Rosie

Chapter 1

It was hotter than fuck outside for Washington. The "rainiest" state just passed Arizona in temperature, settling for a breeze-less 115°. I'm wearing a black sports bra and shorts. Outside was cooler than my apartment, so that's where my happy ass is staying. I moved the baby hairs that wandered in front of my face before taking a drag off of my cigarette.

A few moments later, one of my neighbors, Kane, came outside. He smiled at me before taking out his pack of smokes and hitting them against his palm.

"I swear, every year it gets hotter and hotter in the summer." Kane mumbled, his Marlboro Red sticking out of his mouth. He brings the lighter to his cig, lights it, and takes a long drag. Kane's dark hair seems to be getting lighter as he spends more time in the sun. His blue eyes meet mine and I shrug, taking another drag of my almost finished cigarette.

"Global Warming." Is all I say. I hear Kane laugh and a door close.

"Rosie, global warming is fake." Another one of my neighbors says,  walking up the stairs and sitting down. This one is Mickie, he's tall, dark skinned and always has a smile on his face.

"If it's so fake, then why are the ice caps melting, hmm?" I joke, turning to look at him. He's shirtless, like Kane, and wearing swimming shorts, again, exactly like Kane. I swear the two of them probably text each other what they are going to wear so they can match.

"You going to save the polar bears? Or save the trees? You better not turn vegan, our Sunday dinners won't be worked around your mental disorder." Kane laughed, nudging me with his elbow. I put out my cigarette before standing.

"Shut up, Kane. We can eat tofu once or twice right?" I smirk at him. "But when those ice caps melt and the world gets taken over by the oceans and all the sharks, they're going to be coming for you." I point at the dark haired boy, an evil smile on my lips. Kane's middle finger flies up in my direction. I let out a loud laugh, causing Mickie to turn to us, a cig hanging out of his mouth.

"She has a point though, Bro. Them sharks are mean." I caught the wink that was supposed to be aimed for Kane and I stuck my tongue out. I sat back down, grabbing my pack out of my shorts pocket and took one out.

"You will rue the day you made fun of me." My eyes meet Mickies before I started lighting up another smoke.

"Yeah, yeah, Rosie. So scared." Mickie puts his hands up, mocking fright.

"You will be scared when.."

"Holy shit, that truck had no fucking AC, it's been an 8 hour drive, and I haven't had a cigarette the entire time. Can I bum one from one of you?" A guy comes up to us. Hes wearing one of those bro tanks and khaki shorts. His light brown hair looks messy, and his face is slightly pink.

"Sure, I got Marlb reds, she has Marlb crushes, and he's got Newports." Kane said, we all took out our packs and set them beside us.

"Can I get a red? Menthols are not my favorite." The guy smiled, retrieving the cigarette. "Fuck, can I borrow a lighter?" I always had mine in my hand, so I instantly reached it out to him.

"Want us to smoke it for you too?" I say jokingly. The guy looks down at me and shakes his head slightly.

"No, but you could make room for your new neighbor." He says, plopping down right between Kane and I.

"Neighbor? You're moving in here?" Kane asks.

"Yup! The moving guys are going to put everything away for me."

I looked at this guy, he was around our age, but seemed much older in some ways, and younger in others.

"What's your name?" I asked. "Which apartment is yours?" Our apartments were split into 4's, but we were also like a little community. It was me on the top floor, and Kane and Mickie on the bottom.