The banker at the bank looked at me with judgement and suspicion. I understood that it wasn't normal for a 17 year old to open an account and depoist over a thousand dollars in a day, but I could do without the awkward stare.
Once she handed me the receipt, I ran out and headed to the Starbucks at GWU. They had a bulletin board full of advertisements for businesses, jobs, and rooms. A lot of the rooms had certain restrictions such as age, gender, job salary, having no guests over, quiet hours, and more. I needed something that was flexible in all departments just in case things didn't go as expected.
I lifted up one of the flyers and saw another room posting underneath it. It didn't give much information just that they were looking for a female in the GWU area who could afford $500/month. That was an unbelievably cheap price for a place in DC.
I pulled out my cheap smartphone and called the number. It rang a few times and right when I thought it was going straight to voicemail, someone answered.
"Hello!" The girl chirped.
"Oh, hi! My name is Morena and I'm calling about the room for rent. Is it still available?"
"Oh my God, yes! I've been waiting for someone to call! You can have it!"
I was a bit suspicious about the girl considering she didnt know anything about me and handed me the room. "Okay...um great! When can I stop by to see the place?"
"Now, if you have time! I'll text you the address!"
"Alright, sounds good!"
One second the call ended and the next second I received a text from the same number. This girl must have been really desperate to look for a roommate, that or I was about to be kidnapped but I'm really hoping for the former.
The apartment was a five minute walk from GWU which was ideal since I would be walking to class since I didn't have a car. I climbed up the flight of stairs and knocked on the first door on the left.
The door flung wide open and a girl around my age stood in front of me. "Hi! You must be Morena! I'm Pia!" She went in for a big hug and brought me into the apartment.
"Okay, so this is the living room and the dining room." The walls were a light grey color and the living room was furnished with a dark grey two piece sectional sofa, a black coffee table with a plant on it, and a massive TV.
The dining room was small but the modern pub table set fit in it perfectly. The place so far was amazing and I couldn't believe that I only had to pay $500 a month. There had to be a catch.
"This place is awesome, but is there a catch or something?"
Pia looked at me with her confused hazel eyes. "Umm, no?"
I shrugged. "Its just too nice for $500 a month."
She waved at me dismissively. "It's not a big deal. This used to be my parents place but they gave it to me since I'm going to school. I mean, I have to pay a thousand a month and they'll pay the rest. Though, I'm not ready to put down a thousand a month so I decided to cut the bill and get a roommate." She flashed a smile. "And they also refurnished the place to my liking!"
This girl was fortunate that she had loving parents that cared for her well being. They were teaching responsibility by having her pay for some of the rent but also offered a helping hand. A felt a bit envious but it subsided since we all have to go through our own paths of struggle and journey.
"Alright, let me show you your room now." She led me down the hallway and into a white semi-furnished room. It had a bed with a frame on it and a grey dressing table. "Yeah so, this is your room. I placed some furniture in there, courtesy of me, but if you don't want the dresser you can just tell me. There's also some more space to add a desk or something."
"Oh, no, its fine! I love it." In all honesty, I did love it. It was minimalistic and furnished which was to my advantage since I didn't have anything to fill the room. "This is all I really have," I said as I gripped onto my backpack.
She looked at me with pity. "We can go to target or something to get stuff for the room! It would be fun."
"Now?" I asked.
"Yes, why not? I don't have much to do." She lightly grabbed my arm in excitement. "Oh and we can stop at a cool Chinese restaurant I've heard of. Do you like chinese?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. Let me just freshen up and we can head out."
"Sure!" She let out a small squeal and headed to the bedroom at the end of the hall.
The day went better than expected. I never hung out with someone like this. I had a few friends in high school but all interactions were in the building, nothing took place out of school. Hanging out with Pia actually made me feel like a young and free college student.
The Chinese restaurant wasn't the best and even Pia commented on the food. It had an appealing ambiance but the food was subpar. At Target I grabbed a cart and placed bedsheets, a light green comforter, a mobile cart to use as a nightstand, and a shirt. Pia tossed in a few shirts and dresses into the cart. Whatever she found, she easily tossed into the cart with no hesitation. We headed to the checkout line and she placed all our belongings onto the belt in no specific order.
Pia noticed the confusion on my face and smirked. "I got this, girl." She pulled out a black platinum card. "Daddy is paying."
I pulled out some cash from my pocket. "No, no. I can pay," I said a bit frazzled. I didn't want her parents paying for me.
She handed her card to the cashier. "No, it's totally okay. It's emotional compensation. Shit parents will buy you whatever to get you out the way."
She placed all the bags back into the cart. "We should drop this off at the apartment and then hit the boutiques." She grinned from ear to ear as we walked out of the store.
Pia Matin was her full name. She was the only child, like myself. Her favorite color was grey which wasn't surprising considering the color of the apartment. Shes an incoming freshman and majoring in journalism. She recently broke up with a guy because she found he cheated on her with her best friend and is 'single and ready to mingle.' She likes to spend her time in the city, taking various classes ranging from calligraphy to fitness, finding new restaurants and shopping. A lot of shopping and paid for none of it.
I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy her company. I had a great day with her so I looking forward to our blossoming friendship.
"Well, I have to head out," I said getting off the coach.
She paused the movie and whined. "But we were getting to the good part! Where are you going? On a date?" She said as she raised her eyebrows.
I smirked and shook my head. "No, I have to go to work. My shift is from 6pm to 3am, most days."
"Dang, girl. Do you work at a club?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Well, stay safe!"
I headed to the lounge, the walk was about 10 minutes and not through the best neighborhood but I made it there safely. I greeted Ronny with a wave who was outside, talking on the phone. He acknowledged me with a quick smile and went back to concentrating on his phone call. He seemed annoyed and worried.
The work day was okay, there was a bigger mess than usual. There were lots of plates and cups coming in because there were groups of men coming in. There must have been a celebration going on.
I sighed in annoyance as I scraped the filet mignon into the trash can.
I'm exhausted and struggling to pay my tuition and these obnoxious millionaires roll up here in their fancy BMW's and Audi's, order half of the damn menu, and throw it all away. I get it, they aren't here to eat, they're here for the view and I dont blame them, but they could at least not waste the food.
"I'm tired of this girl," Ronny yelled as he stormed into the kitchen. "This is the third time she has cancelled this month."
Paulina strutted behind him. She was model material and I envied her confidence. She always seemed like she was ready to walk down the runway.
"I mean, she has food poisoning. You cant really blame her for that," she said as she shrugged.
Chanel opened the kitchen door and peeked her head in. "I dont see Natalia. She's on in 10 minutes."
"She's not coming," Ronny growled.
Chanel's eyes widened with panic. "There's no one else that can take her place and I cant stick around, I have a date."
Ronny waved her off and shook his head.
"I'll take another shift," Paulina offered.
"Its fine, you're always working your ass." He chuckled at his pun for a second and then his face morphed back to anger.
The room was filled with tension and it made me a bit anxious. I carefully stacked the white plates on top of each other, trying not to make much noise since Ronny was already pissed off.
Unfortunately, I turned around too quickly and accidentally knocked a plate down causing it to shatter and snap Ronny back to reality.
"You!" He glared.
I placed my hands up. "I'm sorry!" I yelped.
"Carissa, you're going to dance tonight. I have no option and you have no choice," he stated.
A wave emotion came over me. What was this man thinking? He would be breaking the law and making me look like a fool out there. I couldn't compete with his girls. I didnt posses the 'oompf' they had. "I'm not even 18 yet and I told you several times, it's Morena!"
He took a key out of his back pocket that had a red leather tag on it. "Well, tonight you're Carissa. Its showtime."