Day: WE FINALLY REACHED THURSDAY! And it will probably be Thursday for a long time. I mean, it's the most important day of the story after all. Aaaahh!!! I'm so excited about this, and I don't even know why!!! I read my first chapter again some time ago, and I cringed so much. I guess I really have improved my writing. Well, I hope. Ah, who cares! I came this far, and it's all thanks to all of you! Thank you, so, so, so, so, so, so, SO MUCH!!!

( Dawn's POV )

After all that had happened yesterday, I was exhausted. Everyone knew about the letter, the threat, to Misty. Even Ash and Gary, who came later, knew it now. We had thought up a plan, and then we were all sent to bed, told that tomorrow was gonna be a big day. A deciding day. I couldn't sleep, so I had been awake, and that was the stupidest thing I could've done. Now it was morning, and I hadn't even slept ten minutes. It was still too early for anyone to wake me up, tell me I had classes, or anything else. I was scared. But when wasn't I?

I picked up my MP3 player. One of the few things we could keep. The rules here were strict, which was very understandable. Still, the rule for no contact with the outside world was broken already too many times, and they had given up on the times you should be at school. If I remembered correctly it used to be 7am and 8pm. But it didn't matter. It was gone anyway.

I just listened to some songs on my playlist. It wasn't like I would sleep anyway. Britney Spears' voice singing Everytime came into my ears. This song must be written specially for Misty. I had listened to this song so many times when I was little. I still remembered the lyrics. And I could just imagine how Misty would feel hearing this. Paul and I were good. We were together, and we were happy. But I still managed to be so down all the time. I needed him with me, always.

A few knocks on the door.

I took out my earphones and said, "Come in." May opened the door. She had been scared too. I had noticed how she almost grabbed Drew's hand if he hadn't crossed his arms that very moment. She relied on him, and they both liked each other. And they managed to have improved their relationship the least of everyone of us. I changed my way of sitting, gesturing May should sit beside me.

"Today is gonna be tiring."May started, stating the obvious. "And I will do everything I can to protect Misty. But when this day is over, no matter if we succeed or fail, it'll change. Life will change. Drew will leave, Leaf will probably be different, we have to live with the fact we are the cause of worsening someone's life. I know I can't back out now, but it seems like today is too fast. Too soon." I nodded.

"I know, I feel it too."I agreed. "I'm scared, even though I have the least dangerous role here. But May," She looked at me with a questionable face. "Whatever happens, we'll survive, okay? I don't care how, we'll survive." May smiled.

"It feels like only yesterday that we did our Truth or Dare game."May said, smiling weakly. "Someday, we'll continue that game. And then, I won't keep the truth from you." I smiled at remembering that moment. Things changed too much, too quickly. It was like May said, today is too fast, too soon. I held up my pinkie.

"Pinkie swear?"I asked. May smiled, and entwined her pinkie with mine.

"Pinkie swear."she repeated, and we both nearly cried. Normal teenage girls wouldn't have to worry about any of this. But we weren't normal. We had all decided to go to school in Almia, for some unexplainable reason. None of us came from here, but we still ended up together. It's as if it was more than a coincidence, it felt like fate. I picked up my MP3 player, removing the earphones, so that May could listen with me. And I put on a song I had listened to a lot lately. Especially when the news about Barry had just come. It seemed so long ago, though it wasn't at all that long ago.

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

A smile escaped my lips. We had survived so much already, we could do this much. As long as we did it together, and were honest to each other. Then we could do anything.

( time skip )

I looked at the clock, tapping on the desk. I didn't even pay attention to my work anymore. Time seemed to go even slower than usual. Every hour in here was another waste of my time. Not to mention I was finally tiring a bit. Just at the wrong moment. Misty sat next to me, just as restless as I was. But she seemed to have slept a bit. Even May had slept an hour. I hadn't.

"You okay?"Misty asked. I nodded slowly. I hadn't been okay the moment I had known what I was getting myself into. How many weeks had it been since I was okay? Three? It all seemed so much longer. Misty hadn't made any effort to tie up her hair, and it was just touching her shoulders. It hadn't grown all that much since the first time I saw her, and still... "You're not the only one who's scared, Dawn." I looked away.

"I'm pathetic."I said. "I'm in the least danger, and I seem to be the most afraid. That's just simply pathetic. I'm as pathetic as Ursula." And Ursula wasn't even all that pathetic. She just followed what she thought was right.

"You're not pathetic, and certainly not as much as Ursula." I sighed pretending to write down some actual answers to the geography questions. "Dawn, there are people in here doing nothing. They're also scared. It's normal, and human. I would honestly be surprised if you weren't afraid. I'm afraid too. So is May, so is Gary. All of us." I knew this speech. My mom used to tell me this. Everyone's afraid. Yes, but some could still stand up and do something about it. I even was too afraid for that.

"It's different with me."I said softly. "I shouldn't be scared. Not now that you guys are risking everything, and I'm risking nothing. You can do it, I can't even face reality. Misty, if anything happens to you, I won't forgive myself. I was afraid and you went out there, and..." My voice broke. Luckily everyone was being incredibly loud. Geography was mostly an hour to fool around. Since the teacher didn't know anything about order. Misty let her hand rest on my shoulder, and she smiled weakly.

"I'll be fine."she reassured me. "Don't worry. Just do what you need to do." I nodded.

"Let's hope it all goes well."I whispered. The bell rang and everyone quickly packed their bags. But I kept looking at Misty. She took a deep breath before smiling. The smile was a fake, I was sure of that. But it seemed so real. How long had Misty lied her way through life?

"Don't worry, Dawn. I'll be perfectly fine."

And I prayed to Arceus that she was right. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like Arceus heard me. And he would listen to my prayer. Maybe he would do something about it too. I swung my bag around my arm and walked out of the door. Finally, the day was over. Only one person was still in the room. He looked straight at me as if he knew me. None of them knew the real me. I walked out of the room through the halls. People were talking about the dance, and what they were gonna wear. I walked outside, quickly looking up at the sky.

"Arceus, if you can hear me, I beg you, protect them."I whispered before I ran to a clothing shop. If I was gonna do this, I was gonna give it my all.

( time skip )

I came out of my room, wearing an incredibly light pink dress, with ballerinas. My hair was tied up in a very complicated bun. I also wore the necklace Barry had once given me for my birthday. I would show it to his murderer, tell her the story behind this necklace. I would show her what she had done. And that man too! Both of them. Finally justice would happen. For Barry.

"You look beautiful."May said smiling. I couldn't smile back. May wore black clothes, good enough to blend in in the shadows. She wasn't with me. I wouldn't know what would happen to her, Drew, Gary, Misty and Ash for the rest of the night.

"Good luck."I tried to say, but it was hard to get over my tongue. Misty came in from beside us. The only one who hadn't changed. The only thing different was the confidence in her eyes. How could they be so relaxed about risking their lives. "If you see Leaf, tell her I want to see her. I've missed her. And I wanted I could come with you all. But I guess this is my part in this. I'm not capable of anything else." A tear streamed down May's face. We all missed Leaf. That was why we were all here, right? If I hadn't been in this room, I would've never known how awesome it was to be here. I needed to have the courage to help them. Not the other way around. So I smiled.

"We will."Misty replied, and I hugged her. Then May.

"Well, we still have some time before we'll need to part."I said happily, and I flopped onto the couch. Piplup came to sit on my lap. "Let's make it count." They sat down too.

"You said it!"Misty exclaimed. May just grinned. And we talked. After some time they helped me with perfecting my makeup. Then someone knocked on the door, so May opened. Piplup and I made eye contact. I couldn't remember the last time we had been so in sync. I turned around to see May coming back. She quickly helped me with some last things and then she pushed me into the living room. There sat Paul, in a tuxedo. I had always wanted to see him like this. Formal, and mine. Paul unintentionally smiled. It was so rare to see him smile. So I smiled back.

"Milady,"Paul joked. Since when did Paul make jokes? "It's time." I could feel the butterflies in my belly. This was a situation of life and death, but right now I could only see Paul. I took his hand in mine, and turned around once to see May and Misty. They both looked so sure of what they were about to do. I mouthed a thank you, and I got a wink from May in response. Then I left the room with Paul. To the dance. Keeping everyone inside, not to mention being close to officer Jenny.

"Dawn."someone whispered, and I quickly turned around, still holding Paul's hand. I smiled when Kenny came walking next to me. Paul squeezed my hand a bit. Guess they still weren't at the best terms. "I didn't think you would come, let stand that I would see Paul in a tuxedo." I chuckled a bit.

"Well, no one should be able to kill all my fun, right?"I replied. Kenny grinned. Then I looked at his clothes, realizing it wasn't a normal tuxedo. "That tuxedo..."

"Yes, it was Barry's."Kenny said, but he kept smiling. "I don't want anyone to forget him, especially not me. He was my best friend, remember? I want to honor him." I smiled. That sounded good. Kenny had matured a lot.

"Let's say blondie was someone all of us respected."Paul said, back to his emotionless self.

"You remember him?"Kenny asked a little surprised. An arrogant smile appeared on Paul's face. It was hard for me not to kiss him right this moment. But I wouldn't.

"How can I forget the guy that kept challenging me, even though he always lost." I chuckled again. I remembered those times. It was something really admirable from Barry. No matter how many times he'd lose, he would just get up and try again. I missed him, but I shouldn't be staying in the past. I should help Leaf and Misty, because they were still here to save.

"Let's help our friends."I murmured confidently. I was still scared, but I felt like I could do this. I could help my friends. So I came into the completely decorated gym with a smile. Loud music came into my ears. I could spot officer Jenny somewhere in a corner, but I wasn't gonna look grumpy or sad. I smiled as I took Paul's hand and dragged him with me to dance.

________________________________________________________________________________

Happy Dawn! Yay! I still hate myself for letting Barry die, but it's always my favorite character to die. It was doomed to happen. That's the bad thing about being my favorite character.

So... I think next chaper is gonna be the revealing of the killer. Excited?

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Thank you!

-LapisLazulli2-

P.S. I still haven't seen all my notifications, but boy do I have a lot. Wattpad glitched, so I decided not to come to Wattpad until it was fixed, and then this happened.