So this has been a super stressful week for me. First, I had finals which sucked so much I wanted to cry. After finals, I literally came home and crashed on the bed and did nothing but sleep for 14 hours straight. Then I woke up and decided it was time to update since I've kept you guys waiting for so long (Sorry about that by the way, but I know you guys understand.) (hopefully). I hope this chapter pleases you and I know I might have mentioned something about contestshipping coming up soon, and it kind of sort of does in this chapter. Not really. Sorry. Next chapter though, definitely I'll make May and Drew do something!

But in the meantime, enjoy what I have. Cuz it took me a hella lot of time to write it.

Thanks for reading!

Leaf sat in the corner of the club on a plush couch, alone with a suspiciously pink drink in her hand. Her legs were crossed, her dark green eyes narrowed, and her foot was tapping along to the beat of the song blasting through the third floor of Starfall. She took her first tentative sip of the drink, realizing it was most likely alcoholic.

A brief image of Misty's angry face popped up in her mind before she pushed the image away and downed the glass. She would most likely need it. She glanced to the other corner of the club where Gary already had three different girls practically jumping on him.

Leaf grit her teeth and rolled her eyes as they met Gary's. She could see Gary frown, mutter something to the three giggling idiots, and start to walk towards her.

"Leafy! Come dance with me." Gary said as he approached the highly annoyed brunette. Leaf rolled her eyes again.

"Hm, let me think... no."

Gary pouted and sat next to her, childishly and dramatically crossing his arms.

"Why are you so mean to me Leaf, I'm only trying to make you feel included."

Leaf snorted out a laugh.

"Included with what? Them?" She tilted her glass towards the three girls who had previously been clinging to him. They were now onto a different guy, who was attractive but looked really awkward.

Gary darted his eyes over to the three and back at Leaf. His face broke out into a grin.

"Oh I get it, you're jealous."

Leaf's could feel her ears pink and she willed her face not to start blushing. She was a little jealous, if she was being completely honest with herself. But would she ever let Gary know that? Never. She would rather shove a pine cone down her throat. Instead, she punched him in the shoulder and glared.

"I am not jealous of anyone. I just wonder what they see in you because all I see is an unfaithful idiot." She thought she had mumbled the last part quietly but a sort of look of hurt flashed through Gary's brown eyes that made her feel instantaneously sorry.

"Hey, hey hold up." Gary said, his face serious. "No matter how many girls I've been with, I've never cheated on anyone."

Leaf refused to meet his eyes. She knew. She knew that he wouldn't actually cheat on anyone and that he wasn't as bad of a person as she was making him out to be in her mind. But she also knew that she had to go through hell for more than five years, watching a different girl cling to him every week. She tried to push him away but he was like a barnacle that just refused to get off, no matter how much she kicked him away. Most of all, she felt like he had been cheating her. Ever since they had become friends in elementary school, she was the one to get jealous and he was the one to laugh it off.

Then the idea hit her.

It was time to give Gary a taste of his own medicine.

"Leafy?" Gary waved a hand in front of Leaf's face and she was snapped back from her thoughts. She turned to Gary and gave him a sweet smile, almost too sweet.

"You know Gary, that guy over there looks really nice, I think I'm going to go talk to him."

With that she stood up and tried to walk without her legs shaking, which was proving to be a challenge. This was probably not a good idea, using another guy to get someone jealous.

'It's just for tonight.' Leaf reminded herself. Of course, the plan was still assuming that Gary was the same as he was in 6th grade when a guy had asked her to dance at their black and white ball. The poor guy went to school with a black eye the next day and that was when Leaf had realized she might have a thing for Gary. She was still friends with a whole ton of guys but none of them even dared to venture beyond the "bro-zone" after receiving glares from a certain auburn-haired boy all throughout middle school.

But now, this was a step. No longer would Leaf be the only one jealous. No longer would she be the one staring from the sidelines. And no longer would she be the only one hurt on this roller coaster ride of a relationship, or lack thereof, she had with Gary.

Or the plan could horribly fail and she would spend the rest of her life in a convent, never again to experience love.

Leaf tried not to think about that.

"Hey." Leaf said a little awkwardly to the guy she had just approached. The guy who had just managed to shake off the three girls who were now flocking back to Gary.

"Hey." The guy smiled at her. On closer inspection, the guy really was attractive.

'But not Gary attractive' a little voice in her head whispered to her, like the devil. She felt like smacking her head on the table. Now was not the time.

After Leaf managed to compose herself, she realized the conversation had lulled into an awkward silence. As many guy friends as the brunette had, she didn't know how to talk to guys. Guys always sort of just talked to her. And how was she supposed to start a conversation with a guy who she probably wouldn't see after tonight anyways?

Hey I'm Leaf and if you don't mind I'd like you to pretend to like me so my best friend will be jealous.

No. That would make her sound like such a bitch.

"Um, I'm Leaf, hi!" Great, now Leaf sounded too perky. That was Dawn's thing and not many people could pull it off without sounding like a fake.

Fortunately, the guy just kept smiling and didn't seem to notice the awkwardness.

"I'm Kyle, nice to meet you." He held out a hand for Leaf to shake. Leaf just stared at it, unsure of what to do. Should she play it cool like she did with other guys? Or was there a completely different code for guys you wanted to use to get someone jealous?

To Leaf's horror, Kyle retracted his hand after an awkward minute of it just hanging there. On reflex, she grabbed it and shook it just as awkwardly. Kyle laughed.

"Sorry, I thought a handshake was too awkward. I'm not really good at this." He admitted, rubbing his neck sheepishly. Leaf smiled up at him.

"It's okay, neither am I."

"Really? You seemed pretty good with that guy over there." Kyle pointed over to where Gary was. Leaf shrugged.

"He's...you know what let's just not talk about him."

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"It's complicated." Leaf peeked up at Kyle and smiled mischievously. "Why, you jealous?"

"Just a little." Kyle smiled down at her. She kind of stared at him and pinked.

"O-oh."

"Not the answer you were expecting?" Kyle laughed, running a hand through his black hair, his green eyes twinkling.

"Not at all." Leaf admitted.

"Well, how about we go upstairs, there's a really cool bar and I'd like to get to know you." Kyle held out his hand and this time Leaf took it. As they headed over to the stairs, she spared one glance back at Gary. He looked about ready to murder.

Leaf smirked a little on the inside.

'This might be kind of fun.'

May stared up at the building that looked like it had been hit with a ton of comets. For some reason it made her more nervous than she had been when Dawn proposed this outrageous plan to her in the first place. Okay, so maybe this plan wasn't as dangerous as May was feeling like it was, but May didn't do parties. She didn't exactly dislike them, she just didn't go to them. At all.

Which put her in the same antisocial position that Paul was in, at least in Dawn's mind.

But May was content just being at home, reading a nice book or watching a movie and eating bag after bag of Hot Cheetos as opposed to actually talking to people. Yuck.

May was content with exchanging a few words with people here and there. She wasn't considered antisocial or even socially awkward. The young brunette prided herself in being an introvert; a person who could handle social situations if they were fully charged with energy and ready to go.

May was not fully charged and she most certainly wasn't ready to go.

And she somehow knew that this party would turn out badly for her, in one way or another.

"Helloooo, earth to May, stop freaking out, it's a club not hell." Dawn nudged the brunette with her elbow and May snapped out of her trance.

"Can I please just drive back home?" May turned to Dawn pleadingly. Dawn crossed her arms and looked at her sternly.

"You know May, you've barely been around Paul and he's rubbing off on you already..."

"Cool beans, can I have the car keys now?" May replied, unfazed and holding a hand out. Dawn slapped her hand away and turned to full-on glare at her.

"No, you can't. I swear to God May, I will burn every single book you own if you don't spend at least an hour being a teenager."

May sighed and took her hand back. It was no use arguing with the stubborn blunette and she was far too tired for this.

"So how do you plan to get in?"

Dawn smirked and whipped out her pink cell phone. Her manicured nails clacked on the screen as she dialed a number and held it up to her ear.

"Hey, I'm here, come out."

May rubbed her arms in an effort to warm up. Whoever Dawn knew inside the club was taking their damn sweet time.

"No, I'm not an idiot, and stop being such a jerk or I'll tell the whole school-" Dawn whispered the rest into the speaker and May started to get a little scared.

"Kay, cool, be quick or else." Dawn said in her signature perky way that sounded more scary than cute in that context. Dawn hung up and hummed in content.

"Who did you call, Leaf?"

"No, of course not! This is supposed to be a surprise, duh!"

May eyed her warily. The blunette had a glint in her eye and May knew from experience that that never ended well.

"Um, who did you call then?" May tried again.

"They're called connections, girl, maybe if you weren't such a recluse you would have some too." Dawn snapped, obviously upset with May. She winced a little from the insult.

"Hey, just cause I happen to like fictional people a little better than real people doesn't make me a recluse."

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Yeah tell me that when you start talking to someone other than your Harry Potter posters." Dawn gave May a once over, "And when you manage to come to a club dressed properly." Dawn pointed to May's outfit. She hadn't bothered to wear a dress and, instead, came in her original outfit of skinny jeans and a green sleeveless top.

"You're lucky you even got me in heels, Dawn, don't push it." May muttered, quickly tying her hair back into a ponytail. Dawn pouted.

"You can look good for the both of us." May said, glancing at Dawn's outfit. In just under an hour, the blunette had dug out a soft pink halter dress that ended mid thigh and she had twisted her hair up into a fancy looking bun.

"Whatever. Damn, what is taking him so long?" Dawn said, stomping her foot. Both girls were shivering in the unforgiving January night. Right on cue, the doors slid open and out walked...

Paul Shinji.

May's eyes bugged out. It had to be some sort of coincidence. There was no way the guy that Dawn had a mutual hate relationship with would ever-

"Great, Troublesome brought a friend." Paul muttered, not so quietly. He grabbed Dawn by the hand and started to pull her into the club.

"They're with me." Paul said to the guards on either side of him. They just nodded at him briefly and went back to standing in their rigid positions.

"Paul was your connection? Paul, how were you even invited?" May asked once they got inside. She quickly realized how rude it sounded and apologized profusely to the plum haired boy. Paul's permanent scowl deepened but he sighed out a reply after May's obviously sincere apology.

"I have connections."

"See May, even Paul has more friends than you do." Dawn smirked at May's pinking face and Paul's sharp glare that was now directed towards Dawn.

"I swear, Troublesome, only you would crash a party three hours late."

"Actually, it's been 2 hours and 55 minutes. There's a huge difference." Dawn stated matter-of-fact. Paul just scoffed.

"This is why you're failing math..."

Dawn pinked. "Hey, you're my math tutor and my grade hasn't gotten better. What does that say about you?"

"It says that I'm a great teacher and you're just too-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" Dawn interrupted, her face pink. May watched the exchange with amusement. That had to have been the most she had ever heard Paul speak. And was Dawn blushing?

"Well, you two lovebirds can keep going, I'll be in the restroom." May said, excusing herself from the scene but not before Dawn yelled at her for calling them lovebirds. The brunette chuckled as she exited the hallway and headed towards a set of double doors. The minute she opened them, she regretted it. Right in front of her, a complete party scene was unfolding. People drinking, girls flirting, and loud music blasting through the speakers.

May quickly wove her way through a crowd of riled up, drunk teenagers and found a nice couch in the corner of the club to sit on. Right after she sat, she sighed. She looked around the room. The club really was nice and the music was exciting, not obnoxious like she had initially thought it was. In a completely different situation, May might have been able to enjoy herself. But it was completely awkward for her since she was sitting alone, sandwiched between some random strangers.

And all of a sudden, everything stopped.

It didn't even make sense to her, how suddenly it came. But as soon as May knew it, she was back in time 5 years.

"May, come on, we're going to be late! I have to take your sister to piano." A woman tapped her foot impatiently, obviously annoyed and constantly checking the time. A twelve-year old girl emerged from the tall door, holding a ponytail holder in one hand and her hair in the other.

"Coming Mom!" She said cheerfully, "You can drop Val off first if it's more convenient."

The woman gave the girl a glance and the corners of her mouth turned down slightly. The girl pretended not to notice and just kept smiling.

"Hey, is she okay?"

May felt herself shake uncontrollably and kneel on the ground. People were starting to surround her.

"Mom, where's Val? My performance starts in ten minutes!"

"Valerie has things to take care of. You're not the only pianist in the house May. She also has dance and violin, this isn't as important as her future." The woman spoke sternly. May frowned.

"That's not fair."

"May-" The woman warned, glaring at the twelve-year old.

"What? It isn't fair! You guys always pay more attention to her!" May pouted. "You know sometimes I wish she would stop being so-"

Tears started to roll out of May's eyes, each teardrop falling to the floor and shattering into a tiny explosion of water. She put a shaking hand to her mouth.

"No...I didn't mean to say that." She whispered to no one. By then the music had stopped playing and the regular lights had been turned on. The crowd around her grew, filling each second with another person wondering what was happening.

May didn't even know what was happening. Why was it happening to her now?

Suddenly, May felt herself being pulled up by a hand. In a blur of nothing but color and sound she was led out of the room and into a quieter room that looked like a hotel lobby. The hand gently sat her down onto a plush couch and she felt the person, whoever it was, leave the room.

After the person came back into the room with a glass of water, May looked up and registered who was helping her.

Her blue eyes widened.

"Drew?!" Misty asked incredulously. "Drew Hayden owns Starfall?"

"Yeah, that's how I got invited. I actually helped him plan this party." Ash replied, taking a sip of his drink (which Misty had checked three billion times to make sure it was alcohol-free)

The two were heading up to the fifth floor when Ash had decided to stop at the fourth floor for one of Starfall's famous virgin drinks. Misty had sighed but went along with it and discovered that she may have found her new favorite drink.

"So you two are close then?" The redhead asked, downing her fourth glass.

Ash shrugged. "I guess you could say that. I've known him since kindergarten and we're in the same dorm house. He's one of my closest friends." He took a drink from his second glass. "That guy is so famous though that it's kind of like sharing your best friend with everyone else in the school."

Misty snorted. "I know how that feels. My friend Dawn knows so many people it's like she isn't even with us most of the time. But when she is, it's like there really is no one else she'd rather be with."

Ash chuckled a little and stood up from the bar stool.

"I never thought about it like that. But I guess it's true. Me, Drew, and these two other guys have been friends with each other for as long as we can remember so I'd like to think that we're still close, even though we all know so many people."

Misty smiled, also standing up and straightening out her dress.

"So, let's go see this famous fifth floor you're so excited about."

Ash's eyes widened as if he'd forgotten all about the fifth floor.

"Oh yeah! I was going to take you up there wasn't I? Let's go!" Ash grabbed her hand yet again and pulled Misty up another flight of stairs. The redhead resisted the urge to face palm. This guy was a serious idiot.

"Here we are!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, opening a set of double doors at the top of the dark stairs.

Once he had opened the doors, Misty realized why this room was his favorite. All of the walls were made of glass and the entire night sky was exposed for everyone to see. Slow music was playing in a small corner of the room and the floor was designed so it looked like they weren't on a floor; they were in a sea of stars. People were either chatting quietly or dancing slowly together on the almost magical floor.

"I can see why you like this floor so much." Misty stared up in awe at all the stars in the sky. Why had she never stopped to notice them before?

"We're lucky the sky isn't cloudy today. It wouldn't have been so-"

"Magical." Misty cut ash off, still staring at the stars. Ash smiled at her.

"Exactly."

The two just stood there for a long time, staring at the walls until Misty spoke up.

"So, are we just going to spend the whole night staring at the sky, or do you want to actually do something?"

"Oh yeah! I was going to ask you to do something." Ash's face turned into a look of contemplation and Misty almost laughed. She wasn't the dancing kind of girl, but after that night she wouldn't have minded dancing with Ash.

The guy sure was taking a long time asking her though.

Misty rolled her eyes when he deflated, as if not remembering what he was about to ask.

"You were going to ask me to dance, right?"

Ash's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! So will you?"

Misty just rolled her eyes again and dragged the boy to the dance floor.

Oh my gosh, that was a freaking long chapter. Actually not really. I don't even know guys, my brain is fried from finals week. Since it's summer I might be able to update more often, if plot bunnies allow.

Until then,

CIAO!

Snow