self_composed | introduction to being a college student

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

self_composed

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

From:

edgeofyourseat

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

From:

self_composed

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

From:

edgeofyourseat

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

From:

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?"

From:

edgeofyourseat

"I suspect that I do," says Janine.

From:

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.

From:

edgeofyourseat

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

From:

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?"

From:

edgeofyourseat

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

From:

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."

From:

edgeofyourseat

"I mean I won't make a dress for somebody I don't wanna make a dress for," he says. "Maybe 'cause I don't like them, maybe 'cause I just can't think of anything good."

From:

self_composed

"Oh. In that case it's called 'being eccentric and requiring the muse to command you' or something like that," says Bella. "That will only piss off annoying people and I will not care."

From:

edgeofyourseat

"Awesome. In that case, you can pimp out my sewing machine all you want."

From:

self_composed

"Spiffy. What shall I quote as a ballpark figure when asked?"

From:

edgeofyourseat

"Pick something you think they can afford," he says. "I don't actually care about making money."

From:

self_composed

"I know you don't, but there's that 'deluge of orders' problem - there are more than enough people here to keep you working twenty-four hours a day if you charge only what you spend on materials." [What you spend on materials. And we don't want anyone wondering where you get such cheap fabric or how you can make so many clothes as a one-person operation.] "How does a round hundred sound?"

From:

edgeofyourseat

"Yeah, sounds great," he says. And also: "I love you."

From:

self_composed

"Aww. Okay, I'll put word out. See you next week!" says Bella cheerfully.

"Hundred bucks," she tells Janine. "Ballpark, could vary depending on exact design, I assume he'll need measurements and some information about your preferences."