Author's Note

Author's Note

Well, here's the Fourth Chapter. Don't really know where the story is going, do beware. Oh yeah, sorry that I made the characters so…well, OOC! …I'm going to try harder this time DX Especially on Drew and Brendan!! And what's a better way rather than to start the next chapter with the two of them?

Crap, I almost forgot the disclaimer!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Drew POV

Something is wrong. Very wrong. Right now, I'm on the bus home. That's normal enough. Paul and Gary aren't on it with me. They never were in the first place, though. We do live in different neighborhoods so we take different buses home. It's the person who's sitting across from me. And the fact that we have this new bus monitor who gave us assigned seats. That's right, assigned seats. Why do we even have a bus monitor!? I mean, we're practically in high school already!

I sighed and put my feet up against the back of the seat in front of me.

"Drew, put your feet down. That's rude to the bus monitor." That was the person across from me. Brendan Birch. He had a bored expression slapped on his face, like he had nothing better to do but talk to me. Which was actually true, since the bus monitor didn't let us do anything but whisper quietly to each other. I glanced over at him. "Uh-huh. You are talking to me, right? Are you sure you didn't mean 'Prew'?" As annoyed as I seemed, I did put my feet down. It wasn't comfortable anyway. Maybe that was a mistake, because the next thing I knew, Brendan's eyes grew wide. "Wow, I didn't think that you'd actually listen. I thought that you only listen to May."

What is he talking about? I don't listen to May only. There are lots of people that I listen too! None that come to my mind right now, but lots nonetheless. "Why are you talking to me anyways?" I had to ask because I had to know. Brendan continued, mono-toned, "One, the bus monitor only let's us whisper to our neighbors, and since you are my neighbor and no one is sitting next to me, I'm using my bus privileges to my advantage. Why are there only thirteen people in this bus?" Great. He's going Gary on me. "There are only thirteen people because we live in the farthest neighborhood from the school. Everyone wants to live closer."

"Oh. Okay then, two, I'm bored. Three, You're the only one I know on this bus."

"So you're using me to get out of your bored state." Brendan cupped his chin and turned his attention to the ceiling to give the 'I'm thinking' look. After a few quick seconds, he removed his hand from his chin, looked back at me and said, "Yeah, pretty much. But it sounded nicer in my head." I grumbled. Jeez, new kids are all the same. Annoying and always looking for a way out. In most cases, a way in to people's group. Or at least that's what I've observed. "Wait," I did a double take at Brendan and he looked at me oddly. "I'm the only one you know on this bus!?" The black haired trainer cocked his head. "Why's that important?" I smiled. This was great. "It means you're still a new kid and it's going to stay that way for a while." I draped my arms on the back of the seat and relaxed. Life was still sweet. I stole a glance at Brendan to see him thinking about what I just said. To my surprise, he looked quite serious. "I'd have to disagree about that, Drew." My ears perked up. "Huh?"

"I already know all of your friends and made some of my own. That's a pretty good count to me. And take into consideration that it was only the first day today." Ah. That was good, he got me there. All I could do was stared at him, dumbfounded. Then I flicked my hair, sat back and folded my arms. "Humph. Whatever." I tried to look away from Brendan, but I could feel his gaze sticking in my neck. I turned around slowly and saw him crossing his arms with a triumphant smile. "You're not so bad if you're by yourself. I think that being surrounded by people makes you conscious of how you act."

I dropped my jaw. Was this some kind of test? "Look, you, I-" Suddenly, my phone rang. As fast as I could, I answered it, looked around to check if anyone noticed – especially the bus monitor – and ducked down so no one could see.

"Hello?"

"Hi Drew, it's me, Misty."

"Oh, hey. Do you mind calling later? Now isn't the best time."

"Why not?"

"I'm on the bus and our monitor is new. She's strict. We even have assigned seats."

"Wow, that sucks. But I have to call now because I'm asking for a favor. For May.

"…fine. Talk."

"May, Dawn, Marina and I are about to have a small tournament and I intend on winning. Well, of course everyone is, but I want you to help May out afterwards. She's feeling a little…depressed, though I'm not sure why. I think that she's using a I-can't-play-my-clarinet cover up to, well, cover up. Think you can do something about it?"

"Yeah. I'll just beat her again. Easy." I removed my cell from my ear and was about to hang up when Misty yelled, "WAIT!" Uh-oh. That gave me away and the bus monitor glared. "Excuse me, sir, are you using your phone? I strictly told everyone on this bus that you are NOT allowed to use cell phones. Now give it to me. I'm confiscating it." She was a pretty big person, brown hair tied in a messy bun. There were some random hairs sticking out around her head, too. I would've commented on it, but now was not the time. She was wearing a pink lacoste shirt and plain jeans, and to top it all off, there was a hideously yellow vest that all the bus monitors had to wear, and a name tag that said, 'Bessie McFowlan' on it.

"But Ma'am," I argued, "That wasn't my phone! It was..Uh…"

I guess that 'Bessie' had better things to do because she grabbed it before I could finish. The next thing that she did kind of surprised me, but I sure was glad from the outcome. "Hello," she talked into the phone, "This is the bus monitor, and I'm sorry to say that cell phones are not aloud on the bus and…oh, I see…uh-huh. Er, ahem, yes…next time, call after we get off the bus ma'am. Okay, okay. Fine." She reluctantly tossed me the phone – which I caught quite gracefully, I might add – and scoffed, "I'll let you go this time since it's your mother on the other line. Hurry it up." Without another word, she shuffled back to the front of the bus and sat in an empty seat.

I slowly brought the phone back to my ear and said, "Um, Mom?"
"Pretty slick, right? Yeah, you don't have to thank me."

"No, Mom, I don't." But I really wanted to say, "It was your fault in the first place, Misty."
"Okay, leaving off from before, I don't want you to beat her again. That's just stupid! In fact, it'd probably make her feel worse."

"Yeah, right, so what is it you wanted me to do?"

"Um…teach her a few tricks, maybe. Show off some of your combinations. She'll probably go wide-eyed on you in amazement." I heard some sarcasm in her voice, but ignored it.
"No problem, Mom. Is there something else you want me to get from the store?"
"Why don't you bring some expensive sushi for a gift??"

"Nice try. Besides, some instant ramen will probably be a better one." Brendan smirked at this. I shot him a look telling him to shut up; he shrugged and leaned back in his chair, motioning that we were almost at the stop.

"Mom, I'm almost home. Talk to me when I get to the house. Bye."
"Sushi would be better!" I hung up and looked at the bus monitor to see if she was still annoyed about me using a cell phone. She was. A moment later, the bus came to a stop and the door opened. I gathered my stuff and walked out, not before Bessie said something nasty under her breath as I passed by her. I flicked my hair casually, ignoring. Stepping off and taking a few steps toward my house, I turned around quickly and waved sarcastically at Ms. McFowlan until the bus finally left.

"It'd probably be smarter not to mess with the bus monitor, stupid." Brendan said, walking past me, "She could report you, you know." Well, what'd else does he expect me to do? Say, "Yeah, that isn't my mom on my phone that you told us oh-so-firmly not to use. It's one of my friends that want me to show off my awesome new combinations to the girl I might have a small crush on. See you tomorrow!" I don't think so.

Our neighborhood was a cul-de-sac, my house smack in the middle. Brendan's was about two houses away from mine; too close if you ask me. "Well, see you tomorrow, Drew!" Brendan called cheerily, opening the door to his house. He laughed at his little joke, stepped inside and shut it closed. I stood blankly for a moment, weirded-out at Brendan's giddy behavior. If he was trying to annoy me, which I think he was, it was working. Not to mention, this guy was going for May. May! Not that he'd win, but one competitor is already enough. I scoffed, walking to my house. "Mom?" I asked, opening the door, and was answered quickly with a, "Welcome home, honey!" Mom bounced happily out of the kitchen, holding a whisk. "Dinner will be ready in a minute. How was the first day of school??" Mom was a beautiful woman (of course) with medium length blonde hair as bouncy as her personality; one of those people who looked good with or without make-up, so didn't have too much on. Normally, she'd be wearing an apron and some comfy casual clothes, like jeans and a functional T-shirt because most of her time was spent in the kitchen. Mom loved to cook. And she was good at it, too.

"So-so. What are you making??"

"Just some cookies. Still have your weekend schedule clear?"

"Yeah, of course." Mom often taught me how to make things, usually dessert, though I'd never mention it at school.

"Good. We're going to try and make some mochi. It's really good with bean filling. Personally, I like ice cream in the middle. Drew, are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah, just going over to May's for a quick visit. I'll be back before dinner, don't worry. See you!" I had already put down my bag and grabbed my poke-belt, reaching for the doorknob. "Oh my, May's, huh? Fill me in on all the details!" Mom teased, hopping back into the kitchen. "What's that supposed to mean??" I called back. I only received a reply of laughter, followed by a beeping sound from our little Pichu timer. I said that we should've gotten a Roselia or Budew one, but mom insisted.

I snapped my belt on, taking one pokeball off. Roselia, no doubt. "It's time to show off that new combo we've been working on, Roselia," I said, releasing my prized Pokemon. Lately, I've been thinking of evolving her with a shiny stone, but have never been able to get my hands on one. "Ro-se!" she replied happily, but coolly. I hopped onto my bike, waiting for Roselia to jump on as well. I began to pedal, but heard a knock coming from my house. Mom was at the window, motioning towards her head. I knew exactly what she was trying to say. Helmet. I made a disappointed face and pointed to my head too. She nodded firmly as if to say, "No excuses!" I sighed, picking up the helmet at my feet and putting it on reluctantly. Although it had a pretty nice design, white with simple green stripes, it didn't do that well with my hair. Starting to pedal again, I quickly went past Brendan's house to find…he was standing at his window, pointing to his head, and flashing a thumbs up. Mouthing a 'shut up,' I continued on to May's house, Roselia snickering behind me. I swear that I saw a camera flash coming from that jerk, Brendan's direction.

Brendan POV

I laughed as Drew rode by on his bike; Roselia clinging tightly to his (I'm sure,) tailored shirt. He glanced over in my direction, giving me the perfect opportunity: I pointed to my head and gave him a thumbs up. Can I help it? Drew replied by mouthing a 'shut up' and probably something else that I didn't catch. I silently wished that he had helmet hair when he got to…wherever he was going. My curiosity was killing me, but I'm not the kind of guy who stalks his supposed enemy when one of his friends, maybe Gary??, calls him for a favor. That wouldn't be cool. Besides, I'm a new kid and should stick to getting to know people before deciding to follow them around.

I closed the curtains as the door bell rang. "Brendan, could you answer that please??" Dad called from his lab. Yep, his lab. Cool, no? "Sure!" I called back, walking to the door. Turning the knob and pulling it open, I found myself looking at a beautiful woman – one that could maybe compete with Mom. She had medium-length blonde hair that was sort of curly, and a simple pair of jeans on along with a plain long, irritatingly familiar, purple shirt. "Hello! You must be the new neighbors! Welcome to the neighborhood," she said to me cheerfully holding up a basket of cookies. I realized that I had been staring at her face for so long that I didn't notice them. "Uh, ah, thank you. Please, come in." I replied hastily, stepping aside. "Dad!"

"What? Who is it?" Dad asked, stepping out and brushing himself off. I thought that was pretty useless, though. He was covered in blotches of grease. "Oh, ahaha. Would you look at that, out first welcoming party!" he said awkwardly, "Excuse me for the appearance. I was just working in my lab and – oh, well, that can wait. Thank you for the welcome. I'm Professor Birch!" Dad held out his hand, but pulled back when he realized that it was dirty. "It's very nice to meet you - the famous Professor Birch! I hope that you enjoy your stay here. Cookie?" She held up the basket again, and Dad motioned for me to take the basket. I nodded, sort of happy that I get to get a whiff of how they smelled. "Your cookies smell great. You bake?" Dad asked casually. "Why, yes. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It's a bit of a hobby of mine." The woman laughed lightly, then quickly said, "Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet! I'm Samantha Rosalind." She smiled and continued, "So, is there a woman of the house?"

"Ah, yes. My wife, Chelsey, is off at work. I'm sure you would get along quite well. Perhaps the two of you could go off for a girls' night?"
"That sounds lovely. Oh yes, and before I leave, I would like to invite your family for dinner on Saturday. Is that okay?"

"That sounds like fun! What'd you think, Brendan?" It took a second for me to answer – I was still sniffing the cookies – but I nodded politely saying, "I can't wait!"

"Great! Until then, see you neighbors!" She left all smiley and whatnot. "See, Brendan?" Dad started, "You're going to love it here!"

"Maybe. But I liked that lady. What was her name again?"

"Samantha Rosalind I believe."

"Yeah. She's pretty cool."

Dad laughed, and left to continue with his messy work, leaving me with a basket full of cookies. "Samantha Rosalind," I repeated thoughtfully. I liked her already and all, but there was something that still bothered me that included the color of her shirt…and that her last name was vaguely familiar…

But those thoughts flushed out of my mind once I was reminded of the cookies. Dad had left me by myself alone with them. Big mistake. Haha, just kidding. I only took one, and just for the record, it was delicious.

Author's Notes

How was this chapter?? Satisfying, I hope. Can anyone tell me where the last names come from? I'm not sure so I'll just say Disclaimer on the last names…! Haha, made up the names of the wives just to let you know…but that was probably obvious.

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