Platonic

Chapter 1: Convincing

"May, what region did you say you and your friends were going to next?" Caroline Maple asked her daughter as she busied herself with submerging dirty dishes into the warm soapy water. May sat at the square oak dinner table eating a sandwich her mom had prepared for her. She swallowed and took a drink of water to wash it down. She set her cup down haphazardly, the water sloshing around.

"Yeah, everybody's going there. Drew, Harley, Solidad," she said, listing off her rivals.

"I don't think Jhoto's such a good idea dear," Caroline frowned wiping her hands on a kitchen towel as she turned to look at her daughter.

"But why? That's where all the competition, and my friends are going, it's the best place for me to go from here," May explained, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at her mom's opinion. "Besides, we used to live there," May said, taking a sip out of her cup.

"We did, but we moved because of your father's job opportunity," Caroline said as she hung the towel back up.

"So what's wrong in going back for contests? It's not like I'm moving back, plus it's as far as Kanto, and you let me go there," May reasoned feeling like it was unreasonable for her mother to have anything against Jhoto.

"That's because you were traveling in a group with three others, this time you would be traveling alone, and that is not safe for a girl your age, let alone any girl," Caroline explained.

"What if I asked one of my friends to travel with me?" May reasoned. Caroline paused for a moment, her index finger raised and pressed against her cheek as she contemplated May's idea. Caroline frowned.

"I still don't think going to Jhoto will be good," She answered finally. May stood up abruptly, her chair sliding across the floor. She cut past her mother and cleaned her plate and cup. She set them on the drying rack and wiped her hands. She didn't look at her mother at all.

"May.." Caroline trailed off.

"I'm going out," May said quietly as she headed to the door and put her shoes on. She left without another word and took in the sweet spring breeze. She let it blow over her, cooling her temper as she walked to the Petalburg Park. The breeze was a bit chilly now and May found herself shoving her hands in her pockets.

She kicked a rock in annoyance. Her mom was usually pretty lenient and reasonable. It made no sense why she couldn't go. She kicked another rock, sending it flying forward, much further than the previous one.

"Geez May, what did that rock ever do to you?" A familiar voice cut through her thoughts. She looked up to see her rival, with a slight smug look on his face that seemed to always be there.

"I don't know, it had a slight tinge of green to it, and it reminded me of you so I just had to kick it," She said, her tone showing her annoyance. His face broke into a deeper smirk.

"Well I'm honored I make you so frustrated," he said slyly. His striking green eyes gave her a suggestive look, and his unusual green locks hung just slightly above his eyes, making him look... unfortunately very attractive. She swallowed the small knot that hitched in her throat.

"You smug jerk," May frowned, her thoughts circled around to before. She really wanted to set him straight and beat him a few more times, but she couldn't do that if she couldn't go to Jhoto. Drew's smug shifted to a frown, and his eyes held a slight touch of, dare she even think, concern?

"Seriously though, what's got your bandana in a knot?" He asked. Of course not able to resist any opportunity to tease her. She humphed and glared at him out of the corner of her eyes.