The Theory of Grey | Pokémon X

Nine | Involuntary Shenanigans

I stared in surprise at the boy standing outside my room. His charming smile never went away, even though I kept a stupidly alarmed expression on my face. Considering what I was shouting before I saw that it was him, the embarrassment slowly crept up behind me. The heat had already begun to burn my cheeks as I tightened my grip on the doorknob. Jeez, why do I always embarrass myself like this?!

In an attempt to snap myself out of the shock, I brought my hand in a fist near my mouth and coughed. However, I might have made it more awkward. I hesitantly moved my gaze to the side in order to avoid eye contact.

"What are you doing here?" I asked casually.

"I'm staying here for the night, but that's not why I'm specifically in front of your room." He whipped out a plastic card from his pocket, one that had my picture with my information on it. "You dropped this back when he ran into each other."

Shit! I should've suspected something was missing. There was always this gut feeling whenever I either forget to bring something or something I own was missing. That explained why I haven't been feeling easy since I checked in at the Pokémon Center.

"...Thanks," I mumbled as I hesitantly took my ID out of his hand.

"No problem, Emilia." He smirked. "Nice name by the way. It suits a beautiful girl like yourself."

I felt a heavy blush beginning to form on my cheeks as my entire face burned. Compliments never sat right with me, and for a rather attractive guy like him to compliment me like that made me feel something I didn't even know I could feel.

"Since I now know your name, perhaps I should introduce myself," he suggested. "My name is Jay."

"Nice to meet you... again," I managed to speak without stuttering.

"Likewise." He turned away. "I should get going though. I thought I'd just stop by to return your ID."

"How'd you know I was here?" I wondered.

"Nurse Joy told me," he answered. "I would've had Nurse Joy give it to you herself, but I didn't mind going through the trouble. Besides, it gave me an excuse to talk to you."

Whatever embarrassment that previously subsided now returned full force. I used one hand to cover my face, which made Jay chuckled in amusement. I threw a glare at him, but he didn't seem fazed by it. It was his fault I was like this!

"W-Whatever!" I scolded.

"You're pretty feisty, aren't you?" He winked, making the blush on my face darken no doubt. "I guess I'll leave you to it. Until we meet again, Emilia."

With that, he walked away, my eyes lingering on his retreating figure. I rolled my eyes and went back to my room, closing the door behind me. A heavy sigh left my lips as I put away my ID. Thankfully, the heat from my face subsided, but the encounter would probably linger longer than I'd like. I tried to forget about it long enough as I got ready for bed.

After changing out of my normal clothes and into my pajamas, I walked to the light switch and turned off the lights. I made my way over to the bed and snuggled into the covers. Oh my, this blanket was so warm.

Still, despite my comfort, I began to recall that encounter with Jay. We crossed paths unintentionally, and he was the first guy I met in this region that wasn't so pushy on trying to be friends in an instant. His flirting was annoying, but at least I knew what his intentions were; he perhaps wanted nothing more than a fling with me for the night and then we'd go back to being strangers the next morning. If I was that naive to think otherwise, I would've gotten hurt. I was alert when that first compliment left his mouth.