Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Below The Surface ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Below the Surface

by arcadejunkie

Author's Note: If you read this far, I am sure that you have already seen the warnings, so I'll spare you
from them. Sorry about the long wait for this part. I know that it's not that good, considering the fact that
I almost lost the whole feel for this fic. I decided to acknowledge this fic's existence, because it's SPRING
BREAK! YAHOO!

Disclaimer: Oops! I forgot the disclaimer on the last chapters, so here goes: If I owned pokemon, I
wouldn't study for exams because I would be set for life.

Part 5

Miss. Freeman's POV

I quickly ran after Satoshi, trying to talk to him, but he silently sat down on his chair, shuddering. He
was completely ignorant of the presence of the other students, who were whispering to each other about
his strange behavior.

When I entered the room, all of the students halted in their whispering. Their eyes followed me as I
moved to Satoshi's desk.

I shuddered, feeling nervous from the unusual silence and full attentiveness of my students.

"Maybe you should go home..." I suggested, feeling sick to my stomach. I glanced at my other students.
A few of them were still whispering, but most of them were behaving.

He shook his head.

"Satoshi..It's okay...You didn't do anything wrong." I told him, knowing that my words sounded feeble. I
knew that I wasn't going to make things better by sending him home, but the words still came out.

"I...can't..." he whispered hoarsely, his eyes searching mine for understanding.

"Satoshi...It's my responsibility to send you home if you can't continue with school" I started sharply,
feeling frustrated at my inability to sound confident. A part of me protested along with Satoshi about
what I was saying.

Satoshi's eyes withered, as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I can't!" he yelled sharply. He was soon aware
of his classmates when they all gasped at his outburst. "I can't..." he repeated in a whisper, sitting down
on his desk with a flushed face.

I knew that I had no choice now. If I surrendered after Satoshi's outburst, the other students would
become unruly.

"Go to the office." I whispered standing up. I closed my eyes so I couldn't look into Satoshi's eyes.

I could hear Satoshi sobbing. Each sob cut into my heart, making me shudder.

"Please...Miss Diane..." he started.

I hardened my heart more. "Go. Now." I stated coldly. I knew that I wouldn't be able to deny him again.

Fortunately, Satoshi turned around and walked to the office with slumped shoulders and shuffling steps.

***

I walked to class the next morning looking around for Whitney. I saw her talking to another teacher. I
knew that they were talking about me, because the other teacher glanced at me occasionally, with a
criticizing expression on their face.

When I walked by, Whitney and the other teacher stopped talking. They only stared at me with
disapproval in their eyes.

Their eyes seemed to burn into the back of my skull.

I shuddered and walked to my classroom as quickly as possible. When I arrived, I let out a sigh, taking
out my attendance sheet.

I was surprised to find Satoshi sitting in the back seat of the classroom. His eyes were red and puffy, and
his hair was all messed up. He was slouching in his chair. His eyes were unfocused.

I started to feel sick, but I grabbed a piece of chalk and started my lesson. My voice shook as I spoke.
Everything felt so hazy.

My voice sounded robotic to my own ears, and I could tell that my students were getting even more
bored than usual.

I tried to think about Giovanni to calm myself down. I tried to remember his casual smile that always made
my heart race every time I thought about him. Instead, I associated his name with the looks he gave
Satoshi.

Satoshi. It always came back to Satoshi. I just wanted to forget about him.

I could hear him screaming when I was having dinner with Giovanni. How he had insisted that his name
was Ash.

I dropped the piece of chalk from my hand. I was getting a headache. I couldn't continue. A few the more
attentive students looked confused when I suddenly stopped speaking.

"Miss Diane?" A boy sitting in the front asked.

"I..." my voice caught in my throat. I looked at Satoshi, hoping that his eyes would show some energy.

His dispassionate eyes seemed to mock me.

"You...can have an early recess..." I said quietly, hoping that nobody would notice how frazzled I was.

All the kids ran outside, excited about an early recess. They were going to have first choice on all the
best parts of the playground.

Satoshi watched them go, before he stood up from his seat. He limped noticeably. I could tell that it was
ankle from the way it dragged down on the floor.

"Satoshi. Stop." I said quietly.

He ignored me.

"Satoshi! Stop!" I yelled, putting emphasis on the word, "Satoshi."

I ran to the door, blocking his way. I didn't know why. I just had to talk to him. I didn't want him to run off
as he usually did.

"Let me look at that ankle." I whispered.

"Get out of the way..." he whispered, sounding terrified.

"Let me look at that ankle first..." I repeated, sounding desperate. I choked down a sob. "Please..."

Satoshi took a step back. I could see him wince when he stepped on his hurt ankle.

I put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. Ash let out a loud gasp, falling to the ground. "Don't touch
me." he whispered, looking up at me with terror.

"Ash...it's just me. I won't hurt you." I promised. I didn't realize that I had called him Ash until I finished
talking.

He seemed to calm down at the use of his real name. He stopped shuddering when I took off his sneaker
and pulled down his sock to get a better view of his ankle.

I let out a soft gasp when I saw his injury. His ankle was red and swollen. It was twisted strangely and
it was obviously broken.

"Satoshi-What happened?!" I asked, wincing inwardly from using the wrong name.

Ash turned away, and started to put on his shoe again.

"You can't walk on that..." I pointed out, looking away. "You're ankle is broken."

"No it's not. It's fine."

"Satoshi...Will you tell me what's going on here?!" I asked in a sudden burst of outrage and confusion. I
knew part of the answer, but a part of me wanted him to deny it so I could go along with my normal life.

"Just...leave me..alone..." he whispered.

Something paralyzed me when he walked by. His fists shook as he walked through the pain with quiet
dignity.

***

Giovanni stood by my room patiently after all the students had been picked up by their parents. He
casually leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets. The smile on his face wiped away all
the confusion I had felt lately. I held his hand, but he didn't squeeze his hand back.

"Where's Satoshi?" he asked gruffly.

My heart went cold at this. The playground outside was completely deserted. I put my hand on the side
of my face, feeling sick again.

"Where's Satoshi?" Giovanni repeated. His calm demeanor had instantly disappeared.

"I-I don't know..." I choked out.

Giovanni swore and pounded his fist against the side of the doorway. "Can't you handle that kid?!" he
yelled, losing all his composure. I had never seen him so angry except...

"I'm sure he's fine.." I stammered, trying not to think about that night.

Giovanni grunted and mumbled something.

"I'll look for him...he's probably playing on the other side of the playground." Giovanni didn't look like he
believed me. I didn't even believe me, but I had to keep calm.

Satoshi is just hiding. I would find him in no time, right?

I started to walk around the portables where some of the quieter students usually hid if they wanted to
remain inconspicuous. Satoshi had been hanging around there lately. It would have been easy to miss
him if he was sitting around there.

"Satoshi!" I yelled, knowing that he wouldn't respond.

"Diane?" a voice asked from behind me, scaring me slightly. I turned around and found Whitney
standing right behind me.

"Are you looking for Satoshi?" she asked, sounding concerned.

I wanted to lie to keep up face, but the situation looked hopeless. Satoshi was nowhere in sight. "Do you
know where he is?!" I asked, sounding more desperate than I really wanted to sound.

Whitney's eyes widened before she shook her head. "I..could help..if you'd like.." her voice sounded
soft and slightly apologetic.

I forced a smile. "Sure."

Giovanni walked outside, with an intense look on his face. He roughly pushed the swings away, tangling
them up as he walked through the swing sets on the way to the slide. "Satoshi!" he yelled in a sharp
tone that made me wince.

Whitney's eyebrows crinkled. "I hope we find Satoshi before he does."

I nodded silently, feeling the sick feeling at the pit of my stomach grow more intense.

We searched for fifteen minutes before Whitney motioned for me to look at something.

"I think I heard something from under the portable."

Giovanni walked behind us with an unreadable expression on his face. I was surprised that he didn't yell
again.

"Who's going down there?" Whitney asked, looking at me. She indicated her dress, showing that she
wasn't going to crawl down there.

I groaned as I kneeled down below the grating of the portable. I hoped that Giovanni would offer to help,
but he would have been too big to fit under the grating anyways. I was too big to simply crawl under the
grating, so I had to slide on my stomach to get under.

When I finally passed the grating, I was able to walk, even though I had to bend down really low so I
wouldn't hit my head on the bottom of the portable that was suspended a little more than three feet from
the ground.

"Satoshi!" I called, rubbing some dirt from my face.

Nothing.

I sighed in annoyance. I had come down for nothing.

"Satoshi! Where are you?!" I called louder.

Still nothing.

I was about to leave, when I bumped into something soft with my foot. I looked down and gasped when
I saw Ash, laying on the ground, unconscious and covered with blood.

END OF PART FIVE

EEP! I haven't written a part in four months! Please don't kill me! I...uh..have no good excuse...but uh..
just don't kill me, okay?

Please read and review!