My Room Mate Is a Stripper

Chapter 1: Reading the Fine Print Helps

"Look Danielle." Annika's sympathetic voice reached my ears through my cellphone. "I'm really really sorry, but my parents said you have to go!" I closed my eyes, taking my free hand and yanking it through my hair.

"Annika. Can you PLEASE tell them that once again, I am SO sorry?!" Annika heard the desperation in my voice, she wasn't my best friend for nothing. We had been friends since freshman year at highschool. We were open books to each other.

"I already tried, they're adamant this time Dani, you have to go." I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and swearing, I dropped my purse, plopping down on a Central Park bench. For my senior year, my parents had agreed to let me go to highschool in New York with Annika, knowing the school I was at now, was better than our little Minnesota one would ever be. They were so proud. And now I had let them down.

"Annika.." There was nothing for me to say. "Thanks for trying. You know I didn't mean to ruin the vase like that right?" That stupid, ugly ass vase was the entire reason I was in this situation in the first place. Passed down from Annika's strict, Indian grandparents it was the pride of the Saudan household. And I had gone and tripped on their rug, knocking it over. That was the last of a lot of straws I had gone through in the presence of Annika's parents, and now I was paying the price.

"Oh God I can't believe they're doing this over that horrible urn." Vase, urn, what was the difference? Annika sighed and continued speaking. "Look. Dani?"

"Yeah?" I bit my lip, flipping off a biker who almost hit me.

"There's this guy I know, he owes me a favor. He's looking for somebody to split the boarding costs with on an apartment, the one he's looking at is right by school. I could tell him if you'd be interested but...." Leaping up from the bench, I began jumping up and down, the groceries I was supposed to be going to pick up long forgotten.

"ANNIKA I SWEAR YOU ARE THE BESTEVER! THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH!!" Words could not convey how grateful I was to Annika. If this friend of hers agreed to split the apartment costs with me, I could pay with my waitressing money, and still graduate

Highschool. I silently prayed to whatever being was most willing to help out a girl who was down on her luck.

"There's a catch Dani." Annika sounded nervous. "My friend. He's kinda quirky. I mean, seriously whacked. And his job, Kyle is a..." Cutting her off I leaped off of the bench and started sprinting towards the cafe we always went to for our caffeine fix

"Trust me Annie, I'm as desperate as a celebrity without attention. You have this Kyle guy meet us at our usual place. There is NOTHING I can't handle if It means getting to stay in New York." I had endured her parents, there couldn't be anything much worse than that. I could feel Annika's uncertainty as my worn sneakers made steady thumping noises against the pavement, I reached the cafe.

"Oh for the love of cheeseburgers with extra fries, you're already there aren't you?!" Annika's exasperation made me grin.

"You know it Amiga!" I blew a kiss to my phone as I began to hang up. "See you soon!" As it turned out, "soon" was two hours later. Annika interned after school at the local radio station, and even though she described her job as 'Waiting for her hair to gray' she had a real flair for talking and making it interesting. The station was an hour train ride away, and from there to the cafe was another hour if she walked.

Eventually, my best friend walked in the door, a big grin on her face. Annika was the definition of exotic. With long, wavy brown hair, and big green eyes, her Indian heritage added to the look. Eyes followed her wherever she went, and she knew it. Waltzing over, burgundy blouse complimenting her skin tone, Annika sat down across from me.

"Hey!" She beamed, swinging her designer purse off her shoulder and plopping it down on the table. "Kyle should be here really soon, he had to work." A concerned look came on her face and she looked at me. "Again, Danielle, I know you said you didn't care, but his job, it's kinda a deal breaker. That's why he's had so much trouble finding a room mate until now." I waved her off.

"Calm down Annika. I told you. He could be a corrupt politician for all I care! I need this. You KNOW how much this means to my family." Annika sighed, smiling sadly.

"Yeah, I do. Just don't be surprised when you find out." Just as she finished, the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen walked in the cafe. The only words I could think of being HOLY SHIT. Silky brown hair fell across his face, with a smile more radiant than even Annika's. His skin was a perfect shade of tan and he looked like he got quite a workout. But what really stood out were his amazing sparkling blue eyes. He couldn't be Annika's friend... Could he?

"What's going on?" He flashed a heart stopping grin. "I'm Kyle, Annika's friend." Reaching out to take his extended hand, I tried not to blush.

"Um, Hiya. I'm Danielle. Listen, thank you so much for agreeing to meet me. This really means a lot." Sitting down next to Annika, Kyle reached into his messenger bag.

"No problem, I seriously need a room mate." Pulling out a packet he slid it across the table. "Sorry about the contract, but my manager insists that my roomie sign it." Smirking, he handed over a pen. "Signing this means you understand that we share the costs and that you get how I need to use our apartment for work sometimes." Suddenly suspicious, I carefully took the contract.

"Manager?" Annika gave me a 'I told you so' look. "What exactly is your job??" Kyle gave me an 'I know something you don't' grin.

"I work in the... Lets call it the entertainment business." Annika's face took on a look of outrage. Ignoring it, I took the pen. She had said he was quirky. But I needed this, I couldn't disappoint my family.

"What. The. FUCK Kyle??" Annika fumed. "I TOLD you when I called you that she didn't know anything about you! The entertainment business my ass! Dani, I'm sorry, I know you don't want to know, but Kyle is a...." She froze when she looked over at me and saw my name signed next to Kyle's on the contract.

"Pleasure meeting you DANI." Kyle bowed dramatically, using Annika's nickname for me. I'll contact you when OUR apartment is ready. Later Annika!" Blowing her a mocking kiss, Kyle headed out the door. Sheepishly, I turned to face my furious friend.

"What? Annie, I needed this!" Annika groaned and resignedly sat down, placing her head in her hands.

"You didn't read the fine print did you?" I tilted my head.

"What do you mean?" Annika glanced up at me, her eyes full of sympathy. "Danielle, Kyle is a stripper." I felt my eyes widen.

"WHAT?!" Instantly I felt my breathing pick up, faster and faster. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, trying to escape. Instantly, Annika's angry expression turned terrified.

"Dani calm down! It's going to be okay! Remember what the doctor said, you have to calm down!" But I couldn't. I had just agreed to share an apartment with a freaking stripper. My vision started to cloud, and as I fell and Annika screamed, my only thought was "Aw fuck!"

I had a stripper for a room mate.

AN Hiya! :) R here, but feel free to call me 'Oh powerful awesome ruler of the world!' Or y'know. R for short. Please tell me what you think of this story! It's my second one, and while you're at it, feel free to check out my other story! Thank you so much for reading!

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