Days in the Dorm
Acceptance Has Paid Off
After returning from the DL's office you finish unpacking your stuff, but leave about half the room empty for them to use. You make sure to keep one desk clear and actually more than half the storage space goes unused (since you don't have all that much stuff to put in it). You don't have much in the way of posters or paintings, so the walls are still rather barren, but the rest of the room looks half lived in.
The next few days go by rather uneventfully, but your get more tense waiting for your roommate. It takes all your willpower not to go back to the DL several times and beg for news, but you know that would be a bad idea after your last meeting. All you can do is be patient and hope what he said about doing his best for you is the truth.
It's the fourth day since you got here when you hear a knock on your door in the early afternoon. You get up, putting your class books aside, and open the door. Outside you see a large group of mixed students surrounding the Dorm Leader, who smiles at you.
"It's time?" You ask uncomfortably.
"Yes it is." He says with a little smile. "But I don't think you have to worry too much. Everything will work out for the best." On that he turns back to the group and says "Sam, step up here. This is your stop."
Out of the group you see a lovely young woman with sandy-blond hair step forward. Your eyes about pop out of your head but she just looks at you and shrugs. She carries in a bag and drops it on the empty desk. The DL steps in and says, "For right now Sam here is your roommate."
You take your eyes off her for a moment and look confused at the DL. "She? What? How?"
"There appears to have been a mix-up because Samantha tends to only use Sam on every form she fills out and the records office messed up and put her down as a male. I have to go by what my records say so I can't put her in a female room and we have no private rooms, as you well know. So I had to put her somewhere until the paperwork goes through to rectify this."
"That's great." You say, trying not to stammer. "But why me?"
"Because you asked so nicely." He says with another smile. "When the paperwork finally goes through she will be moved to another room, but it will be past the point where all the spots will be locked so the likelihood of them assigning another roommate to replace her this semester will be minimal. All you have to do is make sure she files the paperwork after classes start, which shouldn't be an issue."
You know exactly what he means. Since this is Friday afternoon and classes start on Monday the chance she has to file during office hours before then is within the next couple hours. You are sure you can keep her busy that long, at least.
On that he pats you on the shoulder and turns to walk out, speaking to the rest of the group waiting there. "Okay folks, across the hall." The door closes behind him.
You turn back to face her and try your best to put a nice smile on your face that doesn't look too sleazy or excited by the prospect of having this beautiful woman living here, at least for few days. In as calm a voice as you can you say, "So, has this kind of thing happened before? With your name and everything?"
She smiles back and nods. "A few times. But I've gotten used to it and even have fun with it most of the time. And those few un-fun times are what you pay for doing it. Can't really blame others for getting it mixed up since that's why I do it."
"You do it on purpose?" You can't hide the shock in your face and voice.
"Of course." She says with a bright smile. "Ever since I first noticed that people seem to pick people for jobs or teams or what have you based on your sex. So I don't give away what sex I am right away to make it harder on them to pull some crap like that. Besides, Sam is just easier to say. Don't you think?"
You nod and say, "That makes sense. But in the mean time you have to deal with little problems like this one."
She shrugs and nonchalantly says, "Who says this is a problem? You seem like a decent guy so I don't have an issue with being here if you don't."
"No issue at all." You agree. The idea of living with this lovely girl does seem to have some appeal to you. In the meantime you...