A/N: Yeah, it's been almost a month. I'm really sorry about that. I lost a lot of motivation for this, and on top of that, school just got really hectic. Finals are coming up soon, but I will be typing more as I study. Yay for POVs too!
May
"May! Wake up!" I heard a voice screaming in my ear. Nyeh….it's so warm….I want to sleep…..Max stop…..I covered myself with the warm cocoon I was under.
I tried to drift back to sleep, but something took off my blanket. I faintly heard myself saying, "Max….stop it…."
"May! It's the first day of school! You don't want to be late!" Wait….that's not Max's voice…..who are you?!
The voice continued, "Who's Max?" As I heard those words, it clicked. They weren't the words of my annoying younger brother, but rather my new roommate. I sat up like a spring.
"What time is it?" I asked her feverishly.
"Well, it looks like 6:30, so you still have an hour before class starts. I should warn you though, the canteen is practically filled with kids by 7:00. So you might wanna hurry up." Dawn said before bursting into giggles.
I immediately burst into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, packed my bag with my normal essentials, and applied some foundation and eyeliner in 5 minutes. So NOT exaggerating. (No sarcasm.)
"DAWN!" I screamed as I reached my closet.
She scurried over. "What is it?"
"Um…..I don't know what bandana to wear. Scratch that, I don't know what to wear AT ALL!" I whined.
"Hmmm, what's your favorite bandana?" She calmed me down reassuringly. I reached out towards my signature red bandana and looked at it. "I wore this yesterday…."
Dawn nodded, seeing my dilemma. "Hmm, I'll pick out an outfit for you, and you can wear the bandana! I'll just ask Misty and Leaf to grab something for us on their way down."
I looked at her, perplexed. "Leaf?"
Dawn realized that I didn't know who this Leaf person was. "Oh! Leaf is one of our friends and Misty's roommate. She's really smart and sweet. I think you would like her." I nodded my head and got my bandana wrapped around my head as Dawn searched my closet for an outfit.
Minutes later, at 6:45 AM, she stepped out of my closet, appearing dazed. She dropped what she chose for me and I looked at her. Nervous, I grabbed her shoulders.
"Dawn?! Are you okay?" I was worried. Was she having a panic attack? Oh Arceus, what do I do?!
She slowly turned her head down to me, and her eyes lit up. "MAY! Why didn't you tell me you had this many clothes?! I swear, I could pull an outfit for you everyday! Gosh…." I looked at her, exasperated. I shook my head, but laughed a little bit. We both laughed until we heard a phone.
"Oh that's mine." Dawn picked up her phone as I went into the bathroom to change. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't believe what Dawn had picked for me.
With my signature red bandana, I wore a simple long-sleeved gray shirt, white shorts, and a red cardigan. She even picked out some gray ankle boots. To keep it simple, I looked GOOD.
Dawn went close to me when I stepped out, complimenting my outfit and telling me something.
"Misty and Leaf are waiting with our food in the lobby. Let's go meet them."
I nodded excitedly, actually WANTING to see Misty and this other girl. I figured she was like how Dawn described her. While we went down the elevator, I looked at Dawn's outfit. Her signature beanie was on her head, but she wore a light pink blouse, a pleated black skirt, like a schoolgirl's, that reached a couple inches above her knees. She topped it off with white ballet flats that had a pale pink bow at the end of each. Not bad. Not bad at all. I thought to myself.
I heard the little ding and stepped off the elevator into the lobby, glancing around for the redhead. I didn't know how Leaf looked like, but Misty's hair stood out above the rest.
"Dawn! May!" I heard a voice call out for us, and my face beamed at the sight of Misty approaching us. She carried two croissants in her hands. Behind her was a girl I had never seen.
She was stunning. Long, chestnut brown hair that reached her waist. Silky smooth. She had a white hat on, with a red ribbon above the rim, and a half pokeball design of the same color. She wore a cream colored sweater, blue jeans, and white converse. She wore a necklace with a gold leaf pendant on it.
She was the same height as me, without my boots, yet her frame was a lot more skinny than mine. But she wasn't bone skinny. She was model perfect. Slight curves accentuating the right place, making her appear taller and prettier than most.
But most of all were her eyes.
They shone green like luscious grass fields, twinkling with mischief and awe as she took in surroundings. Her mouth was curved up into a smile, but her eyes showed her true personality.
She was kind. Sweet, beautiful. More than I could ever be.
I was snapped out of my trance when the girl showed a couple croissants and an apple to me. "Hungry?" She asked me.
"Oh, yeah!" I told her. I grabbed the food and sat down, while the girl sat down next to me. I glanced over at Dawn and Misty before slowly chowing down on my croissant. I savored the flavor and sat silently.
The girl spoke up. "I didn't introduce myself. I'm Leaf Green, Misty's roommate." She held out her hand for May to shake.
I grabbed her hand as I smiled widely. "Ahh, so you must be that Leaf Green that Dawn and Misty talked about. I'm May Maple." We both saw Dawn and Misty walking over to them as I finished up my breakfast. Dawn was taking a bite of her second croissant as Misty looked through her schedule again.
"So May, what's your first class?" Leaf asked.
"My first class is…." I pulled out my schedule, "AP Coordinating! What about you, Leaf?"
"Mine is AP Battle Training! With the Battling or Coordinating fields, everyone starts with the same class. We have to go into the arenas for that class, and there are about 250 students per field. Of course there are different teachers. I, unfortunately, have Mr. Wake. He's very…..eccentric. Misty does the same thing I do, and Dawn's a coordinator." She explained to me.
"Aghhhh, this is too much to know! My head's gonna explode from this information!" I screamed. I hated memorizing information, unless it's a piece of music. I do better on the go, per say. I learn as time progresses, not on the dot like other people. I wasn't the smartest, but I could still pull through.
Maybe I was exaggerating, but knowing the different teachers and rooms and such were hard, especially when it was your first day and first time in the school and you're not familiar with the layout.
Dawn and Misty were laughing at something while Leaf smiled, amused. I sat there, confused as to what they were talking about. "So what's going on?" I asked.
Dawn answered, "Do you want to go downtown with some of our other friends later? In this school, there's not a lot of homework because of the classwork, so really we can do whatever we want at 5:00! What do you say, May?"
I had to control myself from smiling super hard. It was my first day and I was already invited to go shopping. Wow, already? They barely know me. But I do need to get some stuff and this would be a good time to get to know them. Plus, FOOD! I agreed instantly and finally let out my smile. Leaf chuckled a bit, but it wasn't patronizing or rude. No, she was merely happy that I agreed.
"Hope you don't buy a bunch of pink skirts like Dawny here! We could use someone who DOESN'T wear pink on a daily basis." Misty joked.
We all laughed as Dawn glared at Misty. "Hey, what's the problem with that? Pink is my favorite color!" We all just laughed harder at Dawn's anger, seeing how foolish it was. At least, it appeared foolish to me.
I didn't know what to do. I never had friends at my old school. Well, that's a lie. I did, until…..that happened. It changed me. For better or for worse, I can't tell. I just….couldn't feel anything. They left me. Don't fall for this. They WILL leave you. I told myself. I took a look at the three girls laughing beside me. Misty was wearing a light blue jacket with white short shorts and white running shoes. Her hair was up in a side ponytail again.
They all looked good. Better than me. Better than what I could ever be.
The bell rang at 7:30. We all walked towards the arenas, right behind the Rayquaza dorms, AKA the teachers' dorms. As I looked up, I stared and gaped.
The arenas were GINORMOUS! HUGE! Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but the entire population of Petalburg City could fit into 1/4 of the arena!
"Wow! They're huge!" I marvelled at the sight. Dawn giggled a bit.
"Well, they have to be huge if 250 trainers are going to be training in each one at all time! Although, a lot of people train outside because it gives them more room," she explained to me.
Not another word was spoken. Oh Arceus, what do I say? Thank you? Alright? What do I do?
"May? Are you okay?" I felt Dawn's presence next to me and looked at her. Her eyebrows were scrunched up and her eyes were shining with worry. I suddenly realized how I appeared, or so how I thought I appeared to her.
Pale, sickly. Scared. Far from perfect.
I shook my head and plastered on a smile to her. She didn't look convinced, but pushed it aside. The double doors into the Coordinating Arena opened, and I was left speechless.
The walls were emitting a golden hue, making the whole place look warm and inviting. It had plenty of windows, filtering the corners with soft white light. It was cool, perfect for concentration. Soft, classical music played inside, soothing the ears of otherwise chatty students.
If stars in your eyes were real, I swear I would have the eyes of the whole galaxy.
It was so much more different than my old world! Incredible! And a lot more beautiful.
"May!" Dawn snapped me out of my awe. "Since we have the same teacher, I'll tell you all about her! She's Miss Fantina Melissa."
"Fantina?! As in the famous top coordinator and gym leader?!"
"That's right! She moved to LaRousse High at Principal Cynthia's request. Apparently, Miss Fantina is a good teacher, even if she appears to dislike teaching. She really doesn't!"
"Oh, well that's good to know…." Our conversation was rudely interrupted by the entrance of a bunch of teachers. Well…..just 5. I only focused on the one in the center. Fantina.
She wore her purple hair in 4 buns, which matched her floor length purple dress. It had white sequins and a little yellow, Drifblim cross pin at her right hip. She was gorgeous.
"'Ello there! My name iz Fantina, and velcome back to LaRousse!" she introduced herself as the other students cheered wildly. I covered my ears and gritted my teeth as the loud sound filled my ears. For 250 students, they sure make quite a lot of noise. Dawn must've noticed, because she started patting my back. Probably to calm me down. I relaxed at the touch.
"Thanks Daw-" I frowned at the sight. The person relaxing me was not my new bluenette friend, but rather an unfamiliar boy. He was around 5'9, and he looked….interesting. He had chartreuse hair and mint green eyes. While Leaf's eyes were luscious and pure, these eyes seemed almost teasing.
His outfit? A plaid purple and black shirt, unbuttoned to reveal an indigo plain t-shirt underneath. He wore dark gray jeans and green vans. Somehow, he made it all look okay.
I quickly became flustered and mumbled my words out. "Th-thank y-you.." I turned my back to him. Then I heard his voice.
"No problem, you sure looked like you could use some help. Although the other students are used to it by now," it sounded smug, like a "I-know-more-than-you" tone. I immediately became irritated and turned around to face this boy.
"Listen here you! Maybe they're used to it, but I-" I was cut off by a red rose to my face. I studied the petals. Perfect condition. Not wilted, in full bloom on the contrary. Bright as a cherry. I warily plucked it from his fingers, tenderly latching on to the top of the stem. My face felt like it was heating up to 1000 degrees, and I was bound to explode. From anger, embarrassment, joy; I will never know.
"Hmph, don't be silly. I gave you that rose so you wouldn't go off on me," he told me. I was red with rage.
"WHAT?! Who are you?! You have no right to say something like that, especially to a girl!" I freaked out on him. Poking him in the chest, I got very close to his face and was about to slap him, when….
"May?" I recognized that voice as Dawn's, and it was as if all my emotion just went away. I looked around, but nobody heard me.
Nobody….Nobody's around to listen to you. Nobody's around you. They'll never be there for you. You're in the wrong, Maple. And you know it. I looked up at the chartreuse-haired boy in front of me. What's wrong with you? You don't normally freak out like this. So why is this boy that you just met making you feel this way? Your emotions are coming back, May. They're coming back…
I took in a shaky breath, never once looking the boy in the eye.
"May, are you okay?" Dawn was scared. She was scared of how I reacted after she called out to me.
"Yeah! I'm fine, it wasn't anyone's fault but mine!" I laughed nervously and blushed a bit, rubbing my pale arm up and down. "He was helping me calm down from the noise, but I guess I thought he was being a pervert," I lied right through my teeth. I turned around and saw he was gone. He disappeared.
Dawn believed me however, and smiled. "Oh, well if that's all that was, then I guess we can go back to what was going on! You didn't miss anything important, just follow me and we can head over to our class!" I nodded silently and followed her to one of the corners of the arena, still holding the red rose I received. I smiled slightly before sitting down next to Dawn, awaiting further instructions.
Dawn
Who are you?
That was my first thought today, which of course went to my new roommate. May Maple.
One moment she's happy and cheerful, the next shy and flustered, then after she looks like she wants to die. She seemed nice, and I want to be her friend. I want to help her.
Is it because it's scary how she's destroying herself, or is it scary because it's uncanny to how you are?
I pushed the thoughts out of my head and composed myself as I sat down with May. Fantina was giving us instructions.
"Ahh, velcome to the school year! Today, we vill be showing off our appeals!" She clapped twice. "Let us go!" We all laughed at the lady's eager behavior. May and I stood up and grabbed our bags, which contained the rest of our pokeballs. (A/N: I know I said they would only carry their starters with them, but I thought that since their school was partially battle based, it wouldn't make sense.)
"So May, what Pokemon are you going to be using for your appeals?" I asked my brunette friend.
She smirked at me, "Well I'll show you! Go!" She threw up a pokeball in the air, revealing a Glaceon. (A/N: I bet you all thought I was gonna say Beautifly huh? Well, nope XD)
"Wow, your Glaceon is adorable!" I approached the light blue eeveelution, where it jumped into my arms and nuzzled me. "Aww, I think you like me! Don't you?" I doted on the cutie pie. It continued to nuzzle me and comfort me as May pet the Pokemon on its head.
"Aww, that's sweet! Usually Glaceon doesn't like strangers, so this is a first." She informed me. I didn't take my eyes off the sweet and playful Pokemon as I brought out my own Pokemon.
"Go! Piplup!" I shouted as my beloved starter Pokemon came out of his pokeball. He shook his head and cried out sweetly. "Piplup, this is May! She's a new friend, so say hi to her and her Glaceon."
"Piplup!" It chorused. Glaceon waved a paw back at my Piplup, while May knelt down to him.
"Aww, well aren't you cute! Hi there Piplup, I'm May!" May introduced herself as she shook Piplup's flipper. We were interrupted by Fantina and her booming voice, inviting us back to her side of the bleachers.
"Alo, now I will call on someone to present! Hmm…." she tapped her pen on her mouth, trying to pick someone. "Ah, vill May Maple come up to present? I'm sure you vill do very well!"
Whispers formed around the crowd, as they had never heard of a May Maple and must've realized that she was the new student. With a deep inhale, May propped herself up and went onto the floor, next to Fantina.
"Ah, so you must be the new student! Welcome!" She patted the bandana girl's shoulder reassuringly as she walked away.
C'mon May, show 'em what you got! I thought to myself as May started her performance.
"Alright Glaceon, use hail, then sunny day!" May cried out. Glaceon made a huge hailstorm, then shot a ball of light as high as it could, almost blinding everyone.
What is she doing?! We have to be able to see her Pokemon! I was puzzled, but looked over at her smirking.
"Next, mirror coat!" Glaceon radiated a shining light, and we could all see it. Everyone's eyes sparkled as they saw May's Pokemon covered in an aurora of colors as the hailstorm and sun disappeared.
"Finish up with double team and blizzard!" Glaceon made copies of itself, while the real one emitted a furious cold breath, eliminating them as fast as they came. It was illuminated in a snow white light, making it glow.
"Finished!" Glaceon jumped gracefully onto May's left shoulder while they both took a bow. Everyone started clapping, while I stood up and screamed.
"Go May! You did it!"
She waved sheepishly at me and sat down at her previous spot next to me.
It was my turn next.
"Alright, Piplup! Spotlight!"
"Piplup!" My trusty partner exclaimed with pride.
"Piplup, use drill peck and spin into the air!" Piplup spun high into the air, and stopped when it reached its destination.
"Now! Bubblebeam!" Piplup spun in the air and let out a spray of sparkling bubbles, landing gracefully on one.
"Finish up with bide!" Piplup let out a burst of white light, temporarily blinding everyone. What happened next shocked everyone.
Piplup was glowing with white and blue light, shining as the light reflected off him. Everyone clapped, and I took a bow.
Everyone finished up the appeals, and soon it was time for us to go to our next classes. I didn't have any friends in any of my classes until after lunch, except for our favorite plum head. I had to introduce May to him, maybe her bubbly personality would rub off on him.
"Sorry May! I have to go to Chemistry now! We'll see each other at lunch, 'kay?" I told her.
"Okay Dawn! Bye!" She waved to me as she looked at her map of the school. I giggled a bit; she looked so bewildered, just like any new student.
It was eventually time for lunch. I grabbed my bag lunch from my locker, dropping off some of my notebooks along with it. I was skipping to the canteen, trying to find our old table. I immediately spotted the red hair of Misty, where she was arguing with Ash. Probably about money and Ash's love for food.
I saw down next to Misty and gave a lopsided smile. Eventually the rest of our friends came over to us….but someone was missing. I looked around the canteen, eventually finding her at the double doors from the main hallway.
She looked confused, afraid, pale.
Just like you.
I couldn't let her stand alone, especially on her first day. I didn't want it to end up going like my first day, where I sat alone.
I stood up and waved as high as I could with my short stature. "MAY!" I yelled out to her. She looked in my direction and her eyes widened.
The whole canteen became silent. You could hear a pin drop as all the students stared in May's direction. She walked slowly, as in disbelief. Misty, Leaf, and I shared genuine smiles, welcoming her to the group. She inched her way, looking around at everyone's stares.
Then she tripped.
And everyone started laughing. I heard every single chuckle, giggle, squeal. I hated every single person in the room, except for my friends who looked shocked. They immediately looked at the table May tripped by, and glared.
All I could see was red as I stood up on our table, not following their eyes.
"HEY! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I screamed out for everyone to hear. Despite my petite structure, standing at only 5'2, everyone heard me and looked at me strange.
"You think it's funny to laugh at someone being tripped? How many of you were humiliated on your first day of school? Do you think you're good by doing that? Huh?! Now leave her alone!" I jumped off the table and ran to May, squatting down to her.
She wasn't dirty, just a little shaken up. I saw a sandal right next to her. A golden gladiator sandal, belonging to the one and only bitch of the century. Brianna Wakana.
Her beady little eyes bored right into my eyes, not frightening me but simply filling me with irritation.
"Got a problem, Wakana?" I snapped.
"Why is that new girl sitting with you guys? Popular boys. I mean I guess you're all ugly, so it does make sense, but she's just making it worse!" She nasally laughed, while all the girls at her table chuckled quietly.
I wanted to say something, but my voice went oddly quiet as I could find nothing to say. It wasn't what she said about May, it was what she indirectly said at me.
You're ugly. Weak. Miserable.
I looked as strong as I could, but I was filled with panic and fear.
Why? Why would you do that? Why would you call me that? Do you hate me that much?...
"HEY! Don't say anything like that to them!" It wasn't Misty's or Leaf's voices. To my surprise, it was Gary's.
Gary never spoke out like this, and I was seriously impressed. Usually he just let everyone handle the arguments. He was cool headed, making the rational decisions for us. He was one of the ones to calm us down, specifically Leaf, after we got into huge confrontations.
Yet, I guess he had had enough. Tired of their constant bullying and teasing, tired of our fighting back bullshit, tired of everything that made them THEM. Made them these girls. Us or the ones at the table, I won't know.
"You think that you're better by teasing a new girl? You think that because you say that stuff, it's real? You girls have probably grown up sucking on spoons and getting cuddles and kisses from your mommy and daddy. They never taught you manners and probably just spoiled you rich. So you think you're better than everyone," His voice was cold and detached, as if he was replaced by some inhumane entity.
No one at the table spoke. No one on the ground spoke.
Misty cautiously sauntered her way over and helped pick May up, while Gary grabbed my left wrist and pulled me up roughly. I growled in pain at his grip on my wrist and rubbed it.
"May?"
My ears perked at Misty's voice, which slightly wavered. I took one look at May's face, and my heart sank to my stomach.
Her sapphire blue eyes were a mix of emotions I knew all too well: fear, guilt, betrayal, alarm, confusion. I didn't know how to handle it, I was horrified because it was a simple interaction. Yet, something snapped in her. She didn't seem fragile, but I thought wrong.
May Maple, my new roommate, my new friend from a day ago, turned on her heel and sprinted away from the cafeteria.
"May! Come back!" Ash's childish voice called out.
I remained rooted at the spot, unable to process what had happened. I felt numb. Then, I felt immense guilt clawing away at me.
It's all your fault. They'll all run away because of YOU.
I felt my heart swelling at the thought of everyone leaving. I suddenly felt alone. I was burning and freezing, but I stayed in the same position because if I didn't, I would collapse from the sheer exhaustion of carrying life on my shoulders. I was supposed to do something, but what could I do? I was 16, still a kid. Yet I knew I had to do something, but I couldn't. It clawed at my heart and face, messed with my life, messed with how I felt. I felt pressure to be the best.
After all, I was supposed to be perfect.
NOTE: Again, sorry for being absent for about a month. On the plus side, this has 4000 words! I figure as I get into the story more, I'll have more words to the story. Do you guys like how I described Drew? Now the only thing I have to do is introduce a certain purple-haired trainer and everyone will be introduced. Next chapter, I WILL SAY, won't have May's POV. It'd be weird to start it with May AGAIN, but I do have a plan.
Please R&R!