To Steal the Heart of a Thief {Pokemon Ranger Fanfiction} (Pokemon Watty Awards 2015)

Chapter 10: What Makes You Tick?

(Rhythimi's POV)

Dear diary,

Looking back over the past week, things have been a little...hectic. Actually, things have been hectic ever since Rena arrived, to be exact. Keith, the main source of our school's craziness, has always been a flirty pervert who surrounds himself with the attention of random girls at school. But, ever since she came, well... He's changed.

No, seriously! Now, he's paying less attention to Kim and his fan club and redirecting it towards Rena. I'm actually kind of...happy. You know, for him. Maybe she'll have a good influence on him and he'll finally grow up a little.

...oh who am I kidding? This is Keith I'm talking about here. He'll never grow up.

When Rena isn't spending her time with Isaac and I, she's humoring Keith and his crazy antics. I think he's getting frustrated that all of his usual pick up lines aren't working on her at all. Over the past week, he's been acting strange. Okay, stranger than he usually is. He's been acting out more and trying to grab Rena's attention. Although, I can only imagine he has ulterior motives for trying to get her attention. My guess would be he's developing a crush on our new friend, and he's not sure how to react to his new unacknowledged feelings, since Keith has never even remotely liked a girl.

I know, that does sound strange, doesn't it? But it's true.

Keith's never liked a girl. Not once.

Sure, he hits on them all the time and goes on dates, playing his fair share of women, but he's never actually had feelings for a single one of them. Poor guy... Destined to live a life without love... Then again, that's his own fault for being such an idiot in the first place.

I know him too well, and I've known him for too long to not be able to recognize what he's going through. I think he's just struggling to find a way to connect with Rena, so he's trying to get her attention by being annoying.

I don't think he realizes he likes her just yet, however. How can I tell that he even likes her in the first place, you ask? Well... Let's look over the events of the past seven days, now, shall we?

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(Third Person POV)

Seven days ago.

"Ugh, that was brutal." Keith thought to himself, trudging out of Mr. Kincaid's classroom. He had received yet another stupid detention from the stupid teacher for breaking his stupid rule of running in the stupid hallways.

His bitter thoughts were then interrupted by a familiar giggle: Rhythimi. Keith peered down the hallway in the direction of the giggle that was all too familiar to him until he spotted his two friends and Rena having an amusing conversation of some sort. His bitter expression transformed into a frown as he watched Rhythimi and Isaac get along with Rena so well. It's not like he had a problem with the new girl spending time with his two best friends or anything, but he had to admit...he was feeling a little jealous that she was stealing their attention from him, whether she was doing it intentionally or not.

Rena. He found her to be a curious person. She was smart, funny, sarcastic, and definitely attractive... But she was also fiery with an unpredictable temper. He could relate to that. HE wanted to spend time with HER, but it's like no matter how many times he tried to, something always came up. Either Rhythimi would whisk her away for some girl bonding time, Isaac would steal her from Keith for a science experiment of some sort, or Keith would do something stupid and wind up in detention again whenever Rena actually had free time in-between studying and hanging out with his friends. If he couldn't have her, then no one else could. So what if he was being a little selfish? In the end, Keith always got what he wanted, no matter what it was.