Serena's Secret

Serena's Secret Part 6

Gary had been sulking in the Pokémon Centre for a while, when he decided to head back and see if Misty had calmed down yet. When he got to the beach, he spotted Bonnie, Ash, Serena and Clemont who was now helping the others build their sand castle, but there was no sign of Misty. He decided to ask the gang if they had seen her.
"Last I saw her, she kicked over a kid's sandcastle." Serena told him.
"How long ago was that?" Gary asked her.
"I'm not sure.. Maybe a half hour ago?" Serena replied.
"Uh.. We could help you find her, if you like?" Ash suggested, noticing the worried look on Gary's face.
"NO!!!" Bonnie screamed. "This sand castle is really pretty! If we leave it, I won't win the sand castle competition!" She moaned, as she watched the judges writing down scores for some of the other kids' sand castles.
"How about I'll stay here with Bonnie, and you and Serena go help find Misty?" Clemont suggested. Serena and Ash agreed. They head to the changing rooms, put their normal outfits back on and began their search.

They decided to look in town first. They weaved in and out of crowded streets in order to find their orange haired friend. The longer they looked for her, the more they lost hope.
"Have you tried calling her?" Serena asked.
"Only 100 times. What do you think I am, Stupid?!" Gary snapped.
"She was just asking, you don't have to snap at her like that!" Ash looked at Gary.
"Look at Ashy-boy sticking up for his little girlfriend!" Gary teased.
Serena turned bright red. Ash - on the other hand - was completely oblivious. "Huh? What are you talking about?" He asked, as he looked from Gary to Serena. Serena looked away quickly, avoiding his gaze.
"She can't even look at you, Ash. You're pathetic! You will never get a girlfriend!" Gary laughed.
Ash looked down.
"Are we here to argue, or find Misty?" He asked quietly.

Ash began walking, and Gary and Serena followed at a distance.
"Why would you hurt his feelings like that?" Serena asked. "Ash is such an amazin- I mean... He's really caring... A-and a good friend!" She sighed. "I've never seen him like this..."

"It's just so easy to beat that kid!" Gary sniggered. "I mean, he can't even see a pretty girl when she's standing right in front of him!" Serena looked at Gary confused.
"Are you talking about-" She began. "Yes, I'm talking about you." Gary interrupted. This made Serena feel really uncomfortable. Why was he calling her pretty?
"Uhm... I'm gonna catch up to Ash..." Serena told him.
"Leave him." Gary snapped, firmly grabbing hold of the girls arm. Serena winced. Gary's firm grip was hurting her.
  "Get off of me!" She tried to pull her arm away, but Gary was much stronger than her. He grabbed hold of Serena's other arm, pulled her closer to him and began moving his lips closer to hers. "HELP!" She shouted as she tried to wriggle away from him.
Ash turned around and saw Gary pressing his lips against Serena's, who was struggling to move away from him. Ash ran over to them and pushed Gary away from Serena.
"What are you doing?!" Ash roared, as he pushed Gary to the floor.
"Calm down, Ashy-boy. I was just kidding around." Gary smirked.
Ash stood protectively in front of Serena.
"Just leave us alone!" Ash told him. "You can look for Misty that way, and we'll go this way." He said, as he took hold of Serena's hand and led her away from Gary.

Serena didn't know how to feel. She felt empty, and violated, wondering why Gary would do that to her. On the other hand, she felt happy because Ash had protected her and was now holding her hand. She wanted to thank Ash, but she didn't know what to say. He began loosening the grip on her hand and let it go. Disheartened, Serena looked around desperately, trying to find inspiration for a topic to talk about. While looking around, she caught a glimpse of Misty's orange hair and denim shorts.
"There! It's Misty!" Serena shouted. Ash looked to where Serena was pointing, and sure enough, his short-tempered friend was across the street, looking at sunglasses. Ash walked toward Misty, Serena following close behind.
"Where have you been?" He asked her. "Looking at the pretty things they sell here!" She told him.
"Gary's been looking for you..." Ash told her, quietly. Misty shrugged.
"He can catch up, right? let's head back to the beach!" She smiled, patting her orange hair back.

Ash didn't argue and walked back to the beach in between the girls.
"You two seem awfully quiet." Misty remarked. Ash looked at Serena, who had her eyes locked on the floor.
"We were just a little worried about you... That's all." Ash lied. "Isn't that right, Sere?" Misty and Ash stared at Serena.
"Serena?" He asked again.
"What? I- sorry I was just... thinking" Serena jumped.
"About what?" Misty questioned. "Shopping!..." She quickly replied.

When the three of them had found Bonnie and Clemont at the beach, Bonnie was wearing a shiny, yellow ribbon. It had patterns of sea shells on it, and in the middle, it had '1st Place' written boldly in black print.
"Look, Serena!" Bonnie beamed. Serena smiled slightly and nodded. "That's nice! I'm so happy for you!" She told her, unconvincingly. Misty gave Serena a nasty look and picked Bonnie up.
"Your sand castle was amazing!" Misty told her, poking her button nose. Serena turned to Ash.
"I'm gonna go call my Mom..." She told him. Ash nodded.
"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked. Serena shook her head.
"I...I just wanna be on my own right now..." She said croakily, a tear slipping down her cheek. Ash fumbled in his pocket until he found a small piece of tissue.
"Here." He said, as handed her the tissue and turned her around. "I was just thinkin' you wouldn't want the others to know you were upset.. right?" Serena nodded.
"Thanks, Ash." She managed. "For everything... For helping me back there..." Ash was about to reply when Misty ran in between Ash and Serena. "What are you guys talking abou- Hey! Serena! What's wrong?" She asked, her face intimidatingly close to Serena's. Serena looked away.
"Uh, she's just a little homesick." Ash told her.
"Hey guys, listen... I just... Really need to call my Mom right now..." Serena spoke, and she walked away from them.
"Awh. I never get homesick." Misty laughed. "Some people are such babies!"