Bella nods. "Anything in here you particularly recommend? I've always been more of an I-actually-read-the-assignments-for-English-class girl but perhaps I should branch out."

"Well, I do not know which ones you would like," Janine says reasonably, "because I do not know you very well!"

"Fair enough. Some people recommend the same thing to everybody, but I'm not in a hurry to pick through your book collection," chuckles Bella.

"If you would like to read some of them later, you may, but please ask me before you borrow any," says Janine.

"Sure, no problem."

"Any other things I should keep in mind if we're going to be sharing this itty bitty living space?"

"Well," says Janine. The cheer in her voice fades a little, and the nervousness in her posture takes an uptick. "You checked the box on the residence questionnaire that says you are comfortable having a transgender roommate, right?"

"Yeah?"

"That is good," says Janine, "because I am. I would prefer if you did not mention it to anyone unless you are sure they already know, because not everyone on our floor checked that box."

Janine relaxes a little. "Okay, good."

"Do I need to do anything else besides not-tell, like, I don't know, conspicuously loan you tampons in front of people? Because I would like warning before being called upon to do that."

She quirks a smile. "No. Thank you."

"Okay then." Bella stretches her arms after placing the last book. "I don't think I'm too hard to live with. Ask if you wanna borrow something, don't play heavy metal at four in the morning, that sort of thing."

"Those are reasonable guidelines to which I will happily adhere!"

"Yes, I had heard a rumour to that effect," says Janine. "I think I will spend the intervening time unpacking my clothes."

Bella sets up her laptop and goes through the rigmarole necessary to get on the school Internet, and watches clothes march out of Janine's bags.

"Is this going to turn into one of those sitcom plots where you decide my wardrobe is too small and you have to take me shopping?" Bella asks.

"It will not turn into one of those! If you had as much clothing as me, neither of us would have enough space for it!" she says reasonably.

Bella laughs. "Good, then. Because I've never gotten the appeal of shopping."

"It is not the process I enjoy so much as the results," says Janine.

"I do like having nice clothes, but three pairs of nice jeans and a handful of shirts and one rocking set of motorcycle riding leathers does it for me. Plus, you know, socks, underwear, the boring kind."