I rub my hands together nervously as I walk down the stairs again. I can hear my brother complaining as his life depends on it a bit further below me.
My nerves have not calmed down since I've started moving into my new apartment. They wanted me to start as soon as I could, so we had only 2 days to move. They've set me up with a roommate from another dance company who seems nice.
Right now, my new roommate, Zack, and my parents are all trying to move my things into my 4th-floor apartment. I know that I should feel exhausted but all I feel is my nerves. My parents were thankfully able to offer to pay my first month's rent and the dance company covered my deposit.
All the information that has flooded my head in the past 2 days has been insane.
My brother has been trying to get out of helping me move in since I announced to my family that I accepted the contract. His graduation is tomorrow afternoon and it was obvious that he wanted to stay home and party with his friends instead of helping me move in. Since I told them the news he has had to stay home and help me pack, or shop for the things that I'll need.
These stairs seem to be the last straw for Zack as we all go down for the final trip of my things.
"Mom this is ridiculous... my graduation is tomorrow and I'm hours away in New York City instead of being home getting ready!"
"Zachary, you need to stop complaining. Your sister has a huge opportunity and is moving away from home." My mom almost yells back, "I will have NO more of your attitude or you will not be leaving the house when we get home before OR after your ceremony."
I can hear Zach stomping down the stairs a little louder, but he doesn't answer. Smart choice if he wants to see his friends at all.
Rounding the corner to the ground floor I see my mom and my roommate handing the last boxes to my dad and Zach. My dad pushes Zach back to the stairs as he makes a grunting noise to show he's still mad. I walk up to my mom and my roommate, Maxine.
"Thank you so much, Maxine, for helping us, you really didn't need to." My mom smiles at her, and I can tell she already likes her.
"It was no problem and please call me Max." She smiles back, "I remember having to unpack my things and it would have been nice to have help on those stairs."
We all start to chat about where Max works, which is a dance company that is partnered with mine. She seems nice and I'm hopeful that we will get along well. That doesn't seem to help my nerves for some reason though.
Finally, the boys come back down the stairs, Zack with small beads of sweat on his head. My dad with a big smile on his face, but his eyes show a bit of worry. He had fought hard to get a personal day this last minute to help me move in and I was so happy that he was here.
Before I know it we are saying our goodbyes and they are pulling away down the road. And I'm left alone with Max.
I turn to her nervous, and she starts, "I remember the feeling of being here alone for the first time. It's a feeling you'll never feel again." She smiles, "Wanna start unpacking."
Nodding in response, "When did you first get here?" We start back up the stairs for the millionth time.
"Damn that was a long time ago..." She pauses, "I first came to the city when I was in high school, I went to a dance boarding academy."
My eyes go large, "Really? I would have loved that!"
"The grass is always greener on the other side..." She turns giving me a small smile, "It almost made me quit dance, the amount of stress I was under, but I don't think I would be the dancer I am without it."
I can tell this is a touchy subject for her, it must have been a hard time for her. She doesn't seem to be closed off to talking about it.
"I can't imagine having all the pressure on my dancing, I've always done it because I love it." I sigh as we finally reach the 4th floor. "I'm lucky that I was able to get into the company with the limited experience that I have."
We walk into our 2-bedroom apartment, we were lucky that our companies were able to set us up with this "affordable" apartment and that we only had to share it with the two of us.
Max laughs, "To be honest you are really lucky, but to get scouted like you were, that means you have raw talent. So, I know you'll do well with your company."
We both sit on her couch; I didn't bring any furniture since some of it already came with the apartment or Max had thankfully gotten it already.
"So have you ever lived with a roommate before?" Max askes
I shake my head, "Not unless you could living with my brother."
She laughs, "I have no idea how you dealt with that complaining everyday... I would have smacked him as I do to my brothers."
"Sometimes I almost do!" I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable as time passes.
Max gives me a smile, "So since we are going to live together, we should figure out some ground rules..." My heart sinks a little bit, "First obviously we clean up after ourselves, and are you fine with we do our own dishes?"
I nod and let out a sigh of relief that she's only talking about household chores.
"Perfect!" She says, "So party-wise if you're going to throw one try and give me a heads up... oh again, try to do it on the weekend or our neighbors will complain."
"Do our neighbors complain a lot...?"
"Not usually but there is this old hag down the hall that will bitch if you make too much noise during the week." She makes a face, "Oh and for any booty calls please keep any noise to the minimum, and I'll do the same."
My face goes bright red, as I nervous laugh, "You'll have no problems with that..."
She gives me a nice smile, "Not your kind of thing?"
"Not exactly" I give an embarrassed laugh again, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
This time she laughs and repeats me, "Not exactly, I play for a different team." I give her a confused look, as she continues, "I would have a girlfriend but I'm not looking for that right now..." I see her eyes look away for a moment.
She breaks the silence, "You're cool with that right...?"
Realizing that I didn't answer, I stumble, "Oh! Yes, of course, you can have as many lady friends as you want over."
She laughs at me, "Good, I've had problems with roommates not liking it before."
"Really? Why would it be a problem for them?" I give her a sad look; I couldn't believe she's had to deal with that.
"Damn you're a lot more innocent than I even expected for a 17-year-old." She laughs at me.
I give her a look, "Hey come on I'm not that bad, how old are you anyways?"
"Turning the big 20 this year, I'm getting old."
Maxine and I chat for a while before she heads out to some dancing club, she invites me but I decided that I should stay at home and unpack instead of sneaking into a club my first night in the city.
It's almost midnight before I finally finish unpacking and lay back onto my bed that Zach had a hell of a time getting up the stairs. I pull out my phone and text Kat that I'm all moved in. She's already living in the NYU dorms in Manhattan while I have my apartment with Max in Brooklyn. Kat has been beyond busy preparing for school and her summer sessions, but she was still over the moon that I choose to come to New York.
Staring at my phone I wonder what Jack is doing. I know that I shouldn't, but I can't help but wonder what happened between us. Everything was going to great, and nothing that he said to me made any sense.
Would it be a hard idea to text him? I doubt that he knew that I left... I hadn't even had the chance to tell him that I had an offer with this company.
I sighed; I had promised him that I would go to his graduation ceremony tomorrow. He had said he would only go for me; would he still go?
Did I owe it to him to tell him that I won't make it...? After everything he said to me, I wonder if he would even care to know that I moved away.
I start to type, "I moved to New York" I set my phone down next to me.
My first practice starts tomorrow, and if I have moved all this way out here, I'm not going to get distracted by him. I need to focus on myself and on my career. I leave his contact with my message saving as a draft, and that's how I leave it as I turn over to go to bed.
******
This is the last chapter!! I'm so excited that TQO is finished
Next week I'll be uploading an epilogue so I don't get killed for this ending...
Comment if you want me to write the 2nd book or rewrite this one!
Em<3