Ro was stunned when they arrived the next morning at the address Laura and Alina had given them. They had expected that the two lived in an apartment, but instead, they stood in front of a single-family house. Had they perhaps made a mistake? After all, they didn't live in the city long and only knew a few corners. Ro checked the address they had noted down and then their location in the map app. No, it was all correct. Was it perhaps a cruel prank then? Had Laura and Alina made a joke out of giving them hope, only to send them to the wrong address? Ro felt their throat tighten at the idea. That would have been exactly the kind of joke at Ro's expense that the other kids would have found funny, back then in school.
There was only one way to find out.
Ro opened the garden gate and walked maybe two meters across the path through the front yard to the front door. They took a deep breath and rang the bell.
At first, nothing happened. Their heart punding, Ro stood at the door and waited. Finally they heard footsteps, then the door was opened and Laura looked at them, beaming.
"Hello Ro, come in."
They followed her into a short hallway where they hung their jacket on the coat rack and then proceeded past the stairs into the living room, where Alina was sitting on a sofa.
Ro looked around. The living room seemed to take up most of the first floor and was dominated by an L-shaped black couch that stood free in the room. Across from the couch, to Ro's right was a wall unit with a television and shelves full of board games and books.
Behind the couch was a large dining table with four chairs and behind it, on the left side of the living room was a modern open kitchen. The wall opposite the entrance to the living room was a glass front, through which Ro could see the garden with terrace.
"Wow!" they exclaimed. How could Laura and Alina who, no doubt, lived on students' budget afford the rent here?
"Hi Ro!" said Alina.
"Hi," they said with a smile.
"This is the living room," Laura explained, "And over there is the kitchen, you see. The house belongs to my grandmother, but she lives in a retirement home now, that's why we can live here. She pays her living expenses from her savings and the rent she gets from us."
Ro nodded. Friends' and family's discount. That explained it.
"Shall we go upstairs?" suggested Alina. "Then you can see the room."
Ro nodded, and the three of them walked back into the entryway and then up the stairs. "We've been looking for someone to move into the room for a while now," Alina told them. "We're paying less rent than we'd normally have to for a place like this, but it's still quite a bit. If we can split the amount among three folks instead of two, that would be a relief."
"So far, though, we haven't liked any of those who have been interested in the room," Laura said. "Well, that's changed now, thank goodness. You're cool, Ro."
Ro felt their stomach lurch with happiness. These two thought they were cool!
"This is the upper floor," Laura continued as they climbed the stairs. "There's an attic above, but it's cramped with old stuff. My room is over there." She pointed to a door where photos and postcards hung. "Alina's is that one." She pointed to another door with a poster of a goth band on it. "Over there is the bathroom. And that one would be your room if you moved in here." She walked over to a door and opened it. Ro followed her, took a step into the room and looked around. The room was maybe four by five meters and had a window that looked out onto the garden.
"The window faces south, so the room gets a lot of light," Laura explained.
Ro nodded.
Alina said, "We'd have to run the numbers again, but your share of the rent would be something like 450 Euros. Is that okay?"
Ro nodded again. "I can only move out of the dorm before the regular end of my contract if someone else takes over my room. But that shouldn't be a problem. My roommate already said that a friend of his would move in."
"That means you want to live with us?" asked Laura.
Ro took another deep breath. "Of course I do!"
---
Two weeks later, Ro and Alina were sitting on the sofa in the living room. Laura was in the library working on an assignment for one of her classes. She had said she wouldn't be back until the evening.
Alina's cell phone beeped. "Half an hour is up. That should do it."
"All right," Ro said, getting up and going into the bathroom. They turned on the shower, undressed, and then stood in the spray. The water running down the drain was purple.
Ro had wanted to look a little bit more queer and had gotten the idea to dye their hair. They had ordered bleach and dye, and Alina, who had experience with it, had offered to help them with it.
Ro washed their hair out until the water ran clear, got out of the tub and dried themself off. They wiped some condensation off the mirror and looked in.
"How does it look?" called Alina from outside.
"I like it!" they answered.
"Let me see," Alina demanded and opened the door.
Ro was just able to wrap the towel around their waist before she was standing in the bathroom. "Wow! Looks great!" she exclaimed. Then she seemed to realize that she had just barged in while Ro was still naked and turned a dark red. "Sorry Ro."
"No, that's all right," they waved it off and turned back to the mirror. Their hair glowed a dark purple, with blue dominating in some places and red in others.
"Let me take a closer look," Alina said, approaching them. She squinted her eyes and examined Ro's head critically. "Bend down a little," she demanded.
Ro bent their head so that Alina, who was a little shorter, could also see the hair on the top of their head. Their face was so close to her torso that they could smell her. She smelled good.
"Happy?", they wanted to know.
