Author's Note: Hey everyone! This is Acooler1 speaking. Welcome to the second story I've written-- Starf University: Cronicles of the Beginning! If you've read the introduction on the previous page, you apparently know what the story is about and you're interested. The mere fact that you're on this page tells me that.
A couple of reminders: This is a "M" rated fic. That means there will be language, there will be mature situations, and there will be-- say it with me--
LEMONS! In later chapters.
There might be half of a lemon in chapter 2. Ha ha!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Only the OCs that appear all over this story.
Well, I hope I don't disappoint you guys. Here's Chapter 1. Leave a review and tell me what you think!
Chapter 1: Introductions Should Be Made
"I hate Graveler!"
On the top floor of the six story Kelpsy dorms of Starf University, Sean Freshwater is lying on his bed holding his Nintendo DS above his head. Currently, he's wearing an annoyed look on his face because yet another wild Graveler had the nerve to use Selfdestruct on his Marill. He just used his last Revive, too.
Sighing, he says, "Well, at least Linoone is holding something. Let's see… Oh! A Rare Candy! Perfect!" Immediately, he takes it from Linoone and uses it on his Marill, leveling it up to Level 27.
Marill wants to learn the move Double-Edge. But, Marill already knows four moves. Delete a move to learn Double-Edge?
"Hmm… why not."
Which move should be forgotten?
Sean scans his blue eyes over the moves that Marill already knows. "Okay… Tackle, BubbleBeam, Aqua Ring, and Rollout. This is a no-brainer."
1, 2, and… Poof!
Marill forgot the move Aqua Ring.
"What?"
And…
"Man!"
Marill learned Double-Edge!
"I was trying to forget Tackle," Sean explained to himself. "Well, nothing a Heart Scale can't fix next time. I guess I'll explore this campus a little bit more."
After saving the game, Sean reaches over to put his Nintendo DS on his tabletop. Getting out of bed, he glances at himself in the large mirror before he deems himself ready to leave. A guy with cream-colored skin, height 5'11", wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt with blue jeans stares back at him. Sean and his mirror image look over each other's blue hair, each preferring the wild, unruly style they both supported. Sean looks down at his blue shoes to make sure they're clean as well. An orange kanji symbol self-stitched on his shirt over where his heart would be offsets all of the blue he is wearing.
Still… if he was lost in the middle of the ocean— or a simple aquarium, for that matter— anybody would be hard-pressed to find him.
Sean walks out of his room, making doubly sure that he has his wallet, his card key to his room, and his cell phone in his pockets before leaving. Taking the elevator to the first floor and passing the viewing room where four people have a PS3 hooked up to the large television, he steps outside to green trees and sweltering heat. Sean never liked the heat; he preferred to be cool like his room, like his attitude most of the time.
After three minutes of aimless walking, he finds a spot of interest. Aguav Café. Now featuring Starbucks! That's what Sean reads on the poster outside of said establishment. Smiling and suddenly feeling the need for a Vanilla Bean Frappucino, Sean walks inside to a sparsely populated, caramel-colored interior, and places his order.
Three minutes later, Sean exits out and sits at one of the tables on the shop's patio, enjoying the cold beverage and thinking about how to make the most out of his freshman year.
"Um, Professor Dogwood?"
A well-dressed, blond-haired man in his mid-thirties, Professor Dogwood looks up from the poetry he is writing from his desk. A young girl's face breached the crack in his door, green eyes staring at his red orbs and silently asking for permission to enter, which Professor Dogwood gives with a hand gesture.
Smiling, the girl opens the door wider so that she can enter. Wendy O'Dell is one of the many freshmen who are about to (hopefully) enjoy their first year at Starf University. Standing 5'8", Wendy's hairstyle sports two braided pigtails that trail past her shoulders; each has a white ribbon at the end. Her plain, grey shirt covers two 40 FF breasts, usually a source of embarrassment for the young girl. A five minute walk from her room in the Hondew dorms to the professor's office earned her more than enough catcalls from perverts to last a lifetime. Wendy does the simple thing: she ignores them completely. A grey skirt and white tennis shoes complete her attire.
Wendy sits down and prepares for the explanation that's sure to come from this conversation.
"Well, Professor, introductions should be made. Wendy O'Dell, General Writing 101 from 10:00 to 11:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."
"Hmm, let's see…" Putting aside his poem in progress, Professor Dogwood searches through the roll for one of his classes to make sure Wendy's name is on the list and it indeed is on there. "Yep, I see you right here. So, I assume the reason for your visit is because you have some concerns about my class?"
"Yes, she does."
"Who?" the professor asks, confused by Wendy's choice of words.
"She does," says Wendy, pointing to herself. "This is what she wanted to talk to him about."
Professor Dogwood quickly caught on. "The fact that you always speak in third-person?" To this, Wendy nods her head. He then says, "Well, this is unusual. But I will tell you right here and now, if you're going to address someone directly, it's a lot better to use first-person pronouns."
"He doesn't understand," says Wendy, now shaking her head. She's been through this before with so many people, but it still hurts her every time. "Wendy is completely incapable of speaking in first-person."
"Is that a fact? How did that happen? Is that how you were raised? …No, no, that can't be it; they teach this stuff in school."
"Well, Wendy should tell him her story if he doesn't believe her. It all started one day when Wendy was in the fifth grade. She was walking home from school, when one of those high school guys came up to Wendy and offered her to… show her firsthand the wonders of sex." Wendy inwardly cringes at her recollection. "Wendy resisted his advances, saying that she's too young for that, but the guy wouldn't give up on her. At one point Wendy threatened to scream; the guy left her alone then. Wendy started running home, but it wasn't even ten seconds before she got hit in the back of her head with something hard.
"When Wendy woke up, she was in a hospital bed, and remembered immediately what happened to her before blacking out. The only problem was… She couldn't say… say…" Wendy struggled immensely to say the pronouns 'I' and 'you' for what seemed like the millionth time in her life to her, but unable to do so, hung her head down instead. "She hasn't been able to speak in first-person since that incident. Doctors concluded that Wendy got hit in the head with a piece of brick, damaging the area of her brain that deals with speech."
"You were hit with piece of brick!?" Professor Dogwood didn't know whether or not to believe Wendy's story or not, but anyone who had the nerve to throw bricks at children had problems in society and had to be put in their place. "Did they ever catch him?" he asked earnestly.
"Yes sir. He was charged with child abuse and sentenced to prison for… Wendy can't remember exactly, but it was for a long time," Wendy explained."But because of what he did, Wendy wasn't… normal anymore. She has been ostracized from just about everyone she knows, simply because she didn't speak like everyone else. Students constantly teased her and she was always the laughingstock of the school every time she opened her mouth to speak. Even the English teachers grew frustrated and dreaded having to deal with Wendy every time she walked in class. At one point, some of them requested that Wendy be put in "special" classes simply because of her speech deficiency. But, it was at the insistence of her family and two other students that kept Wendy in her regular classes." Stopping to recollect her thoughts, Wendy sighs loudly in front of her professor, who decides to talk to the dean himself later on today. "Wendy just wanted Professor Dogwood to know what to expect out of her from the first day onward."
"I see... Wendy, I'm not sure I wholly believe your story, to tell you the truth," he explains. "But if in fact you are telling the truth, I will proceed to make special pains concerning your case. If you are caught lying on your papers in here or in any other class, you can and will be terminated from the university."
"But Wendy is telling the truth! She swears it! And why would she want to lie about this?"
Professor Dogwood smiles at Wendy as he says, "I'll talk to the dean about your situation as it stands. In the meanwhile, I expect your papers to not lack in any other aspect. In my class, I expect the best that my students are fully capable of pushing themselves to. Oops, I finished my sentence with a preposition! I'm not supposed to do that considering I'm an English teacher…"
"Even teachers can relax once in a while when they're not in class working." Professor Dogwood and Wendy turned to the door to see a young silver-haired woman with a golden-eyed stare directed towards the man sitting behind his desk before she steps through the doorway.
"Oh, Professor Pine," the man says. "You're early."
"I'm not early, you're late by ten minutes," Professor Pine says with a smile on her face. "It's not nice to keep women waiting, you know."
"I know. I was just having a chat with one of my students."
"Oh, is that right?" Professor Pine turns her attention to Wendy and smiles. "He's a pretty good teacher, I'll have you know."
"You know because you walk in on my class all the time. We're not even in the same department. You teach Biology!"
Wendy has a class in Biology by a Professor Pine, thinks Wendy. Is that her?
"Well, I… need you for certain things, ba… Professor."
"Of course you do. By the way, we are still good for tonight."
"Oh, goodie!" said Professor Pine, eyes glistening like a little schoolgirl. "What time?"
"How's 8:30 sound?"
"I'll be waiting on you," said the woman as she headed towards the door. "See you later, Douglas." She stopped and turned around to face him. "Or should I say… D.D."
Professor (Douglas) Dogwood can only hide his head in his hands in embarrassment as Professor Pine laughs while walking off, her heels clicking on the wooden floor. "That Silvia…" he says to himself. She had the nerve to use his pet name (which aggravated him so) in front of one of his students!
Seriously, does she want everyone to think they were dating?
"This is the life!" proclaimed Sean, reclining on the chair he is sitting on. Still with the half-finished frappucino in his hand, and his eyes closed, he feels he can talk out loud, confident that there is nobody around. "A Vanilla Bean Frappucino, no class until tomorrow… I don't think it can get any better."
No sooner than he said that, however, he felt a pair of lips plant a kiss on his forehead. Sean opened his eyes instantly, half-wondering who could have done it, and half-surprised that he never noticed the person. His turquoise eyes instantly met with a pair of warm emerald eyes.
"I take that back. It did get better all of a sudden. Hey, Wendy."
"Hi, Sean," Wendy replied, moving to get a chair to sit next to him. Sean is one of the few people that can understand Wendy no matter what she says, the only other people being her best friend and her own family. The two have been secret admirers of each other ever since the ninth grade at Leppa High School, but it was only after Wendy asked Sean to go with her to the senior prom that the two have been considered close. As of now, they are boyfriend and girlfriend in every aspect except name. As for that, they would be if not for some hesitation on Sean's part…
"Wendy half-expected to find Sean here," explained Wendy, "knowing he likes quiet places and all."
"What made you think I would be outside of my room?" questioned Sean.
"She was hoping to see him so badly before class started tomorrow."
"Hmm…well, you must've been wishing pretty hard. You settled in a lot later than I expected, and you didn't even call."
"Wendy meant to call, but her phone needed to charge. The battery was totally empty when she got settled in," Wendy explained.
"It's okay."
"Oh, Wendy likes that Kanji on Sean's shirt. What does it say?"
"Belief," Sean says with a smile. "You know, one of these days, you should come over to my room so we can hang out."
"What about Sean's roommate?"
"There is none," Sean happily replied. "I can do what I want and not have to respect someone else's privacy in my room. Plus, I don't need to designate times when I can invite my future friends over for a movie of a gaming session or something. …Well, the friends I will make. You, I know you like to play Pokémon every now and then. I just recently bought Pokémon Battle Revolution for my Wii."
"Oh, that's cool! And as for his future friends, Sean will make plenty of them," Wendy reassured him. "College is that time in a person's life where a person meets people of all kinds of attitudes, beliefs, and styles, whatever. Take Wendy's roommate, Cinnamon."
"Wait. Cinnamon is her real name?" asked Sean.
"That's what she said. Cinnamon is a junior here. She'll turn twenty-one in a couple of weeks. She also has a habit of using phrases dealing with food. Like, one time she said that she and Wendy can be like 'peas in a pod' if they really wanted to be. Get it?"
"Wow… you have an interesting roommate. I'll probably meet her one of these days. Oh, hey, what is your class schedule like?"
"Let Wendy think… well, her first class is Biology from 8:45 to 9:45 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Professor Pine."
"That's awesome, Wendy. We'll be sharing the same Biology class!" exclaimed Sean, which caused Wendy to smile. "You will sit next to me, right?"
"Sean didn't even have to ask for that."
"Professor Pine… I wonder what he's like."
"Sean means what 'she's' like," corrected Wendy. "Wendy had met her at the same time she was discussing her speech problem with her English teacher. She has this beautiful silver hair and golden eyes. Wendy guesses anyone could say that she's every guy's ideal 'hot teacher.' Oh, and Wendy thinks that Professor Pine is dating her English teacher."
To this set of news, Sean bursts out in laughter. "Wouldn't it be awkward if a student caught the two of them making out in one of the classrooms late at night? Still, the way you talk about her makes me want to see her for myself."
"What, Wendy's not good enough for Sean?" questions Wendy with a hint of mock jealousy in her voice.
"Jumping to conclusions, Wendy. I just want to see if she's as hot as you claim she is. I have a good idea of what a 'hot teacher' would be like, myself."
"Really? Do tell."
Urged on by Wendy, Sean, with his chin cupped in his right hand and eyes looking towards the cloudless sky, begins to unravel details. "She would be about your height, with a gorgeous figure and an equally gorgeous mind. Pigtails, sexy green eyes, well-endowed, and… this is most important… she would have a unique speech pattern."
"Aww, Sean thinks Wendy would be a hot teacher?" asked Wendy, making it painfully obvious that she knew he was describing her.
"Hell yeah. You would be a hot anything. There's not a hotter girl in the universe."
"Oh, stop it, Sean," Wendy tells him, all the while blushing like mad. "Wendy's not that special."
"You are to me. And no, I won't stop. I'll never stop," he proclaims, staying true to his feelings from four years ago onward.
Floyd Spears, Jr. A 6'1" young man with long, wild, curly red hair with the plain red shirt to match. Tan pants and black shoes complete the transfer's outfit. Since coming over from Micle University, Floyd has taken to exploring the campus every day so that he'll know where his classes were before class starts tomorrow. He is currently reaching in his pocket to grab his cell phone to call his best friend and ask her to walk around with him again like she did yesterday. Knowing Wendy, she'll probably oblige him, like always.
After taking it out, he notices something blue catch his eye.
Is it him? He thinks.
It better not be him, for that guy's sake.
He turns to get a closer look at the person who caught his attention. Unfortunately, he cannot deny the short, unruly hair, and all of the blue the guy is wearing. His archenemy for life was walking towards the Kelpsy dorms, right across the sidewalk from the Qualot dorms from which he stayed.
That muthafucker! What the hell is he doing here? Floyd thinks. Wendy never told him about this guy attending the same university as he now does. He takes a quick glance at his surroundings. No security cameras; that's good. Well, concerning him, there only one thing to do in a situation like this.
Time to hunt some prey. The Freshwater kind.
Floyd tucks his cell phone in his pocket and begins to run up a hill, making a beeline towards Sean.
"Freshwater!" he screams, earning a few stares in his direction.
Sean, half-finished frappucino in hand, turns around to get a look at the person who called him out. Spears!? What is that asshole doing here? Wendy never said anything about him attending.
"Getcha ass up and fight!" Floyd taunts.
Sean inwardly sighs. Well, of course she wouldn't say anything about him. He is her best friend after all. Well, let's get this over with. Hopefully I'll win.
Tossing the half-finished drink straight up in the air, Sean watches Floyd rapidly close the distance between them and throw a hard left hook towards him, which he catches easily. Sean then ducks quickly right before his drink lands directly on Floyd's head, its contents spilling out unto his face and into his hair.
What the fu—
POW!
Floyd, caught off guard, never got to finish his thought as Sean comes back up with an uppercut straight into Floyd's jaw followed by a swift roundhouse kick, making Floyd stumble backwards before losing his balance and tumbling down the hill which he had ran up in order to face Sean.
Sean takes a moment to relish his victory over his nemesis, who is sprawled out at the bottom of the hill covered in frappucino and grass. Sean, 8; Floyd, 15, he thinks, marking his internal scoreboard. I still have a while before I can catch up to him. I never really expected the 'Starbucks Surprise' trick to actually work. But now that Floyd is here, we'll be picking up from where we left off from high school. Sorry, Wendy… the reason why I can't… Well, I just knocked out the reason why I can't.
Sean, after picking up the container which held the frappucino and dumping it in a nearby trash can, proceeds to walk towards his room, getting a few stares along the way. Meanwhile a crowd has surrounded Floyd, who is just lying there at the edge of the hill, shocked. What the hell just happened? Dammit, I was supposed to win! I've got enough muscle in me to haul that guy halfway across campus, and he gets me with a drink!? What are the chances of that thing actually hitting me in the head?
"Dude, you just got your ass kicked by that blue guy," said one of the spectators, who is struggling to suppress a laugh. "Just thought you should know."
"Fuck off, man," yells Floyd, causing the guy and some of his friends to burst out in laughter while walking away. As the crowd dissipates, Floyd manages to pull himself up and sit himself on a low brick wall which encloses a flower patch. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a girl walk up to him and offer her hand.
"Are you alright?" she asks worriedly.
Floyd looks up, and his eyes begin to widen.
Whoa, who's the ebony goddess?
The 5' 6" 'ebony goddess,' so termed by Floyd, has her brown hair tied in a donut behind her head. She's wearing a brown shirt that says, "Does strawberry milk come from pink cows?" Black pants, white shoes, and looking back up, Floyd sees eyes as brown as his.
Floyd takes the attractive stranger's hand and she pulls him up. "I know what you're going to say," he begins. "That guy messed me up good, didn't he?"
"Nothing I can't fix. Hold still," she commands. Floyd does so as she reaches into a beige purse to take out a number of paper napkins. She first proceeds to clean Floyd's dirt and grass-streaked face, and then his hair. After a minute, she brushes off his clothes until she deems him presentable. Throwing the napkins in a nearby waste basket, she reaches in her purse again, to take out some strawberry fragrance; she then sprays some in Floyd's hair.
"What's with the fragrance?" asks Floyd.
"Can't have you smelling like Starbucks now, can we? And you remind me of a strawberry with the red hair, so I thought I could make you smell like one when I was done," the girl explains. "You like?"
Floyd, oddly, didn't feel any reason to say he didn't like it. Maybe it was because of her. "It's not bad," he says. Brushing himself off for a quick moment, he says, "Thanks for the help."
"Piece of cake."
"By the way, what's your name?"
"It's Cinnamon. Cinnamon Dodgers."
"Cinnamon? That's an unusual name for a goddess."
Cinnamon's eyes lit up. "What did you just call me?"
Floyd wished he had better control over his thoughts; he never meant to blurt it out to her. But since he was a bad liar anyway, he decided to stick with the truth. "I… called you a goddess… You're not offended, are you?"
"At being called a goddess? Please." She replied, and Floyd felt a breath of relief leave his throat…
"Though I can't believe that someone as handsome as you would think so highly of me during our first meeting."
…only for Floyd to catch it back in his throat. Did Cinnamon think he was attractive as well? I thought she was only doing this to be a Good Samaritan.
"By the way, what's your name?" Cinnamon inquired.
"Uh… Floyd. Floyd Spears, Jr."
"Floyd, then. Listen, do you believe in love at first sight?"
"…Yeah."
"That makes two of us. It looks like something good came out of the oven due to that guy in blue kicking your butt. Now I have someone to accompany me to dinner. That is, if you don't have any other plans…" Cinnamon clasped her hands behind her back and swiveled her body from side to side, putting on her shy face while staring up at him. She sincerely wished that he would say…
"Nah, I'm free for the day. So, it's a date, then?"
"It's a date, then," confirms Cinnamon, smiling up at him. "I know this place just off campus. Walk with me there?"
"Sure," responds Floyd, offering his arm. Cinnamon wraps her own arm around it, and the two proceed to fill their stomachs and have a good time.
Floyd makes a mental note to thank Sean later. Sean… even when I lose, I still win!
So, tell me, what did you think? Did you like the story so far? Any problems? Comments? Rants?
I accept flames, too; those will be directed towards the chuck roast right next to me.
Leave a review, alright? I need to know what people think. This is Acooler1, signing off till next time.
