Sooo, hi again, just thought I'd do a pre-Christmas update of this story. It's a bit longer than the other chapters but I don't think you bubs will mind, will you?

Just a wee note before you read:

Italics = flashbacks/ notes/ journal entries or similar.

Chapter 5

She sat politely in his office, her hands on her laps as she waited for the Principal's verdict on her idea. Principal Oak didn't exactly like the idea that she had proposed but he felt compelled to let her have it her way for he had never seen Erica look so worked up about something. He had always imagined her to be the more submissive type as reflected by her quiet and generally shy behaviour in the staff room and back then.

"I just don't understand why you are so adamant about being Leaf Green's mentor. You've never been interested in taking on board any of our other students before." The principal said.

Erica lifted her head to look at the professor. There was a lot of things she could say to him, a lot of reasons she could give him, but the main reason, she was not prepared to tell. "I've had a look at her records and observed her behaviour. She's an amazing student. At one point of her life she had straight As, did lots of extracurricular activities and charity work and she competed in sports competitions at international levels."

"Yes, but you said it yourself. 'At one point in her life', meaning not anymore." The principal said. He was about to dismiss her when she continued to speak.

"But maybe she just needs the right guidance. I think I can help her." Erica said. She had a passionate flame burning in her usually serene eyes.

The principal sighed. "But you're not qualified to do that."

"Not fully yet, I know but," Erica rose from her seat and placed her hands on the table silently and leaned forward on them, casting her shadow over her boss. "She said to me that she wants me to be her mentor."

The Professor Oak was caught off guard by what Leaf Green had apparently said to her. Did she really say that? From all the times that he had spoken to the girl in question he had struggled to get a comment that sounded remotely opinionated out of her. "Really now?" he said in disbelief.

Erica nodded. "If she thinks I can help her then I think I can too."

The principal sighed again. He seemed to have done that a lot throughout the unplanned discussion, Erica noticed it too but chose to ignored it. "One term." The principal said. He was prepared to make a compromise. "If she makes progress in one the space of this term then you can continue to be her mentor. But if she regresses, there will be consequences."

Erica smiled and nodded. That was good enough. All she had to do was make progress. From what she gathered, the amount made didn't matter.

xxxxxx

Leaf finished writing the last of her notes and then set down her pen in satisfaction once she was done. She couldn't remember the last time she had worked so hard on any piece of work. The work that Erica had assigned the class to do this period proved to be a good distraction from thinking about her key, or maybe it was the vileplme oil that Erica had placed round the class that caused her mind to relax a bit. Whatever it was, Leaf had never felt s at ease in Erica's class before.

The bell rang seconds after Leaf was done with her work and every student promptly stated to pack up and flee through the open door. Leaf packed her things slowly; remembering that Erica said she wanted to talk, what about though, Leaf had no clue.

Erica waited until all the students had left the class before she spoke to Leaf who was still sitting in her seat at the front of the class. Erica moved from behind her desk and sat on the edge of Leaf's desk.

"Leaf, I've spoken to the Professor Oak about your mentor issue and he's agreed to let me be your mentor."

Leaf was expressionless at the news. She couldn't decide if it was good or… anticlimactic. "What do you do as my mentor?"

"We meet once a week after school and we talk about anything that's bothering you or that you concerned about. And I promise to treat what you tell me with absolute confidence. No third party would need to know what we talk about." Erica explained. "And if you have problems during the week you can come talk to me whenever."

Leaf listened and she had to admit that sounded pretty good. But not as good as her journal…

"So what do you say?" Erica asked when Leaf didn't say anything in response. "Do you still want me to be your mentor?"

Leaf looked at Erica. "Sure." She replied unenthusiastically then rose from her seat. She slung her bag over her good shoulder and started towards the door.

"One more thing Leaf." Erica said, causing Leaf to halt before she reached the door. "I believe this is yours." She dangled a thin chain with a shiny silver key.

Leaf's eyes grew wide with recognition. She snatched the key back right away and inspected it closely for nothing in particular. The key was a one of a kind as was her drawers. It was unlikely that the key she clutched tightly in her hand was a fraud.

"You dropped it the other day when you were leaving registration. I wanted to give it to you then along with the news of me being assigned as your mentor but you left so quickly and I had a class to teach that period. Then you got injured and I couldn't give it to you this morning since you weren't in."

"Thanks." Leaf said quietly but full of gratitude. She really couldn't express how much she meant it. "I really, really mean it."

Erica smiled, "You're welcome. And remember, you can tell me anything."

Leaf nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Meanwhile outside the classroom with his back up against the wall and a Cheshire cat grin smeared across his face, Gary couldn't wait to hear the outpour of information that was going to inevitably follow in weeks to come. Starting with that key.

Xxxxxx

Leaf's day went admittedly better than she had imagined. She had been anticipating some sort of assault from her peers and some strong refusal of the return of her key from that brown haired boy.

Karen seemed to cheer up too once she saw that her daughter seemed so much more settled after school and when she suggested they go get ice cream and Leaf didn't turn the idea away, she knew something good had happened.

"There's an ice cream van over there." Karen said to her daughter.

Leaf looked over and accepted her mother's offer of ice cream with a polite nod.

Karen bought herself and Leaf a soft ice cream each and took a seat on the little bench just outside the play park entrance. Conversation between the two was non-existent but they enjoyed each other's company nonetheless. Leaf couldn't remember a time when she got to sit down and enjoy an ice cream with her mother like that. Ever since she was little, Leaf was always left with her neighbours or a nanny when her mother worked most days. The feeling of nostalgia was comforting as Leaf thought back to those few treasured times she had ice cream with her mum when was seven, or maybe even younger.

"Shall we head home?" Karen asked.

Leaf shook her head. "I want to go for a walk."

After Karen set a firm curfew and bid her daughter goodbye, Leaf ventured of in the general direction of the park. Now that the issue of her lost key was solved, the thought of the brunette came back to her. Why did she act so strange?

Leaf took a seat on the swing. It was starting to become a habit to sit there when she was idly wondering the town. The past two times that Leaf sat there, she was approached by people who wanted to befriend her. Maybe not the first girl but the perky blunette definitely wanted to be her friend. Before Leaf left, she shoved a note with her name, address and number on it and insisted that they called each other to hang out sometime. If Leaf didn't know any better, she would've thought the blunette was trying to make a play for her.

"Hiya."

Leaf looked to her side and saw her blue mane, an odd characteristic that had to undoubtedly be Dawn's. Leaf smiled at her in response.

"Oooft." Dawn breathed as she eyed Leaf's arm that rested in its sling. "So the rumours are true."

"Rumours? What rumours?" Leaf asked with curiosity. At that moment, Leaf felt even more like everyone and everything in town were keeping some sort of secret from her.

"Don't you know?" Dawn asked. "Every newbie at your school gets bullied until they leave. I heard the last person that happened to ended up with seven broken ribs and a fractured patella, whatever that means."

Leaf stared at the blunette with wide eyes. "Broken ribs and knee cap?" Leaf gasped in horror.

"Is that what the patella is?" Dawn asked and Leaf nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Ouch. Now that I know what it is I can really sympathise for that poor soul. Heard they were going to be the next big dancer as well. One 'accident' and that's that career down the drain. Looks like you got luck with your broken arm."

"Actually, it's just dislocated." Leaf said, pointing to her shoulder.

"Did they do that to you?" Dawn asked in a way that made Leaf suspect that Dawn's one of those serial gossipers.

Leaf stayed quiet but nodded her head.

Dawn looked at Leaf horrified. "You should probably do something about it. Maybe get a transfer to my school, Pallet Academy?" Dawn hinted and Leaf started to think.

Should she?

Xxxxxx

Leaf made sure to get to school bright and early today, avoiding the busy crowd of gossipers and havoc causers that she passed cautiously in the morning on the way to class. Of course though, there was an ulterior motive to Leaf's early arrival.

After listening to what Dawn had said about the last student, Leaf wondered if she could find out anything about that from Erica. Dawn didn't seem to know much more about it other than the last student being bullied until he or she couldn't bare it anymore and left while the rest if their bones were somewhat still intact and organs still in place. If Leaf was going to broach the subject of transferring school with her parents, she'd have to have some pretty solid reasons as to why she wants to – and should – leave since her dislocated shoulder was not a good enough reason. She wondered what the school said to her parents while she was out cold to convince them that it wasn't the school's fault but her own…

Leaf stalked the halls cautiously despite them being empty of people and ran into her registration class. The door was open but no one was there, a sure sign Erica was already in the school somewhere. Leaf took her seat and wondered what she should do next. Erica not being in the room was not part of the mental plan that Leaf had made.

Trying to make good use of her time, Leaf pulled out a textbook and started to study for her first period class.

Erica returned moments later, humming melodically with a jug of water in her hands. She paused when she saw Leaf sitting in her seat more than half an hour before she was due to come to registration.

"Morning Leaf." Erica greeted with a smile. She walked over to the window sill and started to water her flowers that lit up the monotonous classroom with its vibrant array of colours. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not particularly." Leaf said as she shut her textbook.

"I didn't expect to see anyone in my class so early." Erica picked up her plant pot and started to inspect it. She spent every morning of the school day giving her attention to her beloved plants. "You know, you can tell me what happened."

Leaf took a moment to realise that Erica was referring to her arm. Spending a good minute or so to contemplate whether it really was safe or not to tell Erica, Leaf came to her conclusion. "I'm not really sure what happened." She wasn't lying completely; she remembered being followed, then running towards the closed door, then… the she wasn't entirely sure if she imagined Gary doing something or if she caused it herself.

Erica nodded and set the empty jug on the window sill next to her flowers. "I see." She said, her voice giving nothing away about whether she believed Leaf or not. "Leaf, I have a question for you, as mentor to mentee. You like studying, don't you?"

Leaf tilted her head to one side. What kind of question was that? If Erica was referring to the textbook Leaf was reading when she entered the room then that was a bit of a quick conclusion to jump to.

"I have to admit, I had a look at your old school record. You had a lot of impressive things that could easily win over prospective employers and university examiners." Erica said, "Two years ago you won the dux two years running and you competed in gymnastics at an international level. You interned at an elite journalism company and your academic achievements were recognised by several of the top universities."

"Interning wasn't something I did by choice and the studying was forced." Leaf said, trying to keep her tone steady. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable talking about this with a woman she barely knew let alone trust with personal things about herself.

"You remind me a lot of me." Erica said, changing the subject suddenly.

"How so?" Leaf asked.

"You don't like discussing yourself with other people. I could sense you getting defensive. If I pushed you anymore you would've just left."

Leaf thought about Erica's reply. It's true. If Erica did continue to fire things that Leaf had forgotten about herself then she would have left the room with such a rage that would take days to cool off.

"When I was your age I went through a rough patch too and that really affected my grades and I stopped letting people into my space. I just didn't think anyone would understand me. A part of me wanted someone to talk to about it but another part of me didn't want to burden people with things that they wouldn't understand. I wanted someone to support me, not sympathise for me. I can tell you're going through something similar." Erica said.

There was no deny that that's what Leaf was feeling like ever since the day that she found out her boyfriend was hospitalised from the car accident. There were so many times that she wanted to talk to someone about it but she didn't know who to turn to. Ever since Leaf was a young child, Leaf only ever told her problems to one person.

"Anyway, my point is, I'm here if you do want to tell me anything." Erica added when she received no reply from the brunette.

Leaf nodded. "Thanks." She said softly as she took her seat. Leaf had kept a close eye on the time throughout the conversation. Even if she did want to say something to Erica, now was not the time. Students were due to start pouring in at any second. "Actually, Erica, can we talk after school?"

Erica smiled warmly at the brunette. "Of course."

Xxxxxx

Leaf had realised she had failed at her ulterior motive when talking to Erica earlier on just not at the time but maybe it wasn't too late to try now? Better late than never, as the old saying goes. Or maybe she should just come out with what she really wanted to say this morning and drop her motive?

My fiancé died.

Was that too blunt? Just coming out with it like that? Maybe. Leaf wasn't even sure if she'd have the strength and courage to tell Erica something so personal like that, as much as she wanted to. After what Erica had said to her, Leaf felt herself connect to the older woman on a whole new level. What she was conviced she would never say to her yesterday she just wanted to scream it at her today.

When I was your age I went through a rough patch too…

That same part of the sentence had been playing through Leaf's head for the whole day, disrupting her from concentrating in classes. Leaf was curious as to what Erica had gone through. Was what Erica went through even as bad as what Leaf went through? Did she lose her fiancé in a car accident too? That would be a freaky coincidence.

The time seemed to pass so slowly – any slower and it would be at a standstill. Leaf hurried out from her last period English class. The teacher wasn't particularly nice and she actually wanted to talk to Erica now while she felt like she had the courage to.

Leaf waited outside Erica's class as she watched the last of the students to empty out and once they had all gone, Leaf slipped into the classroom, looking around her to make sure no one was watching first.

"Leaf, you made it." Erica greeted.

Leaf nodded and sat down at her seat. Suddenly going for it and just saying everything didn't feel so easy after all.

"Would you like some water?" Erica offered as she poured herself a glass.

Leaf shook her head. "No thanks." She said.

Erica nodded and then moved into the empty seat next to hers. "You didn't encounter any trouble today, did you?"

Leaf shook her head. "No, everyone has been really quiet today."

"Did Gary Oak try anything?" Erica asked.

Leaf shuddered at his name. She hadn't seen him all day up until last period when she felt his gaze send cold shivers down her back. She didn't need to see him to feel how daunting they were. And the fact that Leaf still has not recovered from them just reiterates how scary it really is.

"No, but I've got a question about him." Leaf said. "Did you purposefully send him away on my first day?"

"Yes." Erica answered.

"And the second day?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The girls looked at each other and shared a chuckle.

"I don't understand why he picks on me." Leaf said. It was one of many things she wanted to get off her chest.

"It's partly a rich people thing. I don't get and I don't like it but it's not fair." Erica said.

Leaf thought about that. "Were you bullied too when you were younger?" the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them and to her surprise, she got a reply.

"Yes." Erica said. "I was."

"I can tell. You're the only teacher who looks after me." Leaf said at last. Telling someone about her discontent with the other teachers was something she was glad she was able to share with someone.

"You know, all the teachers that work here all studied here at one point." Erica said.

Leaf was surprised by that fact. Did that mean all the teachers were stuck up and uncaring? "Seriously?" Leaf asked but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. For the whole of her English lesson, she did feel like her teacher was trying to belittle her more than the rest of the class. Was it because she was new or did he think she wasn't good enough to come to Pallet High?

They sat in silence for a while before Leaf spoke again. "Did you do something to the room? It smells different from all the other classes. I noticed it yesterday. Smells like... Vileplume?" Leaf said. Silences like that often made Leaf feel awkward.

"I did, it's the Bellossom plants." Erica said, signalling to the plants on her window sill. "It's supposed to make people feel calmer though I don't think it's working."

"It is… I feel more at ease in your class unless..." Leaf said, missing out the end of the sentence that she wanted to add on

"Unless Gary's here?" Erica said guessed. "I know that's what you mean. You don't need to hold back." Leaf could feel her lips ease up into a slight smile. It nice to be able to be honest about something for a change and to someone else who understands! Erica noticed Leaf's reaction. She probably wasn't going to be able to get much more out of her today but getting the girl to admit something – as obvious as it was – was a good start to their mentoring sessions. "Shall we call it a day?" Erica asked.

"My fiancé died." Leaf said without thinking. Her eyes grew wide and her hand slapped over her mouth as soon as she said it.

No. No. NO.

"What?" Erica said, surprised by the teens sudden outburst. She was just as surprised as the girl herself. She wasn't even sure if Leaf actually said what she heard or if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but seeing the girl's expression, the latter seemed unlikely.

"I… I…" Leaf stammered. The brunette immediately scraped her chair back and grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

Erica watched as the girl fled the class. She definitely said what she thought.

Leaf stopped dead in her track as soon as she made it out of the class. Some people show up at the wrong places at the wrong time. The sight of him scared her. She could see his retreating form down the hall and judging by the smug way he strode down the hall, he heard it. He heard it all.

Every. Single. Word.

Xxxxxxx

So Leaf thinks Gary heard her discussion with Erica and more importantly, her outburst right at the end. I know Leaf's all out of control and stuff but I think it's about time we started to make things hard for a protagonist!

But anyway, I hope you bubbis liked this chapter, sorry for the lack of Gary but I kinda need to give him something to work with, hence this chapter. Hopefully we'll have more of him this chapter. I'll be writing the next chapter of this after the 14th of December so it's unlikely I'll be updating before then (which is probably why I unconsciously made this chapter longer). But who knows, I might get bored from studying and update it before then!

Before you leave this page, fancy dropping me a wee review? I fancy that idea quite a bit…

But yeah, see – I mean talk to you in my author's notes – in hopefully less than two weeks!

silver-hedgehog