I couldn't bear to look at myself in the mirror, but I had to. School started in twenty minutes and that was barely enough time for me to shower, put my make up on and fix my hair. I walked slowly into the bathroom and placed my hands on the edge of the sink.

I looked up.

I was staring at a girl who looked like me, but wasn't me. It couldn't be me; I had always been perfectly presentable. Her blue hair hung in tangled clumps and looked as if it hadn't been washed for days. There was a purple swelling around one eye and a few cuts on the girl's left cheekbone, on my left cheekbone.

I bit my lip and winced when I tasted blood. I ran my tongue gingerly along the wound and felt the place where it had split slightly in two. I had forgotten about that injury. I sucked on my lip absentmindedly as I stripped and hopped into the shower.

Hot water blasted me in the face and everything began to hurt all over again. I scrubbed at my arms and legs with soap and noticed the new purple bruises that decorated my body. I was glad that it was winter and I could wear clothes that would conceal all this. People would wonder what had happened to me and I could never tell them. Even if I did, they would find it difficult to believe.

My boyfriend Paul was a straight A student and extremely polite. Sure, he was aloof, but he never did or said anything mean to anyone. If you asked someone what they thought of him, they would probably say he was a little shy, but he was a good person. I would agree with them; it wasn't Paul's fault. It was my fault. I didn't deserve him.

I blinked back my tears as they mingled with the spray of water from the shower faucet. Last night had been an accident. I should never have forced him to go to that stupid fast food place. Paul had wanted to go to a fancy restaurant, but I didn't have enough money on me. He insisted that he would pay, but I had to go all feminist on him and insist on splitting the bill. He had sulked and I told him that we should go to Benny's, since it was cheaper.

I thought that it would be okay. He wasn't mad, he was just silent. That wasn't out of the ordinary for him. We had sat in those cheap faux-leather booths and opened those cracked menus. I ordered a burger and Paul did the same. We sat there under those buzzing fluorescent lights and eaten our sad excuses for burgers.

Paul didn't say a word. I had smiled at him, but he simply stared at me with a thoughtful look on his face, eating his meal. I was so stupid for thinking that everything was fine between us, when it so clearly wasn't. I should have been able to see the rage he kept veiled in his dark eyes.

And then in the car he had...

"Dawn?"

I snapped out of my reverie and turned off the shower. I jumped out of the bath tub and scrambled to wrap a towel around me.

"Yeah, mom?" I called, patting myself dry.

"You should have been downstairs five minutes ago. This isn't like you. Did you oversleep?"

"Yeah," I replied, swiping at my soaked hair. I pulled a hair dryer out of the drawer and set it on full blast, aiming it at my head. "I'm not perfect, you know."

She laughed. "I'm aware of that, my little Piplup. Don't take too much longer. Paul's waiting for you downstairs. I made him some coffee, so he won't be too mad." Her footsteps retreated as she left her position from outside the bathroom door.

I clutched the hair dryer tightly in my grip. Paul was waiting for me? This wasn't good. He was never late and I had never waited for him once. He never caused me any trouble, so who was I to make him wait? And after my stupidity last night, he was still sweet enough to come pick me up so I could get my lazy ass to school!

I got dressed at record speed; the only thing left for me to do was my face. I stared at the ugly marks again; if I had just listened to Paul, I wouldn't have to waste time hiding them. I brushed concealer and foundation on until there wasn't a sign that anything was out of the ordinary. I shot out of the bathroom and hurried down the stairs.

Paul got up from the lavender couch the second he saw me.

"Hey, Dawn."

I smiled hopefully. So far, so good.

"Hi, Paul." I stood there awkwardly. "Sorry for making you wait..."

"It's okay." He brushed the bangs out of my eyes. "Ready to go?"

I nodded and he took my hand, turning to my mother. She grinned when she saw his hand in mine, but quickly averted her eyes back to the dishes.

"Thanks for the coffee," Paul said. "It was excellent."

"You're welcome." She beamed at him. "I'm just glad my daughter's lucky enough to have found such a charming young man to have as a boyfriend."

"Mom," I groaned. "Paul—"

"I'm the lucky one," Paul replied, shooting her a smile. He squeezed my hand once and led me out the door.

The sun shone on my face and my worries vanished. The day was too beautiful to be concerned about the events of the previous night. I followed Paul to his car, a nondescript silver van. He held the passenger seat open for me, a perfect gentleman as always.

I was about to get inside when he grabbed my wrist. I hovered in a weird position, one foot in the car and one still on the ground. I craned my neck around to look at him. He gave me a sharp yank and I stumbled out of the car.

"Dawn." He released my wrist. "You think I'm going to let you get away with it that easily?" his tone was teasing, so I smiled at him.

"What, are you gonna punish me?"

He pushed me against the van and held me by the shoulders. I laughed as I parted my lips slightly to receive a kiss. None came. I opened my eyes as I felt his hands grip my fingers tightly, steel bands that only grew tighter as the seconds ticked by.

"Ouch, you're hurting me," I told him, trying to keep my voice light.

"You hurt me," was his answer.

I stared at him. "What did I do?"

"Were you not late today?" He raised his eyebrows. "And what about those disgusting burgers you made me eat last night?"

"I'm sorry—ow!" I whimpered as his fingers dug even deeper into my flesh. "Really. I got home late last night, you know. I forgot to set my alarm."

He released my shoulders suddenly and stepped back. "You better be sorry. I really fucking hope that I won't have to endure your stupidity, Dawn. You know," he added casually, "I could get another girlfriend. One who shows me respect."

I threw my arms around him; he was completely stiff and made no move to hug me back.

"I'm really sorry, Paul! I wasn't thinking..." my voice trailed off as I buried my face in his shoulder. He smelled so good, like fresh grass and earth. I couldn't bear to think about not smelling his scent ever again.

His arms wrapped around my waist. "I'm glad you learned your lesson."

He kissed me on the head and I melted inside. Everything was okay again. It would be fine if I learned how to be a better girlfriend. Once I mastered it all, we would be in eternal happiness. He held my chin up with his fingers and looked into my eyes.

"Dawn, I don't mean to hurt you." His voiced wavered slightly. "I just...can't control myself sometimes. But I still love you. You know that, right?"

I kissed him on the lips and he responded eagerly; our lips moved in perfect harmony together and I felt butterflies all the way down to my toes. We opened our eyes at the same time and grinned at each other.

"I know, Paul."

"Good." He helped me into my seat. "We're going to be late for school. But that's fine. Being late never killed anyone."

A thought raced through my mind: It almost killed me today. I blinked, irritated with myself. I was so retarded. It was a stroke of luck that my stupid mind hadn't made me speak those words aloud. If I had, I couldn't imagine what Paul would do. An icy finger stroked my spine and I shuddered; I didn't want to imagine what he would do.

He glanced at me as he turned the radio on. "Are you cold?"

I shook my head. "No. I just thought of something, uh, gross."

"Like what?" He laughed. "Wait, don't tell me. The burgers from last night!"

I forced myself to laugh along with him as the car backed out of the driveway and onto the road. Did he have to keep mentioning them? I had apologized already. At least it would be firmly entrenched in my mind not to take him to Benny's again.

I would do whatever it took to keep Paul happy. Because when he was happy, I was happy. That's what anyone in the world would want; someone to make them happy, someone who loved them. I had that person in Paul and I would not lose him.

A/N: This story just came into my head randomly. I have no idea if I should continue or not. Leave a review and let me know what you think! Does the world of Pokemon fanfiction really need another dramatic, angsty fic? I mean, I have two of those already... ._.