Five: Moving In, Moving Up, and Finding a Groove
Moving into the dorms wasn't a horrible process, but she'd really wished the building had an elevator as she hauled the fifth bin from the front door into her room. "Seriously if I were in a wheelchair I would be absolutely fucked." She shook her head as her mother and Nemona followed with her last bin and her suitcase. "I appreciate your help, Nemona. When did you actually move in?"
"Yesterday morning. I had student council stuff last night." Elaina's mom sat on her bed as Elaina and Nemona started opening bins and putting stuff away. "The fact that you got a private room in Dragontongue Hall blows my mind. At least I'm on the other side of the suite." Elaina's mom had hung her uniforms in the wardrobe before Elaina whipped around and stopped her. "Mom, don't go through your teenage daughter's academy suitcase. You may not like what you find!" That did the trick as her mother sat down and closed her suitcase before going to set up the bathroom.
"What's in there that you don't want your mom to find?" Nemona looked to Elaina, puzzled. Elaina responded with a sultry smile and a wink. Nemona shook her head. "What, you brought condoms or something?" Her casual response caught Elaina off-guard. "I mean, I have a bunch too, who doesn't?"
"Wait, Nemona, are you not gay?" Elaina had been so sure Nemona had been coming onto her when they'd met.
"Nah, I'm only into dudes." Nemona shrugged and went back to unpacking Elaina's desk.
Well, bonus, I won't be sleeping with my suitemate.
Elaina liked how casually that conversation went. If you were gay in Rustboro, you had to keep it quiet, so Elaina was used to that detail being kept a lot closer to people's chests. Elaina busied herself with unpacking her suitcase, socks, panties, contraband, everything tucked away neatly. She tucked the suitcase under her dorm bed. "Anyway," Nemona said as she took the plastic bin with the others. "Just, let me know before you bring a guy over or something, and put on some music, ok?"/
Elaina's mom had stepped out of the bathroom at just the right time to hear that last bit. "Yeah, Elaina, and don't bring home all the hot women unless you want to make the guys jealous." She snickered and was met with an exclamation of "Mother!" from Elaina. Nemona just shrugged.
"You'll have an easier time having a girl over in this hall anyhow." Elaina blushed before choking out "This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them." Her mom high-fived Nemona and the trio finished unpacking with an air of jovial banter. Eventually, her mom gave Elaina a hug and Elaina escorted her down the stairs and out the front of the school. As she was heading back up the Great Staircase, she saw two students seemingly giving a speech to a cute girl in a baggy hoodie and leggings.
Please let that one be gay…
Elaina approached the three of them in time to hear "Come on, Team Star is great. We're always recruiting new members. It'll be a hell of a time, and we throw some wild parties." Elaina saw this tiny, meek little girl and thought
These idiots are trying to make the sale with parties?
"What's this about wild parties?" Elaina approached. The girl behind her seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as someone else stepped into the picture. Elaina almost thought she'd turned to run before pausing to see how this played out.
"You like to party, new kid?" The older of the two looked her up and down. "Not bad looking either. You've got the chops for Team Star, so long as you go through our little initiation." Elaina sighed at this guy, who was clearly trying to be cooler than he was, and spoke up.
"What do I have to do, skinny dip in the school fountain? Maybe run up the Great Staircase with a cookie in my ass?" The other student reached for his belt and pulled out a Pokéball.
"It's just a Pokémon battle. What the fuck?" The two of the Team Star members looked at each other as Elaina pulled out Sprig's Pokéball. "Aight. I got you."