Another way/Changing paths

Chapter 10: let's go!



Taking a slow walk around the city Kelly was being quiet as she's ever been with us. Every time I try striking up a conversation she just nodded mindlessly as if she were a zombie or something.

"So, Kelly why is it you don't want to be alone?"

She just shook her head and sighed, "It's not worth getting into right now..."

I noticed that she was beginning to sound the way Diamond looked, very dull and monotone. Even so I didn't want to press the issue right now.

Looking up I saw the restaurant that Diamond and I were going to go to earlier. Still feeling hungry from before I asked, "Hey how about we go get something to eat?"

"I'm sorry Brian; I must be acting very weird right now aren't I?" She said while still continuing to look at the ground and avoiding my question.

"Hey look I'm not sure what happened between the two of you, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy myself here. Even if that means that I have to spend time with my Pokémon, I'm not going to walk around here with a gloomy attitude."

"I know and I'm sorry...please forgive me..." She said with the same dull tone.

Shaking my head I started to walk away from her and towards the restaurant. I was quite serious about not about having a gloomy attitude and I didn't want to be around anyone like that either.

Checking both of my sides on the ground I noticed that Diamond wasn't walking with me. Looking backwards I could see Diamond, looking up staring at Kelly. Although her facial expression never changed, though I could see that she wasn't going to move from the spot that Kelly was standing in.

That's when I could see Kelly's shoulders shivering quickly, and that she brought her hands up to her face and covered it. She began to let out a low pitch wail, which was telling me that she was now crying.

"Aww hell was that because of me?" I muttered to myself.

Now walking back over to where Kelly with my head hung low. I mean I didn't like dealing with vague 'BS', but I didn't like the fact that I made the girl cry.

Stopping in front of her I carefully lifted my right hand I slowly placed it on her shoulder. "Hey stop that right now." I said in a growing concerned voice. "Let's just go get something to eat and talk this over. Trust me it'll make you feel better."

She stopped with the loud crying and brought it down to a low whimper. She nodded and folded her arms in front of her.

'Wow, coming from a girl who's an extremely talented trainer...such a vulnerable side makes me feels even worst.' I thought to myself as we started making our way towards the restaurant. 'Again this should all be Brandon's fault; he should be here right now tending to her not me.

Diamond followed close behind as we made our way inside. Occasionally glancing backwards and looking at her as we entered I could see her eyes shoot wide open.

This made me quickly look back towards where she was staring, and my mouth nearly fell off my face. The inside of the restaurant look much larger than it did on the outside. It didn't give off the sense of being overwhelmed by its creative inner beauty.

It had a large statue of a Pokémon in the center of the room, though I'm not really sure what it is. It looked to be some sort of bug type I couldn't really tell though. A black ceiling with a large crystal chandelier hang from the top, while violet velvet drapes were on the edge windows. The seats seem to be made out of some sort of leather, and looked very comfortable.

"Now this is a place fit for a king!" I said to myself, but loud enough for my female companions to hear.

I noticed that Kelly was closer in my arm and leaning against me. She began to dry her face as we entered the building.

Standing behind a counter, we were greeted a waitress wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt. She had a farm girl like accent, but I could tell she tried to disguise it as she spoke to us. "Good evening, my name is Anna and I'll be serving you today." I could detect a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but paid no mind to it as she spoke. "Table for two correct?"

"Yes, and also a spot for my Pokémon." I said guiding my left down to Diamond.

She gave a slight smile and nodded towards us. Reaching on the side of the counter she removed two menus and said, "Follow me please."

Following behind the woman at an even pace so we wouldn't be too far or too close to her as she guided us to our table.

Upon reaching our table she held a hand out showing us towards our seats. It was a booth that was near the windows that didn't have much see out of, except the streets.

The booths curved around the table, so I allowed Kelly to take her seat first. She still remains quiet as she did before, not even looking up at the waitress. She continued to look at the table showing her obvious depressed behavior.

Taking a slight sigh I sat down on the other side and Diamond took her place beside me on the floor. Looking down at her to see her sit on her haunches , she must have been thinking the same thing as she glance up at me, but quickly turned away from me as met my gaze.

The waitress must have sensed something wrong with us she said, "You three look like ya'll need a pick-me-up! How about a get some appetizers on the house?" looking down at Diamond she smiled and said, "Even you."

With that I watched her gingerly spin around on her heels and took off walking, I noticed that she didn't even ask what we wanted to eat.

Turning my attention back to Kelly I saw that she was now looking at me, she had a look to her that was hard to tell what kind of emotion she was feeling now.

"Kelly if you want to talk about anything I'll more than happy to listen."

A small twitch shook her head as she closed her eyes and bit down lightly on her lower lip.

I normally could care less what someone else was feeling especially one of my brother's girlfriends. Now that I just think about it like that way though makes me seem like a really bad person. I know how important it is to have a close bond with ones Pokémon, but humans never really interested me that much.

Maybe I need to take a page from Brandon's book and open myself up to others. I know how tough it can be to open yourself to others from personal experience, but she and I are traveling together. We need to understand each other if we are to continue to do so.

I thought that she and Brandon had a special relationship, but from what I can see she haven't told him anything about what could make her tick.

There was still a hint of nervousness about her when she opened her mouth to speak. "Brian..." She whispered followed by a long pause. "I need to tell you something, but you must first promise that you won't ever tell anyone."

I gave her a slight nod.

She shook her head and said, "You must promise me."

I guess this must be her way of letting someone in with trust. "Okay promise."

She looked around the room and then back to me while leaning her head in closer. I assume whatever it is she has to tell me she doesn't want anyone else to hear.

I leaned in closer as well to meet her half way so she wouldn't have to lean so far. "So...are you going to tell me?" I asked out of a hint of annoyance. I then began to slide over closer to where she was so we wouldn't have to poke our head out towards each other across the table.

With a slight adjustment she slid a tad bit closer to where I was. A bit of nervousness crept found its way in me, as I felt myself starting to blush.

"Well Brian..." She paused for a moment and then continued. "My family was killed in a fire."

There was an awkward silence that feels the air between us. I didn't know what to say, there was nothing to say. I mean what I could say to someone who just told me that they lost their parents. I just waited for her to continue it wasn't too long before she began speaking again.

"It's been about ten years now, I'll never forget that horrible day when I lost everything." She no longer looked my way only straight forward as she continued. "It was a day after my birthday and some of my family was staying at my house for the week. I remember my mother and father working inside of the kitchen, cleaning up after the mess we had made a day before. They were so happy just so long as they were together. My aunt and uncle were there as well, but they were sleep in the guess room just down the hall from where we were playing."

That's when it hit me like a sack of enlarged Pokéballs, 'She doesn't like being alone because of this...she must have been alone for a very long time. But why would she want to travel with us?' I thought to myself as she continued.

"Then, when everything seem to have been going so well the smoke alarm went off...I was in the other room with my sister and cousin playing. I heard the alarm; I mean we all did just..." She collected herself and then continued. "I was only seven at the time I thought my parents had everything under control so we didn't pay any mind to it."

I adjusted myself into a more comfortable position in the booth. I could tell that she was having a hard time trying to explain this to me. Why doesn't she want to explain all this to Brandon? The more I kept thinking about what she was saying the more questions started piling up. I think it's better to just wait for her to just finish with what she has to say.

"Well one of the few time in my life...I was wrong. I could hear the screams coming from the kitchen...While the very loud screeches of the smoke alarm continue ringing...."

She began to trail off in deep though, by this time the waiter came back to us. She no longer had the cheery sarcastic look in her face, but more of a concerned one.

"Here you both are order of: Cheese sticks and nachos and for the Glaceon here are chopped mixed berries just to start you guys off for the night. Have you made your decision?"

I could see that she was directing the question towards me; Kelly seemed to be on another planet. I guess she must have noticed her.

"Not yet mam," I said looking up at her and then back to Kelly "Could you give us another ten minutes please that'll be wonderful."

Not allowing the furrowed brows on her blonde head to leave, she gave me a slight nod and spun on her heels and took uneven paces away from the two of us.

"I wonder what's on her mind." I mumbled to myself so that Kelly couldn't hear me.

"I'm sorry Brandon...err...Brian, I'm so sorry." She apologized shaking her head. "I'm not all here right now, but I'll continue."

With a slight nod as confirmation to continue she started by saying, "What all seem to be the greatest day in my life turned out to be the nightmare." She slid closer to me in the booth, though still looking straight ahead. "Well my sister and cousin were both younger than I was so they looked towards me for what to do. Seeing how no grown-ups ran inside to help I told them to stay in my room where I thought it would be safe..."

My eyes widen as I saw her tremble in fear of the recalling the event. 'God she must be thinking about it now...'

"By the time I made it out of my room and into the hallway there was thick smoke already making its way all around the house. It became so difficult to breathe and I couldn't see anything the only thing that was on my mind was to see that my family was safe..." A small tear rolled down her face as she spoke. "When I made it towards the end and reached for the door it was so hot I could barely grab on to it. Once I was finally able to get it open, I saw an image that'll hunt me for the rest of my life."

I didn't need to think about what it could have been; the multitude of forming tears in her eyes said it all.

"My parents were on the other side that was almost completely on fire. I could see the body of my father in a corner of the kitchen and my mother was near the door. Thing was she was still alive; she was fading in and out of consciousness. When I touched her, her eyes shot wide open and pulled me into a very tight hug."

All the tears that were building up on her face were now falling to the table.

Instinctively I reached up and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Here she was, coming completely out with her feeling and revealing her horrible past to not even her lover, but his brother. To think I had been suspicious of this girl for no reason and all she wanted to do was to have fun with us and not be alone anymore. Wow if that doesn't make a person feel like shit...

"She used every ounce of strength left inside of her dying body and lifted me up and carried me out of the house...I tried to fight her off me so I could go get my siblings, but her grip was too tight. To be honest I don't even think she could hear me; she looked to be dead on her feet as we made it towards the front door that lead outside. That's when she collapsed and dropped me, at the time I couldn't understand why but now I do. Because then I could feel a pair of hands wrap around me tightly and pull me away..."

She looked towards me and smiled reaching up towards my face she rubbed her hand across my cheek. Apparently she wiped away a tear that I didn't even know was falling down on my face.

"Oh, Kelly I'm so sorry..." I blurted out without even thinking.

"It's ok...men cry too you know." She said with a smile

"No, not for that for your past and me not wanting to trust you..."

"Again its ok I don't usually tell people that story, but since we're traveling together I thought we should all know each other. Plus I owe your brother an apology he doesn't know any of this, and I slapped him without telling him why I don't like/want to be alone."

I pulled her in closer for a hug to help console her and myself. I then added, "So, who was it that pulled you away?"

She was beginning to relax in my arms, but tensed back up once she heard that question. "Oh, yeah the arms belong to a firefighter. As he pulled me away I could see my mother face once last time; do you know what kind of expression she had on it?"

Out of respect and not wanting to sound stupid I simply shook my head.

"She had a smile on her face."

"I can assume that she must have passed away happy?" I said as a weird form of lightening the mood.

"Yeah atleast I'd like to think so...anyway so nobody in my family survived the fire I was the only one. It was later found out that my aunt and uncle tried to get my sister and cousin out of the room, but the smoke overtook them all before they even made it out of the hall."

After a moment or two of silence I finally said, "Kelly that's horrible...what did Brandon tell you that made you think of this?" I asked her now that the question was floating in my head.

She shrugged and said, "He said that 'it must be great to live by yourself, without someone checking up on you every once and awhile about every move you make.' And I told him that I didn't have a choice but to live alone." Her tone began to turn into a dark angry one. "He said that 'with a face and body like yours you should be able to have any guy you want!' Hehe..." She threw in the laugh at the end.

Releasing her from my grip from around her I straighten myself and took the tips of my fingers and rubbed them against the temples on my head. Sounds exactly like something Brandon would say. "Let's just get something to eat for now and get some rest afterwards. Tomorrow we can put all of this behind us, okay?"

With a nod she picked up a cheese stick and bit into it. We continued to talk with each other while we ate for about five more minutes. Taking care not to say anything that would remind her of the past.

Our waitress arrived shortly afterwards she was still sporting the concerned look on her face. But it quickly changed once she saw how happy we were.

"I assume ya'll must have work thang's out...oops...sorry." She said with some embarrassment of correcting her accent.

Looking over to Kelly who was just smiling, I turned to the waitress and said, "Yeah I guess you can say we have."

"That's wonderful to hear," she said in a more refine voice with very little or no trace of the southern accent. "Are you all ready to order?"

"Aww..." She looked at me confused. "I liked your accent." I said that mainly to tease her, though to try and not act so "fake".

A small blush spread across her face as she cleared her throat, "Well management don't really like when ah talk like this." She said with her very heavy accent influencing her voice.

Pulling out a couple of hundred of Pokédollars, I stuffed them inside the pouch that was hanging in front her. "That's what I think about the management, please no need to hold back in front of us." I said with a wink.

Kelly was just sitting there smiling as if nothing was happening. Looking down at Diamond I could see that she had eaten everything that was in her dish and was just looking up at me with the same dull expression.

After placing our orders we talked a little more with each other. Mostly about battling tips strategies and tactics. We also talked about some of the wild and crazy adventures we had been through. The more and more I talked to her I could see why Brandon liked her so much.

Not long afterwards our food had arrived. I had ordered a steak with a small salad, Kelly ordered some sort of soup (I wasn't really paying too much attention to her ordering.), and for Diamond I order some special Poké food and a few Poffins.

Another good thirty minutes seem to have come and went by the time we were finished eating. Taking a nice long stretch followed by a long yawn I could see that Diamond was doing the same.

Looking back up to Kelly to see that she was just staring at me I said, "So you ready to head to the room?"

"Yeah." She replied with a slight nod.

Getting up from our table I left a note and one thousand Pokédollars on the table. The note said, 'this is for the bill, the rest is yours.' I knew the bill wasn't much and amounted to nowhere near one thousand Pokédollars, but I was feeling generous.

"Alright then..." I said standing from the booth, "Let's go."