The next day found May walking into the school as she always did, and like always, Dawn was waiting for her nearby.
"Hey May." the cheerleader greeted her friend.
"Hi Dawn…" May returned the greeting. She took a quick glance around the room and saw the other students once again reading the paper with a vested interest. "Not again…"
"Yes again." Dawn giggled.
"What is wrong with these people...? It's just a silly advice column…" May mumbled under her breath.
"May come on. Try to think about it more positively. You know as well as I do that people in this school tend to stick to their own friend groups and cliques all the time." her friend pointed out.
"You don't have to remind me of that…" May fired back.
"Yeah well like it or not May, everyone has problems that they feel they can't share with even their best friends. So to have someone they can talk about these things with who seems to actually care and want to help them is comforting. That's why they like it." Dawn explained.
"If you say so…" the brunette groaned. Taking a minute to sigh and collect her thoughts, May then began heading to her locker. "Let's just get ready for class…"
Meanwhile not far away, Gary walked over to his friend at their lockers. Ash was leaning against the wall already looking through the newest column as his best friend approached.
"Have you read the paper yet today?" Gary asked. Ash looked up from the paper and raised an eyebrow before gesturing to said paper.
"What does it look like I'm doing Gary?" he asked in a mocking tone. Ignoring his sarcastic comment, Gary continued on with his point.
"Well have you read the last question yet? You recognize that screenname don't you?" he asked.
"I only got my copy a few minutes ago so no I haven't. Why?" Ash fired back.
"That's Ritchie's screen name." Gary revealed, pointing to the last of the three questions. Ash followed his gaze and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh my gosh, you're right." Ash realized as he quickly jumped down the article to read what his teammate had posted.
"Hi Paper Princess, first-time writer here so please bare with me. The thing is, I have a great girlfriend in my life. And things are going really well for us right now. But the thing is, she has a lot of siblings that are constantly giving her a hard time for being the youngest and I've noticed it's really starting to take a toll on how she thinks about herself. So I guess my question is how do I help her to see herself as amazing as I see her?" Ritchie's screen name explained.
"Oh wow. I had no idea Sakura was going through that. Every time I see her in the halls she's always smiling." Ash pointed out.
"Me too. I guess you never know what people are going through in their own heads." Gary agreed. Ash nodded and looked down the page to read Paper Princess's reply.
"I can certainly understand feeling like you don't measure up to the other people around you. I feel that way every single day. And even though I struggle with this bit of advice, I think it's still the best one to give. Just make sure that she knows that you're there for her. That she can come to you with any kind of problem, personal or otherwise, and you'll do everything you can to help. To have someone in your life willing to do that for you is worth a lot." Paper Princess explained. Her comments made Ash smile and think about his own relationship with his sister. He knew that having him be there for her while their mother worked had always been a source of great comfort for her. And in time he felt the same way towards her. Now they could tell each other almost anything and that was a great feeling. So Ash knew for a fact that Paper Princess's advice was sound.
"That's a really great response." he smiled as he put the paper away. "I hope Ritchie takes the advice."
"Guess we'll have to wait and see." Gary shrugged as he grabbed his bag. "Well anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you at practice tonight."
"See ya then." Ash nodded as Gary headed to class. Ash grabbed the last of his things and headed to class as well, sitting in his seat just as the bell rang to begin class. Ms. Roxanne finished writing on the board before turning to her class.
"Good morning everyone. Hope you're all doing well and are ready to start working hard. I've paired you up for the project so once I'm finished reading the pairs, please find your partner and get to work." she explained, pulling a list from her binder. Roxanne began reading over several pairings, pleasing some students, frustrating others, and still, others were completely indifferent. Finally, Ash heard his name called. "Ash Ketchum, you'll be partnered with May Maple."
"What?!" May's brain panicked as her eyes widened in horror.
"Alright then." Ash said with a nod of acknowledgment. He didn't know who May was offhand, but that was ok. It was a big school after all. He just hoped they could work together well. But across the classroom, his partner was of the exact opposite opinion about their fated pairing.
"No no no no no no no no!" How could this be happening to her? The room was full of several dozen other students, most of whom May knew would've just let her work on the project by herself. So why oh why did she have to be paired with Ash?! How could she possibly not only work with but also act out a scene with a boy that she couldn't even speak to?! Her mind continued to race as Roxanne read off the last few groups and finished her list.
"Alright. Now everyone switch seats and go sit with your partner. I suggest you keep these new seats until the project is over. I'll hand out the scenes once you'll all with your partners." the teacher instructed, prompting the class to all get up from their seats and start reorganizing themselves. People met up with their partners and did everything from introducing themselves in the less familiar pairs to giving high fives and fist bumps in the more familiar pairs. Ash meanwhile looked around the room curiously, trying to get a clue of who May was so he could introduce himself. May on the other hand was blushing furiously as she tried to hide her face, still cursing whatever luck or fate it was that had put her into this situation.
"This can't be happening…" she mumbled. Within a few minutes, most everyone else had paired off with their partners and had sat back down to chat amongst themselves. Now that things had calmed down a little, Ash scanned the room again, and this time he spotted a brunette girl a few rows over. She was still sitting down and was actively trying to hide her face from view. Curious as to why, and frankly if she was ok, he got up from his desk and walked over to her, gently tapping on her shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you ok?" he asked. His voice nearly made May leap out of her skin. This was it. The moment of truth. Whatever tiny amount of courage she actually had in her, she had to use it here or she'd never get through it. Using every fiber of her being, she slowly lifted her head from her hands and face him.
"Y...Yes…" she answered in a very small and quiet voice.
"Well, if you're sure." Ash answered though he wasn't sure she was being fully honest with him. But he was certainly in no position to pry into her life. "Your name wouldn't happen to be May would it?"
"...Yes…" she answered.
"Well then, it's nice to finally meet you." Ash grinned as he sat in the empty desk next to her. No sooner had he done so than Roxanne walked over and handed them both the assignment.
"Here you are. Good luck you two." she said before she walked away to complete her assignment pass out. Ash and May both read over the scene they were assigned to reenact and May's heart sunk.
"You have got to be kidding me…"
"Romeo and Juliet huh? The balcony scene to be specific." Ash commented, shrugging off yet another fact that May found absolutely horrifying. The fact of the matter was, the balcony scene was one of the most romantic scenes in the entire play. And to pull it off, they'd need to kiss during their reenactment.
"W-We…we can't do this…what about your...your girlfriend…?" May pointed out, trying to find any reason in the world that they could request a different scene.
"Don't worry Leaf is cool. She'll understand that it's only for a project." Ash assured her, dashing her hopes.
"...Oh...Ok…" she whispered as Ash read over the instructions carefully.
"Alright. Looks like we just need to practice acting the scene and make a basic set." he announced.
"Right…" May responded as she rubbed her arm awkwardly, still trying to find a way out of the situation. "Um…look you don't have to worry about this…I-I'll just handle this myself…"
"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking at her as though he couldn't believe what she'd just offered to do. "I can't let you do the project all by yourself. What kind of partner would that make me?"
"You've gotta be kidding me…he's handsome and a good guy…oh man why me…?" May grumbled within her own mind. She was so busy criticizing herself that she didn't notice a look of curiosity that had crossed Ash's face as he watched her.
"What's going on here May? I'm worried about you." he said, suddenly putting a hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."
"I…" she stammered, freezing up as his hand found its way to her shoulder. She could literally feel her brain shutting down as she struggled to find something to say. Despite her quiet, Ash pushed further.
"May why are you ok doing all the work for someone else?"
"I-It's nothing...I'm just used to doing it...I'm not good in groups…" she finally managed to answer, only causing Ash's look of concern to grow larger.
"What? No, it's not nothing May."
"What...?" she asked, surprised by the compassion in his tone.
"You shouldn't be okay with people thrusting all their work on you. Whether you're good with groups or not shouldn't matter. Now look, we're going to do this project together. That way we can both get a grade we're proud of." he insisted, giving her shoulder a supportive squeeze and stunning her in the process.
"...O-Ok…" May whispered, looking away from him and trying to avoid his gaze to hide the blush that was quickly coating her cheeks.
"Alright. Now let's talk about what all we need to do." he smiled at her, turning back to the paper. But May had just about had all she could stand. She was feeling her control slipping and she knew she had to get out of there as fast as she could.
"A-Acutally I...I need to go to the bathroom…" she announced, getting up from her chair and quickly running out of the classroom, surprising Ash with her swiftness.
"Wait May-" but he wasn't nearly quick enough. May ran into the girl's bathroom and locked herself in a stall, trying to keep herself from crying her eyes out. This was so not how she expected her day to go. Ash meanwhile sadly sighed to himself and began working on what he could on his own.
Later that date, in the cafeteria, Dawn was waiting for May at lunch once again. But she was quick to notice that her best friend seemed to be running even later than usual. Just as she was about to get up and start looking for her friend, she finally spotted May walking silently to their table, where she promptly sat down.
"There you are! What's going on?" Dawn asked, immediately noticing the look on May's face.
"Just my life being over…" May grumbled as she laid her face down on the table.
"Don't exaggerate things. Just tell me what happened." Dawn fired back with a roll of her eyes.
"Look I don't really want to talk-" her sentence stopped abruptly as she loses her voice and freezes with a terrified look. Dawn tilted her head in confusion and turned around to follow May's gaze. Her dark blue eyes also widened when she saw what had made May freeze. It was none other than Ash himself, approaching them with May's backpack in hand.
"Hey May!" Ash greeted them with a friendly smile once he arrived at their table.
"...A...A…" she struggled to even speak. Her brain felt like it had a ton of bricks weighing it down and preventing her from forming an intelligent sentence. Seemingly unfazed by her babbling, Ash simply held out her backpack to her.
"You forgot this when you ran to the bathroom earlier." he explained.
"O-O...Oh…" she whispered as she nervously accepted it from him. "Th-Thank...you…"
"You're welcome. And I just wanted to let you know that while you were gone I did some planning for the project. Like about the set and stuff." he continued.
"O-Oh...th-that's great...thank you…" she said, genuinely surprised by his effort.
"I'm hoping we can meet up sometime outside of class and look them over. Ms. Roxanne told me you have a really good grade in the class, so I'm really looking forward to learning from you while we do this." he explained as he pulled a small slip of paper from his pocket and offered it to her. "So here's my phone number. Send me a text when you're free and we can plan something out."
"O…Ok…" May whispered, blushing nervously as she accepted the paper from him.
"Then we'll be talking again soon. See ya then." he replied before walking away back to his own table.
"B-Bye…" May stuttered, too quiet for him to really hear. She stared down at the piece of paper in her hand completely stunned. Ash Ketchum had just given her his phone number. She thought she'd have to die in a tragic accident before he'd even learn her name. She knew better than to look at Dawn, who was indeed smirking the widest smirk she'd ever seen just as May knew she would be.
"So that's what all the fuss was about. You and Ash are doing a project together huh?" she asked in a slightly teasing tone.
"...Yes…" May hesitantly admitted.
"Wow! May that's so great! This is finally your opportunity to get to know him! Maybe even take things further!" Dawn squealed in response.
"Keep it down!" May hissed at her, prompting Dawn to quiet down and look at her friend curiously.
"What?"
"You just don't get it, Dawn...you're not the one babbling like an idiot every time he looks at you...I'll be lucky to get through this without looking like a total buffoon…" May elaborated, putting her head back down on the table.
"May have some faith for once, would you? Maybe this could be the start of the best thing that's ever happened to you." Dawn suggested. In response, May could only groan and cover her head with her arms. Dawn sighed sadly and got back to her lunch.
Meanwhile, Ash sat down at his table in between Leaf and Gary as per his usual routine. He set up his food to eat as Leaf wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Hey baby." she greeted him.
"Hey babe." he smiled.
"What were you doing over at that table?" she wondered, having seen her boyfriend talking to two other girls a few minutes earlier.
"I was just returning my partner's backpack to her. She left it in the classroom." he explained, taking a bite of his sandwich. However, his choice of words seemed to pique Leaf's interest.
"Partner?" she asked suspiciously, causing Ash to realize his mistake.
"Oh no not like that! Just for a project in our English class." he quickly clarified. However, Leaf's suspicions didn't seem to calm with his explanation. Her brown eyes darted over to the aforementioned table and seemed to scan May with a critical eye.
"That brunette wimp?" she asked.
"Leaf come on don't be like that. She's just a shy girl I think." he pointed out. But his defense of another woman didn't seem to fly well with his girlfriend.
"I don't care what she is. I don't want some tramp's hands on my man." she growled under her breath.
"Leaf, please. She's just my partner for our project. And I really do need her help to get a good grade or they'll suspend me from the game." he countered, trying to get her to understand. "You don't have to worry. I only love you and you only."
"Prove it." she dared him, looking into his auburn eyes. Luckily for her, that was a challenge that Ash would take head-on.
"Bathroom now." he demanded, taking her hand and dragging her to the bathroom just off the cafeteria.
"Whoa!" she yelped as she stumbled a little at his abrupt action, but still, she followed him inside where as soon as the door was closed, he pinned her up against the back of it and started removing her clothes. Leaf moaned as Ash kissed her exposed neck and very quickly the two of them dissolved into more private activities.
Soon enough, both Ash and Leaf were left panting heavily on the floor of the bathroom. Leaf was on her back and Ash was on top of her. Leaf happily kissed him and he wasted no time in kissing her back. A happy moan passed between them before they each pulled away for air and shared a smile.
"Never doubt my love for you." he whispered.
"Deal…" she smiled. He smiled back and then got off of her, working on gathering his clothes back up and getting dressed again. Leaf followed his lead as the bell suddenly rang for the next class of the day.
"Just in time." Ash chuckled as he zipped his jacket back up.
"Thanks for the fun afternoon baby. I'll see ya around." she smiled as she placed a peck on his cheek.
"See ya around babe." he replied as they both left the bathroom and went on their way to class.
Later, at the end of Ash's basketball practice, everyone was off the court and getting water as they packed up their equipment. Ash himself had gotten a large chewing out from Coach Surge once he had arrived over skipping the last two practices. A normal chewing out from someone else Ash could take, even from his Mom. But Coach Surge was a massive mountain of a man and most students agreed that he could probably break someone with just one hand. Thankfully Ash's promise to make up the practice time with extra drills seemed to be a well-received compromise.
"Alright, boys we got two weeks before our big state finals game. So we really need to up our game. Those who are performing the best at practice over the next two weeks will be our starters for the game. So I want to see you all working as hard as you can. Is that clear?" the man yelled, directing the last comment mostly at Ash, who flinched slightly.
"Yes Coach!" the team answered in unison.
"Alright then. All of you get home safe." he finished, dismissing them all from the gym. Ash waved goodbye to his teammates and headed out to his car. After a quick drive, he arrived at Luna's school and she happily jumped into the car.
"Hi Ashy!" she greeted him as she buckled herself into the passenger's seat.
"Hey sis." he greeted back as he headed to pull out of the parking lot.
"How was your practice?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "You did go this time didn't you?"
"It was great. Everyone did well. Especially Gary, Gladion, and Ritchie." he explained. "I think if the four of us can find a fifth guy to fill out the team, we'll all be starters in our big game."
"Really?" Luna smiled, blushing a little at the thought of a certain blonde player. "Cool…"
"Yeah I definitely think so too." he replied, failing to notice her blush. His sister managed to wipe the blush from her face and turned her attention back to him.
"So what did you want to do for dinner tonight?" she wondered.
"How about tacos? I think we have plenty of fixins in the fridge." he suggested.
"Yeah!" she giggled, the two sharing a smile as they arrived back home.
Soon enough the siblings are sitting at the kitchen table with their freshly prepared food. Luna happily took a bite out of hers and squealed happily.
"Yum!" Ash chuckled at his sister as he took a bit out of his as well. She smiled at him as they both continued to eat. "How was the rest of your day?"
"It was pretty good. Got the assignment and my partner for my English midterm project." he recalled.
"Anyone you know?" she wondered.
"I think we've been classmates for a while, but I don't think we've ever actually talked. Her name is May and she's kinda… interesting." he explained.
"Interesting how?"
"I'm not entirely sure…to be honest it was kinda strange. She seemed to be really shy and panicked when we were talking. I'm wondering if she has some kind of anxiety or something." he continued.
"Sounds kinda rough…" Luna commented.
"Apparently she gets really good grades in class. And I do want to work with her. I'm just worried that whatever this shyness thing is, it'll prevent us from doing well. And I don't know how to help her get over it." he sighed.
"Maybe you can set up times to meet after school? Like on days when you don't have practice. Or you could have her come home with us and work. I wouldn't mind." she suggested.
"I did give her my phone number to set something up to do just that, but I'm worried she'll be too shy to actually use it." he countered.
"Well in that case, maybe if you just push through and work together despite the awkwardness, you'll get to know each other and she won't be so shy. Then after that, you both will work together better." she offered, catching Ash's attention.
"That's not a bad idea. It's just like going to practice. You just work at getting better at it." he smiled.
"That's the spirit." Luna smiled back.
Meanwhile, at the Maple house, May's head was once again buried under her pillows on the bed. She had gone straight to her room after coming home and hadn't moved an inch since then. Not even to write her Paper Princess column. Finally, after what seemed like hours to May, her mother came into her room to check on her.
"May honey what's going on?" she asked.
"I can't do this Mom…" the teenager mumbled.
"Can't do what honey?" the mother pushed again.
"...Ms. Roxanne announced the pairs for the midterms…and she paired me with Ash Ketchum…" May finally admitted.
"Ash Ketchum? Isn't that the young man that you-"
"Yes!" May yelled, not wanting her to finish the sentence. "I can't work with him...I'll never be able to finish the project...much less get him to see me as anything but a mute idiot…"
"May honey please calm down…it'll be ok. It's just working on a school project together. No one's asking you two to get married or something." Caroline tried, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"I can't even speak when he's around! How am I supposed to kiss him in this stupid scene?!" May screamed as she teared up.
"Honey it's just business essentially. I don't think he's going to hate you over a school project." the older woman insisted. "And you never know what will happen if you just tr-"
"Just stop!" May yelled, finally pulling her head out from under the pillow with tears of sadness and frustration running down her cheeks. "Don't do that! Don't tell me there's a potential for me to go out with him or even just to become his friend! When is everyone going to realize he could never like me?!"
"He could May if you just-"
"No, he couldn't! Stop trying to tell me that someone like him could like someone like me! That's not how it works! He's the captain of the basketball team! He's with the head cheerleader just like he's supposed to be! Real life doesn't let people like me win! So just leave me alone!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Not even bothering to look at her mother's reaction to her outburst, May buried herself under the blankets and dissolved into tears. Caroline watched her daughter sadly for a moment before standing up from the bed, knowing that she wasn't going to get through to May tonight. Not when she was this upset. But before she left, she had one more thing to say.
"May I know you're upset…and you're scared…but you have so much to offer. And one day someone, be it Ash or someone else entirely, is going to realize that and love that about you. And I hope that they'll help you see that in yourself too…" and with that said, she left May alone to cry her feelings out.
To be Continued...
