped to May. "Marina Sanchez," she spat.

"Marina San-" Misty began to repeat in surprise. "What did Lucas say to her?"

"He congratulated her for winning last week's fashion show. He said she looked beautiful!" she screeched, gripping the side of the table.

"As has practically every other boy in the school," Drew put in calmly. "Besides, Marina has a boyfriend. She wouldn't flirt with another boy."

"That's not the point," Dawn hissed. "He was flirting with another girl right under my nose! What if he's been cheating on me all this time?" Her eyes widened as the thought occurred to her and she paled. Her bottom lip began to tremble as May swapped places with her brother so she could put an arm around her.

"I'm sure he's not been cheating on you," May said comfortingly. "Why would he? You're beautiful and talented; any guy would be crazy to cheat on you."

Dawn shivered despite the heating being turned up high in the cafeteria. "Marina is more beautiful and more talented," she muttered mutinously, a tear leaking out of her eye and rolling down her cheek.

Just then Drew nudged my arm and nodded at something behind me. Looking around I noticed Lucas entering the cafeteria, scanning the students as if searching for someone. "Here comes trouble," Drew remarked. Gary grinned in anticipation and I shot a quick, meaningful glance at May and Misty.

"Okay, time to go," Misty said briskly, standing up.

May caught on and also stood up, pulling Dawn with her. "Let's get you out of here; your mascara is running and we should head to the girls bathrooms to get you cleared up for afternoon classes," she added hurriedly as she and Misty led Dawn away.

"See? She's such a drama queen," Gary commented once she was out of hearing range.

"Stop being so mean; she's your friend, you should be on her side since she's upset," I reprimanded him, slumping down in my seat and finishing my sandwich.

"I get that and of course I love the girl but this happens like once or twice, sometimes three times a month, and it's getting tiring," Gary said just as Lucas approached our table looking extremely nervous.

Paul, who hadn't said a single thing all lunch and had appeared to be falling to sleep, suddenly became alert as he glared at the anxious-looking boy. "What do you want?" he snapped.

Lucas jumped at the unfriendly tone but to his credit he didn't run away screaming. "S-sorry. I just wondered if any of you have seen Dawn?"

"Why'd ya wanna know?" Gary asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. I mentally face-palmed. Please don't make this worse, I begged him silently.

"She ran off just now while I was talking to Marina," Lucas told us, eyeing Gary warily. He seemed thoroughly confused so I reached out and patted his arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll turn up sooner or later," I told him knowing full well Dawn was likely to dump him the next time she saw him. Now get out of here before anything bad happens, I added silently.

"Now leave," Paul tagged on to the end of my sentence. I shot him a brief look but his face was void of any expression.

Lucas began to back away, thanking me, when Ash stopped him. "Dawn's really upset," he informed Dawn's soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. I face-palmed for real this time and Drew mirrored my expression.

"I'll catch you all later," Drew said, standing up.

I frowned. "Where are you going?" Don't leave me here to suffer, I pleaded silently. Gary was enjoying this, Paul really didn't care, and Ash was just making the whole situation worse. Drew couldn't abandon me here to play peacemaker all by myself!

Drew smirked at me and I narrowed my eyes. Don't you dare- "Places to be, people to see," Drew told me with a smug look on his face. "Good luck," he added as he walked away. I glared at his retreating back but the smug look was wiped off of his face when a girl with brown hair and flushed cheeks, Brianna, ran up to him with several of her friends in tow and began chattering animatedly at him. For once I was amused at the antics of his fangirls. He so deserved that.

My attention was pulled back to the situation at hand when Ash said, "Dawn told us you were flirting with Marina right I front of her. Why would you do that to her?"

I love Ash, truly I do, but sometimes I wish I had Misty's magic mallet on me. I knew he just wanted to protect Dawn but he should know better than to get involved.

"What?" Lucas was startled. "But I wasn't-"

"She thinks your cheating on her," Ash continued with a frown. "For your sake I hope she was just overreacting," he added, narrowing his eyes warningly. I had to hand it to him, he sure knew how to act like the over-protective brother.

Lucas looked worried, but not because of Ash. "I'm not cheating on her," he assured us. "Dawn is everything I could hope for in a girl. I just wish she would trust me," he sighed in frustration. "I should go and find her, and see if I can sort this out," he muttered, more to himself than to us.

"Oh, no, maybe wait until-" I began to call after him but he was already walking away and didn't hear me. "Until she's calmed down," I finished with a sigh. This was not going to end well.

"Well, that was amusing," Gary commented lightly. I shot him a glare. "What? Ash not thinking about food and instead trying to protect Dawn never gets old." At least it eased tension, I guess.

"Hey, I was only looking out for her," Ash protested as he finally succeeded in seizing the apple form Dawn's abandoned tray.

Gary shook his head. "Trying to stop Dawn's heart from getting broken is futile," he said, unknowingly speaking my own thoughts aloud.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked as he crunched the apple loudly.

Gary sighed. "None of the relationships Dawn has are founded on trust. There's no hint of trust anywhere in any of her relationships and without trust, the relationship is doomed to fail. It's inevitable. If you don't trust your partner then your relationship won't last. Simple. Now if Dawn trusted her partner and vice versa, her relationship would last a lot longer," he explained.

"Wow, that was deep," I commented. "When did you get so wise?"

Gary shrugged. "It's common sense."

"But if she does trust her partner and then it turns out that the one boy she actually trusts is cheating on her, won't that be a lot more damaging?" I asked.

"Yeah," Gary nodded in agreement, standing up. "But that's a risk you gotta take if you really want to make a relationship work. And if you truly love someone then you'll take that risk without a second thought," he said, sounding distant and staring at nothing over my shoulder.

I stared at him. That was an extremely insightful and meaningful statement, something which I had never thought Gary would make. "This coming from Mr Player who toys with girl's hearts for the fun of it?" was the only thing I could say.

Gary shot me a cool glance. "Girls know what they're getting into when they date me. It's only for fun, nothing is ever serious. Besides, I trust them all as far as I can throw them. As I said before, even if I wanted the relationship to work, without trust it's inevitably going to break down. I gotta go meet Veronica, see ya later," he said, shaking out of his stupor and walking off with his trademark half-wave.

I stared after him. "Wow. I did not expect that from him," I murmured, mostly to myself.

"Well it's like they say, you learn something new every day," Ash said, finishing the apple.

Paul grunted. "I can't take any more of your stupidity today," he told Ash as he also left, leaving just Ash and I.

"Yeah you know what, I think I'm going to get ready for my next class," I added faintly. Gary's words were still sinking in and I needed some time to think.

"WE ARE OVER!" Dawn's screech made me, along with the rest of the cafeteria, jump out of our skins. Turning around I saw her facing Lucas in the entrance to the cafeteria with apologetic-looking Misty and May's standing behind her. Ah, well. Looks like Lucas found Dawn after all.

Shaking my head, I got up to leave as Lucas tried to protest. There never was a dull day at Celestic Arts High, I'll say that.

Author's Note: Hehe, sorry for the bad chapter title... but ignoring that, what'd ya'll think?

Please tell me if something wasn't clear, I always find introductions hard because I've got it all sorted in my head and I sometimes forget that you (the readers) can't read my mind :P

Thanks for reading!

~ Jay