May's Crush

Chapter 13:Cream

Ash walked through the bustling streets of Cerulean, looking for the store he had seen in the phone book. It claimed itself a small store that carried the "hot accessories that everyone wants." Ash cringed at the description. He could only imagine what the store looked like. The store he imagined had neon lights set up in a display right in the door. All of the walls would be painted black, and you'd be hard pressed to find an angle you could look in the store without seeing some form of perverseness or profanity. He always avoided even looking at stores like that when he walked by.

"Pika…" the small Pokémon called as he plodded behind the trainer. "Pika pika Pikachupi pika?" he asked.

"I didn't want her to worry about me, Pikachu," the boy explained to his partner. "If Misty knew, she'd tell Mom, and then Mom would never leave me alone. She already worries about me. I don't need to tell her that I've gotten hurt by my own Pokémon."

Pikachu sighed, conceding the battle. He knew Ash would have to tell everyone eventually. The Pokémon hopped onto Ash's back and stood on his backpack, trying not to hurt the boy's shoulders. Ash stepped around a corner and saw a small building. He peered at the letters on the side of the building. He glanced down at the paper, noting that the address was the same as what was given in the phone book. The wooden frame of the building was not the image Ash created for himself in his imagination. The building looked like it needed a new coat of the pea-soup green paint. The paint had been chipping away, and the sign was not neon lights, but wooden and painted. A picture of Vaporeon with a bright purple ribbon was painted on the sign, with the words 'HIP THREADS' written in a yellow, cursive font. The sign was worn, paint chipping all over the picture. A small sign on the green door noted that they were open. He uneasily walked up to the door. He turned the knob, and stepped inside. He heard a bell ringing. Upon stepping inside, he saw that the inside of the building was faring much better than the outside. The walls were painted a pale blue, with racks of clothing sitting in the rear left-hand corner of the store, from the direction Ash was facing. Opposite the clothing racks, on the rear right hand corner of the store was a middle-aged woman. Her dark blue hair was done up in a bun, bifocal glasses sitting across her face. She smiled as she polished a gleaming golden pocket watch. The sunlight reflected off of the watch, reflecting on the woman's clothes. She wore a plain brown dress with a white apron tied around her waist. Between the woman and the clothing racks was a closed, oaken door. The other half of the building must be where she lives, Ash thought. He walked up to the woman and began to speak. The woman looked up and almost dropped the watch in surprise.

"Are you okay, miss?" Ash asked her.

"Misses," she corrected the trainer, showing off a silver wedding band, "And I'm okay. You just look familiar, that's all." She closed her grey eyes and shook her head. "How can I help you, sir?"

"Well, I was actually coming here to buy something for a friend of mine," he said, "You see," he said, placing his pack on the table, unzipping it, "My friend and I were out in the wilderness recently, and I got cut pretty bad." He pulled May's torn bandana out of his bag. It was stained with his blood, but Ash thought of the caring girl who had destroyed it for him. He placed the halves on the table and continued, "She had to tear her bandana up to bandage me. Anyway, I was wondering if you all had something about the same size." He tried to place the tears alongside each other, so that the woman could get a good idea. She shifted her glasses, staring at the material.

"I think we have something like that," the woman said, stepping out from behind the counter. Her heeled shoes clicked as she walked around the store. In the front of the store, right behind the dusty windows was a hat rack. Ash glanced across the rack. He saw hats from sports teams, like the Electabuzz and the Starmie, sitting among a few headbands and berets. The woman reached up and pulled down a single, green headband. The pattern was similar to May's red bandana, but the white Pokéball pattern was in a different spot. She walked back up to the counter and started tapping buttons on the cash register. The antiquated machine displayed $15.00 as the price for the bandana. Ash thought that such a simple piece of cloth shouldn't have cost so much, but he laughed it off, reminding himself how little he knew of fashion. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the money. She placed the bandana thoughtfully in a box, folding it gently. She handed the small box to the boy in exchange for the money he held in his hand. The cash register's bell rang out in the quiet store, startling the young trainer. He smiled as she handed him the box.