Must be karma for all the times I made fun of… Ash… I wonder what he's…

"Grr! Stop that!" Ugh. I need to get out of here for a while. A walk doesn't sound so bad all of a sudden. And note to self, hitting myself in the head to get thoughts of Ash out? Probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. Well… second dumbest. Not travelling with Ash anymore was the first…

I need to get out of here.

So, Cerulean is not empty… but I sure as heck wouldn't call it full. I guess most everyone had somewhere to go. And those that didn't, had someone coming here. Maybe staying at the gym would have been a better idea… especially, now looking at the couple sitting on the bench kissing. I wonder what kissing Ash would…

"Oh, come on!"

People are staring. …I yelled that out loud.

Alright, I'm embarrassed. Walking now. Faster.

I need to figure out somewhere to go. Fast. Café Shell. Perfect. Ms. Sarah's always been real cool and easy to talk to. I can hide out… I mean, go there.

…Great. Now I lie to myself. When will it stop?

I'm a few feet away from the café and I can already smell the pastries. Oh, I so need one right now! The second I walk in my ever faithful, six-year-old buddy Lisa greets me.

"Misty!" she screams. She runs up and hugs me. The smile on this little girl could brighten anyone's day, no matter how bad the day was or unhappy the person. She certainly does it for me. I'm glad she's here.

"Hi, Lisa. How have you been?" I let go of her so she can answer.

"Doing just fine," she replied, bouncing as always, "I'm gonna show you just how much better I am with my water Pokémon. I'm gonna beat you one day, Misty. You wait and see."

She is so good at making me smile. "I'm sure you will, girlie."

She wants to be like me. Honestly, I don't know why. She is so sweet. She always makes me feel better. Like… I'm worth a lot. I think she puts more stock in me than I put in me. "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, they went to Goldenrod City. Some kind of party or something. They told me to stay here with grandma."

Ugh, again with Goldenrod. Not that I blame her parents, though. It's good that they can get away. The Café Shell is their place and they put a lot of work into it. They always have. They've earned a break. "Okay. But you're grandma's here?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll go get her. Have a seat."

I sit down at a table by the window and watch people and cars go by. I spent a lot of time here and I've always loved it. Just watching people. Just killing time. Just having an ordinary day. But approaching me, is sooo not an ordinary woman.

Ms. Sarah walks up to my table and, as she sits down, says, "Your mother used to sit there just like that, Misty. So many years ago."

Ms. Sarah I've known since I can remember. She's 73, tough as nails, says what she wants, and doesn't take any mess from anybody. She's always been like a grandmother to me. I've always said that she'll outlive me. She always looked out for me and my sisters and she inspired to take my Pokémon journey in the first place. She… always looked for me ever since my parents… were gone. "Hi, Ms. Sarah."

"How are you, Misty?"

I would lie but she would know better. Ms. Sarah has always had this uncanny ability to read me like a book, no matter what. So, I take a deep breath and say, "Been better."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

"Where are your sisters?"

"Goldenrod City."

"Why didn't you go?"

I fall quiet a second longer than I should have. "Didn't… feel like going. Not up to it."

Then she became silent a little longer than she usually is. She folded her arms and asked, "And they didn't think to stay home with you?"

I don't want to answer but she's going to make me if I don't. "No, but even if they would offered I would have told them to go. I… just wanted to be alone."

She leans on the table with her arm. "Yeah, New Year's Eve had the same effect on your mother when your father wasn't in town. Until you girls came along that is."

Talking about my parents… always a way to start the tears. Ms. Sarah knows that. I've never been afraid to cry in front of her, though… "I… miss them still."

"I know, baby girl."

Tears are falling a little now. Only a couple, not many. She's seen me cry. I'm okay with that. Even Lisa seeing my cry is alright. I only feel that way about two other human people in this world. Brock… and Ash. I don't let anyone else see me cry. I can't. I'm the strong one. I have to be. I will be. I am. But… it does get hard. There was only one time when it… didn't seem so bad. When… I was travelling… "But it gets hard."

"Being strong all the time? Or being lonely?"

Her question hits hard. The second one, obviously. No sense even lying about it. "That obvious?"

"Only to those who know you."

Even through the tears, I look at her with my "really?" look, since my sisters' claim to "know" me.

She thinks about it and says, "Let me rephrase that: knows you… and pays attention to you. I love your sisters, baby girl, but they can be kind of… dim."

"Dumb, Ms. Sarah. Just say it." Lord knows I want to sometimes.

Ms. Sarah laughs but then refocuses. "Misty, I know that you're lonely. I know that you have had it hard. You have to be the adult among three grown children and you don't get to see your friends. You don't even get to travel anymore and I know how much you loved that."

More than I realized once it was over. "But, I can't worry about all that. That's not my life anymore. I can't just go back out there again."

"Says who?" Ms. Sarah was always blunt. "You listen to me and listen good. Alright?"

I nod.

"Your sisters need to start behaving like adults and stop leaving all the responsibility to you. You had to grow up quick and that just wasn't fair to you. I know that your parents would never have approved of that. You're the little sister. You should have gotten to be one for longer than you did. The second they get back I'm gonna talk to them."

Oh, I hope she does. Nothing like watching Ms. Sarah talk to my sisters to make me feel better.

"But Misty. I want you to take this time to think about what you want. Be it to travel, be a water Pokémon master… a boy." I caught that. "Or whatever. And I want to start to really change at midnight New Year's. I think you already know what you want. But even if you're still deciding, please, promise me that you will seriously consider it. That's what New Year's is for: new beginnings."

"I will."

After a few more minutes of more pleasant and less emotional conversation, it's time to go ahead and head home. Sweet Lisa has brought me some nice pastries and her grandma some coffee. I'm gonna pay for this, even though Ms. Sarah never wants me to. I reach for my wallet and after I pull it out, something falls out of pocket. Lisa picks it up before I can. It's a picture of Ash and Pikachu in front of a gym after they just won a battle. It came with the letter. I don't even remember putting that in my pocket.

"Hey, Misty, isn't this your boyfriend?" Lisa's question is one that usually wouldn't bother me but, this time… I'm tongue tied.

"Uh… uh… no… that's… uh… just… Ash. Yeah, Ash."

"I know," Lisa says, "From Pallet right? He's your boyfriend. Isn't he?"

I don't answer fast enough for either of them. Instead, I stammer some more. Why won't words come out the way I want them to?

Ms. Sarah puts her coffee cup to her mouth and says, "I'd call that a yes." She takes a sip.

"He's not!" Wow, my voice got loud.

"Mm-hmm," Ms. Sarah says, putting her coffee down, "Do you think about him?"

Of course, I was going to say until she finishes, "A lot?"

I can't answer.

"All the time?" she asks.

I won't answer.

Then came the key question: "When you think about him, do you stop and pause? Fall into a bit of a daydream?"

I'm… afraid to answer.

"Misty's got a boyfriend!" Lisa sings in a sing-song voice.

God, how much I wish that were true.

"Hush up, now, Lisa," Ms. Sarah says, coming to my rescue as always. "This is a more grown-up thing than you're used to." She turns back to me. "Misty, if you are feeling this way, which I know you are because you are not answering, you know that means that you are in love. Now, if it's this Ash boy, the same one you are always going on and on about, I have just one thing to say…"

Here it comes.

"Girl, go for it."

Love
Chilli_Flakes