Dee.
Aftermath.
A few weeks later, all of us, Amber's family included, headed southward for Lake Valor, the Grand Festival, and the wedding.
My mother's wedding was...beautiful.
Grandpa came all the way from Canalave City to walk her down the aisle, and Mom looked positively radiant. She had borrowed Mrs. Annie's wedding dress, and it fit perfectly, and Mrs. Annie had teased Mom's hair up into a bun and did her makeup so well, Mom looked almost five years younger.
This was Mom's first wedding; mine and Tess' father was going to marry her after he found out Mom was pregnant, but walked out on her after they had seen the first or second ultrasound. Heartless bastard.
But Palmer went all the way through with it, he said his vows and he married my mother and they kissed. It was a beautiful ceremony.
And Barry and Michelle, they made the cutest ringbearer and flower girl. Barry kept complaining that he was too old to be a ringbearer, but a couple of cookies that I snuck in shut him up pretty fast.
Everybody had a great time at the reception. The little kids had gone to bed early, but we hardly even noticed.
Just like literally everybody expected, Riley and Amber danced together all night long. Even slow dances. Riley had just gotten the cast off and probably should've stopped every once in a while to rest his leg, but he just didn't. Although, I did catch him popping a few pain pills before we all went to bed.
Tess and Flint danced, and I'll admit, I did manage to drag Volkner out after a while of sulking in the corner. But, I definitely kept my eye on that scheming redhead; God so help him if he had tried to make any moves on my little sister.
[Dee, I keep telling you, I'm not so little anymore...and I wasn't then, either!]
Still, you get it.
A few days after the wedding was over, the Grand Festival began, and I blew out in the second battle round, to a girl with a Meditite using an all-fighting moveset...just like my first contest. How ironic. Bet it was the same bitch, too, although I was never good with names, so I don't remember.
Then, things got depressing...I had been planning on going with Tess to Hoenn, where contests had first began. Amber agreed right away to go with us, but when she asked Riley about it...
"...I'm so sorry..." He had already started planning to go to a different region with Flint and Volkner. Some crazy-ass, faraway place called Unova.
Neither of them had any intention of changing plans. So, in August, at the end of summer, we all left, Amber with me and Tess, and Riley with Flint and Volkner. So, instead, Riley and Amber agreed to keep in touch by Pokegear, which they did...at first.
The time difference between the regions was crazy. Whenever one would call, the other would be asleep, or eating dinner, or whatever. Then suddenly, after a few months, Riley stopped picking up.
What broke my heart was when Amber stopped calling. She'd tried asking Volkner first, then Flint, but they had lost all track of Riley in a place called Castelia City and hadn't seen him in a while...
Amber Lynn Daniels, my best friend who was barely fourteen, was completely heartbroken over actually physically losing her first crush. We had to stop in Slateport City for a while before she would even get out of bed, she was just so damn depressed.
I had never made a claim to like Riley, but in the weeks and months and years to follow, I hated him with a burning passion I hadn't known my icy heart could feel. They had spent so long bonding and flirting(Mrs. Annie even thought he was charming, for chrissakes!), and now Riley was suddenly MIA.
I hated him so much for hurting Amber like he did. I wanted to kick him in his family jewels. I wanted to break his ribs again, except every single one of them instead of only three, to make him feel just as much pain as Amber had.
[J-Jesus Christ, Dee...you make me sound like a devilspawn...and you sound like a serial killer.]
For that douchey move, in my eyes, you were! Amber was just fourteen, for chrissakes, and she talked about being in love with you!
[D-Dee! Stop talking about me l-like some kind of lovesick puppy!]
Sorry, guess I got excited. Apparently, I have very strong feelings about this.
I suppose our time's about up, huh, Kenny? Drew over there is getting a little...twitchy. I can see it, Four-Eyes.
[No, I'm not, shut up. I'm just sick of having to keep my trap shut.]
{Is that all that the six of you-er, however many there are-have to tell? That's relevant?}
Definitely. All the holes we have in our part of the story, these kids can more than fill with theirs.
{Then, I suppose the first half of this is over...Natalie, Drew, Dan, nothing appears to have picked back up with Team Galactic until you three arrived in Sinnoh. Take a minute, decide who wants to speak first, while I get a new tape to record with.}
AOF: To everybody who's stuck with Remembered since the beginning, thank you so very much for your support!
AOF: To continue reading and see about the "second half" of this story, stay tuned to my account!