Ash POV

I should have known it was too good to be true. You know that saying 'the good things never last'? I guess that would sum up the gala night perfectly.

And it started so well, too. My date showed up looking like she had just stepped out of a high fashion magazine and took my breath away in a flash, she looked that amazing. And Miette's reaction... priceless.

Let me just clarify one issue. I'm not usually a vindictive guy. In fact, people who know me will tell you that I never make fun of anyone's misfortunes and I totally don't laugh when someone falls. Well, not to their faces, anyway.

That being said, I just couldn't help feeling a certain amount of malicious pleasure at the look on Miette's face as I proudly led Sere to our table. Trust me; I've never seen so many emotions fight for dominance on one person's face. Anger, amazement and straight up jealousy flickered over Miette's heavily made-up face as she stared at us from her table afar. Her words from earlier echoed in my head- 'speaking of hot messes, what the hell is she gonna wear?' and I laughed to myself.

Eat your words, Miette.

At this moment in time, I was positive that Sere looked prettier than any female in the room. Probably even the entire hotel, but maybe that was just my hormones talking.

Miette wasn't the only person eyeballing Sere from her table. Her sleazy stepdad was giving my date a slow, lascivious head to toe look, probably trying to undress her with his eyes. Meanwhile, Miette's mother was giving her husband the evil eye. I shook my head, biting back a grin. What a ****** up family.

Unfortunately, I had a lot to learn about just how ****** up a family could get, or as I should say one family member in particular. And yeah, I'm talking about my own father.

Everything was going so well when Sere and I got to our table. Leaf bounced up and down in her seat with a surprised expression, clapping her small hands at the sight of Sere.

"Serena! You're here! And you're wearing pink!" She exclaimed and squealed like a innocent child.

"Hi, Leaf!" Sere also looked very happy to see Leaf as she patted her on the shoulder. "You look so pretty and grown up in your dress."

Difference between the way Sere complimented Leaf and the way Miette did it- sincerity. Miette's gushiness when dealing with lil'Leaf was about as believable as Gordon Ramsey insults. And Sere- all you had to do was look at her smile to know that she meant every word she was saying.

I pulled out a chair for Sere next to mine like a gentleman, placing my hand on her back to steady her. She flinched at the sudden contact and gave me a wide eyed glance, just like I knew she would.

Smiling sheepishly at her, I whispered, "Sorry," without feeling sorry at all. Was it a crime that I liked touching her, even though I wasn't a touchy feely guy? It wasn't my fault that her skin was so soft. Damn, I wonder what's it like nailing her?... Forget what I just said.

Leaf shot Sere a wide smile as she sat down in her seat. "Thank you!" She turned to Hope, who was looking curiously at Sere as she arranged her dress over her legs. "See, mommy? I told you I wouldn't be the only one here wearing pink!" Leaf said.

I grinned wryly. "Obviously Leaf has an ulterior motive for being so happy to see you," I joked, sitting down comfortably next to Sere.

Hope nodded indulgently, smoothing back Leaf's brown hair. "I see, Leaf." She turned her attention to Sere, extending her hand across the table. "Hi, I'm Hope, Ash's stepmom."

Accepted. Sere shook Hope's hand. "Nice to meet you, Hope, I'm Serena," she introduced herself.

"I've heard lots about you, Serena, mostly from Leaf," Hope continued, sliding her eyes at my lil sis.

Leaf, who had been gazing at Sere for a whole minute with an adoring look on her face, leaned closer to her. "Don't worry; I said nice things about you."

"Of course you did, you sweetie," Sere replied, making a playful face at Leaf.

Not wanting to be left out of the loop, I lightly nudged Sere. "I said nice things about you too," I told her, winking cheekily.

Wrong thing to say.

"He said he was excited you're his date and he'll kiss you," Leaf said in hushed tones, her eyes sparkling with glee. Damn, Out of the mouths of babes...

Sere quickly glanced at me, her sapphire eyes wide with surprise and I quickly corrected Leaf, feeling my cheeks flush. Although, there was a red blush on her cheeks too.

"Your hand. I told her I'll kiss your hand when we dance," I explained in rush, feeling slightly embarrassed and even worse, hot and bothered.

"Oh," Sere said, looking relieved. Unfortunately, Leaf was on a roll.

"I told him to. Like Prince Charming in Cinderella." She leaned closer still to Sere to 'whisper' in her ear. But you know how kid's whispers are the loudest things out there, so I heard every word. "Do you wanna know what I heard Miette tell Misty?"

Little eavesdropper. I wondered what Leaf could have possibly overheard those two talking about, and where. I didn't have too long to find out.

Looking suitably interested, Sere asked, "What?"

"He's a good kisser!" Leaf shot me a proud look as I groaned mentally, putting my head in my bare hands. Why were siblings so inappropriate?

"Really?" Sere said with a laugh in her voice which I find it blissful, but Leaf- she wasn't done.

"How can she tell he's a good kisser?" she asked curiously, looking up at Sere.

Before Sere could answer and I had a strong feeling she was about to. I put a hand over Leaf's mouth, effectively silencing the beast. "Enough, little sis."

While Leaf struggled to get my hand off her mouth so she could embarrass me even more? I didn't think so. Hope apparently agreed with me that enough was enough. "I'm sure Serena's not interested in all that," she said dismissively. "That's a gorgeous dress, by the way. You look very pretty in it."

Sere beamed at Hope, her face lighting up. "Thank you, Hope."

"So I take it you're helping Ash with his list?" Hope asked.

Sere nodded. "I'm trying to," she said, shrugging.

Obviously, she didn't realize how much it meant to me that she was willing to drop whatever she was doing just because I asked. Like today, she could have been at Aria's fashion show to cheer on May, but instead she was here with me. And how did that make me feel? Pretty special.

Hope smiled at me, a look I couldn't read in her eyes. "Judging from the way Ash's been acting lately, you're doing more than just trying. I'd say you being around him is a very good thing."

Oh, Arceus, not another feel good speech from Hope! Even though Sere being around me was a good thing, did Hope have to say it before I could?

Still, it was worth having Hope embarrass me to see the pleased as punch look on Sere's face. I just loved it when she smiled. "Thanks, Hope."

"Yeah, Hope, thanks for embarrassing me in front of my date," I said playfully by yawning out as I sling my arm over the back of Sere's chair who didn't even noticed it. Result.

"I'm just stating the truth," Hope went on relentlessly. "It's been so long since I heard Ash whistle, but all of a sudden I hear him singing in the shower." She gave Sere a deeply meaningful look. "Whatever you're doing, don't stop." Sere looked bemused but happy as Hope continued. "He needs a friend like you now more than ever."

Way to talk about me like I wasn't even there.

Sere smiled at me, her eyes shining, making my heart skip a beat and I didn't know why.

Yes, you do.

"Then I'll be the best friend I can be," she said softly, a shy smile curving up her pretty thin lips.

I smiled back at her as a waiter came by our table with a menu, giving Sere the chance to change the subject. I was kinda glad. Hope meant well, but she could be pretty intense. At least Leaf had decided to shut up and was playing on her iPod for the time being.

Running a hand through her silky honey blond hair, Sere twisted in her seat to look around the ballroom.

"Is your dad here?" she asked me curiously.

I nodded, jerking my head in the direction of the bar. "Yeah, he's probably at the bar, knocking back shots," I replied, leaning back against my chair, resting my back.

Hope gave me a look. "Ash," she said disapprovingly, bringing her tweezed eyebrows together. Jeeze, a guy can't speak the truth anymore?

Deciding that getting into an argument with Hope on dad's precise location wasn't worth it, I backtracked.

"Okay, my dad's probably not at the bar, knocking back shots." Sere looked confused. Who would blame her? I was confusing myself! "There's my dad."

I pointed at the bar on the right side of Sere behind her, where dad and company were indeed knocking back shots. Don't act like I never told you.

Flustered, Hope quickly defended her husband. "He's just joining his friends in a pre-dinner drink," she said, laughing shrill as she tried to convince Sere that dad wasn't well on his way to becoming an alcoholic.

We all fell silent as we watched dad take a final sip of whatever he was drinking. Stood up from his seat and walk to our table. Crap. I felt dread rising in my stomach as he strode purposefully towards our table, beaming for once at the sight of Sere. If there was one thing that Giovanni Ketchum loved more than money and booze, it was a beautiful woman. And, well - Sere was a beautiful woman.

"Well, well, well, you must be my son's date," he rumbled, staring at Sere in stark admiration as she started to get to her feet as a sign of respect. Dad waved her back into her seat. "Don't get up on my account."

"Dad, this is Serena Yvonne," I spoke up, feeling that a formal introduction was in order. "Sere, this is my dad, Giovanni Ketchum."

Sere smiled with confidence at dad and was awarded with a 4 million kilowatt grin in return. "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you," she said as her foot tapped nervously on the hard floor.

"My, and you've got manners, too!" Dad roared with laughter at something that really wasn't funny and I nearly rolled my eyes. He wasn't drunk yet, but he was close. Which was a sign of bad things to come. Because when dad was drunk, or even slightly tipsy, his mental filter was non-existent. "Where'd my screw-up of a son find you? I'm impressed."

He rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward to presumably hear Sere's answer better. Or maybe to look down the front of her dress, I'm not too sure.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I muttered sarcastically while Sere smiled uncertainly, obviously unsure of what to make of the new situation she was in.

"Where'd you two meet?" dad asked Sere only. Why not me!

"We go to school together," she replied.

Dad nodded. "About time Lumiose had some ethnic diversity, huh? Especially since all the Legacy students are good for is getting high, drunk and sexed up in the school bathrooms."

He shot a triumphant look at me as I pretended to stare at my bare hands. There he goes, always trying to get a shot in at me. I rolled my eyes and said nothing.

The waiter arrived and started taking our orders as dad shot questions at poor Sere. I squirmed in anticipation of what was to come. As soon as he found out that Sere wasn't who he evidently thought she was... I was dead.

"So you're a Yvonne?" was his first question.

Sere nodded brightly. "Yes, sir."

Tapping his temple, dad respond "I know a Sawyer Yvonne from Alolan Island. The media mogul. Related to you?" What a names-dropper.

Shaking her head for answer, Sere said, "No, sir. But I've heard of him."

"Of course you have," dad said wisely, as though everyone had heard of this Sawyer Yvonne. I sure he hadn't, not that my opinion counted. He snapped his fingers, making Leaf jump. "Okay, I've got it. Xavier Yvonne, the Kalosian actress. You're related to him!"

Biting her glossed lip, Sere shook her head again. "Uh, no, sir. I'm pretty sure I'm not related to him."

Dad scrutinized her and went off on another tangent. "Where do you live? Park, Madison?" he barked at her with some spit coming out from his mouth, sounding like a deranged drill sergeant.

"I live in Vanville."

Ever the trooper, dad strove to salvage something from their conversation, which was steadily going downhill. "Upper Vanville? With the yuppies?"

"Um, no. I live in the projects," Sere replied hesitantly.

Dad drummed his fingers on the table, digesting this. Finally, he looked up at Sere, and to my surprise, he was smiling. "You're joking, right?" he asked, almost pleading.

I snapped a bread stick in half, wishing I could hit dad over the head with it. He would deserve it. What the hell was wrong with him? I'm I seeing a high dad.

Sere glanced at me out of the corner of her eye then looked back at my dad again. "Uh, no, sir. I really do live in the projects."

Sere said this with a touch of pride that I respected. Even though she lived in the hood, it was home to her and nobody could take that away from her. Not even my dad, even though it was clear he wanted to try.

"Dad, just leave it alone," I groaned, glaring right at him.

But a knowing smile spread across the man's face as he stabbed a finger in Sere's direction. "I get it! It's part of a humanitarian outreach program, right?" he exclaimed, sounding pleased with himself for figuring out the puzzle. Identical expressions of confusion flickered over Hope and Sere's faces as dad nodded in satisfaction. "You give up your cushy existence in some Park Avenue penthouse to see how the other half lives, right?"

My bread stick was now little more than crumbs in my napkin as I listened to the ridiculous conversation.

Sere sounded baffled. "What do you mean?"

"You and your family trade places with a poor family to spend some time in their shoes while they live in yours, right? Kind of like 'Trading Spouses', only this time you're trading houses and neighbourhoods."

I didn't know what was weirder, the fact that dad actually watched Trading Spouses or the fact that he was trying this hard to convince himself that Sere didn't come from money.

What the hell was his problem? A lot.

Shaking her head, Sere looked at me, totally confused. "I'm from a poor family, Mr. Ketchum," she truthfully  said slowly. "I've lived in the hood all my life."

Dad's mouth made a little 'o' of surprise, which might have been funny under different circumstances, but was not funny right now.

I braced myself, ignoring Sere completely as he quickly turned to me.

I guess it's D-day for me.