And part two of my special update.

Chapter Eight: School

"Did you see it earlier? Paul walked into school with Linnet's cousin!"

"What's they're dating?"

"How can someone like her be with Paul?"

"Wow, I'd never expect that."

"Did you hear about Gary? I heard Linnet almost drowned him at the beach."

"I heard Misty had to rescue him."

"Did you hear? Drewie-bear has a girlfriend too."

"What? No way!"

"Yeah, it's that weird girl May. I heard they got together after getting stuck on a ferris wheel at the fair last week."

"No way! But I love Drew!"

"What are we going to do now? All of them are taken."

"Ash is dating Misty now."

"…"

"No surprise there."

Paul looked up as someone stood in front of him. It was some weird guy that said he knew Paul quite well but Paul didn't pay attention to him.

"So you're dating the drunk girl from Oak's party?" he asked.

"Yup," Paul replied.

"You two are total opposites you know?"

"I am aware."

"I give you two weeks," the guy said, "When you break up with her, send her my way, OK?"

"Not a chance in hell," Paul replied, "Now leave me in piece, you've bugged me enough."

Drew walked over to Paul as the guy hurried away. He looked at Paul with a smirk on his face.

"So," Drew said, "I see Dawn hasn't been able to change you one bit."

"She's not trying to change me," Paul replied, "She's perfectly happy with me."

"And you with her?" Drew asked.

"Do you think I'd be dating her if I wasn't?" Paul asked.

"That's a horrible habit," Drew remarked, "Stop answering questions with questions. It's annoying."

"Whatever," Paul replied, "Where's May?"

"With Ash and Misty," Drew said, "Apparently, food tech got a bit excited."

"What did Ash blow up this time?" Paul asked. Drew laughed loudly. Gary joined the table with Linnet and Dawn by his side. Paul straightened up as he saw Dawn. She flashed him a smile before she sat down next to him.

"The gossip mill is going crazy," Linnet announced.

"There's also a betting pool open," Gary added.

"A betting pool?" Drew asked. Gary nodded and pointed to Dawn and Paul.

"On how long they'll last," Gary explained.

"I've already put money on it," Dawn laughed.

"Isn't that cheating?" Paul asked.

"Not really," Dawn replied, "I bet that I'd never be able to get rid of you."

"Maybe if you leave me in the woods?" Paul suggested with a smirk on his face. Dawn laughed once again before she poked him in the stomach. Linnet shook her head.

"What she sees in him, I'll never know," she muttered to Gary and Drew. The guys nodded.

"Maybe she sees the goodness in his heart," Drew suggested, "The lone child that's been struggling to break free since a very early age."

Paul and Dawn looked up at Drew, hearing him completely fine. Gary and Linnet looked down at the green haired teen.

"Now that's just stupid," Gary replied, punching Drew in the arm. Linnet laughed at this. She poked Gary.

"Stop being macho, Gary," she said with a voice like silk, "If you wanna touch Drew, then you don't have to disguise it as a punch."

She sat down while Gary and Drew gaped at her. Linnet merely smiled as she looked across at her cousin. Dawn was laughing again while Paul had a smile twitching at his lips. Slowly, Gary sat down, still in horror at what Linnet had just implied.

"This is going to be a great year, isn't it?" Linnet said happily.

"If people behave around us, then yeah," Paul replied. Dawn pouted.

"They're already saying that we'll last a week," she said.

"I never realised how many fan girls you had until I became part of the gossip," Linnet said, "It's going to be fun not getting clawed by them."

"It's OK," Gary said, "Paul's fangirls are few and far between."

"Most of them are sat at this table now, I bet," Dawn winked. Again, Drew and Gary glanced at each other as they tried to work out what she meant by this. Suddenly they realised and their mouths fell open.

"She's like a girl Paul!" Drew yelled. The whole cafeteria stopped talking to look at Drew. Drew didn't seem to care. "You're exactly like him in every single way… Apart from the obvious ways."

"Thanks, Drew," Dawn replied, "I'm glad you notice I am female."

"This may suck," Drew went on, "If suddenly we have two Pauls instead of one."

"Oh no," Dawn assured him, "It's only suck if I turned into Paul and he turned into me."

"That's a scary thought," Paul added. Linnet and Gary laughed.

May skipped over the table with Ash and Misty not too far behind her. May sat down on Drew's lap and looked round at her friends. Misty was looking round the hall to find that everyone was still staring at their table.

"Why is everyone looking at you?" she asked. Suddenly the buzz of conversation was back as the student body went back to whatever it was they were doing.

"So the summer has ended," Linnet said after Ash and Misty were settled at the table, "And what have we learnt?"

"Not to trust wave pools," May said.

"Not to trust Ash in a rescue mission," Gary added.

"Drew hates thunder storms," Misty said.

"Drew really hates thunder storms," Ash said with a smirk.

"Going to the cinema with girls is scary," Drew growled.

"Ketchup is surprising a good gel," Dawn commented.

"Drew looks cool with spiked hair," May giggled. Drew turned to her.

"Really?" he asked as he combed his hair with his fingers. May nodded.

"Drew is gullible," Paul remarked causing the group to laugh as Drew glared at him.

"Never get Dawn drunk," Misty said, "Because she disappears into guy's bedrooms."

"Never trust Misty to give you mouth to mouth in the case of drowning unless you're Ash Ketchum," Dawn responded. Misty blushed at this.

"Dawn is a girl version of Paul," Ash said.

"Linnet is scary," Gary said, "Especially when she's chasing you."

"Ferris wheels are bad for people who hate heights," Drew said brightly, earning him another punch from Gary. "Ow!"

"And May is really good at stealing celebrities' clothes," Paul added slowly. May went red at this.

"I guess I am," she agreed.

"So now we're back in school and the learning is back," Ash moaned, "I don't like the learning."

"C'est le vie," Gary said. Linnet elbowed him roughly. "Ow."

"Put it this way," Misty said, "We did survive a whole summer together."

There were a few murmurs of 'yeah' and 'that's true' until Paul frowned suddenly.

"Does that mean we've got to survive the whole year with each other now?" he asked. There was a slight pause as each member of the table looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces.

"Kill me now," Gary pleaded. Linnet smiled a devilish, evil smile. Her hand wondered to her bag. She raised it off the seat ever so slightly, waiting to pounce.

"OK," she said.

Phew, it's finally finished. I don't know what happens to Gary after this, just so I'm clear. I'm really thankful for everyone who has read this fic and I hope you enjoyed it. There's plenty of other stuff of mine you can read so please, check it out!

RSx