Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Out of My League by Stephen Speaks

Spectator

(*)

All the times I had sat and stared as she thoughtfully thumps through her hair. And she purses her lips, bats her eyes and she plays, with me sitting there slack-jawed with nothing to say.

(*)

He watches her.

Actually, he doesn't. She just so happens to be in his line of view. She just so happens to often be in his line of view.

Oh, who was he kidding? He watches her. And he knows he watches her.

Drew Hayden, known by practically everybody as the Heartthrob of Coordinating, watches May Maple, the Coordinating Princess of Hoenn. It is almost inevitable that he does, at least in his own honest opinion. The two young adults have their own unspoken truce to always travel to the same regions, and attend all the Contests in that said region, regardless of whether they were competing or not. The two coordinators are, more often than not, in the same areas – may it be a city, a town, or the occasional meeting at a cave in the same woods if it rained.

He doesn't watch her in that creepy stalker-ish way that sends people into court hearings. No, he wouldn't stalk somebody. He has his own life, and frankly, he wouldn't stoop as low as to stalk someone just for the heck of it. Besides, Drew has always been the one to set off to the next destination first. May has been known to linger a bit more in cities and various landscapes.

He doesn't watch her in that investigative and analytical way he used to. From when the two met almost a decade ago, Drew acted almost like a detective when it came to May. He studied her – from the way that she talked, to the way she stood, down to the way she moved, and why she did everything in a certain way. While he might agree that watching her in that way might sound creepy, he couldn't help it. He had to. After all, she was, and still is, one of his greatest competitions when it comes to contests.

Now, Drew doesn't watch May in an attempt to figure the brunette out. He just does it out of instinct, just for the hell of it. Or sometimes to pass time. May is like a movie he could watch over and over again while reciting the exact lines of each character, and simultaneously predicting what was going to happen next. He had her every move memorised, from what the brunette did to what of her movements was to follow.

Like now.

According to her body language – yes, Drew watched that body transform from a slightly chubby ten-year-old body to a gorgeous hour-glass figure many women envy – May is thinking. She's alone at the edge of the pier with her toes barely skimming the water, her back resting on the wooden deck, and her hands behind her head like a pillow. That's how she likes to think – alone. Contrary to popular opinion, even someone as extroverted as May also appreciates alone-time.

Drew doesn't make a move to bother her. If she were thinking about a Contest appeal, wherein she would be muttering to herself and a blank look would be present on her face, Drew would have interrupted her thoughts. He'd done that a few times before, just to make sure she doesn't get much of an upper hand during Contests. However, right now she isn't thinking of Contests. Drew knows that May is thinking about her friends. Her eyes are closed and her face is serene. Occasionally, a smile would grace her face. Drew also knows that if she was thinking of her family, she would have Munchlax and Skitty out – the two Pokemon who remind her most of home.

He doesn't just assume all that. Before, he had personally gone up to the girl with his hands in his pockets and ask what was on her mind. She'd respond with an, "Oh, nothing," and a small smile, but proceed to telling him what exactly she was thinking of.

He smiles to himself. He'd rather have her thinking about the people in her life than thinking about another lost Contest. Then again, the Slateport Contest hasn't exactly happened yet. It is in another week, and by the looks of it, May hasn't succumbed to stressed yet.

When May is stressed, Drew would know because she paces a lot in a funny little jazz-square-but-not-really pattern. Then again, pacing is normal for some people when they feel stressed. May, however, would also mutter stuff to herself and occasionally slap her face. It was amusing to watch, but Drew, with the help of a rose and a handful of advice, always helped the brunette to calm down… and not look too idiotic anymore.

Admittedly, Drew would rather deal with May's stress than her sadness. He would have gone over to her by the pier to console May if the girl's back was hunched over, if her head was down, and her hands were entwined on her lap. Her hair would be let down and it would be shadowing her (more likely than not) crying face. Thank Arceus it isn't the case that afternoon. Then again, if May was sad, she would only cry at nighttime so nobody can see her emote.

If she had a Pokemon out, May's problem would be about something else other than a Contest loss. Drew had inferred that May brought a Pokemon out so that she had another being to talk to. Incidents like that barely last long because Drew would come in the scene. She'd retrieve the Pokemon and talk to Drew instead. Then he'd pull out a rose to get her to smile again.

When May is bored, she'd have her legs crossed in one way or another, and just keep talking to the point where nobody would listen, or somebody would tell her to shut up. Drew always did either of the two, because it is always Drew who is patient enough to sit through that. Then again, he'd also be the one to avert her attention away from boredom and take her to battle. Or argue with her. Either one.

He knows when she's nervous too. She wouldn't talk as much and she'd be sitting, ignoring everything and anything. Her hands would twist and turn on her lap, or would twirl her hair. More often than not, her feet would be bouncing. That's when Drew would annoy her, hand her a rose, and she'd forget all about her nervousness.

It is best, however, when she is just carefree and nothing is on her mind. She'd have one or two of her Pokemon out, most likely the smallest of the bunch like her Skitty, and will just be aimlessly walking around. Her ever-present smile would light her face up and her sapphire eyes will be sparkling. The brunette would run through the park or splash at the shallow waters. She'd brush her hand over a flower or something, noticing its beauty. She'd appreciate all the small things most people seem to take for granted. That's when Drew comes in the picture to 'wreck her day.' In all honesty, he completes the day for the two of them.

The worst thing, he acknowledges, is when she's mad at him. While the two do always argue, it is very rare that May actually does get really angry at the grass-head. It has only happened twice, for different reasons. When the girl is angry at him, she won't talk, and she'll make that as obvious as a Donphan in human school. Or a Roselia with no flowers. He'd just smirk and pretend it doesn't bother him, when it actually does. His pride just stops him from admitting that. When he gets sick of the evident lack of communication, and he'd know she would be sick of it too, that's when he'd give her another of his infamous roses and they'd be the best of friends again.

From where he stands leaning on the railing of the pier a good distance away from May, Drew smiles. A guy almost the same age as him walks past towards the lying brunette, making Drew perk one of his eyebrows, but nothing else of significance. Instead, he just watches on.

The guy addresses May and she breaks from her little train of thought. She stands up and faces the guy. Daniel, the guy introduces himself. He offers her a hand and she shakes it politely like she does when meeting new people. From Drew's perspective, the guy seems friendly enough. May rolls her eyes and tucks some strands of hair behind her ear, before she crosses her arms over her chest, signalling that she's flirting.

Drew smirks and looks on with interest. This is not a normal thing for May, flirting with a guy. Sure, she does it time and again when a guy of interest talks to her, but she has never done it this openly. Those actions, Drew notes, are usually reserved for him.

Then Drew's smirk falters as he realises something. Those actions are reserved for him.

May blushes as Daniel compliments her. She'd more than likely deny whatever he said to her. "No, I'm not really that good," Drew hears May say, and he gives himself a mental pat on the back for being right. Again. Being right is always something worth celebrating.

A skin-on-skin impact slaps Drew back from his mental victory dance which he would never actually do in real life. He looks to the pair at the edge of the pier. He grins in an amused manner as May pushes Daniel off the pier and into the water below. Now that was something he didn't see every day. He had never known her to be that violent.

"That was a good hit," Drew calls out, even though he didn't actually see the slap (and that disappointed him). He just had to say something to make his presence known.

May turns around to see Drew. "How long have you been there?" she asks with a voice full of curiosity. Her eyebrow is arched and her hands are on her hip. It's her accusing stance.

"Long enough to know that the guy's called Daniel," Drew answers casually. "And that he was making a move on you, just in case you didn't know."

May's accusing face turns into one of anger and Drew laughs behind closed lips. He chose those words because he knew it would get her like this. "Then why didn't you come up and save me?" May whined. Yeah, Drew expected that too.

Drew shrugs. "I knew you could handle it yourself," he says and nods towards the waters once. "And I was right." Immediately, May's face turns into a smile.

She comes up to him in the innocent way only she can pull off with her hands laced behind her back and her head tilted to the side. "What have you been doing all this time?" May asks as she stands a foot or two away from Drew.

Drew smirks.

The honest answer: 'Watching you. Why?'

The good answer: 'Not much, just admiring the scenery here. How about you? You looked deep in thought so I didn't come over. Then the dude came over and I thought he'd be nice and talk to you. Apparently not. Do you want to talk about anything?'

His answer: "Do you really want a minute-by-minute list of what I've been doing?" Cue the hair-flick. "Or should I simplify it for you, June, and make it just an hour-by-hour one?"

And that's when May rolls her eyes playfully and takes one of his hands, before dragging Drew off to lunch.

He watches her and he knows it.

She is like a movie. Every step, every movement, every action for every emotion was the same. She is like a movie that had been memorised after watching it over and over again.

Actually, no. She is more of a book. One that could be read over and over, but each time the book is read, there's always something different. It may be a word that the reader never thought was present before, or another way of envisioning a scene.

Whatever. The point is: she is the star, he is the spectator.

Edited 1/2/2015