Home away from home. The dorm houses a maximum of three students and is furnished with three beds, three shelves, three closets and three desks for studying.
It also comes with a bathroom with toilet and shower included.
It was almost automatic as Iris pulled Marco alongside from the audiotrium. Her main focus was to make sure there wasn't a 'distraction'. If someone stopped one of them, then they would had been stopped before she reached the dorms. As far as she knew, it was just her and Maria in the room once more and Maria didn't make any indication that she would be returning to the dorms anytime soon....which meant that for now, Iris and Marco would have to the room to themselves. Which was good since Iris was actually nervous about this whole moment despite her taking the intitative to start it.
Iris opened her door and once Marco was inside, she locked it behind her. A few jitters were returning to her face as she walked back and forth for a moment. She had everything she wanted to say.... and it was just tied up together on the tip of her tongue. Iris sigh as she sat on the bed.
"Hi Marco," she said with a little smile. "How was your summer? Well, the later portion of it since that's when you basically decided to.... you know... go dark?" My whole summer was nice. Chats with friends... started to learn a new language...ate a brunch.... you know the usual summer thing... She ran her fingers through her hair before looking up at Marco. She looked him up and down, noting the change in the boy from before summer began. She looked at him in his eyes, awaiting his answers to her words. "Did you have fun?"
The walk he had with Iris was mostly silent. She seemed very determined to take him wherever she wanted to. They passed by some students on the way who took brief glances at them wondering why a popular girl like Iris was dragging a loser like him around. Marco didn't have the best reputation around his peers due to all the crazy things he had done such as the scene he caused in the Lamia Museum last year, and the scene he caused in DayCare last year, and the scene he caused outside Leoconoe District's tournament when he battled with Silvano last year, and now the scene he caused in the Auditorium for knocking down all the House Reps...Yeah he couldn't blame his classmates for thinking he was weird since all he seemed to do were weird things. At least no one was bullying him and that was enough for him. Nonetheless he was starting to feel a little shy since some of the students were snickering at him while others seemed to give him a thumbs up. Just where was Iris taking them?
Iris had changed so much since they first met. For starters she was taller now, taller than him by an inch, but that wasn't the only thing that grew about her. She also matured a lot internally, she was more confidence, more forward, and didn't shy away like she used to last year. Look at her now, she was boldly leading them across the campus towards...Flygon House? Marco's eyes widen, if they were going to Flygon House then that would mean they would be going to her room? He gulped feeling even more shy now, his cheeks were even a little red. What was Iris up to?
He was in fact correct about assuming they were going to her room because once they reached the Flygon House they moved upstairs where all the female dorms were located. It was a similar layout to Charizard House with the difference being the decoration and certain designs that best represented the Flygon Pokemon and its green colors. Marco entered her room and stood still not quite sure what to do. He looked over his shoulder once he heard the sound of the door closing followed by the click to indicate that the door was locked. "I-Iris?" Marco questioned as he watched her pace back and forth before deciding to go sit on her bed. He didn't know why, but he felt like he was in trouble so almost instinctively he kneel down on the ground and waited for her to speak all the while his face getting heated. She smiled at him before talking about summer vacation and how she had spent her time talking with friends and doing 'summer things'. She then turned the conversation to him to ask him about his summer vacation, but not before looking at him up and down and then directly into his eyes. Marco blinked with a nervous smile on his face. Was she asking him a trick question? Did she want him to tell her what he did during the summer? Somehow he still felt like he was in trouble and that everything rode on how he answered her question. Girls can be scary. That's what Marco thought as he looked at Iris.
"I, um, y-yes?" the boy chuckled nervously not sure if that was the right thing to say or not. Marco had a little hard time looking at Iris, half because he still felt a little nervous about being alone in her room and the other half because of his position on the ground and her position on top of her bed he could almost look up at her skirt. If she thought that he was staring then there would be no salvation for him. "Summer vacation was quiet...oh! But I did get to spend it with Tera," Marco's expression almost instantly turned happy as he remembered the days he spend with Tera in the Alola region. "We ran into each other completely by accident. Both our families were there so we all got to meet each other and we even caught some Pokemon together," all the sudden now he felt like the talkative one and once he realized that he was doing all the talking now he stopped at looked Iris. Were they here just to talk about their summer vacation or was there something more?
Iris looked at Marco after she asked him the questions. He was sitting on the ground. Why was he sitting on the ground? There were chairs...her...bed. The thought quickly went away when he started to speak. He sounded nervous too. He started to talk about his summer which sounded similar to hers, being quiet, until he mentioned spending it with Tera. She watched as his eyes lit up while talking about bumping into the girl with his family. Her head tilted slightly before she leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees and her chin in her hands.
"Sounds like you had fun..." Iris said, her tone changing to reflect her want before continuing. "My summer was dandy. I was learning French from my brother and parents. Then my parents went to the Alola region and brought me back a pokemon from there. Oh and I actually spent some time with Skylar and she didn't yell at me."
This feels stupid..... I feel stupid... and why is he still sitting on the floor?
Iris turned her glance before she sat upright and removed her vest. It was getting warm in the room and she didn't need to add sweat to her current problems. "Why are you seating on the floor?" Iris finally asked as she tossed her vest to where her bags were. She patted the spot on the bed. "Or you can take a seat somewhere other than the floor." Iris let out a chuckle for a moment.....
Marco stared at Iris when he heard the slight change in her tone. He got a little nervous feeling that perhaps he had messed up somewhere. But why would talking about Tera be a touchy subject? They were both well liked by their peers and Marco was almost sure they could be good friends if there was an opportunity for them to hang out. Iris went on a little more detail about her summer vacation including how she was learning French from her family and that she received a new Pokemon from her parents. The most shocking, in his opinion, was that she spent some time with Skylar! Marco had to blink twice for that information to process, he was glad to know that Skylar might have found someone whom she could interact with. Speaking of the lavender-haired girl, he would need to get in contact with her regarding their plans for the Club Fair. However, that would be at a later time, right now he needed to focus on Iris. His eyes widen when Iris removed her vest, the first couple of buttons of her shirt were undone. Marco looked away as his face got red once he was reminded that his face had been planted on her chest earlier.
The black-haired boy sneaked a peek at Iris. Her hair was a little longer, she was taller, and she had grown in certain places that his eyes couldn't ignore. More than that, she had matured in a way that was very charming. She's really pretty. Once the thought entered his mind, the redness of his face spread to even his ears. That was the first time that he ever thought anyone besides Tera was pretty. What was happening to him? Maybe that bowling ball pin accident had loosen some screws in his head. Marco was suddenly feeling more aware of Iris which in turn was making him more shy. He snapped out of his thoughts when Iris questioned him about sitting on the ground. She patted on a spot next to her in her bed, the poor boy couldn't take any more of this stimulation. He stood up and walked over to her like a robot before taking a sit next to her; he ended up sitting closer to her than he intended probably due to this nervousness. With their shoulders now touching, Marco didn't dare make any other movement, but he did listen to her question.
"What is it?" Marco asked gently as he turned to her, once again realizing that they were pretty close to each other.
Iris watched Marco as she spoke about her summer. He seemed surprised hearing she spent some time with Skylar. She was still surprised herself. When she finished up and removed her vest, she noticed that Marco's face was really red. Maybe it was warm inside the room after all. The red was spreading across his face by the time he finally stood up. Iris couldn't help but tilt her head at the way that Marco walked over to the bed for a seat. She never questioned why as he sat really close to her. Even their shoulders were touching. Maybe this was a good sign.
"See Marco," she said with a nudge, "Isn't this better than sitting on the floor..." She grinned, not looking at him yet as he responded to wanting to hear her question.
"Marco...what am I to you...?" she said, months of talking to someone and medication finally at work. "You're here in my room and talking to me so we're not enemies even though we didn't start out....peachy." she reflected on their first day of being at the academy. "I wanna say we're more than acquaintances. But then...I feel a like a third wheel sometimes.."
Her feet and leg came to press against her. "It's like I'm either a third wheel or just getting completely ignored. Like at the lamia tournament. One moment you're talking to me and then next I can't get a word out of you but you were fine with everyone else. Koru, Skylar, Silvano, Maria, and Tera. Especially...Tera." She gave a sigh before sniffling. "If it you two are talking, it like there's a barrier and it feels like I'm intruding on something. I wish I could say it only happened once but then I wouldn't be telling the truth."
She turned her face to look at Marco. "It isn't like I don't Tera. I do! It's just...I don't know where I fit in with you...I mean..." Iris turned her eyes back forward to face her feet as her hands fiddled with her hair. "Are we... Are we friends?
Marco chuckled a little at Iris's comment. "Yeah...this is more comfortable." He smiled at her feeling a little less shy now. Or at least he was until she asked some pretty difficult questions. Marco wasn't quite sure how to answer her and he wanted to just tell her that he didn't know. However, this topic really seemed to bother her since he was explaining to him her feelings. That wasn't something very easy to do which meant at the very least he should try to properly think of a response. Just what did Iris mean to him? Like she said they were more than just acquantainces even if their first meeting was very rocky.They were mostly pass that event and they even spend time together during the beginning of last year. Their encounters did seem to greatly decrease half way through the year. He wasn't avoiding her, but he was more focused on Tera so maybe that cause some distance to develop between them. Iris had become so popular lately that he thought maybe she just forgot about him.
He had to properly think of a response and as he searched for an answer in his mind, his heart was instead the one that was speaking. There were a few people that he thought could be his friends, not because he was picky, but because he thought maybe they would be the only ones that could accept him. He didn't have any confidence in making friends and there were times he thought that if Tera wasn't his friend then he would be completely alone. Tera was special to him and as he searched deeper he found that Iris was special as well. These feelings were different, but also very similar (in a way) to the ones he had for Tera. Perhaps it was about time that he tried to be a little more honest as well.Iris is someone special to me, more than an acquaintance so maybe she's...
The boy blinked when Iris asked him if they were friends. Marco felt a warmth in his chest, she seemed to have hit the bullseye. He was still a little nervous, but he needed to have just a little bit of confidence to take the next step. Iris's words gave him strength as he took a deepbreath and then gently placed his hand on top of hers. He turned his body to face her and waited until she was facing him to continue. Their distance became shorter once more, but he wasn't going to back down now. "We...I mean I want to say that..." Marco took another deep breath, feeling nervous and his heart beating faster as a result, "I...you're special to me, Iris....so I say that we are friends." Marco held his breath as he waited for her response. He had just made a rather bold statement, for him,but this was what his mind and heart told him was the answer. Iris was his friend and if she accepted him then there would now be three people whom he could call a real friend.
The silence after her words were deafening in Iris' ears. In fact, realizing all that she said was making her heart pound. She never been this forward before. Talking about what bothered her to another person. She always assumed that it would lead to something bad and then people wouldnt want to be friends anymore with her. She was wondering if she should end it here before Marco told how little she mattered in the scheme of them. Maybe not that blunt, but something that alluded to that.
She flinched when she heard an intake of air since it wasn't from her. She was then surprised as a hand touched her hand. When she turned her head, Marco was fully facing her. She was staring at him, starting to notice that they were really close to each other....distance wise. He stumbled on his words as he tried to say the answer to her question. Iris waiting, ready for whatever would happen. And what happened, she still didn't expect it to happen.
The words 'special' 'friend' and 'Iris' were being used in the same sentence to say that she was special to him and that they were friends. The processing took some time before Iris blinked. "Really?! You really mean that...." she said as her eyes started to get watery. "Marco!" she exclaimed. Her hand left its position to join the rest of her as she jumped into a hug, embracing the squishy boy. "Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaimed delightedly. "I thought that...but I was wrong... So glad I was wrong." She started to hug the boy tighter until she realizes it for herself. She released him with a chuckle. "My bad. I guess I got a little too happy.."
She pulled out her pokegear. "While I got you here, wanna play a game?"