[b][u][color=f49ac2][h3][center]~Melody Hemlock~[/center][/h3][/color][/u][/b] [color=662d91]“Wow, okay," [/color]said Abigail, snickering.. [color=662d91]"That is the lamest excuse I've ever heard. So, what, are you a little mama's girl or something? Ooh, no, I bet you're a daddy's girl, aren't you? You're out here on this adventure with some lame excuse like 'It'll be fun' or 'Because they wanted me too' or something, right?" [/color] She paused, and then started up again. [color=662d91]"I bet that you think you'll be a good trainer one of these days. Don't make me laugh, loser. You'll never be a decent trainer. You won't even be a good trainer! You can't even keep that mutt of yours under control for more than five seconds.”[/color] [color=662d91]“So why don't you,"[/color] Abigail pressed one finger to Peggy’s shoulder and shoved her, gently. [color=662d91]"Run on home to Cherrygrove and to daddy and mama before you get hurt out here, amateur, and let us big girls take care of things." [/color] Abigail was being kind of blunt, but… surely she didn’t mean to. She was probably just a little too honest for her own good: nothing a few etiquette classes couldn’t solve. And she clearly meant well, right? She was trying to spur Peggy on to being a great trainer and proving her wrong, right? It was obvious that that was what she was doing. Melody had seen it a hundred times in her novels. But… It was terrible, and Melody couldn’t help but feel guilty about it, but she was a little [i]glad[/i] that Abigail hadn’t reacted well to Peggy’s suggestion. After all, if Abigail had decided that she liked Peggy more than she liked [i]Melody,[/i] then… Well, Melody didn’t know what she’d do. Or rather, she knew exactly what she would do, and just didn’t want to admit it to herself. Her knife felt like it was burning a hole through her pocket, and she resisted the urge to touch it. She’d never show that ugly side of her to Abigail. Never. And then the short guy who’d gotten distracted by something wandered up, and as soon as he opened his mouth, Melody immediately came to the conclusion that she didn’t like him. At all. She forgot all about any resentment that she’d been feeling towards Peggy. This guy was a hundred times [i]worse.[/i] [color=blue]"Hey guys, what the hell happened to all of you, you look terrible!”[/color] said Alex. Then he turned to Abigail. [color=blue]“Except for you, I love your new hairstyle. I think it really fits your inner self.”[/color] Melody’s eyes widened. [i]What[/i] had he said? How [i]dare[/i] he say something like that to Abigail? That was clearly out of line. [color=blue]“I don’t know what happened to all of you,”[/color] Alex continued. [color=blue]“But I know for certain that we should head to Cherrygrove. It's much closer and I dont want to be in the caves when night falls. Elm told us to go to Cherrygrove, so lets listen to the man who has years of experience, alright?" [/color] He turned away, striding forward to the front of the group. [color=blue]"Ooh, and who ever was responsible for this whole mess you guys were in, I think you should appologise to the entire group cause it were your actions who put them all in danger. Alright?"[/color] Melody clenched her fists, and then forcefully relaxed them. She didn’t like this boy. She wanted to make him [i]regret[/i] what he’d said to Abigail. How dare he? How [i]dare[/i] he? No. No, no, Melody, calm down. She couldn’t show how angry she was. She had to stay composed. She couldn’t let Abigail see that she was feeling such ugly emotions. [i]But that boy insulted her[/i], whispered a small, wicked part of her. [i]Shouldn’t she be[/i] happy [i]that Melody was defending her? Shouldn’t she[/i] want [i]to see this boy suffer like Melody could make him suffer?[/i] Melody shook it off. She’d make Alex regret what he’d said later. [color=f49ac2]“Excuse me,”[/color] she said, cutting in. Her expression was perfectly neutral, and her voice was as friendly and polite as usual, but she gave Alex a pointed look.[color=f49ac2] “There’s no need for any of us to fight, or to apologize for what happened. The Spinarak incident was no one’s fault. If your Pokemon or a Pokemon that you're about to catch runs off into the woods, then obviously you’ll chase after it, right? I mean… didn’t you do the exact same thing, Alex? The only difference is that none of us chased after you.”[/color] She sighed, and pasted a smile on her face. [color=f49ac2]“And about where we’re going… like I said, we should just vote on it. We’re perfectly reasonable people, aren’t we? Right now, the vote is three in favor of Blackthorn and two in favor of Cherrygrove. If more of us want to go to Blackthorn as opposed to Cherrygrove, then that’s where we should go, and vice versa. That way, we’ll settle everything nicely.”[/color] She wanted to [i]hurt[/i] Alex. But she’d do nothing for now.