It was October 1st in Viridian City. A 17-year-old high school student lay in a hospital bed as the machines around her monitored her vitals. She was unconscious and bandages were wrapped around her head. She hadn't awoken in over a week. That was until one of her fingers twitched and she began to come to. A soft moan escaped her lips, catching the attention of a pink creature nearby who had been cleaning up the room at the time.
"Chansey!" the creature gasped as she quickly set her broom down and ran out into the hallway where a woman who had similarly pink colored hair pulled back into two loops and was wearing a Nurse's uniform, was working as well. "Chan chan chansey!"
"Chansey?" the woman asked. She looked into the room and was surprised to see the teen girl's eyes start to open. "Oh!" she gasped as she hurried over to the bedside. The girl in the bed groaned and blinked her eyes a few times to try and clear the lingering haze that was clouding her vision.
"Ugh…" she mumbled.
"May…? Ms. Maple are you ok…?" the nurse asked her patient. May slowly turned her head towards the older woman, surprised to see her there.
"Nurse Joy…? Why are you here…? Where am I…?" she asked, still feeling a pounding headache.
"You're in the hospital, dear." Joy responded.
"The hospital…? Why…?" she asked. The question caught Nurse Joy by surprise.
"You don't remember...?" she cautiously asked the teen, who shook her head in response.
"No…"
"I see...tell me dear what's the last thing you do remember...?
"I remember going to bed last night…today is the first day of school…" she answered, causing Nurse Joy's face to fall.
"Oh, dear…" May noticed the look on her face and quickly became confused. Why was she acting like something was very wrong?
"What…? What's going on…?" she demanded.
"May...the first day of school was over a month ago…" Nurse Joy suddenly revealed. May's eyes widened and she froze in shock. Over a month ago? How could that be possible? She clearly remembered going to bed last night and she was totally ready to start school. There had to be some mistake. Or maybe she didn't hear correctly?
"What are you talking about…?" she asked the nurse. "It's September 1st…that's always the first day of school…"
"May it's not September 1st…it's October 1st…" Joy reiterated. Getting an idea, she picked up May's cell phone from the nightstand beside her bed and showed the brunette the current date. May's eyes widened in complete shock as she read the date and the reality hit her. It really was a month later…and she didn't remember anything about the last month.
"H-How…how is this possible…?" she stammered, trying desperately to think despite the lingering pain in her head.
"You were in an accident about a week ago and have been in a coma ever since...and it sounds like that accident caused some memory loss…" Nurse Joy answered, setting her phone back down.
"What accident…? What happened…?" May asked, desperate for answers.
"Your family will be able to explain it better...they're most likely already on their way for their regular visit…" she replied, making a few notes on her chart. May looked down at her lap, still trying to come to terms with the situation. As hard as she tried, she couldn't remember anything about the past month. If she hadn't been told what day it was, she truly would've believed that it was September 1st. And that uncertainly made her feel sick to her stomach. But, since it was clear that Nurse Joy wasn't going to tell her anything because she was still a minor, she decided to get a different question answered.
"How long will I be here for…?" she wondered.
"I'll need a few days to make sure everything is stable with your condition. After that, I'll release you to your parents' custody." Joy answered.
"I see…" she sighed. She was happy to get some kind of answer, but it was still a long way from making her feel better. Hopefully, her parents would tell her what was going on before she completely lost her mind.
After an hour or so of staring at the ceiling and trying to remember anything at all about the past month, May heard the door to her room open. She looked over and was relieved to finally see some familiar faces walk in. Her father, Norman, was the first to enter and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her.
"May?" he asked. Her mother, Caroline, came in behind him and gasped happily.
"Oh May!" she exclaimed as she bolted to the side of the bed and hugged her daughter tightly.
"You're finally awake! Thank Arceus!"
"Hi, Mom…Dad…" May greeted them, a bit surprised by their reaction to her. Norman approached the bed and squeezed her shoulder lovingly, and May knew her father well enough to notice that he was holding back tears. Always the strong backbone of the family.
"I'm so glad you're awake honey…how are you feeling?" he asked.
"A little sore and dizzy…but other than that I'm ok…" she said honestly.
"Thank goodness…we were so worried about you princess…" he replied with a smile.
"But…"
"But what? What's wrong honey?" Caroline asked, the worry returning to her face.
"I don't…I don't remember anything…" she said nervously. Both her parents looked at her in confusion as Nurse Joy rejoined them in the room.
"Good to see you again Mr. And Mrs. Maple." she greeted them, making them both turn to face her.
"Nurse Joy, what does she mean she can't remember?" Norman asked.
"I'm afraid the accident has caused some amnesia…she's lost nearly a month of memories…" the nurse clarified. Both parents were stunned by the news, and slowly their gaze turned back to their daughter as they too came to terms with the situation.
"Oh, May…" Caroline whispered.
"I'm sorry…" May said quietly. Caroline held her heart and then wrapped her daughter up in another hug.
"Oh sweetheart don't be silly...you have nothing to apologize for…we're all just happy you're alive…" she assured her daughter.
"Absolutely." Norman nodded.
"Thank you…" she answered, returning her mother's embrace as Norman stroked her back soothingly. "But…how will this work…? What about my schoolwork…? My friends…?"
"Honey don't worry about all that. You have a medical exemption from school until you recover...and your teachers will work with you until you catch up. And I'm sure your friends be thrilled to hear that you're on the mend." Caroline assured her.
"I guess that's good…but…"
"But what May?" Norman wondered.
"What happened to me…? What accident caused all this…?" she asked, looking up at them both, desperate for answers. Caroline glanced at Norman and both of them shared a troubled look, causing May to raise an eyebrow in confusion. After a few moments of silence, Norman responded to her question.
"It...it's not important honey. Let's just focus on getting you back on your feet again." he said, stunning May as she brushed her question aside.
"B-But I…" Before she could protest, however, Caroline hugged her yet again.
"One thing at a time May...:" she whispered, obviously trying to get May to drop the topic. May couldn't understand why her parents wouldn't tell her about what had happened over the past month or what kind of terrible accident could've caused all this. Why would they hide this from her? She wanted to push further for more answers, but before she could, Nurse Joy stepped back into the conversation.
"Physically she's recovering well. Just some cuts and bruises along with a sprained shoulder. And the injury to her head is closing nicely. I'd like to keep her here for a few more days, then I think she'll be ok to return home with you.
"That's good." Caroline sighed in relief.
"Yes thank you so much, Nurse Joy." Norman agreed.
"Mr. and Mrs. Maple, may I talk to you outside for a moment?" the nurse asked, gesturing to the open door.
"Of course." Norman nodded. He and Nurse Joy exited the room while Caroline took a moment to hug May one more time.
"We'll be right back sweetie." she promised before she walked out with the other adults. They walked down the hall to a nearby waiting room to make sure May wasn't able to overhear them before they began their conversation.
"I wanted to ask, in light of her amnesia, how much you two plan to tell her about what happened to her. Since she is still a minor, we cannot tell her anything about her condition without your permission." Joy explained. Caroline and Norman looked at each other as a silent understanding passed between them.
"We've decided not to tell her anything." he informed the nurse, surprising her.
"You have?"
"We have to. It'll be better for her if she doesn't know. That way it'll never happen again." Norman confirmed with a firm tone of voice. Nurse Joy glanced at Caroline, but she nodded in support of her husband's decision. Despite her reservations about the idea, there was nothing more Nurse Joy could do.
"Well, as long as she's under 18 we can keep her medical records sealed from her. Since she's still a minor, legally we can't give her access without your permission." she informed them.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy…" Caroline replied politely.
"I just hope you both know what you're doing…" she warned them.
"We do." Norman assured her before turning to his wife. "Come on, we have some calls to make."
Meanwhile, in May's room, she was left alone once again and was staring at the ceiling, unsure of what to do with herself. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't imagine why her parents would keep this accident or the month of September a secret from her. What could've possibly happened to scare them so much? It just didn't make sense. Sighing to herself, her gaze drifted to her phone which sat on the nightstand next to her bed. And that was when an idea hit her. If there was one person she trusted in the world to tell her the truth, it was her best friend. So she picked up her phone and began looking for messages from her best friend in the whole world, a young man named Ash Ketchum.
"He'll tell me the truth…" she muttered to herself as she scrolled down to his name in her contacts list. She eventually spotted Ash's message thread and opened it, but was surprised to see no new messages since August. That was odd since the two of them talked daily. How could they have gone a month without talking to each other? Why would they have done that? Growing more concerned by the minute, she tried calling Ash. The phone rang for a minute or two before his voice came in over the phone.
"Hi, this is Ash!"
"Oh, Ash thank goodness! I have to talk to you about-"
"I can't come to the phone right now so please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you soon!" the voicemail message continued. May sighed to herself and once the tone sounded for her to record her message, she started speaking again.
"Hi Ash this is May. I'm guessing you know that I'm in the hospital…but I wanted to let you know that I'm awake and there's been some…complications. The truth is I don't remember anything since the night before school started. And the strange this is my parents don't seem to want to tell me what happened…it's really weird and I just…I really need to talk to my best friend. So please call me back when you get a chance…ok bye." she hung up the phone and sighed, wondering what to do now. In all likelihood, he just forgot to charge his phone again, but something inside her was growing more and more concerned with each roadblock she hit. Feeling frustrated, she was about to try one of her other friends when the door to her room opened and drew her attention. A four-legged blue Pokémon she doesn't recognize walked cautiously into the room and looked up at her with a concerned look.
"Gla...?" she asked.
"Who are you? Are you lost?" May wondered. The Pokemon seemed shocked by her response and she drooped her ears.
"Glaceon…" she said quietly.
"Huh?" May questioned her. The Pokemon, Glaceon, came up to her bed and hopped up into her lap, looking like she was trying to explain something.
"Eon glace glaceon gla…"
"I'm sorry I don't understand…" May sighed. Glaceon, seeing no other options with the language barrier in place, looks into May's eyes intently. May blinked in confusion for a moment but slowly began to realize something about Glaceon was very familiar. "Wait a minute…Eevee?"
"Gla!" Glaceon smiled, nodding excitedly.
"Oh my gosh, it is you!" May gasped as she hugged Glaceon and began crying. Glaceon began to cry as well, nuzzling her trainer lovingly. "I can't believe it's really you!"
"Gla! Glaceon gla!" Glaceon cried happily.
"Oh I wish I could understand you…maybe you'd tell me what's going on…" May sighed. "I guess our bond doesn't work if I can't even recognize you now…"
"Eon glace." Glaceon assured her, clearly confident their bond will come back to her in time. May gave her partner a small smile, thankful to have at least one person around that seemed to be on her side.
"Thanks, Glaceon…" she smiled. Glaceon purred happily and nuzzled her trainer again, tickling May's cheek with her fur.
"Ah! Glaceon that tickles!" she laughed, causing Glaceon to smile.
A few days later, May had been medically cleared to return home and released to her parents. They had yet to tell her anything about her accident or about what happened in September, and it seemed to May that they had no intention of ever telling her. She had also not been able to get in contact with Ash or any of her other friends and the stress of it all was starting to irritate her. In spite of all of that, however, the sight of her home as her parents pulled the car into her driveway was a comforting sight. She may still have been in the dark about a lot of things, but just being at home again was something that brought her some comfort. Norman and Caroline helped her inside and as they entered, May was surprised to see her younger brother Max run to her.
"May!" he yelled as he hugged her, something he rarely did without some kind of prompting. After a moment of surprise, May hugged her brother back. "I missed you!"
"Heh…that's a new one for you." she teased him slightly, but Max didn't seem to mind this time around.
"Hello, you nearly died in that accident! Of course, I was worried!" he yelled, catching May's attention.
"I did? What happened?" she asked. Max opened his mouth to respond, but Norman cleared his throat from behind May and Max quickly shut his mouth.
"Uh…nothing. Never mind." he quickly brushed it off. May's face fell at the interaction. Even Max was in on this? What in the world had happened? "Well uh, at least you got out in time for homecoming right? I know you were excited to go."
"Oh my gosh! Homecoming!" May gasped, completely forgetting that the big dance was always in early October. Which meant that it was coming up fast. "You're right! What am I gonna do?!"
"Don't worry honey. We can get you a dress and I'm sure you can go with your friends no problem." her mother assured her.
"I guess but…" May's voice trailed off. She hadn't told anyone this, but the truth was she had been hoping to go with Ash, as a date. The truth was that in addition to being her best friend, Ash was also the guy she had a massive crush on. He had always been there for her for years now and he was the kindest and bravest man she'd ever known. And over the summer she had made the decision that once school started up again, she was finally going to tell him the truth in the hopes that they could take the next step together. So needless to say, this entire situation had left those plans up in the air as well.
"May?" her father suddenly asked, snapping May out of her own thoughts.
"Sorry, it's nothing." she lied. She'd just have to ask him about their situation when she went back to school again in a few days. For now, she turned her attention to Max. "What about you? I at least remember that you were looking to ask a certain blonde to go out with you this school year."
"You mean Bonnie? Yeah, we're actually going to the homecoming dance together." he replied, shocking May.
"Really?! You didn't chicken out?!" she gasped. Max smiled proudly and nodded.
"I asked her out a few days ago." he replied, stunning May. She remembered talking about this exact thing with Max over the summer, but she had assumed he'd never actually go through with it. Like her, he'd always been too scared to take the next step. Part of her decision to tell Ash how she felt was an agreement with Max that he'd do the same with Bonnie. That way they could lean on each other for courage. If he successfully did so, what happened on her end? Did she do it too? What would Ash have said if she had? With each clue she obtained, the more curious she was to find out what happened over the past month.
"Seems to me that we have a lot to celebrate! How about I whip us up a special dinner tonight?" Caroline offered with a smile.
"That sounds perfect love." Norman responded.
"Could it be pasta?" May asked hopefully, making her parents smile. At least her famous appetite was still intact.
"Of course honey." her mother replied as she headed into the kitchen to get to work. May gave a small smile but then noticed that Norman was taking Max into his den to talk privately. May hesitated for a moment, but then followed them quietly while Caroline was distracted with the food. Suspecting they were talking about whatever they were hiding from her, May silently moved to the partially open door of Norman's den and tried her best to listen in on their conversation.
"Dad I'm sorry. It just slipped." Max apologized.
"I know. We're not mad at you. But we have to try and keep this hidden. It's in her best interest if she doesn't find out what happened last month." Norman reminded him.
"It just doesn't feel right…I'm worried about her too but…to hide an entire month from her life feels like lying." he pointed out.
"I know Max. But we have to try. We don't want her to get hurt like that again…" the older man insisted.
"Right...I don't want to almost lose her again…" Max sighed.
"Thank you, son." Norman replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sensing that they were about to end their discussion, May moved quickly and snuck back to her room, successfully avoiding being spotted by her family. She closed her door and started to pace her room. There was no doubt in her mind now that they were all intentionally hiding the events of September and the accident from her. But why would they do that? What could've happened over the course of the month that they'd wanted so desperately to keep from her? Sighing to herself, she flopped down onto her bed and pulled out her phone again to check her messages. Looking through she was disappointed that Ash still hasn't responded to her voicemail or any of the following texts she had sent him asking to talk. She missed him so much. And her other friends hadn't responded either, making her feel even more alone. However, just as she was about to give up again, her phone suddenly lit up with an incoming call. And the Caller ID showed that it was Dawn, May's oldest friend since kindergarten. Eager to talk with any of her friends, May quickly answered the call.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Hey, girl!" Dawn's voice replied cheerfully, letting May finally sigh in relief.
"Hi, Dawn! Gosh, it's so good to finally talk to you!" May smiled.
"It's great to talk to you too! After so much time with only my parents to chat with I've been dying to talk to someone my own age again!" her friend replied, catching May slightly off guard.
"What do you mean?" she wondered.
"What do you mean what do I mean?" Dawn fired back. "I told you about this trip before I left remember?"
"Trip?"
"The impromptu one that my Dad planned remember? I told you about it on the first day of school? That's why I haven't been in school for the past month?" Dawn tried to remind her. May's heart sank. Dawn's dad was crazy rich and often took her on weeks-long vacations on short notice.
"So…you don't know anything about my accident…?" May slowly tried to confirm.
"Wait what? What accident?" Dawn asked, her tone changing slightly.
"No one told you about it…?" May wondered, surprised that no one had told Dawn either.
"No, I forgot to bring my cell that had the international calling card. I haven't been able to talk to anyone from home all month." she explained. May's heart sank further. If that was true, then Dawn didn't know anything about the last month or the accident either. Which meant she wouldn't be getting any answers from her. "May what's going on? Why are you asking all these questions like you don't remember us talking about these things?"
"Dawn I…" May stammered. She wasn't sure if she should tell Dawn about what was going on, but she felt so alone that she decided she just had to tell someone. "There was an accident a week ago…and I can't remember anything about the last month…"
"Wait seriously?!" Dawn gasped. "You don't remember anything about September?! Like, nothing at all?!"
"No…the last thing I remember was going to bed the night before the first day of school…to me it's like I woke up the next day…" May explained.
"Oh my gosh…May…" Dawn whispered. "How in the world did that happen?"
"That's the strangest part…I don't know…" May admitted.
"What do you mean you don't know? Hasn't someone told you what happened? Ash or your parents?" Dawn wondered.
"I haven't been able to get in touch with any of our friends yet…even Ash…and my parents are refusing to tell me anything. I even overheard my father telling my brother to keep quiet about what happened." she explained.
"What? Why would they do that?"
"I don't have any idea…they just keep talking about how "it's in my best interest" if I don't know anything about the accident or the past month…" May added.
"Oh my gosh…I'm sorry May but I honestly don't know anything...the only communication I've had with anyone while I've been gone is live streaming our classes to stay on track...this is the first I'm hearing of any of this." Dawn apologized, seeming genuinely upset on May's behalf. And May knew her friend well enough to assume that she wasn't lying about what she knew.
"It's alright…I guess I'll ask Ash when I go back to school...probably Serena and Chloe too." May sighed.
"It's really weird that they haven't responded to your calls…especially Ash. That's not like him at all…" Dawn commented.
"Yeah...I hope he's ok…" May replied, holding her heart a little.
"Well...are you going to school on Monday?" Dawn wondered.
"Yeah…just using the weekend to recover a bit more." the brunette said.
"Alright, I start back in person on Monday too. Let's meet up and sort things out with everyone." her friend offered, making May smile a little. It felt good to hear someone offering to help her again instead of brushing her off.
"Thanks, Dawn…really." she smiled softly.
"Of course girl! Don't let it stress you out too much. You know it could be something as simple as the dork forgot to charge his phone." Dawn pointed out, making May chuckle. Boy did they both know Ash so well.
"Sounds good." she nodded.
"Alright. I'll see you soon kay?"
"Yup."
"Love you bestie! Bye!"
"Bye." both girls hung up their phones and May breathed a sigh of relief. At least now there was a small glimmer of hope for her. She hoped Dawn was right and there was a simple explanation for all of this. For now, though, she was going to continue recovering. So she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
The weekend went by quickly, and even as she continued to recover, May's family still refused to tell her what happened to her during September. The constant roadblocks and stonewalling frustrated May to no end. Even her phone seemed to have been wiped completely clean of any texts, pictures, or data from the month of September. By the time Monday finally rolled around, May was just itching to get out of the house and away from her family. As soon as she entered the school, Dawn ran up to her from out of nowhere.
"May!" she squealed happily as she grabbed her friend into a giant bone-crushing hug. May stumbled and fell over from the force of the hug and Dawn went down with her, laughing. May couldn't help but laugh along with her and she hugged her friend back as they both got back onto their feet. "I missed you so much! How are you feeling?"
"Truthfully…uneasy." May admitted sheepishly.
"Family still not budging on the secrets huh?"
"You know how my dad is…" May sighed.
"I sure do. But for now, forget them. I saw Serena and Chloe down the hall so we can go talk to them and then go find Ash." Dawn suggested.
"Great. Let's go." May nodded. Dawn smiled and the two of them ran off down the hall. They ran down the hall to the set of lockers that they shared with their other friends. There they found their honey-blonde and pink-haired friends, Serena and Chloe respectively. However before either of the girls could question their other friends, they both suddenly realized that their blonde friend seemed to be sporting a much different hair and clothing style than the one they remembered. Hearing their footsteps, Serena and Chloe turned around and smiled.
"Hey, you guys! Welcome back!" Serena smiled. Both May and Dawn blinked in surprise.
"Serena?" Dawn asked.
"You look so different…" May commented. And she wasn't wrong. The Serena they both remembered had very long hair and enjoyed wearing pink and red clothes. But the Serena standing in front of them had hair that was short and slightly curly, along with clothes that were mostly grey and black. It was quite a stark change. At first, Serena seemed surprised by their confusion, but then she glanced at Chloe and a silent understanding seemed to pass between them.
"Oh right…" she mumbled, catching May's attention. A realization dawned on her and her eyes widened in shock.
"Wait…you guys know that I lost my memories?" she asked, surprising Dawn. "But how is that possible? I tried to contact you all weekend and neither of you ever responded."
"Well…" Chloe hesitated as she glanced at Serena and Serena did the same to her with a worried expression.
"It's a long story…" Serena admitted, which May recognized as the same way her parents had been brushing her questions off for days.
"What is? Please girls tell me what happened last month…why is everyone trying to keep it a secret?" May begged.
"I'm sorry May we...we made a promise not to tell...and honestly we…agree that it's best you not know." Chloe sighed.
"Wait are you guys serious?!" Dawn gasped.
"Just trust us guys...it's probably best left forgotten…" Serena sighed.
"You have got to be kidding me! This isn't fair! None of you have the right to deny me the truth!" May yelled, her frustration quickly getting the best of her.
"I'm sorry May...you know we wouldn't keep secrets from you unless there was a very good reason…" Serena assured her.
"We're just trying to keep you safe…" Chloe added. It was clear they both didn't want to do what they were doing, but the fact that they were in on this whole scheme hurt May deeply. She started tearing up with hurt and anger.
"I have a right to know no matter how painful…!" she insisted.
"May I know it's hard but we really can't talk about it…" Serena remained firm.
"How can we even be friends if you're hiding stuff like this from me?!" May yelled angrily.
"It's because we're your friends that we're doing this May!" Chloe fired back.
"May I know you don't remember what happened but we do...and you have no idea how bad things got...if you really did lose your memories it's probably for the best…" Serena tried to explain, but it only resulted in more tears running down May's face.
"Let's go Dawn…" she whispered angrily as she turned away from the other girls.
"May…" Serena tried, but the brunette walked away without another word and Dawn quickly followed her. May sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks as they rounded a corner and leaned against a wall as she tried to compose herself.
"I can't believe them…" she mumbled. Dawn proceeded to hug her and stroked her back.
"It's going to be fine...we'll talk to Ash and get things straightened out…" she assured her friend.
"I hope so…" May sighed.
"Come on. Let's walk around and see if we can find him." the bluenette offered,
"Okay…" May nodded. However, just as they were about to head off, a new voice entered the conversation.
"May?"
"Huh?" she wondered. She turned around and found a surprising face standing behind her. The voice belonged to the man she used to be very good friends with and was currently at the top of their class academically, Drew. The two of them had been good friends in elementary and jr. high school, but once they had gotten to high school they had begun to drift apart. There was no malice in it, they just got into different interests and different groups over time. Sometimes May missed his company, but she was happy with Ash and her other friends these days. The two of them hadn't really talked since they started high school years ago, so to see him standing behind her was a big surprise, to say the least. "D-Drew?"
"I heard you were back." he commented, giving her a gentle smile. "How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm fine…" she answered, trying to process the sight of him after so long. Dawn raised an eyebrow in confusion herself, knowing the history between May and Drew.
"Any pain or discomfort?" he pushed a little further.
"N-No really I'm fine…" she insisted. "But what are you…I mean since we haven't…what are you doing here? We haven't talked in years…"
"I know we've drifted apart over the years May, but I never stopped caring about you." he explained as he presented her with a rose. "Quite the opposite actually."
"U-Uh…" May stammered as she blushed. She had a schoolgirl crush on Drew way back when in elementary school, but it faded as they grew up and grew apart. And never had Drew behaved this way around her. She truly didn't know how to respond to his actions. She didn't even really register what he was saying until Dawn suddenly piped up.
"Wait, you know about the accident?" she asked.
"Of course I do." he nodded. "I was worried you weren't going to make it."
"Then you have to tell us about it!" she insisted. Drew glanced at May who, now that she had recovered from the shock of his actions, looked at him with a pleading eye, practically begging him to tell her about it. However, his face fell and he gave a small shake of his head.
"May...I'm sorry but I can't." he declared.
"Why not…?! Why won't anyone tell me…?!" she yelled, once again getting frustrated quickly.
"May I need you to trust me…" he said calmly as he placed his hand on her cheek, causing her to freeze in surprise. "I almost lost you once already…"
"I-I…" she stammered, blushing heavily as her heart raced. Drew's actions were not making it any easier for her to focus on what she wanted.
"It's important to look towards the future May. That's why I want to ask if you'll be my date to the homecoming dance." he added, causing both girls to gasp in surprise.
"W-What…?" she squeaked softly.
"I'd like to ask you out to the homecoming dance." he asked again, seemingly unfazed by her nerves. May's head only raced even more. Drew was asking her to homecoming? Drew was asking her on a date? How was this possible? Why would he do that after years of showing no interest in her? How could she even consider going with him when her heart now belonged to another man? She couldn't deal with this right now. Not without more answers to her questions. Swallowing her storm of thoughts as much as she could, she gave him a shaky response.
"C-Could I…have time to think…?" she barely managed to ask. To her relief, Drew nodded.
"Of course. See you soon." he replied. He then proceeded to kiss the back of her hand and headed off. Both girls were left standing there stunned in the middle of the hallway.
"Well that was...different…" Dawn finally spoke up after a moment of silence.
"Y-Yeah…but I can't worry about that right now…I have to find Ash…if anyone will give me some answers it'll be him…" May sighed.
"Well it looks like we're in luck then." her friend said as she pointed down the hall where the two girls saw Ash heading towards the stairwell. May's heart swelled at the sight of him and she started running down the hall to try and catch up with him.
"Ash!" she called frantically. But the raven-haired boy headed inside the stairwell, having seemingly not heard her calls. May quickly followed him inside and spotted him heading up the stairs. She raced over and managed to put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and finally face her. His eyes widened at the sight of her, and May's face lit up in a happy smile. "Ash…finally…"
"U-Uh…" he stammered, flinching at the look in her eyes as he took a scared step away from her "M-May…?"
"I've been trying to reach you since I woke up…" she added, so happy to see him that she didn't even seem to notice his hesitation and attitude. Dawn finally joined them in the stairwell and watched their interactions from the bottom step to try and give them some space. "Please…I trust you more than anyone else in the world…what happened to me last month…?"
"I-I…" he hesitated as he looked at her with an expression that almost looks like fear, which she finally seemed to notice.
"Ash…?"
"I-I...I really have to go May…" he said quietly as he literally backed away from her. May's control completely broke. Everyone else lying and hiding things from her was one thing, but to see the person she loved and trusted more than anyone else in the world acting the same way was too much. She grabbed his arm angrily and Ash literally flinched at her touch.
"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face once more.
"I-I…I can't...! I'm sorry…!" he refused. He then managed to break out of her grip and quickly ran off as fast as he could. His refusal completely broke May's heart as she dropped to her knees, crying her eyes out. Dawn gasped and ran over, hugging her best friend tightly.
"Oh May…" she whispered. May sobbed into Dawn's shoulder as she mumbled in between shaky breaths.
"It's not fair…why are they doing this to me…?"
"I don't know...I don't understand it either...everyone's acting so weird…" Dawn said gently, rubbing her best friend's back.
"What am I gonna do…?" she sniffled.
"Well, I say, if no one will tell us what's going on, then we figure it out ourselves." Dawn declared, surprising May as she lifted her head from Dawn's shoulder.
"You'd…really help me find the truth…?" she asked.
"Of course! You're right that you deserve to know what happened! And you're one of my best friends! So if you want to find out what happened then that's what we're going to do!" she promised.
"Dawn…"
"Tell you what, let's go to my house tonight after school and come up with a plan to find the truth." she suggested. May was quiet for a moment as she considered the offer before a small smile crossed her face.
"Okay…it's a deal." she nodded. The two friends hugged and May felt a little flame of hope enter back into her chest. "You're the greatest Dawn…"
"Don't you worry May." she smiled. "We'll get to the bottom of this."
To be Continued...
