RUMORS OF LOVE
Chapter Fifteen: Uncertainty

-THE MARKET: SATURDAY-

-
TO: DAWN
FROM: LUCAS

You will stay with me and give me another chance unless you want me going to Shirona with your secret.
-

Dawn glared at Lucas. Why was it so important for them to be dating? Either way, it sucked.

Lucas got up and made a guilty face, "Dawn…" but that was all he got out before Paul punched him back in the face.

She bit a smile. Paul was the best. He really was. She ran forward and grabbed Paul's arm so that he wouldn't get in trouble for hitting Lucas to the point where Shirona would see that there had been a fight. But she gave him a small smile to show that she approved.

Lucas got up and moved his jaw before saying what Dawn thought was a rehearsed speech. "I probably deserved that. Dawn, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you and I promise it won't happen again. Will you give me another chance?"

Dawn felt uncomfortable as everyone started whispering and looking at her.

Paul looked down to see Dawn internally struggling to find an answer. Surely she wasn't going to say yes…

"Of course, I'll give you another chance."

Lucas smirked before giving Dawn a hug. At that point, everyone lost interest and were walking off. Dawn looked over his shoulder to see Paul rolling his eyes. After most of everyone had left, Dawn pushed Lucas off.

Gary clapped his hands. "Good one Lucas. You could become an actor with that kind of skill."

"Who says I was acting Gary?"

"Oh please.."

As Gary and Lucas verbally went at it, Leaf snuck over to where Drew and Paul were whispering. "He is still threatening to tell Shirona about Dawn being out after curfew. I should have predicted that," Leaf mentally hit her head.

"Don't beat yourself up. None of this is your fault." Paul snarled.

"Question is: how do we help her?" Leaf asked.

"We find something Lucas has been doing or done that would get him in worse trouble with Shriona than what Dawn did," Paul pondered.

Drew had an evil grin, "Or we pin something much worse on him." He raised his eyebrows at Paul who smirked in return.

"You know what?" May interrupted Lucas and Gary. "I want to go shopping. Just the girls. So you five boys, get lost."

Misty, Leaf and Dawn agreed and walked into the nearest shop, not caring to look at the guys and their reactions.

"FINALLY." Misty breathed. "I could not stay there any longer with them."

"Oh my god, this bag is so cute!" Dawn picked up a pink bag with a Piplup on it. "This is so me!"

"Shhhh…listen." Leaf silenced them as Dawn purchased her bag.

They peered into the next aisle to see Melody and Brianna talking about Lucas.

"Look it was only to piss off Dawn. Serves her right for being with Drew and keeping away other girls from him, her boyfriend can be taken from her just as easy as she keeps Drew away."

"Yeah but think about what you look like now. Like no one is gonna talk to you," Melody was trying to reason.

Dawn shook her head. "I am sick of this." She walked into the other aisle to face Brianna. "Hey Bri."

Brianna gave a fake smile. "Hey Dawn. Did you have something you wanted to say to me?"

"Yeah I did. Stay away from Drew." Dawn walked away to rejoin her friends.

May laughed as Dawn rejoined them. But Misty shushed her.

"It isn't safe to talk in public. Let's split up and do more snooping and debrief in the hotel room."

Drew, Paul, Gary and Ash were sitting on a bench finishing the sub sandwiches they were eating when the girls found them.

"Hmmm," Misty ponderd out loud. "Which of them should I hang out with?"

Ash swallowed a chunk of sandwich. "Me of course."

Misty just grinned as everyone laughed. "Okay." Her and Ash left as Ash threw away his sandwich bag.

Leaf grabbed Paul's arm. "Come on Grumpy. You are with me." Paul just shrugged and followed Leaf.

May and Dawn looked surprised at each other. Dawn knew she couldn't be with Drew as that would be suspicious. "Gary you are with me."

"Sounds good. Let's go Berlitz."

May looked at Gary leave, wide eyed as she looked at Drew who was sitting on the bench smirking at her. He flicked his hair before getting up and putting an arm around May. "Looks like I'm stuck with you Maple."

Leaf and Paul walked around to see Lucas browsing a stuffed animal shop before he picked out a Teddiursa plush toy and went to the register.

"Aww is he buying that for Dawn?!" Leaf exclaimed. "As much as I can't stand him, that is kind of sweet."

Paul looked in disgust at Leaf looking at Lucas. "Sweet? He just picked up a teddy bear, anyone can do that. Everyone knows Dawn's favorite Pokémon is Piplup. Don't be ridiculous."

Leaf smiled at Paul. "Not everyone does know that Paul. But you do." She grinned wider at seeing Paul blush.

"Shut up Leaf." Paul had a lot of respect for Leaf but even that wasn't infinite when it came to teasing about Dawn.

"Oh my gosh, Barry. This way!" She led Paul to the boardwalk to avoid being seen by Barry. "I promised I would hang out with him."

"Man, you are such a heartbreaker." Paul tried to be funny in the fact that Gary and Barry are chasing after her.

"You aren't funny Paul."

"I take offense to that. I think I'm plenty funny."

"Anyway," she went on, "who haven't we seen so far this trip in the social scene?" She asked Paul.

They sat on a bench as they started counting off the names and who they have seen.

"Aaron?"

"Gary caught him kissing Daisy." Paul snapped his fingers to remember a name. "Nando?"

"No I saw him. Harley?"

"I saw him. He was laughing when I punched Lucas. But I didn't see the other part of that group, Brock, Solidad, Conway."

Leaf looked up. "I haven't either. So where have they been?"

Paul got up, before offering her a hand. "Let's go find out."

"Maple, do you ever stop eating?"

"Nope!" May ran off to stand in line for ice cream. "Besides ice cream is my favorite!"

Drew rolled his eyes, but not before taking a mental note.

"Drew?"

He turned around from where he was waiting for May to see Solidad. "Hey Solidad, what's up?"

"I haven't seen you around much. But I was wondering, were you planning on asking me to the dance?"

Drew eyes lit with surprise. He wasn't expecting that. "Oh, the dance? I hadn't really thought about it."

Solidad saw the surprise from his reaction. "I just wanted to be clear about it because we were such goof friends at coordinating camp, I just thought you may ask me because I didn't know who else you would ask. Brock asked me to go with him and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving you hanging or anything."

Drew breathed a breath of relief. He hates pressure. "Like I said, I didn't think about it yet. So I don't know who I'm going to ask. You should with Brock if you want, no harm done to me. But thanks for checking."

"No problem. So who would you go with?"

"I don't know, Dawn or someone I'm friends with."

Solidad smiled. "Liar. You were thinking of planning to ask May, weren't you?"

"Damn you Solidad." She always saw right through him.

"It's a gift. When we were at camp, she was all you talked about. You definitely had feelings for her, whether you still do or not, I can't tell. But feelings don't always go away forever. Just remember that Drew."

"DREW!" Drew and Solidad turned around to see May waiting with her cone.

"I'll let you get back Drew, nice talking to you." Solidad waved.

Drew gave her a look before walking back to rejoin May.

"What was that about?" May asked.

He looked over at her. "Nothing, she was just asking who- I was going to take you to dance."

"What?"

Drew's eyes widened as he started stammering. "She asked who I was going to take to the dance- who. She asked who."

May looked away. "Oh. I wonder why."

"Who knows..."

"Gary, stop being a chicken. Just tell her. I promise she doesn't hate you."

"Do you know if she feels the same way?"

Dawn laughed. "Her opinion of you changes almost every five seconds. But that's because she is uncertain about letting you in. Let her know she can trust you."

"I'm scared," Gary started and Dawn looked up in surprise, "of losing her. They say friendships in high school don't last because once college starts you don't stay in touch and you make new friends and fall for new people. I'm scared if I let her go off to Elite without establishing something between us then she will move on without me. I don't want to see her famous for making some discovery or inventing a new Pokeball and telling people that's the girl I was crazy for in school but she probably doesn't even remember me now."

Dawn stopped where she was walking and Gary's words started to sink in. "I have the same fear. That the eight of us will lose each other in the midst of growing up and making our lives."

"Mist, I'm hungry."

"Are you serious, didn't you just eat a sandwich?"

Jimmy overheard Ash and came over. "Dude, me too! Want to grab a bite?"

"Sure!" The two of them rushed off leaving Misty and Marina looking at each other.

"What about us?"

Jimmy called back to them. "Come on, do you need a formal invitation?"

Marina and Misty giggled at each other, "Double date!" They then went to join their boyfriends at a table where Melody and Brendan were conveniently eating as well two tables over.

"She's a menace," Marina whispered to Misty as she gave Melody a little wave. "I get like no sleep because of her phone constantly going off in the middle of the night with texts from Brendan. Not even Jimmy and I are that bad."

"I feel so bad for you."

Oh no. Oh no. Drew's mind kept repeating the same thing as Brianna walked towards him. May already told him about the scene in the shop between Dawn and Brianna.

"Here she comes for you, Drew." May struggled to conceal her laughter.

"More like to steal my soul."

"Drew, could I steal you for a quick second?"

Drew sighed in defeat. "Sure, I'll be back May."

"Maybe," Brianna winked at May.

Drew looked back to May with a look that said 'I will be back.'

About twenty steps away from May, Brianna stopped and faced Drew. Her hands were shaking from being so nervous. "So I was wondering if maybe you would go to the d-dance with me?" She managed to get out her question.

Damn. Drew felt a little bad rejecting her because she was so nervous. "I'm sorry Brianna, but I don't get asked. If I want to go to dance with someone, I'll ask them."

Brianna still held her breath and looked down a little. Then she looked up with a small smile. "That's alright. Is there any chance you might ask me?"

That was an even worse question. He couldn't just say no. That's so bad. And if she started crying, he would feel so bad. But he wouldn't lie to her. What could he say?

"Bri honey, didn't Drew just say if he wants to go with someone, then he will ask them? So basically that means he knows who he is going to ask and since he didn't ask you. That means it probably isn't you." May put her elbow on Drew to lean on him but looked as if she was protecting her property. She stood and spoke in a way that made Brianna think Drew and May were together. And when Brianna looked at Drew, he was looking at May with a relaxed, familiar smile that she noticed he used with only about nine people- May being one of them.

She just nodded. "Yeah, sometimes I just don't," she just pointed at her head with a forced smile and laugh. "Sorry to take up your time Drew."

"You didn't take it up Brianna, don't be sorry for that." He gave her a serious face. Brianna just closed her eyes and walked away. He was being nice to her because he felt sorry for her. How humiliating.

May and Drew watched Brianna walk away. Drew bit his lip and looked down. "Thanks May, for stepping in."

She smiled at him. "You really didn't want to hurt her feelings, did you?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." May thought about the day in the mall when he implied she was fat but then left the rose and apology note on her window. It really does make him feel bad. She could tell off the serious look on his face.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. I'll come in anytime you need the help."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Thanks Maple." He looked away. "You know May, if you ever feel bad by anything I ever say, then I'm sorry. You should know I never intend for it to hurt you. They are just comebacks," he looked back at her. "I don't mean anything bad I ever say to you."

A sweet smile graced May's face before she gave him a hug. He was surprised but he hugged her back. It was surprisingly comfortable. And his spirit lifted when she accepted his apology.

"Consider everything forgiven."

"Hang on for a second Paul, I really want to get that green necklace."

Paul gave her a look but let Leaf go while he said he would wait outside.

She went in and got the cute necklace of a green leaf on a silver chain. She thanked the cashier when she spotted a jewelry bookmark in the tree that was green with leaves. When she went over to look at it, she heard her name. She stayed crouched looking like she was going through the bookmarks to overhead what she immediately recognized as Daisy's voice talking to Ursula's.

Daisy was ranting. "I mean I just don't understand how Gary can be so popular and I'm not. I'm his cousin! Like I saw the group form, it was originally Ash, Paul, Dawn and Gary. Then Misty joined, and then May and Drew. That still left a spot for me. And when it was just Ash, Paul, Gary and Dawn, I used to kind of hang out with them, Dawn and I used to share some secrets. And then she left me for May and Misty and then Gary and I had that falling out. But then Leaf shows up and gets into the group! She's not even interesting! She was just a little nerd, who helped out Ash, became friends with the girls and charmed Gary. What is so special about her? Why would Gary want to date her so badly and why would Dawn and Misty and May want to be her friend. She's not anything special, especially compared to me! I can't stand her, mainly because she took my friends and my spot in the group."

A guy coughed and Daisy and Ursula saw Paul standing there.

"Paul," Daisy started.

"Don't bother. Do you think we would want to be friends with you when you have an attitude like that? Leaf is in the group because she's our friend and we like her, all of us. Not just because she is friends with the girls and Gary likes her. We don't like you that is why you don't hang out with us. End of story and that's no one's fault but your own. And also Leaf is interesting. Unlike you. You are just too jealous to see it."

Paul walked away, grabbing Leaf's arm as he did. Leaf was stunned. She had never heard Paul talk that much or defend anyone like that, not even Dawn.

Back on the sidewalk, Paul ordered her to stay while he ordered them two ice cream cones. When he came back, he handed her a cone. He had gotten her vanilla, her favorite.

"How did you know vanilla is my favorite?"

"Uh..." She gave him a look and he looked away, "Because it is also Dawn's favorite."

Leaf laughed and bit into her cone. "Paul, thank you."

"I only told the truth, you shouldn't let anything Daisy says get to you."

"Dawn is a lucky girl to have a great guy like you."

Paul flushed bright scarlet. "Shut up." Then he looked over, "Gary's a lucky guy too."

Leaf swallowed the ice cream in her mouth in one gulp because she was shocked. Paul laughed as she turned red.

"Paul!"

"Told you I was funny."