Helloooooo all you wonderful readers!

Wow, it's been MONTHS since I last updated! I've just been really busy. I finished the first draft of this chapter a while ago - I wasn't planning to polish it off and post it until later, after my school assignments, but now, with everything that's been going on, I thought some of you might like a little lighthearted WWWY content. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size.

Nail Polish

Grade Two

May (7), Misty (7), Gary (7), Drew (7), Ash (7) Paul (7)

Misty had done it. She had stolen her sister's nail polish.

It wasn't because she wanted it. One of her older sisters, Violet, had been teasing her just a little too ruthlessly yesterday. And this morning, Misty had awoken with a grudge still bubbling in her skin. She'd wanted to make Violet upset. She wanted to make Violet as angry as Violet had made her.

So, right before the school bus arrived, Misty had snuck into Violet's room, grabbed a random bottle of nail polish from her dresser, and left.

Now, as she got off the bus, she couldn't help but think maybe it hadn't been such a good idea after all. She wasn't even sure if Violet had been planning to use it today, or if she would miss it at all. Maybe she would brush it off as a little tantrum, call her childish for thinking it was a good way to get revenge. And Misty would be left embarrassed. She would probably still keep it out of stubbornness, but she didn't really have any use for it. She herself wasn't particularly interested in nail polish, or any kinds of cosmetics, for that matter.

Misty reached into her pocket and took out the bottle as she walked down the hall to class. The bottle was filled with a dark purple mixed with sparkles; it was as if it held a piece of the galaxy. The label said this colour was called Cosmog Purple. Whatever 'Cosmog' meant.

She was so focused on the bottle, she hardly noticed when she reached her classroom. Her friend, May, was immediately at her side.

"G'morning, Misty!" May chirped. Her eyes locked on the nail polish bottle. "What's that?"

"Nothing," Misty said quickly, pocketing the bottle. She wasn't sure she was allowed to bring nail polish to school. She didn't want May to make a big deal out of it; the teacher might notice and take it away.

It looked like May wanted to say something else, but their teacher, Ms. Beatrix, walked in at that moment, so they went to their seats instead.

The day went on, and, being so submerged in her classwork, Misty forgot all about the nail polish. That is, until lunch break when May brought it up again.

"Can I see your nail polish?" May asked cheerfully.

"Huh?" Misty looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"The bottle you had in the morning. That was nail polish, right?"

Misty frowned slightly. Now she remembered: She did, indeed, have her sister's nail polish. What was she supposed to do with it?

"Please?" May said, sitting down in an empty chair next to Misty's desk. "Can I see it?"

Misty hesitated. She looked to see if the teacher were still in the room, but Ms. Beatrix had gone out into the hall to deal with some kind of commotion. She sighed, and pulled out the little bottle of Cosmog Purple and handed it to May. May's eyes shone.

"It's so pretty! I love this colour!" She eyed Misty's fingers. "Do you want me to put some on you?"

"No," said Misty. "I don't like nail polish. This one's my sister's."

"Please? I'm really good at putting it on. It's hard to put it on my own nails, but Mommy lets me put some on hers, and she says I do it very neat and nice. And I practise on my dolls too."

Misty crossed her arms. "No."

"But it'll look so pretty with your orange hair," May whined.

Misty, however, was adamant. She did not want to put on nail polish. That was something her sisters did, and Misty had lost interest after seeing how much they obsessed over their makeup and such.

May sighed in defeat. But when she looked around the classroom, her face lit up again. "Gary!" she called. "Gary, come here!"

Gary walked over. "What?" he asked, intrigued by the excitement in May's voice.

"Sit over there," she ordered, pointing to an empty nearby chair. "I'm gonna put this nail polish on you."

Gary looked at the bottle of nail polish she was showing him. "No!" he said when he finally registered what she'd said. "I don't wanna put on nail polish!"

"But it's so pretty," May said.

"Nail polish is for girls."

May pouted. "Is not! I've seen boys wearing it on TV sometimes."

Now that Misty thought of it, she had seen boys wearing nail polish too, but it was usually part of a whole look, like if they were wearing all black or something. She still didn't find it particularly appealing, though.

Meanwhile, it didn't look like May was having any luck with Gary either. He crossed his arms and turned away. "I'm not putting on nail polish!"

"Fine!" said May. She looked furiously around the room. "Drew!"

Drew, who'd been listening to them from a distance, unsure of whether to get involved or not, hesitantly made his way over.

"Nail polish," May said, holding up the bottle. "On your nails. Your green hair will look pretty with it."

"Um..." Drew looked at his hand. "I don't know if I'm allowed."

"Sit down. I'm gonna put some on you," May demanded.

Gary snickered. "Yeah, put on girly nail polish, Drew."

Drew pinked and shook his head. "I don't wanna put any on."

May scowled, growing more and more frustrated. "Ash?" she said.

Ash, at this point, had come over as well to see what was going on. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Actually, I don't really like nail polish."

"You don't like it either?" May said in disbelief. Ash was always eager to try something fun.

"I mean, I really wanted to once, so my mom let me put on a tiny bit of hers, but then if it gets on anything else, it doesn't come off, and you have to keep your hands still and I'm not really good at that, and I really don't like the smell of nail polish remover, so..." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry..."

May bounced in her chair impatiently. Misty was wondering whether she should just ask for the bottle back, but then May stood and called: "Paul!"

Paul was seated in his desk, arms folded on the desktop and chin resting on his arms. He didn't react to May's call. Misty rolled her eyes - knowing Paul, he was probably ignoring her on purpose. May seemed to think so to, or maybe she thought he hadn't heard, because she frowned and walked over to his desk herself. She pulled a chair next to Paul's desk and sat, looking at him intently. Paul ignored her at first, but then, he huffed, and tilted his head towards her.

"What?"

"I'm gonna put nail polish on you."

Misty groaned. Even though she hadn't known Paul long - they'd only met a few times during the summer, and it was still early in the school year, so they hadn't hung out much - she felt she had a pretty good grasp on his personality. He was aggressive and irritable and just seemed to rub her the wrong way. She tried to stay clear of him so they wouldn't clash too often.

But, it seemed, May didn't have a good sense of boundaries. If she bugged Paul too much about this, Misty was sure his annoyance would peak. And she did not want to see how Paul behaved when he really lashed out.

"May," Misty said, making her way over. "Maybe you should just..." Before she quite reached them, however, she froze. Because, even though Paul looked mildly irritated, he had one hand placed before May. And May was unscrewing the bottle cap in delight.

Misty stared. Had Paul... agreed?

May picked up Paul's left hand and began slowly and carefully going over one of his nails with the nail polish brush, applying a glittery layer of dark purple. Paul watched her work indifferently and seemed oddly relaxed.

May turned and saw Misty watching them. "It matches his hair! Doesn't it match his hair, Misty?"

"I guess?" Misty said, utterly befuddled.

Gary walked over and smirked. "Ha! Paul's putting on nail polish!"

Paul didn't even blink. He shrugged slowly so he wouldn't make May mess up.

"It's girly," Gary said, clearly disappointed by Paul's lack of reaction.

"I like it," Paul said, and he didn't sound self-conscious or defensive about it either.

Gary scowled, and Drew looked from Paul to May.

"You put it on very neatly," Drew said.

"Yeah," said Ash. "If I ever want someone to put nail polish on me, I'll ask you."

"Thanks," May said, beaming. She finished applying it on Paul's left hand and reached for his right. And, with the rest of the friend group watching, she went over Paul's right hand fingernails as well. She blew a little on the nail polish to help it dry, then sat back proudly.

"There," she said. "All done! They're not dry yet, so you're gonna have to wait a bit before you touch them."

Paul inspected his nails. "Okay," he said. He placed his hands flat on his desk and sat there, staring at them.

May eagerly looked to the rest of the group. "Are you sure none of you want nail polish too?"

Misty hesitated. She'd never wanted to put on nail polish, but seeing the way May had put it on Paul was making her feel very tempted. Her sisters would probably make fun on her for it, and Violet would know for sure who'd taken her nail polish, but...

"I can try," said Misty. "Just a little, though."

"Yay!" May cheered. "Bring a chair and I'll do it!"

Soon, Misty was seated next to May, May steadying her fingers with one hand and applying nail polish with the other. Misty watched mesmerized as slowly, each of her fingernails was coloured a dark purple, speckled with star-like glitter, becoming a piece of the galaxy. When May was done, Misty couldn't help but sit back and admire her friend's work. Maybe nail polish wasn't so bad, Misty thought, blowing lightly on her nails to dry them.

Drew built up the courage to go next. Gary tried to tease him, but, with a glance at Paul, Drew managed to maintain an unfazed, composed demeanour. He wanted his nails done in a different style, so May only painted alternating nails, as he'd asked. After Drew, May looked around for her next client. Her eyes locked on Gary.

"No," said Gary.

"Come on, Gary, almost all of us did it," said May.

Gary looked like he was about to give in when Ms. Beatrix walked in. She immediately noticed May, and the bottle of nail polish, and the purple nails of Misty, Drew and Paul.

"May," Ms. Beatrix said, striding over.

"Huh?" May turned to see what was wrong.

"What are you—"

At that moment, the bell rang, and May yelped, startled.

And the open bottle of nail polish slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor, a sparkly purple pool forming on the tile.

Ms. Beatrix quickly swooped and picked it up, eyes wide in horror. "Oh dear..."

Ms. Beatrix ended up confiscating the nail polish. She also tried to clean up the spill as best she could, but she couldn't get all of it off. She said she would have to bring in some nail polish remover to do the job properly.

"See?" said Ash to his friends. "I told you it doesn't come off stuff easily.

Ms. Beatrix didn't make Misty, Drew and Paul take off their nail polish (not that there was any nail polish remover anyways), but they had to be very careful it didn't stain anything. Which was no problem for those three, since they were very good at being careful.

Finally, it was home time, and soon, parents and older siblings were arriving to pick them up.

And that included, to Misty's surprise, her big sister, Violet. Usually Misty went to the bus stop by herself.

"Misty!" Violet said, looking thoroughly vexed. "You took my Cosmog Purple nail polish, didn't you?"

Misty blinked. "What?" Then she remembered: Even though she'd handed it over to May, that nail polish had belonged to her sister all along.

"Don't play dumb with me - I can see you used it yourself, for crying out loud! Where is it? I was going to use it today to go with my outfit."

Misty pointed to Ms. Beatrix, who was explaining to May's mother what she'd caught May doing. May's mother looked puzzled when Ms. Beatrix tried to hand her the nail polish bottle. "She has it."

"Ugh!"

Misty watched as her sister strode to Ms. Beatrix. With sweet smiles and an apologetic tone, she seemed to convince the teacher to return the nail polish and that this wouldn't happen again.

When Drew's butler came to pick him up, Drew showed him his nails. The butler blinked, but only said, "Very nice, Young Master Andrew," as he led him outside. Paul's older brother, Reggie, on the other hand, burst out laughing when he saw Paul's nails.

"Aw man," he said, wiping away a tear of laughter. "You got your nails done!"

Paul stared at his brother with utmost seriousness. "I like it."

"Yeah, okay. Sorry," Reggie said, trying to control himself. "Looks good. Yeah." He forced back more laughter. "Looks really great, Paul."

Misty looked at her own nails. Would her sisters burst out laughing too? Violet hadn't said anything yet - she seemed too angry at the moment. But...

"You know," said Ash, coming up behind her to look at her nails too. "I don't really like using nail polish on myself, but it actually looks pretty good on you, Mist."

"Really?" said Misty.

"Yeah, really," said Ash. He looked thoughtful. "It kind of looks nice with your hair too."

Huh. So May was right.

Now cheered up, Misty got ready to set off. Nail polish wasn't really so bad after all. Maybe she could try it out again some other time. Although...

She glanced at her irritated sister.

Maybe next time, she shouldn't take her sister's without asking.

And done! Hope you liked it!

I also hope you all are doing okay. With everything that's been going on, I know many of you may be stressed and anxious and scared. I don't know how much I can do, but if this chapter helped even one of you, it was worth it. I can't guarantee frequent updates, but once my final assignments are done, I'll try to bring you guys more content if I can.

Please reach out to one another - to loved ones, family, friends, acquaintances. Find things that make you smile - video chats, a new series to follow, a new hobby, books (some libraries let you borrow ebooks and audiobooks online for free - if you don't have a library card, see if your library lets you make one online). Every one of you matters, and every one of you deserves to have light during dark times. Stay safe, everyone!

Bye bye for now! Have a great day, and smile all the way! :)