Hey there guys, it's Amoryna here! I'm very excited 'cause this will be my first story to publish as a member of the Squad and kinda nervous 'cause I'm not THAT good in English...

Whatever, I hope you enjoy!

Maylene Belle Maple sure wasn't the most beautiful girl existing in the world. If you'd open a dictionary in search for words like "stunning", "breathtaking" or even simular ones to "pretty", you definitely wouldn't find her picture under the respective description.

She was nothing like the fragil, long haired, blonde stereotype of "beautiful", even if she had sapphire colored eyes matching with her blonde-brunette hair color. She wasn't the person to spend hours on getting ready every day, choosing the PERFECT outfit, combing her hair and putting on make up like some friends of hers, for example Dawn or Serena.

Every morning, she'd just wash herself or take a quick shower and put her hair in her usual bandanna. No need choosing what to wear because it was always the same comfortable, sporty outfit that worked so well for travelling. No one would look at her clothing or see much of her hair anyway, so why waste too much time on it? Better take all her time possible to train and improve her and her pokémon's coordinating skills.

If it came to the features that were given her by nature you could say she was ordered somewhere in the middle of "mainstream". If you asked her that is.
Her face wasn't that pretty by itself and to repeat it, she didn't really do anything to correct that.
As for her body, you also could call it quite normal. She wasn't fat - although we all knew her eating habits - but not thin as well. Sometimes, she came to worry about the way her body started to grow in the right places as time passed. Somewhen, she ended up having filled out more than a lot of girls she spent time with, especially around the "chest-area". But in the end, she was fine with the way it was. Not like she could change this aspects, anyway.
She didn't really care about what other people would think about her appearance, so she's never given it too much thought in general. Her focus has always used to lay on stuff she considered more important, like the contests.

There were exceptions to that rule though. Sometimes, one of them would simpley be her rival, grasshead Drew, who - even if she hated to admit it - she may have been crushing on for the past five years. But it sure was nothing more than what a little, romantic ten-year-old girl thought of love. Well, that was what May always told herself, even if she's sometimes given reasons to slightly doubt it.
But that wasn't even the point now. Though the problem the poor girl was currently facing sure had to do with it.

Being 16, May started to think more about boy-releated stuff not only because of having to face it a little more every day. Suddenly, topics like "relationship" and "dating" started to bother her a lot more than before, possibly because her two best friends, Dawn (who really was a stunning girl even without spending hours on her looks) and Misty, both already got themselves two more or less caring boyfriends.

Already being told by her bubbly attitude, May sure was very happy for them. Even in a "crazy fangirl" way so she wouldn't stop squealing and doing everything to get the details out of her poor friends.

But eventually, she came to wonder why no guy ever seemed to be showing any romantic interest in her. The answer sure being her non existing beauty. (Her thoughts, not mine...) And you thinking of yourself as more ugly than beatiful was very hard, especially for someone like May, who often laked self-confidence. But fortunatly, happy, positive thinking, naïve May wasn't ready to let herself down like that yet. That would be so unlike her.

So she decided to test the very thought of her beauty on non other than the one and only Drew Hayden himself. Sure, that was one of the biggest risks she could take, considering that, knowing him, he wouldn't hesitate to insult her like if she asked good boy friends of hers like Ash, Brock or Brendan. They would probably be soft and tell her what ever they thought in a nice way. Ash probably wouldn't get the point at all.
Sure, Drew somehow was her friend, too, but the way he always teased her didn't make it quite the same. But she wanted to hear it straight from his mouth and from him only, even if it hurt.

She didn't really spend time to plan the whole interrogation, she just decided to keep it spontaneous. Nothing big because he'd probably sense her being slightly or even more worried, smart as he was. So the one thing she had to remember was not to show him how nervous she might be and how desperately she wished for what kind of answer.

After the next contest, taking place in Mulberry City, - which Drew managed to win once again and get his forth contest ribbon (they were travelling Kanto for the second time), once again being two steps ahead of her own two (yes, it really was annoying, most of all because he wouldn't stop pestering her about it) - she finally got the chance to initiate their little talk.

After paking her stuff and while heading towards the contest hall's front doors, she caught him taking a little break sipping on some hot beverage - maybe black coffee, judging from how it smelt -, before continuing his journey to who-knows-where.
Eww, the girl'd never been able to get how he could stand disgusting things like that.
Thinking about it, she'd never seen him eat or drink anything of the sweet flavour she preffered.

His Roserade was by his side, talking to him in it's own language, getting bored, mumbled answers from its trainer May couldn't quite understand. Sensing the perfect opportunity, she slowly approached him from behind and slipped into one of the chairs next to him.

He didn't even take a single look at her. "Here we go again", he grinned, adressing to the blonde-brunette, before taking another sip of his coffee. He didn't even have to see her to know very well who the person next to him was. He would recognise her everywhere within seconds, even if it was with covered eyes and ears.

"What's it this time, May? I've already told you you needed to improve if you'd want to have the slightest chance of catching up to me ever. Natural talent, you know? Like I showed you again today, no excitement of the world could ever replace that", he continued, leaning back smirking and flicking his thick, green bangs at his rival as he always did to get her worked up.

But not this time. May was on a mission and couldn't risk reacting to his teasing like she always did. So she did her best to swallow her rising anger and just smile back at him, twirling the beautiful, blood red, thornless rose he'd given her - or better, her Glaceon - only a couple of minutes ago in her fingers.

Yes, he still did that, even after May and her team had lost. Sometimes, she actually got a little jealous of her pokémon for earning all his roses and compliments. Would it hurt him that much to say something nice to her, too, even if it was just once?

"Yeah, yeah, cabbage brain, I know what you want to say", she answered happily, "You're better than me for being so great at coordinating and that I suck, compared to you. I get it." That turned Drew's smirk into a frown. He didn't expect her to stay all calm over his comments. He wanted to see her angry and red faced. He wanted to see the fire of rage dancing in her sapphiran eyes. But if she didn't get upset, none of that would work and than he wouldn't get to see the side of her he secretly thought was one of the cutest.

"Well, actually, I've been looking for you. I wanted to ask you something", May continued hastily, her cheeks blushing slightly, which got unnoticed by Drew because of him focusing on his drink again. Roserade giggled silently. "You know, 'cause all of my friends are already dating someone and I haven't even had a date myself", she explained, her blush deepening while she asked herself quietly if this really was a good idea, "And so I wondered if I wasn't pretty enough for a guy to ask me. And, ...well, ...you are a guy, so I ...figured maybe it would be best to ...just ask you for your opinion..."

She paused, looking away extremely embarrassed while blushing furiously and tapping her index fingers together without even noticing. She could already tell by Roserade's hidden laughter that she wasn't a good actress at all. Damn it.

Drew just looked at her with a funny expression, not believing she actually meant it, before spitting out some of his coffee and breaking into hysterical laughter as well, only a lot worse than his partner.

Now it was May who sent him a strange look, both weird and utterly worried at the same time.
"You ...you're really asking me if I'd think about you as pretty", he stated between lauthing, "You can't be serious."

May blinked confusingly. One, she had no idea where the problem with just answering her question was, and two, she really wasn't used to her rival acting so funny. He hardly ever laughed, but here he was, trying not to die from too much of it. Well, it actually looked good on him, like everything else, May thought. But that didn't help her with getting an explanation to his strange behaviour. What even was so funny 'bout it all? She was being totally serious.
"Uh ... sure I mean it", she said, eyeing him a little uneasily, "Why would I not?"

That only made the green hairerd teen laugh more. He wasn't even able to take a single glace at her 'cause then he would have noticed how worried about his opinion the girl beside him actually was.
"You? Pretty? On what pink clouds are you walking, May? Haven't you ever taken a look at a mirror? 'Cause then I'm sure there would be no need for this little talk."

Ouch. That hurt. In fact, a lot more than May would've thought. Besides thinking she'd only like him a little bit, the ache of her heart told her otherwise and after one moment, she found herself close to tears.
"S-sure t-that's what y-you'd s-say", she managed to cough out while turning her head away from him so he wouldn't be able to see the obviously hurt expression on her face, "I ...I should h-have known b-before, s-shouldn't I?"

What had she even thought he'd say? "Yeah, May, asking me, you're actually pretty enough."? He was right. What dream was she wandering in? By now, he had woke her up and painfully dumped her back into the cruel reality. That was for sure.
Not able to face him again in her state, she turned around and stumbled towards the doors, not even managing to give him a short "goodbye". Not with that raspy, shaky voice that would immediately tell him how she felt. Why should she even be that nice to him now? It was not like they'd had a little, happy catch-up between two friends or something. No, Drew wasn't one to do stuff like that.

As soon as she had her back towards him, Drew realised what he'd actually told her and how seriously she took it. Definitely not his intention. He was just teasing her like he always did, being a little too insulting in the process. Never in a million years he'd want to hurt her like he realised he accidentally just did.

At first he wasn't able to do anything but look after her with a shocked expression on his face, his brain having a hard job trying to come up with a plan what to do next. Roserade just glared at him, signalling his mistake. That didn't help at all. "I know, I messed up this time", Drew muttered after some time, even if he hated to admit it, just concluding how true this words actually were, while finally jumping up from his chair to run after May who was about to disappear around the corner. He simpley left his drink on the table and his black backpack on a chair next to it, along with sweatdropping Roseeade, not seeming to care about it anymore.

"Wait up, May! Listen, I didn,'t mean it! Please stop!", he shouted after her, hurrying to follow her as fast as he could. What had gotten into her, anyway? Normally, she'd just get all angry about his insults and fire something rather mean back at him to defend herself, not turn around and run away like giving up and like there's something she had to hide from him. She was acting quite strange, if you asked him. And that fact started worrying him. A lot.

Hearing his voice and his footsteps behind her sure didn't make the poor girl stop. She only ran faster, not wanting him to see how close the was to tears. For him, it would be the perfect opportunity to continue teasing her and she somehow knew that she wouldn't be able to stand his insults right now. Everything she wanted was for him to stop and leave her alone. Maybe it was weak and pathetic and he would be right to make fun of her for it, but she couldn't help it.

No matter how much she tried to fight back the tears and the heartache his echoing words in her head caused her, it just wouldn't work and so she had no choice but to flee from as fast as she could. She didn't even know why he cared enough to follow her to begin with. Did he really have so much fun rubbing her flaws right into her face? Even she wouldn't have thought he was mean enough to do something like that. She had been sure she'd know him better. Seemingly not.

She didn't even bother to listen to what he actually said, not wanting to hear anything of it. It never would have occurred to her that he wanted her to stop because he was worried about her. So she just ran.

May was able to keep up her pace like that for a long time after exiting the contest hall, before she finally had to stop because of the lack of oxygen in her lungs on top of a grassy field outside the city. He would never have followed her till now, would he?
"May! Are you deaf or something? I told you to stop, damn it!"

So so he did indeed run after her all the way, she thought, spinning around to snap at him because of not knowing what else to do anymore. That was when his hand suddenly reached out to grab her wrist, interrupting her before she could even open her mouth.
"You're not running from me anymore, you hear me?", he demanded, panting slightly and looking down at her, his emerald green eyes glimmering fimley, "And now tell me what's wrong. Normally you wouldn't get all worked up about a little teasing."

May blinked confusedly. Why wasn't he smirking at her cockily anymore like she imagined he would? He actually seemed quite ...worried, to say the least, even though she couldn't really judge through her watering eyes.

But when she started shaking her head rapidly when finally realising what he'd just said. No, she wouldn't let him hear the reason why she was so upset. Never ever would she admit how much his opinion actually meant to her. If he didn't make fun of her now, he wouldn't do it any later than then, that was for sure.

Drew watched confusedly, not quite knowing how to react or what to say. He still really had no clue what her problem was at all. It could be that she as a matter of fact thought he'd find her somewhat ugly. That possibility was completely ludicrous. Had she still not figured out the meaning of all the roses or just the way he looked at her? It's not like he was being that secretive about it.

To her surprise and horror at the same time, he suddenly started laughing again, having trouble to stay serious, though for May, that's exactly what the topic was. Nothing funny at all. "So you really were serious when asking me about your looks", he concluded, the teasing smirk that would one day drive May completely insane, back on his face. Now anger started finally rising inside her. Why the hell was he still laughing about this?

But at the moment Drew didn't seem to care much. He was still trying to hold back his laughter but failed miserably. "I can't believe you actually bought this", he realised, "Even you should be smart enough to know I'd never mean it."

That leaved poor May actually bewildered once again. "Wait a sec...", she muttered after another moment, "You ...you didn't mean what you told me? You don't think I'm ugly? But then ...why'd you lie?" She didn't quite get it anymore.

Her confusion made Drew stop laughing and facepalm frustratedly instead. That was all of an answer he needed to his unspoken question. No, she still had no clue about his feelings towards her. He should have known, judging by how dense she was.

"I couldn't just straight out tell you that for me, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met, could I? Would you have believed that?", he remarked before thinking about the consequences of what he just said. That got him to a point he really wanted to slap himself for giving her this quite obvious hint of the best kept secret of his whole life. Something he definitely didn't want her to know by now.

Again, May blinked, staring at him with both confusion and disbelief. Did he really just tell her he thought she was beautiful?
"Y-you ...You mean it?", she stuttered out, her cheeks visibly reddening.

Drew sighed quietly before nodding, confirming it. There was no use in denying anything now anyways. He'd already said it and she'd heard every single word.
"Yeah, this time I really do", he added, a little, soft smile forming on his lips. No, not the cocky, insulting smirk he used to wear on his face. A real, honest smile that was enough to make May's heart skip a beat and her face flush bright red. Something that sure stayed unnoticed by her rival.
He was already turning around to head back to the contest hall before risking to divulge more of his feelings than he'd already done.

"See you at the next contest, May", he trough over his shoulder before starting to walk away, giving her his typical two-fingered salute, "And remember you don't have any time to worry about your appearance 'cause you'll have to use all your time and strengh to train if you want to be able to enter the Grand Festival so that I have someone to crush in battle then." Besides already having given her one that day, he turned around one last time to toss her another one of his red roses. May carefully caught it by the stem while watching him go speechlessly. That really didn't go as she expected.

Meanwhile, Drew just silently smirked to himself while stepping futher and futher away from her. Running into her at the next contest whould be very interesting.

No, May Maple wasn't the most beautiful girl existing in the world. She was nowhere near it. If you'd open a dictionary in search for words like "stunning", "breathtaking" or even simular ones to "pretty", you definitely wouldn't find her picture under the respective description. Analysing her character, she was hot-tempered, sometimes too bubbly and naïve for her own good, so no one halfway sane would call her personality beautiful either.
But seemingly, Drew Hayden had other definitions of beauty than most people did. Cause for him, May was the most beautiful thing existing in the world and also everything he ever needed.

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