Charlotte stood at the front door of her new flat, the cold winter air breaking through her coat and cutting down to her skin.
Damn. PJ had said her new roommate was a little emotional, but was he just not going to answer the door?
She pulled out her phone. She had his number somewhere, she just had to search through her contacts. God, this was going to take forever. Suddenly she was regretting moving in with this guy.
Just as she opened her contacts to search up "Dan," he opened the door, peering out from the darkness of the flat. "Hi," he said, rubbing a dark-circled eye. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, judging by the cloudy turquoise marks under his eyes.
"Hi," she said, trying to keep the mood at least kind of cheery. The last thing she needed was for this whole thing to be awkward from the second she moved in. He didn't really answer, just held open the door for her to go through.
"So, could you possibly help me with my bags?" she asked, fidgeting nervously at the stairs. This guy was supposed to be bad, but not this bad. His flat smelled like burned food and dirty clothes, and he was wearing old grey sweatpants and some dingy Manchester University sweatshirt.
He looked surprised that she had said anything, and looked up as if she'd interrupted him from a daydream,"Oh- sure, yeah, where are they?" She pointed out at her car, which he had apparently not noticed.
"In the trunk, there's only a few. Also, after, could you show me where my room is?" Char had heard that giving depressed people something to do could help them feel better, and since that was pretty much what she was here to do, she supposed she might as well start now.
"Oh, okay. Sure. Just a second." He stepped outside, squinting in the stark winter sunlight, and grabbed a large bag out of the trunk.
"Thanks," she said, and followed him up the stairs.
The whole place was dark, she nearly tripped on the stairs, but once they got upstairs she made sure to flip the switch to the lamp in the lounge. Dan flinched like some sort of vampire. The light also revealed his pale skin, so white it was almost translucent. Also revealed was the mess the flat was in, with random controllers, charger cords and abandoned crisp wrappers sitting in corners and peering from under the sofa.
"Your room is this way," he said, quickly walking to a closed door off the lounge. She wasn't sure, but it looked like there was dust on the handle. Hopefully there wasn't too much dust inside, her athsma might act up again. Ever since she was little she'd had frequent asthma attacks, but in the last few years she'd gotten a little better.
It wasn't a bad room. The carpet was nice and soft, and there was plenty of space. A bit of dust had settled on everything, but nothing a duster couldn't fix. The bare mattress on the bed already looked softer than the one in her old dorm at uni. Dan set her bag on the floor. "I'll leave you to it, then," he said, stepping out of the room.
"Okay," said Charlotte, "We'll talk in a little while."
