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It’s February fourteenth.
Aka Valentines day. Aka the commercial holiday where couples flex their relationships while single people cringe internally or mope about. It’s not that Penny hates valentines day or something, she does enjoy the sweet text from her dad and the chocolates from her friends, it's just seeing the people using it to be disgustingly affectionate makes her want to gauge her eyes out with spoons. That and the sobbing from people who got rejected by their crushes. Seriously, it gets really annoying at some point.
Walking down hallways covered in hearts and red banners because of course the student council would decorate the entire school , Penny makes her way to the cafeteria. Entering the room, she looks around for her friends and finds them at their usual table. Walking over, she notices the stacks of red cards and box chocolates covering the table.
“What's with the chocolate?” She asks, settling between Arven and Juliana, who start giggling. Across from her Nemona buries her face in her hands, her ears burning red.
“Well you see,” Juliana grins at her, waggling her eyebrows. “Our gal Nemona here is reaaal popular with the dudes.”
“And the gals!” Arven says. “We've had at least three come over to us while we were waiting for you, and we've only been here for like ten minutes.”
Penny stares incredulously at Nemona. It makes sense, she's smart and very attractive and stupidly rich. But at the same time she's Nemona, who's loud and battle obsessed and almost as physically affectionate as Miradon begging for belly rubs. She's definitely an acquired taste, and the fact that seemingly half the school suddenly has fallen for her sets off Pennys sus alarms.
“They probably just want you for your money.”
“Penny!” Juliana elbows her in the ribs, making her wheeze.
“Ow! What, I'm only being honest!” Penny rubs her aching ribs, shooting an apologetic glace at Nemona. “I mean, no offense but it's Nemona , I feel like if they liked her for anything else they'd befriend her by now.”
“Hear that Nemo? Penny’s just jealous of how many bitches you have.” Arven snorts, dodging Penny’s own elbow attack.
“I mean, she's not wrong.” Nemona speaks for the first time since Pennys arrival, drawing everyone's attention. “I may be dense but I’m not stupid. Most times people tried to befriend me as a kid was because of my family's wealth, and then they left anyway because I was too much for them.” She shrugs casually as if she didn't just say the saddest thing ever. “No amount of money’s worth staying with someone so annoying.”
“I get that.” Arven nods and makes a face. “Other kids would only approach me because I was the famous professor's son, and they thought that If they were with me then they'd see him.” He smiles wryly. “Jokes on them, dad was never home, so they left pretty quickly after realizing he'd never show.”
“Ayy, twinsies!” Nemona grins, high fiving Arven.
“That’s literally so sad. How can you guys joke about that?” Juliana glances between the two, looking highly concerned.
“The same way I joke about getting bullied for most of my life.” Penny quips, smirking slightly. “It's a coping mechanism.”
“All of you need therapy.”
“Don't we all.” Arven snorts. The sound of footsteps draws the group's attention to a shy looking boy approaching the table, coming to stand between Arven and Nemona. Penny catches Juliana nudging Nemona under the table, who pointedly widens her eyes before turning her full attention to the boy.
“¡Hola! Tobias, right? We have the same math class.” She smiles politely at him and he nods, shifting his weight between his legs. In his arms he holds a familiar red heart box and a card.
“Uh, yeah,” Tobias smiles shyly before clearing his throat. “Uh, I don't mean to interrupt, I just wanted to. Give these.” He turns and holds them out for not Nemona but Arven , who takes them with a shocked expression, his cheeks flushing pink.
“O-oh! Thank you!” Arven stutters, holding them close to his chest and smiling softly at the boy.
“Yeah! We're in humanities together and I've always noticed you.” Tobias nods and the two stare into each other's eyes. Penny resists the urge to audibly gag. Instead she clears her throat, which is enough to snap the two lovebirds out of it.
“Ah, I'll let you guys go now!” Tobias scratches his neck awkwardly, smiling once more at Arven before turning and walking away. The group watches him go, and wait until he's for sure gone before reacting.
“Oh my god!” Juliana squeals.
“That was literally so disgusting to watch.” Penny deadpans, but smiles softly at Arven. She's happy for him, even if she almost died of second hand embarrassment.
“I'm just glad It's not me again,” Nemona sighs before perking up, slinging an arm around Arvens shoulders. “Sooo, Tobias huh?”
“S-shut up!” Arven waves his hand in front of his face flusteredly.
“Ooh! Ooh! What does the letter say!” Juliana leans over Penny to try and grab it but Arven turns away, leaning further into Nemona.
“Hey! It's not for you! Hands off!”
“You guys are ridiculous.” Penny groans around a mouthful of chocolate.
“Hey! Is that my chocolate?” Nemona whines, and Penny shrugs.
“You're the only healthy eater here, there's no way you can finish all of this. I'm doing you a favor.” She smiles innocently and Nemona rolls her eyes, smiling back.
“Fine, fine. But save me the caramels!”
It's late by the time that Penny returns to her dorm. After school ended Team Star had invited her to a little valentines celebration in Giacomo's room where they played games and baked more heart shaped cookies than they could reasonably eat. Shuffling her tupperware of leftover cookies to her left hand, Penny unlocks her door only to realize there's a pink card taped to it.
“Huh?” Penny places her tupperware on her desk before returning to her door, pulling off the card. It was unsuspectingly blank, and she steels herself for some sort of prank as she opens it. Just because her old bullies left doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't start up again.
The card inside was a pure white, with the words ‘Be My Valentine?’ printed in pink loopy letters on the front. The inside of the card had a short message etched in black pen in a handwriting Penny can't instantly decipher.
‘Dear Penny, there's something that I want to tell you. Meet me by the Sugar-N-Ice at Los Platos around 5:40? XO, Your secret admirer.’
Penny checks her phone. It's five forty-three. She looks back at the card. The chances of it being a prank was pretty high, but something tells her that it may not be. A weird feeling bubbles up in her chest at the thought of someone putting in effort to do all of this, and her cheeks start to burn. That's it, she's going. Worst case scenario she can just politely turn them down, right?
It's five fifty by the time Penny arrives at Los Platos, and she's slightly worried that her secret admirer would have left by now. The entire walk there she’s racked her brain for whom it may have been but no one comes to mind. Rounding the semi circle path she finds the ice cream stand, and Nemona standing casually beside it, scrolling on her phone and leaning on Miradon, who she must have borrowed from Juliana.
Relief and confusion coarse through Penny. Relief that it’s just Nemona, and confusion because Nemona? This had to be a joke, right?
“Nemona?” The girl in question raises her head at her name being called, instantly smiling when she sees Penny in front of her.
“Penny! I assume you got my card?” So it was Nemona who had sent the card. That explains how it showed up at her dorm, as only the Crater Crew and Team Star knew her exact dorm number. Still, that raises a thousand other questions.
“ You're my secret admirer?” Penny crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. “Nemona, if this is because you feel bad about me not being confessed to-”
“It's not!” Nemona blurts, her smile dampening. “It's genuine.” Penny watches her draw into herself, biting her lip as orange eyes dart from the ground to Pennys own. “I promise.”
“Oh.” Penny’s gaze softens and she tilts her head, gazing at the uncharacteristically meek Nemona. “Well then.” Nemona? Likes her? Penny's brain struggles to compute this startling new information. Nemona. The champion student council president. Likes her. The ex-delinquent tech nerd.
“It's okay, I'm sorry for dragging you all the way out here, you probably don't even want to be here I mean-”
“Nemona.” Penny cuts off Nemonas nervous rambling, giving what she hopes is a reassuring look. She's been told before it looks more like an unimpressed glare but it's still worth a shot. “I came out here because I wanted to. Now, do you have something planned or?”
“Oh.” Nemona's face brightens again, and Penny feels her own mood lift with it. “Right! I wanted to take you to the lighthouse!” Nemona scritches Miradons face, and it coos happily. “I know it's not that far a walk but I figured I'd still bring Miradon. I promise I'm a better driver than Juliana!”
They both visually shudder at the deathtrip that was Julianas driving. “Do you promise?” Penny warily eyes Nemona as the girl mounts Miradon.
“Pinky promise!” Nemona holds out her pinky, beaming brightly. Penny rolls her eyes but links her pinky with Nemonas before letting go and climbing on Miradon behind her, wrapping her arms around Nemonas waist. Nemona was right when she said she was a better driver, and Penny soon found herself relaxing against the other girl. Nemona was always warm, and at risk of sounding weird, smelled really nice. Almost like fresh fruit, which is ironic with how much she talks about fruits. Penny remembers one time she jokingly asked her to name every berry, and she actually did. Flawlessly.
“We're here.” Nemona says and Penny realizes that they indeed had stopped at the lighthouse. Nemona helps her off Miradon before returning it to its pokeball. “Come on! We're almost out of time!”
Nemona runs to the lighthouse and starts climbing the ladder, and Penny is helpless to do anything but follow. “Hey, what do you mean we’re almost out of time?” Reaching the top, she accepts Nemonas helping hand and lets the champion drag her over to the railing overlooking the sea.
“Look.” Nemona breathes out and Penny looks out at the ocean. A gasp steals her breath as she takes in the astonishing view. The setting sun had bathed the sky in a vibrant and rich orange that reminded Penny of Nemona’s eyes. The water was a mirrored reflection of the sky. It was single handedly one of the most beautiful sights Penny’s ever seen.
“Woah,” Penny lightly grips the railing, tilting her face to meet the warm breeze lazily flowing by. Somewhere in the distance a chorus of wingull squawk, sailing in the evening breeze. “It's beautiful.”
“Yeah, it is.” Penny glances over at Nemona, who's looking out into the sea. The other girl practically glows in the evening light and Penny feels her heart skip. “Yknow,” Nemona leans her arms against the railing, glancing over at Penny with a small smile on her face. “When I was a kid this was like, my favorite place to go. I would sneak away to here every time I had to do chores or do homework. Or when life got a little too loco.” She smiles bashfully. “It was like my own little not so secret hideout.”
“I'm surprised you haven't fallen off and killed yourself.” Penny jokes before wincing at how harsh that may have sounded. To her surprise Nemoona cackles, shooting her a mischievous grin.
“Oh, I definitely have. I was just lucky to fall in the water.” Pennys mouth drops open and she instantly leans over the railing and gauges the distance to the water below. Nope, that was definitely far down enough to kill someone, or at least seriously injure. She whips her head back to Nemona who beams. “I was bruised for weeks afterwards. And I think I broke something. Maybe my arm?” She hums, tilting her head in thought. Penny can understand now how she and Juliana became fast friends. The both of them are fucking crazy. In a good way, but still batshit crazy.
“Please say you haven't done it again though, right?”
“Oh definitely not, I've learned my lesson.” Nemona smiles reassuringly but Penny still lightly grabs the back of her shirt because who wouldn't be concerned after that. “Anyway,” Nemona continues, “This place was mi hojar lejos de casa, and I told myself that I'd only bring people that I really trust to it.” Nemona scrunches up her face. “That sounds dumb out loud.”
“No it doesn't.” Penny reassures. “It sounds incredibly sweet, and i'm honored that you trust me enough.” Nemona smiles sweetly at her, and Penny feels her heart skip a beat. She had never really thought about her feelings towards Nemona aside from friendship but the thought of Nemona liking her wasn't horrible, and brought this warm fluttery feeling in her stomach.
“Penny?” Nemona asks suddenly, and Penny hums. “Did you really think that I was pranking you? When you saw the note?”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry about that.” Penny sheepishly rubs the back of her neck. “I mean, it totally wasn't in your handwriting first of all, or from what I've seen. Second of all, I’ve gotten the ol’ fake valentine prank pulled on me back when I was bullied. It was back when I lived in Galar but those things stick to you, y’know.” Penny sighs, staring back out over the water. “And I mean, no offense but it's kinda hard to believe someone like you could ever fall for me. I mean, I'm really sarcastic and blunt and I'm not that good in school. Meanwhile you're a Champion and straight A’s student council president. To be honest, I was actually surprised at first when you didn't ditch me back when we left Area Zero. I'm not usually on many people's radars.”
Nemona moves closer to her, nudging Penny's shoulder with her own. “I guess I can see where you're coming from. I mean, that one day with Juliana was the first time I ever saw you in person. And then during Area Zero,” Nemona sighs, shooting Penny a small smile. “You know, most times people are just nice to me because of my popularity and stuff. I've never had someone outside my own family snap at me to my face before, or talk back. It was surprisingly very refreshing.” Penny snorts, muttering something about princess behavior and Nemona nudges her again playfully. Their eyes meet and Nemona sobers, her gaze genuine. “I mean it. And then we became friends and I learned more about you. You're blunt, sure, but only because you value the truth of a situation. You care deeply for your friends and your pokemon. And I know that I can be difficult to be around at times but you never judge me for it. And I like that about you. I like you , Penny. Even though you most likely don't feel the same.”
“First of all, you are not difficult to be around, the people you grew up with were just assholes.” Penny stares pointedly at Nemona before softening her gaze. “Second of all, I'm not going to lie. I haven't ever thought of you that way .” Nemona nods as if she was expecting this. “But,” Penny falters, trying to think of a way to properly express herself, but the words refuse to come. Instead, she chooses to be blunt. “I would much rather kiss you than Juliana. Or anyone else in mind, really.”
“So, does that mean you like me too?”
“I dunno, take me on a date and find out.” Penny smirks at Nemona, hoping the other girl doesn't comment on her flushed face. Being sappy and emotional is harder than one would think, and a lot more vulnerable than Penny’s ever felt before. Nemona smirks back, waggling her eyebrows playfully.
“Who's to say this can't be our first?”
And so they made it that, sitting and talking about anything and everything under the light of the full moon. And with each hushed laugh and soft smile Nemona gave her, Penny felt the warmth in her chest grow a little bit more.
Bonus!
“Ooh, wait!” Penny glances up at Nemona, who looks at her expectantly. At some point the two had moved closer after sitting and now Nemonas arm is slung comfortably around Penny's shoulders, their fingers loosely imtertwined. “Did you tell Juliana about this?”
“Uh, no. Was I supposed to?”
“No! That's actually perfect,” Penny cackles and Nemona looks at her curiously. “Now we can fuck with her. She’s the only one who wasn't confessed to today.” Nemona thinks about it before her eyes light up, and she giggles lightly.
“You should send her a photo of us and rub it in.”
Penny snorts, and sets up her phone to take a photo of them. In the photo Penny’s sitting between Nemona’s legs, smirking at the camera as Nemona presses a kiss to her cheek.
“It's perfect!” Penny giggles, and Nemona hums in agreement from over her shoulder. Penny wastes no time sending it to Juliana along with a fitting caption.
8:30
Penny
[Photo]
Imagine not being confessed to on valentines day
L+Ratio+Get Bitches
8:31
Jules
Bitch?!?!
Talk about disrespect
Hurt her and I’ll END YOU >:(((
Also is that why she took Miradon??
8:31
Penny
Yah lol
gotta go now, I have a date
unlike you, bitchless
Hi Julie!!!- Nemona
8:32
Jules
Hi nemo lmao
also penny disrespect!! apologize rn!!!
9:45
Jules
HELLO?!
BITCH YOU LEFT ME ON READ
10:00
Jules
whatever
fake friends forreal
10:01
Penny
hoes before bros
10:01
Jules
SO YOU ARE READING THESE