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Lapras Valley High – Hell Blastoise

Chapter Seven – Past and Present

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What was this? I ran my fingers delicately over the bent piece of wood, over the design of the swirl of lava coming from the inside of a volcano with the words ‘Eternal Eruption’ scrawled in black writing across the edge of the timber. It had been lacquered with a special type of clear coating, and flipping it over, it was hard like black sandpaper with silver glitter through it.

I had come across an old abandoned shed at the edge of the school grounds, past the greenhouse right behind the Solaria Tower. About as far away from Flaria as you could get without going to Shellder Bay or to Shady Thicket. The shed was more of a rundown hut of fibro panels, with a small window and door, and a whole lot of junk, but I had found this ‘Eternal Eruption’ piece of wood amazingly still in perfect condition. It had wheels on the bottom, just on either side of the picture and just before the bends, and the metal parts connecting the wheels and the wood read ‘Volcanic’ on them.

Fury was sniffing around, searching for other things, while I felt the wood carefully. One of the males should know; Martin or Blaron, Spike or Craig. I lifted it up, and it came off the bench with ease. Boy was it light!

"Fury, come on," I called, walking out of there. As Fury and I walked through the grounds, several groups of boys stopped to stare at me in awe. What was their problem? I glared at them, but they still stared at me. At the piece of wood rather.

I found Martin relaxing at the side of the pool with Starmie, his hair wet, and wearing purple board shorts with yellow thunderbolts strategically placed. He looked up at me and grinned a toothy white grin. "Hey Sal." He looked down at the wood, and gasped, his jaw hanging slightly open, his eyeballs reaching out of their bony sockets, and his face almost white.

"What the hell is the problem with people?" I demanded. "I walk around with a piece of wood with wheels and they all faint!"

"That’s a skateboard," Martin interrupted, coming back to his senses. "It’s the best skateboard around. It’s an Eternal Eruption deck, with Volcanic bearings and trucks. You just found yourself $400 worth of skating stuff. You know how much it is for Eternal Eruption 3000 Edition decks? Plus about $30 for Volcanic wheels, $35 for Volcanic bearings and trucks. My gosh, you have found something so rare and incredible."

I shrugged. "You call it a skateboard. What exactly does it do? Because right now it’s looking like a ****ing piece of ****ty timber."

"I have a skateboard up in my room," Martin told me. "Just a regular ‘Wrath’ deck. Want me to get it and show you how to use it?"

"Well if you can show me a use for this piece of junk then fine," I replied. "But if not then Fury will have great pleasure in watching it crumble under the power of flames."

Martin’s face changed to an expression of horror. "You can’t let Fury burn it! Luna and I just wont let you!" he cried angrily.

"Luna?"

"I gave my Starmie a name, finally."

"Right, now are you going to show me how to use this piece of flammable material or not?" I demanded. "Because I’ve got better things to do with my time."

"Vulpix," Fury added sharply.

Martin sighed, and plucked his pokeball from his belt and enlarged it. With a flick of his wrist the ball flew up and opened with a pop, releasing the one pokemon he owned. "Luna, ready to fly?" he asked the star, who sort of gave a grunting reply meaning yes. Martin held onto Luna’s purple points and looked back at me. "Grab on, Luna’s really strong," he instructed. I sighed and grabbed onto one of the points, holding Fury in my arms.

Luna soared up into the sky, and I will admit we looked really stupid. Two teenagers hanging off a purple star through the sky. To be honest, I didn’t’ even know Starmie flew.

The starfish pokemon headed over to the closer of the four towers, a tall light sky blue tower with a dodger blue roof and window sills the color of the ocean on a beautiful summers day. We flew in the open window, the aqua blue curtains blowing in the wind. The room was similar to Kayla’s and my room but with different shades of blue instead of orange and yellow. Martin jumped onto his bed and leant over the other side, looking underneath from above. Luna saw this and sighed, before heading off to her pokeball again.

Fury watched with great interest, wondering why the heck a pokemon would like staying in such a cramped up space with no freedom.

Emerging from the underside of his bed, Martin breathed in fresh air, a piece of wood like mine in his hand. His wood was green with blue thunderbolts on it and a fierce looking Vaporeon. ‘Bolt’ it read in thick, bold blue letters to the corner.

"This is a skateboard," Martin showed me. "Mine is a Bolt deck, while yours is the best deck around, Eternal Eruption. A skateboard is something people ride for fun, and also to win money and prizes in competitions. You can do tricks on a skateboard, but the most important thing is to have good balance."

"Right…"

*

Martin started to teach me how to ride a skateboard, and about a week later I was getting the hang of it. I had learnt how to balance and ride and tic tac, and was focusing on ollieing now. Ollieing is a skateboarding jump, which is like the base of all aerial moves. It was actually… pleasing. A new feeling for me, but like this school and other things, it was actually all right.

*

Nayia sat on her bed in the Boltaria Tower, gazing at a photo album, an old leather photo album with gold trimmings on the edges. She sighed, as she turned each page, coming to a stop at an especially important photo.

She sniffled, as a tear rolled down her cheek. The door suddenly opened, and her roommate, a girl called Haley, wandered in to read. Nayia pushed the album onto the floor behind her bed and walked out.

The photo album fell to the floor, and landed, open to the same page that Nayia had cried over.

In the picture, Nayia was there, her blonde hair obviously straightened. She looked to be about a year younger than now, and she was smiling broadly. To her left stood her cousin, a tall red head with sparkling blue eyes by the name of Misty Waterflower. To her right, two goofy looking boys, one older and one the same age as Nayia, grinned, pulling silly yet happy faces.

They were all so happy.

Below that photo, another photo had been inserted in the private album. Nayia was in this photo yet again, and seemed very happy with her blonde hair streaked green and blue. She had lots of glitter on her face, and was giggling as she hugged the older male beside her. He had been one of the goofy boys, and was grinning broadly, happy. His brown hair had been streaked blonde and was spiked. His brown eyes showed nothing but pure joy. He was hugging Nayia tightly, and both were laughing while smiling wildly.

Nayia walked through the corridors of Boltaria Tower, Nixie out playing with Luna, Sugar and Fury, who had seemed to form some sort of gang. Thankfully Nixie wasn’t with Nayia, as Nayia was in no mood to be comforted by anybody or any pokemon. She was walking by herself, her longish denim jacket swaying behind her, her joggers thudding on the carpeted floor. Her face was pale and tear rolled down her soft cheeks, causing her blue eyes to become upset.

She didn’t feel like doing anything or talking to anybody. Just staying alone, or being by herself. Not to sulk. To cry, to get her feelings off her chest. ‘A friend would be nice though, somebody to talk to, most probably Ashley,’ Nayia thought to herself. ‘Sal is too rough, she’d probably make me feel worse. Ashley has only been here for two weeks but I feel she is the right person to talk to.’

Walking through the school grounds, Nayia sniffled, the tears had stopped rolling down her cheeks like an endless waterfall, but she still looked like the white devil, like a ghost. She reached Shellder Peak, a small edge of grassy land great for picnics that seemed to jut out over part of the beach. Many sea caves ran underneath, known as Tidal Cavern. She looked out to sea, upset.

Martin had seen Nayia crying, and wanted to make her feel better, and had followed her on his skateboard. He approached her slowly as not to startle her, and gently put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked Nayia, concerned.

Nayia turned around to face Martin, her eyes red and puffy, skin pale and almost white, sniffing. She looked into the Spanish face of Martin, into his deep caring brown eyes past the few strands of streaked blonde brown hair. He questioned Nayia’s behavior with those eyes, and she stared into them for what seemed like an eternal time period of 5 seconds. Nayia let her eyes scan over Martin’s arm up to his hand, which was on her shoulder, not to heavy, but a sign that he cared.

Nayia began to cry into her hands, the crystal tears spilling out between her fingers. Martin quizzically sized up the image of Nayia’s sobbing for a moment, then stepped forward and hugged Nayia trying to comfort her.

The hug lasted all of 1 second.

Nayia roughly pushed Martin away, showing a sudden burst of strength. She glared at him through tear filled eyes, her stare like a harsh slap right across his face. Martin stared back at Nayia, worried and confused. She was upset, what was she angry and upset about?

"Keep AWAY!" Nayia screeched angrily, turning and jumping down the small cliff, landing on each rock and jumping further. It was obvious she had had practice. Once her sandals hit the golden grains of sand, she took off, running.

"Nayia wait!" Martin called, leaping and running after her. As he ran, he reached back and pulled out Luna’s pokeball, releasing the purple starfish. "Block Nayia off," he quietly instructed. Luna sort of nodded, and hovered fast in front of Nayia, stopping right in front of her path.

Nayia stopped suddenly, and fell partway onto the sand, stopping herself with her hands. She stood up and straightened her denim skirt and her blue sleeveless top, and scowled at the Starmie. Martin caught up to her, and as Nayia turned around, she came face to face with Martin.

"Martin Naeco stay away from me!" Nayia shrieked.

Martin’s left eye twitched. Nayia was not herself, and Martin was worried. "Miss Nayia Waterflower, I’m trying to help you here, but if you don’t want my help, then fine!" Martin cried in desperation. "I’m trying to be a friend here, supporting you and helping you through a crisis! What in hell did I ****ing do wrong here?"

Nayia stared at him, totally quiet. The beach became deadly silent, the only noise being the waves rolling into the sandy shore. Nayia’s head hurt, it was all so familiar…

~-~-~-~

"Nayia, I really like you," a voice spoke, soft and sensitive. It belonged to one of the goofy males in the pictures from Nayia’s photo album. His hair was streaked blonde, similar to Martins, very similar to Martins, and his eyes were cast downwards, focusing on his left sneaker.

Nayia, a year or two younger, looked up at him, questioningly. ‘He felt the same…’ she thought to herself. Daring to break the silence, Nayia uttered his name. "Luke," she slowly said, reaching out and touching the sleeve of his leather jacket. The dark streets of Cerulean City were cold, and the lamp flickered. South Cerulean wasn’t the safest of places to be at night, but it was a hell of a lot safer than Quagsire Heights during the day. Still, Nayia and Luke were in danger, but it was a danger none of them knew about.

"Luke," Nayia repeated. "I… I’m glad you told me that."

Luke’s eyes shot up and focused on Nayia’s blue ones. "What…?" he stuttered.

"I’m glad you told me that," Nayia said again. "Because… I feel the same way about you."

"You do?" Luke stammered.

"Yes, I do," Nayia told him, shyly. Luke and Nayia stared at each other for a moment, then elapsed into a hug. Nayia looked up at Luke, the taller of the two, and Luke looked down. For a second, they were just staring at each other, then before you could even say ‘I choose Pikachu’ they had began to kiss.

Nayia’s soft lips met the cold ones of Luke, as they stood there, in the dim light of the flickering street lamp, kissing. Nayia had never felt anything like it, she was amazed at how soft his lips felt against hers, and how carefully he was fondling with her hair.

A loud crack from the shadowed alleyway broke their kiss. Nayia and Luke jumped, and broke apart the lip connection, and stared down the dark alley, in each other’s arms. A figure lurked in the shadows, and both Nayia and Luke could tell that it was dangerous. Luke stepped in front of Nayia, pushing her behind him gently, and spoke out bravely. "Who’s there?"

It may have not been the bravest thing to say, but Luke felt he had to protect Nayia.

The figure stepped out of the shadows, and grinned evilly. Luke gasped, and Nayia gave a small squeak of surprise, which she couldn’t help. "Andy…" Nayia whispered.

Andy, the other goofy happy guy from the other photo with Misty, Nayia and Luke, glared at Luke and Nayia. "You always get everything don’t you?" he snarled at Luke. "You get the most allowance out of the both of us, the best rewards. You get all the awards at school; you’re ALWAYS the favorite! While I’m shadowed to the side, not cared for! Well not anymore. Not any more… brother." Andy spat.

"What are you going to do?" Nayia whispered.

"Andy, stay back," Luke warned. "Look, I can help you. Don’t go all psycho, it’s going to be okay, I can help you."

"Help me do what?" Andy cried. "Become shadowed? Well I’ve had enough help from you with that particular feature." Andy glared and grinned, the light reflecting off his face, giving him a deadly look.

"Andy, don’t!" Nayia pleaded. "Please calm down!"

"Now you have the girl as well! The girl I wanted! Well, you know what, if I can’t have her, nobody can have her," Andy growled. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black revolver. He lifted and aimed.

"Andy! NO!" Nayia shrieked. Andy’s finger quivered for a moment, then clutched and pulled the trigger. The crack of the gun was deafening, splitting the silence of the streets. The bullet rocketed forward towards Luke and Nayia. Nayia was too stunned to speak, when suddenly she was roughly shoved aside by Luke, and fell to the icy concrete with a thud.

The bullet hit Luke.

He fell to the ground with a splat, hard, and motionless.

"No!" Nayia howled, as she stared at Luke’s bleeding forehead. He was still. Nayia desperately tried to find his pulse then attempted CPR. None worked.

"He’s gone Nayia," Andy leered. "Now your all mine."

"Andy Woodash you stay away from me!" Nayia yelled, stepping up and back away from the dangerous lunatic.

"Miss Nayia Waterflower, what is your problem?" Andy dangerously asked, advancing on her. Nayia cowered and stepped back. "I want you, and Luke isn’t getting you. I want to be your friend, I want to be able to help you through crises and guide you through life. I want to have something, and that something is you."

"No! Go away!" Nayia pleaded. "Please, leave me alone!"

Andy stared at Nayia’s pleading face, her eyes begging to be left alone, her soul asking to be kept clean of Andy’s hands. Andy growled. "You know what?" Andy began. "Luke got everything."

He paused. Nayia watched him as he picked up the revolver he had dropped. He lifted it and Nayia nearly had a heart attack with the fear that he would kill her. Instead he lifted it to his own head and gave an insane smile. "He even got to die first," Andy finished with a whisper.

~-~-~-~-~

Nayia stared at Martin. He looked so much like Luke, tall, cute, the same hair and eyes. She couldn’t let him get near her, she didn’t want somebody she cared for to get hurt. The last two people she greatly cared for were killed, one murder one suicide.

How could she take the chance with Martin? ‘I don’t’ like him as in like like, do I? I don’t. But I still care about him as a friend. If he got hurt I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But… he’s hurting now. I have to tell him about my past… something I’ve never been able to tell anybody before… can I trust him? I can’t let him go away, just like every other person I’ve cared about and trusted before…’