Hellooooo all you wonderful readers! Happy New Year - first update of 2021!

Sorry for not updating in so long - my Fall Term was soooo busy, and I ended up doing other stuff in my free time during the winter holidays, so I was a bit slow on writing the chapter. Next term's starting soon too, so going to plunge back into school busyness, but I wanted to get at least one chapter out before then.

Anyways, happy reading!

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

Caffeine

Grade Four

Dawn (9), Leaf (9)

"Did he do it?" Dawn asked, engrossed in the story Leaf was telling. She could hardly concentrate on the strand of Leaf's hair she was braiding - Leaf's stories about their friends from before Dawn joined the group were just so interesting! Even though Dawn liked having all her friends over, inviting just Leaf to a sleepover was turning out to one of the best ideas she'd ever had.

"Yes!" said Leaf, grinning. "We all knew he was going to mess up, though."

"What happened?"

"Well, he did go up to the higher diving board, and he did jump, but it was such a fail," said Leaf, trying to contain her laughter. "I think he panicked mid-air or something. It was hilarious! I took lots of pictures."

"Well, he shouldn't have been making fun of Misty, so he deserved getting embarrassed," said Dawn indignantly.

"Yeah, but do you know what he did after?"

"What?"

"He didn't come back up. He pretended he drowned."

"What!"

"I know! We were all terrified! Well, maybe Paul wasn't - he kept taking pictures. But the rest of us, oh boy. You should have seen May when we found out he was faking it!"

"I can imagine. Pretending you're dead is a horrible prank to play on your friends!"

"Leave it to Gary to do something like that."

"Yup." Dawn shook her head. "That's Gary for you."

Leaf had known the others much longer than Dawn had. She had all sorts of stories to tell! But Leaf hadn't started going to their school until this year; Dawn had a whole year of in-school experiences she could share with Leaf too.

"You know, I pranked him once. Gary," said Dawn, getting started on another strand of Leaf's hair.

"You pranked him?" Leaf was already breaking out in a big grin. "I gotta hear this!"

"Yeah, it was last year! He was teasing me about not being prankster material or something, so I pranked him to prove I was."

"Oh? Do tell!"

"Well, you see..."

"Girls," said Dawn's mother, Johanna, poking her head into the living room where Dawn and Leaf were. "It's almost time for bed."

The girls groaned. True, it was a sleepover, so they would have had to go to bed at some point, but the whole fun of sleepovers was staying up as late as possible.

"Aw, can't we stay up a little longer," Dawn whined.

"It's nine now," said her mother. "You two should be in bed by nine-thirty."

"That's too soon!"

Johanna raised a finger to quiet her. "Since you have a friend over, I can give an extension to nine-forty-five, at latest. No longer than that. And I'll know if you haven't gone to bed: I'll be up late getting some work done, so don't think I won't hear you if you're up and about."

Dawn pouted, but Leaf nodded. "We'll be in bed by then, Mrs. Berlitz," she said.

"Good girls." Johanna smiled. "I left you two a snack in the kitchen. In the mood for some pre-bed hot chocolate and muffins?"

"Yeah I am!" Leaf cheered.

"Thanks Mom, you're the best," said Dawn, her pout replaced with a beaming smile.

Johanna nodded. "I'll be in my study, all right? Let me know if you need anything."

When she left, Dawn quickly finished Leaf's braid and got up. "Come on," she said. "My mom makes the best hot chocolate!"

"I am so glad I came over," said Leaf as the two headed for the kitchen. "Thanks for inviting me."

"Hey, no need to worry!" said Dawn. "It was about time I did." She picked one of the steaming mugs from the kitchen counter. "To me, it's always felt like having a sleepover with someone really makes you guys friends. I invited the others over for one back when I was still new, but I didn't know you back then, so you missed out."

"Oh yeah," said Leaf, nibbling on a muffin. "Gary told me about you before we met. I remember he once said he was going to go spend the night at your place, and the others were too. I admit, I got a bit jealous."

"Yeah, but now they're going to be jealous of you, since you're the only one I invited this time!" Dawn said with a wink. "A personal invite, just for you!"

"I so have to have a Dawn-only sleepover one day too," Leaf said with a grin.

"I'll hold you to that!"

"Now let's drink this hot chocolate before it gets cold!"

The two took a sip of the hot chocolate at the same time... and brought their mugs down from their mouths immediately.

"Hm," said Leaf, looking down into her mug. "That's an... interesting taste."

"Bleh! This isn't hot chocolate!" Dawn glared down at her mug in distaste. "Ugh, what is this? I thought my mom said she's making hot chocolate!"

"Maybe she's using a different recipe this time?"

"No way! I went to the grocery store with her just the other day. We definitely bought our usual hot chocolate powder."

The two stared into their mugs for a long moment. Then, Leaf took another sip. She made a face as she swallowed, but took her time smacking her lips, evaluating the taste.

"It's not so bad," she decided.

Dawn hesitantly tried again, but it didn't taste any better to her. "Yeah it is so bad," she said. "It's so bitter."

"It just needs something to sweeten it up. Like sugar, maybe." Leaf looked around the counter, as if searching for the sugar pot.

"Want me to get some sugar cubes?" Dawn asked.

"Nope! I have a better idea." Leaf sat down on the kitchen table, placing the mug in front of her. She tore a chunk off her muffin and dipped it into the drink, then popped it into her mouth. Her face broke out into a large grin. "Now that was good!"

"Let me try." Dawn sat at the table with her and dipped a piece of muffin into her own mug. Leaf was right - muffin dipped in... whatever this was... was considerably better than the drink on its own. I wasn't the best thing she'd ever had or anything - a part of Dawn wanted to dump the whole thing into the sink - but there was something about it that made her want to try a little more and a little more still.

Soon, both Dawn and Leaf were on their second muffins, Dawn telling Leaf about her prank on Gary as they dipped pieces into the mug and devoured the pastries soaked in their so-called "hot chocolate". When their mugs were halfway done, Leaf began to look thoughtful.

"You know," she said. "I feel like I've had this before."

"Yeah," said Dawn. "Same. It's kind of like... like I know the smell." She paused. "You know, I wasn't really paying attention to the smell before, but now that I think of it, isn't this...?"

Leaf took a sniff of the mug. Her eyes widened. "You're right - I do know this."

"Coffee," the girls said at the same time.

They paused and stared down at their mugs.

"Are we... are we supposed to have this?" Dawn wondered.

"Well, your mom made it for us, so I guess we're allowed."

"But she said it was hot chocolate."

"Maybe she made a mistake."

"Soooo we're not supposed to have it."

"I guess not."

They looked up at each other.

"Should we leave it...?" said Dawn.

"I kind of want to finish it now," said Leaf. "I'm half done anyways."

Dawn looked at the mug thoughtfully. In all honesty, she wanted to finish it too. The flavour was growing on her; she wondered if this was what people meant by an "acquired taste".

Soon, the two of them were gulping down the remainder of the coffee without the muffins. It didn't taste all that good, but there was something satisfying about finishing it all up. They left their mugs on the counter by the sink and checked the time.

"Nine-thirty," said Dawn. "We should go to bed now."

Feeling a little jittery from drinking all that coffee, they took turns using the washroom and, with teeth brushed and pajamas worn, tucked themselves into Dawn's large bed. By the time they were done, it was nine-forty-five. Except... neither of them were sleepy.

"I feel wide awake," said Dawn.

"Same. I'm usually half-asleep by now, but my eyes won't stay closed," said Leaf. She looked thoughtfully at Dawn's desk. "Do you have anything to read? I usually get sleepier if there's something to read."

"I don't have much," said Dawn, but Leaf had already switched on the lamp on the bedside table and gotten up to inspect the shelf above Dawn's desk.

"You do have some up there," said Leaf, her eyes going over the book spines.

"My friend Leona likes to read, so she used to give me books for my birthday," said Dawn.

"Not anymore?"

"Well, she moved away because of her parents' hot spring job."

"Oh. Too bad about her moving away." Leaf picked a book and paused when she saw the cover. "Hey, Gary has a book like this!"

Dawn sat up to see what Leaf had picked. "A book on legendary Pokemon?"

"Yeah! We looked at it while we were staying at Mt. Silver Cabins. Except I got really sleepy by the end and fell asleep, and when I woke up, turned out all the others had gone out and done all this amazing stuff, and I missed out completely!"

"The others were there too?"

"Yeah. Gary's grandpa had to go to a meeting or something so he invited everyone along..." Leaf trailed off as she flipped through the book. Then she shut it with a sigh. "This one doesn't have that many pictures, though. Gary's has a lot of pictures."

"To be honest, I got a bit bored of that book and didn't finish it," Dawn admitted. "I haven't finished most of the books, actually. You can borrow them if you like."

"You can be sure I will!" Leaf scanned over the rest of the books, and, tucking the first book back into the shelf, picked another. "This one seems interesting."

"That one has even less pictures than the legendary Pokemon book."

"Yeah, but it's a story. And stories definitely make me sleepy!"

Leaf snuggled back into bed beside Dawn, and Dawn let Leaf read out loud so they could both get sleepier together. Unfortunately, the book turned out to be too interesting to make Dawn drowsy, and even though Leaf began yawning, she still couldn't sleep, even when she tried.

"This isn't working," Leaf groaned. "I'm getting sleepy, but I can't sleep!"

"I think the story's making me feel even more awake," said Dawn

"I should put it back." Leaf slipped out of the covers.

"Leave it on my desk," said Dawn. "I might read it later."

"Okay." Leaf placed the book on her desk. Dawn thought she would come right back, but it looked like something on her desk had caught her attention.

"Whatcha looking at?" Dawn asked, getting up to join Leaf.

"Your class picture," said Leaf, pointing to Dawn's grade three class photo, which she had in a frame on the corner of her desk. "I can see all the others there too. There's Gary and Misty and Paul at the back, and Ash and May and Drew at the front... Now where are you...?"

"Eeep! NO! Don't look at that!" Dawn shrieked, snatching the picture out of Leaf's sight. She put it in a desk drawer and shut it.

"Why?" Leaf's eyes glinted mischievously. "Okay, I wanna see now!"

"No way!"

"Oh, come on! What's wrong with it?" Leaf playfully went for the drawer, and Dawn blocked her way.

"Nuh-uh! Not in a million years!"

"Why did you even have it on display if you didn't want anyone to see it!"

"So I can see it!"

Honestly, Dawn liked having a picture with all the new friends she'd made last year to look at whenever she liked. But her mind had still not changed: she looked absolutely atrocious in the photo! Leaf might have not recognized her right away because the camera had, embarrassingly, caught her mid-sneeze, but Dawn certainly didn't want her to realize it was her, especially when Leaf was notorious for remembering every scrap of humiliation anyone ever experienced.

They struggled a little more - Leaf trying to open the drawer and Dawn making sure she couldn't - when the sound of footsteps out in the hall made them pause.

Dawn's mom was coming to check on them.

The girls dove back for the bed, stifling their giggles as they switched off the light and pulled the covers over their heads - right on time too, because the door opened the very next second.

"I hope you two are asleep," said Johanna sternly. "I'm pretty sure I heard talking just now."

Dawn and Leaf stayed silent, pretending to have fallen asleep, until they heard the door shut and Johanna's footsteps fade away. They simultaneously let out a slow breath.

"What time is it anyway?" Leaf whispered.

"Hm..." Dawn peeked out from under the covers to check her glow-in-the-dark alarm clock. "Ten-thirty. Yikes!"

"We are definitely supposed to be asleep now," said Leaf.

"I just don't feel sleepy - I feel hyper!"

"You think it was the coffee?"

"Could be. My mom always drinks coffee to stay awake when she's sleepy."

"Why did your mom give us coffee if we're supposed to be asleep, then?"

"I don't know! She said it was hot chocolate. Maybe she made a mistake?"

Leaf groaned. "I'm so tired...," she said, yawning. But still not asleep.

"Maybe there's something else that can help us fall asleep," said Dawn. She frowned. "We already tried reading, though..."

"What about eating something?" said Leaf. "I mean, we had coffee, and it's keeping us awake, so maybe we gotta have the opposite of coffee now."

"What's the opposite of coffee?" Dawn wondered.

"Well, let's see... Coffee tasted kinda bitter, so maybe something sweet?"

"We already had something sweet. The muffins. They didn't work."

"Then maybe... something light? Coffee has a strong flavour, so maybe something with a not-so-strong flavour?"

"Like vegetables, maybe?" said Dawn. "We have some in the fridge downstairs."

"Let's try it!"

As quietly as they could, they slipped out of Dawn's room and crept down the stairs, careful to avoid the creaky step. They peered around the corners to make sure Dawn's mother wasn't around, but she must have been busy in her study, because they didn't run into her at all. Finally, they made it to the refrigerator, and Dawn brought out a large selection of vegetables.

"Mm!" whispered Leaf. "Carrots and cucumbers and lettuce and... cherry tomatoes! I love cherry tomatoes!"

"Me too! Let's try some!"

The two sat at the kitchen table, crunching on the veggies and savouring the juicy cherry tomatoes.

"I grew these once," said Leaf. "Back in kindergarten, we all planted different veggies and fruits and stuff in Ash's backyard."

"Really?" said Dawn. "That sounds like fun!"

"Ash's mom has this big vegetable garden, so she let us all plant something. We don't do it a whole lot now, but I still go over sometimes to help with the garden."

"Aw, I wish I could've done that too."

"Maybe you can! We can ask Ash's mom if we could plant stuff again this year."

"I would love that!" Dawn bounced in her chair. "Hm, what could I plant?"

"Anything! It doesn't have to be a food plant. Mrs. Ketchum grows flowers too, and Paul planted a tree! Her name is Mimi."

"The tree's?"

"Yep. She's grown so much!"

Dawn giggled. "A tree, huh? Reminds me of last year's school play. Drew had to play a tree. I think the teacher made him that because of his hair."

Leaf laughed too. "I remember Gary telling me about that!"

"It was so funny! He made a good tree, though—"

"I'm not saying I disapprove of eating vegetables," a voice interrupted. "But I do disapprove of eating them so late at night, when you two should be asleep."

Dawn and Leaf jumped and looked up; Johanna was standing there, giving them a stern look with a raised eyebrow. They'd completely forgotten about keeping their voices down!

"Oh, uh, hi, Mom," said Dawn sheepishly. "We were just... having a late-night snack."

"At eleven at night?"

"It's that late already? Wow..."

"Girls, what are you doing up so late?" Johanna said, exasperated. "Didn't I already give you a bedtime snack?"

"Yeah, but we couldn't sleep because of the coffee," Leaf explained. "We tried really, really hard."

Johanna blinked. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, Mom," said Dawn hurriedly. "You gave us coffee, not hot chocolate!"

Her mother went to where the girls had left their dishes on the counter and sniffed the mugs. She looked startled. "You're right! This is coffee. I must have accidentally used the coffee powder while I was making my own."

"So it was an accident," said Dawn.

"Of course it was. Why did you drink it when you saw it wasn't hot chocolate?"

"We didn't know," said Leaf. "We thought it was a different kind of hot chocolate, but by the time we realized what it was, it was too late!"

Johanna ran a hand through her hair. "With all this caffeine in your system, no wonder you couldn't sleep. I guess this is my fault, then."

Dawn and Leaf looked at each other. It wasn't every day a grownup admitted to making a mistake. They weren't sure if they should say anything, in case they got in trouble for something else.

"I guess I can't blame you," said Johanna with a sigh. "You'll just have to wait it out, then. Try staying in bed anyways. You might end up falling asleep late, but there's nothing else you could do other than have an extended bedtime. It is a sleepover after all, I suppose."

Relieved, and excited to be allowed to stay up late (not that they could fall asleep), the girls returned to Dawn's room, where, snuggled in bed, they chatted and whispered until, finally, they drifted off to sleep. Sure, the caffeine kept them up when they were tired, but they were secretly glad at the excuse for staying up so late. The next morning, Dawn and Leaf both confirmed the sleepover had been an enormous success.

"Although next time," Dawn added. "Let's not have so much coffee before bed!"

And done!

You guys remember that chapter where Leaf mentions having a sleepover with Dawn in her New Year's resolutions homework? This is that sleepover. In fact, this chapter has several references to previous chapters - see if you can find them all! ;)

Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought in your reviews.

Bye bye for now! Stay safe and healthy, and have a great day, and smile all the way. And also, wishing you all a great 2021! :D