A/N: If any of you are wondering, I'm still working on the next chapter of TBOL. I decided to work on this side project for a bit. I hope you enjoy it.

-Sarah

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or its characters.

"So you come here often?"

Well, that was a lame question, Misty. Regardless, I stole a side-glance at the black-haired wonder next to me before staring across the lobby and out the windows, anticipating his response. The snow came down in large cotton ball-sized flakes, collecting in a large blanket across the front walkway. It was getting late, the earth already succumbing to the darkness at that point.

We had both been sitting here for a couple of hours at that point. There was supposed to be a late bus, but it had never showed. I originally was going to be staying for swim practice, but it had been cancelled, leading me to believe that I'd be able to catch this stupid bus. My sister would have picked me up from practice earlier than this, but because I had told her not to bother, that I would catch the bus, she had made plans. Therefore I had to wait for a ride from one of my other sisters—whichever one decided to show up. They really knew how to disappoint a girl.

It was frustrating to say the least. I had spent the entire time, sitting against the wall, scrolling through tumblr on my phone. He had been there almost the entire time, probably in a similar predicament as me, though I hadn't the courage to ask him. We sat in virtual silence while I thought of all of the things that I could say to the beautiful young man merely feet away from me. His name was Ash Ketchum, he was in my English and History classes, and he was the type of guy to make my heart flutter with nothing but felicity.

He was taller than me, but only just. His dark hair was quite messy, albeit today much more than usual. He kept running his hands through it, his fingers gently combing through the strands. He looked back at me curiously without saying anything at first, our eyes locking, his brown beauties pulling me in. A crooked smile erupted on his face before answering.

"Well, yes. They have school almost every day, you see."

Good job, idiot. Now he knows that you aren't so bright, I told myself. I muttered inaudibly that that wasn't what I meant, accompanied by a sheepish smile. Several minutes passed before anyone said more. It seemed that the conversation was meant to die there. Disappointment was starting to settle into my core when he began to speak again.

"Why are you here waiting anyway? I've never seen you after school before."

"Well I do stay. You just never see me because I'm at swim practice," I replied.

"Then why aren't you at swim practice?"

"It got cancelled."

"Ah."

Ash, who had been standing for quite a while now, walked over to the spot next to me. He slid his body down against the wall, until he was sitting next to me, our shoulders brushing against each other. My body gave a slight shudder at his touch. I looked up from my phone to witness his sheepish smile. My lips tugged at the corners for a second before resting again. I shifted, putting my phone into my jeans pocket, determined to continue this conversation.

"What about you? Why are you stranded?"

"Oh, well, I was staying after with Mrs. Allen."

"Did she give you detention or something? Did I miss something in class?"

It was odd because even though we were in not one, but two classes, we hardly talked to each other. I sifted through the jumble of memories from the past week, unsure when I would have missed him doing something to get him in trouble. Perhaps it had been in between classes when it happened. It surprised me. I didn't think he'd be the type to give someone trouble like that.

"Well, no," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "She was letting me retake that last One Years of Solitude test we had."

"Oh," I said, knowing the answer, but asking anyway, "Did you not do so well?"

"Erm—no," he said, pausing slightly. "I failed it actually."

I had found that test to be quite easy, recalling the ninety-four percent I had gotten on it. However, I did not mention that to him. It would make him feel worse about his failed attempt. Encouragement was probably a better recourse for him. I put on my best smile and voice full of optimism.

"Well I'm sure you did great on the retake!"

"I'm not so sure about that," he muttered grumpily.

"Why?" I asked, tucking my knees up to my chest. "What's giving you trouble with this book?"

He chuckled, his shoulders giving way a little bit. "It's all books that give me trouble, but this one—well this one in particular has been especially headache producing."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"This is a surprise. Miss Smarty Pants not knowing something," he said, adding a wink to the end of his statement.

I could feel my face growing hot. "I-I'm not that smart. Where would you get the idea of that?"

"Oh, please. Misty, you're the best in our class…and History class."

"Is this necessary?"

He continued. "I hear that you're pretty strong in Math as well…French…"

"That's enough!" I said, standing up, certain that my face was completely flushed. "You don't need to go on about that—I mean—I just try really hard. It's not that impressive."

"Sit back down," he said, reaching up for my hand and tugging it toward him.

Gravity was on his side as I slid back down against the wall. My legs buckled as I went, leading to not one of the softest landings. My coccyx began to ache, probably now bruised from the impact. I refrained myself from rubbing the area, acutely aware of the adolescent male presence adjacent to which I was adjacent. I rocked back and forth a few times, trying to subdue the discomfort. Surrendering, I decided to focus my attention on him inside.

"I have to do well in school. What else could separate me from the rest of my sisters?"

"Your sisters?"

"Yes. I have three older sisters—Daisy, Lily, and Violet. They are all older than me and were stars of the swim team when they were here. Daisy broke the state record when she was a senior—it's still the record to this day, in fact. The other two were excellent in diving…and then there's me, the runt."

"I'm sure that you're great!" Ash said with the goofiest grin on his face. My heart missed a beat.

"Thanks, that's really sweet," I replied, "but, no it's true. I'll never be as good as they are. They do little things to remind me of that too. Like Daisy, who was supposed to pick me up, but she's now too busy shopping. So, I guess we'll see who shows up."

"That's—"

"What?"

"Well, horrible, actually."

I shrugged. It was strange sharing this information with another human being. I never had many friends. I guess that I had a habit of intimidating people. It wasn't my fault that I was a feisty and head-strong kind of girl who loved swimming and her books. I hadn't found anyone who would stay for long. I did date a boy a few months back, but that didn't last long either. Even though Ash was the kind of guy someone could really fall for, what I needed more than anything in this moment was a friend.

"That's the way it's been for me for a while now."

"What about your parents?"

"They aren't around a lot. They are marine biologists, so they're away traveling a lot. They need to follow the animals and their migration—that kind of thing. Daisy's technically in charge, since she's the oldest and out of college."

"Oh. Do you miss them?"

"Yeah, my mother especially. Things are better with my sisters when she's around," I said, the pain of her absence now at the forefront of my thoughts. It had been months since I had seen her, and this year of school hadn't been easy. She would have been here to pick me up, though part of me wasn't sure if that was necessarily a good thing. I was having such a good conversation with Ash; part of me was glad that my sisters were currently neglecting me.

"I see."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"We've been talking about my family. Seems only fair that we talk about yours as well."

"I guess," he said, turning his head slightly away from me.

"Well…" I said, tipping my head at an angle.

"There's not that much to tell," he said, letting out a sigh. "It's just me and my mom. I have no siblings, so it's pretty quiet at my house, I guess."

"What about your dad?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if I should be going there.

"He left when I was really young. I barely remember him."

"Oh," I said, hoping that I hadn't upset him. "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. My mom is amazing, so that makes up for it. I also have Pikachu."

I looked at him, puzzled. "Who's Pikachu?"

He gave me a lopsided grin as he went to reach into his pocket. He rummaged around for a second before gingerly pulling his closed fist out. I jumped back slightly when I realized what was in his hand. I wasn't afraid of rodents by any means, but the sudden presence of the orange and brown field mouse started me a little. He had it in his pocket all day long?

"This is Pikachu," he said, holding his hand out so I could see his mouse better.

"He's so cute," I said, looking up from Pikachu.

Until then, I hadn't noticed how close our faces had gotten to each other. Our eyes locked for the second time that afternoon, and this time, I couldn't pull myself away from his warm gaze. My heart started beating rapidly. What was wrong with me? I had never felt this way about anyone before. I didn't know what to do with myself. Is this what it was like to be in l—no—I couldn't be, could I?

It was his turn to break away from me. I missed those chocolate brown eyes as soon as they left me. Cursing at myself, I fumbled for my phone to use as a distraction, my hands shaking. This was getting a bit too much for me. Where were my sisters?

"Hey, Misty." Ash's voice yanked me out of my current internal panic.

"Yeah?"

"If my mom comes before your sisters, do you want a ride home?"

I was taken aback by the offer. The most we had interacted was the past hour, more words uttered than the last two years. Here this perfectly wonderful boy was offering to take me home, seeming to care more than my own sisters. His gesture almost made me cry. Unable to respond with words, I nodded.

"Wow. We really went off-topic," he said, laughing. "How did we go from my failing grade to this?"

"No idea," I said before breaking into the first real smile I had had in a long time.

One glance at each other spurred a fit of laughter from the two of us. We leaned against each other, unable to contain the giggles erupting from our chest. The situation was a bit funny. What kind of school leaves two students stranded with a snowstorm forming outside? It was their fault that we were stuck in this mess to begin with. Yet, not a faculty member could be seen.

Once the laughter had finally subsided, I said, "You know, you don't have to be failing."

"What do you mean?" He shot back.

"I mean," I said, taking a deep breath. "I could help you, you know. We could go over stuff after school. I usually have a little time before swim practice in the afternoons. I could help you with the homework or stuff you didn't quite get in class. I'm sure we could figure something out."

"That would be great!" he said, almost shouting. "Thanks Misty."

"It's no problem. I don't mind."

"Could we start now?" he pressed, shoving Pikachu back in his pocket. The poor mouse. "It would give us something to do while we're waiting."

"Uh sure, I guess," I said, unprepared to be giving a lesson on literature. "What part of the book do you find problematic?"

"It's not really the book that's the problem. It's more about this magical realism stuff that I don't get."

"Well it's pretty simple," I said. He gave me a look that said that I was wrong, but I continued anyway. "I mean there's magic in the story, but it's written in a way that makes it seem like it's a part of what we would consider 'real life' like how physics works as opposed to making it something fantastical."

"Can you explain it more?" His voice sounded a bit strained, meaning he probably didn't understand it the first time.

"Okay so I guess it's conceivable that magic exists right now, but it's so subtle that we don't even notice it. Like in the book, there's a family that has constant misfortunes. What we perceive as bad luck and coincidences is really magic in the form of a curse. Does that make sense now?"

He didn't respond at first. His brow was furrowed, as though the concept was slowly sinking into his brain. It looked like it hurt. He snapped his fingers, and it was as though I could almost see the light bulb glowing above his head.

"So what you're saying is that everyday things could actually be due to magic? Like someone saying something's going to happen, and then two days later, it does."

"Yeah, that's not a bad example."

"Or wishing for something and it coming true?"

"Sure."

"Or someone doing something wrong and then something bad happens to them?"

"That's what karma is."

"Or someone able to understand animals?"

"Ash, I think you've given enough examples—"

"Or falling in love?"

"Huh?"

This one had thrown me off. When he saw my dumbfounded expression, his cheeks grew a bit red. He mumbled something inaudibly, scratching the back of his head. When I said nothing again, he sighed, and muttered, this time audibly, "Well, you know."

"No," I said. "I don't know. Tell me."

"They always talk about soul mates, you know, two people who are meant to be together—"

"Yes, I know what soul mates are, Ash."

"I wasn't finished," he snapped back.

"Sorry," shrinking back into myself a little. "Continue."

"Okay well. That whole destiny or fate mumbo jumbo or whatever. If two people are destined to meet and fall in love and be together for the rest of their lives, wouldn't that be considered a kind of magic? How else would that happen if there weren't some kind of force making it so?"

His countenance was so earnest, but I wasn't sure if I was meant to agree or disagree. My heart gave a bit of a flutter. Destiny. Fate…like two students who knew of each other, but never talked much. Then one day, they both are after school and the bus never shows up. As fate would have it, they are the only two left stranded for hours, forcing them together, letting them get to know each other uninhibited. I gazed at him as the shudder ran down my back. Maybe magic was real. Maybe I was about to learn about it today.

My phone buzzed angrily from my pocket, causing both of us to jump. My face felt on fire as I pulled it out of my pocket, answering it just in time. It was Violet. She was on her way home and would be there to pick me up in about five minutes at the south end of the building. As I stood up, I shoved the phone back into my pocket, and stretched out my legs. Boy, sitting there had grown uncomfortable. I snatched my large backpack, and slung it onto one shoulder. My body leaned to one side due to the weight of the books and my swim gear.

"My sister is going to be here in a few minutes," I said as he looked up at me. "I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, almost sounding distant. "Bye Misty."

"Okay," I said, starting to head down toward the nearest hall. "Bye."

I hadn't even gotten halfway down the hall when I heard the sound of footsteps following me. Before I could register what was happening, Ash had latched onto my wrist, holding me back. A stifled cry came out of my mouth in surprise. He let go of my arm, but promptly put his hands on my shoulders, pushing me up against the lockers. My backpack slipped off my shoulder and came crashing to the ground, the loud bang echoing down the empty hallway.

"When's the last time you've done this since you and Rudy broke up?"

Before I could ask him what he was going on about, I felt the pressure of his lips against mine. My eyes widened in shock. What was he doing? Well—I knew what he was doing. It was more of a question of why.

His kiss was gentle at first, and succumbing to my desires, I pushed my lips against his further. Closing my eyes, I let go of myself and melted into him. Our lips moved together in this elegant dance, gently guiding each other along in the routine. Ash pushed me harder against the lockers as he slid his hand down to hold me around my waist. My arms snaked around his neck as he parted my lips, begging for entrance. I opened my mouth a little bit wider as he slipped his tongue in, seeking to explore it further. Our tongues continued the dance as he held me close to him, the passion between us undeniable.

My phone started vibrating once again. It subsided, but then immediately started again. I broke off the kiss, knowing that it had to be my sister wondering where I was. My heart was a little deflated. It had just started to get good. Looking into those soft eyes, I wondered if this would last or if it were a one-time thing.

"Well I never did that with Rudy," I commented, starting to walk down the hall again.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ash demanded, chasing after me.

"My sister is waiting for me, Ash. I need to go before she decides to leave me here."

"That's all you have to say though?" He asked, trying to hold me back.

I shook him off. "You can talk to me as I walk down to meet her, can't you?"

"Uh, I guess."

We trounced down the hallway leading to the south staircase, my pace a bit faster than his. I knew that I was in real danger of getting left by her. I would have liked to take my time to process this, but it seemed that life had other ideas. It was starting to sink in that I really made out with Ash Ketchum.

"What did you mean by the fact that Rudy and you never did that?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

"We weren't dating that long," I said as we rounded a corner. "We kissed a few times, but we never made out like that. He was too much of a gentleman for that."

"And I'm not?"

"That's not what I'm saying," I said as we approached the top of the stairs. "It was almost like he was too afraid that he would break me or something."

"Oh."

"So what was that about?" I asked as we went down the stairs.

Ash said nothing as we continued down. The sounds of our footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty space. We reached the bottom landing, and I had still yet to receive an answer. We were in front of the double doors leading outside. I could see Violet sitting in her car. She waved at me to come on. I held up my index finger, letting her know that I would be there in a minute. She sighed and rolled her eyes at me. Normally, I would care more, but I needed to know why he kissed me.

"Well?"

"I—" His cheeks had grown a bit red then. He was embarrassed now?

"I'm waiting."

"I like you, okay? I thought that this would be my only chance to do that."

He liked me? I wasn't aware that he ever noticed me, though it wasn't as if I were vying for his attention. It was odd. Dating Rudy was one thing. I mean he had asked me out, but I felt more like a trophy sometimes. With Ash, it could be different. He seemed so kind and caring. He could be the guy that I needed.

"Okay," I said. He had the most confused look on his face, making me think that it best to mention more. "You make my heart flutter too."

He smiled. "Do you want to hang out sometime this weekend? We could go to a movie or something?"

"Like a date?"

"Yeah, I guess," he said, chuckling. "Though we already know what it's like to kiss each other.

"Sure thing, Ash Ketchum," I said. "I'll go on a date with you. How about we go to see a movie Friday night?"

"That would be really great. What would you want to—"

The shrill sound of Violet's car horn rang through the air. I sighed, knowing that my time was up. As much as I would have liked to hash out all the details with him, Violet was getting angry with me. I asked for his phone. He handed it to me, not even bothering to ask why I needed it. I quickly added my contact details and texted myself from his phone, so I knew his number as well.

"I'll text you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Talk to you then."

"See you later, Ash."

"Bye, Mist."

I walked out into the dark evening, the only light coming from a street lamp nearby. Large snowflakes floated through the air. I fought through the several inches on the ground, my boots crunching against the snow. Pulling on the latch, I opened the door and climbed in, through my bag on the back seat. Drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, she whipped her head to face me.

"Jeeze Misty. Finally! What were you doing anyway?'

"Oh, nothing. Just passing the time."