• Chapter 2: May's rescue, Mat's ordeal

    Back at his house, Mat tried to distract himself from this afternoon's girl incident by playing on his Wii. Deciding between Dawn, the girl who kissed him, or May, the girl who was closer to his age, was giving him too much frustration, so he had to let it out. And what better way to do that than play his newly aquired Sonic Unleashed game. He was smashing dark beasts as Sonic The Werehog like a pro. But no matter how much he fought, the thoughts in his head wouldn't leave him alone. Both of them were cute in their own unique way, and for some reason, he seemed to feel hypnotised by that cute charm they had.

    After getting tired, and exhausted, from playing, he switched it off and jumped onto his bed. "Now, what to do about this," he said. "Hmmm...... I know! That field trip to the pool in Viridian City for our class tomorrow! Because Dawn has an appointment to go to the same day, she won't make it. I can explain to May about what happened earlier.... but if I do that, she'll get upset. What will I do?"

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    Day 2: 34 hours remain

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    The day of the field trip came, and Dawn was absent because of her appointment. Mat sat at the back of the bus, staring out the window. May walked to the back and sat with him. She wondered about why he kept staring at the forest trees. "Hi, Mat," she said. He jumped upon hearing her voice and quickly looked in her direction. "May! Don't startle me like that!" he said.

    "Sorry. I just wanted to see if you were okay. You look like you were messed up in a fight or something."

    "I was on my new game. I played for so long that I was sore all over. But don't worry about me. I'm a fast healer," he said with a nervous chuckle. But then, he felt his hand touching hers. It seemed to make him exert a lot of body heat. "Hey, can you promise me something?" she said.

    "What is it, May?" he asked.

    "Well, Mat, if something happens at the pool, and if I drown, will you be able to rescue me? It just that, um, I feel that today's not going to go so smoothly than I hope. Especially since I heard that the other special class will be joining us."

    "You mean the one with Ash, Misty, and Bianca in it?"

    "Yep!" she said. "That class. I heard that they got a new guy signed up. They also say he's a troublemaker who like to mess with girls."

    "I see. A sexual harasser, huh? Don't worry, May. He goes after you, then I'm going werehog on him!"

    "Oh, you were playing that new Sonic game, huh?"

    "Yep! Just got to the final area's night stages. And in record time, too."

    She congradulated him a little. Yep, that's Mat for you, she thought. A fierce battler, both in challenge matches and in gaming. She sat there, blushing while staring from the corner of her eye.

    At the swimming pool, everyone was getting ready for the free swim. But they had to be careful. Most of the time, they used it for battles, so it was pretty deep at one end. Mat walked out of the change rooms in green shorts. He didn't have the tattoo on because it would shrink on him and make his arm go numb. As he stood there, stretching, she saw May walk out in a bright red bikini with hearts on it. She gracefully dove in after Mat, and soon everyone was changed and swimming.

    May stayed close to him for a while and then went underwater to see how long she could hold her breath. Mat dared her to try for more than a minute, which could put a little stress on the lungs, especially since the pressure at the bottom was a bit higher than when above water. Ash and Misty swam up to him while May was still at the bottom. Ash was in black shorts, and Misty had on what looked like a Goldeen suit. "So, you're that guy who owns that super-fast Riolu, right?" asked Misty.

    "Yeah, that's me," Mat said.

    "I've had my eye on you for quite some time now," Ash said. "My Pikachu's been itching to take your Riolu on since you entered that special class."

    Then, a spot near them started bubbling, and May surfaced, startling them except Mat. She took in a big breath of air and swam back to the bottom. "What's May doing?" Misty asked.

    "I dared her to try and hold her breath for as long as possible," he said. "She almost went over a minute there."

    Both Ash and Misty peered down and saw her. She held onto the wall to keep herself from floating back up. "Will she be okay doing this?" Ash asked.

    "Anything happens, and I'll pull her up to breathe," Mat replied.

    May came back up a minute and a half later. She felt proud, and a little light-headed. Her heart was beating pretty fast. Ash and Misty had left to keep the new guy away from Bianca. He kept following her like a stalker. "I'm going for a drink. Want anything?" Mat asked May.

    "I'm good," she answered. Mat climbed out and walked through the change room, getting a few quarters for an iced tea. Once he was out of sight, the new guy approached her. He had purple hair, and an evil look in his eyes. When Mat had his drink and got back, he noticed that the new guy was looking down in the deep end, grinning. The area around him was bubbling. He was up to something. "Yo, new guy! What's going on?" he yelled.

    The moment the guy heard him, he quickly did a Homer Simpson scream and looked at him. "What's it to ya?"

    "If you're up to something, then scram! I don't need anyone trying to harass May today."

    "If you're talking about the cute brown-hair girl, then there's nothing wrong. We're just having some fun."

    Mat didn't believe a thing the guy said. He jumped in and grabbed him. "OK, spill! Where's May?!" he snapped.

    The guy smirked evilly. "Try looking at the bottom," he said. Mat poked his head down into the water. May was trying to come up for air, but her foot was caught in one of those cages that they used for wavepools. Mat jabbed him in the stomach and dove in after her. But then the water started moving up and down. Someone had turned on the waves for the pool. Mat tried to reach her, but then had to go back up for a breath. He managed to fight through the waves and free her. But just as he did, May coughed up her last bit of air bubbles and blacked out. Mat quickly brought her up and everyone else got out when they saw them. "Hey, lifeguard!" he yelled. "We need you over here, stat!"

    As the lifeguard did her thing, Mat sat close by. "Do you know how this happened to her?" asked the lifeguard.

    "You bet your life I do!" he said, his body shaking with anger. He quickly turned around and pointed at the same guy he slugged. "That guy dragged her and stuck her foot in the cage down there! May couldn't even come back up to breathe!!"

    Just then, Professor Oak walked in and up to Mat. He had volunteered to teach the class that him and May were in. Another teacher came up to the other guy and confronted him. "Harley, is what that boy said true?" she sternly asked the purple-haired guy. He tried to cover it up, but didn't seem to work. Mat told the professor the whole story and they looked at Harley. "Thank you for notifying me, Mat. We'll deal with him later. Right now, we have to make sure May will be able to breathe again."

    Harley was escorted out, and Mat went back to watching May closely. The lifeguard rushed to her co-workers for something to help revive her. Mat's eyes began to water. He didn't want to lose one of his best friends before the dance. With tears flowing, he hugged May tightly. So tight, in fact, that quite a bit of water was forced out of her. Because of this, she started coughing up more water and began to breathe again. When the lifeguard came back, she noticed that Mat held May in his arms. She needed more time to recover, but she was alive. "Damn it, if only I didn't leave her," he said.

    "It's OK, Mat," May said weakly. "You kept your promise to me. I'll be alright soon."

    After both classes left the area and got out for the rest of the day, Professor Oak chased after Mat. A news reporter and a cameraman were right behind him. They interviewed him and the professor about what happened earlier in Viridian City. Mat tried to keep his calm while answering and got over his nervousness when they left. "So, what's the status with that Harley guy, Professor?" Mat asked.

    "It was rough, and he kept trying to deceive us with terrible lies. But as for his punishment, he has been expelled for endangering the life of another student," Professor Oak answered. "We would have never known about all this if you hadn't pointed out what Harley did. You're a real hero, Mat."

    Later that night, Dawn went over to Mat's house to show him the gown she was going to wear to the dance. He was watching the news channel when she walked in. They were showing images of what Mat had done to save May. "Whoa! Dawn, what are you doing here?!" he said, surprised.

    "I wanted to get your opinion about something, but I can see that you're busy right row," she said. "What's on?"

    "The news. I just saved the life of one of my classmates."

    She sat down next to him and watched. It was showing the interview, and Dawn saw that Mat was on TV. "Hey, Dawn?" Mat asked.

    "What is it?" she said.

    "Can you call May to come here for a second? I have something to confess to you two."

    Dawn quickly pulled out her cell phone and called her. May arrived shortly, still carrying her bag for reasons unknown, and Mat gathered them into his room. He was trembling a little when he spoke. "Girls, I have to tell you something important, about the dance. You see.... I, not knowingly, agreed to go to the dance with both of you."

    "What?!" said both May and Dawn at the same time.

    "And May, I accidentally agreed to go with you because I was in a daydream," Mat continued. "Now I just don't know what to do about it. I want to go with someone, but I also don't want to break either of your hearts."

    "Ohh.... thank you for telling us. It must have been hard to gather up the courage to confess," said May.

    Mat felt really down. His Riolu came up to them and tried to help cheer him up. It didn't work. "With how things are going right now, maybe I shouldn't go to the dance," Mat said.

    "All three of us will go to that dance!" snapped May. "It's just that, how can we make it so it's like you're only dating one of us?"

    "Hmm....... I might have a solution. I'll explain it tomorrow after school," Dawn said.

    "I hope it'll make it so I won't lose any of my best friends."

    "No need to worry, right?" she said.

    "That's when we worry the most, remember?"

    "I'm a little worried myself," May said. She had her hands between her legs. "I think I swallowed too much water earlier. Can I use your bathroom?"

    "Better get a move on. My dad's gonna be home early, and he's not exactly the kind of guy who'd want friends over. You should go too, Dawn."

    May was already in the closest bathroom when Dawn left. Somehow, this turned out better than he expected. At first, he thought that they'd would get mad at him, or start a catfight. He felt quite relieved. As he layed on his bed, Riolu came up to him. "Well, I might be able to pull this off, but I'll need some help so we don't blow it and get found out. What do you think?"

    Riolu pointed to a photo of one of Mat's other friends who was in the beginner's class. The girl in the photo had white hair, pale blue eyes, and a green and white swimsuit with two bells hanging from the back. Her name was Aoi. Last time Mat saw her was a few weeks ago. She had one of the most beautiful Vaporeon that ever existed. If anyone could help, it was her. "Rio," said his Riolu.

    "Good thinking, Riolu," Mat said. "I haven't hooked up with Aoi for a while. She could keep an eye out for anyone trying to steal away May or Dawn, then would radio me if some idiot tried to make his move. She owes me a favor anyways, so I'll see if she's available."

    Finally, May walked out and let out a big stretch. She saw that Mat was alone. Riolu was inside its ball, resting. Mat just got the phone when he saw May walk into his room. "Whoa, you took longer than I thought," he said.

    "I guess," she replied. "Where's Dawn?"

    "She left already. You should get moving too. Dad'll be home any second."

    "Well, that could be a problem. My house has a Rattata infestation and my mother hired an exterminator. We had to clear out for the night, so I have nowhere to stay. Mind if I bunk with you?" she asked.

    "You're not serious, right?!" he said. "My parents will freak!"

    "I called them before I came. They said it was all right, especially since I mentioned that you saved me."

    Mat's face went red. One of his closest female friends, sleeping over at his place. And he didn't have a bunk bed. Would he have to share a blanket with May? He tried not to think about it again by playing Sonic Unleashed again. That, and he liked doing the howling thing in the night stages.

    When it was time to sleep, May crawled in with Mat, who's face was still red. They stared at each other, blushing. May held onto Mat's hand under the blanket. "I've been thinking about what to do after you saved me from drowning," she whispered. "It's just that, um, I...."

    May slowly leaned her head closer to him. With eyes closed, cheeks blushing, she pressed her lips against his. But for some reason, Mat didn't resist and they continued to kiss. It felt like that moment would last forever, but they eventually had to let go. They needed to sleep, or they would be too tired for the dance, which was only 19 hours from now.

    As the night progressed, May kept having dreams about being underwater. It didn't seem to bother her because Mat was also in them. Then she started to feel a little funny. She woke up slowly and noticed that she accidentally wet herself. Uh oh! she thought. OK, no more late night drinks for me. Oh, I hope I didn't stain his mattress. May quickly changed and decided to ignore it and go back to sleep.