(Ash's pov)

'Aw man, I really, really didn't want to have to tell her about this yet.' I thought to myself with a sigh.

I walked out the doors of the office building, and saw Serena leaning up against the wall.

"Oh Ash, there you are! How'd it go?" She asked.

(Serena's pov)

Ash stood there in silence, he was looking down and he had a pretty sad look on his face. To be honest it hurt a little to see him looking like that. I wonder what she said to him...

"Uh, Ash, are you okay?" I asked.

Ash looked up at me.

"Y-yeah, it's just...there's something I need to tell you." He said.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked.

"Can it wait until we get back to the dorms? I just...don't want anyone else to hear." He said.

"Oh...alright." I said a little confused.

We made our way back to the dorms. Ash didn't utter a single word the whole way, which was very odd. I was really getting worried. Did something bad happen? I have to know! We walked into the room and Ash took a seat on his bed. I sat down next to him.

"Ash, I can tell something is really bothering you. Is it what head mistress Diantha told you?" I asked.

"Y-yeah, something like that..." He said.

"Would it make you feel better if you talked about it?" I asked.

Ash sighed.

"That's...actually part of the problem." He said.

Wait...what? Now I'm getting confused.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

(Ash's pov)

"Well...it's just.." I started to say before stopping myself.

"It's just...what?" She asked.

'Man, I know I have to tell her, but it's just so hard! Come on Ash, get it together.' I thought.

I took one more deep breath and exhaled.

"Before I tell you, please promise you won't be angry with me." I said.

Serena's confused expression began to turn into one of concern.

"Um, okay then. You didn't do anything illegal did you?" She asked, a little suspiciously.

"What!? No, of course not! It's not like that it's just...it's something that I'm not proud of." I said.

"Would you just tell me what it is so I can help you!" She said with her hands on her hips.

"Alright alright, geez." I said.

'Alright Ash, here goes nothing.' I thought to myself.

"You're probably not going to believe me when I say this, but my entry into this academy was a total fluke." I said.

Serena looked even MORE confused now.

"A fluke? How can that be, you had to pass the entrance exam to get in here, and you did, right?" She asked.

"Yeeeaaah, about that." I said.

I proceeded to tell Serena everything that I told head mistress Diantha. I also told her about what Ms. Diantha said about the midterms and how I have to pass them or its bye-bye Ash.

"...and that's what they wanted to talk to me about." I said, feeling like scum.

Serena was silent for a moment. Then she sighed.

"Ash, I have two questions. One, why didn't you tell me about this before? Two, why would you think I'd be angry with you over something like this?" She asked, her arms crossed.

"Wait, so you aren't mad?" I asked surprised.

"No, I'm not. I am a little bit disappointed in you, but I'm not mad at you. And I'm less disappointed in what you did, I'm more disappointed in the fact that you hid this from me." She said.

"I'm really sorry Serena. I just didn't want you to think I was an idiot or something." I said.

"Ash, I would never think that about you. What kind of friend would I be if I did that." She said.

I felt a small smile form on my face after hearing that. I should have known Serena was going to say something like that.

"You're right, Serena. I'm sorry for everything. Would you please, forgive me?" I said.

Serena smiled.

"Yes, but on one condition. You have to promise me that you will always be honest with me, no matter what. K?" She said with a wink.

"You've got it!" I said.

"Good! Now, about your studies, I say we devote an hour every day to start out." Serena said, pulling out a daily planner.

"Wait, you're going to help me with my studies!?" I asked.

"Duh, why wouldn't I, silly?" She said.

I was so happy that I could not resist. I gave Serena a massive hug.

"A-A-Ash, what are you doing!?" She asked, her face red as a tomato.

"You are the best Serena, thank you so much! I swear you won't regret this!!" I said happily.

I felt so relieved, I was actually getting a second chance.

I couldn't believe it. Not only was Serena not angry with me about my exams, but she is also going help me out with my grades! I was so excited that I completely forgot that I still had Serena locked in a hug.

"U-um Ash?" Serena said.

I quickly let go.

"Oh, S-sorry Serena!" I said, a little embarrassed.

"I-it's alright, don't worry about it." She replied.

We had glanced away from one another to hide our blushes. We sat in silence for a few moments.

'Way to go Ash, you've gone and made it awkward again.' I thought.

I was about to say something, but Serena stood up.

"I've got to go to bathroom." Serena said quickly.

"Oh..okay." I said.

I wonder what's wrong with her...

(Serena's pov)

I quickly went into the bathroom and leaned my back against the door. My heart was beating so quickly that I thought it was about to explode. Why is this happening? I mean, I know that I have feelings for him, but this is a whole new feeling. Could my feelings be getting stronger? I walked over to the sink and splashed a little bit of water on my face in an attempt to calm myself down. After I dried off my face and looked in the mirror. My blush had gone down a little, but it soon returned.

'Come on Serena, get it together! Ash didn't mean anything romantic by that hug, he was just saying thank you. Or maybe...' I thought.

I suddenly had a thought come across my mind, Ash was holding me in his arms and he said, "Serena my darling, please be my teacher."

I blushed even harder.

'N-n-n-no! There's no way that would happen...right...? UGH! Serena get it together will you!' I thought as smack my hands on my cheeks.

I have to keep my emotions under control, I won't be much help at all if I keep having to do this every time Ash and I get too close. A look of determination comes across my face.

'Okay Serena, you've got this. Just try not to get too embarrassed and everything will be fine. After all, you're the top student, a princess, and the your crush needs your help. So let's get this thing started!' I thought to myself with fire in my eyes.

I walked over to the toilet and flushed it to give the impression that I actually went to the bathroom. Then I headed out the door. Ash was sitting at his desk, opening up his laptop.

(Ash's pov)

I hear the bathroom door open and turn around to see Serena. I still felt a little embarrassed about earlier, but I brushed it off. She walked over to me.

"Whatcha doing?" She asked.

"I'm just checking my email, I need to get a copy of my grades so we can see where I need to improve the most." I said.

Serena smiled.

"I'm glad to see you're so serious about this Ash!" Serena said brightly.

I rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled a little.

"Yeah, I know that if I want to stay here that I have to work hard. Before, I was a little bit lazy when it came to school work and stuff like that. I guess you could say I'm turning a new leaf." I said.

Serena placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be here to help you every step of the way!" She said.

"Thanks Serena, you're the best." I said.

"You know it!" She replied with a wink.

We both laughed a little. I always feel so warm inside when I'm around her.

"Hey Ash, I'm going to pull up some of our quizes from today, that way we can see where you went wrong." She said.

"That'd be great, thanks Serena." I said.

Serena walked over to her desk and opened up her laptop. A smile crossed my face. I knew this was going to be hard work, but I have the best moral support I could ever ask for, Serena.

I glanced around and looked at her for a second.

'Man, I really am the luckiest guy in the world.' I thought to myself.

I opened my emails, I wanted to find a copy of my quiz grades . Serena had walked down the hall to the printer room to pick up the quizes so we can study, and by we I mean me. I still can't get over how lucky I am to have Serena's help with all of this. After a few minutes I heard the door open.

"Okay Ash, I've got the quizes we took today. Do you have your grades pulled up?" Serena said as she came into the room.

"Yeah, I do. You're totally gonna laugh when you see." I said.

She just rolled her eyes.

"Ash, you know I would never do that." She said.

"I know, I'm just messing with you. Here they are." I said as I clicked on my email tab.

The grades were:

Math: 55

History: 62

English: 51

Science: 56

I glanced over at Serena, anxious to see her reaction.

"Hmmm, that's actually a lot better than I thought." She said bluntly.

"Gee, thanks Serena, that means a lot." I replied sarcastically.

Serena punched my arm playfully.

"You know what I mean dummy. This school has a highly advanced curriculum that, in most aspects, is college level. So, though these grades aren't particularly great by KNA's standards, for someone coming from a basic public school system to even do this well is pretty impressive. Plus, you made it sound waaaay worse than it actually is." Serena said, laughing a little at the last sentence.

"Whoa really? I knew this school was advanced, but I had no idea it was that advanced. I sure hope I have what it takes to learn this stuff." I said, feeling a bit intimidated.

Serena put her hand on my shoulder and smiled.

"Of course you do, I'm sure of it! It won't do you any good to doubt yourself. Now, what do you say we get started, hm?" She said sweetly.

Her words gave me a moral boost. She was right, I have to keep a positive attitude and do my best.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I said with determination.

We decided to go ahead and begin working on English, seeing as how that class held my lowest grade.

"Alright, so it seems like you had the most trouble with your writing, there's quite a few grammatical errors." Serena said.

"Yeah, Pallet Town is a pretty small town in the Kanto countryside. We use a lot of slang and generally don't pay much attention when it comes to grammar." I said chuckling a little.

Serena giggled.

"I can see that. Don't worry though, when I'm finished teaching you you'll be writing like a noble." She said.

On that note, Serena told me to write a series of short stories, only about one hundred words in length. Every time she would proof read them and let me know where I went wrong. After a good hour of writing we decided to wrap up English and move on to Math. We were working on so many different types of problems that my brain began to short circuit, Serena noticed my dilemma and she smiled.

"You know, we can take math a little more slowly if you're having trouble getting the material." She said sympatheticly.

"Thanks Serena, but I think we should keep this up, it may be a little harder to learn, but it's good brain exercise." I said.

She nodded and we continued on. I'm amazed at just how insanely smart Serena is. She just breezes through all of this stuff and I'm just left sitting there like an idiot. Seriously, if my brain was a machine you would definitely see smoke coming out of my ears. We continued to study math for another hour before deciding to call it quits. Serena stands up and stretches.

"That's enough for today, I can't believe it's already so late." Said Serena.

"Yeah I know, it feels like we just started studying." I said.

"Speaking of which, did any of what we covered stick?" She asked.

I thought for a second.

"I think so, but I know I still have a long way to go. Thanks again for this Serena." I said.

"Ash there's no need to thank me, you've thanked me like a thousand times already! That's just what friends are for." Serena said.

"Sorry about that, I'm sure I'll probably say it a thousand more tines before the midterms." I replied.

Serena smiled slightly, before yawning. It wasn't long before I did the same.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night. You mind if I have the shower first?" Serena said.

"Be my guest." I replied.

"Thanks Ash." She said.

A few minutes later Serena entered the bathroom to take a shower. I walked over and plopped down on my bed.

'Man, that studying really wears your brain out, especially if you have no idea what your doing.' I thought.

I yawned and closed my eyes.

'Oh well, for what it's worth I'd say I'm off to a pretty good start.' I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

(Serena's pov)

I came back into the room and saw that Ash was already asleep. That studying might have been a little much for him. I walked over to him.

'He looks so cute when he's sleeping.' I thought to myself.

I smiled at him. I can tell he tried his best today and that he really wants to stay here with all of us...with me.

I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Good night Ash."