All for You

Chapter 41

Monday morning rolled around, and Serena had English class. Professor G was talking about adverbs, but Serena was more focused on Ash.

She felt like something changed between them. Not for the worse; not at all. They still had fun chatting together, and she felt like their conversations revolved less around pokemon and more about each other.

But Ash had started to act... strange. He looked away more often when they were talking, but not as if distracted. Serena had seen him. Ash Ketchum. Blushing. Blushing! And just the other day, he had held her hand. He wasn't leading her into the forest or helping her onto a cab, he just slipped his hand into hers. 

She glanced at Ash as she thought about this, only to find him looking at her. They both turned away, blushing.

Does he...? 

Serena decided. She was going to tell Ash how she felt. And she was going to do it before the end of the week. 

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"Hey, Dawn?"

Dawn had been packing up her bag, getting ready to walk to her Math class with Professor Kento when she looked up and saw Serena.

"Yeah? Is something wrong? You look nervous."

Serena indeed looked nervous; she was rubbing her arm, biting her lip, and looking down.

"Um, I wanted to talk to you about something..."

"EEEEEEEEEee!" Dawn shrieked quietly. Several people in the hall looked at her strangely. "You want to tell Ash how you feel!!?!" Dawn said it as more of a statement than a question.

"SHHHhh!" Serena put a hand over Dawn's mouth. "Not so loud! And how did you know?!" She whisper-yelled.

"It was obvious! You were nervous, and blushing, and smile-"

"Y'known what? It doesn't matter. Do you think I should go for it? We've only been at school for a week." Serena said nervously.

"But you travelled together for half a year! And you met him at summer camp a long time ago! He obviously likes you more than other girls, and besides, you've been crushing on him forever!"

Serena started to work herself up, almost as if she was trying to talk herself out of it. "But what if he turns me down? Or what if-"

"Serena, calm down! Ash obviously likes you! I know it."

"Really, how?" Serena bit her lip.

Dawn and Gary had agreed it was best not to tell Serena and Ash that they liked each other. That was something they had to do for themselves. Neither Gary nor Dawn could tell why they shouldn't tell Ash and Serena that they both like each other, but both they both agreed it felt wrong. So Dawn worked around the question.

"It's obvious! Besides, there's a perfect time to tell him this week! The start of the school year dance!" Dawn said excitedly.

"What? There's a dance?" Serena said, suprised.

"Yeah! Nobody's said anything yet, but I saw on the school website they're going to throw a dance this Friday. They'll probably announce it sooner than later. That means that after school, we're going dress shopping! You can invite Ash to the dance, if he doesn't invite you first because he clearly likes you, and then you can tell him there! It will be the perfect romantic setting!" Dawn was practically jumping up and down in anticipation.

"Now that sounds like a whole lot more fun than directly confessing to Ash. Let's do it!" Serena said excitedly.

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