Ash POV

If someone had told me that by the end of this eventful day I would a) succeed in knocking two things off my list, b) smear the Ketchum name and c) get into a fight, I would have laughed in their face.

However, all those three things actually did happen, and I have Calem to blame. Of course, I say blame because how crazy would I be if I thanked the guy responsible for getting me expelled? But a huge pat on the back was definitely in order for Calem because when it came down to it, he was also indirectly responsible for the best part of my day.

Speaking of which, my day started off, like all my days do recently, with a lecture from my dad. A 'why didn't you show up to therapy' lecture, to be exact.

He was lying in wait for me when I ambled into the kitchen that morning, trying my best to ignore the throbbing in my head that had kept me awake most of the night. My mouth was dry and the bright light hurt my eyes, but all I could think of was what I could pull today to put a genuine smile on Sere's face. Hey, it was better than thinking of why even Dawn's migraine medicine, undoubtedly the strongest headache medication I'd ever tried, had stopped working for me.

"I'm getting sick of your ****, kid," dad started without warning.

I almost jumped, bumping my hip into the kitchen table as I jerked around in the direction of his voice. How the hell did he get here so fast? Just a few seconds ago I swear I heard him bellowing on his phone in the parlor. Yet somehow, he was leaning against the stainless steel fridge, his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on his glared face. Classic 'time to give Ash a hard time' stance. What did I do now?

Oh, right, I missed therapy. Damn big mouthed therapist couldn't let me skip one session without blabbing to dad...

"Uh...," I said warily, grabbing a fresh round apple from the fruit basket on the table and preparing to make a speedy exit if things got ugly. It was obvious that things were going to get ugly, since recently I couldn't deal with dad and have **** stay civil, but I figured if he flipped on me, I could probably throw the apple at him and run. Or something.

"Do you pull like this on purpose just to piss me off or are you naturally this ****ed up?" I bit my lip as he took a step closer, his eyes narrowed. "I just finished talking to the Doctor, and what do you think he said?"

Great. He was playing 21 questions now.

I spread my arms, deciding to explain myself or die trying. "Dad, I swear I have a legitimate reason for missing therapy yesterday."

Chuckling sarcastically, dad shrugged. "Do tell. One thing you actually know how to do is lie."

My fists clenched involuntarily, such was the effort it took not to fling the apple at his annoyingly smirking face.

"Okay, yesterday I was faced with a dilemma. Go to therapy or go comfort a friend of mine who got- hurt." I almost sighed as I saw the look of total disinterest on dad's face. He didn't give a **** about why I missed therapy. All he wanted to do was shout at me and start his day off right. Still, I persevered till the end. After all, I didn't have a thing to lose. "What do you think I did?"

Sneering, dad shrugged. "Tell you the truth, I don't give a **** what you did about your 'dilemma'," he replied, making air quotes with his fingers. "All I know is, once again, your therapist is billing me exorbitant fees for your cancelled sessions and I've had it!"

"Why don't you just cancel the Doctor appointments and see all the money pile up?" I asked wearily. All he cared about was his money. Didn't he know that he couldn't take it with him when he dies? "He doesn't even do anything to help me! All he does is text and play clash of clans for an hour. Your money goes down the drain whether or not I show up at therapy."

Dad growled in anger, "Why don't you shut up with the smartass comments and pay attention?" He retorted out loud making his deep voice echo through out the room causing both my ears to hurt a little.

And so I did, letting his infuriated roar wash over me as I zoned out, trying to pretend that I was somewhere else.

That is, until a loud, piercing, "No, daddy!" cut into dad's lecture.

He stopped short in the middle of a sentence, a baffled expression on his face as he stared down at his feet, where a defiant Leaf stood. Her chubby arms were crossed and a mad look was on her sleepy face. Evidently dad's loudness was what had woken her up, as she was still in her PJ's.

"Leaf, not now," dad said, a touch of exasperation in his voice. Obviously pissed off because Leaf interrupted his stupid sermon. "I'm talking to Ash."

"No!" Leaf shook her head, her straight dark brown hair flying out behind her. She wrapped her arms around my legs as I tried to keep my balance steady and turned her face towards dad. "You're gonna yell at him again!"

I fought hard to keep a smile off of my face at the outraged tone in Leaf's voice.

"Well-," dad started, throwing me a look that screamed 'help me!'

I shrugged mutely, a vindictive feeling surging through my body. Maybe if he'd spent more time with her, like he called me out on not doing, he'd know how to defuse the Leaf bomb.

Crouching till he was on her level, dad put his reasonable voice on while I snickered quietly behind my hand. Just the image of a grown man in a suit kneeling to bargain with a six year old was ridiculous to me. Oh, if only his business partners and whisky drinking buddies could see him now.

"Leaf, Ash and I are having a man to man talk," dad said, trying to sound sensible, but he failed.

"No! You're gonna yell at him! I don't want you to yell at Ash, he's sick!" Leaf hugged my knees tighter. "His head hurts and I hear him being sick in the bathroom every night! please don't yell at him."

She gave him a beseeching look, as I stared wide eyed at her. How the hell did she know that I threw up almost every night because of my headaches? Wasn't running water supposed to stifle the sound?

It was almost funny to watch dad subsiding, throwing me a look I must have misread as concern. I had to have misread it, because dad hasn't cared about me for years. Nobody, not Sere, not Hope, not even the Doctor, knew about the almost nightly vomiting episodes, and with good reason- I didn't want anyone finding out. It couldn't be a good sign, but now Leaf had, for better or worse, exposed my secret. And judging from the look on dad's face, this wasn't the last I would be hearing of this.

"Take some Tylenol. I'll book an appointment with Doctor Brock tomorrow," he growled at me, giving one last glance and stalked out, leaving Leaf and I all alone in the kitchen.

Blinking sleepily up at me, Leaf asked, "Ash, will medicine really make your head better?" She questioned softly.

"I sure hope so," I sighed, picking Leaf up and cradling her in my arms. She rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes shut, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carried her to her room.

"Me too," she murmured.

Leaf singlehandedly saved my morning, but my next argument of the day wasn't so easily settled. The sad thing is, it shouldn't have gone down that way at all.

-----

I was at my locker about an hour before school was out, picking up my hoodie, when all of a sudden an elbow hit me hard in the back making me let out a painful grunt. My shoulder hit the steel locker which shot me a stinging sensation and I whirled around to see who the hell the blind ass was. I mean, the hallway was empty!

I looked up and soon my eyebrows narrowed as I finally knew who it was. Calem stood right in front of me, the sneer on his face reminding me eerily of my dad. There was definitely gonna be trouble and I groaned silently. What else could happen?

"What the hell's with you sticking to May and Serena?" he asked heatedly, puffing out his chest.

I rubbed my forehead with the heel of my palm. Three Tylenol later and no change. And now Calem was obviously trying to start something. Why couldn't people just leave me alone till I had my operation, then start with the drama?

Feeling slow, I gave Calem an even look and said, "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you went to her house last night," Calem spat. Oh, right. Understanding dawned as I remembered visiting Sere. It was such a small deal that I had pushed it to the back of my mind, but apparently it was a huge issue to Calem. He looked really pissed.

"What's your problem?" I asked curiously.

Shifting from one foot to another, Calem looked vaguely uncomfortable with the implications I was making, but that didn't stop him from going off on me in a major way.

"My problem is your spending way too much time with her than us. I mean, she's just a loser like her friends. Oh. And also, should you be in a relationship with Miette. Huh," he said, shaking his finger in my face while I stood my ground. I wasn't even scared of Calem at all.

And now he was threatening me.

I spread my hands. "Look, Calem, me and Miette have broken up yesterday. I don't have ****ty feeling for her anyways. And I was looking out for Sere," I explained evenly. "That's why I went to her home."

"Well She's none of your concern! Not you, not anyone."

Raising my eyebrows in disbelief, I said, "Would you really have preferred it if I'd left out in Vanville?"

Calem's eyes narrowed suspiciously and I sighed. Why was I even bothering myself with arguing with this jerk during my study period when I could be sleeping peacefully in the library?

"What were you doing in Vanville?"

I shook my head, slamming my locker shut. "Drop it. I won't bug anymore, okay? I won't even ****ing talk to her, if that's what you want. Now-." I said but was interrupted from continuing on my sentence.

"Oh right. Now I get it. You went to visit your *****, didn't you?" Calem asked sharply, his lips twisting in an evil smile.

I stared at him, my pulse speeding up from listening to Calem talk about Sere like that.

"Don't call her that," I glowered quietly, my blood boiling and a vein popped on my forehead. If he dared say that word one more time. Then I had it.

Calem sneered like he was having fun at this heated conversation were having right now. "I can call her whatever I want," he said in a sing-song voice that made me want to throw him. "You can go visit your little friend whenever you want, but leave her out of it."

I stared incredulously at him. "Calem, May, Dawn and Sere have been friends for years! What the hell do you have against Sere?" I questioned.

Blustering, Calem said, "What the hell are you talking about? I don't even give a **** about that girl."

"Dude. All this time you talk **** about Sere it's because you like her, isn't it?" I asked as realization hit me. Playground tactics. Of course.

"Shut up." Calem exclaimed. Clenching his bare fists but I ignored that.

"But you're scared to admit it because you've been a dick to her for years and you think she'll diss you." Now it was my turn to smirk widely in Calem 's face and I did, reveling in the uncomfortable look on his face. "I got news for you, man. She probably will diss you."

Glowering at me, Calem said, "Why the hell would I want that project trash *****?"

My expression changed fast into rage as I glowered back. "Don't call her that," I snapped. "You're trashier than she'll ever be, and you know it."

Calem was trying and succeeding in getting me riled up. I knew what was happening, he was trying to get me to snap, but I couldn't stop myself from getting angrier.

"You think your precious 'Sere' is so perfect, don't you?" he said tauntingly.

I shrugged as in response, sticking my hands in my pockets. "I never said she was perfect," I replied, but a thought about her made my head spin around. 'she is way too perfect for anyone' I thought in my head without speaking out and continued on the conversation. "I just don't see why you hate on her so much. You make a move on her and she dissed you or something? Is that why you're so bitter towards her?" I said in my normal tone voice, but clearly in my rage mood that was snapping inside me.

"I could have her in a millisecond and you know it," Calem suddenly said smoothly and confidently. "She's been feeling me for years, even before you started talking to her."

Biting my lip, I recalled the conversation I had overheard between her, Dawn and May, talking about the cliché's they liked. Was Calem right? Did Sere really have a crush on this guy? Despite myself, a stab of jealousy went through me and I swallowed hard as Calem grinned smugly at me.

"You're too good for her," I said stubbornly.

Calem threw back his head and laughed loudly. "All Serena can ever be is trash, not fit to do anything but become poor and dime girl as soon as she's out of high school. If she even graduates, that is. But, how the hell is that gutter skank too ****ing good for me?"

"Calem, I'm warning you!" My fingerless hands were clenched as tight as I can into a balled fists and I'm sorry to say, I was itching to punch Calem right in the nose. But I tried to keep my cool, because the last thing I needed was to lose my temper and screw up by fighting on school grounds again. Yet every negative word Calem said about Sere made my blood boil. He knew nothing about her. What gave him the right to judge her like that?

Calem snorted. "Oh, I'm sorry, all this not tying in with your image of Serena Yvonne?" His voice hardened as he continued and I willed myself to remain calm. Think of the aneurysm. Don't say or do anything you'll regret. But I could feel it was already too late. I was in way too deep. "Listen. You're wasting your time thinking you can fix her. Just **** her then ditch her, that's it. She has to get used to it sometime."

I couldn't believe my ears. Who did Calem think he was, talking about Sere like she was a broken girl off the street? And he thought that I was just gonna use her and it would be perfectly normal? Was that what everyone thought of my friendship with Sere? That I just wanted to get into her pants?

I pushed my thoughts away and retorted back. "What the hell are you talking about. you're going around talking behind her back like a *****. Grow the **** up."

"You're just mad because she's a ***** herself," Calem replied snidely. "I know you want a piece of that booty; I see how you look at her. Just toss her a couple bucks to her broke ass family. They can have a full meal and she'll do whatever you want."

"Calem, just shut the hell up, alright? Shut up!" I raged up to my highest boiling point.

I took a step forward, shoving him with some my strength away from me. Blood rushed to my ears and my heart beat quickened. Calem chuckled tauntingly, making me even madder.

God, if I drove a bus, I would run him over.

"You think I'm kidding? Huh, Remember when she helped me with my Socials project?" He wiggled his eyebrows, smirking widely at me and I knew his comment will be the last he ever said to me. "You should have seen her, touching on me, rubbing on my pants- the dirty hoe wanted me so bad I could smell it and-."

Before he could finish his sentence. I punched him so hard by swinging my right arm as fast as I can, my knuckles connecting with his face. Calem staggered back, a stunned expression on his face as he stared at me.

"What the hell, Ketchum?"

Throwing down my hoodie, I advanced upon him, pushing him. "What the hell do you think? I warned you not to talk about Sere!" I threw another hard punch connecting on his face, ignoring the voice in my head yelling 'stop!' as Calem swayed on his feet.

He swung blindly at me and I ducked, almost dancing around him. It pains me to admit that the violence felt good. Taking out all my pent up anger, aggression and pain on Calem was definitely a plus. I mean, come on- he totally deserved it!

"You wanna go, buddy? Huh? Or are you all for talk?" I taunted him, pushing him back again. Without warning, he swung again as his closed fist hitting my cheek. A bolt of pain surged through my jaw and it took all the willpower I had not to reach up and touch my cheek. Crap, it hurts.

Calem managed to croak out, "You're whipped by that. dude-," just before I slammed my fist into his nose that made a little crack sound. He blinked dazedly, touching his nose immediately and wincing as he felt the blood drip down his face. "**** you, Ash."

I stared after him as he took off down the hall. So he was running from a fight that he pretty much encouraged? Didn't his dad ever tell him to go down swinging? Mine sure didn't, but I knew that anyway.

"Later, coward," I yelled at his retreating back, grinning confidently to myself as I picked my hoodie up from the floor and headed to the library after making a quick stop at the bathroom. Ah, nothing like a good fight to get rid of parental frustrations...

Unless, of course, the guy you were fighting decides to tell on you and you find yourself in the principal's office with an expulsion letter in your hand. That's when you know **** just hit the fan.