with a smile like that

Chapter 9- Alex's POV

Jade and I were on our way to look at the condo we saw online. It was perfect size and everything. It was pricy, but Jade said her parents would help and my parents gave me money to move into dorms, so I could use that money.

We pulled into the parking lot and I looked side to side taking in my surroundings. There were condos arranged strangely, but there was space in between them. Each building had two condos connected side by side, and there were about 10 buildings total that I could see. Each condo was a different color, and I saw the one we were looking at, the ugly toothpaste green painted one towards the right. We could either let the paint color grow on us or we could paint it; easy enough. Jade and I stepped out of the car and walked until we saw a man, most likely the realtor. "Jade Reynolds and Alex Campbell?" He asked. "Yes sir, that's us," Jade answered. He smiled, "Wonderful, now the condo you are interested in is this lovely mint green colored one over to our right, correct?" I tried to hold in my laugh at how he described the place, but I figured he had to make it sound as great as possible. "Yes sir, that's the one," I said. He nodded and we began walking as he was telling us useless facts about the village of condos. I zoned out, picking at my fingernails, until we got to the door. He pulled out a key from his blazer and stuck it in the door. He opened it, walked in, and let us through.

"Okay this is it," he said. The living room is the first thing you walk into, and it was unfurnished other than a flat screen mounted on the wall. The walls were outdated, being a plum color. The light hardwood floor was nice, something we wouldn't have to replace. The ceiling fan wasn't terrible, so it wouldn't have to be replaced either. We continued walking through the tiny condo and we walked into the dining and kitchen area. The dining room was small, but we didn't need a big one, since it would just be the two of us and occasionally Wesley and Keaton when they visited for dinner. The kitchen had all major appliances and cabinets, and they looked fairly new. "The kitchen had been recently remodeled, so the appliances, cabinets, and countertops are all new," the realtor informed us. The walls were nice in these two rooms. They were a neutral beige. The sliding glass door to the backyard was in the dining room, so we walked over to it. "These glass doors are very new and safe, they've just been put in by professionals as the owners put the condo up for sale."

We asked some general questions about the lot in general and he took us upstairs to the bedrooms and bathroom. The upstairs was more of a loft than anything. As you walked up, there was a little walkway in front of three doors. One in front of the stairwell, one a little to the right, and the last one to the far right. "The two end doors are the bedrooms and the middle is the bathroom," the realtor told us. "Are the bedrooms roughly the same size?" I asked. "Yes, they are actually so similar in size, that you can fit the difference on a ruler," he said amused at himself. Jade and I nodded as we walked into the first room. It was pretty large, compared to the rest of the house. The walls were a light blue, it wasn't the best color choice, because it looked like it was for a nursery, but it was alright. There was only one window, but it was big and had a window seat. It was on the wall across from the door to leave. There was also a decent sized closet; big enough to fit my clothes. It had a ceiling fan and light as well. We walked out of that bedroom and into the other bedroom two doors down. It was almost identical to the room we had just been in, except the walls were a weird green color. We would definitely have to paint that. Finally, we walked into the bathroom, and I wasn't amazed nor disappointed. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small. It would be big enough to fit my stuff along with Jade's, because it had plenty of storage.

We all stayed silent until we got outside. "So what do you ladies think?" He asked. Jade and I looked at eachother, I was smiling, but she had an uneasy look on her face. "Uhm, actually we'll think about it. I don't think we're ready to make a decision just yet," she said. I was fine with that, knowing we didn't have money plans figured out yet.

We climbed into Jade's jeep, and she sighed. "I don't know how I'll convince my parents to move out into a place like this. I know that we can make it look nice with all our things in it, but they need a nice place to begin with to give money. I'm just worried this won't work out and it'll be a waste of time, you know?" Jade said breaking the silence. "Jade, we'll get the money. My parents gave me money to get into a dorm, and I have some money other than that. You have a job too right? If we add up our money, we might be able to afford it," I told her, meaning exactly what I said. She nodded but still looked stressed. She started the car and we drove off, planning on getting some food. It was dinner time and we were both starving.

•

After an hour of driving around, we ended up at a Mexican chain restaurant. We hopped out of the jeep and walked inside. It smelled great, like beans and spicy salsa. I felt my stomach growl as we were seated. We were handed menus, and the waitress left. "This place is pretty good. I'm not sure if they have this on the east coast," Jade said. "Yeah they have a few, not many." We looked at our menus and I decided on a tamale and rice. We ordered our drinks and food, and waited. We talked about the condo, missing the boys, and other random stuff.

•

The jeep pulled into the garage, like we usually do, and we hopped out. We walked inside and saw Jade's parents talking in the kitchen. They didn't notice us, but Jade stopped me from walking. We just stood there quietly, making sure they wouldn't hear us. I couldn't hear everything from the whispers, but I heard her dad talking. "He offered a job in Wisconsin and I couldn't refuse the offer. My salary will almost double along with a promotion in level in the department." There was more said, but I couldn't hear it. "Okay we can look at houses tonight while the kids are asleep. I don't want them knowing yet," I heard Jade's mom say. I guess Jade heard enough and walked into the kitchen. "Hey can I talk to you guys about something?" She asked. Her parents looked at eachother frantically before speaking, "Yes, of course. What do you need?" Her dad responded. I walked into the kitchen slowly and stood next to Jade. "Alex and I are moving out into a condo. We found one about 8 miles away from the Strombergs and it's in a nice neighborhood. We went and looked at it today, and it was big enough for the two of us. Are you going to help pay for it?" Jade blurted out all at once, hardly stopping in between sentences. She took a deep breath when she finished. Her parents looked shocked. "You're joking, right? You're not moving out," her dad said, almost angrily.