"Sounds like you've got guests," I said, taking a large gulp of my hot chocolate. If his guests were from Lumiose I was out of there. Ash hung out with the most popular people at school, and most of them were Annoying.

"I wasn't expecting any-," he started, standing up from his seat and pulling up his grey jeans, which were riding dangerously low then sits back down.

Mr. Cilan walked back into the parlor, closely tailed by two all too familiar faces. Gazing at them from head to toe.

One had a ginger short hair that had a ponytail on side near her ear. She was wearing a yellow short shirt that can be clearly seen her lean stomach with a belly button, a short blue jeans that stopped at her thighs attached by a red string around her shoulders. She also had green coloured trainer. For my opinion, she really needs fashion sense because she looks like a tomboy.

Standing next to her was a boy who kinda looked like Ash but different feature and taller. His hair was strand black shoulder length with a red cap covering and placed black sunglasses on it.

I don't know why he need those since the weather is raining outside.

He was wearing a blue long-sleeved jacket printed white lined from its shoulder to wrist. A grey tight jeans and black big sized boots that fitted him properly.

However, as I kept on staring at them. They weren't even wet one bit. Maybe they went in a car or maybe the rain has stopped. Now back to reality.

If my mouth hadn't been full, I would have groaned mentally. Misty waterflower and Calem Xavier.

Great.

"Mr. Xavier and Miss waterflower here to see you, sir," Mr Cilan said clearly with a bow.

First. Calem stepped forward from the door that was been closed as Mr.Cilan walks out the parlor leaving the four of us in. Calem hold up a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and full-bottle Smirnoff in the other, walking drunkly towards us.

"Yo, Ash! Wassup" he yelled, giving a grinning Ash a one armed hug. "Why weren't you at school today, man?"

"We missed you, Ash," Misty cooed by following behind and planted a kiss on Ash's cheek that I nearly gagged. "What happened?" She added.

"I had a headache," Ash said, stretching out. now that he was on his feet from sitting.

Calem laughed, patting his friend on his back since he's slightly taller than Ash.

"Only Ketchum can skip school coz he got a headache," he said, then turning in my direction to put the liquor on a table. His eyes fell on me and frowned. "Dude, what's going on?" he asked, staring from Ash to me. "Serena?"

"Hi, Calem," I said, giving him a nervous smile.

Let's get one thing in the open. I think Calem is all right. I also think he's a jerk. He can be nice, but not all the time, and rarely to me. I just hoped that he would at least try to be nice to me today, but it looked like he was halfway tipsy so I just hoped for the best and prepared for a flood.

Ash pointed at him, then at me in curious. "You two know each other?" he asked, while Misty slung her arms around both Calem and Ash's shoulders, looking down her nose at me. she was the same height as Calem.

"Yeah," Calem nodded. "She's um- she's in one of my classes. I thinks it's English, I guess. Also she's a pity friend because her friends feel sorry for her." He sneered at me. "Ain't that right, Serena?"

I bit my lip, trying not to meet anyone's eyes. So much for Calem being nice.

"No," I muttered, my voice coming out in a glower.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Bit far from the ghetto, ain't it?" Calem continued, his words landing hard against my ears. This was embarrassing and awkward.

"She bought me my homework," Ash mocked as I stared down at my brown laced boots, my hands rested on my Lap as a sad expression crawled up with throat getting heavy, wanting to breath in.

Misty snorted.

"What a loser," she said, disrespect. "Why do homework if you didn't go to school today?"

Ash laughed, the second time he'd laughed since I laid him out. "My point exactly," he agreed.

"Well, I guess if you're on Financial Aid, doing your homework is mandatory. You know, law stuff," Calem said, smirking down at me as he rubbed his hand over the designer stubble on his chin. "I mean, she pretty much has to, or it's back to public school."

"Where she belongs," Misty piped in and laughs.

Misty and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye since I hit her on the ankle with my hockey stick last year. Her ankle was sprained and she maintained that I had done it on purpose. What she doesn't know is that if I had done it on purpose, her ankle wouldn't have just been sprained. It would have been broken.

I looked up to catch Ash staring incredulously at me like he wanted to laugh. My stomach twisted. He was gonna go off on me too, I could feel it.

"Financial Aid?" he asked, looking at Calem, who nodded. "You mean our thirty four grand a year is paying for her education?"

"Yeah," Misty nodded self importantly. Placing her hands on hips. "And you know what else? She's taking up a spot that someone with money and class could be using." She sighed in disgust. "I wish they would stop trying to include poor people at lumiose. Doesn't elite stand for anything these days?"

I'd had enough of this. My anger was boiling to the limit. What these people were saying was hurting my feelings so badly that I could barely breathe.

"I got into lumiose on my own merit," I said breathlessly, trying to keep the wobble out of my voice. "I'm smart and hardworking."

As if that would sway them.

Ash grinned, sitting down in his recently vacated seat. I stood up. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore.

"Really?" he said, the same friendly grin on his face. "I heard that the principal makes Financial Aid students perform certain-favors for him." He smirked at me.

My heart thumped hard in my chest, beating in every second. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout. I want to cry.

"So since when is lying on your back or getting on your knees hard work?" He said, still with a smirk on his lip.

So that's the type of guy Ash was. Nice when he's alone with you, but complete bad as soon as his friends show. I got it.

Breathing hard through my mouth and let out the anger that was filled within me. I picked up my book bag that was rested on couch, even Ash's homework file and threw the file into Ash's surprised face, caught off guard. Papers flew everywhere around the room with some waving in the air as they descend, lying on ground without been touched.

"Here's your homework," I said coolly, trying not to show how upset I was and failing miserably. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'd better leave." I replied, saying my farewell and start walking to the exit.

"Thank God. You're lowering the value of the penthouse," Misty said, her loud and piercing voice cutting through me like a knife. What had I done to deserve this? What was the stigma of Financial Aid? It's because you're poor, Sere.

Soon, Misty turned to Calem, who was swigging down jack Daniels straight from the bottle as he sat down, resting on an armrest. "How'd they let her in, with those cheap boots?"

Calem spitted the liquor out from his mouth at the floor with laughter, making the floor wet. "She probably begged the employee. She's from Vanville, after all."

Ash chuckled as I stumbled out of the room. "I heard girls from there will do anything," he said.

My eyes were stinging with hot tears as I hurried across the gallery towards the heavy exit door.

Why had I stayed so long? Why I had I even come? I was dumb. I deserved that. No one deserves that. But the elite lumiose students thought I did. Was that what everyone thought of me? Just some poor girl from Vanville who was getting by using their tuition?

A tear squeezed out of my left eye and I brushed it away from my hand, feeling chilled. All my happy thoughts were gone. For a few minutes, I had thought I belonged, talking to an Ketchum. But that same Ketchum had showed me that I would never belong.

Even though I was at the best private school in the city, I was still a poor outsider and they would never let me forget that.

I pushed open the heavy door, using all my strength.

Soon, I heard running steps behind me, which I ignored it as I walked faster heading to the elevator ahead. The person stopping me was non other than Ash.

"Serena! Wait!"

He finally stops me by placing a warm hand on my free shoulder that stopped me in my tracks. I spun around in the hall, the elevator and my escape route in sight.

I faced him with tears running down both my eyes. My pink glistened lips were quivering as I spoke. "Why? So you can insult me again? Coz if I want some insulting, I'll just go home."

A puzzled look darted over Ash's face. "What?" he asked.

Praying that I wouldn't cry, I looked up in his face, my eyes flickering over on his nose, his thick, dark eyelashes and his soft looking lips.

"Listen. I'm poor, I wear handmade clothes and I will never be as rich as you, but when it comes to treating people with respect and dignity, I have you rich people whipped."

Ash bit his lip, his hand slipping down till it rested on my lower arm, making my heart do a back flip, even though I couldn't even feel his hand through my  waistcoat.

"Look, I just want to-," he started softly.

Calem stuck his head around the opened door, holding up a dollar. "Yo, Serena, I got a dollar. What are you gonna do?"

Ash turned his head slightly. "Get inside, man," he said impatiently. Like an obedient pet receiving an order from its master.

Calem retreated in parlor and the door slammed shut.

Ash turned back to me, an apologetic look in his auburn eyes. I blinked tears away. I didn't want to cry in front of him, but when people kept insulting me that I was a slut- it hurt me so bad like a physical pain. All I wanted to do was make it back home and cry on a bed.

"Look Serena-," he began.

I didn't want to hear what he had to say. Nothing he could say right now would reverse my current opinion of him. Yet he had been so nice before his friends showed up.

I shook his hand off. "Kindly let go of me. Your friends are waiting so that you can finish your discussion about how slutty I am."

And with that parting shot, I almost ran to the elevator where the door man stood, his face impassive as he pressed the buttons for me. I was glad, because if his face had any expression I would have cried.

I took one last look at ash to he had a sorry expression before the metal doors finally closed shut, descending me down to ground floor as overflowing tears run down from my eyes.