Brenda wanted a normal school year. Instead her mom died.
Salma needed space from her sister and terrible ex. Or else she'd lose her mind.
Delilah didn't think she'd have any more problems after moving far from her hometown. That was until she becam...
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❝The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.❞
—Bob Marley
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✋SALMA✋ HOURS BEFORE THE CRASH
When I drove up to my new home at the crack of dawn, I was given the option to take one of the bedrooms upstairs or claim the basement level. It wasn't like the basement in the house I grew up in. There wasn't brick exposure on the walls, it wasn't one large space, but rather a full level with sectioned off portions, and despite the occasional sound of the washing machine in use upstairs, it was rather quiet.
The curving stairway led into a small living room. A flat screen was propped on the wall, right before two recliners and a metal coffee table. At the bottom of the stairs, that was where the restroom was. Once inside, a mirror sliding door led into a small pocket of storage room. Pipes lined the walls. Extra bedsheets and a spare bed were the only things left. The shelves were mostly empty beyond that.
There were two ways to get to the bedroom, through the small passage way in the bathroom, or by walking past the sitting area and mini, compact kitchen. Two white doors closed off the bedroom. Inside the room, there were similar mirror door toward the back, went back to the storage room that took me right to the bathroom. Since I was the first from the new batch of roommates to make my pick, I was essentially granted my own apartment. I couldn't stop smiling, looking at how much space I was getting.
"There's no air condition down here." Scott told me. "There is a heater I have in the attic that you're more welcome to use once the winter comes along. And there's a fan in bedroom, but it doesn't go too fast."
"I'm fine with that." I dropped my suitcase on to the bed, unzipping it. "Thank you so much for accepting my application. I...I can't thank you enough honestly."
I leaped forward and gave him a hug.
"No, thank you for applying. I hope you get on well with the rest of the roomies." He grinned, pulling back from the hug. "I'm sure you've got lots of things to do and sleep to catch up on. I'll leave you to it."
✋✋✋
I introduced myself to Ziyan in the morning, catching him on the stairs. We hit it off rather quickly, comparing tattoos. He wasn't as inked up as Jaxon. Ziyan had small designs along his left arm and one on his leg of a snake wrapping its green scaly body on his limb. On the back of the snake, the word: ANXIETY was written in all caps, making me crack a smile when I read it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he had asked, rubbing his thumb across the word right where my midriff top ended. A wave of heat shuttered into me at the contact.
