Roommates

Prologue

"TOASTERRRRR! RENTS DUE!"

Running down the stairs, Toaster turned from around the corner to see A, frantically searching through drawers for any money he could scrape together.

"Do we have enough cash for the month?" Toaster asked, slightly concerned.

"Barely. We have to find some way to get more money though, because one of these days we won't be as lucky."

A and Toaster had been renting a house to live in for the past few months, but struggled to pay rent. With their low-paying jobs and Toaster's impulsive spending habits, the two barely had enough money to get food on their plates every day. Their landlord was strict, and didn't accept any late payments. The two had struggled to afford the house since they started living there, but they didn't have anywhere else to go. Toaster was an only child, whose parents died early in his life. He never knew who his grandparents were, and didn't have any aunts or uncles. He spent a lot of his early days trying to find food or somewhere to sleep for the night. But even with his sad past, Toaster always tended to be upbeat and happy. As long as he had a somewhere to live and his best friend A around, he was rarely seen down.

A's family disowned him when he was 15. His parents always called him a screw-up, and said he was worthless. He was constantly compared to his older brother, who was much more successful than him. It wasn't that A was stupid or a bad kid, his parents were always just more occupied with his brother instead. They eventually decided A could care for himself, and kicked him out with only his clothes and $50. He used the money on food while he tried to find somewhere to work. He eventually found a job at a fast food joint, where he worked non-stop for minimum wage.

A had been working there for a few weeks until he met Toaster. One of the other employees had recently quit, and they were trying to find someone to replace them. Toaster applied to the job out of desperation for some way to get money and food. When Toaster got the job, he met A on his first day. A immediately hated him. The two had contradicting personalities, with Toaster always being happy and fooling around, while A was more serious and hard-working. A found Toaster extremely annoying, but Toaster seemed to be oblivious to it. He would always talk to A and make fun of him during their brakes. 

But the more Toaster talked to A, the more A started to like him. Everything A couldn't do, Toaster could. And what Toaster couldn't do, A could do. They often worked together to help each other out. They soon became inseparable, and A eventually came up with the idea of renting a house together. They saved up enough money and finally found a place to live, but they couldn't keep up with their rent. They started taking extra shifts just to make ends meet.

"So how are we gonna get enough money for next month?" Toaster asked.

"Well, I was thinking about asking the landlord about us getting another roommate."

"Oooo. That sounds like a good idea! We can get someone to live with us and have more friends!"

"Please don't say that. You sound like a creep."

"Hmph. Says you."

Ignoring Toaster, A continued wondering about getting another roommate.

"The landlord is pretty strict, but I bet we can convince him to let us have one other person living with us. They can sleep on the couch and help us pay rent so we don't get kicked out."

"Cool! Should I put an ad online so we can started finding potential housemates?" Toaster said eagerly, bouncing up and down.

"Not yet. I should probably check with Tom first, just to make sure its okay."

"Who's Tom?"

A stared at Toaster for several seconds before replying. 

"Tom? Our landlord?"

"Ooohhhhhh, that guy." Toaster said. "He has a name?"

"Yeah! Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know! I thought he was just a side character or somethin!"

A sighed and walked over to the phone and started dialing Tom's number.

"I'll let you know what he says when he answers so you can put that ad up." A told Toaster.

"You got it, boss. I'll go start putting it together."

Toaster ran back upstairs as A started talking to Tom.

"Hey Tom, how's it going? Yeah, I'm doing pretty good as well. Hey, I was just wondering about if me and Toaster got a third housemate. Ya know, to make things a bit easier for us around here. Mhm. Okay. Yep. Thanks Tom. See ya later."

A hung up the phone and yelled up to Toaster.

"Hey Toaster! I got some good news for us!"