Chapter 6: Californication
Yes, i'm alive after so long. College had taken over my life and honestly, I have up to chapter 14 written up on this story already. I hope that some stick with me as I attempt to get back in the groove of writing. There should be another chapter up within a week. Thank you everyone.
"And if you want these kind of dreams,
It's Californication."
-Californication: Red Hot Chili Peppers.
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Dawn laid on her stomach with her calves crossed in the air on her bed. She was watching a popular show on the contests of Hoenn from last year. Her phone that was placed on the comforter beside her went off with a buzz as a message was received. The blunette took the phone in her hands and read the message. In was Wednesday night and she was waiting for her partner for the English project to show up.
I have to stop and help Dad at the office.
-Drew
Dawn didn't bother to reply to the message because her bedroom door opened. Paul walked in and closed it behind him. Dressed in black shorts that hung over his knees and a white t-shirt that read La Rousse High Raiders Football with his damp hair hanging down. He looked around her room as she turned the volume of her TV low enough to barely be heard.
"Hey." Was all he said and shifted his feet, hand securing his backpack that hung over one shoulder.
"Hi, ummm… you can sit in the desk chair if you want." Dawn suggested and the tall male did so, dropping his bag on the floor beside him. She got up off her bed and straightened her sweatpants.
"Would you like anything to drink?" She tried to be a good hostess and he shook his head in decline. Paul opened up his backpack and took out his laptop and started it.
"Have you thought of any topics yet?" He questioned and Dawn shook her head.
"I just has to be a global problem correct? How about hunger or the lack of available water in most parts of the world?" Dawn suggested.
"It's too generic, we should try something controversial. Something that could have political influence?" Paul opened up the web browser and clicked on his computer a few times.
After a few minutes and silently searching on their own respectful computers the pair turned ideas back and forth. Dawn glanced at the TV and the evening news was on and she turned up the volume.
"Sources say that the Pokémon bio-weapons have been under investigation with many political leaders especially Hoenn's own Wallace lately and we have more to come after the weather…" Dawn looked and Paul and saw he was looking at her with a smirk across his lips.
"I think I know what our topic should be on."
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"So you guys picked your topic?" May asked as her and her friend walked to the classroom for Advanced Coordinating the following day, Thursday.
"Yeah, I think it's going to be a great topic." Dawn answered and stopped as her brother, who had been walking in front of them opened the classroom door. The two girls followed him in and sat in their designed but un-assigned seats.
"By the way, Brianna is coming over to work on our project on Saturday." Drew informed Dawn as she sat in her seat across from him, May sitting on her right. The brunette raised in eyebrow in the direction of the twins.
"Brianna is my project partner." Drew said and laid his head on his desk; his sister giving him a sympathy pat. May coughed to hide her laugh and cleared her throat.
"And this is the same project that Dawn and Paul are partnered for?" Dawn nodded in confirmed and their coordination professor came in to start their class.
"Good morning my beautiful students! I have good news!" The woman raised her arms in excitement as the class eagerly looked on. "We shall be having a guest speaker tomorrow and in preparation I want you all to work on this worksheet….."
Dawn, Drew, and May groaned in unison at the word 'worksheet.'
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"So 10ml of water right?" Dawn asked Gary in confirmation. The tall brunette nodded and Dawn carefully poured the correct amount of water into their mixture. They were dressing in white lab coats and wearing clear goggles to avoid getting any experimental materials on their clothes.
"Hey Dawn?" The blunette turned to look at the lab table behind her, Gary and she had already finished their experiment and her lab partner was currently disposing of their lab at the front of the room.
"Yeah?" The boy at the lab table was sheepish at first, but he was rather cute with tousled brown hair and green eyes. They had never spoken before but Dawn knew his name was Kai.
"Could you help me for a second? Usually Conway can find this stuff but he's gone today." Kai spoke and Dawn gave him a helpful smile and went to his lab to assist him in finding the correct cells under his microscope.
"You're looking for the areas that are stained black in the cells, they show the process of mitosis." Dawn explained and moved so the other boy could look into the lens.
"Oh, thanks!" He thanked her and Dawn returned to the lab table in front of him and started to take off her lab coat since she was done with lab.
"What was that all about?" It was Gary who asked, but it was Paul's gaze that questioned more. The burly male was leaned against the lab table of Gary and Dawn at his elbows and looked up at her.
"Kai needed some help." Dawn shrugged and walked over to the closet to put away the white lab coat. She returned to the table and caught Gary and Paul glancing at each other.
"What?" Dawn asked and organized her materials, there was still a few more minutes of class left.
"He was flirting with you Dawn." Gary explained and Dawn cocked her head to the side as she processed this.
"If he needed help he would have just asked Prof. Oak." Paul stood to his full height and stretched, making eye contact with Kai who was over by the coat rack putting away his lab coat. The shorter boy quickly looked away.
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"Dawwwwnnnnnnnnn….." Drew threw open the door to his sister's room and she squeaked before quickly shutting the web page she was on and snapping her computer shut. Drew narrowed his eyes.
"What were you looking at?" Drew crossed his arms and Dawn looked at her feet but said nothing. "Tell me Dawn."
"Drew." Dawn bit her lip in a pout but Drew didn't budge. "Don't freak out."
"Do you have a boyfriend I don't know about?" Her twin scolded but Dawn shook her head quickly.
"No! Where do you get that idea?" Drew shrugged and sat down on her bed.
"Just tell me Dawn, we're best friends remember?" It was true, and Dawn had always confided in her brother, he was her best friend.
"Fine. I found a pair of underwear in Dad's car." The blunette flinched in preparation for his reaction, but he only looked confused.
"Ladies underwear!" She explained to her brother, then got the reaction she knew would come.
"WHAT?!" Drew shouted and she was sure that the whole house heard it. Dawn got up and hurried to shush him.
"Drew! Calm down!" Dawn pushed him lightly so he fell back against her bed and he fell all the way onto his back.
"I don't know what to say Dawn." His voice was quiet, all the fight went out and he was left as confused as she was.
"Me neither Drew, me neither."
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"Hey Dawn are you coming to pizza with the guys again?" Drew asked as they walked out to their car after gym class on Friday. Dawn shrugged in agreement as her brother texted on his phone. While he drove through the streets of La Rousse his phone went off once again in the cup holder. Drew looked at it, then looked back at the road.
"Will you look at that for me?" Drew asked and Dawn picked up his phone and slide the screen to unlock it.
"It's from Gary, it says 'When are you coming?'" Dawn read the message to her brother.
"Tell him we will be there in a few minutes." Dawn texted the other male for her brother. And no other messages came to her brother's phone on the way to the pizza pub. They went in and Drew grabbed the seat on the end by Gary forcing Dawn to sit on the other side of the round booth next to Paul, who scooted closer to Ash to give her room to sit.
Dawn gave everyone a smile or a wave and took her seat next to the tallest member of the group. Gary and Drew entered their own conservation and Ash was peering at the menu. She didn't mind, she needed to speak with him anyways.
"Hi, what did Mrs. Shipers say about our topic?" Paul had both of his arms on the table with his hands wove together. He had his jersey on, tucked into his jeans like the other males at the table.
"She said it was a good topic, and she expects great things from us." Dawn answered as she recalled A.P. English earlier in the day. Paul nodded and treated her with a smirk that made her look down in a blush.
"Pizza!" Ash spoke excitedly, and indeed the waitress dropped off two extra-large pizza, one pepperoni and one meat-lovers. Ash and Gary started eating right away burning fingertips and tongues in the process. Drew took the calmer approach and used the pizza scoop to place his pizza on his plate. Paul surprised her by reaching for her plate before his own, scooping on two pieces of pepperoni and setting it in her area.
"Thanks!" She used her fingers to pick up her slice and bit the end off. The conservation was sparse while they ate but the boys managed to plow though the two pizzas in no time with one two slices remaining.
"You eat it." Gary pointed the remaining slices and looked at the green-haired boy. Who sat back with a groan, his feet kicking his sister under the table.
"Ash eat it." Drew mumbled and the black-haired boy reached towards one of the slices.
"I'll eat one, but even I can't eat both." Ash took a large bite and the rest of the group looked at each other.
"Dawn you eat it, you only ate three." Gary pushed the pizza platter with the one remaining piece left on it towards her side of the booth.
"I can't! Girls must maintain their figure." Dawn pushed the pizza back but Paul reached out and took the last piece without a word and finished it within seconds.
"So you are coming to the game?" Paul asked as they waited for the rest of their group by the front doors as they went to use the restroom. They had to go to back to the school to dress and catch the bus before it left.
"I'm riding with May since Dad and Rose aren't coming, and I don't want to ride on the student bus." Dawn explained and rocked on her heels, Paul nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"I can cheer for you?" She asked as she caught sight of Drew, Gary, and Ash coming towards them.
"Only if you cheer the loudest." Paul smirked and turned to walk out the doors, leaving the rest of the group to follow him out. The others separating from the twins to take Gary's car back to the school, while the siblings took Drew's Audi.
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"Ugh! It's so cold!" May whined and the girls huddled together as one bundled in their large blanket that they shared. Dawn buried her face deeper into the front so her nose was covered. However, she soon returned it to her neck.
"Go 52!" Dawn shouted as Paul, recognizable even from a distance with the number 52 printed on his jersey, took down the opposing team's quarterback. He stood tall and the other players slapped him in congratulations.
The game ended soon and the girls wanted by the bleachers to greet the boys before they got on the bus. May and Dawn huddled together in the large blanket. It didn't take long before the familiar group of boys made their way towards them.
"Sister." Drew gave her his familiar hair messing ruffle and she squeaked and slapped his shoulder pad in response. May laughed at the blunette's messy locks, until Drew did it to her too.
"Grass-head!" May called to him and Drew laughed in response.
"Good game Paul!" Dawn spoke the purple-haired male and she noticed how his uniform hugged his biceps in just the right way.
"Thanks Blue, and for the record I could hear you cheering." He smirked and headed to the bus with the other boys. The girls headed to the parking lot, still tangled together in their blanket.
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A beep signaled Dawn that she had a new message, reaching out to grasp it on the bedside table. The blankets pooling around her hips and exposing her long-sleeved shirt and shorts that she wore to bed. Drew and she had gotten home a few minutes and it was past 10:00 at night.
Are we meeting tomorrow for the project? I don't work until later.
-Paul
Dawn caught herself smiling and replied to his text.
Sure, when do you want to meet?
-Dawn
The football player must have been sitting by his phone because his reply came almost right away.
How about 9?
-Paul
That sounds good.
-Dawn
Dawn settled back down into her covers and the phone beeped once again, and she reached out and read it.
Goodnight Blue.
-Paul
The blunette smiled and sent him a similar message. Her dreams finding her mind and grasping her desires to life with a smile.
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