After Serena walked out of class during first period, at lunch I decided to go look in the library for her to see if she's okay.  

As expected, Serena sits on her beanbag, buried deep in a copy of 'Dance Dance Dance.'

"Sup, Serena. How's it going?" I say to her.

I fight back the urge to ask why she left class early. Best to leave it for the time being. Sometimes the best way to get an answer from someone is to never ask the question.

"Hello, A-Ash...I'm fine." She looks up from her book.

Something seems off, and after a couple of seconds, I realize what it is. Serena's smiling.

She looks as if she's pleased to see me. It's a nice change from the usual, instinctively frightened reaction, and something I hope I can see more of as we get to know each other better.

"Good to hear. How's that book? I've heard it's a trip." 

"I-it's good...I think. I've only just started it, so I d-don't really know" She replies.

"Fair enough. Let me know how it goes; may I borrow it once ya done?" I ask her.

"S-sure." She smiles.

I slouch into a beanbag and crack open my book.

The familiar style of the author leaps out at me from the very first line. As the sentences turn into paragraphs, I start to relax a little.

But no matter how I try, I can't seem to get myself into the atmosphere of the book.

This is partly due to the lack of time, but the more distracting factor is Serena.

Every ten or so seconds she peers over the top of her book, but when our eyes meet she quickly ducks behind the covers.

I guess she did want to talk about something after all.

"What's up? You look like a prairie dog on lookout" I smile at her.

"N-....it's nothing.." She answers.

"I've told you before, 'nothing' means 'something' when you say it like that." 

She squirms a little in her beanbag, hoping that by changing her position she'll find the words she's looking for.

"I...I was in an accident..." She softly says.

"Accident? Just now? Are you all right?" I worriedly say.

She shakes her head.

"N-no. When I was y-younger..." She says.

Realization crashes into me like a semi.

"When I...when I was..."

"It's all right, Serena, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to..." I reassure her that everything is okay.

Again she shakes her head.

"N-no. I want....I have to tell you.." 

"W-When I was young...I was in a fi-fire....." She plays with her thumbs.

"M-my house b-burned down, and I nearly...I nearly didn't make it.....if i-it wasn't for that boy who s-saved me..." 

"A-after that....I was alone..."

Her eyes glisten in the dim light of the library, and I reach out to grasp her hand.

"It's okay, Serena...you don't have to keep going." I smile weakly at her.

"B-But I have too..." She counters.

"Why? What brought this on?" I ask her.

"Last n-night...Dawn t-told me about your heart....a-and I didn't t...think it was fair." She looks very nervous.

"Fair?" 

"T-that I knew about you b-but you didn't know about me..." She looks into my eyes.

I squeeze her hand a little.

"Don't be silly. But yes..... I have a heart condition...." I sigh.

I lean a little closer to Serena.

"What I didn't tell Dawn is that I had my first attack when a girl confessed to me." 

I smile a little to break the tension.

"R-really?" She says in shock.

"Yeah...I haven't heard from her for a while though, so I guess it's all over." 

"So now, we both know a little more about each other. But you don't have to talk about things if you don't want to." I say to her.

She said she was all alone...did her parents die? I'll have to ask Dawn about it.

"T-Thank you, Ash....I.I haven't told many people about this." She says.

"To be honest, I haven't either..." I sigh.

"I-I-I won't tell an-anyone about yours if y-you don't tell a-anyone about mine..." She smiles.

"Deal on a wheel" I wink at her.

I change the grip on Serena's hand into a fist bump as the warning bells chime through the window.

"Well, let's head to class." I smile at her.

"Y-Yeah..." She blushes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I JUST SCREAMED! I'M INTO ARC3 ALREADY! MAYBE THIS WILL BE LESS THAN 30 CHAPTERS! IM SO THANKFUL XD)

The tint of the room slowly changes from the shine of the afternoon to the orange of dusk. A clock lazily ticks away the seconds, counting in the background, on the verge of hearing.

But no matter how long I wait, the outcome cannot be changed.

The diminutive playing piece makes a small click against the board.

Like a wound spring, Serena makes her move only moments after mine.

It's embarrasing. In comparison to my five-minute moves, she seems to know exactly what she wants to do.

"Mate." She smiles.

"Aww! Again?! What does that make this? 3-2?" I pout.

"S-stalemates don't count." She blushes.

"Hm you're getting better at this every day." I admit.

Chess seems to have become a popular pastime for the two of us; hiding away in the tea room, playing a game or two after classes.

"Fancy another?" I ask her.

"As much as I'd love to I-I have homework." She says.

I've noticed that her speech has calmed, she doesn't stutter as much as she did about 2 week ago.

"Oh, well, see ya tomorrow then?" I smile

"What about this?" She points at the mess.

"Don't you worry, I've got it!" I fist pump and start cleaning the tea set.

"Oh...okay..See you." She smiles at me.

 "Later." I wave at her.

Serena departs as I start cleaning up the area.

As I'm putting away cups and saucers, I hear talking outside the door. Pausing for a moment to listen, I can make out that it's Dawn and Serena, and decide to go outside to investigate.

"Are you quite sure?" I hear Dawn say.

"I...I'm sure..." Serena says.

"Ah, Ash" Serena looks at me.

Dawn must've caught her just as she was about to leave.

"Oh, Ash is here, hey" Dawn smiles.

"Sup" I smile back.

"I was hoping we all could go to Shanghai." Dawn closes her eyes.

"I'd be up for it. I think Serena had work to do, though...?" I turn to Serena.

"I-it's not that much..." Serena smiles at me.

"It's settled then, we're going." Dawn giggles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cast my eyes across the cafe as the three of us step in. As usual, there are only a handful of people around at most, and the noise level is quiet background hum.

"Welcome to the Shanghai! May I take your order?" Joy smiles.

"Just tea, please. Ash, Serena?" Dawn says her order.

"I'll have a slice of pie and a coffee." I smile.

"Just...t-tea please" Serena gives her order.

"Comin' up! Take any seat" Joy rushes in the kitchen.

We slip into our seats, the girls on one side with Dawn's cane propped up beside them and I on the other. I realize that Serena's not doing something that she so often does.

Rather than keeping her eyes pinned to the ground and hiding behind her blind escort, busily trying to convince herself that the world around them doesn't exist, she's merely keeping her eyes low and helping Dawn around.

"You alright, Dawn? Looking tired." I ask her.

She lowers her head a little, looking somewhat embarrassed that she let is show.

"Class rep stuff, very tired." She smiles.

Dawn trails off, cutting her words at a rather opportune spot. It's hard to imagine Dawn cursing, but I imagine that if anyone could make her do so, it would be Bianca.

Serena looks to be withering a bit in the light of such conflict, but before I can steer the topic away a little, she stands up.

"Serena?" Dawn puts her hands together.

"I'll....be back in a bit." Serena responds.

With that, she leaves for the restrooms. I suppose that's one way to deal with the situation, if that was indeed her motivation.

Dawn, however, looks a little wounded.

"Don't worry about it, I don't think it was you." I say to Dawn

"But..."

"I think she's been getting stronger recently. You've seen it yourself...right..?" I try to cheer her up.

"Possibly. Sometimes....I find it hard to tell, though." She pouts.

Silence reins for a moment before two teacups, and a mug of steaming coffee appear in front of us.

I notice that Joy takes special care to place the teacup against the tip of Dawn's  fingers, letting her knew where it is.

"Here you go." Joy giggles a little.

"Thanks!" I thank her for the service.

"Yep, thank you." Dawn smiles.

With a quick and silent bow, the bespectacled waitress takes her leave.

"Ah, I was meaning to ask you something, and now would be the right time to do so." Dawn says.

"Go on." 

"Serena's birthday is coming up, and I was hoping that you might accompany me for present shopping in the city this weekend." Dawn asks.

"Sure. Have you got any plans for what to do for her birthday? A party or anything?" I ask her.

"Serena being Serena, perhaps a low-key affair would be-"

She cuts herself off.

After a few seconds, I notice Serena walking up to us over her should. Dawn's hearing must be very good indeed if it was the sound of the restroom door opening that tipped her off.

Serena takes her seat once again, and wastes no time in drinking her tea. Soon the three of us are quietly eating and drinking as the sun sets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finish off the last of my coffee and rest the mug on the table while the girls talk between themselves. The coffee here's a little bitter for my tastes, but still quite good. Better than what I can make for myself, in any case.

The girls' discussion is mainly focused on their respective reading preferences, which does give me a little curiosity about a related topic.

"Hey, Serena, I was just wondering...aside from chess and reading, do you have any hobbies or things you like doing?" I ask her.

She's completely stopped in her tracks, looking quite surprised that anyone would be interested in asking such a question about her. It takes her a little time to formulate a response.

"Um...I guess... I like singing a l-litte. I'm okay with computers as well, b-but I...don't use them all that much." She answers with a small smile.

Singing isn't what I expected to hear, it's hard to imagine her singing voice, given how soft-spoken she is.

Dawn nods, she probably heard her before.

"W-What about...y-y-"

"Me?" I say.

She hesitates before quickly flicking her head up and down. It's only logical that she'd want me to talk about my hobbies after she's told me hers.

"Well, there's chess, obviously, but also..hmmm..." I trail off in thought.

"There was soccer (OR FOOTBALL FOR U TRIGGERED PEOPLE) as well, though I-I can't really do that any more. Reading, which I picked up in hospital...um.." I try to think of what else.

This is surprisingly hard. Dawn and Serena look a little put off by the direction this is taking, and the more I think about it, the more I am too.

"Sounds like ya picked up a few things since your accident" Dawn lightens up the mood.

"Y-"

A soft ringing gives us a pause. As Dawn reaches into her pocket, it becomes obvious that the sound's coming from her phone.

"Sorrrrry, gotta take this" Dawn stands up and takes the call; walking a distance so we can't hear.

"Must be nice to be popular." I chuckle.

Serena smiles, but doesn't take the hook for further discussion.

I end up just sitting back and closing my eyes, relaxing as best I can.

"It's nice and peaceful here. I wonder what it'd be like to have grown up somewhere like this, rather than in Kanto" I yawn.

"Y-yoy come from Kanto?!" Serena says.

I open my eyes and she her eyes are wide up as if she's just worked something out.

"Yep, Pallet Town." 

"I-Its sounds like a lot changed..." She says.

"It did. I'm still not quite sure what to make of it all, though. It's a bit of a culture shock, in more ways than one." I say.

"You must've gone through something like this when you fist arrived at here, right? I'd imagine most new students would." I look at her.

"N-not really..." Her gazes a little to the side, looking unwilling to go on. I tilt my head inquisitively, but a couple of seconds pass with no further answer.

"But can't we deal with that on Monday? The fallout has hardly settled from the last...I understand. I'll try to talk her down. You know what she's like when she gets locked onto an idea. Yes....Talk later, bye" I hear Dawn say.

Dawn's conversation ends with the snap of her phone closing, she returns to our table but doesn't take her seat.

"Need to go?" I ask.

"Unfortunately. Class rep work calls once again." She rolls her eyes.

"I-I can come with you." Serena looks at Dawn.

"It's okay, Serena. I'll just be going straight to the student council. There's no need to spoil your dat-I mean, fine evening on my account." Dawn giggles, I see Serena's face turn bright red, I wonder why.

"Okay..."Serena says.

Dawn says her farewells to the both of us, taking her cane after Serena passes it to her.

And then...we're alone. It may be all well and good to leave Serena and me alone to have some time together, but all it typically means is the two of us sitting near each other in silence for a while.

"Wanna order somethin', we haven't had much of a dinner after all?" I ask her.

She nods with a smile.

"Would you like something else?" Joy walks over, perfect timing.

"I'll have a sandwich special and a hot chocolate. Bit late for coffee by now, Serena?" I turn to her.

"I-I'll have....the same.." She smiles.

With a nod and a bow, Joy turns on the ball of her foot and returns behind the counter.

Not a word is said between us until Joy comes back. She smiles and gives us our food and drinks, before moving to a customer who's called for her attention.

I take a bite out of my sandwich, it tastes nice, as does most of the food here. After having a few mouthfuls, I notice something's missing. Namely, the sound of Serena eating.

Looking back at her, I see Serena fidgeting a little behind her untouched sandwich.

"Not hungry?" I speak up.

She shakes her head from side to side. 

"I-It's not that.." She replies.

"Aw! I was all ready to have you share" I fold my arms.

"You looked...t-troubled. I-is something..wrong?" Serena looks at me.

"W-we're friends, right?" I ask her.

"F-Friends...." She turns to the side.

...

"I-I think th-that we are.." She faces me with a smile.

I must admit, her straightforward answer surprised me.

"I see..." 

"A-am I wrong? S-sorry, I-I..-"

"No, it's just...hearing the confirmation of that from you is reassuring." I smile at her

I pick up my cup of hot chocolate and bring it to my lips.

"Ouch! That's hot!.." I yank it away from my mouth, surprisingly not spilling it.

"Th..that's why I haven't eaten yet. I..I was waiting for my drink to cool down first." She looks in my eyes with a small pink blush including a cute smile.

"I guess I'll wait, then" 

The both of us share a little chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way back to the dorms, a loud yawn escapes from Serena's mouth before she has a chance to cover it. I have little doubt she's fairly tired by now.

"I'd better be off to my room, then. See ya, Serena" I smile at her.

"G-Good night..." She replies.

We separate and begin to walk our separate ways, before I stop and look back.

Serena stands there, waving to me as she smiles. I smile and wave back to her, and after a few seconds, she turns and walks up the stairs to her dormitory building, disappearing through the door.

These little moments we share between us feel like a small treasure. One thing is sure; I want to protect that small, delicate smile she so fleetingly wears around so few people.

I wonder about these feelings I have when Serena's around, and when I'm able to do things for her...whether they may be the seed for something beyond what we share now.

Thanks for reading! Unfortunately, I have to go do my homework because school starts tomorrow ;_;, I'll be sure to update within the next couple days. I love you all! - Pokeamour