I have started writing this chapter today (5/29/14). My goal is to finish and post it with three days time or less. We'll see how I do. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter, especially those of you who commented on the loss of my best friend. Thank you.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
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Dear Kenny,
You were right. There certainly has been a lot of romantic drama between my friends and the guys we met. I think Misty and Ash will start officially dating any day now. May and Drew seem to be getting closer, though they claim to be "just friends". Unfortunately, Leaf and Gary don't seem to be doing so well. They were acting really distant last night and Leaf seemed to be edgy when we got back to the hotel room.
Dawn paused. She really wanted to tell Kenny about Paul. She still felt guilty for keeping the date a secret from him. And then there was the kiss. He was her boyfriend after all. He had a right to know that she had been somewhere with another guy - twice now if you counted the bowling session. But what if Kenny got mad? Or extremely jealous? He had nothing to be jealous of though. She hated Paul. Maybe she could just mention Paul. She could talk about how mean he is. Then at least Kenny would know about Paul's existence. But Dawn also knew that if she told Kenny about all the mean things Paul had been saying to her, he would get angry and probably do something stupid, even if he was a whole region away.
Dawn swallowed the bitter lump in her throat. She loved Kenny, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him about Paul. It was too risky. She had enough drama to deal with between her arguments with Paul and her three friends' love problems. She hated keeping secrets from Kenny, but in a month and a couple more weeks they would all be going home and it wouldn't matter anymore.
I miss you so much, Kenny. You have no idea how much I wish I could hug you right now and just... be held by you. I wish I could kiss you, breathe you in, feel you. These past few weeks have been hard enough. I can't believe I have to go over a month more without you. When I come back at the end of July, I'm going to be so happy to see you.
Love, Dawn
Dawn clicked send and then shut off her laptop. Leaf was snoring in the other bed, and May was lying beside her with drool running down her face. Misty was gone. Dawn heard her get up and leave. She didn't know where her friend was going, but she decided not to interrupt her when she left. Misty was by far the strongest of all of them. She often had days where she secluded herself. The girl was daring. A bit of a loner. Dawn could picture her now, standing on the edge of a cliff and wanting to jump down into the soft sand that would keep her from being hurt. The rest of them would never do something like that.
The sun was just beginning to shine through the window. May would sleep for at least another hour. Leaf would be up soon to get ready for the marine biology lecture she and Gary had to attend today. Dawn knew Leaf was excited for the lecture. They were going to go out to the ocean and do experiments with the wildlife there.
Dawn opened her laptop again. She remembered something that she wanted to do. She wanted to find out more about Paul. She typed his name into the search engine. Several results came up for Paul Stone. She mentally cheered when she located his profile on Pokeball, a social media site. She browsed through the boring information she already knew. Paul Stone, 17 years old, Veilstone City, male, straight... Name, rank and serial number so far.
"Ahah! There's his family!" Dawn whispered excitedly. Reggie Stone and Eric Stone. Reggie looked like he was in his twenties. Eric looked like he was Paul's father. So wait, no mother? Hmm...
"What are you doing? Stalking Paul on the internet?"
Dawn screamed in surprise, causing May to let out a tired moan. "Arceus, Leaf, you scared the heck out of me!" Dawn's face flushed in anger and embarrassment. She had been caught creeping onto Paul's social media. She slammed her laptop shut and clutched it to her chest.
"Why are you internet stalking Paul?" Leaf asked. A mischievous grin emerged slowly onto her face. "Are you cheating on Kenny with him?" she joked.
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Well you're obviously feeling better," she said.
"I don't think any girl would date Paul unless she was part zombie or something," May yawned. "What's for breakfast? Toast? Cereal? No. Eggs. Eggs with bacon. Yummmmm."
Dawn and Leaf stared at her. "What?" she said innocently.
"Where's Misty?" Leaf asked, letting Dawn off the hook. The bluenette was relieved.
"She left earlier. You know how she is."
"Maybe she snuck out to meet Ash somewhere," May said slyly. The three girls giggled.
"Maybe they're meeting in a different hotel room."
"To make babies!"
The girls burst into laughter. The thought was so ridiculous that it was hilarious. Leaf went into the bathroom while May and Dawn got themselves some breakfast. There was indeed eggs and bacon. Dawn just had eggs, and no bacon, which made May happy because that meant she could have more of the bacon.
Dawn relaxed and hummed a song as she ate. It always felt nice to laugh with her friends. When she was with them, she could forget about everything else. She could forget about keeping secrets from Kenny and seeing the rage in Paul's eyes. She could be care-free, even if it was only temporary.
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Misty breathed in the sharp scent of salt water. She stood on the shore in her bathing suit, her small bag sitting in the sand beside her. There was no one else out here. No one to see her if she drowned, but that's the way she liked it.
She had come out early today. She needed to. She felt like there was something building up inside of her. Something caused by the conflict in her heart. There was war going on in there, a war between the part of her that resisted having anything to do with Ash and the part of her that desperately wanted him. She was sure that if she didn't do something to release the tension, she would explode. So she would swim. She would dive into the water that she loved so much and release that energy.
Misty pulled a pair of goggles out of her bag. She put them on, and then walked to the edge of the water. She waded out until her feet no longer touched the bottom. The water was cold and invaded every inch of her skin with chills. She relished the feeling. She thought it was somehow lovely that there was no way to escape the discomfort accept to embrace it until it went away. Out a little ways was a rock. She swam to it in slow, lazy strokes. When she reached it, she pulled herself up out of the water and onto it. She looked back to the beach, which was now a good ways away. Now it was time to swim hard. She balanced herself at the very edge of the rock. The ocean was deep enough here. She would swim parallel to the shore from here. Going out farther would increase her chances of being caught in a rip tide or finding some other kind of danger. While she liked the danger of swimming alone, she wasn't stupid.
Three, two, one.
She dived gracefully off of the rock, a skill she had mastered through several years of swim team, and began to swim at full force. She felt the strength of her body as she propelled herself through the water. The liquid moved against her with a challenging feeling. When she swam, she was constantly moving against something, fighting against a physical enemy who was not human.
Misty swam until her muscles burned. She stopped only when she had just enough energy to make it back to the shore. She treaded water for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Slowly, she swam back towards the beach. The rock she had started on was far away now, only a speck in the distance.
On the sand, she felt like she weighed 500 pounds. She loved the lightness she felt when she was in the water, but the heaviness she felt when she came out was always the worst feeling in the world to her.
Her legs were tired, and walking on sand isn't exactly fun when your legs are tired. Up ahead she could see that someone was standing next to her bag. Her heart fluttered a bit. It must be Ash looking for her. Suddenly, she didn't mind the aching in her legs. She began to run towards him, eager to meet him in an embrace.
A smile broke out on her face. This was a great morning. Swimming and Ash! So perfect together! Suddenly, she stopped as though she had hit a brick wall. That person standing there... It wasn't Ash at all. It was Rudy. She could see his brown hair and square shoulders now that she was only a few yards away.
"When it came to swimming, you always were fun to watch," he said.
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"You may release one of your pokemon if you wish," said the professor. "Today we will be observing water pokemon in their natural habitat: the ocean. Also, we will be testing water samples and plant samples. Why don't you work in groups of two and search for some plant samples to start off with? Meet back at the shore in ten minutes or so. That's where all the equipment is set up."
"Want to be partners?" Gary asked Leaf. He asked it so plainly that she almost thought it was someone else who had asked her.
"Sure," she answered. Gary hadn't flirted with her after the conversation they had had last night. And he wasn't flirting now. She felt disappointed. She hadn't even realized how much she enjoyed his attention.
"Go, Blastoise!" Gary yelled, releasing his Pokemon into the water.
"Horsea, come on out!" Leaf said. The two pokemon seemed happy to be in the water. They swam off to play with the other pokemon that had been released by the students.
Leaf and Gary waded side by side, neither one of them able to say anything. Leaf's throat felt dry. Why had she said those things to him last night? She didn't even mean them. In all honesty, she was interested in Gary. Why had she told him she wasn't. She couldn't take it back now. It would be too weird. And it would also involve confessing her true feelings to him, which she couldn't allow herself to do.
If you change your mind, you choose to be with him. You know you can't be with him. Not when you go back to Shinnoh. You would have to break up with him at the end of the summer, and that might hurt him a little, but it would completely crush you.
The problem was, Gary fascinated her. He was fun to flirt with, because when they were flirting they were arguing. It was a battle of wits, and intricate dance of verbal blows to the ego. He was smart, a worthy opponent for such a contest. Leaf had flirted with other guys before. She had found it boring. Gary was an even match, and that made him incredibly interesting. Then there was that time at the music store, when they had played together and felt such a musical chemistry that they both became lost in the melody.
But in spite of all those good things, what did Gary really boil down to? He was conceited, but so was she. He could be a jerk sometimes, but so could she. He stared at the boobs of some sl*ut at the club. Maybe that was all that he really was. A pervert. If she let herself fall for him, she would probably be constantly disappointed by his roaming eyes and flirtatious behavior towards other women. This was the lie she would tell herself, because it was a lie laced in truth. It was easy to believe, because he had claimed to like her now, and yet he had drooled over the blue-haired girl like she was his to ogle.
Leaf knew she could avoid falling for Gary if she believed he couldn't be committed. What she couldn't do was lose him completely. So she needed to make him want to stay her friend. She needed to show him that he could still enjoy her, even from that friend zone.
"Do you want to go to the music shop after this?" she asked him as they searched the ocean floor for plant life.
Gary's eyes glittered with interest, and a hint of suspicion.
"Yes," he answered.
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Paul knocked on the apartment door. He had met a guy at the club last night after Dawn had finally left him alone. This was what he had been needing. He hadn't anticipated finding someone so soon after they arrived, but last night must have been his lucky night.
The door cracked open, and one amber eye stared at him through the gap. The door shut again and the sound of a chain being removed was heard. The door swung open again and the guy motioned for him to come in.
Once the door was shut behind him, the guy spoke. "Didn't think you'd come by so soon. Glad to see you though." Paul only grunted in response. "Not much for talking, huh? I get it. You just want to get down to business. Fine by me."
The guy disappeared into another room while Paul waited. Soon he returned, holding a small bag with joints in it. Marijua*na. (not sure about that word).
"How much?" Paul asked.
"You're a first time customer. Twenty bucks will do this time, but next time it will be thirty-five."
Paul grunted again as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. He pulled out a twenty and gave it to the guy in exchange for the bag.
"Thanks for the business. Hope I see you again," the guy said as Paul turned to leave.
"You probably will," he answered. Paul headed down the sidewalk and found an alley. He pulled the bag from his pocket and opened it. He hadn't been able to take any of his stash from home with him on the plane, so his body was craving the drug. In a matter of minutes, he was smoking a joint, and he felt more relaxed than he had in a few weeks. The line between feeling normal and feeling stoned began to blur and shift. This was where he went when he was upset. This was his escape.
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And there's where we're leaving it this time! Lots of new drama added this chapter! I hope you liked it :) Please review! With the plot twists in this chapter, I bet you guys will have some pretty interesting comments and I can't wait to read them!