Post by spottydotty on Jun 4, 2019 19:27:29 GMT -5
Bryony rolled the coins in her hand as she made her way to the payphone inside the PokeCenter. She had previously felt nothing, her face, expressions, and body language showing a lack of emotion, both unintentionally but somewhat intentionally to not let anyone ask her how she was doing should sadness come across her face.
As she walked down the hall, of phones, she took notice of just how many people there were; an Alolan-couple, from what she was gathering by their appearance, speaking into a phone sleepily but excitedly. Bryony ventured to guess that since Alola was all the way on the other side of the world, whoever was on the other line was experiencing dusk rather than dawn. There were others too; a woman speaking quickly, a man in a business suit speaking in an authoritative tone, a woman and her child laughing into another.
A smile tugged at her lips, but never came. How nice it must be to be so oblivious, so blissfully ignorant of the horrors that had transpired miles away from the city, so unaware that what wreaked havoc on their beautiful region had returned once more with a vengeance. A part of her wanted to scream, appear like a madwoman and yell out their return, but she would rather not have cuffs for bracelets today. Instead, she silently made her way to a phone, turning the coins one last time before pushing them into the slot.
Clink. Clink. Cl-Cl-Cl-Click, Cl-Cl-Click. Rrrrrrr-
Bryony held the phone tightly, gripping it harder and harder as each sound from the phone buzzed in her ear. In Hoenn, they were only a handful of hours ahead, so she knew that her father must be preparing for the chores of the day or at least beginning them. As each ring rang, she felt her stomach twist tighter and tighter, her anticipation slowly turning to disappointment.
“Y’ello?”
Until his voice came through the speaker.
Bryony froze, all words escaping her. A primal instinct told her to hang up, it’s not worth worrying her family further, but guilt overshadowed the feeling and she swallowed, gathering her wits to speak distinctly and articulately.
“H-Hey, Pa…”
Her voice instead came out shakily and hoarsely, filled with exhaustion and something else she couldn’t quite place. She raised a brow at herself at the kind of sound that came out of her mouth, but, well, if she was going to speak, she should speak honestly, both in words and in tone.
“Well, ‘ey there!” he said. “You’re up early, aren’t ya. Something on your mind, sweetpea?”
“Y-Yeah, uh…” she started, clearing her throat to get rid of some of the hoarseness. “I… can’t say I’m having that good of a time.”
Bryony frowned a little as she heard her father’s voice on the other end turn a little more serious. “What’s wrong? Somethin’ happen?”
This was the moment. This was the opportunity; she could tell him that Galactic had attacked the school, she could tell him she lost almost everything, she could tell him how she wasn’t the strong woman he thought her to be, that she was a frightened little girl stuck in a place she didn’t want to be, just like when she called him after the incident in Unova. She could tell him she was lost, how she was thrust into the open world of a region she was foreign to, with nowhere to really go and nowhere to really run.
She could say all these things.
“No. No, nothing’s wrong.”
But she didn’t.
“Then what do you need, sweetpea?”
“I need, uh… money,” she said, tapping her foot on the ground. “I ran out quicker than I thought I would, and I’m still stuck here at school, so… yeah. Gotta get groceries and stuff, you know?”
“Ya students and your money problems,” he chuckled, but she could almost hear him nod to himself. “But yeah, I gotcha. I’ll send ya some. Anything else?”
Bryony hesitated; what else did she need? Not much of anything that could be transferred, really. Money could buy her the things she would need, the supplies necessary for a journey around the region and to stabilize herself for the time-being until she felt well enough. Anything else transferred? No, not monetarily… but, maybe…
“Bella Belle. You were gonna send her as a birthday gift, but you called and said she wasn’t well. Can I have her now?”
“Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah I can do that! Gimme an hour-“
“No,” she said abruptly, cutting him off. “I need her now, I wanna see her getting transferred.”
Silence fell over the line for a moment, and Bryony feared the worse before she heard her father sigh on the other end. “Alright, fine,” he said, chuckling lightly. “Lemme get it all set up.”
Bryony sat in silence for a minute, listening to things getting organized, a moo in the background, and finally, a zap sound effect. She raised a brow at the commotion afterward; a bunch of clanging, a bunch of grunting, all what sounded like work. She picked at her nails before raising her head when he spoke again.
“Alright, got it! Check your little… gadget thing, she should be sending now."
Her eyes widened and she quickly pulled out her Xtransceiver. A message popped up on her screen, only making out a “Le-“ before swiping it away and tapping to check her box. She saw a ball, and loading bar on the bottom. She stared at it, holding her breath as it slowly and gradually filled, only releasing a breath when she saw the “Successful transfer!” message.
“Thanks, Pa,” she said, relief in her voice. “I, uh, I gotta go. Lot’s of things to do before class.”
“Sure thing, sweetpea,” he chuckled, speaking warmly. “Have a good day.”
“…you too, Pa. Have a really good day.”
It wasn’t her who hung up; she didn’t have the strength. She waited until she heard the click of her father hanging up the phone before sighing, reluctantly placing the phone back on the rack.
She should’ve been honest. She even told herself to speak honestly if she was going to have her tone match her exhaustion, but she simply couldn’t bear to make her father worry for her. She didn’t want to raise an argument about whether or not she should return to Hoenn, and then consequentially reignite the fight of whether she was safer in Unova, or safer on the ranch. Bryony was sick of being pulled in two directions, sick of being pulled into conflicts she didn’t have a say in, and sick of causing more grief and worry when she can just avoid it all together. Of course, she knew that they would figure it out sooner or later, when there was no contact with the school. But for now, she couldn’t say it. She just couldn’t.
So with that, she took two more coins out of her pockets and shoved them into the slots on the payphone. There was one more parent to call. One more person to dial.
She dialed, listening to the whirrs of the phone connecting before hearing a click on the other line.
“Hello?”
Bryony smiled a bit, speaking a little more confidently. “Hey-“
Click.
Bryony frowned, looking at her phone. She dialed again, her time still available and held the phone to her ear, only to find there was nothing on the other end. She heard sounds of confusion around her, turning around to see that the others who had been on their devices also looking at their phones in confusion, dialing with seemingly no luck in getting it to work. Except, for one person, talking still on the phone with no disruption, mentioning how they would soon be on their way to Oreburgh City to visit.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her breath hitched, and chills ran up her arms so that the hairs stood on end. She looked down at her phone before dropping it, ignoring how it smacked the ground before swinging from the cord inches above the tile. Bryony could think of nothing to say, nothing to do but whisper two little words.
“Oh, shit.”