"Dawn I said no." a brunette teen groaned as she walked down the hallway of her school, followed closely by her blue-haired best friend.
"Why not? You'd be perfect!" Dawn grinned, grabbing onto her friend's arm.
"Because I don't want to."
"Come on May. You have got to get out of your shell one of these days."
"No! What part of that is unclear?" May grumbled. Dawn sighed and tried to think for a few moments before she suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Alright how about this. You write the advice column for the paper, but no one will know it's you." she suggested.
"What are you talking about? The school requires an author's name on every article in the paper." May scoffed, growing annoyed with her best friend.
"But it doesn't say whose name it has to be. All you have to do is go by a different alias. A pen name." Dawn explained, finally seeming to catch May's attention.
"I...I don't know Dawn…" she said hesitantly, holding the textbooks in her arms a bit closer to her chest.
"Come on. It's not like you have anything better to do. I give you my word that no one will know it's you. Scout's honor!" the bluenette begged.
"...Fine…just one…" May finally conceded, grumbling under her breath.
"Then it's settled!" Dawn grinned.
"Just one." May insisted firmly.
"Fine fine. But if people love it then you'll keep doing it." Dawn countered.
"Whatever…you know no one is going to read a stupid advice column anyway…" she grumbled.
"We'll see." Dawn smirked teasingly. May rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Just send me a question from someone and I'll send my response."
"Sure thing. I'll do it right after cheer practice." Dawn promised. "See you tomorrow!"
"See ya…" May sighed as she watched her friend run off toward the gym. She loved having her best friend Dawn around, but sometimes that girl was way too energetic. May was a much quieter girl, though that wasn't by choice. She had a crippling shyness that made it difficult to even speak with anyone without tripping all over herself. So if it wasn't for Dawn, May probably wouldn't speak at all most days at school. Most of her peers didn't even know she existed at this school she was so quiet. She wished she could be bolder and more confident, but she had long accepted that such a life just wasn't in the cards for her. However, as she headed down another hallway towards the main doors, a new voice rang out from behind her.
"Heads up!" within a split second, a basketball hit May in the back, making her yelp and drop all of her materials onto the floor. She stumbled to her knees along with her stuff as two guys from her grade ran up to her. One was a taller guy with spiked brown hair and the other was a more well-built man with wild raven hair. The brown-haired guy ran after the ball that was bouncing away while the dark-haired one stopped next to May and knelt down to help her pick up her things.
"I'm really sorry about that. The ball just got away from us." he said with an apologetic smile. May rubbed the pain out of her back before looking up to respond. However, before she could, her eyes widened and she blushed at the sight of the very same boy she'd had a crush on for several years. Ash Ketchum, captain of the school's varsity basketball team. Ever since he first joined their grade back in elementary school, Ash had been the one person that May could never speak to. If she absolutely had to, she could at least speak a little to other people, but when it came to Ash she could never even find a greeting. And today was no exception.
"A...A…" she stammered, trying to find something, anything to say to him.
"Are you ok?" he asked, placing the books gently back into her arms. His hands brushed against her skin and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight as her entire body froze.
"I-I…"
"Ash come on! We're going to be late for practice!" his brown-haired friend suddenly yelled from down the hall, finally having caught up with their ball.
"I'm coming Gary sheesh!" Ash yelled back before returning his attention to the girl they had accidentally attacked. "I gotta go. Again I'm really sorry about this."
"I…" she squeaked so quietly it was hard to tell she was even talking. Giving her a half-hearted smile because he didn't know what else to do, Ash then ran off to rejoin Gary and the two bolted for the Gym, once again passing the ball between them as they went. Their departure left May alone in the hallway once again. She sighed sadly to herself and picked up the remainder of her things from the floor and then headed out of the building, beginning her walk back home.
Meanwhile, in the guy's locker room, Ash was getting into his practice uniform with his teammates. As usual, it was a chaotic scene, with chatter rising from every locker and basketballs being passed around in every direction. Once Ash had put his uniform on, he turned to the rest of the team with a smile.
"Alright, guys. Let's head out there and get to work! We got a big game coming up in a few weeks!"
"Let's get to it!" Gary cheered before he headed out to the court with the other guys. Just as Ash was about to follow and join them a pair of hands grabbed his arm from behind and yanked him into a bathroom stall as everyone else left. A girl from his grade with long brown hair and matching brown eyes locked the stall door and giggled, making Ash smile as he realized her identity.
"Hey Leaf." he chuckled.
"Hey yourself." she smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. Ash was quick to put his arms around her waist and he kissed her hungrily. Leaf happily kissed him back and the two shared an excited moan. She leaned into his body and he eagerly ran his hands up and down her back in a stroking fashion. After a few moments longer, Leaf slowly pulled her lips away for air and both of them softly panted.
"As much as I want to continue doing this with you babe, I do have a team to practice with you know." he reminded her playfully.
"I know I know. I just had to steal a kiss while I could. Which reminds me, are you picking up your sister after her practice today?" she wondered as she played with his hair.
"Of course. Why would today be any different than normal?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well…" she said slyly as she began to trace his chest through his uniform with her finger. "I had a lovely little surprise planned for you. And I wanted to share after your practice today…"
"Oh…?" Ash questioned as a blush crossed his cheeks.
"Yeah…" she teased as she continued playing with his shirt. "I really think we're ready to take things to the next level."
"I-I see…" Ash replied, his eyes widening in realization as his blush only grew deeper.
"But of course if you're too busy…" she hinted, her voice trailing off to continue to tease him.
"W-Well...I guess I could skip practice if you're offering what I think you're offering…" he studdered, still blushing.
"You'd skip practice to be with me?" she asked with a sly smile.
"Oh absolutely." he said with a small smirk of his own.
"Aw." she smiled with a peck of his lips. "Wait here for a few minutes and then meet me under the bleachers."
"See you there." he promised. Leaf smiled and snuck back out of the locker room before she snuck into the gym and ducked under the bleachers as the other boys played basketball out on the court. After waiting a few minutes, Ash carefully and without drawing attention to himself, ducked under the bleachers as well and move towards his girlfriend. When he arrived, however, his eyes went wide when he saw her standing under the bleachers, wearing only her underwear and bra. "Whoa…"
"You like your surprise?" she whispered, running a finger along his chin. Ash remained quiet in stunned silence, only able to nod his response which made Leaf giggle. "Then you better make sure we don't get caught by your teammates." with that she pulled him into an eager kiss and he wasted no time in getting down to business with her.
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, May had arrived back home and after a brief greeting to her mother, had gone up to her room. She dropped her bag on the floor and then sat on her bed, opening her laptop not long after. True to her word, Dawn had sent her a message with a question for the advice column from someone's screen name. May didn't know many of the screen names that her classmates used when online. Only Dawn's and a few select others. This was one of those others. She recognized the screen name as the one that belonged to Kenny Krempa, the main reason a girl like Dawn wanted anything to do with the school paper. With a heavy sigh, she opened the message and read it.
"Ok it's a little weird to be doing this but I'm desperate at this point. The thing is, I have a giant crush on this girl in my grade, but the problem is we've been best friends since kindergarten. And I'm worried that if I tell her how I feel I'll ruin that friendship. So what should I do?" the message explained. May couldn't help but roll her eyes. One of the only advantages to being so quiet was that she really knew how to read other people. The way they moved, looked at others, and even how they choose to dress. All of these things and more had always told May most of what she needed to know from these people. And because of that, she knew full well that Dawn did in fact return Kenny's feelings. And she had the same concerns as him when it came to taking things to the next level. Dawn had never outright told her this, but May still knew. But now came the hard part, actually responding to the message with some advice.
"I don't wanna do this…" she groaned. She buried her head in a pillow and cursed herself for agreeing to Dawn's request. It was then that she heard a knock at her door and her father walked in.
"May?" Norman Maple asked, surprised to see his daughter looking so distressed.
"What...?" she mumbled.
"Your Mom said that you seemed distracted when you came home earlier. So I'm just checking to see if you're okay." he explained, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
"No…I made a stupid deal with Dawn…" she groaned.
"What kind of deal?"
"I told her I'd anonymously write an advice column for the paper…" she clarified, keeping her head under the pillow.
"What's wrong with that? I think it's great that you're finally getting involved with something at school." Norman smiled.
"What's wrong is I can't even think of a name to write under, let alone any actual advice." she informed him, finally pulling her head out from under the pillow to face him.
"But you always give great advice Princess. After all, it was your advice that inspired me to open our gym. And now we're doing really well." he reminded her.
"Giving advice to my family or to my best friend is one thing. Giving advice to the same people I can't even talk to in the halls is another…" she countered.
"May…I know how scared things like this make you. But I really think this could be a way for you to start reaching out to people. In a way that helps everyone at the same time." he said, gently rubbing her back.
"I get that Dad…I just don't know how am I supposed to do this when I'm just…me…" she sighed.
"Just do your best on the paper Princess." Norman smiled as he stood up from the bed and headed for the door. May sighed and hid her face under the pillows again as he left, mulling over his words in her head. After she'd thought about it for a little while, she slowly lifted her head and looked back at her laptop, suddenly struck with an idea.
"Paper Princess huh…?" taking a deep breath, she finally managed to crack a small smile as she got back to work. "I suppose it's better than nothing."
Meanwhile across town, Ash pulled up to the Jr. High School in his car to pick up his little sister from her soccer practice. His hair was a bit messier than usual after his "special practice" he'd done earlier, but he'd always look roughed up after a hard practice so he was confident that no one would guess the true cause.
"Hi Ashy!" a voice called out to him. He glanced out the window and saw his little sister, Luna Ketchum, running towards him from the soccer fields. She had short black hair in a neat bob cut and the same brown eyes he had. Normally she wore a red stocking hat, but never during practice. Ash smiled at her as she hopped into the passenger's seat and buckled up.
"Hey sis." he greeted her as he began to pull out of the parking lot.
"Guess what!" she exclaimed excitedly, making Ash chuckle and tease her a little.
"Hmm…" he said, holding on his pause much longer than he needed to. "I give up. What is it?"
"Coach said I'm the best goalie on the team! And she says I can be the goalie for our big game next Friday!" she cheered.
"That's really great Luna! I'm sure you guys are going to kick some serious butt!" he grinned, obviously very proud of his sister. And the proud grin on her face told him she felt the same way.
"You think Mom's home yet?" she asked as Ash drove down the street toward their home.
"Probably not." he shrugged. Their Mom, Delia Ketchum, owned a restaurant in town that was quite popular. And as the hard worker she is, she often stayed from opening to closing in order to make sure everything was running smoothly. Unfortunately, as a result of this, she often wasn't around for her kids. So as they were growing up, Ash had stepped up to help take care of his little sister. Which of course brought the two siblings together in a very close bond.
"Well, I can't wait to tell her. Maybe she can take some time off so that she can come to the game." Luna suggested hopefully.
"I'm sure if she can, she will." he assured her.
"What about you?" she wondered.
"I'll be there for sure. Like I'd miss seeing you block those shots." he replied, giving her a thumbs up.
"Oh thank you Ashy!" she smiled as she wrapped him in a hug from the side. Ash smiled as he hugged her back as best he could with his free hand, careful to keep the car steady with the other. "I'll do my very best! You won't see one ball get by me!"
"And that's why you're the best." he responded with a wink. The two of them shared a smile before Luna let him go and settled back into her seat.
"So how was your day?" she asked.
"It was great. Heh. Really great actually." he admitted, blushing a little which caught Luna's attention immediately.
"Really? How so?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I…" he stammered, his blush growing a bit deeper. "I got to spend time with Leaf after school so that was nice."
"After school? Didn't you have practice?" she pointed out, causing Ash to realize his mistake too late. Luna always had a way of cutting through to the truth when it came to him. A side effect of the bond they had.
"I...may have skipped practice today to spend time with her…" he sheepishly admitted.
"You what?!" she gasped. "Ashy you're the captain! Your Coach is going to kill you!"
"Don't worry. I'll make sure I go to the next practice and work twice as hard." he promised.
"I hope so…" Luna sighed. "Sometimes I worry about you and her being together you know. This isn't the first time she's convinced you to make a questionable decision."
"Leaf can be a bit…stubborn I'll admit. But I really like her so please try to be nice ok?" Ash asked as they arrived back home.
"Yeah yeah I will." she replied as she grabbed her bag and hopped out of the car. He followed her lead and they headed inside. One quick look around the house confirmed that Delia was once again working late.
"No dice." Ash announced as he dropped his bag near the couch.
"Guess we're on our own for dinner again." the younger girl commented.
"Guess so. What should we make?" her brother asked.
"How about a pizza?" she suggested.
"Now that's a good idea." he smiled as he headed to the fridge and pulled out the necessary ingredients. "I'm thinking extra cheese."
"Now you're talking!" she giggled. Ash smiled at her and they both got to work putting their own personal-sized pizzas together.
Later that evening, Ash and Luna were relaxing together in the living room. Luna was on the couch working on her homework while Ash was watching a basketball game that was playing on TV from the recliner. Suddenly, they both heard the door open and looked up from their activities. In from the garage walked their mother Delia, looking very tired from a long day's work.
"Hey, Mom!" Luna smiled. Delia smiled tiredly at the two of them and set her purse down on the table.
"Hi kids…" she greeted as she walked to the living room and placed a kiss to each of their foreheads.
"Doing ok there Mom?" Ash asked, noticing her fatigue.
"I'm fine honey. Just a long day at the restaurant." she assured him.
"Mom! Guess what! Guess what!" Luna smiled eagerly, drawing their attention.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
"Coach said I'm the best goalie on the team and she says I can be the goalie for our big game next Friday!" she grinned.
"That's the big state game isn't it?" Delia confirmed.
"Sure is!" Luna happily nodded.
"Oh, honey that's wonderful! Congratulations!" the mother smiled as she hugged her daughter tightly, a hug which Luna was happy to return.
"Thanks!" she smiled back. "Will you be able to take off work and come watch?"
"I wish I could honey but I have to work a double at the restaurant that night. My sue chef is still on maternity leave and I have to cover for her. I'm sorry honey." Delia explained, making Luna's smile fade.
"Oh…okay…" she sighed. She understood of course, but it didn't mean she wasn't disappointed. Delia stroked her daughter's hair before turning to Ash.
"You're able to go aren't you Ash?"
"Yeah. Practice on Fridays is always short so I'll be able to get to the school before the game starts." he assured her.
"Will you be able to record the game for me so I can watch it when I get home?" she requested, earning a small smile from Ash.
"No problem Mom." he nodded.
"Thank you dear." she smiled as she gave him a hug. Ash hugged her back and Luna smiled, happy that Delia would at least see the game afterward.
"And with that settled, I think I'll head to bed for the night. I'll see you both in the morning." Delia announced, kissing each of them on the head before heading for the stairs.
"Night Mom." Ash replied as she headed up to her room. Luna sat back down on the couch and opened her book back up. Reading over a question briefly, she then turned to Ash.
"Hey Ashy?" she asked.
"Yeah?" he responded, looking over at her.
"Do you know anything about algebra?" she questioned him. "I'm stuck on this question."
"Heh. It's not my best subject but I'll take a look at it with you." he chuckled. He paused the game on the TV and moved to sit next to her. He read the question over her shoulder and the two began working through the question together.
To be Continued...