Ash Ketchum: The Prisoner Of Cell 25

Ch. 13 Spiders

I've never cared much for Mondays. If I were the king of the world, I'd have Mondays removed from the calendar. Of course the problem in that is that Tuesday would become the new Monday, which would become the new Monday, which would defeat the purpose. Then again, if I were king of the world I probably wouldn't hate Mondays. Notwithstanding, this was one Monday I was looking forward to. I was celebrating my birthday with my mom, Clemont, and Serena at PizzaMax. What could be better than that?

As I suspected, my mother was thrilled to hear I had invited Serena, though I'm not sure if she was more excited that Serena was coming, or that I had actually gotten up the courage to ask her. We were eating breakfast when I said, "So we need to pick Serena up at the school, okay?"

   My mother smiled. "No problem."

  "I was thinking I should get her a present. Do you know what girls like?"

She smiled at me wryly. "I should hope so, I'm a girl."

"I know. I mean one my age."

"Trust me, we're all the same. We like clothes and jewelry. And flowers."

"I only have twenty-six dollars," I said.

"Does she have an iPod?"

"I think so."

"You could get her an iTunes gift card. We have them at the store."

"That's a cool present," I said.

"That way every time she listens to a song she bought with it she'll think of you."

"Mom!"

She laughed. "I'm just trying to help."

Clemont had another dentist appointment that morning, so after breakfast my mom dropped me off at school. I can't believe the difference a weekend can make. Somehow I went from zero to hero. People I didn't even know said hi to me in the hall, and the basketball team, who previously didn't know I existed, had taken to calling me "Little Norris." I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it.

That afternoon I was standing in line for hot lunch when Clemont marched up to me. "Dude, we need to talk."

"Hold on, I'm getting my lunch."

"This is more important than food."

Those were words I never thought I'd hear from Clemont's mouth. "You are serious."

"As a heart attack, dude. And we need Serena."

I looked around. "I don't know where she is."

"She's over there," he said, pointing across the crowded lunchroom. That's when I first realized Clemont had Ser-dar. I don't know why he was so much better at finding her than I was, but he definitely was. Serena was sitting at a table with five other girls. "You need to get her. Now."

"You go get her," I said.

"She won't come with me. She doesn't even remember my name."

"Yes she does. She's just teasing you."

"You're the president of the Electroclan," he said. "It's your responsibility."

I wondered what good it was being president of something if you're always being told what to do by the members. I relented. "All right."

"I'll meet you in the courtyard."

I left the lunch line and walked up to her table. Serena was in the middle of telling a story, and one of the girls nudged her when she saw me approach. Serena looked up at me. "Hi, Ash."