How High?

Bella

Hi. I'm Bella. I'm nineteen years old and working to become a teacher. I was born and raised in Tampa but moved to L.A a year ago for college. I live with my roommate, Valentina, in a kind of awful apartment and we try to avoid our joke of a landlord, Garrett. If the toilet breaks, we fix it. If the faucet stops working, we fix it. If a crack forms in the wall...well, we panic. But still, you get the point. We step up and do the things he's supposed to do because neither of us can recall a time that he actually helped us. This isn't anything unheard of since it's probably the norm around these parts.

I am in fact single and I have been since the womb so that tends to be on the brain a lot like the sad, lonely, loser that I strive to be. My dms are as dry as the Sahara and my comments are as blank as my track record. I don't know if there's something wrong with me if I'm being honest, but for now I'll keep thriving and surviving - it being hot girl summer and all that.

If you were to go to a dictionary and look up "broke" you'd find a picture of my face. I've got a shitty job, a shitty apartment, and half of my tuition fees to pay for so I'm just biding my time waiting to strike it rich. My parents don't have a lot of money and they never have, but we've always had enough to live comfortably. Obviously, that was before I started college and they insisted on splitting the $45,000 it costs for me to go there. But, enough of that.

Now that we've got the basics out of the way, I can start the real story.

I was chilling on my sofa, watching some tv, and trying to talk myself out of spending what little money I had on food. More specifically, a big bag of Cheetos, white cheddar popcorn, and whatever chocolate I found myself in the mood for. I really didn't need the calories or the hit to the $7.36 I had in my account, but I just couldn't resist, I could taste the things on my tongue.

I've lost the battle, but I'll win the war.

I put on some flow-y shorts, a bandeau top, platform sandals and I curled my hair. I liked to feel good about myself so I always tried to put as much effort in as I could, which is why I was spending so much time on my look. Kind of stupid since I was only going to the store.

I got into my old clunker and immediately felt claustrophobic because of the stifling heat, so I quickly turned on the AC but after a few seconds, it stopped.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. No. Please.

'Fuck!'

I guess it's a windows-down kind of day.

It took me ten minutes to get there and another twenty to find a space. When I finally got in, I sighed out in relief, welcoming the chill of the crispy cold air.

Escalator or elevator?

Elevator.

I sashayed over and pressed the button. The bing sounded and I stepped inside. Just as the doors were closing, someone slipped in. He puffed out a breath and hit the second floor button like I'd already done.

That's Ethan Dolan.

I tried not to react, giving him a tight lipped smile like I'd do to anyone else and looking away.

Oh...my god. Oh my goddd. This isn't happening.

We started to move up smoothly and I felt my throat tightening from nerves.

Should I say something? Would he be mad?

My eyes kept darting his way for a hundredth of a second before shooting back to the wall.

Fuck, did he see that? I think he saw that. He couldn't have. He probably did. I'm going to seem like such a weirdo.

I was about to apologise for being so odd when the elevator shuddered and stopped moving. I was ready to make a run for it, but the doors never opened and a small red light started flashing. Ethan and I caught each other's eyes and moved towards the bulb.

'Did the—'

'Yeah,' he cut in.

'Are we—'

'Mhm.'

'O—oh.' I flattened my lips and widened my eyes.

Awkward.