The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 3: Episode 8: Challenge

Spoiler:

It was the Tuesday after Jon, Alyssa, Amelia and Dylan returned to Hoenn, during the eighth week of summer, when just like a fortnight before, Dylan, Justin and Charlotte found themselves sitting around a table in the dining room during the lunch hour between classes finishing in the morning, and two groups spending an hour each with Jon, doing practical and specialised training. Whilst Charlotte and Dylan’s teams had been rostered on for setting up the dining room for lunch, it was a small task, not taking more than ten minutes with the sheer amount of people they had between the two groups. Chris and Abbee however, had both gone to the lodge after their morning classes, skipping lunch with everyone else.

“How does it feel being back home?” Justin asked Dylan, before taking a bite from his sandwich. Dylan had been back for a few days at this point, however Justin, knowing how much Dylan liked his space when he had a lot going on, had not spoken to Dylan much until Dylan had approached him.

“Honestly, it barely feels like I left,” Dylan answered. “I’d wonder if I had dreamt it all if I wasn’t still catching up on figuring out what was taught while we were gone.”

“I think Jon’s in the same boat,” Charlotte remarked. “Yesterday afternoon, a bit of time during training was spent establishing what we did while he was gone.”

Dylan nodded before he asked the question he had kept forgetting to ask until then.

“So how did you cover us all while we were gone?” Dylan asked. When Alyssa had first told him and Jon of Jack’s passing, Dylan had volunteered to remain at the Academy to help keep things running smoothly, which Jon soon dismissed, making it abundantly clear that if Dylan wanted to come to the funeral in Kanto, he shouldn’t worry about the Academy.

“A bit of chopping and changing,” Justin remarked. “Steven took over your Raising Pokemon class, and while you were gone, I handled his Pokemon Knowledge classes. Then Abbee handled Trainer Career, deciding to move the section on Social Media forward to that week, since she knows very little about insurance companies like Alyssa had planned to teach on…”

“I handled Tactics and Strategy, and then they’d put what they learnt from me to practise against Chris when he did Practical Training,” Charlotte remarked. “In all honesty, as exhausting as it was running classes, and when we weren’t, being with our groups during their classes, we did okay. If Jon, Alyssa and Steven were out of action, us four and you could probably keep the place running for a few days…”

Dylan wasn’t surprised at how well his fellow interns had handled things while they were gone. Granted, from what Justin and Charlotte said, it didn’t seem like nobody was running a class they couldn’t handle well and truly.

“How did you go with Pokemon Knowledge?” Dylan asked Justin. “That seems like a bit of a tough one…”

“I thought the same too, and was wondering why Steven told me to handle it, since I wouldn’t have been able to tell you differences between a Nidoking and Nidoqueen outside of their appearances…” Justin explained. “But Steven told me instead of looking at individual Pokemon, to do what I do when I battle, and instead of looking at the Pokemon itself, look at the small things that give away what the Pokemon can do, and teach them how to do that…”

“That’s what Steven told your group about you when he and Jon trained them to wipe us out last summer,” Dylan remarked. “That your strength is being able to see a Pokemon in action and know more about it than its basic appearance and types. That’s why your opponent hinged their strategy on blocking your vision…”

Dylan nodded, though Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why include yourself in that us? You were the only one who wasn’t beaten…” Charlotte commented with a grin.

“I mean, it wasn’t easy. They were trying hard, and my usual tricks didn’t work…” Dylan replied, before having a brief thought. “How’s Abbee doing?”

Honestly, Dylan had been worried about her, given how rocky things were between her and Chris this summer, and how much she wanted things to work with him. However, he was ashamed to admit that he had let that concern slip in the last few weeks, given what had happened.

“She’s doing alright,” Charlotte said. “Just been really busy, but honestly, I think that busyness is good for her.”

“More busy than the rest of you?” Dylan asked, slightly surprised. Justin nodded.

“Remember Jon announced that prom that we’re doing on week ten?” Justin asked. “He asked for volunteers to help make it happen, but before anything else could happen, you guys heard about his grandpa and had left for Kanto. So Abbee stepped up and took responsibility for that.”

Dylan was initially surprised, but realised he shouldn’t be. When it was his eighteenth birthday a few summers before, Abbee was one of the people who had taken charge to organise a party for him, and like himself to a degree, Abbee had a tendency to distract herself with work from things that may be troubling her.

“The only thing that Jon had arranged at that point were the businesses who would rent out outfits for people to wear for it, so Steven made some calls to businesses on the island, and figured out which ones Jon was talking about,” Charlotte continued. “Nothing else had been planned, so during dinner the next night, Abbee got a sign-up sheet out, got some people to volunteer, and has spent most of her free time since working with a few of them at a time to organise different parts of the night…”

“It should be a good party then,” Dylan mused, as Justin nodded in agreement.

“I could use a good night,” Justin remarked. “I was hoping the lack of TV in this place would stop the students here seeing my commercial, but a few found it online, and I’ve been getting jokes left, right and centre…”

Dylan groaned in empathy, as Charlotte couldn’t help but grin.

“I don’t know what you expected…” Charlotte remarked.

“I didn’t expect to be onscreen, telling people to go to coc.com,” Justin retorted, not bothering to change how he verbalised the website from it’s somewhat phallic pronunciation. “Honestly, don’t people spend thousands to go to college to not make that mistake?”

“So what do you do when you have people coming up to you making jokes?” Dylan asked, and was surprised when Justin grinned.

“I pull out my phone, and show them the twenty-five thousand dollar transfer on my bank statement…” Justin said, causing Charlotte to laugh. “That usually shuts them up…”

Before anything else could be said, a group of three students approached the table they sat at, Dylan recognizing them as students in Chris’ group, that he didn’t know the names of, which was fair given there were a hundred campers this summer.

“Can we help you?” Charlotte asked politely, unsure why the trio had come to their table, and what had them so excited. She noticed a tablet in the hands of one of them.

“We were just wondering, are you guys gonna do it?” one of the students said, earning a puzzled look from the three interns.

“Do what, exactly?” Justin asked, not following. The trio of students seemed shocked that none of the interns in front of them seemed to know what they were talking about.

“You guys haven’t seen the video?”

“What video?” Charlotte asked. As if on cue, the one with the tablet walked over, placing the tablet on the table, and hitting play on a video that had been preloaded. The three interns watched in shock, as the video played, before coming to a close.

“Can I borrow this?” Dylan asked. “To show Jon and the others…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

“So what did you want to talk about?”

Abbee sat at a couch in the lodge, her laptop in front of her with a few printed A4 sheets of paper, with different styles of decoration on them, which she was using as inspiration for the prom that would be held in a fortnight when she asked this of Chris, who sat on the couch opposite her. Truth was, she had a hunch of what it was, however, knowing that this conversation in particular probably would require more of her than what she had been in a position to give the last few weeks, covering Alyssa’s classes and organising the prom, had intentionally put it off until she had the energy for it. He had tried to speak to her about all this during breakfast, however given that Chris struggled to get out of bed any earlier than he explicitly had to, it was nearing ten minutes until classes started, and there wasn’t enough time, Abbee had told him she would be working in the lodge during lunch, and to talk to her then, resulting in the discussion the pair were having now.

Thinking carefully about how he worded this, he paused for a moment before speaking.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry…”

“I’m going to need you to be a little more specific than that,” Abbee said, partially joking. The partial sincerity of it was that between Chris’ avoidance of discussing their future, and in some case, lied to get out of it, as well as his grudge with Dylan, which until recently had been putting a barrier between Abbee and her best friend, Chris had a number of things from that summer he would be right in apologising for.

“I’m sorry about how things have played out whenever we talk about what happens after summer,” Chris answered. “About how I booked tournaments that meant I couldn’t see you for Christmas or New Years, and signed up for one on your birthday. And how every time you’ve asked how we will make this work when it seems like we’re going in different directions, I’ve just avoided the question, and expected you to be cool with that…”

Abbee was slightly surprised to hear this, at this point having partially given up on her and Chris being able to have this discussion, and figuring if she wanted the relationship to work, she just had to accept that Chris wasn’t going to think that far ahead. She closed her laptop, and looked over at Chris, giving him her full attention.

“And if you are okay with it, I guess I wanted to talk to you about it all…” Chris said, almost sounding embarrassed at how direct, and in a way, vulnerable he was being. “If you still want to talk about this…”

Abbee breathed a sigh of relief, that Chris finally seemed to understand what was going through her head. Deciding not to make Chris do all the work with this conversation, she asked the question that had been plaguing her for weeks at this point.

“Our goals pull us in two different directions, and while we might be able to make it work for a little while, things working out between us long term seem unlikely if nothing changes…” Abbee explained. “It’s one thing if I only see my boyfriend a few times a year, and as much as I’d rather things be different, I can live with that. But what if we want to get married, or something like that? What can we both do to make that work?”

Abbee was thankful when Chris’ gaze didn’t waver at the challenging question, and he actually started speaking, not seeming like he was avoiding anything.

“I’ve been thinking about this, and the way I see it, I have three options,” Chris explained. “The first, is that I accept the fact that to make things work, I might have to compromise on my dreams. Accept the fact that the things I want at this exact moment to be doing in ten years, might not be realistic in the grand scheme of things. Things change, and I might need to accept that I can’t do everything I have dreamt of doing…”

Abbee nodded, understanding what Chris was saying.

“The second option is that I go all in on my goals, and accept the fact that if I truly want to do what I have my sights set on, I may need to give up other things…” Chris said, his voice getting quieter. “And that may be us agreeing that things just aren’t looking like they have a chance of working out, and trying to just be friends, and support each other in whatever we do in that way…”

Abbee felt her heart sink a little at those words, though was thankful when Chris followed that up with another statement.

“But I don’t want to do that…” Chris added, to Abbee’s relief, before continuing. “And that leaves option number three…”

Before he could continue, the door to the lodge burst open, as Dylan hurried into the building, and into the lounge, carrying a locked tablet, and followed by Charlotte and Justin, Charlotte with a menacing grin on her face.

“Do you mind?” Chris asked, his irritation at all three, but directing all of it towards Dylan. “We were having a private talk here!”

“We all live here, and this is a communal space,” Dylan replied irritably in response. “If you want to have a private talk in our lounge, don’t get s**ty when people come in…”

Chris’ temper flared, as he stood to his feet quickly.

“I preferred you when you weren’t a patronising d****ebag,” Chris remarked, as Abbee stood up as well.

“Chris, cut it out,” Charlotte groaned. “If you’d stop stroking your ego, you might actually wanna hear this…”

“We’ll talk later,” Abbee said quietly to Chris, annoyed at how he had handled the intrusion, though wanting to actually have this conversation later, and not have it derailed by them arguing about this. She turned to Dylan, Charlotte and Justin. “What’s going on?”

“We’ll show you the video with Jon in the stadium,” Dylan answered. “He will be training Justin’s group soon, and if we explain it to you here and now, we won’t be able to show him before the session starts…”

“Dylan’s right,” Justin added. “There’s too much to explain now, and not enough time to show Jon and talk this out if we gotta explain it all twice. Come with us…”

The trio left, and Abbee moved to follow them, noticing a bitter look on Chris’ face.

“You’ve been wanting to talk about this for weeks…” Chris said, somewhat disappointed.

“I doubt anything is going to change between now and tonight,” Abbee replied. “Dylan wouldn’t have been so pushy if it wasn’t important, so let’s hear him out, and continue this after…”

She waited for a moment, as Chris sighed, before following her out of the lodge, and catching up to the other three interns as they walked briskly towards the stadium.

************************************************** ************************************************** *********

"I am former Sinnoh Champion, and founder of the College of the North Wind, Camilla Blakely. And alongside the top five students of my college, I have this message for Jon Drake and his Eon Academy. I would like to invite you and your five original students, to come visit the College of the North Wind in Jubilife City, Sinnoh at the end of summer…”

The five interns and Jon stood around the borrowed tablet, where on screen, stood a woman in her early fifties, under a spotlight on what appeared to be a pitch black Pokemon battlefield. Suddenly, on the far left side of the screen, a few metres behind where Camilla stood, another spotlight switched on, revealing a girl in her early twenties, standing in front of what appeared to be a Legendary Pokemon that Justin had never seen before, that was bulky, and seemed to be made of liquid metal.

”I’m Sophie Williams, and I challenge Justin Collins to a battle…”

“Wait, this is happening?” Chris asked, before being promptly shushed by Charlotte. The next light came on, revealing the next trainer. Next to her was a Legendary Pokemon that Charlotte had seen before, though didn’t know much about at all. Zeraora.

”I’m Beth Thomas, and I challenge Charlotte Jones…”

The next trainer, this one standing in the middle of the line, was revealed, and Chris didn’t recognize the large equine Pokemon that stood next to her, seemingly made of ice.

”I’m Natasha King, and I challenge Christopher Kingswood…”

“That Ice Type will make you regret getting so many dragons,” Justin joked, as the next trainer was revealed, this one being a man in his mid twenties, and sitting atop his shoulder was a Shaymin.

”I’m Matt Campbell, and I challenge Abbee Strauss…”

“Victini will love having another crack at a Shaymin…” Jon remarked, as Abbee couldn’t help but grin, wishing she had Victini out of the Pokeball to see this. Finally the trainer on the far right was revealed, Dylan knowing this one was his opponent, and being slightly surprised at the Pokemon next to them. He had heard myths of Cresselia, though knew little fact of it.

”I’m Brad Jenkins, and I challenge Dylan Squier…”

Finally the camera focused on Camilla, who looked rather young for her age, though Jon had little doubt that given the amount of fame and fortune she had amassed, she had work done to cling to her youth.

”And I challenge Jon Drake…” Camilla said, before the loud roar of a Legendary Pokemon erupted in the stadium, and Suicune landed seemingly out of nowhere, behind Camilla and walking forward next to her. ”And to make this challenge interesting, I propose a fifteen-thousand dollar wager, payable to the winning school…”

Jon whistled hearing the amount as Camilla continued.

”We hope you will accept our challenge, and meet us in Jubilife in the last weekend of September…”

The video ended, leaving the group in stunned silence.

“She really likes the theatrics,” Justin commented, breaking the silence.

“Of course. You know this is all glorified advertising right?” Charlotte asked Justin. “We’ve been making news for the last year or two, and she’s trying to cash in on that…”

“And compared to the twenty-five thousand you were paid to be in that Coronet Outdoor and Camping commercial, fifteen thousand spent if her team loses is pretty cheap,” Dylan added.

“So what do we do?” Abbee asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Chris answered. “We accept the challenge…”

“Hold on a minute Chris,” Jon interjected. “She didn’t just challenge you, but everyone here…”

“And?”

“And you can’t speak for them,” Jon answered. “Abbee starts her new job after summer, and Justin probably has to prepare for his next year of university. Trainers don’t have to accept every challenge that comes their way, and they challenged all of us.”

Jon looked around at the five trainers who stood in front of him expectantly.

“We either do this together, or not at all,” Jon said. “Chris, I take it you’re in…”

“Hell yeah…”

Jon nodded, and turned to Charlotte.

“What about you?” he asked. Charlotte laughed at the very question.

“I live in Jubilife, so it’s a no brainer for me,” Charlotte answered. “I don’t think I could show my face back there if I didn’t accept the challenge.”

Jon grinned at Charlotte’s reasoning, though knew she was just as competitive as Chris, and wouldn’t let him accept the challenge while she rejected it. He looked towards Justin.

“Justin?”

Justin thought it over quickly.

“I think I can slot this in between finishing here, and classes starting in October…” Justin said. “I don’t wanna be the one to make us turn this down…”

“I’m in too…” Abbee remarked. “I’m going to be holding back in battles at the gym until next summer. I want one last one where I can go all out!”

“Damn right!” Chris shouted enthusiastically, leaving Jon looking towards Dylan. He didn’t have to say anything, Dylan knowing he was next.

“I don’t have a Legendary Pokemon, so I’m going to be at a disadvantage,” Dylan said, before looking to Jon. “You have a stake in this bigger than us. If we lose this challenge, the Academy’s reputation may suffer for it. So I’m leaving it up to you. Do you trust me to compete at a disadvantage?”

“With my life,” Jon replied instantly and earnestly, earning a shocked look from those around, even Chris. “You aren’t that same kid who lost his first battle here. You now battle best when the odds are stacked against you. So if you’re willing to try, I want you to give this your all…”

Dylan nodded, appreciating Jon’s praise. However he raised the question.

“My point remains. You have a bigger stake in this than us,” Dylan asked. “Do you want to accept Camilla’s challenge…”

“Dylan makes a good point…” Justin said, before speaking a little too quickly without thinking. “I mean, Camilla is a former champion, and trained at least a dozen Elite Four members. Charlotte said at the Firehouse even Jon would struggle against her…”

Justin realised what he had said, as Jon glanced over at Charlotte, who seemed a little stunned at Justin mentioning that in front of Jon.

“Ye of little faith?” Jon asked jokingly, as Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“Do you think you can take her?” Charlotte asked. “She was the Sinnoh Champion when your grandpa was giving you your first lessons. And since then, has trained the current champion and a fair few Elite Four…”

“I think I’m willing to give it a try,” Jon remarked. “And I think I may just surprise her…”

“How so?” Charlotte asked, though was surprised when Chris had the answer.

“How many people outside of this room have seen Jon actually battle at a hundred percent?” Chris asked, earning a nod from Jon. “Like, he was practically unknown before he beat Cassandra Silvers, and seeing as that was, like, her second match without cheating, I doubt Jon broke much of a sweat…”

Chris looked to Jon for confirmation, and Jon merely shrugged, a grin across his face, providing Chris with little evidence to back up his point.

“There’s barely anything online of Jon’s own battles before the S.S. Wishmaker. Really, the biggest indicator to the outside world of what he is capable of, is what people have seen and heard of us…” Chris continued. “And what was it he said to us when he gave us the Mega Stones?”

“Our best advantage is being underestimated…” Dylan answered, surprising everyone that he was willing to answer Chris’ question.

“Really, the only battle that shows what you can really do, that is online, is when you beat Steven in the live-stream…” Chris said to Jon. “I think Camilla might just be underestimating you. And that might be all you need to turn this around…”

Jon grinned, before turning to Charlotte, and gesturing at Chris.

“Why don’t you have this much faith in me?” Jon asked, patronisingly, as Charlotte groaned.

“So we’re all in?” Justin asked. Jon nodded.

“Everyone gather round,” Jon instructed. “If you haven’t done your hair properly this morning, that’s tough luck because we’re gonna be on camera…”

Jon tilted the tablet, so the front facing camera was pointing towards himself, and the five interns, before opening the camera app and pressing record.

“Hey Camilla,” Jon said enthusiastically to the camera. “I apologise for the lack of theatrics, but I figured you’d want to hear from us sooner rather than later…”

It took a lot of effort for the interns to not laugh at the subtle dig towards the video that Camilla had made to challenge them, as Jon continued.

“We accept your challenge on one condition,” Jon explained. “We don’t need your money, and are sure you don’t need ours. So let's say the loser donates that money instead to the charity of the winner's choice. That way, everyone wins…”

The tactic was smart. Even if the Eon Academy lost the challenge, they would not lose too much face, with Jon being the one to propose such a charitable idea.

“If this term is acceptable to you, we will begin training immediately, and see you at the College of the North Wind at the end of summer…”

Jon finished the recording, before sending it to his own phone, knowing the tablet didn’t belong to Dylan.

“I’ll get this uploaded, and start playing the media to get all the publicity we can out of this…” Jon remarked. “Training starts at 3pm today…”

“Training?” Chris asked.

“You heard what I told Camilla. Training starts immediately,” Jon explained, before turning to Abbee and Dylan. “The day before your group has training with me, you guys will train with me after group training is over. So Abbee and Dylan, since your groups are training with me tomorrow afternoon, you two will train with me at three and four this afternoon respectively. Tomorrow will be Chris and Charlotte, and so forth…”

“Just like old times,” Abbee remarked, remembering the individual training they did in their first year.

“What about the students?” Dylan asked, his mind struggling to not think about work. “Surely this will have some sort of side effect, having an entire group's leader taken away for an hour, twice a day?”

“Good point,” Jon remarked, taking a moment to think it over. “We will make your training sessions open to the students to watch. It’s not like you will be practising using Mega Evolution or anything that they can’t see…”

“But what if they film something and post it online?” Justin asked, well aware of how the internet could be a royal pain in the a**. “Give away what we have planned…”

“All phones will be placed in a box on entry, so there is no recording of anything,” Jon remarked. “Besides, this is optional, for those who are a little more studious and wanting to get everything they can out of this summer. So I think you will find they won’t be jeopardising the opportunity to sit in on and learn from this…”

Before any other questions or concerns could be raised, the sound of voices from the foyer outside the stadium began to filter through, showing they were out of time.

“Any other concerns can be addressed during extra training,” Jon remarked. “For now, get ready to train harder than ever…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Whilst Justin’s group had their session with Jon before Chris’, leaving both him and Abbee free, as soon as Abbee left the stadium, she was approached by two very enthusiastic fourteen year old girls who had both signed up to help with decoration for the prom, and whilst Abbee did want to continue her conversation with Chris, she didn’t want to be worried about Chris needing to get to training in time, or discourage the two students who had put in a heap of extra time and effort to come up with ideas for the prom. She quickly and quietly told Chris they would talk after dinner, before following the two students to the hall, where they began describing what they wanted to do in terms of decoration.

Once Justin’s team finished their hour, it was time for Chris’ team, and once their hour was over, Abbee was scheduled to have her first individual training session with Jon in two years, though had a dozen spectators watching. During this session, Jon spent most of the time focusing on tactics that revolved around Abbee’s non-legendary Pokemon, given her slight dependence on Victini. Finally, when her hour had finished, Dylan had begun training with Jon, focusing on building up Dylan’s offensive capabilities, to bring them to the same level as his defensive skills. It was an hour after dinner, when Abbee and Chris found themselves walking along the fence line of the property, given the fair point Dylan had made about how the lodge was communal for all interns, and not the best place for a private conversation. Whilst the fence line of the property was technically more public, the property was large, and as it got darker, they were less likely to be interrupted.

There was an awkward silence, as neither really knew how to press resume on their conversation that had been interrupted that afternoon.

“You never told me the third option,” Abbee said, diving right into it. Chris nodded.

“The third option is the one I want to take…” Chris answered. “But I can’t take it if you’re not on board with it…”

Abbee remained silent, wanting to hear what he was thinking, and Chris continued.

“The third option is the one I was trying to take by avoiding this conversation,” Chris continued. “I don’t slow down on following my dreams, and any potential bumps in the road, we cross when we get there…”

Abbee couldn’t help but sigh as Chris continued, seeming not to notice.

“I’ve dreamt ever since I was a kid of travelling the world, competing and being the best I can be. Of becoming a legend in my own right. And I know what I need to do if I want to have a chance of making that a reality, which is why I’ve been so hell bent on competing…” Chris explained. “But I love you, and as much as I want to compete, and become a living legend, I want to be with you…”

Abbee stopped walking, focusing on what Chris was saying, and feeling more scared for their future with every word.

“And honestly, the reason I’ve been avoiding the conversation altogether, is because I feel like us talking about this, is just us throwing in the towel on having both, when we haven’t even reached the point of needing to consider that yet…” Chris continued. “So I guess what I am asking is that we try and make things work the way they are, and handle any speed bumps when we actually get to them…”

Chris looked towards Abbee, who was getting harder to see, being backlit by the setting sun behind her, and wasn’t speaking.

“Abbee?”

Abbee sighed, and looked at her feet, kicking the ground beneath them.

“Abbee…” Chris said again. “Can you speak to me?”

“Chris,” Abbee began, though wishing she could be anywhere but there. “I understand what you’re saying, really…”

Chris went silent, as he realised that Abbee wasn’t on board.

“I get that you want us to cross this bridge when we get there, but that doesn’t change the fact that if we go ahead the way we both individually plan to, without anything changing, the harder it will be to change things, and realistically, we won’t last…” Abbee said. “If I’m wanting to settle down and actually have a home, and you will settle for nothing less than to travel and compete all over the world, and both of us aren’t willing to give a little to make this work, then there is no way that we are going to last…”

“Abbee,” Chris said, though she didn’t let him finish.

“And honestly, if we are in this relationship, with one, or both of us reasonably expecting it to fail, chances are it will,” Abbee said, as she began to choke up, her eyes welling with tears. “And if we aren’t in this relationship for the point of it actually working out long term, hell, I’ll say it, getting married, and being together forever, then we are just together for the sake of breaking up, and the longer it takes to get there, the more it will hurt for both of us…”

“What are you saying, Abbee?” Chris asked, though deep down, he knew the answer.

“I don’t want to get in the way of your dreams. You’ve made it clear how important they are to you, and I’d hate myself if we were old and retired, and you felt like you settled for less than you wanted from life to be with me…” Abbee answered. “I want you to achieve everything you aspire to. But at the same time, I want to know that the person I am with, could be the person I spend the rest of my life with. And short of me getting in the way of what you want to feel that way, I don’t know how we can make this work…”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Chris asked, his own voice breaking a little having asked the question.

“This isn’t what I wanted, really…” Abbee tried to justify. “But I can’t let this go on, and pretend everything is okay, when really I believe it’s just going to blow up in our faces, even worse…”

“Are you breaking up with me?” Chris asked again, enunciating his words, however Abbee remained silent, answering simply with a nod.

“I’m sorry,” Abbee said. “Really…”

Before Chris could respond, Abbee turned away, and walked towards the lodge, leaving Chris in silence, to try and come to terms with what had just happened…