RENT (Lynnexa AU)

Seasons of Love

"Hey, Brendon, check out the door."

"The hell is that? A padlock?"

"Sadly, yes. Does anyone want to join in on me hunting Jenna down to kick her ass?"

"Hold on, hold this for me, baby," Max said to Steven.

Max grabbed a trash bin after handing her purse to Steven, and emptied the trash bin.

"Hon', what are you doing?" asked Steven.

"I saw this on television once, just watch."

"Baby, you're drunk."

"No I'm not."

She started to hit the padlock on the door with the trash bin, missing it the first time.

"Hey, watch your fingers!"

She hit the padlock once more, and it fell off the door. We all cheered for Max, and went upstairs into my apartment. Only to find no furniture. Where am I going to sleep now?

"Oh my-- da-a-a-mn!" said Steven.

"Typical," said Max.

"What a frickin' sweetheart," said Sarah.

"My apartment, too," said Alexa.

"All our stuff, gone. What are we gonna do?"

"Technically, now that you're inside, you're squatters. Jenna can't have you arrested or throw you out. It'll give you and Lynn some time to save money," said Hayley.

"There's always Buzzline," said Sarah.

Brendon

The next day, Hayley, Sarah, and I went to the meeting Buzzline wanted to have with me. Even though I said having this job was completely selling out, I was more nervous than I had to be.

"Guys, my stomach doesn't feel right."

"You'll be fine," said Hayley.

"Is what I'm wearing okay? Does this look right?"

"Yeah, you look great. Hey, do you think this belt is too much?" asked Sarah.

"God, I can't do this."

"Nope, Brendon, come on. You can do this. I'll do all the talking," said Hayley.

"Stop fussing over him, we're late! Come on."

"My god, look at this place!"

"Yeah, it's corporate America. Welcome."

We walked inside and took the elevator to the floor where Buzzline was. We went over to where the receptionist was and Sarah leaned on it and smiled at the lady at the desk. Hayley looked at her like she was frustrated.

"Hi, we're here to see Alexis Darling," said Hayley.

"Names please?"

"Hayley Williams and Brendon Urie."

"And Sarah Orzechowski. That's spelled O, R--"

"Um, Sarah, maybe you should stay out here."

"But I'm-- I'm the re--"

"We don't want to come on too strong."

"Okay. Fine. Whatever."

She sat down nearby, and the receptionist said that Alexis is waiting for us in her office. Hayley and I walked in, and Alexis introduced us with a warm smile and handshakes.

"How much did I love your footage? I loved it so much. It reminded me of my Berkeley days. Fighting the good fight. Kudos, kudos to you."

"Thank you, um, I also wanted to let you know that I've been working on a documentary, about the homeless and people with HIV."

"Great. So fresh, and edgy, everything Buzzline is about."

"Really?" asked Hayley.

"We may dip into the tabloid side, guilty as charged, but we are a news show. And your client has a fresh eye to bring to real stores to an audience, and we want that. We get the real programming, he gets the network exposure, not a bad way to start a career. So what do you think?"

"Yes. What about salary?"

"On commission. On a escalating scale. Start at three thousand dollars?"

Hayley looked at me, and I gave her a small nod.

"We'll take it."

When we walked outside, Hayley seemed furious with Sarah. She ignored on the way out, and started talking to me during the walk.

"Congratulations."

"I sold my soul."

"For three grand a segment."

"You ain't got nothing without my protest."

"Does everything have to be about you, Sarah?"

"Me? You're the one helping my ex-boyfriend."

"He needed a lawyer, I figured I could help out since you got them evicted."

"You know what, why don't you two get an accountant's ledger and a bottle of champagne, and go at it?"

"Oh, and invite that girl you were just flirting with, and I will!"

"Flirting? Come on, pookie. I was just being friendly."

"My god..."

"What, what do you want from me? Do you want me to be your slave, you want me to obey your every wish? Tell me what you want, baby."

"You know what I want? Commitment."

"That's all? What didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"What?"

"All you have to do is ask..."

"Will you... commit to me? And only me?"

Sarah got down on one knee and held Hayley's right hand. She took off one of the many rings she was wearing and put it on Hayley's ring finger.

"I will. I do."

"This can't be happening," I said.