teenage nightmare ² ━━ amour

37.

37.
chapter thirty-seven:
the lemon-haired
siblings.
<3

"Ash, why don't we put it here?"

I stared at her, unblinking, as she held a broken mobile phone. I didn’t recognize it. "Why do you want to bury a mobile phone?"

My mother laughed softly. "Because it's the only remnant of your dad."

My eyes widened, and I felt my heart quicken. "Mum, is he —" I started. She looked at me sadly, as if she knew what was at the tip of my tongue.

"Why do you want to know, Ash?" This was a new voice, and only then did I notice Serena. She walked fast and managed to close the distance between us. Her voice, strangely husky, reached my ears. A heartbeat passed. "What difference does it make?"

"What–?"

And then it hit me. I had seen this before. This very alien place. I looked around, and there was the werewolf in the corner, its furry chest moving in sync as it breathed. My eyes glided, reluctantly, to where I had fainted last time, and it was still there. Ketchum.

"You aren't going to end up like him, are you?"

"Serena!"

I awoke with a start in a puddle of my own sweat. There was shuffling again, and I clutched something soft close to me. No, it's not happening again.

"Ash?"

My heartbeat quickened, and I squeezed the soft thing to my chest. Flashes of the nightmare passed before my eyes, vivid and clear, and I struggled to concentrate on something else. "Wake up!"

I gasped and backed away as a hand reached toward me. The lights turned on, and I saw Gary's concerned face propped up at the edge of my bunk bed. "Give him water!" another voice suggested. Gary briefly looked down and shook his head before inching up.

"No!" I shrieked, holding the Pikachu plush closer. "I'm fine!"

Gary regarded me for a minute, then disappeared from view. I flinched when he shouted, "Should we turn off the lights? It's only one in the morning." This was Clemont.

"Y-yes," I stuttered, and the lights went out. I faintly heard whispering before it died down, and I fell back onto the mattress.

"You're not gonna end up like him, are you?"

I shook my head violently, trying to get rid of the voice in my head. Several heartbeats passed, and I plugged in Spotify and lay back again. Thinking it better not to listen to lyrical songs, I put on soundtracks from Interstellar and just… lay there.

Why was this happening? Three continuous nightmares each time I fell asleep.

I shivered, remembering how the first few weeks after Professor Oak's second summer camp had been. Brutal nights with random nightmares that resulted in me waking up in a puddle of my own sweat.

Serena had said, after researching Google and stuff, that stress might be a reason. Ever since, I had gotten into the habit of staying up late and playing games. That way, I wouldn’t know when I would fall asleep, and those games would be the only thing on my mind before dozing off.

But what stress was I under right now for them to come back?

Morning could not have come any later. By the time Gary was up, I was lacing up my sports shoes and heading out for my morning jog.

Lumiose was an early bird. People were up and about, and that didn’t include just the page boys and milkmen. Shops, restaurants, and apparel stores were beginning to open. A group of ladies passed by, buzzing about a new movie as I reached the entrance to the park.

After my ten-minute ritual, I headed back to the dormitory buildings for a shower. I met Trevor and Tierno on the way upstairs. They didn’t ask me anything, as if somebody had already forbidden them to talk about it, but I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

The people of Kalos had been nothing but nice ever since I set foot here. But then, I thought bitterly, they have no clue how abnormal I am.

After a quick shower, I headed down for breakfast. Clemont, who had been preparing for college in the dormitory, wished me good morning, but that was all, and I was relieved.

Checking my phone for any messages, I wasn’t concentrating on where I was going and collided with someone. "Whoa! I’m sorry!" A young girl apologized as we tumbled to the floor.

"I’m sorry. It was my fault," I said, standing up and dusting off my clothes. Then I offered her a hand, which she accepted with a grin.

"I’m Bonnie, by the way!" She introduced herself with a cheeky bow. I returned the gesture.

"Call me Ash."

We started walking toward the dining hall. "Wait, I know you!" she exclaimed, a hand flying to her mouth. Then she pointed toward one of the long tables. "You were the one who danced with Miss Serena!" I followed her finger to see Serena eating her breakfast alone. "During the freestyle performance!"

I smiled fondly, remembering the moment, and gave her a slow nod. "Yeah, you’re right. Say, do you want to be friends with her?"

Bonnie looked like she had won the lottery. "Really?!"

I shrugged and led her to Serena. "Why not?"

As soon as we approached, Serena looked up wearily. Upon seeing me, her lips quirked into a small smile. "Good morning, Ash. Hello there," she added to Bonnie. The younger girl squealed and got to one knee.

"You’re a keeper!" she exclaimed, extending a hand to Serena. "Can you take care of my bro–"

"BONNIE, STOP!"

I jerked at the familiar voice. Clemont was rushing toward us, looking like he might faint at any moment. The younger girl was then grabbed by one of his inventions—I remembered it from when he had shown them to Gary and me—and lifted off the floor. He immediately started apologizing in a high-pitched voice.

"I’m so sorry! My immature sister loves to—"

"Hey! I’m not immature—"

"You have a sister?!"

Clemont turned to us sheepishly. "Yeah. Why don’t we sit down?"

After settling down, with Bonnie insisting on sitting with me, Clemont started on his story. "Yeah. I’m staying here because she wanted to, and somebody has to take care of her."

"Hey!" Bonnie protested. "I’m looking for someone to take care of you!"

Serena quirked an eyebrow at the bizarre company, but when she caught my gaze, she blanched a little before looking down at her knuckles. Odd.

The sibling banter faded into the background as I stared hard at her. She didn’t budge, not even a little, and a strange fear crept into me. Exactly what had I done for her to hate me so much?