Chapter 17: Hazy So the days remained hazy for me. It seemed like so long ago that me and Nathan had laughed about an unflattering picture of myself in a magazine. I barely knew the guy anymore, and it seemed like my life was shaping without edges, or color, or vibrance, as it once had. I barely paid attention when we arrived in Mauville for the second time. We were on our way to Petalburg, so that I could fight my father. I didn't much care, but hey, whatever. Vicky wanted to stop at the game corner, so to keep her happy, we went. There needed to be at least ONE happy person in our group. Josh was getting stressed out about our fighting. He confided to me that he had heard Nathan and I arguing, and he was sorry that it had happened. Josh was so sweet. Without Nathan, we were getting closer and closer and he seemed to be the only relief I had. It was now Josh's shoulder that I cried on and Josh who would tell me how great I was, how special. It was Josh that I was beginning to want to be with. Sam was always quiet, but that was like him. Lately he had been seeming sad, along with it. And even Zach was mellowing out. Maybe a trip to the Game Corner was what we needed to be able to enjoy ourselves again. We were becoming lost in ourselves. "Oh, I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. I had once again bumped into someone. It was unusually crowded, even for a Saturday afternoon. "Watch it!" grumbled the blonde woman. Then, we seemed to recognize each other. I knew she knew who I was, and I could never forget who she was. "Well, look! It's the twit!" crooned Cassidy. I was honestly beyond shocked. This was the absolute last person I expected to meet up with in Hoenn. But here she was, donned in regular clothing instead of her Team Rocket get-up. "It's the hag!" I said smugly. She glared at me, but after my encounters with her in Johto, I was used to it. "Watch your mouth, you anorexic looking little witch!" I was taken aback by that one, though Josh used to call me that all the time. "Hey, Jenny, what's going on?" asked Josh, joining me at my side. "Meet a Team Rocket member that I met in Johto! We battled quite a few times... She tried to kill me once!" "Jenny, why don't we go? I need to talk to you anyways." I smiled. I had grown to love my discussions with Josh. He was the only one besides Vicky who hadn't grown self-absorbed. He seemed to care about every little thing that happened with me, and I loved it. "Okay, well it was nice seeing you Cassidy!" I said with a grin. "Whatever," she muttered and then went back to herself. I let Josh drag me down to the Pokemon Center and into the room that I shared with Vicky. The sun was beginning to set and the others would return soon. "Jenny, I have something to tell you. I think you might have already figured it out, because you aren't exactly stupid." "Josh-" I tried to interrupt. I was pretty sure I knew what he was going to say and I was scared. This would be the final blow to my friendship with Nathan, if he found out. "Let me finish. Jenn, I'm in love with you and I have been since after we battled Wattson." I knew it. I knew this was what he needed to tell me. But why was I so afraid? Nathan didn't care anymore. He began to get closer to me, and I knew he was going to kiss me. But unlike the time when this had happened with Nathan, there was no interruption. I had fallen for him somewhere along the line, or maybe I had tried to convince myself that I had. If this were a dramatic movie, Nathan would've come bursting in, but he didn't. I kept trying to tell myself to enjoy it, but I couldn't. Josh was so good to me, so sweet and he cared so much about me, but I couldn't let myself forget Nathan, the boy who had once been all of this to me.I knew it wasn't right for me to kiss Josh, but I didn't try to stop it. Maybe, in time, I would fall in love with him, but as for now, there were still Beautiflys in my stomach for Nathan.