The next morning, before Ash had even come fully into the school, Gary appeared before him and threw a basketball at him.
"Ash think fast!"
"Ack!" Ash yelped as he barely managed to catch the ball after it him in the chest. He shot Gary a small glare as his friend laughed. "Gary!"
"Not a bad catch. Considering you skipped practice yesterday." the brown-haired friend pointed out with a smirk.
"Oh great…" Ash groaned, realizing Luna wasn't the only one who could totally bust him.
"You want to tell me why you did before coach kills you?" he offered, taking the ball back from Ash. The team captain sighed and knew he had to come clean to save his skin.
"Leaf came in and snagged me when all of you went into the gym. We…just spent some time together."
"Man, that girl is sneaky."
"I know but I love her. So watch it." Ash warned him as the two of them started heading for their lockers.
"Yeah yeah I know. Hey speaking of girls, have you seen everyone gawking at the paper today?" Gary wondered, catching Ash's attention.
"The paper? Since when does anyone in this school care about the school paper?" he questioned his friend.
"Since this morning." Gary answered, nodding his head down the hall where both of them could see several dozen students reading copies of the school paper. "From what I've overheard there's some kind of new advice column that people are getting into."
"Then I guess we'd better check it out." Ash shrugged as he walked over and grabbed himself a copy of the school paper from a nearby rack. Gary looked over his shoulder and they read the new advice column, labeled with the header "Ask Paper Princess".
"Dear Paper Princess, 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 first part of the article read. The response to the question was listed below under the screen name "Paper Princess".
"This is something you just don't need to overthink. If this girl really is your best friend, then I don't think feeling something more for her is a bad thing. And I don't think she will either. If you really do feel something strongly for her, then tell her. You may be surprised at her answer." Paper Princess replied, ending the message with a smiling emoji.
"Hey, I think that's pretty cool of this girl." Ash smiled, seemingly approving of the advice she'd given to the person who asked the question.
"The girl certainly can give some good advice I'll give her that. But who is she? Why write under a pen name?" Gary questioned his friend.
"I'm not sure. If I gave advice like that I don't think I'd be writing under an alias. But I guess it's kinda fun to do it this way." Ash replied as he looked down the hall, noticing several groups of students chatting among themselves about the article and who the mystery writer could be. "And I guess that idea is unanimous among the students."
"I suppose so. I'm curious how long it will last. Been a long time since a genuine mystery happened at this school." Gary nodded. It was at that moment that another brunette walked over and joined the two boys.
"Hey boys." Leaf greeted them.
"Oh hey, babe." Ash replied, looking up from the paper once he heard her voice. Leaf smiled and pecked his lips, which he was quick to reciprocate as he put an arm around her waist.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked.
"Just looking at the paper. Have you read this new advice column?" he asked, showing her the article. Leaf took a brief moment to read it, then shrugged.
"What's the big fuss about?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't think it's kinda cool that someone is putting so much thought into helping other people?" he wondered, tilting his head with a hint of surprise.
"People are perfectly capable of dealing with their own problems. They don't need to publish them for some stranger to answer." she countered with a roll of her eyes.
"Even if you're not into the advice, isn't it kinda cool that someone is writing for the paper and no one knows who she is? It's rare that someone has a real secret in a school like this. I'd like to know who she is." Gary suggested with a smile.
"It doesn't matter who she is. People will get bored of it pretty quickly. You watch." Leaf countered.
"Well, I certainly hope you're wrong for once babe. I think it's really cool that someone wants to help other people this way." Ash commented, folding up the paper and putting it in his bag. Leaf gave another roll of her eyes and then pecked his lips again.
"Don't think too much about it baby. You've got a game to win soon right?" she pointed out, changing the subject.
"Yeah and speaking of games, I'm gonna be busy next Friday." he replied, remembering that he needed to let her know about his upcoming schedule.
"Oh?" she wondered.
"After practice, I have to go to Luna's big soccer game and record it. So we won't be able to hang out after practice that day." he explained. Leaf simply gave a shrug and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Well then I better soak up all the Ash time I can before then." she teased before pulling him into another kiss. Ash kissed her back without hesitation and a shared moan passed between them before they each pulled away for air and a smile crossed Leaf's face. "I gotta run. See you at lunch."
"See you then." he replied, also smiling. And with that Leaf headed off to class, leaving Ash and Gary on their own once again. Gary rolled his eyes at his best friend and groaned slightly.
"How you two haven't been busted for too much PDA yet is beyond me."
"Jealous much?" Ash smirked as he got his books from his locker before closing it up.
"Hey, Zoey and I are doing great for your information. I don't need your girl when I got one like that." Gary countered as he grabbed his own things.
"Yeah yeah sure." Ash teased him, earning himself a shove from his best friend, leaving the two boys chuckling at one another.
"I gotta get to class. I'll catch ya later Captain." he said, giving Ash a small salute.
"See ya." Ash replied, returning the salute. And with a shared smile, the two each headed off to their respective classes.
Meanwhile, only a hallway or two away from the boys, May walked in the school's front door, fully prepared for another quiet and typical day. However, what she was not prepared for was the sight of everyone reading the school paper and chatting about it in groups around the halls. She stood still near the door, completely stunned until Dawn noticed her and walked towards her.
"Dawn what's going on…?" May asked, gesturing to the people all around them reading the paper.
"Everyone is reading the advice column that "Paper Princess" did. And they're really liking it." Dawn explained.
"Wait what? How is that possible?" she asked, her eyes widening.
"From what I've heard people really like that someone seems to care so much about their problems and helping them through it. And the added dose of identity mystery seems to be helping too." Dawn explained with a proud smile.
"You have got to be kidding me…" May groaned, her shoulders slumping down.
"I told you people would love it." Dawn grinned before lowering her voice. "And since you lost the bet, you have to keep writing."
"Dawn please don't make me do this…" May pleaded, also keeping her voice low.
"Sorry, but you can't back out now. People will want more. Especially after how well this one worked out." she hinted, winking in a way that caught May's attention.
"Wait what do you mean…?" she asked curiously.
"Kenny and I are officially an item!" Dawn happily cheered, stunning May even more.
"You mean he…?"
"Yup! He took Paper Princess's advice and told me! And now we're a couple!"
"Dawn I…I'm happy for you but…but if someone found out that I'm…" May's voice trailed off, visibly shuddering at the thought of being outed and humiliated.
"No need to worry May. I promise no one will find out. I didn't even tell Kenny when I sent in your response. I'm the only one who knows and I won't tell anyone. You do trust me don't you?" Dawn swore. May sighed and took a deep breath. As frustrated as Dawn could make her, May still trusted Dawn more than anyone else in the world. They'd been best friends for years and for all her pushing, she never took things too far.
"...Alright fine…" May finally conceded.
"Yes! May this is so great!" Dawn cheered, happily hugging her friend. May sighed, but couldn't help but smile at her best friend.
"Alright alright. I have to go to class." she said, playfully pushing Dawn off. "I'll see you later."
"See ya later bestie!" Dawn laughed as she raced off to her own class. May smiled with a roll of her eyes and headed off to make a brief stop at her locker.
Soon enough, May headed to her hardest class of the day, her English class. It wasn't because of the subject matter that the class was hard. In fact, it was one of May's best subjects. She'd always been an eloquent writer. The real reason the class was hard, was because it was the only one she shared with Ash during the day. Every day she had to make an active effort not to look in his direction, or she knew she'd freeze up. And today was no different. As she reached the classroom she saw Ash already seated at his desk, doodling on a notebook as he waited for class to start. May blushed at the sight of him and quickly buried her face in a book to avoid his gaze as she scurried to her desk and sat down.
"Alright everyone take your seats." the teacher announced as she walked towards the whiteboard. She was only a few years older than the students in her class and had her long brown hair pinned back behind her head with a pink barrette. Her dark blue dress was sporting matching pink accents and socks. As she arrived at the whiteboard, she noticed only a few students who were so engrossed in their conversations that they hadn't followed her instructions. So she loudly cleared her throat and sent the students hustling to their desks.
"Sorry Ms. Roxanne…" one of them apologized.
"That's fine. Just try and pay attention." Roxanne replied as she turned back towards the board and began writing on it with one of her markers. "Today we're going to be starting your midterm projects."
"Oh boy…" Ash groaned to himself as he heard some of his classmates around the room share a similar sentiment. Ash himself knew he had to do well on this project. With his focus split mostly between his family life and basketball, not to mention spending time with Leaf, he didn't have a lot of spare time, and a lot of his class grades suffered because of it. And his English grade was one of the most prominent examples of this. So he knew that he needed a good grade on this midterm.
"I'm going to be pairing you all up into groups of two and then assigning each group a scene to reenact from one of the plays we've read so far this semester. You'll need to work together to act out that scene in the auditorium to prove to me that you know what the scene and the play are about." Roxanne continued, writing a list of requirements on the board as she spoke.
"Wonder who I'll end up paired up with…" Ash commented to himself. A lot of his friends from the basketball team were also in this class, but he knew several of them were not in a much better spot than him when it came to their grades. So really he was hoping to be paired with someone else that could hopefully help him out. Especially since the Shakespeare plays they had been reading all year were mostly a blur to him.
"When you all come in tomorrow the pairings will be posted on the board. I suggest you all take the rest of class to prepare and read up on the plays." Roxanne finished, writing a due date on the board to finish off the instructions.
"I hate group projects…" May muttered to herself as she got out her books and notes to read over, taking Roxanne's advice to prepare.
Later that day, the time to take a break and eat lunch had finally arrived. Dawn was waiting on May at their usual table. Her class was closer to the cafeteria than May's so she always got there first to reserve their spot. Soon enough, May exited the lunch line with her food and walks over to the table with her lunch, sitting across from her so they could talk.
"Hey, bestie." Dawn greeted her with a smile.
"Hey…" May sighed, beginning to eat with an attitude that was quiet even for her.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Another stupid group project…" May mumbled. "And this time it's the midterm…who in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to let such a bit part of your class grade rest on someone else doing the work?"
"Heh. Trust me May, I think that's an opinion most of the people here share." Dawn chuckled.
"You know what I mean…I hate those things…"
"Just look at it this way May. Most of the people in your class don't do much when it comes to group projects. I bet anyone paired up with you would be perfectly happy to let you do most of the work to boost their grade. That way it's done your way and you don't have to do much of anything with them. Just saying the lines on stage right?" Dawn suggested.
"I suppose that's true…" May sighed.
"Of course it's true. Just relax and do it yourself. Then you're in control of your own grade."
"Alright…"
Elsewhere in the cafeteria, Ash was eating his food while he sat with his teammates at their table. A few of the other players' girlfriends were sitting with them, but it was mostly filled with the boys. Soon enough, Leaf made her way over to the table and sat down beside Ash.
"Hey, babe." Ash greeted her with a smile.
"Hey yourself." she responded with a peck of his lips. "How's my man?"
"I'm doing great. How bout you?" he replied.
"Same old same old I suppose." she answered, taking a sip of her water. "However, I'm honestly more interested in what we'll do later."
"Well now that you mention it, so am I." Ash smiled, picking up her hint.
"You've got about half an hour between your last class and practice right?" she asked, to which Ash nodded to confirm. "Then we should have just enough time to have some fun before you gotta go to practice. So where should we meet?"
"How bout the auditorium? It's usually empty that time of day." he suggested.
"I can get behind that." she nodded.
"Then it's a date." he declared. Satisfied with his declaration, Leaf kissed him happily and Ash kissed her back. Leaf moaned when Ash stuck his tongue into her mouth. She battled his tongue and another moan passed between them before they each slowly pulled away, panting to regain their breath.
"Love you baby." she whispered.
"Love you too." he whispered back. They both smiled and got back to eating their lunch, Ash turning to his teammates to chat. "So what's up guys?"
"Well aside from exploding a beaker in science, not much." Gary replied, tossing a french fry into his mouth.
"You must be joking." Ash said, raising an eyebrow. "You blew up a beaker?"
"Oh, that's what I heard across the hall." Leaf commented, having been walking by the science lab at the same time that morning.
"Don't tell me. You turned the burner up way too much didn't you?" Ash guessed.
"Just trying to make it go faster." Gary shrugged.
"Even I could've told you that was a bad idea man." Ash countered.
"Oh, it's fine. No one got hurt. Ritchie can vouch for me." his best friend fired back, nudging the guy to his right.
"Sorry, Gar. I'm with Ash on this one." the auburn-haired player replied, finishing off his sandwich.
"You guys sometimes I swear." Gary sighed and rolled his eyes. "What fun is science if something doesn't explode every now and then?"
"How is that fun?" Leaf asked.
"Obviously because it's science in action." Gary smirked, causing the table to start laughing along with him.
"You're hopeless." Ash chuckled.
Later that afternoon, long after the last bell had dismissed everyone from classes, Ash and Leaf found themselves in the auditorium as they had promised each other. The two were laying on the stage with their bare bodies pressed together as they both panted heavily. Leaf was under him and she smiled at him, which he was happy to share with her.
"Love you baby." she whispered.
"Love you too babe." he echoed her sentiment as he held her close. Leaf began planting gentle kisses down his neck as Ash checked the time to see if it was time to head to practice. He moaned softly but then realized that not only had he completely missed his own practice again, but it was also just about time for Luna's practice to be over. "Crap…I-I need to get going, babe…"
"Too bad...I'm perfectly content right here…" Leaf teased him as she continued kissing his neck.
"I wish a could stay…" he said, attempting to stifle his moans. "But Luna's probably waiting…"
"So you're a few minutes late…" she whispered as she still continued to kiss his neck. "I'm sure she'll be fine…"
"Y-Yeah...I guess so…" Ash moaned, giving in to her suggestions against his better judgment.
"Good boy." she whispered as she moved down to kiss his collarbone. Ash moaned and moved his hands down her bare body. Leaf moaned loudly and cuddled closer to his. "That's the stuff…"
"Oh god Leaf…" he moaned as he pressed his body to her's continuing to find all of her favorite spots. However before they could go any further, Ash's phone suddenly started ringing, killing the mood in an instant.
"Aw…" she pouted, letting him go this time. Ash got off her and grabbed his phone, checking the caller ID to see his sister's picture.
"Uh oh…" he said as he answered the phone. "Hey, Luna…"
"Ashy are you on your way...? It's getting dark…" she asked, looking up at the setting sun above her.
"Sorry Luna I...practice just ran late. I'll be there in just a few minutes." he promised her.
"Ok…" she sighed.
"I'll see you soon…" he assured her before he hung up and began gathering his clothes from around the stage.
"Too bad. Right at the best part too." Leaf playfully pouted as she watched him get dressed.
"We really should try and be more careful Leaf. I really should've been at practice today." he commented, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Oh my love which of us was screaming for more? Because I don't think it was me." Leaf teased him with a smirk. Ash blushed with a hint of embarrassment as he grabbed his backpack.
"We'll talk about it more tomorrow. I gotta run." he said.
"See you tomorrow then." she replied before giving him a big kiss. He kissed her back, giving her one more loving squeeze just below the waistline, earning himself a loud moan from under her lips before they broke apart. "Love you."
"Love you too." he replied before running outside to his car.
Meanwhile at the Maple house not too far away, May sat on her bed and opened her laptop to get to work. Dawn had worked with Kenny and put together a new email address for her to use for her work as Paper Princess. The email address was listed at the bottom of the column in the paper so students could send their questions in with their screen names without any direct contact from the students working on the school paper. It was mostly a way for May to filter and choose the questions she wanted to answer for herself so she could keep her identity a secret. She signed into the email and was stunned to see dozens of questions had been sent into the Paper Princess email, all from different students.
"Whoa…" she gasped as she looked through the names. All of the real identities were hidden by the screen names of course, but pretty much all of them were ones that May no longer recognized. Which had to mean that the column's popularity was starting to spread. Never in a million years did she think this would happen. "I...I guess they really do like Paper Princess…" Taking a deep breath to steel her determination, May began reading through the questions sent in and picking the ones she felt most comfortable answering. With the limited space available on the paper, she could only publish about two or three depending on their length. Nevertheless, she answered to the best of her ability and sent the article and sent it back to the school paper staff before heading down to the living room where her mother was hard at work putting dinner together as the news played on TV.
"Oh hi, sweetie." Caroline greeted her as she came down the stairs.
"Hi Mom." she replied.
"You finished your homework already?" her mother wondered.
"Yeah, there wasn't much today. Where are the boys?" May asked, of course referencing her dad and younger brother Max.
"Oh, they're in the greenhouse pulling some weeds for me." Caroline answered. "So it's just us two right now."
"I see. Well then do you need any help with dinner?" May offered.
"That'd be great. Thank you, sweetie." Caroline smiled. May gave her a small smile back and headed into the kitchen to help gets things ready. The two worked in a comfortable silence for a little while until finally, May broke the silence.
"Can I ask you something Mom?"
"Sure sweetie. Is something wrong?"
"I don't know...did Dad mention anything about the school newspaper to you...?" she asked shyly.
"He did yesterday. He mentioned something about you writing an article for it. Something like an advice column I think." she said, confirming May's theory. They always shared everything with each other. And for once that may have made this easier. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just...it's blown up in a way I never expected...a lot of people really like the column…" May explained, taking a moment to rub her arm uncomfortably.
"Oh? Isn't that a good thing?" her mother asked.
"I guess so it's just…I just...I'm so worried someone will find out…" she admitted. "You know how I am around other people...I'd be totally humiliated if anyone found out...I trust Dawn and everything I…I just can't help but worry that somehow everyone will find out."
"May honey, don't worry about it. I'm sure Dawn will take this responsibility seriously for you. And even if people were to somehow find out that you're the one writing, I would think they would be happy that you've worked so hard to help them." Caroline explained, putting a hand on May's shoulder.
"Mom you don't know these people…if they knew who I really am...who they're really sending their questions to…they'd just have a big old laugh about it…there's a reason no one knows I exist besides Dawn...No one would take advice from a nobody…" May sighed.
"You're not a nobody dear." Caroline insisted. "You're just shy."
"Oh, Mom, please. No one even knows my name." May countered with a roll of her eyes.
"I think all you need is to give yourself a chance honey. Most people are not the terrifying monsters you see them as. And I just want the best for you. Please give writing this column a chance. Let's see what Paper Princess can do for you." her mother pointed out, giving her daughter a gentle hug. May thought over her mother's words for a moment before she hugged the older woman back.
"I'll try…that's all I can promise…" she replied.
"Then I think that'll be just fine." Caroline smiled.
To be Continued...
