Ash was just done from his shower. He stepped out of the bathtub and grabbed his towel from the towel bar. He dried himself off and grabbed his clean shirt and shorts from the bathroom chair. As he put on his clothes, he couldn't help but physically feel... all the cake he's been eating. Some areas felt way too mushy to be ignored.

Last time he's stepped on a scale was when Misty called him fatso (bad memories, just bad). Around that time, he weighed around one hundred sixty pounds. 

"I think now I get why Misty hates scales..." Ash pulled the digital scale from under the sink and stepped on it.

The numbers went up very quickly and it stopped at 181.7 lbs, flashed in big black characters.

"WHAT THE F*CK?" Ash turned pale.

181.7 lbs

"What the f*ck is this sh*t?"

181.7 lbs

"This stupid scale is broken!"

181.7 lbs

"It can't be!"

181.7 lbs

"..."

181.7 lbs

"Eeeeek stop staring at me!" Ash got off the scale. "You damned numbers!"

00.0 lbs

"What I'm even doing, talking to numbers on the scale..." Maybe ever since he's fought with Misty and she left and never called, he's been doing weird things; like staring at the ceiling for hours, watching porn and not reacting to it (hey, that's very weird for a guy), calling his mom instead of her calling him, taking a seat before eating and doing the dishes.

Yeah. Ash Ketchum doing the dishes. It doesn't even sound right. 

Knock knock

"Ash! Are you talking to yourself or what?"

Ash looked toward the locked door of the bathroom. Was he imagining or it was Serena's voice?

"Serena?"

"Who else, dumb head? Open this door!"

Ash blinked. He unlocked the door of his bathroom and found Serena.

"How did you get inside?" He narrowed his eyes.

"The door was open, dumb head! Some serial killer running from justice could have gotten inside!" Serena scolded. "Why do you leave your door open?"

"It was open?"

"Yes, it was!"

"I don't know why."

Serena glared.

"Fine. I forgot to close the door. It's bad. I'm wrong and you're right. Please forgive me." Ash rolled his eyes and walked over to his living room.

Serena followed. "Were you doing some shady business in the bathroom? You were cursing."

Ash looked at her. "That's not really your business, but I can say  I just found out that I'm officially a dumb fatso."

"Is everything okay?"

"Honestly? No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Serena sat beside Ash on the couch. He ignored her and grabbed a book.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? I can help. I have experience."

"Do you?"

"Yeah." Serena nodded. "With Clemont."

"Clemont who?"

"Enough talking about me." Serena shook her hands. "You skipped Mrs. Klen's class and you don't skip that class for reasons you say you'd rather keep for yourself."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Ash closed the book. He turned toward Serena and gestured to his body. "Do you find that something changed in my appearance?"

Serena cocked her head to the left, and then to the right. "Euh..."

"Yes? No?" Ash was ready for it.

Serena put her finger on Ash's chin. "Some acne popped here."

"Something other than the acne?"

"The same hair, the same eyes, the same skin. Nope. I don't see any changes." Serena nodded, all sure of herself.

"Wait, acne?" He put his hand on his chin. "Since when?"

"I'll give you my special instant anti-acne cream if you tell me what happened. I use that when I have dates so it's really precious." Serena said in a lower voice, "It's nowhere to be found in Kanto!"

"Woah, that's tempting, but thanks. I'll just ignore it until it fades."

"You guys really talk the same language..." Serena sighed. "Aren't you going to spill?"

"I got in a fight with Misty."

"Oh."

Ash glanced at her. "Because of you."

"Of me?" Serena looked surprised. "You fought because of me?"

Ash nodded.

"..."

"She thinks you're trying to date me, steal me—I don't know, hide me in your purse?" Ash rolled his eyes. "She told me to call her once you're out of my life."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "And you haven't called her yet because I'm not out of your life."

"What should I do?"

Serena slapped her forehead. "You should call her and go see her! You can't let her believe this."

"She said you told Gary you like me!"

"No, I didn't!" Serena gasped. "I told him about-..."

Serena paused. Ash stared at her.

"Did you?"

"Ugh, no!" Serena groaned. "I told him I liked someone but of course it's not you!"

"Of course?" 

"I like Clemont!"

"Clemont?"

"This is a big misunderstanding, Ash." Serena hid her face with her hands. "I can't believe I did this without even paying attention."

"Huh?"

"Look, even when the girl is wrong, the guy has to apologize," Serena told him. "You're going to buy Misty a present, go see her and apologize. Then, you're going to give her a ride, kiss her on the lips and tell her how beautiful she is."

"What for?"

"That's what boyfriends do. Don't ask too many questions."

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"That's not how relationships work." Serena shrugged. "You're the guy. You do the dirty work."

"It isn't really dirty work to buy Misty something and go see her, but I don't see why I should do it when she was the one who got this wrong and went too fast with her false interpretations."

"If you keep thinking in this manner, you and Misty are going to break up before the end of freshman year."

"I don't want to break up with Misty. She made me a chocolate cake last week. It was delicious."

Serena glared. Ash smiled at her reaction. "And I love her."

"Well, now you know what to do!" Serena grabbed her purse and got up, looking Ash up and down. "By the way, I think she should stop making you chocolate cakes."

"Misty likes spoiling me! She loves me! In your face!" Ash shouted as Serena left his apartment, sticking her tongue out and giggling mischievously.

"I'm so not ready for this..." Ash sighed. He lay down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Wasn't he too young for this responsibility? He felt as if he was responsible of what's going to happen between him and Misty. He hated being responsible. Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he was responsible for something or someone. 

His phone started vibrating suddenly on the coffee table.

Ash picked it up and turned to rest on his side. "I was going to call you, mom."

I've called three times already! What's happening?

"Long story short; college."

-

The next update is for next weekend, then c;