On a Night Like This

6. Whitney

It was the greatest night ever. She was the prettiest girl in the room, the center of everyone's attention. And they adored her. Of course they did. She was the life of the party, after all.

At least, that was how it had felt at first. Then things had started to get blurry and she'd started to get dizzy and all of a sudden she was finding it hard to think straight. So this was what Lorelei had meant when she'd told her to slow down with the champagne a little.

She didn't know much about champagne, like how much was too much or what too much of it did to you. All she knew was that it was fun. Free champagne was even more fun. Until you had too much fun and spilled it all over some ex-Champion's suit. Then it wasn't so fun anymore.

Not that he hadn't deserved it. Steven Stone was a jerk. But she'd probably never see him again. And he could always go buy a hundred new suits if he felt like it. She'd forgotten that whole mess already.

Even if she was watching him walk in the room with a huge frown on her face.

Whitney didn't understand. She was pretty and fun to be around... wasn't she? So why didn't these people want to talk to her? Like a certain Gym Leader she refused to think about who'd ditched her over some stupid speech. He obviously had issues.

She blinked in confusion as Jasmine passed through the door. Hadn't Jasmine left hours ago? She'd sure been gone long enough. And what was she so happy about?

Whitney decided to ask. "Where'd you go off to?"

"Oh, nowhere." Jasmine was smiling like she'd just been given a million free Master Balls. "I needed some air. All those reporters and photographers... I don't know if I'll ever get used to them."

"So you spent the night outside by yourself?" Whitney didn't get Jasmine. Why go to parties only to miss out on all the fun parts?

"Well... no. I met someone."

"Really? Who?"

"N-never mind. It doesn't matter."

"It does so matter!" If Jasmine didn't want to say, it had to be good.

"Steven."

"Steven Stone?"

Jasmine sighed dreamily. "He's wonderful, isn't he?"

No, Whitney thought. Not to her. "Are you sure it was the same guy?"

"Of course. He gave me this."

His business card. With his phone number on it. It was enough to make Whitney want to be sick. Or maybe that was the champagne. Either way, she wasn't going to fangirl over Steven Stone any longer.

"Big deal." She walked off, rolling her eyes, and right away, she felt guilty. It wasn't Jasmine's fault that Hoenn's number one heartthrob happened to have boring taste in girls. But Jasmine hadn't even noticed. Jasmine was too head over heels for Steven to notice much of anything.

"Uh, Whitney? You might want to watch where you're going."

She hadn't seen Falkner and Janine. Not until she'd almost bumped into them both. But it wasn't her fault. They'd come out of nowhere. And the way they were holding hands made them kind of hard to get around.

Those two were such a couple. And they were so cute when you teased them about it.

"Hey, you guys!" Whitney couldn't resist. "Why not just make out already and get it over with?"

But they didn't pull away. They didn't even blush. Not even Falkner, who got embarrassed at everything.

"That's why." Falkner turned toward Koga, seeming more confident than usual. "I don't think I'd do so well at dodging shurikens."