Chapter 3
Eugene staggered through the grasses of Route 204, desperately trying to make up lost time. Last night he sat down underneath a tree, and decided to rest his eyes for a minute. Next thing he knew, it was a bright morning. Luckily, Irusan had been left out of his Pokéball and was able to handle anything that might have crossed their path, but staying up all night had exhausted him, so Eugene was relying on Cúchulainn to ward off wild Pokémon. This wasn't a huge problem, since Cúchulainn was more than prepared for the task and was eager to please.
Eugene knew it was still early, because he could see the sun just rising from the top of Mt. Coronet. Now that he had calmed down from his initial rush of adventuring spirit, he couldn't help but notice a few things. The sun was way brighter than he had ever noticed in Jubilife, and the constant street commotion had been replaced with the occasional chirping of Starly and Kricketot. He was hardly out of the city and he seemed to be in an entirely different world.
Except Cúchulainn was right at his heels, just like always. That certainly hadn't changed.
Thats what being a trainer was all about, right? In the wild, with just your Pokémon for companionship. They were your best friends, you didn't need other people when you had your Pokémon with you. But Cúchulainn was kind of more obnoxious than he was company, it felt more like babysitting a spastic kid. And Irusan was in his Pokéball, he might as well not exist. The Pokémon thing was not what it was cut out to be. Maybe once he had a girlfriend, she would also be a Pokémon trainer. They could travel together, keep each other company. All of this wouldn't be nearly as boring with her around.
Eventually, Eugene and Cúchulainn arrived at a large, intimidating rock outcropping which stretched far to both the East and West, into the thick forest and out of sight. The rocks were tall enough that climbing it was not an option, unless Eugene wanted to risk serious injury. There had to be another way.
Eugene took the opportunity to survey the area. Behind him he could still see most of Jubilife's skyscrapers, but he was fairly confident that this was the furthest North he had ever been on his own. To his right was just rocks and thick forest. Towards his left, Eugene could see a little girl in a yellow dress sitting next to a signpost in front of what looked like a cave.
"Why do I always find little girls? Is it so much to ask for someone my own age?" Eugene asked himself under his breath as he trudged towards the sign.
The sign simply read "Ravaged Path". Eugene recalled that, as a kid, he and his friends would often dare each other to go through this path. Every time anyone worked up the courage to do it, they'd chicken out halfway through Route 204 and run back home. Eugene couldn't help but grin as he stood face to face with what had tormented him during his childhood, and now he couldn't care any less. So what if it was dark?
Still, walking to the entrance brought him uncomfortably close to that little girl. Now that Eugene was so close to her, he was pretty sure she was crying. She was a few years younger than the girls from last night, and it looked like she was sitting on a backpack. She had probably taken a dare on her way to school and went too far and just didn't know what to do. Just walking away felt kind of wrong. He looked down at her and said, "You need some help?"
She looked up at him, her nose running, squinting through her tears, and nodded.
Eugene stood there for about a minute, trying desperately not to make eye contact despite the fact that she was really the only interesting thing around.
"Are you gonna tell me what you need help with?" Eugene asked.
She nodded again.
Eugene leaned onto the sign, giving in and staring down at her. She looked like a mass of snot and tears.
In between sobs, the little girl began to speak. "This morning my...my mom got me and my sister...up for school. I...I didn't want to go...so I ran away!"
"You ran all the way to the Ravaged Path from Jubilife?"
"No...I ran away from home...and fell down the hill!" she cried.
Eugene looked up at the hill. Falling down this rocky cliff seemed dangerous, he couldn't help but wonder how she hadn't hurt herself. But she seemed to be okay. No obviously broken bones or serious wounds. Of course, he wasn't a doctor, but he'd like to think he could tell if something was drastically wrong.
"So you're from Floaroma town? I'm on my way there right now. Lets go together," Eugene said.
"But I'm scared to go through the cave!" she said.
"I'll be there. If you're really scared, I have Cúchulainn to protect us," Eugene said, gesturing towards Cúchulainn, who was batting a distressed Budew around with his paws.
"I've never seen one of those before," she said.
"It's a Growlithe, they're super strong and super brave, and they protect you no matter what," Eugene said.
A smile spread on the girl's wet face. She stood up and rubbed her nose off in her dress, which just smeared the snot all over, and said, "Alright, but you have to give me a piggyback ride all the way there!"
Eugene's back was sore from sleeping on the ground, but he couldn't just leave this kid stranded here. Besides, he could woo some chicks with the story. It was a very heroic thing he was doing, it was noble and strong. Making it through the Ravaged Path while carrying a helpless, injured little girl. If he could spin it well, this little girl was a blessing.
Eugene squatted down low to the ground, his back facing the little girl. She put on her backpack and squirmed on his back, wrapping her legs around his chest and arms around his neck, nearly choking him. "By the way, my name is Liz."
"My name is Eugene."
"Nice to meet you, Eugene," Liz said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Liz. Cúchulainn, come on, we're leaving," Eugene said. Cúchulainn's attention snapped towards Eugene. He dropped the Budew that had mysteriously found its way between his teeth, and ran over to his trainer, tail wagging eagerly.
With Liz on his back, Eugene took his first steps into the Ravaged Path. To his surprise he could still see fairly well on the inside. It seemed to be just a hollowed out cavern, extending far back into the hill. He could see a faint glow to his right behind a pile of rocks, which must have been the exit.
"It's really dark in here," she whispered into Eugene's ear.
He nodded, and said "I can see good enough to get us through okay, don't worry."
Eugene approached the rock pile and began to walk up, instantly tumbling and slipping on a loose rock. Even though he could see general shapes just fine, the shadows obscured individual rocks, and he hadn't packed a flashlight because he figured he'd be resting whenever it was dark. Figuring out which rocks would be solid surfaces and which were unstable would be a work of trial and error.
Cúchulainn was spastic, jumping and running around, sending loose rocks tumbling down the hill, and exposing a nearly vertical slab underneath. There was no way Eugene could climb the slab itself, so he needed to make sure he didn't knock too many rocks loose on his way up, or he'd be losing his only way up. Eugene fumbled in his bag for Cúchulainn's Pokéball, and made the Growlithe return before it caused any more unwarranted destruction.
Climbing was an exercise in trial and error. Eugene had to start moving on all fours so he could hold on tight in case any rocks slipped, and then had to only move one limb at a time in search of a good hold, careful not to put too much pressure on a loose rock in case it destabilized where Eugene was on the wall, and forced him to start all over again.
About half way up the pile, Liz began to scream. Loudly.
Eugene turned his head and saw a Zubat zooming around their heads, catching hold of the girl's hair with its wings. It began to make its own unpleasant screeches, because apparently just having a little girl screaming into his ear while climbing a crumbling rock hill wasn't enough for Eugene to deal with. He couldn't send out Cúchulainn to fight it because there wasn't really any solid ground for Cúchulainn to fight upon, and the constant jumping and tackling would probably take all of them back down to the bottom, and finding a new path up would be ridiculous. He tried to swat it out of the way, but it would just come back from a different angle just as aggressively as before. The only option was to continue the climb, and to do it quickly.
"Hold on," Eugene said.
Eugene vaulted forward to gain some distance between them and the Zubat. The sheer force of their landing sent the rocks underneath his feet tumbling, causing him to slip. He grabbed for something to hold onto, and scraped his hand on a rock, but was able to hold on tight. From here he continued to crawl up. But Liz's continued screams told him that it hadn't helped much, because the Zubat was still there.
Looking backwards, Eugene could see that all of the commotion had attracted an entire swarm of Zubat that were tugging and pulling at Liz's dress, and she was clutching onto him tighter and tighter, burying her wet face in the back of his neck.
Eugene scrambled for a decent footing, desperate to summit the pile of rocks.
Liz squealed every time Eugene slipped even the slightest.
The Zubat swarm continued to grow. Now they were getting in the way of Eugene's vision and nipping at every exposed surface, trying to latch on. Eugene crouched low to the rocks, hoping to avoid many of the Zubat, but he couldn't do anything to spare Liz except keep moving forward.
After a few more cycles of reaching, grasping and shuffling around, Eugene finally reached the top of the rock pile. Eugene stood sideways on the hill and kicked loose some supporting rocks, allowing himself to slide down far enough to jump from there to the solid ground below, and searched in his bag for Cúchulainn's Pokéball.
"Take care of them, buddy!" Eugene said as he tossed a Pokéball onto the ground. Cúchulainn popped out, and quickly began to spit embers at the swarm of Zubat. Many backed, but the swarm was still growing larger with all of the commotion, subjecting Cúchulainn to biting and screeching.
The stream of flames began to die down as Cúchulainn tired out, and Eugene began to search through his bag once again for something useful. Irusan was too tired to fight. Catching a Zubat wouldn't help because it would have to be weakened to be caught. Eugene cursed himself for not buying any potions in Jubilife the night before. He had only been in and out of town about a billion times. It wouldn't have hurt him to stock up a bit! At the bottom of the bag he found one last Pokéball. Saint David's Pokéball.
Eugene paused. Last night, Saint David had refused to cooperate. If the same happened today, Eugene wasn't sure what he could do. Irusan was in no condition to fight off a horde of Zubat, and Cúchulainn wouldn't last much longer. The exit wasn't close enough to get away from the Zubat without giving them some kind of distraction.
Eugene knew what he would do. It wouldn't be a very fitting end to his story, but Eugene didn't have to tell the entire truth when retelling it.
Eugene grabbed Cúchulainn's Pokéball and retrieved the Pokémon, and threw Saint David's Pokéball, releasing him in Cúchulainn's place. Every single Zubat that had been focusing on Cúchulainn turned their attention to the very confused Dragonite. Eugene hoisted up Liz's legs up so he knew she wasn't going to fall off of him, turned around, and ran.
Eugene and Liz were walking back on the path to Floaroma, having escaped the Ravaged Path successfully. Just a few steps after Eugene had set her down, Liz wrestled her hand around Eugene's. The upper part of Route 204 was nearly identical to the lower part, which Eugene was grateful for. He could just run away from attacking Pokémon here and they would stop pestering them. Eugene planned on avoiding the Ravaged Path and anything remotely resembling the Ravaged Path for the rest of his life. He'd rather climb over the summit of Mt. Coronet than go through it.
"Is your Pokémon going to be okay alone in the cave?" Liz asked.
"Oh, yeah, he can handle it. He'll be fine," Eugene said.
"When we get back to Floaroma, do I have to go to school?" Liz asked.
"You know what, how about you follow me around today. I've got some very important business in Floaroma and I could use your help," Eugene said.
"Really?" The girls face lit up, "That would be so cool!"
"Yeah, lets hurry up so we can get started!" Eugene said.
Liz ran ahead at this point, forcing Eugene to catch up.
"So, why did you not want to go to school today? Don't you want to be a Pokémon trainer like me?" Eugene asked her while they were walking up a flight of wooden steps.
"I'm already a Pokémon trainer! My daddy caught me a Pachirisu, so I don't need school," She said.
Eugene chuckled as she skipped along the path in her own brand of delighted dismissal. "Do you really think you know everything there is to know about Pokémon?"
"Well, I think I know just as much as you do, and you're a big trainer," she said.
Eugene thought that it was likely she knew more than he did, but decided not to say anything.
The walk to Floaroma was short, interrupted by a spontaneous run through a field of grass, and Eugene and Liz arrived before noon. It was a very small town, with only one main road going through it, populated indiscriminately by houses that seemed almost more like cottages, and local shops, with a Pokémon Center that seemed to tower over everything but the matching Pokémart with its industrial look and feel.
Liz looked up at Eugene and asked, "So, what are we gonna do?"
"First I need to go to the Pokémon Center. That Zubat swarm was a bit rough on my Growlithe. Then we're gonna go around and meet everybody in town," he said, hunching down to face her and pointing with his open hand at the Pokémon Center.
She nodded, and they walked into the Pokémon Center together. The interior was identical to the Pokémon Center in Jubilife, though this Pokémon Center had far fewer trainers inside than the one in Jubilife, and Eugene walked straight up to the counter and set his Pokéballs down.
"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" the nurse asked with a polite smile.
"Yes," Eugene said.
"OK, I'll take your Pokémon for a few seconds," she said as she took the three Pokéballs that were sitting in front of her. She delicately hooked them up to the machine, taking her time to make sure everything was in place. A few button presses caused the machine to whirr and beep, which prompted the nurse to take the balls out of the machine and present them to Eugene once again. "Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again!"
Eugene took his Pokéballs from the nurse and stared at her for a second. Something seemed odd, but Eugene couldn't quite place it.
"What's wrong?" Liz asked as she followed Eugene out the sliding glass door.
"Oh, nothing," Eugene said. "So how about you start showing me around town?"
"Where do you want to go?" she asked.
"I want to meet girls that are around my age," Eugene said.
"I know where we can meet girls!" she said, running down the street, and Eugene followed.
Liz led Eugene down the street to a large square shop surrounded by flowers, with two berry trees in front of it. Inside were even more flowers, arranged in pots and vases that were tucked on every surface and corner of the store. More importantly, this shop was entirely run by girls. There was a younger schoolgirl who was at least older than Liz, but the other two were closer to Eugene's age. The closest girl was a brunette, and she was arranging flowers in their vases. Kinda homely. The second girl was behind a counter in the furthest corner of the store. Everything about her was no less than stunning, from her blond hair to her outfit.
In less than half a second, Eugene became painfully aware that the back of his shirt was covered in little girl snot, he was dirty and scratched up from the Ravaged Path, his hair was a mess, and he had forgotten to put on deodorant this morning. But he was a Pokémon trainer, and all of those things contributed to his rough, manly image that would drive the girls wild. He didn't become a Pokémon trainer so that he could be prim and proper for the ladies, he became a Pokémon trainer so that they would swoon over his unrelenting, overwhelming manliness. The dirt and smell and hair and even some of the snot was all part of a package. A sexy package. There was no way Eugene could fail.
Eugene marched over to the blond-haired girl and leaned on the counter, and the Liz went to talk to the schoolgirl.
The blond took one glance at Eugene and said, "Welcome to Pick a Peck of Colors Flower Shop, are you here to trade berries for accessories?"
"What?" Eugene asked.
"You're a trainer right? Are you interested in Pokémon Contests? We've got accessories for your Pokémon. You dress them up so they look nice and try to impress the judges," she said.
"No, I know what Pokémon Contests are, that's girl stuff. I'm here," Eugene paused to lift his eyebrows in what he thought was a suggestive manner, "for you."
Eugene thought he heard the brunette stifle a laugh, but couldn't figure out why, so he ignored it.
"Oh, you're one of those trainers. Listen, uh, I already have a boyfriend, but Taylor over there broke up with her boyfriend last week. Maybe you can convince her do something stupid with you," she gestured over at the homely brunette in the corner.
Taylor snapped her head in their direction, a look of wry amusement on her face as she said, "I'm not taking your scraps, Hillary. Besides, he doesn't really look like my type."
Hillary grinned as she said, "I'm sorry we couldn't help you."
"Sure," Eugene said as he turned around and walked out.
Liz noticed that Eugene was walking out and ran back to him. She grabbed his hand and looked up at him, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. The girls in there just weren't very nice. How about we meet some other people!" Eugene said.
Liz nodded and took Eugene to the Pokémart down the road. As they walked through the sliding glass doors, Eugene noticed a few things. First, there were only girls in here as well, two behind the counter and a few walking through the aisle. Second, the setup inside was exactly like the Jubilife Pokémart, with the shelves in the front and the fridges in the back. Third, he hadn't eaten all day long and was starving.
Eugene knew that he couldn't ask them all out, as that had destroyed his chances in the flower shop. No, he'd have to scope things out here. He'd browse through the aisles and find some food while scoping out the girls and figuring out his chances with each one of them, then he'd go for the kill. Eugene began to finger through merchandise on the shelves, pretending to read the labels while paying attention to the girls. Then, he'd pick the best girlfriend.
"I thought you wanted to meet people," said Liz.
"I'm kinda hungry, how about we get some food first?" Eugene said.
"This is all Pokémon food," she said.
"My Pokémon need to eat too, we can worry about me later," he replied.
Eugene started with the girls in the aisles. One of them was blond and looked remarkably like the girl in the flower shop, but obviously wasn't. Maybe they were sisters? Very similar looking sisters. As hot as she was, Eugene couldn't help but be a bit wary of her after the immediate dismissal earlier. Those wounds were still fresh. The other girl scanning the aisle a bit further back was okay. She was pretty but not super gorgeous. Maybe he could use her as a stepping-stone relationship? Or a fixer-upper. With a little help she could probably be legitimate girlfriend material. She wasn't likely to turn him down, but why settle for less?
Liz had grabbed a small shopping basket for Eugene, and now was occasionally shoving a small item in front of him, usually some drink or candy bar that stores like this sold for impulse buyers. Eugene would nod and she would put it down in the basket delicately. Eugene had already found Cúchulainn's favorite food, and stocked up on potions. And he didn't really have to shop for Saint David anymore. Finding food for Irusan was proving to be a bit of a challenge, though. Mostly because he had no idea what Irusan liked to eat.
The girls behind the counter were similarly mixed. One of them was hunched down low to the counter, absentmindedly rolling a Pokéball from one hand to the other. The other was sitting on the counter, talking with to her coworker about something. It was hard to tell how the hunched girl looked from this angle, but Eugene could tell that her hair was pretty awful, pulled back in an awkward loose ponytail that looked like she didn't really care about what she looked like. If she took care of her hair like that, not to mention her posture, Eugene couldn't imagine she took care of her looks any better the rest of the time. The one sitting on the counter was, however, much better. She wore her hair in two pigtails, which was a bit immature but it worked with her shorts and apron. She wasn't as stunning as the blond was, but she was definitely cute in her own way. She was able to work with what she had, and she was successful. Eugene couldn't help but admire that.
Eugene grabbed a large Poffin loaf and a few berries to share among the team when he noticed that the Blond girl had paid for whatever she was buying and walked out the door. This made Eugene's decision pretty easy. He would focus on the girl with the pigtails sitting on the counter.
Now that Eugene had decided who to target, he had to come up with a strategy. Last time he hadn't gotten any success by immediately jumping on the subject of dating, so he had to come up with another strategy. Something to get her talking, let her realize what a nice guy he was. What did he have to work with? Pretty much anything in the market. And he hadn't gotten food for Shinx yet, that'd be a good conversation starter. And he would be sure to hammer in the point about saving the little girl, he hadn't gotten to use that one last time. It could mean the difference between girlfriend and no girlfriend.
Eugene walked up to the counter, with enough confidence in his stride to prove he wasn't some whimpering nerd, but not obnoxiously swaggering like a jerk. These things are all about finesse. He tapped the girl on the shoulder, and did his best to smile while he sPoké, "Excuse me, do you think you could help me? I caught a Shinx recently and I don't know what to feed it."
She spun herself around and pushed herself off the counter, standing up straight. She began to talk while she walked over to the shelves. "Oh yeah, Shinx are easy to feed. They don't become picky eaters until they evolve, so you can practically throw anything in front of them and they'll love it."
"Really?" Eugene said.
"Of course. You must not be from around here if you didn't know that, though," she said.
"I'm from Jubilife," Eugene said.
"Ooh, a city boy, huh? How's hick-town treating you? Ready to run back to civilization yet?" she said as she grabbed a few cans of low-quality Pokémon food and held them out in front of Eugene. "Now both of these are mostly just Magikarp since its so cheap, but one of thems got more Finneon in it which I guess is supposed to be better for your Shinx, but its a little more expensive and I've heard it might make your Pokémon glow, but Shinx have that problem already, so it doesn't really matter for you."
Eugene grabbed the cheaper one, and reached down to get a few more cans of it as well. "Thanks. Floaroma has been nice so far, but I don't know what I'm gonna do tonight. Is there anything to do here?" he asked.
"Not really, most people passing through just pass through, not that I blame them. Its a nice place, but I know its not for everyone," she said as they walked back to the counter, where she helped Eugene unload the shopping basket onto the counter, where the hunchy girl started ringing up each item.
"You've really stocked up on candy bars, haven't you?" The hunchy girl behind the counter asked. Eugene ignored her.
"If there's not much to do around here, maybe we could hang out tonight? Eat dinner tonight? Uh, pick some flowers?" Eugene asked.
There was a moment of silence. The hunchy girl and the pigtail girl looked at each other.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" the pigtail girl said.
The moment of truth. Eugene saw two possibilities: lie to remain cool, or cut to the chase. The way this girl walked and talked made Eugene think she wasn't into wasting time, so he decided to go for it.
"Well, yes." Eugene said.
"No."
"No?" Eugene asked.
"I won't go on a date with you," she said. The bored girl was trying her best not to smile as she took Eugene's money and sorted out the change while the girl with pigtails put his items in bags.
Eugene grabbed the little girl and picked her up. "But I'm a really nice guy! I brought this little girl through the Ravaged Path when she was lost!"
"It's true!" Liz piped up.
"Quiet, this is big-people time," Eugene whispered.
"That's really sweet of you but I'm not gonna go on a date with you. She should be in school, not helping you pick up chicks. I don't even know you. Have a nice day, better luck next time." she said, handing him a bag full of his items.
"But you can get to know me! Tonight!" Eugene said, clutching the bag to his chest.
"I'd rather get to know a guy whose worth my time. Goodbye, sir," she said, gesturing her arm towards the door.
Eugene stormed out, and Liz followed him once again.
"You got angry in there," she said as Eugene looked around Floaroma, inspecting any other hiding spots for girls.
He saw a guy and girl walking down the street holding hands. The guy wasn't that attractive. What was he doing wrong? He was talking to them, smiling, being nice, not overly forceful, and he still was getting rejected. And it wasn't like he was just going after superhot babes. The girl he just asked out was not that good looking, and could stand to lose some weight. And her friend was definitely not a looker, so its not like her standards were very high anyways. And both girls in the flower shop rejected him, even that ugly chick! They'd all be lucky to have a boyfriend like Eugene.
"Wheres a good place to get lunch?" Eugene asked the little girl.
"The market just across the street has food. Could we go up to the meadow to eat our lunch? Its my favorite spot in the whole wide world!" she said while pointing to a small cottage that must have been the market. On the wall was a large poster that said Support Local Business! as if there were a choice.
Eugene walked across the street, barging into the cottage, looking around the dimly lit store at what they had. It looked as if the cottage had been a house at some point, and was lazily remodeled as a market by moving some shelving in. One of the fridges in the back looked like the same model of fridge his parents had at home.
Quite a few people were taken aback at his abrupt entrance, and he tried to compose himself a little bit, but there was no questioning it. Every person in this store wouldn't be likely to date him after seeing that, so he might as well not waste his time. He would get his food and leave.
As he looked at the shelves, he began to pine for the supermarkets in Jubilife City. The selection here was awful. He wasn't even sure if they had ice cream. Eugene grabbed a generic loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and some Razz Berry jelly that was apparently made at the flower shop or something, and walked up to the counter. There was only a single cashier, and he was busy with some lady's hoard of food. While he was manually checking all of her items and figuring out how much they all cost with a calculator and pen. They were idly chatting while Eugene waited in line. Talk about customer service.
As he got up to the counter he dropped his stuff unceremoniously in front of the cashier, who smiled and began to ring up all of the items. Eugene handed over a few bills, grabbed his change and walked out of the store with another bag full of stuff. Liz was waiting outside this time.
"So are you ready to go eat lunch?" he asked.
She nodded and grabbed his hand again, leading him North, beyond all of the houses and little local shops and and into a field of flowers.
Eugene moved towards the field and set his bag down, but the girl stayed on the path.
"Aren't you gonna sit down?" he asked.
"No, the meadow is way more magical than this stupid place! Its past the trees! The flowers are all around you there, as far as the eye can see!" she protested.
Eugene picked up his bag when she came over and grabbed his hand, and began to nearly drag him along the path.
They continued on past the row of trees into what Eugene had to admit was a pretty astounding meadow. It delivered on the promise of flowers as far as the eye can see. Eugene could see a small cottage in the distance, but the girl just ran in the middle of the flowers and sat down, opening her backpack and digging out a lunch pail with a Roselia on the front. Eugene followed at a slower pace, and set his bags down nearby.
He sorted through his satchel and found his Pokéballs, releasing his Pokémon so they could eat. Then he began to dish out the food between the three of them. Cúchulainn was happily eating his food, as was expected, and Irusan was eating his food but seemed painfully aware that Cúchulainn was eating something better, and was staring at Cúchulainn the entire time. No Saint David. Eugene slapped together a sandwich for himself with what he had bought very quickly, and began to tear into it.
"Why do you want a girlfriend?" Liz asked.
"I just want a girlfriend, is that so complicated? You want a boyfriend when you grow up, don't you?" Eugene said.
"I guess. You just seem like you're trying really hard, is all. Its not good to be so angry," she said in between bites of crackers with cheese.
Eugene realized he was getting relationship advice from a little kid. Younger than the girls who helped him last night, too. No more younger girls from this point on, if they're below the age of 18 then you just ignore them completely. Its pathetic and probably not all that helpful. What do little kids know about relationships anyways?
"You have to try hard or else you'll never get what you want," Eugene said. "If I give up I'll be single forever!"
"I don't have a boyfriend and I don't mind at all," Liz said.
"Yeah well you're just a little kid! I know what I'm doing!"
Liz bit into an Oran Berry. Her face puckered at the taste, but she seemed to enjoy it because she bit into it again, her face puckering with each bite. She and Eugene didn't talk for the rest of lunch.
Cúchulainn fell asleep before he had even finished his can of food, and Irusan ate the rest before sitting down, staring at Eugene as if expecting something more.
When Liz was done, she packed her lunch box away in her backpack and stood up. She turned to Eugene and said, "I'd better get home. Thanks for taking me through the cave today."
"Won't you have to go to school tomorrow if you go back?" Eugene asked.
"School's bad, but all of my friends are there," she said.
"Oh, okay. Bye," Eugene said.
She walked back to town without another word, disappearing through the trees.
And despite his best efforts, Eugene couldn't help but feel alone.