Jessie walked in the room, her violet eyes wide as saucers, her jaw dropped open. The dormitory was lovely. It was small, sure… but it had two bedrooms, with honest to goodness beds, a nice little kitchenette, a clean bathroom complete with a tub and shower, and a quaint little living room.

Jessie put down her duffel bag near her bed, and her new uniform she received from the supplies guy from downstairs, on it. She looked in the mirror facing the bed and looked at her reflection. For a girl who lived through all the stuff she went through, she was very beautiful. Clear, flawless skin, beautiful, long red hair, and a slim an attractive figure, she was quite hot.

A smile came on her face, as she started to load the dresser in her room with her stuff, realizing she had someplace to put all of her things, a place of her own. It was quite a feeling. Since growing up almost homeless, fatherless, and at some periods motherless, she was to poor to get stuff.

Then living at PokeTech, it was ok, but it wasn’t all that great either, especially around holidays. She had no place to go and spent them alone. Well… not really alone. Her best friend, James was with her as he was now.

As Jessie finished putting her stuff away, she realized she hadn’t heard much from James himself lately. Wiping her brow quickly, she smoothed down her simple white cotton dress (The only somewhat fancy article of clothing she owned) and went out of her room.

James’s room was right next to her’s. She knocked hard on the door and waited for a response, but none came. She knocked again, hoping he hadn’t fallen asleep. When she knocked for a third time, the door creaked open, and she saw it was empty. The young woman panicked, thinking that maybe fate had intervened once more in her life and had taken away the one person who had been a constant in her life for so long. Then she heard a clink of glass hitting glass and followed the sound.

Sure enough, in the kitchenette was James raiding the fridge. Jessie sighed, relieved that he was still there. James stood up, his mouth full with a donut, the white powder covering his mouth. He looked up at Jessie, grinned and quickly swallowed.

“Oh, hey Jessie! You have to check this out! The refrigerator is full! Of food! Good food! Donuts!” James exclaimed happily, almost sounding hysterical.

Jessie smiled back, and tried to think of the last time she had had a good meal. It seemed like such a long time ago, hours and hours ago. As if on cue, her stomach grumbled.

“Move over James! Save some of it for me!” Jessie said in mock anger and she started to gather some food from the fridge.

The meal was nothing to scream about, James having donuts, two ham sandwiches, and a can of soda, while Jessie had a cheese sandwich some salad and a can of beer, but to them, it was a feast. Years of food not coming so easily to them made them cherish food all the more.

“You really shouldn’t be drinking,” James said matter of factly, after they ate. “You are only fifteen.”

“And so are you, so don’t act like my mother!” Jessie snapped. She knew he was only saying that for her own good but it got annoying after a while.

James raised his hands up and sighed. “You are right, it’s just I don’t want to see you get drunk and do something stupid, that’s all.”

Jessie reached over the small table and squeezed his hand gently. Trust me I wont,” she said and smiled warmly.

James returned her smile, then they got up from their chairs. Then Jessie flashed a devilish grin.

“Hey, James I’ll make you a deal. I‘ll stop drinking beer for a week, if you do the dishes for a week. Deal?”

James thought it over. He sucked at doing dishes, but hey it was a small sacrifice to make sure his best friend didn’t get drunk again.

“Deal!” he said and they shook on it. James didn’t have to ask if she would keep her part of the bargain. James trusted her with his life, and she with his.

They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. They didn’t talk or anything, nor did they turn on the TV or play the radio. They just sat, not sure what to do.

“Err… Jessie, what are we supposed to do now?” James asked, the silence getting to him. Jessie rested her head on her best friend’s shoulder and sighed.

“Tomorrow, I guess, will be our intro course or something,’ Jessie said, not bothering to put to much thought into it. She was just enjoying the moment, not really caring what happened tomorrow

“Alright, Jessie. Hey look if you’re going to sleep, don’t you think we should go to bed?” James softly suggested. Jessie huffed.

“Or we could stay right here…” he admonished quickly, not wishing to upset his friend. So, they stayed there, on the couch, just enjoying sitting on the couch, and enjoying each other’s presence.

This is just the beginning folks! The meat and bones of the story will be up soon so don’t worry. Hey, wait, where are you going? Come back! Well, questions and comments to shagti2@aol.com and all flames to shoveitupyour@ss.com! Ciao , mi amours!