Disclaimer: Nope, don't own pokemon! A/N: Okay, here's chapter 4. By the way, I did add Brock to this chapter because of one of the reviews, but he's only in it for a short while. One more thing, I also dedicate this fic to my friend Chris. Hey buddy!!! Anyway, enjoy! School Days Chapter 4 "Hello? Is anyone in there? Earth to Misty." Exclaimed Melissa while waving a hand in front of her best friend's face. "Huh? Oh, sorry Mel. What was that?" Misty asked, smiling weakly. "Okay, what's wrong? You've been spacing out like that throughout the whole meeting. You do realize that this dance is in a few days, right?" Asked Melissa, folding her arms. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now." She explained, sighing. "Like?" Asked Lauren from the other side of the room. The other girls in the room were now very much interested in what Misty had to say and they started to gather around her. "I'm calling a break just until Misty tells us what's wrong." Sarah exclaimed. "No, its okay. You don't have to do that." Misty said shaking her head. "Really, I'm fine guys." "Look, we can't have you spacing out like that. We're already behind as it is. Just tell us what's wrong and get it off your chest. You'll feel a lot better, trust me." Reassured Anna. "Besides, we're all friends here. Whatever you tell us will stay in this room, right guys?" All the girls nodded in response to Anna's question. "What's wrong, Mist?" Asked Melissa, genuine concern for her best friend filling her voice. "I told you guys. I'm fine." Smiled Misty. "Misty, we can sit here all day if you want, but sooner or later your gonna have to-" "No." Interrupted Melissa suddenly. "She doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to." "Huh?" Responded Anna, Sarah, and Lauren in unison. "We should really be concentrating on this dance guys. Like Anna said earlier, we're already behind." Melissa explained. "Yeah, I guess your right." Sighed Lauren. "Well, girls, let's continue with the meeting." Misty gave Melissa a grateful smile and she returned it, knowing that whatever was going on with Misty would have to wait until later. "Oh alright." Anna sighed. "Well, is everyone available tomorrow to start setting up in the auditorium?" "Yeah, sure." Responded Lauren. "What time?" "About 3, right after school." She answered. "I'm in." Replied Sarah. "Us too, right Mist?" Asked Melissa. "Yeah, tomorrow's good." She nodded. "Well then, now that that's all settled, what's going to be the theme?" Asked Anna. "We should've done this last week." Sighed Melissa. "I know Mel, but what can we do? The week kinda slipped away from us. "Exclaimed Anna as she laid back on Lauren's bed. "Well, I have a few suggestions." Exclaimed Sarah as she pulled out about 50 pieces of paper from her backpack. "A few?" Said Lauren, raising an eyebrow. "You've really had time to think about this, huh?" "Well, uh, sorta. I'm just so excited guys! This is going to be so much fun." She smiled. "I don't know how you do it. In between all our school work and your extra curricular activities, you still manage to find time for the dance preparations. How do you do it?" Asked Melissa, amazed by her friend's hectic schedule. "Its simple. I'm organized." She stated looking at all her friend's weird stares. "What?" "Your amazing." Stated Anna. "All this work and you still manage to keep the best grades in the class. Unbelievable." "Thanks, its nothing really." Smiled Sarah modestly. "Oh please." Melissa smiled, rolling her eyes. "Okay girls, we're getting a little off topic here." Exclaimed Lauren. "Remember, the dance?" "Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Apologized Melissa. "Okay, let's see that list Sarah." Sighed Anna. All of the girls crowded around Sarah as she began to read off each and every one of the themes on her list. Five hours later... "And then there's--" "Okay, okay. That's enough." Pleaded Melissa. "Please, just stop! I'm begging you. I've heard enough." All the girls nodded in agreement. "Well, you said that you wanted to hear them." Explained Sarah. "Yeah, but if we go down the rest of your list we'll be here all night." Sighed Anna. "Well, excuse me." Said Sarah while rolling her eyes. "I think we can come to a decent decision from the hundreds that we've just heard." Concluded Lauren. "Which one did you like, Mist?" Misty, who had been unusually quiet, looked up from her pad and faced her friends. "Well, I liked this one." She said pointing to the circled theme on her paper. Melissa snatched it away from her and read it aloud. "Knights and Shining Beauty's? Hmm...I like it. How about you guys?" "Sounds good to me." Replied Anna. "Same here." Answered Lauren. "Yeah, I really liked that one." Said Sarah. "It was one of my better ones." "Okay, then Knights and Shining Beauty's it is. Good choice Mist." Smiled Melissa, trying to cheer up her best friend. "Thanks." Smiled Misty. "Oh! I have a great idea for decorations!" Exclaimed Sarah excitedly. "We could have Melissa and Misty make little gold swords out of cardboard and stick them all over the walls." "That's perfect." Smiled Anna. "I can wait until the dance. Its gonna be the best we've had in a long time "Is that okay with you two if you do decorations?" Asked Sarah, directing her question towards Misty and Melissa. "No problem." Answered Melissa. "We'll take care of it. Wanna come over to my house afterwards, Mist?" "Um...how about you come over to my house instead?" Asked Misty. "Sure, I'm up for that." Replied Melissa. "Okay then, why don't you two get going and start on the decorations. We'll call you if there are any changes." Explained Anna. "Sounds good. When's the next meeting?" Asked Melissa heading for the door. "I'll call you later." Answered Anna. "All right. We'll get going then. See you guys later." Waved Melissa as she exited the room. "Bye guys." Smiled Misty as she followed Melissa out the door. "See ya." Waved Anna as they disappeared from view. "Well, that's that." Sighed Lauren. "Yeah, I guess." Said Anna. "I hope she's okay." "I'm sure Melissa will find out what's wrong with her. She always does." Smiled Sarah as she looked out the window at her two departing friends. Meanwhile... "So, you didn't ask her?" Asked a young teenage boy on the other end of the phone. "No, I never got the chance." Sighed Ash. "But I thought you really liked her?" Asked the boy. "I do...maybe even more so. But she already has her sights set on someone else. Who am I to ruin that for her?" Ash said. "Ash, come on. Think about this for a second. Did it ever occur to you that maybe your the guy she was talking about?" Asked the boy. "Oh come on Brock, let's be sensible about this. She would never fall for me." He answered. "Well, why not?" Inquired Brock. "Because of that Jared guy. She may still have a thing for him." He said. "Well Ash, after everything that you've told me about this guy, I don't see why she would still like him. Why do you think that?" Asked Brock. "I dunno." Sighed Ash as he laid back onto his bed. "Bottom line is that I missed my chance." "Do you have any idea of who this guy is? I mean, does she hang out with any other guys besides you?" Brock asked. "Well, yeah, of course she does. She's one of the most popular girls in the school." Replied Ash. "I see." Paused Brock. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but what do you see in her?" "I have this connection with her that I can't really explain." Ash hesitated a moment and then continued. "Brock, I've never felt this way about anyone before." "You really love this girl, don't you?" Smiled Brock. "Ya think?" Replied Ash sarcastically. "What do I do Brock?" "I'm probably not the best person to be asking advice on this kind of thing, but I can tell you one thing." He started. "Distancing yourself away from her is not gonna help your situation." "How did you know that I was--" "Distancing yourself? Ash, I've known you for a pretty long time. I know how you are." He paused. "And if I'm right about this, its probably hurting her just as much as its hurting you." Ash let Brock's words sink in for a few seconds. Maybe he was right, maybe Misty did have feelings for him, but then who was that guy she was talking about? "What did you say her name was?" Asked Brock, shaking Ash out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, uh, her name is Misty." Answered Ash. "Hmm...now why does her name sound so familiar?" Brock asked himself. "You know her?" Asked Ash. "No, I don't think so." He paused. "Hold on a second." Brock left the phone for a few seconds and returned with a pamphlet. "Here it is!" He exclaimed. "What is that?" Asked Ash, staring at the book. "You'll see." He said, reading the contents of the book. "I knew I had seen her name somewhere before! Is she the gym leader of the Cerulean City gym?" "Yeah, why?" Inquired Ash curiously. "Is this her?" Asked Brock, showing Ash a picture of a young girl that was most definitely Misty. "Yeah! That's her!" Exclaimed Ash. "What is that book?" "Its the official pokemon league guide. It shows all the gyms and their gym leaders and what they specialize in. It looks like she's ranked number two out of eight. That's pretty good. So I guess she's the one I'm competing against." Commented Brock, flipping through a few pages. "Huh? Competing against?" Said Ash, confused as to what his friend was talking about. "Oh, I thought I told you. My father handed down the gym responsibilities to me. Cool, huh?" Smiled Brock. "Are you serious? That's great Brock!" Exclaimed Ash. "Thanks." Said Brock as he looked back at the book. "Ash, she's beautiful." "Yeah, I know." Whispered Ash. "Well, I gotta go and get on with my duties. Hope everything works out." Smiled Brock. "I hope so too. Thanks Brock." "Hey, no problem. The outcome all depends on what you do. I'll talk to ya later." Waved Brock as he hung up the phone. 'It depends on what I do?' Thought Ash as he put the receiver back on the cradle. "Pika, pikachu pi chu?" (So, what did he say?) Asked the pokemon as it walked into Ash's room. "He actually gave me some pretty good advice, considering this is Brock we're talking about. He isn't exactly the expert when it comes to girls." Laughed Ash. "Pika pikachu." (You got that right.) Nodded Pikachu in agreement. "Ya know what Pikachu? Maybe Brock's right. What happens between me and Misty does depend on what I do." He said looking out the window. "Pika pikachu. Pi pika pi." (Of course it does. No pressure Ash.) Pikachu said, patting Ash on the back and scampering out of the room. "Why does life have to be so complicated?" Sighed Ash, burying his face in his pillow. Later... "Hey, that looks really good." Melissa commented, noticing the decoration that Misty had just finished. "Thanks. So does yours." Commented Misty. "Yeah right. You can't even tell what the heck this thing is." Laughed Melissa. "No, it looks fine." Smiled Misty. "So..." Started Melissa. "So what?" Asked Misty, starting on another decoration. "Wanna talk about it?" Melissa asked, hoping Misty would open up. She sighed aloud and stopped what she was doing. Her mind trailed back to that day last week when she last spoke to Ash about the dance. Ever since then her mind had been plagued with 'what ifs' and 'whys'. What if the phone hadn't rung and interrupted Ash? Why was Ash avoiding her all of a sudden? And, why, why, why did this have to happen to her? It just wasn't fair. And all of this before the big dance, the one time of the year when her friends really depended on her. "Come on Misty. We're best friends. You know you can tell me anything." Melissa said, smiling warmly at her. "Okay, I'll tell you." Misty sighed, putting down what she was working on. "I knew I'd get it out of you sooner or later." She smiled. "You always do." Admitted Misty. "I just have one question though before we begin." Added Melissa. "Yeah?" "Does your mood have anything to do with Ash?" Asked Melissa cautiously. Misty cast her gaze downwards, avoiding eye contact with Melissa. "Well, I guess I'll take that as a yes." Sighed Melissa. "Well? What did he do?" "Its not what he did, its what he didn't do." Replied Misty in a hurt tone. "Huh?" Asked a very confused Melissa. All of a sudden, it hit her. She knew exactly why Misty was so upset. Why hadn't she caught on earlier? 'That moron! He must have chickened out! I can't believe him!' Thought Melissa angrily. "He didn't ask you, did he?" She blurted out. "H-How do you know that?" Asked Misty, giving her friend a look of pure confusion. "Don't worry. He really does want to ask you. He's just scared." Reassured Melissa. "How do you know all this?" Asked Misty. "That day last week when I called you so I could talk Ash...well, that's what we talked about." Explained Melissa. "I knew ahead of time that he was gonna ask you, but I didn't want to ruin his chance and spoil the surprise." "You mean to tell me that he was supposed to ask me?" Misty inquired. "Yeah, but I dunno what happened. He must have gotten scared or something." She said, rolling her eyes. "Well then, can you please explain the reason why he's been so distant lately?" Misty begged. "That I can't help you with. Its probably just a guy thing." Shrugged Melissa. "But this is Ash we're talking about." Misty noted. "Good point." Sighed Melissa. "Maybe he realized that he doesn't have feelings for me." She sighed. "No, that's not true. I know for a fact that its not." Countered Melissa. "Besides, I talked to him, remember? How could he have changed his mind about you in less than five minutes?" "Its not that hard." She muttered. "What was that?" "Forget it." Misty said shaking her head. "Well, I'm gonna solve this thing right now if it kills me." Exclaimed Melissa. "Now after Ash hung up the phone, did anything happen?" Misty looked out the window, thinking back to that day and trying to recall every single detail that might be helpful. "We talked about the dance for a couple of minutes. And then he asked me if I was going with anyone yet." Started Misty. "Okay, a good start." Noted Melissa. "What else?" "And then the phone rang." Misty continued. "Always seems to happen." She sighed. "Who was it?" "Jared. He asked me if I wanted to go to the dance with him." She stated. "And you said yes?!" Yelled Melissa in complete shock. "No! Of course not! Will you calm down and let me finish." Argued Misty. "Oh, sorry." She apologized, putting her hand behind her head in embarrassment. "I told him that there was ano...ther...guy...oh no!" Panicked Misty. "What?" Asked Melissa. "Ash, must have thought that I was talking about another guy when I said that." She exclaimed. "That's why he didn't ask. He figured you liked someone else and didn't even bother." Melissa said, finally realizing what was going on. She then put on a confident smile. "Well, that's all gonna change. He'll find out the truth." "But how?" "You've known me long enough to know that I don't take things like this lightly. Hand me your phone. I'm gonna straighten this out right now." She stated, grabbing the phone out of Misty's hands. Misty's eyes lit up and she hugged her best friend of 10 years. "Thank you so much Mel." She whispered. "Hey, no problem. What are friends for, right?" She said, returning the hug. "You guys deserve each other. I just want you to be happy Mist, and Ash obviously makes you happy." "He does...your the best." Misty smiled. "Okay, okay. Stop flattering me." She laughed. "Now let's make this call." Melissa turned on the phone and dialed the all too familiar numbers. All the while, Misty's heart was pounding so hard that she could have sworn Melissa could hear it. It rang once, and then twice, and then a third time. After the fourth ring, someone finally answered, making Melissa smile. 'Ash, your gonna confess to this girl if it kills me.' A/N: Yay! Another chapter done! Isn't Melissa just so sweet, going through all that just to make Misty happy. Aww...best friends are great, aren't they? Okay, anyway, hope ya liked it. Oh, and thanks to all of you who reviewed my previous chapters. You guys are what keep me going. Thanks!!! By the way, hey Chris, did you notice any character similarities there? Haha!