Chapter Twenty-Two: A Wonderful Semester

Today was the day. No more studying. No more exams. No more stress. Today marked the very last day of Kalos Academy's first co-ed semester, and the very first day of this year's winter semester break.

Serena nodded at a few of her fellow classmates as she continued her walk down the hall, towards Palermo's office to receive her report card.

"Good luck Serena," a Performer in her first year nodded at the honey blonde who placed her hand on the handle leading to Palermo's waiting room.

Serena smiled at the first year student and wished her the same thing. She then twisted the knob and stepped into the waiting room to find at least a dozen other students crowding around the front desk, waiting to receive their sealed envelopes from Miss Anderson.

Serena pursed her lips before marching forward to join the others. She's never felt so eager to view her grades before. Whenever their final grades came rolling out, Serena would pretty much wait in her dorm room until she was sure that every student was done getting theirs. She didn't want to deal with the hassle and the large crowds. She was always pretty confident in her marks anyway. She didn't always have the perfect grades, but she did well enough, and that was good enough for her.

This semester was different though. Instead of waiting in her room watching TV or sewing a new outfit, Serena was joining the other eager performers who were dying to see their grades. She's never studied so hard since she first attended the academy. She was anticipating a report card with all A's.

"Single file, please!" Miss Anderson snapped at the students who were crowding around her desk.

Serena sighed as she mentally counted how many people were in the office. It was probably going to be a fifteen minute wait.

"Serena!"

The honey blonde whipped around to find Miette standing by the door, her report card already in her hand. By the looks of it, she already tore the top part of the envelope and viewed her grades.

"You already got your report card?" Serena asked, turning her attention to the bluenette. She stepped out of her place in line, not caring about her increase in waiting time. In a couple minutes, the line was going to be one big blob again anyways.

"Yeah." She nodded before pulling out another envelope from inside her blazer. "And this one is yours."

"What?" Serena asked, wide eyed. She grabbed the envelope and pressed a finger against her name. "Don't you need my ID to get that?"

Miette shrugged her shoulders. "I have my ways," she said before showing her another envelope with Shauna's name on it. "It beats waiting in line while Miss Anderson sorts through a bunch of files." The bluenette looked back to the assistant who was having a hard time finding the next student's report card. "She seriously needs to work on her organization." She looked back to the honey blonde. "I'm gonna go look for Shauna. Wanna join me?"

"No," said Serena, her cheeks starting to burn. She got what she needed. Now she had to go see Ash. "I'm going to reflect on my grades."

"Right," said Miette, unconvinced. "Because this has nothing to do with Ash."

"It-It doesn't!"

Miette laughed. "Whatever floats your boat," she said. "I'll see you later."

Serena groaned before shortly exiting the room after Miette. She walked down the corridor, eager to open up her report card. She didn't want to though. She was scared of seeing a single B on her card. During her study period, she constantly told herself that it didn't matter. She wanted to get A's for herself, and only herself, but whenever she scrolled through the pictures on her phone, she would find Ash's face amongst the many others, and she really wanted to get those A's because of him.

Serena pushed on the door, and exited the building. She stopped at the bottom of the small plight of stairs, and looked down at the envelope.

"Eager to open it, huh?"

Serena raised her head and turned to her left to see Ash standing by the railings.

"A-Ash?" Serena said his name quietly. She wasn't expecting to see him so soon. It felt like it's been ages, despite it only being a couple weeks. "What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you," he said with a smile before walking over to her. He pulled out his report card from the front pocket of his bag and waved it front of him. "I didn't open mine yet either."

"I guess we should open them up," said Serena.

"How about we open up each other's?" he suggested.

"Uhm…" Serena looked down to her envelope. "Okay," she agreed. She had nothing to lose… other than a date.

The two traded envelopes simultaneously and Serena flipped over his envelope to look at the seal that was keeping it closed. She placed a finger against the seal that contained a picture of their school crest - Xerneas. She then glanced up to see Ash already tearing the seal away from its place. She bit her bottom lip and followed his actions. She then pulled the slip of paper from the envelope and unfolded it. She shifted her gaze to the right, her eyes focused on the uppercase letters that were printed in each separate box.

"A… A… A…" Serena's heart began to pound faster as she continued down the page. "A…A…" She gulped hard as she mentally read the last grade in the last box. "He got all A's."

"Straight A's, Serena," said Ash, capturing her attention by waving the results in front of her.

Serena looked up and grabbed her report from his grip to inspect all of her grades. "Wow," she muttered underneath her breath.

"I get to go on a date… with Ash…" she thought to herself.

"So, what did I get?" he asked, curiosity plastered on his face.

"Oh… uhm…" Serena's hand trembled as she handed the report to him. "You got all A's too."

"Really?" He glanced down at his report to check his grades for himself. "I never thought that I would."

"You did say that you were really motivated to become an even better Pokémon Master."

Ash chuckled. "I did, but I was sort of more motivated because of you. I really wanted to take you out."

Serena never thought that Ash would be motivated by anything else other than Pokémon. There was still a part of her that felt like some chip was implanted into his body, causing him to know about the feelings of love.

"Hey," said Ash. "There's an amusement park in Lumiose City. Did you want to go there?"

"You wanted to take me out today?"

"Yeah. Did you think I meant some other day?"

"No… It's just…" Serena found herself instinctively reaching up for something that hasn't been there for years.

"C'mon," he said, reaching for her hand. "I bet it will be fun. It's always a great way to end off the semester."

"What's a good way to end off the semester?" A voice called out.

Serena turned her head to see May and Dawn walking her way. Feeling shy, she pulled her hand away from Ash's grasp and turned her attention to the two Coordinators.

"Are you two talking about the amusement park in Lumiose?" asked May.

"I hope you thought about inviting the both of us," said Dawn, pouting.

"Well, actually, I-" Ash tried, but was interrupted by Dawn once more.

"I'll call the others! We should all go to the amusement park!"

"Sounds like a plan," said May. "I'll call Arnold. Maybe he would like to come. He can bring the girl he likes too." She smiled widely before pulling out her cell phone.

"You're okay with Alain being there right?" asked Dawn, pulling Serena away from Ash.

"Of… Of course I am." She smiled.

If this were any other the day, the girls would force her and Ash to go out alone. It wasn't any other day though. It was the first day after the ridiculous exam period. Serena knew that all of her friends just wanted to get out and refresh their minds.

Serena grabbed a piece of cotton candy from her bag and let the fluffiness melt into her taste buds. She took a deep breath as she sat on a wooden bench, away from the loud crowd that was enjoying the many activities to do at the park. She looked straight ahead at a few fallen leaves that were floating atop the small pond in front of her. She watched as a few kids reached over the water, trying to grab the leaves that were floating towards the center. She smiled before glancing up at a few others that were gathered at the other side of the pond. She enjoyed going to lively places, but in the end, she preferred quieter ones.

"Can I join you?"

Serena looked to her left to see Ash standing by the bench. She simply smiled and nodded at him before savoring the sweet taste in her mouth. As he sat next to her, Serena extended her arm, offering him the treat that Dawn gave to her.

"Thanks," he said, ripping off a small part and putting it into his mouth.

"I'm sorry that our date got ruined," said Serena while looking at the kids that were getting their clothes soiled.

"It's fine," he said. "We can do it some other time, right?"

"Right…" Serena whispered, the pace of her heart quickening. She now had an actual date to look forward to with the raven-haired champion. "I'll… be looking forward to it."

"Me too."

Serena pursed her lips before stuffing the remainder of cotton candy into her mouth. She then discarded her empty bag into the garbage bin beside her. "We should go back," said Serena. "Dawn and May really want to ride the rollercoaster." She stood up from the bench and turned her body to join the others. Serena then felt Ash's hand on her wrist, and she immediately turned around to look at him.

"What is it?" she asked as she watched him stand from the bench.

"Serena," he said in a serious tone. "I know that you're confused about your feelings towards me. But, I just wanted you to know that I'm determined to make you feel the way you did when we were kids." He leaned in, gently pressing his lips against her cheek.

Serena blushed as he pulled away. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her mind couldn't formulate any kind of response. He just kissed her again.

"Are you two not coming?! It's almost our turn in line!" Dawn yelled out. "Hurry up and finish your cotton candy!"

"Yeah," Miette followed. "Dawn also has some news regarding Ga-"

"I do not!"

Serena turned around to see Dawn's hand cupped around Miette's mouth. She giggled as she watched the performer struggle in the arms of the coordinator.

"We're coming," Serena yelled out.

She turned back and smiled at Ash before deciding to sprint over to the duo in front of her.

Despite everything that's transpired in the last few months, Serena felt that the addition of boys to the academy was actually a good thing. Things were different, but not in a bad way. She was looking forward to the many months ahead of her.

Kalos Academy: Rivalries & Firsts: AU. Sequel. Students from Kanto and Alola come to Kalos Academy to participate in the yearly event - "Unity of the Seven". Rivalries & games ensue. And after all these years, Serena finally gets the boy. But, not everything is smooth sailing from there.

Thanks guys. We reached the end of this story! :) Yeah, there are a lot of things that I should work on, and one of them is to keep notes (& better planning)! haha. I keep notes, but I constantly find myself forgetting minor details that are actually important. Anywho, I'll be working on planning the next story (aside from my other billion stories), so it might be awhile until you see the next story.

The next one will involve more battles and such, and hopefully the content and writing get better. :) I'll definitely plan the next one better than this one.

xoxo, Gossip Girl.

LMAO jk. - xSooIntense. :D