Chapter 10

Dawn fell back on her bed and let out a tired sigh. Her study date hadn't gone bad; except for one thing…it hadn't felt like a date. It was extremely awkward and the only thing they did was work on their study guides for their Pokémon History class. Even though they had come back to the dorm 2 hours ago, she could still see dates and names in her head if she closed her eyes.

"I hope this isn't what it means to date your best friend," she mumbled as Piplup climbed up on her bed to join her.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them once more and hugging Piplup. "What do you think, Piplup?"

The Penguin Pokémon looked at her confused.

"Would Ash and I make a good couple?"

Her partner Pokémon soon went on a rant about what seemed like a speech as to why she and Ash would make the best couple ever, with various acts as to how they act together now. Dawn giggled and hugged Piplup once more. "Thanks, Piplup," she said before she started to drift off to sleep…that is until her Pokégear starting beeping.

She reached for her Pokégear with eyes still closed. When she didn't find it the first five grabs, she opened her eyes and sat up. She looked at her bedside table only to realize it was still inside her school bag. With a groan, she got up and searched for the damned electronic. When she found it, she first blinked back from the bright light it emitted before turning the brightness down. She saw it was from an anonymous number and opened the picture message.

What she saw almost made her drop her Pokégear. Piplup jumped off the bed and onto Dawn's shoulder to see what had shocked his trainer so much.

"Pip!" he exclaimed almost falling off before pointing at it and rapidly speaking.

Dawn nodded in agreement to whatever it was that Piplup was saying. For Gary's sake, she really hoped the picture was a fake.

To say there was tension in the room was an understatement.

Julie kept shaking her leg as she looked between her Pokégear and Lucas when he was talking. It was either that or chew her perfect manicure off - and she was not going to start that bad habit up again.

They had been holding a meeting to her help her catch up with all the news and events that were occurring in their division, and as much as she liked getting back to the "normal life" she had set out on, an email from an anonymous person made her rethink her life choices.

It wasn't the fact that it had been an anonymous person sending her an email that made her worry (she got those all the time); it was the content it held.

She knew pictures of her time with Gary at the Unifying Fair would spread like wildfire, so as soon as he had dropped her off at home she basically begged him to talk to Leaf as soon as he got to the dorms. So when Leaf had arrived early that morning and avoided all eye contact with her, she knew he hadn't. At one point in the meeting, Gary had stood up and left the room saying he was going to the restroom and closed the door with more force than necessary.

The others in front of her weren't doing so well either. They avoided looking and talking to her at all cost possible. Dawn had made an effort to try to talk to her earlier on, but had been cut short by Lucas who said they had to all be on the same page if they were going to start planning for Professor Oak's new division get together event.

Julie couldn't take it anymore! She grabbed her Pokégear and started scrolling through her emails once more.

'Nothing new, damn,' she thought while glaring at the email that had made the Student Council Room a new battleground.

There were four pictures; they were simple and straight to the point. They weren't fakes, but they were taken out of context, that's for sure.

The first one had been when the two had arrived at the Unifying Fair, walking arm in arm into the building with him leaning down to whisper something in her ear and her with a smile on her face.

It looked as if had said something flirtatious or something of the sort, but in reality it had been when he had commented about the photographers and she had waved and smiled goodbye to the cameras.

The second one she hadn't expected anyone to have. It had been when they had "escaped" the Fair and had been on their way to his parked motorcycle. It was when she had let her hair loose and was carrying the box Chef Kurt had given her and was looking up at the sky while Gary looked at her with – what she guessed could be interpreted as – loving eyes.

The third one had been when she had managed to get on Gary's motorcycle and she had held on tightly to him, her face pressed against his back as he made the engine roar to life – and even though they were taken out of context, there wasn't anything that could be right with this particular one either, after all, it seemed as they had left the party early or they had decided to go somewhere after the party together. Alone.

But the one that put the icing on the cake had been the last one. It was when they danced earlier on the night. Yeah, there was nothing wrong with that…except for the tiny fact that it had caught the very and only moment when the two had been face to face! She didn't know how they managed to do it, but the picture had been taken at such a perfect angle and just at the right time to make it look as if Gary had leaned down and kissed her.

She sighed deeply. She had a feeling that childish moment of hers would come to bite her back, but she hadn't expected it in this way. It was also the reason why everyone had been on edge with her, or so she assumed, but she didn't blame them.

"If you aren't too busy looking at your newest message," she heard Lucas say through gritted teeth as she directed her eyes to him. "We need to find out what to do for this year's event."

Julie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. Instead she opened her messages once more and started typing in another message to her publicist.

"Just do a winter ball or something," she said dismissively as she pressed send.

"A ball?" he asked her almost sarcastically.

"Maybe not a ball, but a dance or something," she said closing her Pokégear and looking at him. "It's not that hard, my father does them all the time for charity events."

"Yes, but this is not a charity event," he said scowling at her.

She pursed her lips before a light ding made her open her Pokégear once more.

'Perfect,' she thought as she replied quickly.

"You're right, it's not a charity event," she said as she put her electronic down again. "But it's the best way to get people to mingle. And if you don't have the money for it, sell tickets and do raffles, people will buy anything if it's sold with the right words."

"You seem to have a lot of experience with this," he said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I do wear other people's clothes for a living," she said as another ding echoed through the rather silent room. She unlocked her Pokégear once more and a smile graced her features.

"Anything you want to share with the rest of us, Ms. Starlight?" asked Lucas rather annoyed at how unaffected she was by the tension that was in the room. "In case you haven't noticed, not all of us are in a happy-go mood, such as yours."

"I would Mr. Berlitz, but I'm sure you wouldn't care about what I said anyway," she replied with a smirk.

They all froze and stared at her wide eyed. No one had ever spoken like that to Lucas when he wasn't in a good mood, especially today when it looked like he was ready to murder anyone that crossed his path.

"Listen," he said taking a deep breath to calm down. "I don't know who it is you're talking to right now, but I'm sure they can wait."

'Well, that's a new one,' they all thought together. Never once had they seen him not snap at someone for talking back when he was on the verge of blowing a casket.

Another ding.

"Actually, they can't," she said as she opened the message and smiled. Not wanting to push his buttons any further, she continued as she started putting her stuff away in her bag. "You see, this is Prof. Oak I've been talking to – as well as my publicist," she said as she grabbed her bag and stood up. "And, well, a small scandal has started," they all stiffened at her words and they all looked at Leaf, Gary still wasn't back from the restroom. "An unnecessary one to say the least," she said walking to his desk and handing him a small folder.

He looked at her wearily before taking it from her hands. "Yes, I think we're all aware of that," he said placing the folder on his desk.

"Exactly, so you know how ridiculous it all is," she said shaking her head with a small smile as if amused by the situation. "But I'm afraid not everyone thinks it is, so my publicist is having me going to the local news to clear up this whole mess. Whether Gary decides to show up or not, it's not up to me," she said turning to look at Leaf who was avoiding looking at her in the eye. She turned back to face Lucas. "So I simply asked Prof. Oak for an excused day off – not that it would be a problem since it had been in our contract that I would attend this school by all means possible as long as it didn't interfere with my work."

His eyes hardened. "What about living a normal life?"

"I do want to have a normal life," she said not fazed by his question. "What I said has been true, I've never had any real friends. I wanted to go to school, I was told to help this school gain some publicity, I did and now I have to clear up an unwanted mess."

A small honk came from her Pokégear this time. "And that's my cue to go," she said sending back a quick reply. "Chris doesn't like waiting. See you tomorrow," she said as she walked out of the room.

The rest of the group stared at Lucas who stood frozen gaping at the space she had just vacated. He closed his mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out before he gave up and sat down in his chair. He blinked a couple of times before he picked up the small folder she had handed him and opened it.

Inside were prices of food, venues, decorations, and so much more. As well as pictures of the different venues and themes that had been organized by what seemed like a professional. The last couple of pages had detailed descriptions of each theme and the reason for their venue and decorations. Just as he was about to organize the file and share it with the others, he noticed in small print the date and time of when he assumed the papers had been printed. His eyes grew twice the size if possible.

Dawn looked at the others with worry. Lucas had been sitting there with wide eyes and soon he started shuffling through the folder Julie had given him like a mad man.

"E-everything okay there, Lucas?" asked Dawn as she stood up to approach him.

"What the hell is that girl thinking?" he murmured before getting up and startling his sister.

"L-Lucas?" she asked as they watched him cross the room and head towards the door.

The door opened and Gary's face showed up. The grim expression that he had when he had gone to the restroom was gone and replaced with a less morbid one. "Hey, I need to – whoa," he said as he moved out of the way and saw Lucas run towards the main entrance. "What's his rush?"

"How should I know?" asked Dawn before she looked back for a second. "I'm going to go check on him," she said only to get similar responses from the rest.

Lucas had managed to find Julie somehow. How? He didn't know, but he had. He had made it to the main entrance when he saw her standing in the middle of the courtyard.

"Hey!" he called out to her.

She didn't move.

"Hey, Julie!" he said when he reached her.

She wasn't paying attention to him, only focusing on something behind the iron gates.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked trying to get her attention.

"What's he doing here?" she asked as alarm started to seep into her eyes.

He followed her line of vision and saw a young man of normal stature with blond hair and brown eyes. He was wearing dark, ripped jeans, a tight white shirt and what seemed like a leather jacket. People stopped and gaped at him, mostly because of the way he was dressed, the other because he was leaning on what they had all come to recognize as Julie's black limousine.

She turned to him and with pleading eyes she said, "Get me out of here, please."

He was taken aback. After the stunt she had just pulled, he had expected her to walk to her car, get in and have the young man fall flat on his butt.

"W-what?"

She was about to repeat herself but was stopped by a pair of voices behind them.

"Lucas, what gives?"

"Is everything all right?"

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

The last one caught her off guard and in an instant, her lips had turned dry. A ghost? Yeah, it was definitely a ghost from her past that she couldn't him shake off.

"You okay, Julie?" asked Gary who had made the last comment. "You're shaking," he said instantly moving his hands up and down her arms. "Are you cold?"

She opened her mouth but words wouldn't come out.

"Well if it isn't Gary Oak," said a new voice. "I haven't seen you since last night."

Julie closed her eyes as if by doing so she would wake up from this nightmare, but when she opened them, she was still there.

"Sorry, but do I know you?" he asked defensively as he stood in between the newcomer and Julie.

"What? Didn't you talk about me, my beloved Julie?"

By now everyone could see the terror reflected in her eyes and stared at the new person with mixed emotions.

She gulped down the little saliva she could and turned to the newcomer. "What do you want, Robert?"

"What? No 'hi,' no 'I missed you,' or 'I'm sorry'?" he asked with a small smirk.

Her eyes turned to stone in an instant. "Not. At. All," she said through gritted teeth. "Here to make another paparazzi appearance?" she crossed her arms.

"Aw, come on," he said putting his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. "Is that anyway to talk to your fiancé?"

All eyes were now on her.

"Ex-fiancé," she corrected him. "Last I remember, I made myself pretty clear on that part the last time you showed your face in my house."

"Yes, well, according to your father, our engagement is still on, although I see that has not stopped you from finding a new toy."

"Excuse me!"

This time, it was Leaf who spoke up.

"Who do you think you are talking about my boyfriend that way?"

"Oh, so the famous Juliette Starlight is messing around with a taken man, hypocrite much?"

In an instant, Robert was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and met face to face with an angered Gary Oak.

"Watch your tongue, kid."

Robert didn't seem fazed by the sudden proximity, almost as if he had been expecting it from the very beginning.

"Gary, stop," said Julie putting her hand on his arm. "This is just what he wants."

Gary glared at the blond once more before he let him go with a slight push that made him fall on the ground. By the now, most of the students started watching the group with intense gazes.

Robert chuckled as he stood up once more. "Wow, seems as if she has you wrapped around her-"

SLAP!

He held onto his face with one hand shocked, before he glared at Julie.

"You can do all you want to me," she said while glaring at him. "But don't you dare get him involved into your stupid game."

He paused for a minute before he let go of his cheek. "And just who do you think you are to hit me?"

"Someone who has been holding out for a while," she replied with a confident smile before she walked passed him as if nothing had happened.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he called out to her. "We're not done here!"

"Well, I am!" she said not turning back as she continued her way to her car. Chris opened the door for her and before she stepped in she turned around to the group and yelled out with a smile. "I believe trespassing is punishable by the Student Council, is it not, Mr. President?" and with that she climbed into her car.

Robert turned back to Gary expecting him to say something, only to be surprised when Lucas spoke with a gentle smile.

"I believe you're right, Ms. Secretary," he said before he opened his eyes and a sadistic look crossed his features.

Robert gulped back the saliva that had started to gather, he should have just waited outside to talk to her.