Annie and Arnold arrived home and there was still some time left to the afternoon. They couldn't waste any more of it, though. They both changed into normal casual outfits and then Arnold packed up everything in the car, since he didn't want his mom to strain herself. She accepted his decision, especially when he pointed out that she would be driving him all the way to the college again.

Annie thanked him for his concern and then thanked him for saving her modesty back at the mini-golf course. Two quick kisses later, Arnold visited the shed and brought out his things, which also included his old backpack full of the items that had been inside the duffle-like bag he had taken from Officer Hallman's place. He still had his new backpack and would be using it for classes, too. He added the large wooden case of specialized tools that Annie had bought him for his birthday and the packing was complete.

Annie locked up the house and let out a sigh as she walked towards the car. “Here I am, willingly letting my only child go off on his own again.”

Arnold walked over to her and took her into his arms. “I'll be back every weekend, just like when I was working, unless I have school things to do.” He said. “Next weekend I can guarantee, since this week is just the introduction to the courses. If the professors give me a lot of homework besides reading, I'll have it done before coming home.”

Annie hugged him and held on for several moments. “You're growing up so fast.” She said and let him go. “I think I would be scared to go off like you are.”

Arnold thought about what she said and decided that she needed reassurance. “Only if I was never coming back.” He said and her eyes widened. “I will always come back for you, mom. Always.”

“Oh, Arnold.” Annie leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. “You're such a good boy.”

They climbed into the car and drove off towards the college, with the car almost as loaded down as it had been the first time. The drive seemed to pass quicker than it should have and they arrived at the college. Annie parked in his spot and it was just barely suppertime. Arnold did the trick that Janet showed him about unloading the car completely first and piled everything beside the elevator.

Doris hadn't come over to him while he did it, though. She had a group of girls around her and one of them was a foot or so taller than everyone else there. The tall woman had long blonde hair that she had tied up in a ponytail that was high up on the back of her head, which let her hair cascade behind her like a curtain that spanned her shoulders. She also wore a black frilly sleeveless blouse and beige dress pants that hugged her tightly.

“I'm very sorry.” Doris said with an apologetic tone. “I don't know what else to tell you.”

“I do not belieywe this.” The woman said in a very distinct Swedish accent and yet she also spoke English very well. “How can my room not be awailable? I booked it two months ago.”

“There's no record of any booking, and I'm the dorm mother. I would know.” Doris said. “Of course, usually the rooms are assigned when you register with the college for boarding and pay the fees.”

The tall blonde woman sighed. “I suppose the yury is out and I cannot apply for recondishoning?”

“Apply for what?” Doris asked, confused.

“She means the staff that assigns the rooms and getting a new room assignment.” Cynthia said and held in her sigh. Sometimes she regretted being her father's representative, because she was now stuck in a very difficult position. Ida was the daughter of one of his rich friends and he had asked her to look after her while she was here on her exchange student program.

“Yah, the yury.” Ida said. “I need a new room right now. I have to move in and get ready for orientashon tomorrow.”

Doris managed to not rub her temples in frustration. She had been talking with this young woman for half an hour now and it was wearing on her patience. Apparently, Ida just didn't know that no rooms meant no rooms and she kept asking for Doris to magically produce a room for her to move into.

“I can pay.” Ida said and reached into her purse.

Cynthia let out a sigh as Ida plopped a stack of money on the shelf of Doris' desk.

“Ten thousand. That is what a room is.” Ida said and looked at Doris as if she didn't understand why Doris wasn't accepting the money.

Doris sighed as well. “It's not about the money...”

“You need another? Is that it?” Ida asked and pulled out another stack of money and added it to the other one. “There! Double the monies. I would like my room now, please.”

Neither Cynthia nor Doris knew what to say as the other girls around them eyed the pile of money. Their thoughts were full of living away from campus for that much money.

“Does your room need to be a single?” Arnold asked from behind the group.

“Hmm? What?” Ida turned around to look at the first male voice she had heard. She was a little surprised that he was only seven inches shorter than her, which made him several inches taller than nearly everyone else around her.

“I have a double room on the top floor and no roommate.” Arnold said and looked at her. If he cared about such things, he would have noted that her breasts seemed to be in proportion to her height, namely quite large, and she had a slender waist and nice hips. If he was a poet, he would have described the space between her thighs as inviting as a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's night.

Ida's face lit up with happiness. “My sayweor!” She exclaimed, grabbed the two stacks of bills from Doris' desk, and handed them to him. “This is yours for helping me when no one else would.”

“Mom.” Arnold said and turned to the side to see a shocked face. “Here.” He said and put the money into her hands.

Annie's hands shook as she looked down at the twenty thousand dollars that had just seemed to magically appear. “But... this is...”

“It's only for this year.” Arnold said and looked back at Ida. “How long are you staying at the college?”

“I am taking the arts degree for four years.” Ida said. “It may change next year if the yury fixes their mistake by then. I would like a double room all to myself.” She said and ignored Doris' words about those being reserved for special cases, like Arnold.

“What is a yury?” Arnold asked as Annie used trembling hands to tuck the money into her purse.

“She means 'jury'.” Cynthia said and hid her dismay at having the Swedish woman on the same floor and staying in the most eligible man's room. “Her learned vocalization can't handle the hard 'j' sound we use and she replaces it with 'ye'.”

Arnold looked up at Ida. “What else can't you say?”

Ida laughed a normal laugh and not the fake laugh that some rich people used to convey amusement. “You are wary amusing.” She said. “If I cannot say them, then how would I tell you?”

“You just said wary instead of very.” Arnold said.

Ida laughed again. “I think I am going to like leywing with you.” She said and held a hand out with the palm down for Arnold to take. “I am Ida Theresa, daughter of...” She droned on and on, giving everyone a history lesson of her family members, much to their dismay. Several of them had even walked away, their interest in the very tall woman waning, now that they knew what her personality was like.

Arnold had taken the hand and Cynthia leaned in close and whispered in his ear about what to do. He placed a gentle kiss on the back of it and kept holding her hand until Ida was finished talking.

“I need to finish moving my things.” Arnold said and let her hand go.

“My helpers will deleywer my things as well.” Ida said and made a motion towards the front door. “It's too bad it is against school policy to keep a serwent around.” She said, a little sadly. “I am going to miss my maid.”

Cynthia closed her mouth and didn't remind Ida, again, that talking about people as if they were less than you, was not the way to endear yourself to people you wanted to become friends.

“Mistress!” The maid in question held the door open and two men brought in several suitcases and put them beside the elevator, then left to get more. “I just heard from the college office! They only have a rule against me staying the night! I'll get to visit you all the time now!”

“Wonderful!” Ida said happily and waved for her to come over. “This is my sayweor and new roommate.”

“Hi! I'm Dalla!” Dalla said excitedly. Her voice was an octave higher than normal and she held a hand out to him. “What's your name?”

“Arnold Strickland.” Arnold responded and took her hand, then did the same thing he did to Ida's hand.

Dalla blushed at being treated like her mistress. “My... mistress called you her savior.” She said and recovered her composure. “You have saved her from embarrassment and from having to commute to campus from our temporary home. Thank you very much.”

Arnold pulled her in close and gave her a quick kiss before Annie could stop him. Nearly everyone stared at him as he let her go.

“I really should tell the kissing bandit to stop shocking people.” Doris said into the silence and laughed. That broke the tension and a few of the remaining girls laughed, too. Ida just stared at him, as did Cynthia.

“I should have, too.” Annie said with a chuckle.

“I'll try to keep a closer eye on him.” Doris said. “No promises, though.”

Annie nodded her head and looked at Arnold. “Let's get your things up to your room and bring your old things down.”

The impromptu gathering broke up as Arnold, Annie, Ida, and Dalla took their things into the elevator. They went up to the top floor and all of the girls in the hallway greeted Arnold and Annie as they passed by, then whispered questions about who the two new girls were.

Annie was both relieved and sad that all of Kelly's things were gone and her key was on the table with a short note that said where her room was and that she hoped to see Arnold in class. What Kelly and Arnold didn't know was that he had been advanced in his biology and chemistry classes and they wouldn't discover that until the next day at the official course registry. When they received their class schedules, both of them would discover the truth.

Once everything was transferred to the room at the end of the hallway, with Ida's helpers moving all of her things, the other girls in the dorm realized that the tall blonde that looked like a swimwear model was now Arnold's new roommate.

They didn't know what to do about that information.

Annie and Arnold took the boxes of his old casual clothes and transferred them to next to the elevator.

“What are you doing?” Daisy asked, since her room was right by the elevator.

“I'm taking Arnold's outgrown clothes and dropping them off at the donation box at...”

“I'll take them!” Daisy said.

“That's not really what...” Annie tried to explain what she wanted to do.

“Did you say you're donating his clothes?” A girl's voice said from two doors down. “Hey, everyone! Arnold has old clothes that he doesn't want anymore!”

“Hey, wait just a second...” Annie started to say, then suddenly there were a dozen girls rooting through the boxes. “Oh, come on.” She said and crossed her arms as she waited for the fervor to die down.

“I need a few t-shirts.” Rachel said and pulled a couple of them out of a box.

“I really liked him in this shirt!” Rebecca said and took it out. He kissed me with this on!

By the time the girls had taken all of the things they wanted, half of the boxes were mostly empty. Annie and Arnold repacked the remaining clothes into about a third of the boxes and put them inside the elevator. They transferred them to the trunk of the car and went back up to the room.

Annie went right over to Ida, who was packing things into the large shared closet. “You and I need to have a talk.”

Ida smiled and waved at her maid. Dalla stepped forward and pulled out several sheets of paper from somewhere.

“What's this?” Annie asked and looked at them.

“Financial information for you to safely deposit the money at your bank.” Dalla said. “It's proof the money isn't stolen and you received it as a gift from Mistress Theresa.”

“A gift?” Annie asked, a little surprised. Didn't she pay Arnold for staying in his room?

“It's a gift and you won't have to pay as much taxes on it.” Dalla said with a smile. “Ida is smart like that. She knows how to do proper business here.”

Annie looked from the papers to the maid, then to Ida. “I... well, this definitely helps.” She said and tucked them into her purse next to the money.

“Is there anything else you need to talk about?” Ida asked.

“Yes.” Annie said, undeterred at the distraction. “Can we go into the bathroom for some privacy?”

Ida knew the woman was her new roommate's mother, so she decided that she would promise her that she wouldn't destroy the poor boy's heart when he eventually fell in love with her. She led the way to the bathroom and then the conversation didn't go the way she thought it would. Warnings, cautions, conditions, and several other things she wasn't sure of, were hurled at her with such speed that her head was spinning with the details.

She was from another country and her upbringing gave her a different fundamental basis of understanding... or misunderstanding, as the case may be. The biggest thing she learned was that Arnold wasn't going to be enamoured of her as she assumed, since all boys fell for her, either immediately or eventually.

He is not going to fall for my 'tricks'? Ida thought in surprise. Why would I perform a children's show for him? He is in college.

“That's all I have to say.” Annie said with relief. She hadn't had this kind of conversation in a while and she was only a little dismayed that the tall girl didn't ask questions or interrupted her. “Please be kind to my son and don't treat him like a servant.” Even if he acts like one sometimes. She added in her head.

Ida didn't say anything in response, since that was just common sense to not treat people like that unless they were servants. Annie thought she saw understanding in Ida's eyes and on her face, so she nodded and left the bathroom.

“Goodbye, Arnold.” Annie said and gave him a quick kiss. “I'll see you next weekend.”

“Goodbye, Mom.” Arnold responded.

Annie left at a normal pace and managed to not look at the girls in the hallway. She knew that they were just as nervous about Arnold having that tall beautiful woman staying with him. Even with Ida being rich and having a maid there, didn't calm her down. In fact, she hoped that Ida's upbringing and attitude didn't rub off on her son. She couldn't really tell him something like that with Ida right there, so she decided to text him later and let him know that way.

Annie said a brief goodbye to Doris and left the dorm. She sat in her car for several minutes and digested what just happened. Arnold just took another roommate that paid him... gave him... twenty thousands dollars for the privilege. She touched the purse on her hip and sighed. He handed it right to me without batting an eye, too.

Annie rubbed her hand on the bulge in the cloth of the purse for a moment, started the car, and drove out of the parking lot. She had a long drive ahead of her and then she had to drop off the remainder of Arnold's old clothes and stop at the bank. She chuckled at the remembered scene of the girls practically tearing through everything to get some kind of memento of his. She had been annoyed at the time and now it was just funny.

“Oh, Arnold. I think I should have given you the warning that Ida tried to give me.” Annie said with a knowing smile. “Try not to break their hearts when you let them down and refuse their advances.”