The Housemates

Ad-Inspired Bad Idea

Chapter One

Ad-Inspired Bad Idea

A good cup of coffee was something that Eliza Sullivan hadn’t had in quite some time. In fact, she hadn’t had a cup of coffee, good or otherwise, in about three months. Perhaps that had something to do with why this particular cup tasted like liquid heaven.

The little Washington shop where she had bought her cup of joe (screw the iced-mocha-chocolate-sugar filled-crap drinks, black was best) was mostly empty. A few patrons sat around the book store themed café. They sipped their sugar filled crap drinks and talked quietly. Eliza watched, bored and yet interested. People were so simple, yet so fascinating.

The bell on the door tinkled and the four other people glanced at the newcomer, narrowed their eyes, shook their heads, or showed some other form of dislike, and returned to their previous actions. Curious after a welcome like that, she looked over at the stranger.

Now, Eliza knew she probably didn’t look that great herself. She hadn’t walked by any mirrors recently, but she could imagine her appearance. Her blonde hair was probably frayed, wild, and definitely in need of both a wash and a trim. There were dark circles beneath her honey eyes. Her jeans were tattered and unraveling, white shirt covered in mud, tennis shoes falling apart. Her black leather jacket was in better condition that the rest of her clothing, but it, too, was beat up. Scratches and dirt covered her sun-tanned skin. Her appearance, accompanied by the equally filthy backpack at her feet, more than likely made her seem like a crazy homeless girl. The twenty year old, frankly, didn’t give a damn.

The girl who had just joined the crowd (did five people make a crowd? Probably not), the girl who had just joined the small group looked like she had just run a mile in 90F heat away from a serial killer. She was sweaty and frantic. Her raven black hair was in a frizzy mess in what appeared to be an attempted ponytail. Olive skin was shiny with a layer of perspiration. Glasses covering jade green eyes slid down her nose. A stack of papers in her hand seemed in danger of falling. All in all, the nineteen? twenty? year old Asian woman seemed to be in a hurry to be somewhere. Maybe it was simply to be out of the shop, after the greeting she had received.

The stranger hung one of the papers, flyers apparently, on a bulletin board before rushing out the door. The bell tinkled again as she hurried off.

Nearby, Eliza heard one of the customers mutter to his companion, “I don’t know why she’s bothering. Who would want to live there?”

To which the young woman with him replied, “Who would want to live with her?”

He chuckled and they resumed their boring conversation. She stopped listening and looked over at the flyer.

“Roommates wanted.
1742 Old Oak Lane.
5 bedrooms, 4 baths.
$300/mo + utilities.“

It listed a phone number and said, ‘Ask for Adeline.’

A roof over her head was definitely appealing. A bathroom sounded like heaven. That was pretty cheap rent, too. She wondered what was wrong with the house and the girl after the conversation, but did she care? Roof. Bathroom. Cheap rent. Oh, god, a shower. An actual shower! Not a river or a lake or anything, but an actual shower.

She stood, shouldered her bag, grabbed her coffee and headed out, whipping out her cellphone and dialing the number listed. Even if it was just for a month, a house sounded like a good place to be, no matter the quality. And even if the girl was crazy or something, Eliza was 5’10. Adeline (assuming the stressed female was Adeline) was like, 5’1, maybe 5’2. Eliza could take her. As if the eight inch height difference and the fact that Eliza was lean, but definitely muscular wasn’t enough, there was always the advantage of being a werewolf. Just one of those handy things about being half human, half extremely strong wild animal.