I drive down the wide city streets, squinting at each brick building as I pass. I slow to a stop outside of the building that fits the vague description I was given. According to my GPS, this is it. I park directly out front, squeezing between two cars. As soon as I exit the vehicle, I'm nearly pelted with a basketball. A couple of kids shout apologies as they chase after the rolling ball. I lock my car and silently pray I don't come back to a busted window.
Feeling oddly nervous, I walk up the steps to the double doors leading into the building. Both doors are opened, letting in the cool air blowing about outside. I nervously enter and open up my text thread with Maya. She sent a small paragraph after I told her I was on the way.
Maya: Don't bother knocking; just come in. We never lock the door. If my roommate sees you first, say you're here for me. 5th floor, apartment 517.
I look around for the elevator and see it tucked away in the corner. Apprehensively, I approach it, press the button, and stare up at the dingy light to see which floor it's at. Slowly but surely it reaches me and a low beep announces its presence. The doors gradually open and reveal a tacky red carpet and wooden walls. I get in, press the worn button, and take the snails paced trip upstairs. I'm convinced it'd have been quicker to take the steps.
I exit the elevator once it reaches the fifth floor and search for a door labeled 517. A sigh of relief escapes my lips when I find it. My hand hesitates as I reach for the doorknob. She said to let myself in but it feels a little weird. I've only ever talked to this girl twice and though she seems cool, are we close enough for me to even be at her apartment, never mind letting myself in?
Not to mention, this could all be some intricate trap to adult-nap me. Realistically, I really should have better judgment skills when it comes to situations like this. But she's barely 5'0"- how much danger could she really be? Either way, I know her name and address so who's really the person in power here? You're the one going into her apartment alone. I sigh, turn the knob, and let myself in. What have I got to lose? Other than, you know, my life?
I'm greeted with a much neater, less tawdry hallway. It has actual hardwood and there is a stand next to the door decorated with umbrellas and a keybowl. I walk a little further into the apartment, feeling extremely intrusive. I hear shuffling a little further down the hall and I walk to the end, which leads me to the living room. Rather than finding Maya like I expected, I am greeted by the back of a lean, bronzed guy wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Did I enter the wrong apartment? No, this is definitely 517; I stared at the door for two minutes contemplating whether or not I should enter. Did she make a typo in the message?
Before I can silently backtrack and exit the apartment, the shirtless guy turns around and quirks a thick, kempt eyebrow. I quickly let my eyes trail over him for a second, admiring his physique. He's toned with tattoos covering his left arm, leading up to an intricately lined piece of artwork that travels halfway across his chest. I let my eyes wander over the dark ink admirably. I shake out of the slight stupor and meet his gaze, which is laced with pure confusion.
"Who the hell are you?" he asks in a voice deeper than I expected.
"I-Ivy," I say quickly, incapable of giving a better answer. I expected to come here and find Maya, not some random but attractive guy. At least I'll have an interesting story to tell her when I find the right apartment. Hey, I totally walked in on your half naked neighbor; he's hot, by the way.
He assesses me and I suddenly feel self conscious. I definitely didn't dress up for this study session. I literally got back to my dorm, put on sweatpants and a t-shirt, and read for three hours before heading here. I put no effort into my outfit, nor did I bother doing my hair or makeup. I just tied my frizzy brown hair into the usual braid and set out the door. He must think I'm some random bum that wandered in and started checking him out.
"Why are you in my apartment?" he asks after a couple seconds of us just staring at each other. In those few seconds, I analyzed his face enough to commit it to memory. His bushy eyebrows are tugged together in a look of puzzlement and his dark brown eyes assess me somewhat judgingly. His long, thin fingers tug through his curly hair as his other hand focuses on keeping his towel wrapped around his body.
"I-uh-I," I stumble over my words as my eyes fall to his muscular stomach. I look back up to his face and immediately realize that he saw my gaze fall downwards. My face reddens and I continue to trip over my words like an idiot. Just as I'm about to turn and run away, I hear a muffled voice from behind the door we're positioned outside of.
"Is that Ivy?!" a female yells.
"I guess!" the guy replies before turning to me. "You're here for Maya?"
"Yes," I force out, which gets a long sigh from him.
"I'll be out in a second!" she calls back and I hear shuffling behind the door. I keep my gaze locked on the wood floor in front of the door to avoid another awkward interaction with the boy. My face is just about as red as his towel. She finally emerges from the bathroom and my eyes fall on her in relief. Finally someone familiar who is also fully dressed. Her eyes flit between me and the half naked boy with a curious gaze. "She's here for me."
"Yeah, I figured; she's not here for me," he retorts curtly as he makes his way into the bathroom. Maya moves out of his way and he closes the door, leaving us alone in the middle of the living room.
"Come on, my stuff is in my room," she insists before ushering me down the hall. She pushes open the door and motions for me to enter. I follow her in with curious eyes. I quickly conclude that there isn't much to see. She has a couple framed portraits decorating the white walls and hanging lights but that's all there is. Her bed has light pink bedding but that's the only ounce of color. Everything else is white and girly. She leads me to her desk in the corner of the room and I sit in the seat she motions to. She takes the seat beside me, slowly shakes her head, lets out a quiet sigh, and briefly points over her shoulder. "Sorry about him."
"Am I correct in assuming that he's your roommate?" I ask to which her response is a quick nod.
"Yeah. Also my best friend," she explains as she logs into her laptop.
She warned me about her roommate being here but I was under the assumption that it'd be a girl. I probably shouldn't have assumed because this isn't on-campus housing but it was still a bit of a shock. "Best friend?" I repeat with my brows high on my forehead.
"Yeah," she answers with a slow nod. When she notices my inquisitive look, she offers me a small smile. "What?"
"Nothing..." I mumble, not wanting to insult her friend. "He just seems like a bit of an...uh..."
"Asshole?" she suggests with a lighthearted laugh. I quickly nod my head and she turns her attention back to her laptop. "He's really a sweetheart. Don't let his attitude frighten you."
I roll my hands around in my lap as I squint at her laptop screen. From what I can tell, she's so nice and down to Earth and he's a bit of a jerk. How could they possibly be good enough friends to live together? "I don't plan on it," I assure her quietly.
"Enough about Asa," she dismisses. So that's his name: Asa. Hm, Ay-suh. More like ass-uh. "Let's get started..."
We 'work' for an hour and a half before our meeting is cut short. She has to go to work and I'm on the verge of passing out because I haven't eaten since breakfast but am too scared to mention it. She shuts her laptop and grabs her nametag off the desk."When do you want to meet again to work more?" she questions as she unzips her jacket, pinning the tag to her red shirt. I furrow my eyebrows at it. That's not her uniform for the coffee shop.
"It's up to you," I offer a shrug. She's the one that works and goes to school. I work at the library (where I basically just do homework) and I have three short shifts a week. "Your schedule is more demanding."
"I'm free on Wednesday at this same time," she responds and she squeezes her feet into her shoes.
"Okay," I reply. "Here?"
"Yeah if that works for you," she explains as she wiggles her foot around. I offer her another nod as I plan out the day. I'll get out of work, eat, and do a bit more homework before I come over here.
"Okay, good," she responds with a satisfied nod. "We'll definitely get more done then, I promise."
We barely got anything done today. All we did was discuss which decade we should do our project on before I got us distracted by asking about the rolled up Star Wars poster in her closet. In short, the conversation about schoolwork fell apart and we talked about television and movies for a solid hour.
We exit her room and cross the living room, where her roommate is lying asleep on the couch. She glances at me and nudges my arm to gain my attention. She immediately starts removing her shoe while hopping around silently on one foot. I watch in fear as she cocks her arm back and launches it at him. It hits his bare chest and he wakes with a jolt. His eyes narrow in irritation as he looks around in a state of groggy confusion. Once his eyes land on her, he lets out a guttural groan. "Fuck off," he grumbles as he grabs her shoe. He gives it a weak toss before turning and rolling onto his stomach.
Maya retrieves her shoe and puts it back on before leading the way to the front door. I follow suit, giving one last fleeting glance at her roommate's sleeping figure.I expect her to lock the door behind us as we exit the apartment but she only shuts it and leads the way down the hall. She walks with an excited bounce in her step and it reminds me of a small child. I watch, entertained by her bubbly behavior. She's a very peculiar person but in a good way. She's very vibrant and weird, which is a relief after having hung out with dull people for the last year. "You have two jobs?" I blurt as I assess her khaki colored pants and red collared shirt.
"Yeah," she replies with a vigorous head bob.
"Where's the second one?" I ask from my position propped against the wall.
"A strip club. Today's theme is grocery store," she informs me with a wink and a light tug at the collar of her shirt. I offer a hearty laugh and she shakes her head in a somewhat disappointed manner. "Food Mart, I work at Food Mart. I wouldn't even need the coffee shop gig if I was a stripper."
The elevator dings and we board it together, standing side by side in the small space. She presses the lobby button and we embark on our long journey down. She wears a large grin on her face as she dances in her spot. She allows a wave to pass through her arms and attempts to hand it off to me but I only laugh in response. She does it again and I weakly accept it, quickly letting it die off before passing it back. "You're so lame!" she chuckles as we exit the elevator.
"I'm not a dancer!" I excuse as she continues to bounce across the lobby.
We exit the building to the sunny neighborhood and she turns to me. "I'll see you on Wednesday." She places her hand to her head and offers me a salute. In a swift motion, she turns on her heel and heads in the direction of her second job. I try to estimate how far it is from here. It's a little less than a mile but I wouldn't want to walk if it were me.
"Maya!" I yell in an attempt to grab her attention. She turns around and tilts her head up at me as if asking what I want. "Do you want a ride?"
"It's not far!" she assures me as she shields her eyes from the sun.
"I'm going in that direction anyway!" I lie and she hesitates before walking back towards me.
I tap the hood of my car and she gives it a once over. "Beautiful, right?" I comment as I unlock it. She walks around to the passenger's side and jumps in.
"Sure," she agrees with a teasing smile. The car is a little old but still gets me from point A to point B with little to no issue.
"If it makes a weird noise, just ignore it. I typically do," I convince her as I put the keys in the ignition.
"Isn't that dangerous?" she asks through a noisy laugh. A snort slips through and gets an amused look from me.
"Probably," I say as I pull onto the road and drive in the direction of the Food Mart.
"Where do you live?" she questions with a curious glance at me. I keep my eyes locked on the road ahead as I purse my lips slightly.
"Woodson dorms," I confess quietly and she narrows her eyes.
"That's in the opposite direction of Food Mart," she catches on and I offer her a weak shrug.
"It's not like I have anything better to do on this fine Saturday afternoon," I retort defensively. "Besides, it's only about a mile away."
"That's why I walk," she responds sassily. She twirls a piece of her straight hair between her index finger and thumb.
"It's hot out here," I reply a little dramatically. It's 70℉ and there's a slight breeze. It's actually quite nice out.
"That's bullshit and you know it," she retorts with a slow head shake.
"I can't just want to give you a ride?" I inquire and she sighs.
"I guess you can," she says. "Let me guess, you're now aware of how cool I am so you're putting extra effort into being my friend."
"Sure," I laugh. She's not exactly wrong. Of all the friends I've made so far, she's the only one that I've clicked with from the start. All of the friendships I have were built; we had nothing in common but there was the mutual understanding that we needed something from each other. I don't feel that with Maya. Plus, she can make me laugh and that's not an easy thing to do. I guess she's just one of those people that makes you feel at ease. It's a refreshing feeling.
"Well, join the party. Population: 0," she continues to joke. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye and smile. I'm going to enjoy this friendship.