( Leaf's POV )

Almost there... almost there... I ran onto the battlefield and jumped in the air.

"Ha! I won you lost! Nanananana!" Dawn glared at me.

"You obviously cheated."Dawn snarled as she finally caught up with me. I gave Dawn an irritated look.

"I didn't cheat!"I yelled. Dawn scoffed and I took out my pokéball. "Enough with the talking, let's battle! Sandshrew I choose you!" My loyal, little Sandshrew came out of its pokéball energetically saying its name. Dawn smirked at me.

"A ground type, huh?"she said. "Well in that case... I choose Piplup!" A red light came out of Dawn's pokéball and her Piplup yelled its name already in position for the battle. (In case you wonder, Dawn and Leaf are gonna battle because that seemed like the best way to become good friends again. Since their fight.)

"Advantage isn't everything."I said smiling. I knew Dawn would choose Piplup. "You ready Dawn?"

"Oh you bet I am!"Dawn yelled. Misty came running to us with May following far behind. "What took you guys so long?!"

"We have a life besides watching you two battle, you know!"May yelled. Misty stopped right before the battlefield and picked up two flags.

"Are you ready?"Misty screamed. I looked Dawn in the eyes and narrowed mine. I saw how Dawn clenched her fists and there appeared a confident look in her eyes.

"Ready!"we yelled.

"Go!"Misty screamed.

"Piplup Bubble Beam!"Dawn yelled and her Piplup obeyed.

"Sandshrew dodge and use Dig!" My Sandshrew successfully dodged Piplup's Bubble Beam and disappeared under the ground.

"Where did he go?"Dawn mumbled. I chuckled a bit.

"Okay Sandshrew now!"I ordered after letting Dawn look around the field for a while. Sandshrew came out right under Piplup and threw the little penguin in the air.

"Piplup!"Dawn yelled as Piplup fell hard on the ground. "Piplup get up, please!" My Sandshrew hadn't done lots of damage to Dawn's Piplup and it got up easily. "Good work Piplup! Now use Hydro Pump!" Piplup obeyed and the Hydro Pump hit my poor Sandshrew. I gritted my teeth.

"That won't scare us!"I yelled at Dawn. "Sandshrew Rollout!" Sandshrew got up and did what I told him to.

"Piplup dodge and use Hydro Pump, again!" Piplup jumped up and dodged Sandshrew. Sandshrew just went on rolling, but turned around to storm at Piplup again. Piplup wanted to hit Sandshrew with its Hydro Pump, but Sandshrew's Rollout was too fast and Piplup got hit.

"Good work Sandshrew!"I yelled cheerfully. "Now use Scratch." Piplup was still a little hurt from the Rollout and got hurt by Sandshrew's Scratch attack. But that made Piplup come back in the game and really angry.

"Piplup use Drill Peck!" Piplup flew up and came straight at Sandshrew. I smirked at Dawn.

"Sandshrew Dig!" Sandshrew dug into the ground just before Piplup could hit him. Piplup's head hit the ground and it fell over.

"Piplup!"Dawn yelled. Piplup tried to get up.

"Let's finish this battle."I murmured. "Sandshrew come above and use Rapid Spin!" Sandshrew came in sight again and used a powerful Rapid Spin on Piplup. Piplup was still not tired out enough to win. "Okay, Sandshrew finish it with Fury Swipes!"

"Piplup use Growl!"Dawn screamed, but it was too late. Sandshrew had hit Piplup with its Fury Swipes and Piplup laid down on the ground with dizzy eyes.

After a few seconds Misty's voice broke the silence, "Piplup is unable to battle! Leaf wins!" I cheered and gave Sandshrew a hug. I saw Dawn was a little disappointed.

"Good job Piplup. Take a nice long rest."she said as Piplup returned to its pokéball. I walked to Dawn and offered her my hand. Dawn smiled and shook it. "You're a great trainer Leaf."

"Thank you."I said and I gave a look at Sandshrew. I smiled. "But I owe it all to Sandshrew here. And honestly, I would never beat you in a contest." Dawn chuckled a bit and then hugged me. I was glad we were friends again. All the fighting between us was getting a little old. Misty walked to us and hugged the both of us.

"Hey what about me?"May whined. Dawn grabbed May's arm and she joined the group hug. May chuckled a bit.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment." That voice. I turned around and looked straight into Gary's eyes. "Just checking up on Leaf."

I smiled. "So are you two dating?"Dawn asked quick.

"What makes you think that?!"I yelled, blushing furiously. Everyone chuckled. I was defenseless.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we are."Gary said. Dawn smirked at me. I sighed but gave her another ten bucks.

"Ha! I'm gonna be rich!"Dawn exclaimed happily.

"Now don't get anything in that little head of yours."I said annoyed. "This was my last bet with you." I pouted making Dawn grin even more. Then we heard the bell ring. Great! I had theatre. Dawn and I walked to the classroom and left Misty, May and Gary behind.

"Hey!"we heard someone say. We turned around to see Ash running towards us. "I was just with Serena and guess what?" Dawn chuckled and looked at me.

"She can leave the hospital soon."I tried.

Ash shook his head. "No. Unfortunately not."he said disappointed. "But she told me that she met some guy she really liked! So I don't have to feel guilty anymore."

"That's great!"Dawn said. "Who was she talking about?" Ash made a nervous sound.

"I... I forgot to ask." I sweat dropped and Dawn face palmed.

"Seriously!"Dawn yelled. Ash bit his lip and slowly nodded. Dawn looked like she could beat Ash any moment, so I decided to change the subject.

"The teacher's here."I said quickly. Dawn looked up just before she was gonna hit Ash. Then she did her hands behind her back and gave an angel face.😇 Ash growled softly, but walked inside after Dawn. I sat next to Red and Dawn.

"Hey."I said softly. Red just gave a quick smile and turned around. To be honest I would've done the same in his position. He told me he loved me and he let me be with Gary because he did. Then I went to Gary and ignored him. I couldn't be more heartless. "Red? I'm sorry." Red ignored me. What was I for friend? (Am I the only one who thinks Red, Leaf and Gary have a relationship similar to Gale, Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games? Because I really feel like it's similar to each other.) I gave a last quick look at Red before turning to the teacher. She already explained what we had to do, but I didn't really listen.

( Dawn's POV )

The girls were dealing with all sorts of problems, but I hadn't dealt with theirs. In a group Paul and I pretended like nothing happened and it annoyed me that Paul was incredible in doing so. I on the other hand wasn't such a great actress. But apparently good enough for no one to notice. When I wasn't with Paul, I was with Kenny. He understood me and we both were still having a hard time handling Barry's death. I sometimes woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and breathing unevenly. Then I would slowly cry myself to sleep.

I felt how Leaf tapped on my shoulder. I turned around to look at her. "Can I borrow your pencil?"she asked. I nodded and gave her my blue pencil. "Thanks." Kenny sat beside me and Paul was on the other side of the classroom. I caught myself staring at him and quickly looked away. Kenny was actually busy doing French, like we were supposed to.

"Why aren't you doing anything?"Kenny asked as he looked up from his work to face me. He followed my stare and got annoyed when he saw where it ended. "Are you admiring Paul again?" I swore I heard a jealous tone in his voice, but me being the great friend I am didn't pay any attention to it.

"What? No!"I whisper-screamed. I felt my cheeks burn up and I started sweating. "Of course not." Kenny raised an eyebrow, but decided his French was more important. I also started on doing my homework. Though it didn't go very fast.

"How long till class ends?"I asked Kenny. He rolled his eyes, but answered.

"Ten minutes." I groaned just soft enough for only Kenny to hear. He stiffened. "You could do your homework too you know. Instead of admiring some boy that's never gonna like you anyway." I became red, though I didn't know if it was out of embarrassment or anger. What a boy that would never like you anyway? Like there was no chance Paul liked me!

'Well for your information: Paul and I are together! So shut up Kenny!'I yelled in my mind. Though I couldn't help, but wonder if Kenny might be right. He never actually said the three words. I love you. I had said them and as a response he kissed me. Did that mean he felt the same or was he just playing me? 'Curse you Dawn! It's Paul you're talking about! Has he ever shown any interest in someone besides you?!'

"You can pack your bags now."the teacher said. Her eyes looked straight at me. "It's time." I knew she hated me, but now she made everyone look at me. Even if it was a quick look. I glared at her. She just gave me that triumphant smile she always gave me when I did something wrong. She was evil! EVIL!

I walked out of the classroom to Paul's room. Lucky for me he seemed to be the only one in the dormitory, so our secret relationship would stay secret. "Can we talk?"I asked. Paul frowned but opened the door anyway and followed me to his room. He closed the door and watched as I sat down.

"What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. "Kenny said something today..."I started. Great! I started my sentence with: 'Kenny said something today.' Like he could shut up! "He... He said something about you not being able to love me. And come to think of it you never said you did. So my question was..."

"Do I love you?"Paul finished my sentence. I nodded in response and looked nervously at Paul. He looked down, struggling with emotions I had just found out he had. I bit my lip. Kenny might even be right. Paul took a deep breath. "N-no." It came in like bomb. I felt how my nervousness changed in the urge to cry.

"You... You don't?"I asked. I felt tears burn in my eyes. Paul shook his head.

"Did you really thought I could love anyone?"he said cold. There was an unsure tone in his voice, but the shock of what he said made it unnoticeable. I realized one tear found its way out of my eye over my cheek. And another. And another. I started crying and decided to leave. Far, far away from here. From him. All my emotions wanted to get out at the same time, which made me end up hitting a stone wall, while crying and screaming. Luckily no one saw me at the moment. I looked like a panda with my mascara and dull expression.

"He doesn't love me."I mumbled.

"Did that come as a surprise, dear?"someone said.

"Who's there?"I asked, still crying, but alerter. No answer. 'It was probably nothing.'I thought and I went back to my depression. Than I saw a shadow in the dim light of the hallway. "I said who's there!" Still no answer. This time I didn't quit worrying. But the only sounds I heard was from my own unstoppable sobbing and the only things that moved were me and the flaming torch. What the hell was a flaming torch doing here? Wait, where the hell was I? I looked above, but still didn't saw anything. Then I looked down again. And I screamed like hell.

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Sorry for the short chapter, but I have a writers block and this seemed like the right place to end. Haha! Cliffhanger! Not a good one though...

I wanted to say thank you _Pepper_Sprinkles_ for the beautiful cover you made for me!❤️ It's beautiful. Every time I see it I fall in love with it even more than before. Thank you so, so, so much!

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             -LapisLazulli2-