Serena was fairly quiet at the table while everyone else was engaged in their own conversations. I kept looking over at her. She was refusing to look at or talk to anyone. Serena was quiet, but that was usually only around strangers. To see her so reserved was strange and incredibly worrying.

I tapped her on the shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she replied finally looking me in the eye.

"You're not gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said simply.

I knew I wasn't gonna do anything but upset her if I kept pushing so I decided to change the topic.

"So Clemont's your step brother?"

"Yeah."

"Does he treat you alright."

"Of course. He is my brother after all."

"So what's your step dad like then?"

"He's nice."

Silence.

"When are you gonna start talking to me about your problems. Something's wrong. I can tell," I told her.

"When are you gonna tell me about your problems and the secrets you've been keeping?" she countered.

I chuckled. "I walked right into that one, huh?"

"Sure did," she agreed smiling.

"I'm just trying to protect you," I say.

"From what, exactly?"

"Everything I can," I admitted. "I've just got too many problems to deal with and the last thing I need is someone I care about getting roped into one of them."

Serena looked over at me with a worried expression.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing, just..."

"Hey Ash, are you gonna come?" Barry interjected.

"Come to what?" I ask. I was slightly annoyed since we was interrupted but tried not to let it show.

"Geez, have you been listening at all?!" Dawn scolded playfully.

"That's Ashy-Boy for ya," Gary said.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever Gare-Bear"

"Gare-Bear!" May shouted, bursting out laughing.

"That's a new one!" Kenny added.

Gary's cheeks flushed pink with embaressment. I had caught his mom saying the name one day. I couldn't believe it. Gary, the guy always playing tough guy, trying to brag about how he thinks he's better than everyone. I never let him live it down.

"So, what were we talking about?" I ask Barry.

"Are you coming to the party this Friday?" he asked excitedly. "It'll be in Kenny and my dorm, 219."

"Maybe. We'll see," I said simply. "What about you Serena?"

She shrugged, remaining silent.

~~~

I walked with Ash to our D hours. I had Pokemon History, and he had Battling/PE. I knew that he had a doctor's note from the nurse, so he didn't have to work, but I had the sneaking suspicion he wouldn't use it. Ash was usually an admirable person, but his stubbornness and recklessness were a few of his lesser traits. 

"You gonna be okay?" I asked.

"Of course," he replied, though, his heavy breathing made him sound less convincing.

I cared about Ash a lot and he was precious to me, but there some days where he drove me crazy. We didn't have many of the same classes so I didn't really get much time to check up on him. I tried asking him about how things were going at lunch, but I didn't get much out of him. He kept his problems and his pain to himself which made it nearly impossible to help him.

"Are you actually gonna use that doctor's note?" I asked.

"Don't know yet," he replied, which definitely wasn't the answer I was looking for.

I scowled a little at him, but he obviously didn't take me seriously. He took off my hat and rumpled my hair.

"You're cute when you're mad, you know that?" he told me dangling the hat above my head.

My face flushed red partly because I was ticked, and partly my silly feelings were getting the best of me. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I tried to disguise it as anger.

"Give me my hat!" I shouted jumping trying to get it. He kept dangling it above me, and pulling it just out of reach at the last second. He was taller than me, but not by that much, so why was this so hard?!

He kept laughing at each of my failed attempts. "What's the magic word?" he said in a teasing tone.

"You doofus." I grumbled.

"Nope, I don't think that's it," he said putting his finger to his chin, pretending to think about it. I tried to grab it one last time but he pulled it away at the last second.

I sighed. "Please?"

"All you had to do was ask," he said smiling, handing me my hat.

"You are such a pain," I teased, smiling as I put my hat back on.

Before he could say anything we noticed Clemont walking up to us. He had a deathly serious expression on his face and he glaring at Ash. Ash didn't seem at all intimidated, just really confused.

"Don't mess with my sister," he said simply. And walked away dragging me with him. I looked back at Ash and mouthed "Sorry". He nodded understandingly, though he still seemed thoroughly confused as he waved and continued to the gym alone.

"Okay, what was that about?" I asked Clemont as we turned a corner.

"Why would you be walking around with the person who betrayed you?!" he asked

"Betrayed is a strong word," I mumbled looking at the ground.

"It's the word you used when you told me about him. So why on Earth should you trust him!" It wasn't a question, but more of an accusation.

"I..."

"Has he given you a reason to trust him again?" Clemont interrupted.

I was ready to say, 'Yes he saved my freakin' life' but I knew what he was looking for wasn't that. He wanted to know why Ash made me worry all those years ago and to be honest...so did I.

Clemont sighed. "You might want to stay away from him for a while," he said. Before I could argue he was already gone.

I walked off to class feeling tears burning in my eyes. I knew Clemont made a fair point. Ash was still keeping secrets from me, so how could I trust him. But at the same time, there was still a rebellious part of me that wanted to trust him. I had seen first hand he still cared. He defended me, checked on me, and tried to keep me happy. I didn't want to give up on him. Not yet.

I started thinking back to when we were kids, when Ash and I first met. His words from back then flooded into my mind.

'Don't give up till it's over!'

And I won't. I swear, I won't.