Serena had been discharged from hospital later that day. Johanna drove Dawn and Serena home, and welcomed Serena into her home.
Johanna showed Serena to one of the spare bedrooms and said she was welcome to stay as long as she liked. Dawn helped Serena to start unpacking and settle into her new room.
Johanna later prepared dinner for the pair, and after eating, she told Serena she'd be willing to help her with the legal side of things, if she wanted to take action against her mother. Serena was still thinking about it, but wanted to settle into the Berlitz household first.
After dinner, the girls helped Johanna with the dishes before going off to their rooms. Serena got back to unpacking her things, whilst Dawn did some homework.
Dawn had spent twenty minutes on her homework, and was getting no where. She began tapping the end of her pencil against the paper and creating a tune, before she started singing the chorus of Adore you, by Miley Cyrus.
That all ended when her phone buzzed, alerting Dawn that she'd gotten a message. The girl jumped in shock before she reached out to grab her phone, assuming it would be Ash or Iris.. or maybe May or Hilda.
But it wasn't.
It was Ursula.
Ursula: Hey bitch
Dawn rolled her eyes, before she began to type back a reply. She'd always tried her best to become friends with Ursula, but after Ursula confronted her for something she hadn't done, aggressively and didn't apologise for it.. Dawn barely tolerated the pink haired girl.
Dawn: Can I help you?
Ursula: I need to talk to you tomorrow, before class.
Of course, the pair had Chemistry first thing tomorrow.
Dawn: Fine
The girl then locked her phone and placed it aside, before she stood up and went to change into her pyjamas.
Serena rolled onto her new bed, unlocking her phone to check her messages, as she'd finally finished unpacking.
Clemont: Hey Sere, are you alright?
Serena blinked in surprise, seeing a message from Clemont pop up on her phone. She didn't know how to answer.. Clemont wasn't aware of her situation.
Serena: Yeah, why do you ask, Clem?
Clemont: Your Mum came knocking on our door today to see if we knew where you were... where are you? Are you safe?
Serena sighed, not wanting to worry Clemont.. but at the same time even though he was one of her best friends, she felt like she couldn't tell him the truth, at least not yet.
Serena: I'm somewhere away from home, and I'm safe. Things really aren't alright, but they will be. I'll be able to tell you about it another time.. I need to get some rest.
Clemont: Alright, just know I'm only a phone call away ❤️
Serena smiled, before she placed her phone on the table beside the bed. The girl stood up and decided to change into her pyjamas.
-
The next morning
"Alright Mum, I'm gonna head off to school." Dawn said, before giving her Mum a hug. Johanna hugged the girl back tightly. "Is Serena sure she isn't going with you today?" Johanna asked, as Serena was fast asleep in the spare room.
"Yeah, I think she really needs today to settle in and get used to being here.. a lot has changed for her in the past two days." Dawn admitted as Johanna nodded, "Yeah honey, I do agree." She replied. "I think today if she feels up to it, it might be a good idea to talk about taking legal action against her Mum." The girl suggested. Johanna nodded, "I'll see how she feels."
Dawn walked over to the front door, "I'll see you tonight, love you!" She called before she left the house. "Love you too dear." Johanna called before her daughter was out of sight.
Dawn stopped when she noticed Gary was at the front of her house, walking up the stairs towards the front door, where she was standing. "Oak? Uh hi!" Dawn sweatdropped, wondering how he knew where she lived. "Uh- hey Berlitz. Good morning. I hope you don't mind I got your address from Ash." Gary replied, a little embarrassed. "It's a lovely morning and I was.. hoping to walk Serena to school." Gary admitted, causing Dawn to smile, "Aw that's so sweet!"
"Serena is staying home today though, she needs some time to adjust.. a lot has happened for her." Dawn sweatdropped, before looking down at her car keys. She then shoved them in her pocket, "It really is a nice morning, maybe you could walk me to school instead." She suggested, with a wink. Gary shrugged, "Why not, I'm sure you don't bite." Gary teased.
The pair started walking towards the school, chatting as they did. "You and Serena sure go way back, huh?" Dawn asked. "We really do.. we've been best friends since we were born basically.. our parents all got along and so we pretty much grew up together." Gary explained.
"When we were young kids.. we used to spend so much time playing together in my backyard.. my mum had this really cute garden and this cute cubby house we could play in." Gary said. "Aw, it sounds like you guys really spent a lot of time together." Dawn smiled. "We really did.. I remember one day we pretended to be the mum and dad of this toy doll she had.. we looked after it in the cubby house." The brunette began. "And then I asked her if that meant we were married, and she giggled and said 'maybe when we get older'." Gary chuckled, remembering the funny memory.
Dawn giggled, "Awww.. it sounds like you guys really are meant to be." She teased, causing Gary to sweatdrop. "I uh.. am joking.. obviously you.. love Misty." Dawn replied, realising she might have upset Gary. "Before I dated Misty, people seemed to suspect that Serena and I were together because we were really close friends." He admitted. "Truthfully.. I thought you guys were together." Dawn admitted, causing Gary to chuckle, "My point exactly.."
"Speaking of meant to be.. what's going on with you and Ash?" Gary asked, teasingly, causing Dawn to blush. "We're not dating." She squeaked, embarrassed now. "Aww, you two would be so perfect together.." Gary continued to tease the cheer captain. "He just got out of a relationship.." Dawn huffed. "Hm true, but you're not denying that you like him." The brunette grinned. Dawn felt her cheeks heat up, "I do like Ash.." She confessed, before realising they'd reached the school gates.
"But maybe don't tell him-" Dawn quickly blurted, realising out of all people she could tell, she just told Gary that she liked Ash. "Don't worry Berlitz, your secret is safe with me." Gary assured her, "I reckon he feels the same way." He grinned.
As they approached the entrance to the hallway, they noticed Misty standing near the door, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She shot the pair a glare, when she realised Dawn was with Gary. Dawn blinked in surprise, taken back by her unfriendly look, "I'll uh.. see you later Oak." She waved before she walked through the door to enter the hallway.
Gary sighed, seeing Misty was angry. "Morning babe." He greeted, walking over to his girlfriend. "Thanks for driving me to school today.." The girl said sarcastically, clearly angry at Gary. "I wanted to walk Serena to school..." Gary replied. "Then why were you walking with the cheer slut?" Misty asked. Gary glared, unhappy with her choice of words, "Dawn has become my friend.. and she's nice!" He admitted.
"Whatever.. why were you going to walk Serena to school instead of.. I don't know, maybe your girlfriend?!" Misty asked, furrowing her eyebrows in frustration. "Serena has had a really rough couple of days.. I want to be there for her as much as I can. She needs support right now, more than ever. Sorry I didn't take you to school, but I do every other morning so I'm sure you can forgive me this once." Gary explained, growing frustrated.
Misty stayed silent for a moment, finally speaking up bitterly, "I wouldn't be surprised if you were cheating on me with that.. that whore!" She stammered. Gary shook his head in disbelief, "She is not a whore! And you know I love you, Mist." He said, trying not to lose his cool. "Yeah.. whatever. Would be nice if you showed it." The orange haired girl rolled her eyes.
Gary had enough of this conversation, Misty was being quite unreasonable. "I'll see you later." He decided, before turning around and walking away. Misty just glared as she watched her boyfriend leave, but she also held back tears. The girl then stormed inside, angry he left her like that.
Gary was originally heading inside, but after that conversation, the boy definitely needed a cigarette. He couldn't believe what'd just happened, he was hoping Misty would apologise later.
-
"Morning guys!" Ash chimed, as he sat next to Calem and Brendan, Brendan with an arm around Calem. Shauna, May and Lillie sat next to the group, having their own conversation. "Morning Ash!" Calem and Brendan chimed.
"I didn't interrupt you guys, did I?" Ash asked, realising the pair were talking before he sat with them. "Oh no, Calem was telling me something brave that he plans on doing." Brendan smiled, causing Calem to smile, though the raven haired boy looked nervous.
"What is it, if you don't mind me asking?" Ash asked. "It's fine.. I'm going to come out to my parents." Calem confessed. "Oh.. wow! Calem that's awesome!" Ash admitted, surprised yet proud. "We're just discussing the best way to go about it with his parents.." Brendan admitted, as he didn't really know Calems parents and was suggesting scenarios. "Man I wish I had advice." Ash sweatdropped, thinking about the whole situation of "coming out". To him it sounded scary, and wasn't something he'd ever had to do.
His thoughts were interrupted as someone approached the trio. "Hey losers, have you guys seen Dawn?" The voice belonged to Ursula. Ash was taken back by her words and tone, but when he looked up at Ursula, he realised she looked like a mess.. the girl looked like she hadn't slept for days. For some reason, Ash felt a sting of guilt.
"I don't know if she's here yet." Calem admitted. "I haven't seen her." Brendan added. "This was helpful.." The girl groaned, sarcastically, before she turned around and walked off. "She looked.. terrible.." Calem said, quietly to the pair.
Ursula walked down the hallway, passing through crowds of people as she looked around for Dawn. Finally noticing her blue hair, that stood out amongst the rest, she walked over to the figure.
"Dawn." Ursula said, catching her attention as the girl turned away from her locker. "Oh, hi Ursula." Dawn replied, not sounding too cheerful as she wasn't looking forward to seeing the girl.
The bell rung, causing the hallways to suddenly clear. "I wanted to ask when the next cheer competition is." Ursula ordered. "Uh.. the next competition is.." Dawn looked at her phone, realising it was Thursday and the competition was tomorrow. "Tomorrow." She answered. "Awesome, what time are we leaving the school?" Ursula asked.
"Ursula you haven't been at training for two weeks, I don't think it's a good idea that you attend the competition." Dawn confessed, feeling like she should sit out of tomorrow and attend the next competition. Ursula shot a glare, before she shoved Dawn, into the lockers. "I will be attending the competition tomorrow.." She spoke coldly.
"Hey! Touch her one more time and you are going to regret it!" An angry voice spoke up, as Ursula turned around to see Iris and Hilda had approached her, Hilda being the one that spoke. Iris had her hand on her hip, and quite the glare on her face. Hilda had a glare at Ursula, like her girlfriend's, but instead she had her fists clenched.
Ursula just laughed, mockingly as she turned to Dawn before she turned back to Dawn's best friends that'd come to defend her. "I didn't realise Dawn had a protection squad of dykes to come to her rescue." She spat, causing Dawn, Hilda and Iris to grow angry by her comment.
"That's it!" Iris snapped, infuriated, as she clenched her fists. She took a step forward and did something that surprised the whole group, even herself. Iris punched Ursula in the face.