Disclosure

Velvet

August 1
Beyoncé Knowles POV

"Yo... this is gonna be a crazy senior year!" My best friend Alex said excitedly while we carried boxes into our new apartment only a few miles from our LSU campus. It wasn't anything fancy. In fact, it was very low class and in a neighborhood where you definitely shouldn't be out after hours. But to Alex and I, it was a big deal. Alex and I grew up in the same very poor neighborhood in Texas. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father Nigerian, making Alex the typical combo of both. We were the same height and shared the same qualities from being around eachother for the majority of our lives. When his parents would fight, my mother would invite him in. When he was hungry, my mom would feed him and vice versa.

When Alex found out I was accepted into LSU, he was happy for me but devastated. He then made it his mission to get accepted to the same university so we could stay together. He applied, and surprisingly was accepted very quickly. This then led to another problem.

We didn't know how the hell we were going to pay for this shit.

I had a few scholarships that barely covered a meal plan and alex had no scholarships at all. I then decided that maybe leaving state for college wasn't the greatest idea. I began looking into community colleges in my area until Alex came to me with a plan. Alex had a cousin in Lousiana that owned an architectural company. He convinced his cousin to give us jobs just for the first semester to pay for school and we would figure the rest out later. Once finances were semi covered, it was easy convincing my mom to even allow me to go to LSU because she was born and raised in Louisiana.

That first semester on the job went so well that his cousin decided to keep us on and I even figured out what I was majoring in..

I was going to be an architect just like Alex's cousin.

The next 2 years after my freshman year went by so fast that I couldn't even really enjoy them. I worked pretty much anytime I wasn't in class, slept, went to class, and worked again. The only time I wasn't working, studying, or in class is when Alex would drag me to campus parties or want me to be a wingman for him.

We stayed in dorms until this year, our senior year, and then decided a low budget apartment was best. I was racking up so much debt in college that an apartment was literally cheaper than the dorm room when I did the math.

So here I am.

I walked around the apartment and took it in. A 2 bedroom 2 bath. Not bad. It would have to do. Just one more year, I reminded myself.

"It's time to lock in Al.. seriously. Are you even graduating?" I joked with him as I put him in a playful chokehold. He wrestled his way out of it before looking around.

"Yes I am graduating.. second.. i'm going to have so many girls in this apartment." He bragged before putting the boxes he carried in on the floor that needed badly to be swept.

"No you're not. We need house rules. Are you ready?" I pulled out my notes app on my phone before he dramatically groaned.

"Rule number 1.. No guests without the other roommate's permission. Got it?"

"I can deal with that."

"Rule number 2.. No parties."

"Whoa ... okay whoa.." He put both of his hands up, making me laugh.

"I'll compromise with kickbacks." I shrugged.

"You know.. I actually can get with that. Can I make some rules now or are you the sole owner of the apartment? Last time I checked we both signed the lease my friend." He put on his best stern voice. Alex was the type of guy that never took anything serious, so he in turn was hard to take serious. I let him have his moment anyway.