The Sophomore

Chapter Four - Bills, Bills, Bills

Emily's POV

"Becca? I almost didn't recognize -"

"Shhh! Not so loud! Come on, let's get away from the main path," Becca said.

She ducked through the trees and I followed her to the edge of some nearby shrubs. "Is everything okay? Are you in trouble?" I asked.

"I'm fine, I just... don't want anyone to see me like this. I mean, look at me! I've never worn anything so basic in my life!"

"Okay, so why are you dressed like that in the first place? What happened to all your haute couture?"

"Fallout from my parents' messy divorce. My mom signed a pre-nup when they got married and didn't think much of it at the time... But now my dad's getting all the money. Me, Mom, and my sister moved to an apartment in Northbridge, and we're basically broke. At least my dad is covering my tuition costs as part of the divorce agreement, but... We all had to sell some of our stuff to make ends meet. So now some peasant is probably walking around in my old clothes."

"Oh, Becca, maybe this will be a good experience for you."

"Ugh, don't try to turn this into an Eat, Pray, Love moment, Emily! Decluttering your life only works when it's intentional and you have money. Otherwise it's just poverty."

"I didn't mean it like that... I was just trying to find a silver lining."

"Sorry, I'm just... not in a good place right now. As if all this drama with my parents isn't enough, I had to quit Kappa Phi."

"Yeah, I ran into Madison the other day and she mentioned it..."

"Oh, so she's gossiping about me behind my back now? Figures. Let me set the record straight. The sorority demoted me from president because I couldn't pay my fees. Then that backstabber Madison stole my role. There was one vote for me, and the rest were for me. All this in my moment of crisis! I couldn't live with a bunch of traitors, so I quit."

"Wow, that's awful... I can't believe your friends would turn on you like that."

"Well, clearly they were never my friends to begin with. And it sucks, because I had to stoop to asking this girl from my bio class last year if I could crash with her until I find a new place to live."

"Wait... you don't have a place to stay? What about the dorms?"

"I lived at the sorority... and I was too late to get into the housing lottery for the dorms."

"That's outrageous! The school can't just leave you hanging!"

"Yeah, well... tell them that, why don't you? They weren't very sympathetic to my sob story."

She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated sigh. I noticed that her nails were bitten down to stubs, and there were slight rings under her eyes. "You know... My friends and I actually just moved into a house off campus. There's still an extra bedroom, and I'm sure rent would be even cheaper between five people."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Why not? I'm honestly curious about your cleaning skills."

"Clean? Like, with... mops and... brooms and stuff?"

"We're renting this place for next to nothing since it's a bit of a fixer-upper... But that means everyone needs to pitch in with the fixing. You'd need to give your room a good dusting and a fresh coat of paint, but afterwards I think it'll look pretty cute! Uh, Becca? Are you okay?"