The Party Girl // Zane Hijazi

Chapter 1: Bryn

Three months ago I was lounging on the couch of my luxury apartment owned by the school, my father insisted I live in. I sipped wine, and had an affair with my smoldering, long haired philosophy teacher. It wasn't until my roommate and boyfriend walked in on me with my fingers tangled in his hair, when i decided to ditch Yale. I was studying criminology and law at Yale, just like my father did. Now, I'm waking up at 7 am to get an empty washer at the laundromat in the middle of Hollywood.

My generic apple ringtone blared, and woke me up with a thumping heart. I glanced over at the analog clock sitting on my bedside table. "6:43 am," it read. "Ugh-" I groaned, grabbing a fistful of pillowcase. I grabbed my IPhone, and saw a picture of my uptight, blonde bobbed, mother. "Hello mother," I groaned. "Did I wake you up? And did you remember to get your own P.O. box with the money I sent you?" I felt the wrinkles start to form from my eyebrows furrowing. "Yes, and no I spent that money on coke and prostitutes," I said, sarcastically, while tying my long brown waves into a messy ponytail.

I got up from my bed, and headed to the bathroom. I unlocked the door, and was greeted with my roommate sitting at the kitchen table. "Put some pants on!" my roommate, Josh yelled. I pointed at the phone in my hand and gave him an 'AreYouFuckingKiddingMeMyMomIsGoingToGiveMeA5HourLecture' look.

"What was that?! Who doesn't have pants on Bryn?" My mother scolded over the phone. "Was there a reason you called?" I asked, closing the bathroom door. "Are you going to utilize the plane ticket your father and I bought you for Thanksgiving?" I squatted over the toilet. "No I was planning to sell it on the black market," I said, flushing the toilet. "Can you be serious for once, Brynlee," I rolled my eyes, and walked out to the living room to my roommate Josh rolling a joint.

I sat next to him listening to my mother nag. "Your grandparents are coming up from Florida and they would like to see you, and hopefully convince you to go back to school," my mother explained. I watched Josh light the blunt, put it to his lips, then pass it to me. "They're senile mother, they don't care what I do," I said putting the blunt to my lips, and holding the smoke in my mouth, before handing it back to my roommate.

"They would still like to see you," she said. I exhaled the smoke. "Mom, I have to go to get ready can I call you later?" I asked, walking back into my room. "No we are going to talk, its the least you could do after wasting 80,000 dollars of our money," she said. I rolled my eyes then stripped my clothes off. "I didn't mean to. I had sex with my teacher remember?" I asked, searching my room to find a bra. "Brynlee! I don't like when you say that," once I finally found a bra I put my phone on speaker, and slipped my bra on. "Well, its what happened," I could see her face of disappointment now.

"Mom, I have to go. I need to go to the laundromat," She scoffed. "Do you need money so you can buy a washer and dryer?" I rolled my eyes, and smelled a t-shirt I bought at Emo Nite a week ago. It smelled like sweat, but I slipped it on anyways. "Mom, no. I have a job.  I can support myself," I found some denim shorts, and slipped those on.

"Bartending is not a job,"

"It is if I make money and pay taxes," 

"You would make so much more money if you became a lawyer like we intended,"

"Bye mom!" I said, hanging up the phone.

I gathered all my dirty clothes that lined my room, and threw them into a hamper, threw my cross body bag over my shoulder, and walked out of my room, locking it on my way out.

After walking two block, I came to the front doors of the laundromat. I found an empty washer, and dropped two quarters in the coin slot.

I shoved as much clothes as I could into the washer. I closed the door, then found a spot on the bench in front of the washer.

I wasted away on the bench watching my wet clothes go round and round. Once I pulled the sopping wet clothes I threw them into the hamper, and saved 50 more cents not drying them.

I walked the 2 blocks back to my shitty apartment building in the middle of Hollywood. I saw two of my roommates sitting at the top of the stairs. "You're up early," I said to the girl, Jessica. I earned a dirty look from her as she smoked her cigarette. Next to her sat her beautiful boyfriend, Max who smiled as I walked past them. I opened the door and inhaled the smell of medical marijuana that isn't really used for medical reasons. The dark hazy apartment was a mess, but if I said anything my freak roommates would have me evicted. I unlocked the door to my bedroom with the screw driver I keep in my purse (for protection, but mostly just to unlock my door), and closed it right behind me. I had the room with the balcony, only because the sliding glass door was broken, and theres a chance a murderer is going to scale my building and kill me. I hung my clothes over the balcony wall, then inhaled a huge breath of polluted air. It was 9 am, which meant I had to start getting ready to wait tables before I switch over to the bottles.

I went inside to my tidy room, and sat in front of the cracked body mirror. I stared at my makeup-less face, and analyzed every mole and freckle. My wide set green eyes stared back at me. "You dropped out of college to start over Bryn," I said to myself.

Once I finished, I took a good look, and stripped from my sweatpants and tank top and changed into my uniform which was just denim shorts, and a jersey that read, "Buffalo Wild Wings".

My phone started ringing again and I rolled my eyes knowing it was my mother, so I didn't even bother to look at the caller ID. "Yes?" I asked. "Oh uh, hello Brynlee," I heard my (ex)philosophy professor's voice. "Oh, James. Hey," I said, holding my forehead in my hands with pure embarrassment. "I was just calling to ask you if you were going to come back next semester, and if you wanted to talk about things," I shook my head, as if he could see me. "No, and I'm about to leave for work," I said, opening the door of my room and sitting next to Josh who was vegged out on the couch. "Oh okay, I won't hold you then. Bye Brynlee,"
"Bye, James," I said hanging up.

"James? Like professor James?" Josh asked. I grabbed the bag of weed we all pitched in for. "He's been calling me every day since I came out here," I said, grinding the bud and sprinkling it in some rolling paper. "Maybe you shouldn't have slept with him," he said, tying his long braids into a big bun on the back of his head. I lit the blunt and passed it. "He's insane. He's going to get fired,"
"Yeah and so are you if you don't leave for work soon," he said, sucking in the smoke from the blunt.

I took it from his lips, and sucked as much as I could out in one hit.

I grabbed my purse from my room, then closed it and locked it, took another hit, then headed on my way.

Jessica must've gone to the store or something because she wasn't sitting on the steps when I walked out.

"Where you going?" Max asked. "Oh, work," I said. "Jessica works tonight," he smiled, devilishly. "Hopefully she gets off late," I smiled. I ran down the steps and down the street.

It was about a 30-45 minute walk so I got there around 11.

"Hey Bryn," I was greeted by the hostess, Beverly. "Hey," I smiled, walking to the back of the building to clock in. I saw one of my managers turn the corner. "Hey Brynlee!" he said as he slapped my butt.

He's my least favorite.

I shook my head and continued to clock in.

After waiting tables for four hours, I finally got to start bartending.

Bryn and her teacher on the side!!!!