6 months to live

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     "Welcome to my lovely abode!" Santiago said as he opened the door to his apartment.

      I plugged my nose, "what's that putrid odor?"

     Santiago went to the bathroom to grab a Febreeze bottle. "I wasn't expecting a lady as pretty as you to be entering." I could hardly hear him over the spraying that he was doing.

      "How do you live like this?" His apartment was tiny. My closet was twice as big as his living room. The furnitures seemed as if they were on their last lives, especially the couch which had holes punched in the sides.

      "I chose this life, Maya." His words left me muddled. Why would someone willingly want to be poor when they were financially gifted before? "I'm going to order pizza, in the main time...lets talk."

      Our conversation at first was meaningful but then it took a turn to the weird side pretty quickly all because of him. I learned that Santiago had a really interesting personality. His personality was literally out of this world. He would jump from being charismatic and spiritual to talking about his childhood cartoons, and then talking about which kind of snack best described my personality.

       A knock on the door made our conversation come to a halt. "I'll get it." He had such a bubbly and out-going personality. It suited him so well.

     While he skipped over to the door, I headed elsewhere. I couldn't help but sneak glances at a picture of a girl that he had beside the TV.

       I slowly inched my hand closer to it. I wanted to examine the girl closely.

My body was shook as he grabbed the side of my arm and yanked me back. "What are you doing?!" His voice was demanding.

        "I was just—"

        "No!" He grabbed the picture. "I'm sorry for my outburst."

       "Who is she?" I asked.

   Santiago frowned. His once energetic and so full of life face had died down into a much more sorrowful one. "That's my girlfriend."

"What happened?" I watched as he cleaned the picture with his baggy sweatshirt.

"She went out with her friends one night and never came back." He stared at the picture as if it would bring her back. "I contacted her friends but they said that they never had a girl's night out that day." He let out a deep sigh. "Four months later and I swear I saw her on TV. I packed my bags and headed here to New Jersey in hopes that one day we could meet again...face-to-face."

"Where were you living before?" I inquired.

"I lived with my family in Texas. My parents didn't really like her. They wanted me to marry an Asian girl so our roots wouldn't become 'tainted.' They told me that they would disown me if I ever went to go look for her."

The air left like it was weighing down on us. The pressure on my lungs became very heavy.

"That's terrible."

He slowly nodded his head. "I gave up my rich life so I could find my girlfriend. My parents didn't support me a single bit. For the first time I had to venture off on my own. I didn't even know how to hold a broom correctly."

Even I knew that. I couldn't have imagined how hard it must have been for Santiago. What I wondered most was how he could still manage to keep a smile on his face after that.

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     Well that's enough for one night. I hope you guys like Santiago.

   How do you feel about Mr. Daniels?
Do you guys like Reece?
Do you like Maya's character?

*Warning* Next chapter is SUPER cliché because I love Santiago :D. If you like Santiago then I don't think you'll mind ;)

   Please don't be afraid to give me negative feedback. How will I improve if no one is brave enough to speak their mind honestly?