12Everything ((contestshipping))
It was an unexpected question. Really unexpected. And so he gave a really unexpected answer. And that unexpected answer set the Contest Hall on fire. It went a little something like this:
There was a short intermission as the stage was rearranged between battles and Lilian Meridian decided to conduct an interview on one of the top coordinators in the world. "So, Drew, it's not an unknown fact that you and May are rivals, even back when she was still a rookie and you were more experienced," the MC said. "You're friends as well, right?"
"Yes. A little friendly competition never hurts. I think it is beneficial for both parties involved," Drew answered, choosing his words carefully. Whenever May's name was mentioned, Contestshippers (yes, he knew about the fans sitting in the hall-and in all the regions, to be honest-who supported his and May's so-called 'relationship') sat on the edge of their seats, eager to twist his words romantically and post them on the Internet. And the MCs milked it for all it was worth. After all, they were two of the best coordinators and two of the most desired bachelors and bachelorettes in both Johto and Hoenn. Audience attendance and excitement were always through the roof when both of them participated.
"Right, right. Now, what if she wasn't your rival?"
"...excuse me?"
"What if May decided that she didn't want to be your rival anymore or she found someone else?"
Drew let out a soft chuckle. "That'll never happen." The squeals from the aforementioned fans echoed through the stadium.
"But if it did? What are you willing to give up to keep it from happening?"
"Everything."
It was a mistake. He blurted out the first answer that came to mind because, for some reason, anything revolving around that darn brunette made all his caution and common sense fly out the window. His cold, mysterious image. What will become of it now? He worked so hard to build up that reputation...
But the fans were eating it up. The hall immediately started up a chant: Con-test-ship-ping! Con-test-ship-ping! Drew could see cameras whirring, zooming in on his face, and staff members running around frantically, trying to find May. The breaking news headlines was probably something along the lines of "DREW HAYDEN CONFESSES UNDYING LOVE TO MAY MAPLE." The Contest Committee was going to use this to their advantage by bringing in more publicity.
"Isn't that sweet?" Lilian all but cooed at him. "I hate to end the interview here, but the stage is ready for the next contestants so let's get to it!"
It was pure torture. Drew hurriedly made his way backstage to where the participating coordinators waited for their turns. Everyone he passed in the hallways clapped, gave him a smirk, or did something to further deepen his embarrassment. God, he was nineteen years old, has been coordinating for eleven years, and has known May for nearly six. Being one of the best coordinators at his young age should be what's talked about, not (TOTALLY NOT) possible (IMPOSSIBLE HONESTLY) girl problems. Speaking of girl problems, here was the source of all his troubles.
"Hey, Drew! Solidad helped me make some adjustments to my dress just now," May grinned, twirling around for him to see. "It looks nice, right?"
So she was changing...Good. That means she didn't see the interview. He flipped his hair before giving a small nod, which was enough of an answer for her. "What is it for, though? I thought you were just watching the contest, not participating."
"I'm not, but the committee asked me to do a special performance since there are a lot of first timers here and...apparently there was some sort of petition?" she tilted her head curiously.
"Ah, most likely the May Maple Fanclub's petition."
"The MMF did?" Her blue eyes widened, voice raised an octave. Her fanclub always had great intentions, but their ways of showing support were a bit odd. "How do you know?"
"Because I'm the club's vice-president," Drew rolled his eyes. "It was on the news the other day, airhead. On nearly every single channel. It's annoying to see your face in real life, but to see it on TV even when I change the channel? There's only so much I can take."
May stuck her tongue out at him. "Imagine how I felt back when I was a rookie and you were the popular one."
"What are you talking about, Maple? I'm still the popular one."
The special stage of hers was special all right. No, Drew was not being sarcastic. May has gotten better at pairing her pokemon, creating some stunning move combos and wow-ing the audience every time. Ever since she found her own style in the coordinating world and got comfortable with being on stage, planning out an admittedly amazing appeal hasn't been difficult for her. Today was special because it was a double performance. In other words, she shared the stage with a partner.
A human partner.
A human male partner.
An attractive human male partner.
And it kind of made him sick.
The moment the curtains parted, May and her partner coming out together, her hand in his as if he was guiding her to the center of the ball room, the crowd went wild. Despite the masquerade masks covering part of their faces, May's signature brown hair, bright eyes, and dazzling smile revealed her identity. As for the man beside her...
"You really don't know who that is?" the girl beside him gasped when he asked her who the guy was. "He's, like, one of the hottest model-actors right now! Riley, born December 10th, two weeks premature, nineteen turning twenty, has a younger sister, black hair, blue eyes, height 5'11.5, shoe size 13-"
Drew got up and walked away, muttering a quick, "Yeah, thanks," but she continued to go on about Riley.
He sat in the waiting area where contestants usually stood to watch other appeals and battles. Usually, he would be somewhere else, but Drew expected May to come bounding in like she usually did. After ten minutes, though, she still hadn't showed. With a sigh, he decided to return to his own dressing room, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He came all the way from practicing in Kalos for this contest because he heard that some of the participators had high reputations and wanted to knock them down a few pegs. Despite this being his first contest in about six months, he hasn't gotten rusty.
He turned left and was about to enter his specially marked dressing room when a high pitched squeal sounded. "That's amazing! How did you do that? Show me, please?" May. "It's a secret, but I'm willing to tell you over dinner. Don't want the others learning my techniques and all." Male. Something burned in the bottom of his stomach, especially with how sleazy the guy sounded, and Drew was ready to come up and knock on the door. Which happened to be May's dressing room, right across from his. He didn't have to, though, because the door opened and May-now wearing a sundress-stepped out with Riley in tow.
"Drew!" she cooed once she saw him. "You saw the performance, right? What did you think of it?"
He nodded his head. "It was alright. I saw a few things that I would've changed, like how you used Force Palm to break the Shadow ball. The moves didn't look too good together."
"Oh, really? I thought Riley's idea was pretty good."
Drew's eyes slid to the man standing behind May. Ah, here comes his competitive ego. "There's a lot you have to learn then, kiddo. Maybe models shouldn't mess with coordinating. Just because other people can make you look good doesn't mean you can make your Pokemon look good. And that move where you guys broke Lucario's Aura Sphere with Silver Wind? It looked messy, to be honest. It would've looked better if you used Icy Wind to create a chilling visual effect, but it's honestly a rookie's mistake."
May's cheeks flushed. "That...that was my idea actually."
"Ah," Drew's mouth opened and closed without sound coming out. With a low chuckle, Riley put an arm around May's shoulders and guided her around the frozen Hayden. He raised his eyebrows at Drew before leaving.
Well, shoot.
Drew thought she was avoiding him, which was a reasonable thought because it's been four days since the last time he heard her voice at the Contest Hall. She still hasn't called him for their usual performance evaluations and was it really because she was mad about what happened?
He sighed and dialed her number on his PokeNav. Screw his pride. Getting his best friend back was more important.
"Hello?" she said after the third ring. "What's up?"
"May," there's relief in his voice. She's not ignoring him. "Do you want to meet up to-"
"May, which one do you like better?" Drew nearly choked when he heard the other person. "Oh, are you on the phone?"
There was a slight murmur as May answered the person and Drew subconsciously strained his ears to catch the words. But the exchange was over within seconds and she was back. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Who was that?"
"Just Riley," she answered offhandedly, "but what did you say before about meeting up?"
"Just Riley, huh...anyway, I was calling to ask you if you were free? We haven't had our lunch meeting yet. You know, the one we always have right after contests."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that!" Ouch. That kind of hurt. They've been doing it for years now and she straight up forgot? "You're fine with wherever? I'll just ask Riley where he wants to go and we can get together to talk!"
"Ask Ri-wait, you're not going to bring him along, are you?" At her confused Why not? his mouth twisted into a frown. "I mean, I thought this was an us thing. Something that we did. Together. And, you know, alone. Without newbies. Why the sudden change?"
"Well, he's used to reviewing pictures from photo shoots and stuff so I thought he'd be able to give good feedback. Besides, it's always been us because our other friends weren't really interested in it and were too loud. He'll be more productive than the others, too."
"I don't know about this."
"Listen, I'm in Sinnoh shopping right now. Why don't we talk about this later?" And she hung up before he could reply.
Everyone's noticed it by now, the way Drew Hayden's attention was anywhere but the place he was at. His eyes were distant and you had to call his name at least three times before he realized someone was talking. He'd walk straight into things, like a door or a coffee table, but they brushed it off. Probably thinking about some upcoming contest. Solidad knew that it wasn't the case.
"Geez, you sure you're okay?" she asked between sips of her drink. "You look a little haggard."
"I'm fine, don't worry about it," he shrugged. "You'll get wrinkles if you think too much-ow, did you just hit me?"
"Yes because one, you don't say that to a girl, much less me...and two, it's about May, isn't it?" she dismissed his bubbling protests with a hand. "You can't lie to me, kiddo. You've been this way since she started hanging out with that Riley guy. Their dating rumor is all over the tabloids, y'know."
"Trust me, I noticed," he grumbled, slouching in his seat. How could he not? Every time he checked into the Pokemon Center, there'd be magazines stacked in the waiting room. When he bought things at the PokeMart, the headlines would be staring back at him. He's heard the whispers as he passed people on the street and the gossip corner on the entertainment channels, which he watched from time to time. May Maple, New Love? Has Hayden Hit the Road? Riley Using Her for Publicity? May Using His Name? Possibly Pregna-Drew shook his head when he saw that one and had immediately asked the store owner to remove it. "Still don't understand why she's with him, though."
"Who can blame her? He's good looking and talented and treats her well. Has strong Pokemon and nice manners and the money to take her to fancy places, too."
"So do I."
"But do you?" Solidad leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Take her to fancy places, I mean. Or anywhere as a date, really. The way I see it, May got a little tired of waiting. Can you really blame her? Drew, you gave her a rose without any promises and she held onto it for months, rejecting all those other guys and, I'll be honest, I expected her to date at least one of them. And then you came back into her life like you never even left, expecting to hold onto her even though you're technically just friends."
"We are friends."
"That may be true, but look me in the eyes and tell me that it doesn't seem like something more. A lot of other people back off because they can see it, too. They can see the way you guys look at each other, like you're dating but you're not. So when Riley, Riley who's interested in her and actually shows it, appears," Solidad jabbed his forearm. "Well, you can't stop him. You're not her boyfriend."
"We're...we're just friends," he trailed off once she raised an eyebrow. "It's been that way for years."
"Drew Hayden, look me in the eyes and tell me that you're not upset. Tell me that you're not jealous. Tell me that you don't want her attention back. Look me in the eyes...and tell me that you don't like May."
He's silent.
Wow, I had planned this installment since forever...but I guess Darling took over and I've been doing kpop scenarios and things like that so I haven't been writing many fanfics lately. But it's a new year and I'm feeling inspired enough to finish this chapter that has been sitting unfinished for two years. I was just really focused on my other stories and responsibilities ^^ anyway, I hope I captured their personalities! I'm satisfied with it despite picking up the story after so long because of all the writing style changes. Oops.
Kato-chan
