The FNIA Saga

Night 1

"Is... is that a Pikachu?" You ask, nearly dumbfounded.

"Pfft, no. Pikachu's aren't real," he replies like it's obvious... which it is. "It's a, uh, monkey in a Pikachu outfit."

You raise your brow at him, then lean on your right leg to look over the apparent "monkey." It's facial movement, its skin, it's all so realistic and on point. But... Pokemon don't exist, so a monkey is certainly more realistic.

"Pika!"

"Right? Always changing," he gestures around your face.

You awkwardly stare at him, not really sure how to react to... everything."Right... what's its name?"

"Well, you know, the name isn't important," he waves off, to which the Pikachu monkey crosses its arms and nods.

"I... have I heard that before?"

"Well... it's a sentence, so... I don't know. Have you?" He flips back on you.

"I... sorry," you shake your head, deciding to dismiss the Pikamonkey. "I'm really having trouble remembering you."

"Pika!"

"I'm super memorable!" He shouts at the small animal. "Anyway," he clears his throat. "I'm Forrest. We're in the same class."

"We are?"

"We are."

"Oh yeah, we are," the memory suddenly comes to the surface, almost out of nowhere.

"Yeah, we are," he assuredly nods. "Anyway, you want that umbrella?"

"Oh, please! I'd love to not get soaked!"

Forrest moves his hand behind him and pulls out an umbrella. Funny, the way his hand moved wasn't even close to his backpack. But maybe he had it in his pocket. It's a rather small umbrella, after all. He hands it to you then opens the door. "You go first, open it up. It'll be big enough for us. Come on, you mouse."

"I thought it was a monkey?"

The nameless Pikachu jumps on Forrest's shoulder, angrily slapping him but to no avail.

"I told you, the name isn't important. You can call him anything."

"Piiiika!" It yelps while continuing its deadly assault.

Ignoring the very lively and intelligent monkey, you step outside and open up the umbrella, surprised at its size. It definitely has enough room for two, maybe two and a half people. Forrest follows suit, keeping pace as you walk across the concrete path back to residence.

"So, uh... you have any plans for reading week? Any assignments or... something?" You attempt to stir up conversation.

"Ah, no, not really. Just, uh, hehe," he mischievously smiles. "Just gonna see what other people do."

"So... you like watching people?" You clarify, a bit concerned.

"Yeah," he confidently replies, but that immediately goes down the drain when he realizes what he said. "Wait, no! Not like that! I swear," he nervously laughs, waving his hands in front of him. "I don't do that. We just have, uh, an interesting group of people around here. Could get into some shenanigans or something."

"I guess. There hasn't been that many major happenings here. It's a pretty calm college, honestly. I was hoping for a little more," you sheepishly admit.

As you end the sentence and near the end of the path, you notice a girl standing near the side of the road. She doesn't have an umbrella nor is she underneath a ceiling, so the rain is having their way with her. She's certainly a looker, either working hard on her body or being naturally blessed with a rather desired body, bountiful melons, beautiful brown hair, stunning hazel eyes, and a face you could get lost in. You do get lost in it, so much so that Forrest stops talking and looks past you.