Amour Academy

Busted!

(Serena's pov)

"I wonder what that's about." Ash said.

"I don't know, but you had better hurry." I said.

"Right, see you later Serena. I'm sure this won't take long, but if it does I'll see you back at the room." He said as he headed to the office.

Wait he's...

"Ash!" I called.

He turns around.

"What is it?" He asked.

"The office is the other way!" I said, pointing in the direction of the office.

He pauses then starts heading the other way.

"Right, I knew that!" Ash said.

"Honestly Ash..." I mumbled. But then giggled a little at Ash's silliness.

I wonder what they want from him. I hope he isn't in trouble or something.

(Ash's pov)

'Thank God for Serena, if she didn't tell me where to go, who knows how long it would have taken me to find this place.' I thought.

I made my way to the head mistress's office, though I'm still not sure what they want from me. I haven't gotten into any trouble that I knew of, so why? I made it to the door and knocked.

"Hello, head mistress? This is Ash Ketchum." I said.

"Ah yes, Mr. Ketchum. Please come in." Said Diantha.

I opened the door nervously, not sure what to expect. When I opened the door, I saw Ms. Diantha sitting in her chair at her desk, but she was facing away from the door. I walked slowly toward her desk.

"Have a seat Ashton." She said, still facing away from me.

"Y-yes mam!" I said.

I sat down in the adjacent chair. She then turned around and faced me. She was holding a piece of paper and she didn't look to happy.

"Ashton, do you have any idea as to why I called you here?" She said in a tone that was a scary mix of serious and frustrated.

"N-no mam! I really don't!" I said.

She sighed, then laid the piece of paper on the desk. I looked at and immediately began to connect the dots. It was a list of grades, my grades, from the quizes we took today. I looked up at Ms. Diantha, I wanted to say something, but I had no idea what to say.

"Now do you understand?" She asked.

I gulped and nodded.

"I have never in all of my time as head mistress seen such poor scores. Ashton, if I may, how is that you managed to pass our entrance examination?" She asked.

'Busted! There's no use hiding it now I guess.' I thought to myself.

I started to nervously rub the back of my neck.

"Well, uhh, I guess if I had to sum it up, it was all luck." I said kinda awkwardly.

Diantha raised an eyebrow.

"Luck? What exactly do you mean by luck?" She asked.

'Uuuhhhng, do I really have to tell this story? I guess I have no choice.' I thought as I mentally cringed.

"You see, back home I have this friend named Gary. He and I are always competing against each other, trying to prove which one of us is the best." I said.

"Go on..." Said Ms. Diantha, actually looking a little amused.

"When the day came for us to pick our high schools, Gary challenged me to a test off, and the test we took was the KNA entrance exam. We are both relatively average students by public school standards, so we knew that there was no way that we could pass it, so we guessed on all of the answers." I said.

Diantha was completely silent, shocked, and I didn't like it. I had no idea what she was about to do.

"You mean to tell me that you made an 81 on our entrance exam by....guessing?" She asked, she had darkish look in her eye.

I nodded slowly, and began to mentally brace myself. Then I noticed her gaze soften, and she started....laughing!?

"T-that has to be the funniest thing that I have ever heard!" She said while laughing.

"W-wait, you mean you aren't mad?" I asked.

She took a deep sigh, regaining her composure.

"Mad, no, that excuse was far to amusing for that. However I am disappointed in you, Ashton. You should have been honest and told everyone the truth." She said.

I looked down, feeling guilty.

"I'm...I'm really sorry. I was just so excited about all of this and I've enjoyed myself so much here. I know that was very selfish of me." I said.

Diantha smiled lightly.

"I accept your Ashton. Now, please return to your class, I need to make arrangements for your departure." She said.

My heart almost stopped. I really didn't want to leave. I've had so much fun here, it's a beautiful place and almost everyone has been so welcoming. But the one thing I would miss the most is being with Serena.

There has to be some way I can stay here! Diantha was reaching for the phone.

"Please wait!" I said.

She looked up at me, surprised at my tone.

"Ashton-?" She started to say.

"Ms. Diantha, please, please give me one chance to prove myself! I know that I don't deserve it, but please! I promise you, I will work hard and prove to you that I am really KNA material! So please..." I begged.

I was bowing slightly and I had my eyes clenched shut. I just knew she was going to say no. But then, she lwt out a sigh.

"Raise your head, Ashton." Diantha said.

I looked up and opened my eyes.

"Since you sounded truly sincere just now, I will give you one chance." She said.

My face lit up.

"Thank you, Ms. Diantha! I'll do anything at all, just name it!" I said.

"At the end of each quarter, there is an exam that is designed to see how much you have learned. If you can pass that, then I will let you continue your education here. However, if you fail, you will be on the next plane home. Are we clear?" She said.

"Yes mam! Don't worry, I won't let you down!" I said.

She smiled.

"Good, now, you are dismissed. Judging by the time it would seem the last class of the day has ended, so you can go ahead and return to the dormitories." She said.

"Yes Ms. Diantha, thank you again!" I said as I headed out.

I was walking down the hall, and man did I feel good. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.

'Alright Ash, you need to get serious. You have 9 weeks to improve, so you had better get started.' I thought, pumping myself up.

'I bet I can ask Serena for help, she's the number one student after all...' I thought.

Then I stopped and that heavy feeling returned.

Serena...

What will she think about all of this?