A Dorm Parking Lot, Los Angeles, CA, Wednesday Morning

[swerval_zero]

After driving halfway across the country with Rat, Zero and Dave dropped him off at LAX early Wednesday morning (her parents didn't care if he actually helped her move in, they just wanted him to make sure she didn't die on the interstate) and picked up another passenger: her new roommate, Janine Berkowitz of Newark, New Jersey. There was one

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[mparkerceo]

Parker arrived with iced mochas in hand, and a look of dismay for all the stuff. "You didn't have this much stuffwhen you moved out of the dorm, did you? I swear, I'd remember if we'd needed a forklift." She folded her sunglasses away and nodded to Janine. "Hi. Thanks for letting me crash here for six weeks. Mocha?"

[swerval_zero]

Janine was your basic wannabe goth, with clothes from Hot Topic, dyed black hair, and the slightly desperate, mostly relieved expression of a person who has just escaped across the entire country from her parents. She took the mocha and said, "Oooh, caffeine. I'm Janine. And it's totally no problem. Zero said you were having family issues?" Behind Janine's back, Zero nodded frantically and mouthed 'go with it.'

"When I moved out of the dorm that was just my stuff, Parker. This is my stuff and Janine's. Minus whatever we'll need to buy. We'll make a list after we get in the room," Zero said.

[mparkerceo]

Parker gave Zero a look of "whaaa?" Then caught on, rolled her eyes, and gave Janine a put-upon sigh. "Yes. Well. I'm avoiding my father. It's way too complicated to get into." And how. "But I'm very appreciative of this. I've got an air mattress, we can put it out of the way during the day. I swear I'll be as inobtrusive as possible." She gave Janine's wardrobe a once-over, and added, "You can borrow some of my shoes, if you like." Major concessions to roomies, yes. She turned to Zero and said, "I'm good for helping out with the decorating, since I'll be here a while. As long as we're not talking IKEA."

[swerval_zero]

Zero's eyes glinted behind her rabbit sunglasses with a light one who knew her well might describe as 'evil.' "Oh, but Parker, we are. There's a special dorm trip. But this one's not on an island. We'll also be hitting Target."