Barely Legal (Julian Casablancas)

.::Chapter Nine||Roommate::.

"Left—turn it left." Julian spoke hastily at Albert, repositioning his grip on the queen sized mattress. He had broken into a light sweat; this was the third trip from the moving truck into the apartment he was officially moving into. This wasn't how he imagined spending his Saturday afternoon, but it was worth it in the long run, he supposed.

"My left, or your left?" Albert glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was coming up from behind him down the narrow hall.

"Uhh," Julian assessed his position, pressing his knee into the falling mattress that was slipping out of his hands. "My left—my left."

Albert moved the mattress toward the right of the hall, nearly tripping on his own shoes when doing so. He knew they should've called a moving service, but Julian insisted they could do it themselves.

Julian wasn't exactly financially sound at the moment, he had just quit his internship at his father's company, and was waiting on a callback from The Lemon—he was going to be a bartender. Leaving the company also meant no more financial assistance from his father's end of the agreement, which meant, no more Five Towns.

Albert had played with them—in a rehearsal space with a temperature of 102. The guys hit it off, and Albert was officially declared their fifth member; he played well, even with a fever. Julian probably wasn't the best influence, he practically forced Albert to drink before playing with the group to lower his rising fever that was luckily only a 24 hour virus.

"Whoa—you movin' out?" Her voice rang with familiarity; Albert didn't even have to look over his shoulder to know that Tiffany was standing at the end of the hall. He stopped, dropping the mattress to prop it against the wall.

Julian rolled his eyes, his lips twisting in a snarl. He learned quickly that Albert's reputation of a ladies man had yet to change. He didn't particularly care for his bare mattress setting in the floor of a rather dingy apartment complex—all because Albert couldn't keep his eyes in his head.

"Depends. If I say I'm movin' out, do I get a going away present?" Albert leaned against the wall, folding his arms and crossing his ankles.

"I don't know... maybe?" Tiffany grinned, mimicking Albert's gesture.

"I'm helping my buddy move in, I finally got a roommate." Albert's eyes wavered to Julian, but didn't hold his gaze for very long before moving them back to the tall, busty blonde.

Julian remained uninterested. She was hot, he supposed, but spending weekends on holiday with his dad and working for his company, he'd seen hotter. What turned him off about the girl was the fact that she knew it—she knew she was prettier than average.

"This is my friend, Julian—Julian, this is Tiffany." Albert introduced them, pushing himself off the wall when she began to approach.

She locked eyes with the sweet faced boy, his tapered brown bangs hanging loosely over his brows. He had unusually plump lips and a heart-shaped face.

Tiffany strode past Albert without a single glance, reaching out her hand for Julian to take with a mesmerized smile hiding in her eyes.

"Jules." Julian corrected, giving Tiffany a handshake before swiftly retracting his hand from hers.

"It's great to meet you, Jules." After Tiffany spoke his name, her top teeth clamped down on her bottom lip.

"You too—Al, we doin' this, or..." Julian was already dragging the mattress away from the wall, ready to get it into the apartment. Tiffany was their neighbor, it wasn't like Albert couldn't converse with her some other time.

"I'll see you later princess, I got some manual labor to tend to." Albert winked, picking up the slack on the other end of the mattress.

Propping up the side of the queen sized furniture, Julian's brows meshed confusingly as Tiffany walked by; she had grazed his back with her open palm—giving him a seductive smile when walking past.

Julian's face twisted, looking across the top of the mattress at Al with an expression laced with disgust. "What the fuck?" Julian mouthed; the sound inaudible, but the words clearly readable.

"You think she's hot, you should see her roommate. She's one of those girls that makes you feel ugly—totally outta my league. That girl is too, but I'm pretty sure I gotta chance. She's easy... as you can tell." Albert lifted the end, carrying most of the weight with his knees.

"You think? I'm pretty sure she would've sucked me off if I'd pulled my dick out for her." Julian scoffed with a laugh hiding in his throat.

"Yeah, what kinda bullshit's that—I've been trying to sleep with that girl since I moved in here and she practically just gave you an open invitation."

"Is that jealousy I'm hearing?" Julian joked. "She's all yours, man—no thanks. That chick is way too high maintenance."

"Her roommate isn't. Her roommate is... gah, she's so fucking gorgeous. One day, she's gonna realize it too, and when she does... Tiffany is gonna lose her shit." Albert chuckled, stopping at his apartment door. "That's one chick you ain't gotta chance with, guaranteed."

"I doubt I'd be interested anyway." Julian murmured, watching Al push the key into the deadbolt lock.

Al laughed mockingly. "Yeah, you say that now, but when you see her-" Albert sighed, "I don't know man, I feel kinda bad for her. She has no idea how good she looks. She's either been through some shit, or... she's a virgin." Albert shrugged.

"How old is she, do you know?"

"I think eighteen, I don't know. She told me once, but I couldn't listen to what she was saying because... well, her rack-" Albert cupped his imaginary breasts, liking that his playful gesture had made his friend laugh. "Anyway, her name's Janae. She's sweet—seems like a really good girl."

Albert pushed open the door, grabbing a hold of the end of the mattress to pull into the dumbbell shaped apartment. He stopped when seeing Julian staring into nothing, a confused and thoughtful expression etched on his face as if thinking too hard about something.

"What is it?" Albert asked, finding his friend's sudden lack of urgency to get his mattress into the apartment quite amusing.

"You said her name was Janae?"

"Yeah... what about it?"

"Dude... I think I know who you're talkin' about."

"Really?" Albert chuckled again.

"Yeah—I actually gave her a ride a couple weeks ago. Dark hair, big brown eyes?"

"Yep, that's the one. She's fucking perfect, am I right?"

Julian's tongue went across his bottom lip, feeling the small lacerations from his chapped pink skin. "You really think she's a virgin?"

"I don't know. I've never seen her out with a guy or anything. I've been over there a few times, Tiffany likes throwing parties. She stays in her room all the time—hardly ever comes out." Albert sighed, kicking the bottom of the mattress while waiting impatiently for Julian to get his head out of the clouds and help him move his shit. "What's it matter anyway—it's not like you have a chance in hell with her."

Julian nodded—perhaps Albert was right.