Living in the Shadows

PART 1: CHAPTER 1 JENNA

*Originally titled: "Intros"*

*Disclaimer! I do NOT own Pokemon or the images and music videos in this fanfic!*

*P.S. I set this in May 2018. And this part is a day in Jenna's life before the story actually beings.*

My name is Jenna. I am seventeen years old, have gold-yellow eyes, and very long sky-blue hair; at least a foot of it would drag on the ground if I didn't put it up in a high ponytail. If you didn't know me, you would mistake me for a long-haired Gardevoir. Mainly because my grandfather insists I wear white and only white. Personally, I think he makes me wear white because his favorite Pokemon is Gardevoir. I rarely get to wear any other colors besides my school uniform.

Yeah, my school is one of those strict uniform-wearing schools. But at least the tie is optional and they have lots of after-school clubs and activities for those, like me, who don't want to go home right away. Don't get me wrong, I love my grandfather, but he is overprotective and, frankly, he can be really overbearing sometimes. If he were a Pokemon, he'd be either a Beartic, an Ursaring, or some other large short-tempered Pokemon with overprotective instincts.

You may wonder why I live with my grandfather and not my parents. Well, they disappeared when I was seven. While Officer Jenny was investigating a break-in, she found me in her sidecar, wrapped in a blanket. She took me to the nearest hospital and contacted my grandfather when I told her I didn't know where my parents were. Since then, I've been living with him in the mansion.

Yes, you heard right, mansion. We're rich, but most of it is old family money and my grandfather still works as a construction laborer.

As I am currently looking through the family photo album and school yearbook, I'll tell you about my family and some of my classmates.

My grandfather's name is Sakei Chikara. He is tall, at least six-one, muscular with unruly graying black hair and beard, and has bronze-brown eyes. (His beard is similar to Drayden's, except his mouth isn't covered by it.) Ever since my parents disappeared, the grey in his hair has doubled.

My grandmother's name is Riki Chikara. She has graying blue hair and blue eyes. She is of average height and lives in a cottage in the woods. (I visit her almost every day, just so you know.) If you're wondering why I didn't go live with her, it's because my grandfather doesn't know she lives there. My grandmother and grandfather have been separated for as long as I can remember.

My mother's name is Danie Kigai, and she's my grandfather's and grandma's only daughter. She is of average height, has black hair and blue eyes, and is a researcher of dimensional plains.

My father's name is Yoshi Kigai. He's an orphan with sky-blue hair and gold-yellow eyes, just like me. He's also a researcher of dimensions and is a few inches taller than my mom. Once he gets started on the subject, he never stops talking. And he uses long words and complicated sentences that bore even his fellow researchers to tears.

Then there's Jake, my older half-brother, on my father's side. He has green hair with sky-blue roots and magenta eyes. (Yes, that is his natural hair color: green with blue roots. It must be something he got from his mother's side. You'll learn more about her later.) He used to look just like our dad, but after I was born, his hair and eye color changed. He works as a gardener at the mansion and is a few inches taller than my 5'6 frame.

Now we come to my classmates.

First, there's Ben. He's eighteen, with classic straight blond hair, slightly long for a boy, and blue eyes. He's also our school's Drama Club President and is always inviting me to join Drama Club and be his leading lady. (I can't act to save my life and don't even try to get me to sing and dance. I can do both, I just won't share my talent. And just so you know, I'd rather be in the Gymnastics Club or Fighters Club.)

Then there are the twins: Crystal and Melody. Crystal has medium-length curly black hair and blue eyes. Melody has long straight green hair (that she wears in a side fishtail braid) and blue eyes. (And yes, black and green are their natural hair colors too and their blue eyes are a lighter shade than Ben's.) Crystal is a fashion designer for Drama Club and has a crush on Ben. She and I bang heads a lot because she thinks I like-like Ben too. (Seriously, someone should tell her she can have that airhead.) Melody has a crush on my brother Jake and she is also our school's best singer. Also, they're the same height and age as me.

And finally, there's Jack. He's also eighteen and is Ben and my brother's best friend. He works as a part-time gardener alongside my brother, has shaggy black hair that he sometimes wears in dreadlocks and reddish-brown eyes. (Yes, he's cute, and that's all I'm gonna say about him.) Plus, both he and Ben are the same height as my brother; give or take a few inches.

(FYI: I don't consider any of those guys my friends, even though they're my classmates. But I do interact with them more than I do with the other students.)

I am a social outcast. The girl no one talks to, other than the four mentioned, and the emotionally distant shadow. And that's just fine with me. Living in the shadows means I see and hear a lot of secrets.

*ALARM BEEPING*

Well, time to get up and start another day of shadow-living. After doing my long hair up in a high ponytail except for my bangs (no matter what I do, my bangs are always messy) I change into my school uniform: A solid dark purple short skirt, white shirt, with a dark purple jacket.

I live on an island, so my school doesn't care what shoes we wear as long as they're clean. But as I've said before, my grandfather insists on white. At least they're fashionable thigh-high boots. And just so you know, the jacket is light enough that tropical heat won't make me, or my fellow schoolmates, sweat.

I went downstairs and had a small breakfast of orange juice and a banana.

"You should eat more than that," my grandfather, still in his pajamas, says to me. Yeah, I know he's right, but I can finish the banana and orange juice faster than a bigger breakfast.

"Bigger breakfast, bigger mess," I replied after I finished my juice and banana.

"You're not a little girl anymore," he says as he eats his pancakes. "You won't get pancakes and syrup on your school uniform."

"Better safe than sorry." Yes, this is our morning-routine-breakfast-conversation; most of the time. After I put my glass in the sink, I exit the mansion, get on my bike, and pedal off to school.

(Well, after I have pancakes with syrup at my grandmother's place.)

Little did I know that my life would get turned on its head in the next few days, and the biggest of all secrets would make themselves known to me. And just so you know, my skills as an actress would improve in the following weeks.