Growing Up and Other Tall Tales

Chapter 2

There were never supposed to be four of us. Hell, there weren't even supposed to be two of us. Don't ask me how someone goes from one roommate to three over the span of six months; I have no idea how things could escalate this badly, this fast.

I rented one of those studio apartments just off the city center, when all I had was enough money for the first month of rent and a vague idea how to be an adult.

I met Kathy sometime early last year in front of the club she used to work at. It was raining and it was one of those days where nothing seems to go my way. I had snoozed my alarm too many times so I woke up late, consequently missed 20 minutes of the first period which obviously had to be my AP Chemistry class, received detention, left my pens at home in a hurry, and forgot my umbrella on the one day the weather forecast decides to be right. I was a drenched, shivering bundle of frustrated tears and hypothermia when Kathy approached me. Despite the umbrella being far too small to fit two, we managed to reach the bus stop with me slightly less drenched and Kathy's right soaked. It must've been freezing for her because she was wearing a sleeveless dress and it was obvious she was just coming out of work so when we got off from my place, I offered warm clothes and a couch to sleep on.

In hindsight, she could've turned out to be a serial killer and murdered me in my home but you end up doing all kinds of shit when you are a 16 year old living by yourself for the first time.

So I told her to stay for the night. For the night. Not for the next two years.

Hence, imagine my surprise when the landlord stops knocking on my door and I find out that Kathy has paid the rent for the next month. Kathy's small stack of clothes grew higher and higher until I have to make room for it by pushing my clothes to a modest corner.

"Do you live here?" I asked one morning when I put out her breakfast on the counter

Kathy paused brushing her teeth on the couch and places a hand on her chest,

"I'm offended,"

She went back to brushing her teeth and I still don't know.

HyeRin worked at the Korean bbq we frequented at, and it was the sort of friendship that was waiting to happen hence it was how I found myself glaring at both Kathy and HyeRin because the latter had just moved out of her apartment as the rent has been increased. I entertained the thought of saying no for all of three seconds before relenting. A third roommate to share the rent with didn't hurt, and if it had to be someone, it might as well be HyeRin, who I actually liked, was a decent cook and had a car and put up with us and our lack of basic life skills for some unfathomable reason. All very important factors.

At some point, Diana just sort of trailed in and then never left. Someone had failed to inform me, that she and HyeRin were a package deal, and they have this on and off relationship no one really talks about because we are all conveniently emotionally stunted. It doesn't really matter anymore, it's not like anyone had asked for my opinion since Kathy.

So that's how HyeRin and Diana end up in one room, and the other two rooms harbor Kathy and I. There is a light on always in the apartment because Diana finishes work late and I wake up at ungodly hours to tend to the ravenous requirements of the senior year of high school. There's always someone screaming in the apartment because someone is using the bathroom too long, or someone has used up all the hot water or someone has stolen someone else's mascara.

The apartment, I suppose, has turned into a recluse of a sort for people who don't really know what they are doing with their lives. And that's fine. It's just that it's sort of a disaster. It's just a clusterfuck of barely adults bumping into each other, trying to figure out how not to hate life and how much detergent to use when doing laundry. Other than the couple of minutes I snatch in the bathroom alone each day, privacy is non-existent, being a luxury we don't have space for. I walk in on someone undressing every single day. The amount of times someone's underwear winds up in my laundry is just hilariously horrifying. There is always someone strutting about buck ass naked and I'm not going to name anyone, but it's Kathy and Diana.

It's tight, cramped and the couch squeaks far too much for it to be safe.

It's an absolute shit hole but it was our shit hole and it was okay.

It's alright.