Rosanna was sleeping soundly, three fuzzy, colorful, knit blankets wrapping around her like a burrito; her head laying across brilliantly colored, home-made pillow cases. She always slept on top of the bed; there was no reason to mess up her sheets and covers if she didn't have to. Tailor was curled up at the corner of bed between the wall and his trainer's body, rustling ever so slightly. Fresh green leaves cloaked his body, as his large beady eyes sheepishly awoke, owlishly blinking at the room.
The duo were tired from the late night's work of fixing up the plain dorm room. The walls were covered with art projects and drawings. Her dresser was clean, not yet polished, with stacks and stacks of cloth, thread, needles, and buttons. Rosanna had yet to put them away. Clothes stuck out haphazardly folded, while many others were jammed in the closet. Shoes were flung about inside the closet, many of which, she would probably never wear. What more could you need besides the average tennis shoes, hiking boots, and the occasional fancy heels anyways? The trusty sewing machine she had since she was little stood in a corner of the room, across the bed and door. The polished black of it sparkled, the flora design arching through it glittering. Her bookshelf was place high over her bed for easy access, and crammed with all sorts of fantasy novels and mythology stories. Along the upper walls were hung crochet patterns, and a long knitted strip of green cloth, with resembled a vine. Sown onto that were crafted flowers in bright colors.
Her small wooden desk was burdened with all the notebooks, school work, and designing and sketch pads messily scattered across its surface. Long flowing purple drapes hung from the window, drawn, and sparkled with added touches of embroidered silver. A small desk lamp in the shape of a frozen leaf sat on the end table by her bed, the long icicles illuminating softly along the green body of the leaf. It wasn't finished but it was a good start.
Tailor, noticing the time on a matching leaf clock, quickly scurried on top of Rosanna and proceeded to jump on the poor blonde. Startled, she rolled out of bed, quite literarily. Hair frazzled and all over the place, she blew enough out of her face to see Tailor staring worriedly down back at her.
"Tailor! You scared me!" she gave a shaky laugh, when the small caterpillar squirmed down to see if she was okay, "What time is it anyways?"
Looking at the clock as her hand swept her hair back behind her, she was surprised to see that it was 10:42 P.M. Wow that was early for her, considering how late the two stayed up. What did she have to do today? Something about a fountain? Spotting a sticky note plastered to the bed side table, Rosanna reached over for it. Raising a brow, she read it and gasped. That's right! She was supposed to meet the others down there later around 3:00. Good thing she wrote a note.
After hastily flinging her purple and green long sleeved pajamas off, the ice blue furry cuffs waving in he air before crumpling up on the floor, she impatiently stood in front of her closet. Swishing some hanging clothes back and forth, she grabbed a shirt, matching sweat pants, and a knit sweater and shoved them on. Feeling like she was missing something, she approached her hanging mirror in front of the dresser, the rim decorated in the pattern of leaves and flowers, before noticing the missing silver that usually hung around her neck. Sparkling from its place right by her bed side, Rosanna carefully hung it around her neck. The necklace was in the shape of a leaf, with a rose dangling from the end. Bits of a Dusk stone were strung alongside it. Almost forgetting her scarf, Rosanna grabbed it off her bed post and headed out her room into the hallway, Tailor struggling to catch up.
Aleigha's door was open to its fullest, almost like she kicked it open, while Alita's was only cracked. That meant those two were already up before her. Probably the whole school too. Here she was, in one of the most prestigious Pokémon Academies in almost every region, and still a lazy bones. How would she ever get up for school in time? Knocking on the bathroom door, there was a squeak before a quiet, "Come in." was sounded. Opening up, Rosanna saw Alita brushing her pink hair in the mirror.
"G-Good morning R-Rosey," Alita said, glancing away from the mirror, "Sorry about the noise. I didn't mean to wake you. I tried to keep quiet, when I saw that you were still sleeping."
"Wake me?" Rosanna echoed with a laugh, "I didn't hear a thing. I'm a heavy sleeper. Do you mind if I brush my hair with you?" She pointed at her messy, fuzzy mop of hair.
"O-Oh that's a relief. N-No, I can scoot over."
Digging through a large blue cloth bag with glittering stars, Rosanna pulled out a large brush, "Thanks. Have you eaten yet?"
"A-Ah no. I was reading in my room. I do not know about Aleigha though. I just came out to get ready, though," she bashfully admitted, "I am a bit hungry."
Tugging through several tough, stubborn locks of hair, Rosanna replied wincing, "Maybe we can all get breakfast together or something? I'd really like to explore the school grounds a bit more. Maybe we could invite Aleigha too?"
"Oh that would be wonderful, I think. But do you really think she'll want to come with us? S-She probably has more important things to do..." Alita doubted.
"It wouldn't hurt to ask. I'm sure she would love to join us," Rosanna cheerily responded, grabbing a tooth brush and starting to clean her teeth. Tailor kept her hair out of her face when she went to rinse.
After finishing up in the white and oak wood bathroom, Rosanna stumbled down the hallway till she came to the living room/ kitchen. The counters were clean still, and the stove appeared as cool as stone. So nobody had cooked, unless they did it really early. Turning her head, Rosanna spotted the familiar ginger laying across the couch, furiously clicking the remote, looking for something to watch. She nearly made a squeal when she spotted a very familiar and adorable yellow and electric blue furred and eyed Bug type sitting on top of her.
"You have a Joltic?!" Rosanna excitedly exclaimed. The Joltic seemed a bit frightened, and shyly crawled behind its trainer. Tailor curiously crawled down to the arm of the couch, trying to coax the meek Pokémon back out.
"Huh? Oh yeah, this is Spark. I thought I introduced you to him yesterday. He's a bit shy," Aleigha explained, "Wanna watch some T.V? I was just about to turn on a movie." Tailor had successfully managed to convince the shy Joltic to come back out. The two hit it off, the Sewaddle excited to meet another Bug type, and Spark quietly contributing every so often to their discussion.
"Oh no thanks. Sorry about scaring Spark; I just adore Bug types, especially ones that remind me of home. Did you catch him in Chargestone Cave?"
"Chargestone Cave? Where's that? I'm from Johto, so we don't have anything like that."
"It's a place in Unova. A very odd cave that is so electrified and static filled that giant crystals float in the air. I'm not joking. Lots of native Electric types dwell there," Rosanna explained, when she remembered what she was going to ask, "But what I really wanted to ask was if you wanted to come with me and Alita and some other friends of ours and explore the school. Maybe we'll get breakfast if we haven't eaten yet?"
Aleigha sat up, thinking before she nodded with a smile, "I would love to. Beats just sitting down watching reruns."
"Great, but we don't have to meet up with them till 3:00. Unless we go over to the boy's dorms and fumble around looking for them. I have no idea what dorm they're in."
Alita came out, her hair nice and silky looking, "I'd hate to butt in, but-t we could always just do a bit of exploration on our own."
"Or even a battle or two. I wouldn't mind," Aleigha offered, slinging a bag over her shoulder. That's right! Rosanna finally had her full team. She could freely battle without worrying (much). Aleigha's black and white tank top stood out against her pink denim shorts. Her white flip flops flopped across the tile as she entered the kitchen. Spark freaked out and hurriedly scurried inside her bag, blue eyes peeking out from its depths. "Well, what are you two waiting for? Let's go!"
So locking their dorm with all their Pokémon with them, the three girls walked to the elevator and out the lobby. It was another beautiful day. The sun was shining. Not a cloud in the sky. A slight warmth in the breeze that you'd expect from an August morning before it heated up and started baking everything alive. People moved about in groups. Some challenging others to battles right then and there. Pokémon playing, trainers chasing them. Nothing could ruin this moment. Rosanna was watching a particularly interesting battle between a Claydol and a Chansey further out in the meadow next to the dorm buildings. She became so absorbed by it that she barely heard her friends calling to her.
That is, until Rosanna crashed into someone. Curse not looking where she was going half the time! "S-Sorry, I wasn't watching my step."
"Wouldn't be the first time," a familiar scathing voice snorted. Rosanna turned her gaze upwards and felt a frown beginning to encroach on her face. There was the captain of jerks from the train dusting himself off, glaring at him, "You should really pay attention more, Sewaddle girl."
"Lar!" a Pokémon agreed from his shoulder. Rosanna was shocked to see a Larvesta huffing at her from Jake's shoulder.
"What you act like you haven't seen a Larvesta before. This is Pele; she's my partner," Jake said, "And I see you still have that Sewaddle." Tailor glared at the moth Pokémon, and she returned it with a turn of her head, which infuriated the usually jolly Pokémon.
"I'm just shocked to see that you have one," Rosanna icily responded, "considering how much you insulted my Bug type." Alita nervously kept glancing between the two, afraid that maybe it would burst into a fight. Aleigha was confused, being kept in the shadows, and watched the events unfold.
"That has six weaknesses. Lovely Pele here is by far superior. She only has three weaknesses, and is a Fire type," he scratched underneath the white furry head of Pele, "She could easily toast your Sewaddle."
"Tailor would-"
The junior's friend from the train, Nick, Rosanna remembered, came running over with a sigh, "Jake can't you just leave her alone? I'm beginning to think of you as a stalker."
"She bumped into me! And what do you mean by that? This is only the second time we've met!"
"Can we please just go back to training please? You can confess your love and talk to your girlfriend later," Nick joked, very well knowing it would get under his skin. Rosanna snickered at Jake's flustered expression.
"Me with her? Please," Jake huffed, "she's far from my type. Besides I barely know her. Come on Pele." The Larvesta nodded before smirking at Tailor. Tailor was far from pleased and blew a raspberry at them.
Nicholas chuckled shaking his head, "I wish he didn't take everything so seriously all the time. He needs to relax more. Anyways, I'm glad to see you all made it safely. I would ask to join you guys, but I need to finish something. I hope you find everything alright."
"Thanks Nick," Rosanna said waving as he took off again, "Be careful."
"Those are some weird kids. What the heck was that all about anyways?" Aleigha asked, frowning at the disappearing duo, "One seems like he kind of has a stick up his pants."
"Juniors I met on the train. Nick is nice, but Jake is a complete jerk to me. I don't really understand why either," Rosanna sighed with a shrug, "I never did anything wrong. I just want to know what I did to offend him."
"Well don't let that bother you. People like that aren't worth it," Aleigha said, shaking her head. Alita nodded in agreement. Aleigha, wishing to switch the subject, said, "So where's this cafe I heard about. They make really great food."
Alita shyly pointed at a large poster, "We could check the map."
Aleigha snorted, "Obviously. Let's see..." The three studied the map for a couple minuets.
"I have no idea what it says," Rosanna admitted, "I was never good at understanding maps."
"Good thing you have us," Aleigha proudly exclaimed, pointing at herself with her thumb, "I'm an excellent map reader and navigator, and I'm sure Alita is too. Onwards, this way."
Apparently the school not only had a small town with everything you could need, but small, on campus vendors that sold treats, juices, and even cute little food stuffs like sandwiches. Deciding that the walk was too far and not wanting to miss the boys, the three agreed to give the small stands a chance. Some of them were even run by Pokemon!
Deciding she would like some of the buttery and tasty looking croissants, she handed her I.D. card to a man (she actually remembered that they were used to buy things) and ordered two of the chocolate filled pastries.
"Alright, you have 996 points left. Thank you for your purchase," the man warmly said, handing her a bag. A Chatot perched above the viewing glass cawed, cheerfully repeating, "Thank you very much! Thank you very much!"
Aleigha, taking a small nibble out of a sandwich, chuckled, "Sure have a healthy breakfast there."
"Yep," Rosanna smiled, devouring the first pastry.
"Umm... Rosanna? You kind of have something here," Alita whispered, pointing at her face. Rubbing chocolate off her face, Rosanna blushed slightly in embarrassment. Her friends only laughed. The small group sat by the fountain, chatting and eating their little treats.
Rosanna gazed up at the sky, admiring its beauty, before wondering aloud, "I wonder where we should go first?"
"Hmm... Good question. I say we just wander around, besides we don't have to return until around 3:00, so we have plenty of time," Aleigha answered, swallowing the last bit of her sandwich. Alita made no sound, but agreed with a nod.
"Sounds good," Rosanna nodded, and pointed at the path poking out to the right side of the school, "I think that's where the athletics and track course is. Let's go check that out."
So beginning their leisurely stroll, they walked through the tree shaded path. The track and athletic center was enormous, and seemed even bigger in person than from the carriage earlier. People and Pokemon alike were jogging, exercising, and training, sweat bands slapped across their foreheads, and bold colored jerseys rustling through the wind. The pool was sloshing back and forth as swimmers and Water type Pokemon swam laps and played a game that seemed sort of like water polo. Others were climbing rock walls, playing various sports out in the fields, or even resting in the shade, blending and drinking Apricot juice smoothies.
"Whoa! This place really does have everything!" Aleigha admired in awe.
Rosanna could only gape, "It's like a miniature stadium here! How big is this place?"
"H-Hey I'd hate to change the subject but isn't that Yuki over there, Rosanna?" Alita asked, pointing at a heated battle taking place a little ways off.
The blonde swiveled her head around to where her pink haired companion pointed. Sure enough, the energetic girl was there, absorbed in what appeared to be a very tough battle. Her opponent was also another girl, with the most unique hair Rosanna had seen to date besides Alita. It seemed to be a silvery blue, not quite pewter, and glittered like a shattered crystal in the harsh sunlight. Long and wavy, the crystal like hair was kept in a loose braid that tried in futile hopes of keeping it up to her waist. Her bangs swept off to the upper right, almost covering her right eye. She had some nice curves to her body, not overly pronounced, that some boys would fawn over.
Upon getting closer, Rosanna found herself in a mixture of shock and amazement. No doubt about it. Hidden behind almond shaped eyes, her irises were a brilliant purple! Purple! And they appeared to be natural. Though, Rosanna had to hit herself to remember that she could always have contacts as well. A three quarter sleeved gray knit shirt, cranberry toned skinny jeans, and black ankle length boots with a neat fur trim stood out against the heat and grassy field. A soft pink scarf waved warmly in the breeze, the silverette's black lace cardigan hanging to her waists complete the look. Something metallic glinted at her wrist, some kind of antique bracelet.
Yuki frustratedly ordered, "Flame Charge!" Rosanna watched as Yuki's Pignite grunted, before marching and bursting into flames. The Fire type charged at calmly awaiting Meinfoo, who sat, eyes closed, almost as if meditating.
The unknown girl's lean frame remained poised, as her pale hand called out, "Alright Jackie, now intercept with Swift!" The Fighting type's eyes immediately flashed open before it leaped and fired a large wave of bright yellow energy that took the appearance of spiraling stars. Jabbing harshly into the sides of Yuki's Pignite and crashing head on with such a force that the Fire type was pushed back.
"Now that its guard is down, strike at it with Drain Punch!" the girl commanded without missing a beat.
The Pokemon bounded into the air, nimbly and quickly closing the distance between its opponent, before slamming down its glowing green fist over the head of its foe. Green energy rushed about, before being absorbed by the Mienfoo, as it bounced back a ways. Yuki's Pignite only grunted before falling over, fainted.
Gritting her teeth, Yuki wasted no time calling back her Pignite and tossing out another Poke ball. This time, a very odd and ancient looking creature popped out. A Sigilyph floated blankly onto the battle field. It seemed so cold and distant, Rosanna wasn't sure wether it was really alive or had a soul.
"My Sigilyph will defiantly beat down your Meinfoo!" Yuki confidently cried, pointing and shouting, "Psybeam attack now!" The Pokemon seemed to snap out of its desolate and detached state long enough to fire a multicolored beam of energy directly at Jackie the Meinfoo.
Right before it struck the opposing Meinfoo, it's trainer suddenly pointed with her fist, "Okay Jackie, that's close enough. Fake Out!" Nodding, the Fighting type suddenly disappeared in a blur, before reappearing at the side of the blank Sigilyph, striking it with a feint kick and punch. Startled, the Physic Pokemon whirled around before flinching. Ah, so she was waiting for a good moment to strike! With the Sigilyph still in a state of stupor, the unknown girl called out with a curt nod, "Finish it off with Swift!"
The Sigilyph didn't have enough time to snap out of its flinching, despite Yuki's furious calls. The stars splattered and smacked the Pokemon down to the ground, as Jackie the Meinfoo landed in a serious pose, brushing itself off and watching its opponent wearily, as if waiting for the Pokemon to spring back up. It did not.
Yuki sighed irritably, but despite this, she brightly said, more to herself than anything, "Its okay. You got a lot more accomplished. Losing is the first step to victory. Next time, strategy is on our side." Glancing up Yuki excitedly said, "Whoa you're really good! It was a great challenge. Next time though-"
"Thanks, but what about your Pokemon?" the girl abruptly asked.
"Oh them? They'll be alright," Yuki replied.
"How can you be so nonchalant about it?" the opposing girl coldly chided.
Then a familiar silverette's head came into view. "I am more concerned about that Sigilyph of hers. It seems as though it was carved from stone; distant and blank. Do you even care about that?" the sophomore from the carriage ride commented quietly. Rosanna remembered her as Madeliena. She was the one who could read Pokemon and people, right?
"Huh?" Yuki frowned, "So what if he's a little boring, who cares? As long as he's strong and obedient, I don't really care. That's all that really matters in a battle anyways, right?"
Madeliena only remained silent, shaking her head a bit in disgust. The other girl who Rosanna did not know yet frowned as well, but started whispering something. Madeliena only nodded slightly.
Deciding to break the ice, Rosanna waved, "Hey Madeliena and Yuki, over here! It's us!"
Turning their heads, the unknown girl gruffly asked, "Who are you?" Rosanna felt herself shrink a little. Despite being a bit shorter than Rosanna herself was (an inch. It appeared the girl was somewhere around 5'4"), she seemed so intimidating and even a bit cold. Those purple eyes stared her down. Rosanna swallowed, "We're uh, freshmen. I'm Rosanna, this is Tailor, a-and this is Alita and Aleigha."
"You battled really nicely. Jackie was very good," Aleigha offered, she herself becoming a bit meek.
"Thanks," she said with cold distance, "I'm glad you enjoyed it." Alita gave a small squeak and hid behind Rosanna and Aleigha. Rosanna was a bit tempted to herself.
However, after that small outburst, the purple eyed girl's demeanor soften, and she even smiled, "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Alita bashfully admitted, trying to win a staring contest with the grass, "I'm just not good around people..."
Blinking as if just realizing something, the girl ran her hand through her hair, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you all. Please forgive me for my rudeness, my name is Aurora Eirwen."
Alita shyly smiled, and came out ever so slightly at the underlying, warm mothering tone that Aurora had. Rosanna wondered if she had lots of little siblings at home. Maybe that's why she was so good at it. Maybe she was just imagining things. Or perhaps Aurora was just good around people.
"O-Oh it's fine. Don't worry yourself about me too much; I just am like that. As shy as a little Ratatta," Alita mumbled, as though she thought of herself as an oddity.
"Oh no, don't say that! It's perfectly natural to be shy. I was a bit shy once and everybody has felt self conscious whenever they enter a new place," Aurora cooed just like how a mother would calm down their self conscious child. Aleigha and Rosanna both smiled in relief.
"Hey guys what's up?" Yuki said, zooming over, "Look I managed to find Madeliena!"
"Please, I would prefer if you would call me Maddy," Madeliena insisted quietly, before turning to Aurora, "These are the freshmen I rode with."
Aurora's eyes brightened, "Ah so you're the freshmen Maddy was telling me about! I'm happy to meet you all in person!"
"You two know each other?" Rosanna asked.
"Sorta. I'm a sophomore too, and Maddy and I are in the same class year, so I kind of knew her. Though she was always quiet and kept to herself most of the time," Aurora chuckled, "Somehow we ended up in a sort of friendship. We're sharing a dorm this year, got lucky with arrangements and were able to switch with others."
"Ah."
"Excuse me, but who is the new acquaintance of yours?" Maddy curiously observed, "I believe you said her name was Aleigha, correct?"
Aleigha, breaking out once more of her brief shyness, grinned, "I'm Aleigha Fullbright. It's pleasure to meet you Madeliena. I'm Alita and Rosanna's third dorm mate."
Maddy seemed intrigued, but only nodded in response. She wasn't one for many words. An eyebrow rose ever so slightly on her calm face, but that was all. She didn't say anything. However, Aurora was impressed, "You three got rooms together? Wow talk about lucky. I wish my first year roommates were all people I knew before. All I got was someone who kept eating my food all the time and never went to class."
Everybody began cracking up at that. Yuki, glancing impatiently down at a watch asked, "So whatcha all been doing? Why are you here? Are you three training perhaps?" She got that gleam in her eye again that made Rosanna feel that she was being probed for secrets.
"Eh... No we're just waiting for Klein and Kevin."
"Who are they?"
"Oh they're some boy friends of ours-" Rosanna stopped dead in realization of how she said that and mentally face palmed.
Aurora grinned, "Really now? I would love to meet them. Are they nice? You going to have them over for dinner? I can help you know."
"I-It's not like that," timid Alita tried, but was over powered.
"Mh hmm. That's what they always say. Of course if you two need help, I'm always here. I'll be keeping an eye out."
"There's a space between boy and friend! It doesn't always mean..." Rosanna sighed in exasperation while the rest of her friends snickered at her defeat, "You know, whatever, I don't care. Why is it such-"
"Relax, I'm only pulling your leg. No need to get so upset," Aurora soothed in that calming tone of hers, "I understood what you meant, I wasn't trying to offend you or anything."
An enormous ringing suddenly interrupted them, noise erupting over the grounds. Rosanna counted the dings. Bong! Bong! Only two? My how late it had gotten already!
Yuki, seeing this as an opportunity, quickly sped off, "See ya guys later! I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got some more training to do!"
"W-Wait! Don't you want to meet up with the others?" Rosanna cried.
"Maybe later?" And the energetic girl zipped off once more.
Aurora sighed and shook her head disapprovingly, "That girl has too much energy and determination. She better be careful, she might hurt herself one of these days."
Maddy gaze softened, and she placed a comforting hand on the other sophomore's shoulder. Although she remained silent, Rosanna had a feeling Madeleina knew much more than she let on. It was like she pick out each individual expression painted on someone' space, and read so much more into than what others generally could. Rosanna admired that. She couldn't possibly do that, and her oblivious nature is what kept her from making many friends back home. That, and she had to work in the store often.
"You okay Rosanna?" Alita asked in quiet concern, tugging at Rosanna's sleeve. Tailor crawled down to her shoulder and began poking her worriedly. Madeleina stared at her, as if thinking about something, but didn't speak.
"O-Oh I'm fine," Rosanna hesitantly responded, before smiling, "Just thinking."
"We should probably go meet up with your friends," Aleigha said, "Don't want to miss them."
"Better to be early than late," Aurora chirped.
"Want to come with us? I'm sure they won't mind."
Aurora glanced over at Madeleina, who only nodded, before replying with, "Sure, sounds great. It's not like we have anything planned today. I can't wait to meet them!" Jackie the Meinfoo poked her, and Aurora chuckled, "Whoops sorry Jackie. Return!"
So walking down the tree path, the group of girls chatted and joked. However, Rosanna was feeling a little out of it. Her normal anxieties and thoughts plagued her as per usual. Was she pushing her friendship onto everybody else? She'd never thought of it before. Ignore it. All your worries led to nothing but bad sleep! Tailor began rubbing his head against her neck, trying to distract her. Rosanna smiled and scratched underneath his chin.
They approached the fountain, where the saw Klein talking to a person Rosanna hadn't seen before, and Kevin sitting coolly on the lip of the fountain.
"Hey guys!" Rosanna called cheerfully.
Klein brightly glanced over and grinned, "Hey Alita and Rosanna. Nice you guys could make it."
"You're late," Kevin remarked. Tailor glared at him. Throwing an uneasy glance at him, Kevin said, "Watch it short stuff."
"What?" Rosanna quickly looked around for a clock, "But it is 3:00?"
"It's 3:01," Kevin teased with a smirk. Rosanna became too flustered to say anything back.
"Hey, who are they?" Klein asked, pointing at the small squadron of people behind Alita, "Oh besides Madeleina." He waved awkwardly.
"T-These are our new friends," Alita quietly responded. Taking a deep breath of bravery, she speedily said, "Aurora and Aleigha. She's our other dorm mate."
"Hello! It's nice to meet you," Aleigha shyly said, digging her heel in the ground. Aurora smiled and only waved.
"O-Oh umm... Hi, I'm K-Klein. Well, I mean you guys already know that. U-Unless you didn't, then I'm sorry. I guess I-" he gave a sigh before giving up with a shrug. His face broke back to a smile, after picking up a leaf on the round and offering it to them, he said, "I guess I would like to say it was nice to leaf you."
Aleigha and Aurora snickered along with the rest of them. Kevin groaned, but nonetheless smiled. Klein was relieved, and feeling a bit more comfortable, began to converse with Alita and the other three. Even the quiet new guy even gave a small chuckle, before he returned to himself silently. However, Rosanna noticed no matter what, the boy avoided her especially. Whether it was a glance or a smile, he wouldn't return it. Not to mention, he seemed almost a bit uneasy. Noticing her stare, Kevin moved his gaze ever so slightly, "That's Nico Herhewe. He was who I was sitting next to on the rain."
"Oh," Rosanna blankly said, "Why does he seem so nervous?" She turned to see Kevin raise an eyebrow, a smirk on his lips. "What?"
"You seriously don't remember?"
"Am I supposed to? I don't think he ever introduced himself..."
"He's the guy your little silk spinner flung himself onto on the train."
It fell like a hammer over her head. Rosanna's blush flared back up, "Oh no! That's why he's so nervous."
Kevin snorted, "You think?"
Deciding now would be a good time to apologize, Rosanna excused herself and tentatively approached the boy. He towered over her, being about 6 feet tall, lanky and agile in appearance. Messy, unstyled and short, black hair hung in his face as his sharp green eyes regarded her with a mixture of suspicion and soft shyness. Navy blue jeans, a black heavy metal band T- shirt, and a pair of work boots cloaked his frame. Huh. She wondered what kind of bands he liked. Maybe he and Alita had similar tastes in music. A black corded necklace with a forest green opal pendant hung off his neck. He was tinkering with something in his hands. It appeared to be some kind of machine.
"O-Oh hi." He tensed up, but remained quiet, wearily watching the Sewaddle that sat on her head.
Rosanna tried again, "I'm sorry about earlier yesterday. Tailor and I didn't mean to scare you or fly at you. It was an accident."
"Ya didn' scare me," he murmured, continuing to fiddle with the machine in his hands. He had a country accent; it wasn't thick, but it was enough to coat all his words.
"What're you building?" Rosanna asked interested. Tailor stared down at him with suspicion. Rosanna held him back from jumping over the boy's project.
"Fixin' this here watch. Darn thing stops tickin' at random," he quickly replied. Suddenly, he made a small triumphant sound after turning in the final screw. Tick tick tick tick tick. Hey he had fixed it! He shoved it back into his pocket.
"Wow, where did you learn to do that?"
"I've always had kind of a knack for technology. Been sorta good with it my entire life. Growin' up though, I wasn' exposed much to it. But I kept at it. I like computers more, but challenge is good. It's always handy to have a watch anyways," he spoke so fast that Rosanna hardly registered what he was saying. Despite this, he made extra effort articulating his words so they wouldn't be caught in his accent. He turned red in the cheeks, "There I go again talkin' somebody's ear off. I hope you don't mind if I hang with ya fellas for awhile."
She blinked, "Oh no, don't worry about it. More the merrier. And you haven't. You just might want to slow down a little. I could barely understand you at first."
Relaxing a little, he gave a breathy laugh, "Ya. I know I talk a little fast. I try to slow down. Speaking was never a strong point for me." Looking as though he had run out of things to say, and probably not wishing to make small talk, excused himself quietly.
"So what's the plan?" Klein asked after she walked back over.
"I guess to explore around. We have the rest of the afternoon. Maybe we could all have a battle?" Aleigha suggested, her Joltik crawling out ever so slightly. Kevin, breaking his cool and calm demeanor, paled and let out a little horrified scream, before inching away, muttering something along the lines of, "They're everywhere..." Rosanna giggled, as Tailor rolled his eyes. The Joltik gave a little frightened cry before diving back into the bag.
Then there was a loud growl, followed by another and another. It was like a chain reaction of monstrous howls. And then Rosanna felt her stomach twist and turn before admitting a loud whine of its own. She blushed furiously, and tried to hush it up.
"How about a small break for lunch first?" Aurora laughed, patting her back, "It's not good to go hungry. It stunts your growth. I know a great place where we could sit and eat. I can even make a picnic! We can all hang out, battle or whatever, and then eat."
"Ooh sounds exciting. I've never had a picnic before, it sounds great!" Rosanna excitedly agreed.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, "They let you barbeque on campus?"
Aurora grinned and winked, waving a finger, "No, but there technically aren't any rules against it." Kevin only snorted and shook his head with a small grin on his face. "Besides, having a Fire type around is basically the same thing, and we are supposed to spend time with Pokémon," the crystal haired sophomore reasoned.
Alita worried, "W-What about dorm inspections? My room is a m-mess..." Rosanna would've laughed, had it not been so true for herself. She still had to clean up all that cloth and stitching supplies.
"They should not begin until tomorrow evening," Madeleina replied, before silently leaving the conversation once more.
"So don't worry," Aurora soothed, patting her. Alita smiled a little bit more confidently, before agreeing too. Everybody glanced at the small gaggle of guys.
Klein brightly smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Sounds fun, besides I can't just leave all you to eat all that food yourselves."
Kevin only shrugged in response.
Everybody turned to Nico, who sighing under the pressure and awkwardness, murmured, "It wouldn't hurt to go. Thanks."
"Great! I just need to pick up the cooking supplies, from my dorm. Anybody have any large blankets?" Aurora asked, glancing at the dorms.
"I have some. Lots of large afghans and others. We can stop by and pick out a couple," Rosanna offered, remembering the multitudes of colorful knits she made on her spare time. Which were quite a lot. She needed to get out more.
"Alright, we can stop by the dorms and pick up all the supplies."
"Oh hey," Aleigha suddenly snapped her fingers, "What if we bring some games out?"
Rosanna happily clasped her hands together, "We could make something like an obstacle course or pay Pokémon sports!"
"Yeah! A trainer and Pokémon obstacle game," Klein agreed, "We can each build a course, that way its fair."
"Sounds good, but if we just sit round here talking about it all day, it'll never happen," Kevin pointed out, "Let's just focus on getting what we need."
So, all in agreement, they headed off towards the dorms once more. Madeleina excused herself, offering to pick up the groceries and meet Aurora at the "spot". So it was a secret? Sounded neat.
"Okay I'm room 48. I'm going to go ahead inside and gather some things. Do you guys need any help?" Aurora asked in that warm tone of hers.
"N-No we should be fine. We are in room 64, so not too far away. Thank you," Alita politely declined. Aurora nodded, before asking Nico and Aleigha if they could help her gather her cooking supplies. The remaining group of freshmen headed down the halls, till glittering number 64 appeared on a door. Upon opening and entering their dorm, Klein whistled, "Man this place is nice. Ours is a bit different, but different paint colors and an attic like room above. Sometimes I think I hear screeching up there. Less rooms too."
Alita's eyes widened, "Sc-Screeching?"
"Yeah you should come by and check it out sometimes. Kevin doesn't believe me."
Kevin rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Rosanna tried to sneak away to her room, but the dark haired boy caught her. Without turning his head or shifting his gaze, he asked, "What's wrong Rosanna?"
"W-Well I'm going to go get the blankets," Rosanna said, recovering from her involuntary flinch.
"Then lead the way."
"Huh? Th-There's no need to help, I can get them and bring them out here..."
"Show us to it then."
Rosanna sighed exasperatedly, knowing full well that they would persist, submitted and opened the door to her room. On by one they looked around at the mess and then her.
"So, uh, dorm checks will go nicely," Klein awkwardly said.
"You should probably finishing cleaning up your room," Kevin stated, glancing about the room.
"I'm sorry!" Rosanna said frustrated, tearing through her bed's bottom drawer, "But I didn't think you guys would be coming in."
"It's so messy, do you need help?" Alita murmured.
"It's a hurricane," Kevin bluntly stated.
Rosanna tossed two enormous piles of woven wool afghans at them. Kevin caught his in the face, while Klein caught the one Alita fumbled with. "I prefer the term "creative destruction" or "inspirational progress"please."
"Just sounds like the excuses of someone who hasn't finished their dorm yet," they teased playfully.
Rosanna sighed, but grinned, "Maybe so. Dang it, where's the purple one?" Tailor cried out, and leaped off her head. Pointing under her sewing machine (how did it get there?), Rosanna pulled it out, frowning at the large hole it had. Darn it had come undone! That must've been an incomplete knot. Before any of her friends could say a word, she pulled out a crochet needle and began swiftly working the yarn and knots back into place, counting under her breath. Tailor helped by holding the different strings for her. In a couple minuets flat, she fixed the giant gaping hole in the rich purple blanket. "There we go. Perfect."
"How did you do that so fast?" Klein asked stunned, "I haven't even seen old ladies work that fast."
Rosanna's cheeks tinged pink, "I grew up in a sewing store my entire life. You learn to work fast to keep up with demand."
"You can sew?" Alita quietly asked.
"Yeah," she admitted pointing at her trusty sewing machine, her cheeks flushing more, "It's a little embarrassing. I know it kind of seems like an old woman's chore, but I really do love it. I design and make most of the clothes I dress in."
Kevin had the faintest glimmer of surprise break his calm and placid expression, "That's pretty cool. I never thought of you being a seamstress."
"It explains all the fabric and threads all over the place," Klein said, looking about the mess, "I don't know, but you always kind of seemed to me to be more of a non-girly girl. I guess I just never thought of you being a fashion expert."
"Well I'm not big into very girly clothes. I tend to stay away from pink and overly frilly things, though I sometimes do have a sweet spot for the latter. And I wouldn't call myself an expert," Rosanna bashfully replied, "I hardly know much about fashion. I just like to design and create. Besides, why bother giving up your own style to match modern fashion? That's what my grandma tells me all the time." Tailor nodded happily, and cried in agreement.
"Sorry to interrupt, b-but we might want to get going. Before they begin to worry about us, or it gets too late," Alita reminded them, pointing at the clock Rosanna had in her room.
"Got the blankets? Make sure they don't drag please," Rosanna pushed them out of the mess, before shutting her door behind her. Grinning, she said, "Alright, let's go."
Okay chapter 3 is out. I'm so sorry about the hiatus for this one. I'm going through some personal troubles right now. My grandmother is falling ill and I have to watch her and take care of her. I wasn't able to write as much this month for that reason. But I promise it won't take as long next time! But please be patient with me, some updates will take longer than others.
On the other side of the spectrum, thank you so much for reading and sending in your OCs! I hope I nailed them, otherwise, feel free to PM if you have any problems. New OCs this chapter are:
Aurora: PokeguardianZ
Nico: Charon the Red
Let me know what you guys liked, hated, etc.
Other than that, please like, review, follow, favorite, or whatever you like to do. Until next time, Ciao!
