A Journey's Link

Chapter 36 - Opposition

"Your rival?" Chloe repeated, staring at the blue-haired girl standing before her. To Chloe, Miette seemed friendly, as she wore a huge and welcoming smile on her face. Her eyes, however, held a glint of mischief, throwing Chloe off guard a little bit. "Rival in what?" She asked Serena, who was intently staring at Miette.

"In Performing," she said, tilting her head to the side. "And other things," she added, alluding to the rivalry between her and Miette for Ash's attention. Granted, she always had a feeling that Miette wasn't truly fighting for his attention, but she still hated to see her winning that battle on some occasions.

"Hi Serenaaaaa," Miette said coyly, giving off a sarcastic and playful vibe. "Hey Miette," Serena squeaked, slightly intimidated by Miette's overall presence. Serena remembered back to when she was constantly teased by Miette due to her feelings for Ash, and how embarrassed she used to get.

Miette walked past the two and towards the front desk, where Nurse Joy instructed her to place her trainer ID on the screen, a process that, like Serena, she had been through many times. While she did so, Chloe whispered to Serena, "So, you and her have a rivalry?" Serena nodded and continued to not take her eyes off of Miette, who had just received a checkmark on the screen indicating she was now signed up for the Performance.

"Is it about you and Ash?" Chloe asked innocently. Serena shockingly turned towards Chloe with a slight red tint on her face. "W-What do you mean me and Ash?" She asked nervously. It wouldn't necessarily surprise her if Chloe found out, but another person knowing meant another person that could potentially tell Ash.

Instead of a straightforward answer, Chloe just smirked and shrugged in an act of teasing. Serena was about to question Chloe again when she felt a small tap on her shoulder. She already knew who she would see when she turned around, but it still shocked her as she saw Miette looking with a big grin on her face.

"It's been a while, hasn't it!" Miette chirped, much to Serena's surprise. Is she being...nice? Serena thought. Miette had also been friendly towards Serena, but she never missed an opportunity to poke fun at her crush on Ash. "It...has," Serena warily replied, worried that Miette would begin making fun of her.

Miette nodded and looked at Chloe. "Are you a new Performer?" she asked curiously. Chloe shook her head and said, "I'm just here to watch Serena perform." Miette frowned at this statement and said, "Well, you should just watch me because I'm a lot better at performing than she is." She tauntingly pointed at Serena as she said this, causing Serena's face to go red in anger.

"What did you say!?" Serena yelled, getting closer to Miette out of spite. Miette cackled and exclaimed, "I'm just messing with you! Don't get so worked up over nothing!" I didn't think it was very funny, Serena thought. Miette finished laughing and sighed, "It's just like when I teased you about Ash. You took it so seriously!"

"Erk!" Serena exclaimed, caught off guard by Miette's mention of Ash's name. Miette smirked and said, "Whatever. That's all in the past. I only teased you so that you would tell Ash about your feelings for him." This shocked Serena, as she truly thought that Miette was seriously trying to get Ash's attention the whole time.

"You didn't actually like Ash," Serena croaked, still shocked by Miette's statement. Sure, she thought that it was weird that Miette was always pushing Serena to tell Ash how she felt, but she never would've guessed the reason behind it. "No, of course not!" Miette exclaimed, a genuine smile on her face. "I just enjoyed teasing you about it because I wanted you to do something about it."

"She still hasn't," Chloe snickered behind the two. Serena was about to shove her hand over Chloe's mouth to silence her, but the message had already gotten through to Miette. "I thought after all this time, you would've said something!" She exclaimed, holding back her laughter.