✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

Epilogue: Another New Friend (2/3)

Spike was blushing furiously as she struggled to cross the lobby carrying a box of diapers that accounted for almost a third of their luggage. Ffrances trailed behind, carrying a couple of garment bags high off the ground. Tess waved cheerfully, then continued with a growing sense of awkwardness as they watched Spike struggle with her load. Should she stop waving and wait? Go to help her and end up getting in the way? She wasn't sure, but the moment didn't last too long.

"I think that's everything," Ffrances said. "Very bold, regressing your ward in the middle of moving."

"It was her idea," Tess smirked, and pointed at Gabby. "And I thought Spike could use a little fun after all the work he put in today." She turned to look at the elevator controls, and carefully pressed the number '3'. Barely seconds passed before the doors opened again and let them out on a long corridor. Tess felt like they should be talking as they walked, but she was so excited that it was hard to find the words. Instead she consulted the building map on her phone yet again, and indicated the hallway which led to their new home. It wasn't far along the corridor, so once she had opened it they spread themselves out in a line, passing boxes from hand to hand along the corridor like some strange bucket chain. Spike tried to help even as Tess decided she could be regressed a little further, carrying smaller boxes so as not to disrupt their rhythm when she was distracted by the posters along the walls, or any other feature of the architecture. Tess stood at the doorway of her new lounge area, accepting each container and stacking them on the different chairs so that she would know which room they belonged in.

She almost jumped out of her skin when one of the other doors off the little lounge opened. Of course, she'd known that they would have neighbours, but there were so many different possibilities that she hadn't been able to make plans for meeting people. This little lounge had four rooms off it, although there were only three doors in sight, as well as a small shared kitchen and bathroom.

"Hi!" she stammered, and then turned again to make sure the box she was currently manhandling didn't slip off its pile. "I'm Tess. Tess Naylor."

"Maya Rorschach," the girl in the doorway of room 313 introduced herself. She was dressed almost entirely in denim, with a battered jacket, waistcoat, and jean shorts. She was also wearing a straw hat that looked like the kind of thing a farmer would wear in some kids' cartoon, beneath which wavy red hair tumbled down to her waist. "I guess we're neighbours now. You need a hand moving in?"

"No, I've got family to help. Don't think..." She hesitated for a moment as Spike came in, dropped a box on the couch, and scurried away again, blushing.

"That's Spike," she said. "He's a little bit shy right now, I'll introduce you later."

"So is he... I mean..." Maya mumbled. "When I was moving in, I heard one of the receptionists say that there's a room decked out for students who want to act like little kids. I'm kind of curious, to be honest. That's a lifestyle even I've never come across before. It's not some disability thing, is it? I don't want to sound insensitive. But if we're going to be neighbours..."

"I'll show you around properly when we've gotten moved in," Tess said decisively. "Sorry, don't want to be rude, but there's so much stuff here, and I'm not even sure what to expect yet."

"Completely understand," said Maya with a smile. "I skipped the unpacking, just a rucksack with a change of clothes, couple of cup noodles, and my laptop. Meant I could get here on my bike, save the planet, you know? I can buy clothes and homewares locally over the next few days."

"Wow, that's different," Tess said, with a laugh. "Don't know if I'd have the courage for that. But catch up with you later, right? When my family's out of the way."