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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.
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"Do you want some help with that?" Bella calls, closing her computer and tucking it into her bag and getting up. Being helpful is a good way to be positively remembered, and this is part of her project, and she is starting today. "Where are you headed?"
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"Oh—thank you," she says, looking up from where she has been gazing determinedly at the floor and flashing a tentative smile. "Room 314."
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"Oh, you must be Janine. I'm Bella," says Bella, helping herself to half of Janine's stuff and heading for the room. "What're the packing peanuts for?"
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"Beanbag chair!" says Janine. "You must be my roommate! Are you my roommate? Hello, my roommate!"
The packing peanuts come loose easily, as do the top two duffel bags, leaving Bella with about two-thirds of the volume and Janine with about two-thirds of the weight of the whole ensemble. She trails Bella down the hall.
The packing peanuts come loose easily, as do the top two duffel bags, leaving Bella with about two-thirds of the volume and Janine with about two-thirds of the weight of the whole ensemble. She trails Bella down the hall.
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"Guess so," says Bella, amused. She opens the door with her foot. "Home sweet home. Beanbag chairs don't come... assembled?"
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"Not this one!" says Janine. "I will have to assemble it. I have never done that before. It will be an adventure."
Is it possible to be anxious and high-spirited at the same time? Because that is Janine.
Is it possible to be anxious and high-spirited at the same time? Because that is Janine.
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"I've never assembled a beanbag chair before either. It looks like it's going to be really enormous," says Bella. She plops the stuff gently on the floor of the room.
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"The size of the packaging may be deceptive," Janine allows. "Or we may be in for a very interesting logistical challenge."
She pulls the suitcase up to the unclaimed bed and leans it against the mattress. It teeters. She tugs it out, swivels it around, and leans it the other way. Then she dives into one of the duffel bags on the floor and produces a flat rectangular package containing, if you believe the label, the folded shell of a beanbag chair. Which she proceeds to rip out of its packaging and shake out and pore over in search of a zipper.
"...Would you like to help?" she asks after a moment.
She pulls the suitcase up to the unclaimed bed and leans it against the mattress. It teeters. She tugs it out, swivels it around, and leans it the other way. Then she dives into one of the duffel bags on the floor and produces a flat rectangular package containing, if you believe the label, the folded shell of a beanbag chair. Which she proceeds to rip out of its packaging and shake out and pore over in search of a zipper.
"...Would you like to help?" she asks after a moment.
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"Sure, why not." Bella seeks a zipper, and finds one, and unzips it. "I'll hold, you pour?"
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"Works for me!" says Janine. She picks up one of the big packages and waits to tear it open until Bella has the beanbag chair in a more receptive state.
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Bella holds the mouth of the shell and says, "And, go."
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Janine goes.
Packing peanuts galore! All but a very very few of them end up in the chair. She picks up the second package and repeats the process; this time it requires a little more finesse, because the chair is becoming genuinely full.
Packing peanuts galore! All but a very very few of them end up in the chair. She picks up the second package and repeats the process; this time it requires a little more finesse, because the chair is becoming genuinely full.
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Bella may or may not triangle for luck on the success of this project once it becomes clear that its tidiness is not a foregone conclusion. She doesn't want to pick peanuts out of her hair for weeks.
"If you grab those last couple, we can zip it up," she says, still hanging onto the open chair, when the second bag is empty.
"If you grab those last couple, we can zip it up," she says, still hanging onto the open chair, when the second bag is empty.
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Zip zip.
"Nice choice of decor," Bella says. "What's in all the duffel bags? Tanks of helium with which to fill balloons, maybe?"
"Nice choice of decor," Bella says. "What's in all the duffel bags? Tanks of helium with which to fill balloons, maybe?"
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"No!" she says. "Clothes. And several clever storage options in the event that there is not enough room for my clothes. There is never enough room for my clothes," she confides.
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"You can use some of my closet space if you need it. I don't have many clothes myself," Bella says. "I got all the way here with all my stuff on my motorcycle."
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"You have a motorcycle," Janine observes, repeats, and/or confirms. "That's cool. What kind?"
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"It's a custom kind. I named it Tegu, though, so I guess it's a Tegu."
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"It was a present from my boyfriend" ([I have decided to just refer to you as my boyfriend to random people,] she informs Alice) "after he came into some money. He got it made by some guy on the Internet, I think."
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[Cool,] Alice says cheerfully, swinging his feet where he perches on the kitchen counter. The word is just a word. It does not have any inherent effect on what passes between them. He doesn't mind her using it and he wouldn't mind her not.
"That is cool," says Janine. "Yes, I will use some of your closet space if necessary, thank you. Would you like to have the inaugural sit on the beanbag chair?"
"That is cool," says Janine. "Yes, I will use some of your closet space if necessary, thank you. Would you like to have the inaugural sit on the beanbag chair?"
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Bella flops into the beanbag chair. "I approve," she announces.
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Bella laughs. "So what classes are you taking?" she asks, in the time-honored tradition of College Students Making Conversation.