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31.
chapter thirty-one:
spotify codes
and
wasted milkshakes.

chapter thirty-one: spotify codesandwasted milkshakes

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Serena <3: Ten minutes before leaving. :3

I placed my phone on the soft picnic blanket and lay down on my back. The sky above was a soft blue, clouds of all shapes slowly passing by. It seemed like they were mocking me more than providing any comfort.

Serena had promised to spend the last ten minutes before leaving, but she was already two minutes late. I closed my eyes, visually imagining her reaction, hoping against hope, desperately, for it to be positive, the way I imagined it to be.

The wind ruffled my hair, and with it came a scent of strawberries. I opened my eyes to see Serena smiling down at me. I smiled back and quickly sat up as she took a seat facing me.

Reaching into my pockets, I offered the tetra pack of strawberry milk that I had brought from the hotel. She hesitated for a second. "Do you have one?"

I smiled and nodded at her concern, finally getting her to take it. We started sipping from it, just enjoying the fresh air and the scenic view from the mountain. Everything below—the lonesome highways, the lush woods, the dispersed huts—was nothing but a small flick of dust from above.

"Thanks for gracing me with your kind presence, mademoiselle," I said with a hint of humor, expecting her to chuckle. However, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ash." I felt my heart drop. What was she apologizing for? Was she going to leave me again?

"What for?"

Serena looked away before speaking. "That I ran late, and that... I couldn't spend more time with you." That was all? "I would have loved to, really, but we had planned games until we could no longer play, and I just couldn't bring myself to say no to them. These past few days have been strenuous, and I couldn’t spend time with them, and—"

I held my hand up to stop her rambling. "Hey, that's alright. You showed up now, and that's all that matters."

Serena smiled, and I felt butterflies, or rather Butterfrees, in my stomach. Who let the Metapods evolve—

"Thanks, Ash. You're so nice to me."

Her wayward compliment caught me off guard, and I struggled to contain my excitement. "A-anyways, I've made you a playlist."

Her pretty eyes widened, and a placid smile tugged at her lips. "Really? Can I get a link or a code?" she asked, clasping her hands to her chest. I withdrew my phone and sent her the Spotify code of the playlist that I had made for her while having lunch. Everybody had helped suggest some songs, and I had a good reason to make one: I might as well play it before confessing.

Serena squealed and started playing the first song from my phone, Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. It was my cue to begin my speech, too.

"Serena, I want to... tell you something." My voice wavered when she looked up from my phone.

"Yeah?"

Every single word I had carefully constructed crumbled in my mind, and I found myself speechless at her expectant expression. She was beaming, and the sunlight lit her eyes at the perfect angle. I gulped down the lump that had formed in my throat.

"Um, you know... I am really thankful to Oak's grandfather, Professor Gary—wait, that sounds wrong. I mean!" I blabbered, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. Serena gave me a sympathetic smile before leaning in.

"You were the one who taught me to take a deep breath if you feel like stammering."

I awkwardly bobbed my head and inhaled. Immediately, my chest protested the action. This was hard! "Right. What I mean is, I'm glad we got to meet!"

Serena looked puzzled, but I forced myself to continue. "In this life of game—I mean, game of life—you've been my ultimate catch. You've always cheered me up whenever I felt down, and you've never turned your back on me! You've taught me how a simple smile can make things right when all I did was brood!" My voice was unusually high, and I. Hated. It.

The girl didn’t seem to understand the situation I was in. She casually pushed a strand of her golden hair behind her ear and nodded. "I can say the same thing about you, Ash." It was good that she wasn’t discouraging me, but where on Earth did my courage run off to?

"Yeah, thanks," I mumbled, picking at a loose thread on the blanket. Then, spontaneously, I looked up—at her lips, then her eyes. "I wanted to get this off—off my chest."

"Mhm?"

And, as it happens in every single angsty novel, Serena's phone rang. She excused herself and took the call. From the way her face was souring, I could tell it wasn’t going to end well. When she hung up, she was apologizing. That was all I registered before she left.

I threw myself onto the blanket again, lying on my stomach now. She left. Without hearing me confess. She left me.

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry, Ash! Professor Sycamore is calling me for some count of the students. Can we talk about this later? On the bus, perhaps?" she had said. Her eyes carried regret, but for the life of me, I could not believe she actually regretted leaving.

Why would she? I thought bitterly. It’s not like she likes me anyway. It’s always been one-sided. Brock's to blame for making me realize these 'feelings'. Why doesn’t she even listen to me? Have I fallen in vain? Why...?

A mental image of her smiling answered my question.

Smile? For her smile? Seriously?

The empty tetra pack let out a squish as I crushed it in frustration. My chest was on fire, but I knew it wasn’t passion; it was rage.

I shut down my phone, threw it into my bag, and just lay there, welcoming every pessimistic thought my mind could grab onto, smiling like an idiot. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain, or at least pretending to love the downpour.

When Professor Sycamore called out for us to assemble, I obliged gladly.

When Professor Sycamore called out for us to assemble, I obliged gladly

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