"Before I Turn this Tassel," written by Freedom Fighter Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters associated with the show. All names and likenesses are copyrighted by Nintendo, 4Kids Entertainment, and anyone else who had a hand in creating the show. ====== Chapter Five - Mad About You (11.14.02) "Giselle, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Angela stepped aside as the man Giselle knew as the janitor who saved her leaned forward and extended his hand as a gesture of friendship. "How are you feeling?" the man asked caringly as he waited for Giselle to raise her hand into the air to shake with. "Lousy," Giselle had summed up her condition in one word. "I hate to be stranded in bed like this, unable to do anything. It's like what was going on in the boiler room. I felt completely helpless... as I do right now." "Your arms are still sore, I take it." The janitor withdrew his hand. "I guess we'll save the handshake for later. My name's Ronaldo. Ronaldo Niam." "He's the janitor for the 3rd and 4th floors of North Hall," Angela butted in, already fully aware of Ronaldo's reputation in her dorm building. "I've seen cases like this before," Ronaldo told them, "but none of them turned out as well as this one did. It's unfortunate, to say the least. If this had happened at night, you probably wouldn't be in any condition to talk to us." "I could've gotten out of there myself," Giselle began to retort. "But... thanks for helping me anyway." "I'm just doing my job." With that, Ronaldo stood up to leave. "Which I have to get back to... I was about to clean one of the third floor bathrooms when I left to get another bottle of disinfectant from the boiler room. The ladies on that half of the floor won't be happy with me." Angela waved goodbye to Ronaldo as he left. She then turned her attention to Giselle as she focused on more serious matters. "Those two creeps are at the dean's office right now," Angela told Giselle. "He'll probably have them detained until their parents can come get them." "I can't believe I let my guard down like that," Giselle sighed. "Don't talk like that! You did everything you could! Who knows what would have happened if you just sat there and let them have their way?" Giselle laid silently in bed for a minute before she emitted a response. "I've always dreaded the day that something like this would happen. That my big mouth would get me into a situation I couldn't reason my way out of. I've tried to change my attitude ever since I lost to Ash Ketchum three years ago. You know, to be more humble to my opponents. But for some reason, I keep slipping back to my old habits. And look at what happened because of it." Angela sat down on the bed, next to Giselle's feet. "You haven't been yourself lately, Giselle. It's one of the drawbacks of being an expert level trainer during the final weeks of school. There are so many physical and mental tests that we're put through that even the best students start to break apart at the seams. Maybe all of that stress has put you back on the defensive. You very well know that one giant mistake could cost you valedictorian. "Being the top student in the class is hard work. Work that never seems to end. You feel threatened by anyone who approaches you in the wrong way. You feel that if you get too friendly with people, you'll lose your edge." "Don't be silly, Angela! I'm not worried about that!" "Lying won't help you either." Giselle smiled. "I would have never expected you, of all people, to know me that well." "It's my job, remember? What kind of a resident director would I be if I didn't know the people that live on the same floor as me?" Angela stood up. Giselle glanced at her, a little worried. "You're leaving already?" she asked, as if she desperately wanted her to stay. "The doctor said you need to get some rest. They want to keep you overnight for observation, just to make sure the swelling in your arms goes down. I'll bring you a change of clothes after dinner. Anything else you want from your room?" "Yes," Giselle nodded. "Could you bring me my Advanced Pokémon Grooming textbook?" "Chill out. The doctor wants you to R-E-S-T. And you aren't going to able to do that if you S-T-U-D-Y all night." "Fine. I won't study tonight then." This time, it was Angela's turn to smile. "You'll be back on your feet in the morning and everything will be back to normal! Trust me!" With that, Angela walked out of the room. Once she was gone, Giselle began to think to herself. "Life will never be normal for me again. Not after this." ====== The following morning, news of what had happened had spread to the entire school via Tech's student-run newspaper, The Daily Scholar. As Angela escorted Giselle out of the mini-hospital and back to North Hall, a small crowd had already gathered. Giselle glanced around her, expecting most of them to be heckling her for 'getting what she deserved.' But the crowd was actually behaving pretty well. In fact, not one person said a word. They all just stood there silently as Giselle walked by them. The young girls who looked up to her were saddened to see their role model so down. The guys who were often jealous of her skills held their tongues, not wanting to risk angering her in her current state. And those who spent part of everyday making passes at her were even in dispair, all mature enough to know this isn't the right time to engage in such activities. Even a few professors were there, none of whom Giselle knew personally. But her reputation was well-known around the school, and to see one of Tech's best and brightest pupils brought back down to Earth by a pair of immature ruffians angered them. Giselle would probably get over the short-term effects without a doubt. But most people knew that the long-term effects would scar her for the rest of her life. ====== The rest of the week passed without so much as a peep from Giselle's mouth. She had decided not to complete the week as a student aide for the test class, which Professor Mariner allowed her to do. As a result, Giselle had nothing to tape for her video project. She now had to figure out a new topic and begin anew, knowing that the project was due the following Friday. Even worse, she didn't even feel like battling. She turned down every single challenge. Even those given to her by students on the same level as her. She just wasn't into battling anymore. Still down in the dumps that night, Giselle sat alone at a table in the north campus cafeteria, picking at a small pea on her dinner tray with her fork. "May I sit here?" asked a familiar voice. Giselle looked up from her tray and saw Ronaldo standing in front of her, with a tray in hand. "Sure," she said nonchalantly. "Like I have the power to stop you." "Still moping over what happened?" he asked as he sat down. "I don't mope! I've... just done a lot of thinking since then, that's all." "And nothing but. I noticed that you've turned down every single challenge since you got out of the hospital on Tuesday." "I don't feel much like battling, okay?" "You'll never pass your finals then. Don't most of your classes have a practical aspect?" "I'm very well aware that I have to battle to pass my exams. You think I don't know that?" "If you know that, then why aren't you practicing?" "I don't need you to tell me how to run my life! I'll battle when I feel like it. Besides, there isn't a single student who can beat me." "That may be true, but you'll only remain the best if you keep battling." "Why are you giving me advice? Heck, why am I even listening to you? You're a janitor, for crying out loud!" "What a person does for a living doesn't define his or her intelligence. Besides, don't you see I'm trying to help you? You're going through a tough time right now. Getting over something like that is hard to do alone." "Are you saying that I'm too weak?" Giselle glared at Ronaldo. "I'm not saying that at all! I'm just saying that the only way you'll get over this is to open yourself up and let your emotions go. You'll never get over it if you keep all of that angst of yours inside of you." "Angst?" "I hear you're always participating in class, always challenging people to battle, and always coming out on top and rubbing it in their faces. Don't you think it's strange for someone who calls that a normal day in her life to completely change her lifestyle?" "I thought I said that I don't need someone dictating how to live! Look, I'm completely over the whole incident and I would like to forget about it!" Giselle was shouting now, loud enough to attract the attention of all of those sitting around her. "Let me give you some advice! If you know so much about life, then get a job that's more suited to your tastes! You're wasting your time as a janitor! I hate to put it this way... but get a life!" With that, Giselle picked up her tray and stormed off. Some of the onlookers began to whisper amongst each other as Ronaldo smiled, having accomplished what he had set out to do. ====== A few minutes later, Giselle walked up the staircase in North Hall and onto the second floor. As she trotted towards her room, she doesn't initially hear Angela calling her from the stairs. "Giselle, wait up!" Angela reached the second floor and ran down the hallway. She continued to shout at Giselle as she caught up to her. "Giselle, we need to talk!" "What do you want?" Giselle asked as she stopped and turned to face Angela. "I guess the rumors are true," Angela said as she came to a stop. "You've gotten your attitude back." "Is that all you're bothering me for?" Giselle shot back as she put her hands on her hips. "I need to get back to my room so I can finish catching up to my classes." "Didn't you hear the news? Mr. Niam said that he's going to quit his job as janitor." "What?" Giselle's eyes blinked in surprise. "He'll stay on until he finds a new job in Cerulean, of course. He's going to leave tonight so that he can spend all day tomorrow searching the city for an opening." Angela then smiled. "He said that the advice you gave him was very helpful." "He's not serious, is he?" "He seemed serious to me. Just what did you tell him?" "All I did was suggest that he get a life and that he deserves to be better than a janitor. It was a spur of the moment thing! He was irritating me and I just felt that I had to make a comeback at him! I didn't think he was going to take me seriously!" "It looks like that's exactly what he did." "Well, good for him. At least he'll be happy." Giselle then walked the final hundred feet or so to her door. Angela followed behind her. "Wait... did you say at least he'll be happy?" "Yeah. So?" "So? SO? Girl, I've never known you to care that much about someone since, well, ever." "And your point is?" Angela smiled. "You 'care' about him. Don't you?" Giselle couldn't believe what her friend had just said. "I can't believe that you'd think that I'd 'care' for him!" "Well, you are getting to that time in your life when you think boys are cute." "First of all, he's a man! He looks like he's at least twice my age! I don't know about you Angela, but I don't go for older men." Angela smirked. "Then what kind of guy do you go for?" Giselle threw her hands up in frustration. "I am NOT having this conversation!" "What about that boy you keep telling me about? You know... the one who was a former student here?" "That's none of your..." Before Giselle could finish her sentence, the videophone from inside her room began to ring loudly. Giselle immediately reached into her vest pocket and pulled out her room key. She unlocked the door in only a matter of seconds as she ran in and dived for the receiver. A sign with the words 'Voice Only' appears on the vidscreen as Giselle began to talk. "Hello?" "Giselle? Is that really you?" Giselle's jaw almost dropped to the floor. The voice on the other line was a little deeper than she remembered, but there was no mistaking who it belonged to. "Joe? Joe Jameson?" Giselle heard Joe laugh on the other side of the line. "Last time I checked, that was my name. Anyway, I've got some great news to share!" "What are you talking about?" "Giselle... I'm coming home to Pokémon Tech!" Preview of Chapter 6: "The Bachleorette" - What does Joe mean by he's coming home to Tech? - Giselle may be overjoyed about Joe's return, but does she really have feelings for Ronaldo? - And just what will Giselle do for her project as the deadline looms ever closer? Now things get more interesting. See what happens on the next thrilling chapter, next Friday!