Long time no see!

Alright guys, so it's been a while since I last updated.

Remember that "exam" period of time that I was talking about? Well that was now.

I had no time to update or write for a while. But once I found the time I started writing and finally got the next chapter done!

Exams are pretty much over so I'll have much more time to write and keep on the 1 (maybe 2) chapter-a-week schedule.

Keep the reviews coming! Even if you have just one word to say! Say it!

Chapter 9

It was like looking at a soulless being. I was petrified, and the fact that her hands were cold and she bore no expression on her face didn't exactly comfort me either.

There was a knock on the door. I completely ignored it; I was lost in my fear. The knocks turned into loud bangs.

BANG! BOOM!

"Ash? Ash! Open up!" It was a muffled voice, but Kenny's voice could be recognized in a hurricane.

I decided not to leave the bed, more because of the fact that I didn't think I could leave Dawn's side than anything.

Kenny bashed down the already broken door. He inspected around until his eyes finally met mine. They slowly drifted to the bed. His jaw dropped and stayed dropped. His eyebrows rose, and his face turned purple. "What. Happened?"

"S-she..."

"Ash, what happened?"

"Well, s-she was d-d..."

"WHAT HAPPENED?" He was on the verge of crying.

"KENNY!" I snapped him back. "Kenny, she was drugged by Paul. There's no way he's getting away with this."

Kenny swallowed. His face turned white. "I don't believe this. Ash, is she, you know..."

"Relax, she's not dead. Kenny, you..."

Brock and Jasmine entered.

"Eeeek! Omigosh, Dawn!" Jasmine squealed. She ran to her friend's side.

"Ash, what happened?" Brock asked.

"D-drugged? DRUGGED!" Kenny yelled in disbelief and confusion.

"Paul..." Brock knew it had to be him.

"Kenny, calm down." I said. "This party needs to end, now! Get everyone out. Brock, we'll bring her to my place and take it from there. My mom is out; our parents and hopefully hers won't know about it. I'm sure that's the last thing she'll need when she wakes up."

They both nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, there was a bang at the door. It was Misty. She was so drunk that she walked into the door. "Kenny, why're you..." She noticed the girl lying on the bed. She started... laughing? "H-how do ya fffall asleep at a p-party like this?"

I looked at Kenny. He immediately understood. "C'mon, Misty, let's go back downstairs."

She giggled. "F-finally!"

Kenny escorted her out the door and down the stairs. As Brock and I prepared to carry her, we could hear the "aww" 's and "boo" 's coming from downstairs. People were starting to leave. Kenny must have called the quits on the party.

Within a surprisingly short time, the noise from downstairs died down. Brock and I carried her carefully outside and lied her down in the back three seats of Brock's van. We quickly got in. Brock simply sat there.

"Brock, let's go!" I said.

"Ash, we've got a problem."

Oh god. Not here. Not NOW. Please.

"What?" I inquired.

"Ash, I drank too much tonight. If we get caught by the cops, I'm toast."

The answer to me was clear.

"Brock, we've got a serious problem here. She NEEDS us. We NEED to help her. So what if the cops catch us? They'll bring her to the hospital and she'll get help faster."

"Ash! They'll think that WE drugged her!"

"It a risk we HAVE to take. Please, Brock."

I didn't even care that I was showing Brock major signs of me liking Dawn. Hell, he probably knows by now anyway.

Thankfully he turned forward and stepped on the gas. I exhaled with relief.

I could tell that Brock was still uneasy about driving. He could barely even keep the car straight. At one point, I had to yell at him because he almost went straight through a red light with a car coming.

"Snap out of it, man. You're gonna be fine!"

"Yeah, but still, Ash. I-"

Something was moving in the back of the van. I looked back to see Dawn trying to sit up. She tried and tried, but eventually collapsed and went back into unconsciousness.

"Hurry." I told Brock simply.

After what seemed ages of silence, we finally turned the corner and arrived at my place back in Twinleaf. As Brock turned the car off, I unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. We both carefully carried Dawn up the stairs and into my room. We laid her down on my bed.

"Ash, my mom is calling. I'm going to have to go home if we want to keep this a secret. Can you handle yourself on your own?"

I was saddened that Brock wouldn't be able to help me out on this one, but I knew what had to be done anyway and he was right; he would have to go home to avoid suspicion.

"Brock, go home. I -WE'LL- be fine."

He nodded, took one last look at Dawn, and headed down the stairs and out the door.

He was gone. I was alone. It felt very weird to be alone with her, even if she had no idea what was going on. I obviously wouldn't be sleeping in my bed tonight, so I pulled up a chair. I looked at her; it was the first time I had gotten such a close view of her face. Her skin was perfect; smooth, silky, not a flaw in sight. Her eyes were piercing blue, but not so piercing that she looked like a vampire. Her hair was soft and smooth, no static at all.

Is this the perfect woman?I thought to myself.

At first I thought of how ridiculous that sounded. There was no such thing as the perfect girl. I took another look at her. Was it really all that ridiculous? I mean, she was nice, beautiful, smart, and so many other things! She just got caught in an unfortunate situation. What more could a guy ask for?

I stared into her closed eyes. Staring at them, it felt like at any moment they were going to shoot open. It was mesmerizing. It was enough to make me close my eyes and dose off...

I had a strange dream that night. Probably due to the alcohol. Flint was walking towards me. He stopped about 4 feet in front of me and threw one of those pokeballs at me. That yellow pokemon that I met the other day came out and smiled at me. Flint sounded nervous as he yelled at me.

"Y-you can have that one. Hey, do you wanted th-them a-all? You can have 'em! I don't want 'em. I DON'T!"

I was confused. The yellow one jumped on my shoulder. It almost felt natural. He seemed to really like being there. Then I saw two men grab Flint as he yelled:

"I swear I didn't! I don't even have them, see? SEE? ASH!"

I woke up jumping to a start when he yelled my name. As my heart began to settle, I realized it was already morning. I looked around. Dawn was still in my bed, but she was in a totally different position. Not only that, but her hand was resting on my knee. There were two possibilities. Either she woke up in the night and noticed what I'd done for her, or I was just a very lucky man.

At first I worried that I was going to miss school, but then I remembered that we had up until Sunday off because the teachers needed to organize problematic schedules and had meetings to discuss the upcoming year. I couldn't imagine what I would have done if I had school.

I got up, showered, changed, and brought a bowl of cereal back up to my room. I sat down on my chair and pulled out my laptop. I found an e-mail from the soccer coach at school for another tryout. I would definitely be attending that. Hopefully Paul would be too. Sweet revenge.

I was just about to open up another e-mail when I heard a slight chuckle. I quickly closed my laptop to see Dawn staring right back at me. I swear I almost passed out myself when I saw those piercing eyes stare right through mine.

"Mind explaining what's going on?"

There were other things that were more important than an explanation at the time.

"Dawn! How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right. My head hurts a bit and I feel a little sick."

"Dawn, I need to know how far you can remember from last night."

"Last night. There was a party or something, right?"

She won't remember anything.I thought.

"Yeah. I went with Paul. Or something. Paul. Paul.. Paul..." Her face slowly reddened every time she said his name. I was relieved to see her start remembering everything.

"I can't believe what he did. UNBELIEVABLE."

"What's the furthest thing you can remember?" I asked her.

"You started to punch him and I got nervous, but then it's all just a blur."

I became sad when I remembered everything she said after that point during the party. Was she telling the truth, or were the drugs getting the best of her? I pushed that thought aside, for now.

"Dawn, you passed out. We canned the party. Brock and I carried you to his van and we drove you here so your parents wouldn't find out. Brock went home so his parents wouldn't be suspicious"

Dawn's jaw dropped and her eyes watered. "Ash, you did all that for me?"

"Well, yeah Dawn. I mean you were passed out and all..."

She got up, crying, and hugged me. It was kind of an awkward hug because I was sitting in a chair, but it was a hug nonetheless.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry that I was mad at you. I really had no reason to be. You were just sticking up for yourself."

Darn right.I thought. But it was nice to hear her say it like that.

At that point I was trying to convince myself to open up to her and eventually kiss her. I knew the feelings I had for her. And it seemed the perfect time to do so.

"Dawn," she broke free of the hug. Nervously, I continued. "Dawn, I-"

I heard the garage door open from downstairs and I heard a car roll into the garage. My heart stopped, and then beat at 1000 beats per minute.

Mom was home.