Little Things

The day came that Jamie was to begin school at Pokémon Tech. They drove to the train station in Goldenrod and took the Magnet Train to Saffron City. The school was situated near Cerulean City, just north of them. They hadn’t been in Kanto for years. They feared that Jamie would remember something. Jamie was too busy bubbling about the school to notice a thing.

The parking lot at the school was a mob scene. It was flooded with children and parents and luggage. The noise was unbearable. An administrator tried to yell above the din. “Would all students and parents with last names starting with the letters A through K come to the Dratini Hall for registration, please?”

“K, that’s us,” a woman with red hair told her daughter and husband. The Fauntleroys fell in behind them. A long line had formed in the building called the Dratini Hall. The people poured out the door and into the lot. Jamie had started a conversation with the daughter of the couple in front of them. “Hi, I’m Jamie,” he said, offering his hand.

She shook it. “I’m Rosy,” she replied. “This is my mom, and this is my dad.” She gestured to a tall man with dark hair and the red-haired woman. They smiled.

“That’s my mom, and my dad,” Jamie said, indicating Jessie and James. They nodded.

“Next in line, please,” someone called at the head of the line.

“So, where are you from,” Rosy asked. “I’m from New Bark.”

“Azalea. I’ve lived there all my life.”

“Cool. Have you been to Goldenrod?”

“Yea, I go all the time.”

They talked back and forth as the line grew shorter in front of them. Their parents made small talk of their own. Soon, Rosy’s family was at the head of the line. “Okay, Rosalin Hannah Ketchum,” the headmaster of the school said. Jessie and James did a double take. The brats’ kid goes here, they thought.

Rosy stepped up to meet him. “Hello, young lady, and welcome to Pokemon Tech,” the headmaster said, shaking her hand. “Here’s your student handbook. It contains rules, regulations, grading policies, everything you need to know to be a success here at the Tech. This,” he said, piling her with papers. “Is your room information. You’re staying in the Jynx house, on floor C. Roommate information is posted on the first floor of the house. You will get your books on Sunday, so you can have them when class starts on Monday. Here’s your schedule. And if you have any questions, all the teachers and administrators here have an open door policy. You can always talk to us about anything. Absolutely anything,” he said, eyeing Jamie. “Enjoy your year at the Tech.” Rosy headed off to get settled, calling over her shoulder, “Bye, Jamie! I’ll see you around.”

He waved. “James Lloyd Fauntleroy II.” The headmaster stared at Jamie long and hard. “Here’s your information,” he said, dumping a stack of papers in his arms unceremoniously. “Next.”

Jessie and James hurried Jamie away. “Mom, he was mean,” Jamie said, confused and hurt. “You think he doesn’t like me?”
It’s starting alre Jes Jessie thought in despair. “No, honey, he’s probably just stressed out,” she lied. “He’s got a whole school full of students to meet today. You understand, don’t you?” He nodded, but he still looked hurt. His hurt melted when he entered his living quarters. He was in the Tauros building, and his roommate was a thirteen-year-old, Derek Foster, from Fuschia City. He liked poison Pokemon the best, “Just like Janine from the Gym,” he explained. He and Jamie hit it off and became fast friends.

Jessie and James got letters from Jamie every week. He spoke abouass ass some, but mostly his friends. “Rosy and Derek are my best buds here,” one letter read. “Rosy is a great trainer. Did you know her dad was the Pokemon League Champion? Isn’t that cool? Rosy can be anyone here. She even beat one of our professors. They say she’s going to be just like her dad.”

“Well, it seems he’s having a great time,” James said, reading the letter.

“I can’t wait to see him,” Jessie said. “Just a month until Christmas break.”

The countdown to the holiday had begun. Jessie and James decided to drive up to the Tech and take Jamie out to dinner and a movie for Thanksgiving, for it was too far to bring him home and then turn around and drive back in one weekend. That meant they’d have to wait for a month to see him at home. At the Tech, Jamie was getting good grades, winning battles, and hanging out more and more with Derek and Rosy. One day, shortly after the first snow, Jamie and Rosy were walking through one of the fields after classes. They were talking about Pokémon when Rosy stopped short. “What is it,” Jamie asked.

She looked at her galoshes. The snow fell softly onto her raven hair. Her face was bright red, from the cold, Jamie figured.
“Jamie, we’re all gonna be going home tomorrow, an hom home for almost a month,” she said shyly. “You’re almost my best friend here at the tech. I- I just wanted to give you something.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a Pokéball. She handed it to him. He opened it and out popped her Seadra.

“What,” Jamie said, astonished. “This is your best Pokémon! Why are you giving it away?”

“You always said you liked it,” she explained. “Plus, my uncle Brock could breed me another one. It’s no biggie.”
He smiled. “Thanks.” He put the ball in his bag.

“Actually, I wanted to give you something else, but I chickened out,” she said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek quickly. Jamie looked at her. He could see his reflection in her dark eyes. She smiled, then, turned and ran. Jamie chased after her. “Why are you running,” he called. She just kept her head down and flew like the wind. He stopped and sat on the snow.
He didn’t get a chance to talk to her before all the parents arrived at the Tech. He decided against telling his parents about Rosy’s kiss. On the way home from the train station, he took the Pokéball out of his bag and looked at it. He could see his face in it. Why did she run, he thought.

“What’s that,” Jessie asked from the front seat.

“Rosy gave it to me,” he said. “Look.” He opened the ball to show his mother the Seadra.

“That’s quite a gift,” James said, looking at him in the rear-view mirror. “Sure this girl’s not just a friend?”

Jessie elbowed him. “Stop it James,” she chided. “They’re just children.”

Maybe not, Jamie thought, watch the landscape pass by through the window.

The Fauntleroys’ Christmas celebrations were very merry now that Jamie was home. The family decorated the tree, made snowmen, baked Christmas cookies, went caroling, but, at the end of the day, Jamie’s mind came back to Rosy. He examined every corner of his mind trying to make sense of it all. Rosy was the first girl who ever kissed him. And she was the first girl he didn’t think of as a girl–that is, totally gross. She was his best friend. He liked her, and he liked her. It confused him to think about what the kiss was about. Why did she kiss him? Did she like him? If she liked him, why did she run away? He finally got tired of thinking and went to his father. He was at the top of a ladder in the front yard, struggling with a tangled cord of Christmas lights. “Dad,” he called up the ladder. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure, Jamie, hang on a sec,” James said. He tossed the lights on the roof and descended the ladder. “What’s up?”

Jamie looked down. “You know Rosy?”

“Yes.” James’ eyes lit up. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Yea. I need to tell her.”

“Call her up. Women like that,” he advised.

Jessie had pulled up in the Passat. “What do you know about women,” she asked from the driveway. Sensing an argument, Jamie slipped away. He grabbed the phone and headed up to his room. He looked up Rosy’s phone number in his book and dialed it. The phone rang, but no one answered. He threw the phone on his bed and flopped next to it. “I know, I’ll go to her house,” he said, jotting down her address. “Mom, I need a ride to New Bark Town,” he announced as he pounded down the stairs. “Can you take me?”

Jessie tied on her apron. “Not a chance,” she said. “The Neumans are coming for dinner tonight. I have no time. If you can get back before dinner, ask your father. But if you can’t make it for dinner, you’re not going anywhere.”

He charged out the door into the yard, where his father was setting up plywood reindeer. “Dad, can you take me to New Bark Town, please,” he pleaded.

“No can do, kiddo,” he said, wrestling the deer into place. “I’ve got too much here.”

“Man,” he said, sitting on the fence.

“Why don’t you take the bus,” James suggested. “Here.” He dug in the pockets of his parka and came up with a handful of change. “Be back before dinner, or else we’re both dead.”

“Thanks, Dad,” he called, running to the bus stop. In no time, the bus came, and he was in New Bark. He searched for Birch Lane. “There it is!” He walked down Birch to Rosy’s house. Something hard hit his back. He turned around to see Dallas Oak, son of Gary Oak and a classmate of his at the Tech, hurling stones at him. “What are you doing,” he asked, shocked. “Quit it!”
“Go back where you belong,” Dallas called. “Your kind i wel welcome here.”

What the hell is he talking about, Jamie thought.

More stones flew. “I said, leave,” Dallas threatened. Jamie ignored him and walked to Rosy’s front door. He knocked. Rosy’s father answered.

“Hi, Mr. Ketchum,” he said. “My name’s Jamie Fauntleroy. I go to school with Rosy. Is she here?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Ash said. “She went shopping with her mother. Can I leave her a message?”

Jamie turned away. “No thanks,” he muttered. “Merry Christmas, sir.” Jamie raised his eyes to see a gang of boys headed by Dallas Oak before him. They formed a circle around him, taunting him. “What? You think Rosy Ketchum likes you,” Dallas said. “If her father knew who you really were, he wouldn’t let her see you. Ever.” They threw more stones at him.

“Hey,” Ash yelled out the window at them. “Get out of here, you punks! Leave that kid alone. I’ll call every one of your mothers.”

“Too bad, Fauntleroy,” Dallas said, tripping him as he passed. “It would have been fun kicking your ass.” They ran away.

“Are you okay,” Ash asked Jamie. Jamie shook his head and ran to the bus stop, tears streaming from his cheeks. What do they mean, his mind screamed as the bus lurched through the streets.