introduction to being a college student

[self_composed]

Bella packs light. (She can conjure whatever she wants, mooch off Alice for anything she wants to buy. She's wearing her riding gear and riding Tegu and only has a few other favorite-things she'd like to retain in their original forms. The black dress is one of them.) Her swag goes in saddlebags and she goes to Stanford.

It's a road trip; she wants to be able to account for her time, and besides, she likes her motorcycle. She checks into crappy little motels and once spends four minutes watching someone try and fail to disassemble her bike, from her window. (The fellow gives up eventually. Tegu does not want to come apart or move.)

At Stanford, she is there before her new roommate, who is reportedly named "Janine". Bella unpacks, and since no one's there yet, she wishes up some decorations too. She introduces herself to the RA, Maureen, and then loiters in the hall lounge, waiting for more people to meet.

Comments

[self_composed]

Bella considers this.

"You're not far wrong, except in the literal sense," she concludes.

[My roommate imagines you with pointy ears and sparkly butterfly wings, making mischief and pollinating flowers,] she informs Alice. [I told her that except literally speaking she wasn't far off.]

[edgeofyourseat]

[...I think I love your roommate a little bit,] says Alice, laughing.

Janine also giggles.

[self_composed]

[She's pretty cool.]

"But yeah, he's weird. In a neat way, but weird."

[edgeofyourseat]

"I like neat-weird," says Janine.

[I wanna meet her,] Alice declares.

[self_composed]

[Come visit in a week, then, after I'm settled in.]

"Then my boyfriend will be your favorite person, I imagine."

[edgeofyourseat]

[You betcha,] says Alice.

"Is he the most neat-weird person on Earth?" inquires Janine.

[self_composed]

"Maybe," Bella says. "Quite probably. I'll give you a dollar if you find neater-weirder, at any rate."

[edgeofyourseat]

"I will keep an eye out," Janine says gravely.

[self_composed]

Bella grins. "I'm not sure I know where the place we're supposed to fetch our IDs and orientation packets is. Want to come with me to look for it now so we don't show up fifteen minutes late and wait a year in line?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yes!" says Janine, with another, smaller smile.

[self_composed]

Bella gets up off her bed. "I'll see if anyone else wants to join the expedition."

Ultimately a total of five girls from the hall make for the building and arrive slightly early, but not early enough to be very first in line. Bella feels that this is the correct amount of early.

[edgeofyourseat]

Janine concurs!

IDs and orientation packets are acquired. She immediately stows the former in her wallet and heads back to their room to peruse the latter.

[self_composed]

Bella sticks around, because there is a food court here and she wishes to be informed about it, but presently she too returns to their room, by another route so she can see more of the campus. She is equipped with a burrito at this time.

[edgeofyourseat]

Janine is still absorbed in the introductory literature. She doesn't look up from her spot on the bed when Bella enters.

[self_composed]

Bella doesn't bug her; she toes off her sneakers under the bed and reads her packet and eats her burrito.

[edgeofyourseat]

Eventually, out of nowhere, Janine says: "Your boyfriend is very good at making dresses."

[self_composed]

"Wouldn't have worn it in public if he weren't," agrees Bella.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Does he do it frequently, or was that a unique event?"

[self_composed]

"He made one for himself, too," Bella says. "He's toyed with the idea of being a designer. Why, want a custom dress?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"I suspect that I do," says Janine.

[self_composed]

"Lemme call him up and see if he wants to expand his dressmaking activities," Bella says, and she pulls out her actual phone and actually calls Alice.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Hi!" says Alice, from his bedroom in the stupidly huge house. "What's up?"

[self_composed]

"My roommate got a look at the little black dress. She wants to know if you'd make her stuff, too. For that matter I could imagine you being popular among people here in general. Want?"

[edgeofyourseat]

"Ooh. Very want!" he says. "I probably won't make 'em for everybody, though. Will that piss people off and do you care?"

[self_composed]

"If you mean you don't want to be deluged in orders, the solution to that is called 'raising your prices until you have the amount of business you want'," Bella says. "If you mean you want to refuse to make dresses for certain individuals you take a random dislike to, that will piss people off and I will care a little."