Scars (An Amourshipping Story)

'Saturday'

And here's the update so you can all stop asking :), I will update this a measly...2 times every 3 weeks? Maybe? Idk, but I will at least update once a week. 

Now for the story! I kinda don't remember who is who but.....XD

"I had a bad heart attack a while ago because of it, and spent most of the spring in a hospital. Ended in Vaniville on doctor's orders." I sighed.

She silently nods her head in acknowledgement.

My answer, though, only seems to make Dawn furrow her brow even further. She doesn't seem to quite know how to react, given we don't really know each other that well.

I can't really fault her for it, given I have the exact same reaction.

To my surprise, in a moment's time, her face shows that she comes to some sort of realisation.

"Wait...so the time when you and Elle collided in the hallway...?" Dawn said quietly.

I grimace slightly. Her ability to connect the dots quite so fast is unexpected.

"Yeah. I guess I'm a textbook example of why those rules about running in the corridors exist." 

That was a lot more dry than I'd intended. Lilly visibly shies away from continuing the topic.

While I do want to assuage her concern, I really don't want to dwell on this either.

"Don't worry about it." 

I try to offer a reassuring smile but then I realise the futility. Without knowing this, Dawn smiles at me reassuringly but doesn't say anything further

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

Arriving at the dorms, Dawn lets slip a long breath, probably a disguised yawn. I imagine she's as exhausted by all this as I am.

"I'd better leave now and give these to Serena. Thank you for the company, Ash!" Dawn smiled brightly.

"Yeah...Goodnight. Say hi to Serena for me, you know she's really cute." I put my hands on my hips.

"T-That's the first boy that's ever said that about Serena... and I will. Goodnight, Ashy" She used her cane to guide herself into the dorms

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

The students roll into class for the Saturday morning session, each and every one of them sporting the tired eyes of people who have worked through the night.

With only a day left to prepare, I suppose it's not so surprising. Thankfully, we only have to suffer through classes until the lunch break, and then our time is our own.

Sycamore lurches into class in a tired stagger. I suppose students aren't the only people here that enjoy their late Friday nights.

Without saying a word, he scrawls some page and question numbers on the board and slumps down at his desk.

It's completely atypical behaviour for him, but it appears that no one in the class is going to call him out on it.

Wordlessly, the students shuffle their textbooks into position and get to work. Not wanting to break the trend, I do the same.

Fatigue has made the class antisocial; not a peep is heard among the ruffling papers.

That can partly be attributed to the two empty seats beside me. For some reason May and Bianca aren't present; probably doing council work for the festival.

It's very quiet without May present.

I wonder if she was born as rowdy as she is, or if she is "making up" for Bianca's lack of voice.

"Ketchum, can I speak to you for a moment?" Sycamore asks me.

"Sure...what's this about?" I question him.

"Better if we speak outside" He signals towards the classroom door.

Something about this doesn't sound too good, but I stand up and follow him out into the hallway.

"So, tell me, how are things?" He asks.

"Things?" I raise one eyebrow.

I expected Sycamore to be a little vague, but this is pushing the limits.

"You've had a week to settle in now, so how are things?" He explains.

"Fine I guess" I scratched my head.

"I see. And how is your....condition?" He asks another question.

"Haven't had any problems so far." I give him the thumbs up.

A brief shimmer of relief passes across Sycamore's face.

"Onto my next question; how are you finding your studies? I understand you were laid up for a while. We're not too far ahead, are we?" He smiles.

"I tried to keep up when I was in the hospital, so it hasn't been too hard" I smile back.

He seemed pleased by my answer.

"Well then, I think that's all I really had to say. Let's get back inside, shall we?" He nods.

"Sure. You're the boss, right?" I chuckle.

He laughs too.

"I don't think any of my students have ever said that to me before." He smiles.

We both make our way back into the classroom and a few of the students jump at the sound of the door, rapidly trying to pretend that they are working on the questions on the board.

Some don't even bother, their heads slumped on the desk as they nap. Thankfully, it would appear that Sycamore does not even notice them.

He returns to his desk and retrieves a scientific journal from one of the drawers. I guess I got to him there.

"Before you all leave, I expect the answers for those problems by Monday." Sycamore exclaims before we all leave.

I stay behind and try to quickly finish the questions so I don't have to bother with it over the rest of the weekend, with the festival and all tomorrow.

Apart from me, Serena is the only one left, obviously waiting for Dawn.

It's weird that Dawn comes all the way to our classroom to pick her up. I expect that moving around is at least nominally harder for her than it is for Serena.

But it's none of my business, and I naturally don't ask about it from Serena.

Despite the relative proximity of our seats, neither tries to strike up a conversation about that or anything else either, so an oppressive silence falls upon the classroom.

Time passes in silence. It's probably just fifteen minutes or so but it feels longer. I turn pages of my notebook. Serena turns pages of the novel she's reading.

Serena keeps her eyes firmly away from my direction.

Before long, Dawn's figure appears in the doorway.

"Serena?" Dawn calls out.

Her name is all it takes to make Serena jump up from her desk and run to Dawn.

They talk quietly for a moment, but it isn't long before Dawn leaves down the hall and Serena idles back into the classroom, taking her seat once again.

I watch Serena out of the corner of my eye out of sheer curiosity at the idea that the two would be separated.

For a couple of minutes, she does nothing but sit with her chin in her hand, staring at the desk dejectedly.

She get's up and makes her way out of the classroom.

I sigh and look out the window.

There's got to be something to do that can kill the time considering I've got nothing to do.

I'll go to the library.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I make my way out of the classroom.