I woke up, took my pills, had a nice shower, quickly slipped on my uniform, ate a tasty breakfast, grabbed my bag, and headed off, all as per my usual daily routine.

It was only after arriving in class that the normality of the day was thrown off.

After taking my seat, I watched my classmates trickle into the room over the next hour, until every empty seat was eventually taken, other than Serena's.

I can never get used to the idea that she just doesn't show up to class every now and again. It feels all the more worrying now as well, given that Dawn's left.

As Sycamore continues to drone on, I find my gaze flicking every so often over to her seat, as if she might appear there any moment now. Nobody else seems to care at all about her absence, but they have little reason to.

Serena being absent from class, after all, is perfectly normal. Or at least, it was. Her attendance hasn't been all that bad from what I've seen in my time here, but it was apparently much more spotty beforehand.

This is also an ominous time for her to be gone. It's the day before her birthday, and my suspicions are starting to rise, after the breakdown she had in class when it was mentioned.

An increasing amount of my thoughts is taken up by how I can help her, but in the end, I feel like I can't do anything.

The bell heralding the beginning of lunchtime rings out, shaking me out my thoughts.

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

I stand outside of the door to Serena's room, hoping that she isn't in too much of a state as I nervously clutch the worksheets Sycamore asked me to pass onto her,

With a long breath to steady myself, I rap my knuckles on the door in front of me.

...Silence. I listen intently for any sound of shuffling coming from inside, but I can't hear a thing.

I knock on the door again, slightly harder.

Still no answer. How strange.

"Serena, it's just me. Sycamore asked me to give you some stuff." I say loudly.

Just before I slip the sheets under her door, thought, I hear the handle rattling.

As the door opens halfway, I quickly try to see how Serena's faring. It's a task made somewhat more difficult by her oversized gown hiding so much of her body.

She doesn't look sick, or at least not immediately so. She looks terribly tired.

"Hey! Sycamore wanted me to give you these since you weren't in class today." I smile at her.

I hold out the loose sheets, which she tentatively takes in her hands. The way she moves is devoid of thought. Her posture is slumped, in an unusual manner for someone that's so often tense and wound up.

...

"Would you like me to stay? I don't have anything to do at the moment, so it wouldn't be any trouble." I smile at her.

Her eyes slide away from me...bad sign.

"Serena...?" I blink a few times.

She slowly shakes her head.

"W....o-okay. Um...good night, then?" I feel my heart break.

With that, Serena steps back and closes her door without a second word.

More than feeling heartbroken, I retreat back to my room.

I don't even bother to turn on the light, opting instead to simply change into my pajamas, quickly choke down my evening pills, and collapse onto my bed.

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

Once again, Serena doesn't turn up for class. Try as I might concentrate on other matters, this fact continues to distract me throughout the entire school day, and even as I walk through the school gardens to the dormitories.

I don't think today being her birthday is a coincidence, either. I don't know the link between the two events, though, nor do I have any idea on what she's feeling.

Were it physical pain, I could at least provide some limited comfort. With something like this though, I have no idea where to start.

I run the people I know through my head, thinking about whether they could help. Bianca and May don't know that much about Serena, and what little they do know they can't tell me. Same for the nurse.

In the end, there's only one person that knows Serena well and would be willing to tell me anything.

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

Back at my dorm, Dawn left me her number incase if anything happened while she's in Sinnoh.

I wonder if she knew something like this could happen.

Without further ado, I enter the numbers and anxiously press the call button.

Eventually, the phone picks up, a feminine voice I don't recognise on the other end. It's probably Dawn's Mom.

"Hello?" I hear her say.

"Hey, is Dawn there?" I ask nicely.

"Yeah. I'll get her. Dawn dear! It's for you!" I hear her shout to Dawn.

"Hello?" I hear Dawn's voice.

"Hey, Dawn. How are ya?" I ask.

"Dying" She replies, letting out a yawn. Jetlagged.

"Serena's not well, is she?" Dawn guesses.

"How did you know?" I question her.

"Because today is her birthday. I'd hope she might have gotten at least a little better after coming to know you, but.....How is she right now?" Dawn says.

"She missed school today and yesterday. I tried talking to her yesterday, but she closed the door in my face" I sigh.

"Roughly the same thing happened last year when her birthday came up. As far as I can tell, it's because her parents died in the accident that caused her scarring, and Serena blames herself for their deaths" Dawn says.

"So that's why she lives in the dorms? Has she told you anymore?" I ask.

"As close as we are.....she's barely told me anything....." She replies.

"I think there's another person who could bring her out of her shell for good. That has been a subject for me as of late" Dawn says.

"Oh...." Is all I can say, I wonder who she's talking about?

"That person is you, Ash" She says.

"Huh? "

"Ash, I think it's time you confess...."

After a few minutes of having this talk, we end up saying our goodbyes and I set my phone on my desk.

"ARGHHHHH!" I scream in stress. Even though Dawn's advice was great, it's still going to be so hard, especially with this heart.

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

"What ya doing?" Iris leans over her chair and looks at my book.

"Math....." I sigh.

I notice a movement out of the corner of my eye. I glance to see who it is, and end up doing a doubletake.

Sure enough, it's Serena. She walks through the door just as she would any normal school day, and begins to move towards her seat in her usual silent and humble manner.

She looks at me for a moment before blushing and looking away in embarrassment, which makes me realise that I was staring at her.

The girl leaning over looks to me, grinning.

"Aw, ya sweetheart's back already!" She chuckles, I feel my face go bright red.

"You, quiet!" I laugh.

As we talk, someone calls Iris' name from the door, she jumps up from her chair and before she leaves she turns to me.

"Later, Ashy boy. Remember to eat sometime?" She smiles.

"Later and sure" I wave at her.

Seizing the opportunity, I get up and make my way to Serena's desk.

"H-hello..." Serena speaks first.

"Hey, Serena. What's up?" I smile at her.

"N-nothing..." She says.

"Want to come with me and grab something from the cafeteria? I'm hungry." I smile at her.

"But...I thought you were studying." She looks at me.

"After being distracted by Iris, I don't think I'm going to get any work done. Come on, let's go." I hold a hand out for her.

She hesitates, but eventually takes my hand and joins me as we begin walking.

I'm glad that she's finally out of her room now, it's a large burden off my shoulders.

I've updated this WAY too much today, my fingers are hurting, and when that happens I start to skip conversations and it ends up rushed, so I'll be sure to finish the book during the week or weekend. See ya next chapter! - Pokeamour

I've been writing this book for almost 50 HOURS!