One Step at a Time

Italics = texts / notes / announcements etc.

Chapter 6

When things started to look up again, Leaf knew that would not last. Since she finished her short meeting with Erica, she saw the figure that haunted her thoughts nowadays: a six foot, demonic-looking tormentor. The thought of him alone made Leaf shudder.

Leaf drew her duvet tighter round her curled up body, covering all of her except her worry frozen face. Leaf had been lying in her bed ever since she got home, not leaving her room for dinner or anything. Leaf heard a small buzz from her phone sitting on her bedside table and stretched across for it. There was no question as to who the text was from. Only one other person other than Leaf's parents had her number and that was Dawn, the only girl who has bothered to give her the time of day.

Leaf's eyes squinted as she tried to read her brightly lit phone screen in the darkness of her bedroom.

Where were you today? Xxxxxx

Leaf blinked a couple of times to allow her eyes to readjust. Why she ever chose to put the light setting on so bright was beyond her.

At home.

Leaf replied then sent it off and before she knew it, her phone buzzed again with what would be considered as an essay in text form.

Well, that's just mean! I all excited expecting to see you in the park today, I even bought my friend from school to meet you and I was telling her how nice you were, albeit quiet, and all that and then what do you go and do? YOU LEAVE ME HANGING! Not cool! Oh, and no kisses? That's just rude! Xxxxxxxxxx

Leaf made a mental note: don't mess with Dawn, she will get all maternal on you. With the thought stored away, Leaf pressed the reply button on her phone. She had barely keyed a single letter when she received another text.

We're still at the park if you want to come along xxxxxxx

Leaf read Dawn's reply then sent one back.

Don't feel like going out. Xx

Leaf looked at her text then sent it. Surely two kisses at the end of her text was enough to satisfy her motherly friend, even if the reply itself did not. Leaf put her phone down on her bed then put her head down to rest on her uninjured arm. The last thing she wanted was to see people and tell them about her personal problems and then be buried up to her nose with sympathy.

Leaf's phone lit up again with a new text.

Ok, then we'll come to you xxxxxx

Leaf had to read the text twice. Did Dawn even know where she lived? No. Leaf remembered Dawn giving Leaf her address but Leaf never gave out any of her personal details to her except her phone number and her name after relentless nagging so there was no way that Dawn could just appear on her doorstep like that.

But several minutes later the doorbell rang. Leaf's head shot up as she tried to listen out for her mother answering the door. Did it sound like she was talking to a teenage girl?

"Ah, I see, so you're my dear Leafy's friends!" Leaf could hear Karen say enthusiastically but also surprised. "Come in girls!"

Girls? Leaf thought. As far as she was concerned, she only had one friend in Pallet Town and that was Dawn so why did her mum say girls? Did Dawn bring a friend over or something?

Leaf listened carefully as the sound of her mother's voice, Dawn's voice and a third unidentified voice become more and more vivid as they grew closer and closer to her door. With a gentle knock on the door, her mother popped her head in and beamed at her.

"Leafy, you've got visitors." She said then opened the door when she realised that Leaf was not going to signal them into the room or away. Karen stepped in to the room and to one side to allow the two teenage girls in.

"Hi Leaf!" Dawn greeted followed by an over enthusiastic wave.

Leaf smiled at Dawn then eyed the girl behind her. Her hair contrasted greatly against Dawn's locks, her eyes were a really bright but interpretable shade of green and she was noticeably taller than Dawn by maybe a good three or four inches.

"I'll leave you girls. If you need anything I'll be downstairs."

"Thank you." Said Dawn and the other girl as Karen shut the door behind her, giving Leaf a proud smile before the door shut fully and she left.

Dawn turned to Leaf and smiled brightly as Leaf remained frozen and wrapped up in her duvet like a cocoon. The other girl stood awkwardly as she waited for someone to say or do something. She had her arms folded across her chest and her weight was predominantly on one of her feet.

"How did you get here?" Leaf asked as she sat up, peeling some of the blanket off of her head and body. She could feel a slight draft in her room.

"We walked." Dawn answered, missing what Leaf was really asking. Was she always this… this oblivious?

"I meant how did you know where I live?" Leaf asked, rephrasing her question.

"Oh, I saw you move in like a few days ago." Dawn said casually as she approached the bed and sat down cross legged.

Leaf nodded. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

"I just thought we should hang out more, silly, friends don't need a reason to pop up out of the blue." Dawn replied and tapped Leaf's nose. "Nice room by the way." Dawn said as she looked at the furniture, from the mahogany double bed to the matching antique, one-of-a-kind mahogany desk.

"Thanks… Who's your friends?" Leaf asked.

And suddenly Dawn jumps up and goes to stand by her friend. "This is my friend Misty, Misty, meet Leaf, the poor unfortunate soul I told you all about."

Leaf was slightly taken aback by her introduction even though it was spot on. "Poor unfortunate soul" was the only adequate way to describe her.

"Hey." Misty greeted with a stiff wave, "Heard you go to Pallet High."

Leaf nodded and dug her body out from under her duvet and made room for Misty to take a seat. "Yeah." Leaf replied depreciatively.

"Misty went to Pallet High too." Dawn said. "But things didn't go all that well."

"How so?" Leaf asked. She was curious about what Dawn just revealed. Was this the girl that Dawn had mentioned on the day they met, the girl who had the shattered Patella?

"It was about a year ago." Misty started. "I started there along with this other girl called May. She was lovely, she was smart, out-going, pretty much your average teenage girl. But it didn't take us long to notice the behaviour of the people round the school. They were all so stuck up and they would whisper behind our back. They made it obvious that we were the outcasts of the school, the victims of assault when the students were bored."

Leaf could relate to the story so far. She had been made to feel like the outcast since day one. And only today did she know that there was one other person who was different.

"Since May and I were established outcasts, the bullying started within our first week of being there and after our first week, it was clear that it had gotten to May mentally. By the end of the first week she had several bruises all over her arms and legs and after about a month of being there it had gotten worse. May had several more bruises that she tried to hide, burn marks that she'd claim were accidents and bandages that she said were caused by a fall. She wouldn't tell me the truth though."

Leaf listened closely. It didn't sound like this May girl had it as bad as her but she could empathise with that girl. She knew exactly what she went through. "How did you know she was lying?"

"On our first day there when we sat down for lunch together, a group of guys came over and they were telling us how 'fun' things were going to be all snide like. I retorted by telling them to back off but May didn't. Since that first encounter I had seen that green haired boy nearby May but I'd never see him do anything to her It's always after I see them near each other that she'd have all these scratches and bruises so I pulled him up for it one day and he accused me of accusing him of bullying May and hitting him so I got expelled for it."

"And this was a month into school?" Leaf asked. The thought of getting herself expelled was starting to look like the perfect solution to her problem.

Misty nodded. "After only a month." She confirmed. "But then I started at Pallet Academy and met Dawn."

"What happened to May?" Leaf asked, she felt herself being drawn to this May character in the story. If only she could find this girl and let her know that she's not the only one who's being abused by students and ignored by teachers.

"She came to Pallet Academy too about two months after I moved there but she wouldn't say anything. She was in a wheelchair when she first started." Misty replied.

Leaf figured May must've been the girl with the shattered patella from Dawn's story.

"I tried to talk to her on her first day but she wouldn't talk to me. Not even when I'd asked her a question." Misty continued. "I've tried several times since then but it's been the same every time. I'm the one doing all the talking and she'll just listen and not respond."

"I tried to partner up with her on a lab assignment one time and even then she didn't say anything. She just did the work."

Leaf was really curious about this May. She seemed so relatable. By hearing the stories, Leaf felt like she was hearing her future too. She wanted to talk to the girl in person, maybe she was the key to convincing her parents to let her move school without having to ruin her almost perfect behavioural record.

Xxxxxx

Leaf could feel her legs shake as she approached the door to her class. Even the aroma of the Bellossom plants that had wafted out of the classroom and into the hall couldn't keep her calm. Leaf took a deep breath and was prepared to go into class when she felt a hand settle on her uninjured shoulder, and before she could register what had happened or who it was, her hack had slammed into the cold wall, sending shooting pains all over her injured arm, shoulder blades and head. Leaf shut her eyes. She didn't need them to tell her who had just shoved her against a wall

"I heard some interesting things yesterday."

She took a deep breath and tried to hide her tremor. "I don't know what you're talking about." Leaf said as calmly as she could.

"When I heard about you and your diary, I figured you were hiding something. When you followed me out of class that day to the stairwell, it confirmed my guess and when I heard you and Erica talk yesterday I found out exactly what you're hiding."

Leaf swallowed. He knows. Leaf couldn't think of anything else. He knows her secret.

"The next few weeks should play out interestingly." Gary said with a smirk then left Leaf in the hall.

Leaf slid down the wall until she was sitting down. She pulled her knees up against her torso and wrapped her arms around them tightly. She couldn't stay here. She couldn't. She had to leave.

Now.

Xxxxxx

Okay, so this chapter is notably shorter than the last. I'm sorry but I thought it's a pretty good place to end the chapter! But at least I managed to a) get Gary to find out Leaf's secret and b) get Misty into the story in this chapter, even if we are a prologue and six chapters in.

Anyway, I realise that I'm rambling now so I'll leave you wuth 2 things:

1. My old fic Can I Dream of You Once More? is no longer discontinued due to a review and a really odd dream I had last night which gave me a brilliant idea for the ORS side of things (yes, I am tryong to promote my story).

2. Please review! Did I mention it's my brithday in 2 days? I could use a review as a present!

Lot's of love, silver-hedgehog