96.
chapter ninety-six:
nothing in Kalos
goes according to
the set agenda.

The one week we had to our world debut had seemingly passed in a blur of routine chores. So much so that I was throwing my legs off my bed to the day we had been so pumped up for: the day of the fashion show. In a frenzy, the three of us rushed through our morning rituals and set out for the venue. 

Lisia's car was already waiting by the time we arrived in Calem's, with his father and, of course, him. I heard Lisia squeal upon seeing the black vintage pull up. 

No sooner had Sensei stepped out than he was tackled back into the car by Lisia throwing her arms around him in an overly exaggerated, friendly embrace. "Liz, geez!" Sensei exclaimed, eliciting a round of laughter before the adults (no, I don't consider myself to be an adult just yet) separated to complete other formalities and just discuss stuff. 

"Oh, shut up, Calem. I know you missed it too." 

The boy turned beet-red and stammered to form a coherent response. I patted his back out of sympathy. No surprise there. "I've been there, done that," I said in a teasing undertone. Calem sighed tiredly. 

"I bet Serena isn't as upbeat as her. You can barely control this teal mare—" 

"What was that?!" Lisia's shout sent chills down our spines. The next thing we knew, Calem was once again being tackled into a hug. Only this time, it was by my favorite honey-blonde. 

"Serena!" I found myself exclaiming along with Lisia. The prospect of just seeing her had me feeling all fuzzy on the inside. Serena backed away and joined hands with Lisia in greeting. The friends squealed for whatever reason before falling into a hug. Can you please hug me too?

I looked at her expectantly as they broke the embrace and she rushed to face me. Her hand raised ever so slightly, cheeks flushing, but something held her back and she settled for a smile instead, diminishing any and all hopes I had of melting into her arms. Nevertheless, I got to see her smile, if not make her happy. 

You deserve it, man, I thought bitterly. However, I hid the pain behind a lopsided grin. I was, after all, the greatest of all time at masking sadness. 

"Where's Drew, though?" Calem voiced the question that was gnawing at some corner of my mind. Dialing his number, I reached into the car and pulled out the change of clothes for Lisia. The girl squealed before snatching it from my hand. She excitedly rummaged through the contents in the bag. 

"Yes! It's teal!" she grinned before excusing herself and Serena from sight. We sighed, watching them turn into dots from where we stood. The call wasn't connecting. 

"I think his flight landed two and a half hours ago, mate," Calem supplied. We leaned back against his car and started scrolling through our phones mindlessly before he whispered in my ear. "Ash, look. Don't those faces seem familiar?" 

I followed his gaze to look at a trio of guys standing in the opposite direction. "Anistar High," I muttered, facing back to meet Calem's stormy gray eyes. They had a calculative look in them, one that he assumed whenever he was in deep thought. 

"Let's lie low. If they're taking part too, they might as well grab this opportunity for vengeance." 

I nodded and was about to head in when my phone rang. May. 

"Hullo?" 

"Ash!" My eyes narrowed as Calem stiffened. Her tone was up to no good. "Ash, where are you?!" 

"The fashion—" 

"Ash, arrange for a replacement, quick! They've taken Drew and are behind your industrial license as a ransom! They have taken Drew, Ash!" 

Before I could question her sanity, a hand grabbed my shoulder, the feeling of bad vibes coursing through from it. With a wince, I wheeled around, facing one of the Anistar cronies. "You were right, V-P. He's the one who sabotaged our boss." A clean smirk spread across his features. 

I clenched my fists, ready to throw a punch, but Calem held me back. "Mhm, you already seem to know us. Don't you think it is rude to not let the other party know you have Z-A information about us?" 

The smirk only deepened, setting my blood to boil. Oh, how I wished to wipe it off without a trace were we not in public. "Fairmont. Alistair Fairmont, and I'll have you know that Hayden, or whatever that emerald-head's name is, is our guest for today. Why? Simply for the fun of ruining your life the way you did ours, Ketchum." 

I snorted, even though my mind was going off with an alarm to stay diplomatic. "If you think that was a threat, I'm afraid you have no idea how to communicate with words. Or maybe, all you know is the communication of backstabbing? That's too cowardly for my liking, though." 

In a flurry of action that seemed to have slowed down in my eyes, he threw himself forward, his fist zooming closer with each millisecond before I raised my hand up in a forearm block. The impact had me stagger a few steps back, but he seemed to have gotten the recoil as well, judging by how he was rubbing his palm. 

Fury turned everything around red, the plain monochrome blending into one of gore, and a voice of confidence I didn't believe I possessed. "Maybe you even suck at communication with your fists." 

At once, Calem was at my side, grabbing hold of the hem of my jacket. "Ash. We must leave." 

The other guys with the rookie laughed. "What, scared already?" I turned to Calem, sending him a reprimanding look for intervening. However, the guy merely shook his head, locked his car, and dragged me into the building by my arm. 

Once within the confines of the changing rooms where Serena was doing some last-minute touch-ups for her friend's hairdo, I shook myself out of Calem's grip. "What was that for? You should've let me at them! The nerve of those insufferable mongrels!" 

Calem repeated his action from before and took a seat beside the confused Lisia. 

"He had that corrupt agent from before watching over them. Patrick, was it? The one Clemont told me about." I quirked an eyebrow in confusion, so he continued. "The one who seemingly didn't let you guys state your naivety about the sabotage and branded everything as lies." 

Recollection rushed back to my mind, and the mere vision of the man's face had me clenching my jaw. "That boisterous—" 

"Yes—" 

"Excuse us?" the girls screamed. 

"Did you forget we existed?" Lisia exclaimed in disbelief, and I spared a moment to check if the dress suited her. A teal cardigan against the backdrop of a white shirt, paired with flared jeans and a pair of mittens of the same color; they perfectly matched her hair and skin tone. 

Calem seemed to have been doing the same, for he responded with a compliment. "You look stunning, Liz." 

"He's right! This looks wonderful on you!" I added with a nod. The teal-haired model flushed pink, flailing her arms around before catching herself and rephrasing her question. 

"Mind telling us what juicy stuff we are missing out on?" 

We exchanged looks and identical sighs before Calem started on the explanation as well as a suitable plan to overcome the new hurdle. At places, I proposed a change, which seemed like an acceptable one. Within the span of ten minutes, our plan was set into action—a change in the schedule with a vast diversion from the original agenda. 

Seems like every event in Kalos just doesn't like the very word agenda.