Chapter Text
A distinct and familiar gust of wind blew past as Rose exited the gymnasium, her multi-purpose shoulder bag in one hand as she repositioned it where it belonged. Her thumb glided across the keys on her Blackberry as she took a few steps, halting once she was out of the way of the gym doors to avoid having a distraction related accident.
She had just finished her last final exam of the semester, and she was feeling very, very relieved.
It wasn’t like she was stressed about failing. Literature was by far her best subject, and she was smart to have saved all her psychology related classes for first semester so she could get them out of the way. No, she was just relieved because this meant she could finally settle down, pick up more shifts at work, and study less over the summer months. She had taken a couple summer courses so she could get ahead on her program, but a semester of two was going to be substantially easier to manage than a semester of six.
Once she had informed Jade that she was finished writing she went back on her way, heels catching puddles as she idly tried to step over them. She rewrapped her scarf once more around her neck, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jacket. Yes, this was the weather she was all too familiar with. Rain, wind, a bright sun, and absolutely no desire to enjoy any of it.
With the semester ending there was only one issue left to deal with, which Rose had been putting off during exam weeks. Today would be the day where she finally had to get a handle on it. Or, tomorrow, since after five exams and a short story project, getting drunk sounded like a much more appealing option. Count in the hangover and she might as well leave it a couple days more.
No Rose, you can’t procrastinate on this, no matter how unappealing it sounds.
Swiping her bus pass she stepped aboard, sitting herself down next to plenty of other students that had finished the exact same exam she had just written. Some of them were totally relaxed, others, still anxious. It was easy to tell which based on the way they either absorbed themselves into their phones or bit their nails or twiddled their thumbs or mingled with others. Rose merely smirked, setting her bag on her lap to pull out her book. She checked her phone too, noticing the screen lit up from Jade’s response.
JADE HARLEY (2:34 PM): meet you at the liquor store? ;D
ROSE LALONDE (2:34 PM): Undoubtedly.
Her phone was hidden away again as she opened to her bookmark. She remained unshaken as it slid down the page and into her lap.
It was pages and stops later that she saw the familiar landmark of her favorite music store (they had violin arrangements no one else did), and she stowed her book safely away to ring the bell. Adjusting her bag again she stood, moving toward the door and grabbing the bar next to it to steady herself. The bus slowed, stopped, and the doors hissed open. She offered a quiet thank you before stepping off, hanging left and heading toward the small mall that held its collection of completely unrelated shops and stores including the liquor store, a skateboard shop, and a remarkably classy adult video rental place. Naturally Rose had ventured into that shop plenty.
Moving around the lot to the liquor store, Jade’s motorcycle was already parked out front, a second helmet waiting in the basket as Jade held hers up under her forearm.
Rose’s lips pulled back into a smile, quickly disguising it as a challenging sneer.
“Oh, so I get a ride home now?” she teased, making a show of combing through her hair. “I’m so glad your generosity extends only a quarter of my trip back. I do love the bus so much.”
Jade had sneered right back, way too comfortable in her skinny jeans and ridiculously clunky leather boots. Rose never understood Jade’s fashion sense. Nor did she try to. She was comfortable in her androgyne, and Rose admired it.
“Yeah, okay,” Jade responded, turning for the door as Rose followed. “And how many dates would you have missed out on if you weren’t on the bus to sweep the person off their feet?"
“A lot,” Rose admitted, turning straight for the vodka shelves while Jade picked up her case of beer. She yelled across the store as they separated, glad they were the only two current patrons. “But if you picked me up more, I would have just settled for dating you and I wouldn’t have needed them in the first place.”
“Oh so funny,” Jade groaned. Rose could hear the sarcastic :P in her tone and it made her smile. There was no better roommate than Jade and Rose was never going to change her mind on that.
Jade wandered over with her case, watching as Rose carefully picked out the exact flavors and brands she was interested in. Absolut was good, but not great. Smirnoff was way too cliché. This was an art form and she was not going to get lazy with it.
“So,” Jade started, nudging the toe of her boot into the floor. “Are we at least going to talk about me moving out before we get shit-faced?”
Rose’s heart sunk, and along with it she sunk to her knees to pick up a bottle of Bols from the bottom shelf. She hid her face stubbornly, admiring the way her skin showed through where her nylons had stretched over her knees. “You aren’t moving out, you’re just leaving for the summer.”
“Okay,” Jade sighed, rhythmically bouncing her own knees against her beer case. “Then are we going to talk about that? Rose I know you aren’t a fan of bringing strangers home, but you can’t afford that place on your own. It’s only for four months!”
Rose found herself slightly offended, standing back up and snatching a bottle of Sourpuss before taking off with her purchases toward the counter. Jade followed, head tilted. “You don’t really have time to find a cheaper place, especially if you’re planning on picking up more shifts at the bar. Do you not realize that?”
“Of course I do,” Rose answered, playing up a pompous tone and setting down her bottles one by one. “I merely do not find this issue as urgent as you do. The semester doesn’t start until after a two week break. That’s plenty of time to deal with this at a later date.”
Jade heaved a sigh, her bottles clinking together as her case came down to the counter. “Rose people don’t look for an apartment a few days before their semester starts they look in advance. You’re probably already going to have a tough enough time finding one when you’ve left it this late. I told you to start this before exams started and you didn’t. You can’t keep putting it off. You need a temporary roommate to pay my rent while I’m gone.”
Rose stayed silent, digging around for her wallet and slapping her card down on the counter, along with her ID. The gentleman ringing her through didn’t say a word- just accepted her cards and handed her the machine.
“Why can’t you just. Pay your share while you’re away,” she muttered, losing hope fast with the way this discussion was going. Jade laughed, patting Rose on the head.
“I already have to pay for a plane ticket, and to store my bike, and utilities back home. I can’t afford that and you know it.”
“Then don’t leave,” Rose tried, taking her bag of paper-wrapped bottles with a huge frown. Jade’s purchase went way quicker, and she was already digging for her keys by the time she was ready to answer.
“I gotta. It doesn’t look like Grandpa’s gonna make it through the summer so. I need to pack his things and sell his house and stuff.”
Rose shut her mouth after that, packing her bottles into the basket on Jade’s bike and pulling the spare helmet over her head. She really didn’t want to be selfish about this. She completely understood Jade’s reasoning and sympathized with her situation but. Jade had her pegged. She didn’t want to bring a stranger into the apartment, especially not for more than a night. Even two weeks of time to get to know whoever it was wasn’t going to make her feel better. She doubted much of anything could.
She slung her arms around Jade’s waist as the engine revved and they took off. Rose watched everything they drove past- people, buildings, trees, cars- and didn’t breathe a word. Not even at the few lights they hit. They were back to the complex soon enough, and Jade took her usual spot. Rose slid off, grabbing her bag and bottles and carrying everything inside along with the helmet. Jade followed beer in hand, putting a hand on Rose’s shoulder.
“Just make an ad, alright? I’m sure whoever you’ll find is going to be a perfectly nice person and you’ll have no trouble getting along with them. Hell, they might even be the person who gets you to settle down for more than a week. Wouldn’t that be something?”
Rose smiled, but she really didn’t appreciate the teasing. Anxiety was choking her from the inside and it made her want to scream, gasp out for breath and rip her own throat open. But she had to stay calm. Especially for Jade’s sake. She could under no circumstances make this summer harder on Jade.
“Okay,” she breathed, relaxing a bit when the scent of home washed over. It was certainly comforting. “But you need to help me write it. I have a feeling you’d know what strangers would appreciate aside from doodles of squiddles.”
Hearing that made Jade scoff, sliding her beer up on the kitchen counter.
“Rose, please. What would any potential apartment renter want more on their ad than squiddles?”
Rose visibly relaxed as they both started laughing, and she gave her head a shake as she dropped the bike helmet on the bench next to the door and brought her alcohol over to the counter. She started putting it away, figuring saving it for tonight would be best. Jade on the other hand dove right into her first bottle of beer, her hand curling around the counter’s edge as she leaned up against it and swallowed down a few gulps.
“I don’t even know where to begin with this,” Rose admitted, shedding off her coat and scarf before padding into the living room where her laptop was waiting. She dropped to her knees by the coffee table, opening the screen and letting it wake up. “I mean... What do you even write? Roommate wanted- please no creeps or I might shove you out a window.”
Jade laughed, heading over to sit next to her and sliding a coaster under her bottle. “You can write that if you want. Could help filter out some people who don’t want to be roommates with a potential murderer.”
“Well if they don’t want that, they probably shouldn’t be looking for a roommate in the first place.”
Jade sputtered into her bottle and Rose admired the dribble of beer that slid down her chin. “Alright, touché on that one. Seriously though, I don’t know. Just say it’s a two bedroom one bath with a bus stop right out front to the school and that a girl is seeking a roommate for the next four months. That sounds about right doesn’t it?”
“I suppose,” she mused, mulling it all over. There had to be someway though that she could guarantee someone who wouldn’t cause too much bullshit. Girls only? Probably wouldn’t do much. Maybe it wasn’t about narrowing how many people saw the ad but... narrowing what kind of person could see it. A passive test that would cut people out before interviews or first phone calls.
That’s when it clicked, and just like writing her stories every piece of the ad came totally naturally. A word or two here, a piece of ironic clip art there, and she was loading up the file onto her USB drive. Tomorrow she’d bring it to the university to print off, then she could start putting them up. The old fashioned way. Flyers and tape. No online ads, no QR codes, just tearable tabs with her phone number on them. Yeah, this would work.
“Alright,” Jade spoke up eventually, putting down a couple of hamburgers before having herself a seat. “This is like... My 6th beer and you haven’t even cracked any of your fancy-shmansy mixing booze bottles. Fuck that, go drink. I’m putting on a movie.”
Rose grinned and closed her laptop, moving it away and getting up to her feet. “Alright, alright. Would you like anything while I’m mixing?”
Jade answered with her mouth full, taking a swig of beer to try and wash down some of the hamburger bun that was no doubt stale. “Quit trying to get me drunk you know it just ends in sex.”
Rose had to answer with a snicker, bringing down a martini glass and her shaker, filling the shaker up with ice and starting to mix up her sweet, berry cocktail infusion. Shot of Banana Bols, shot of blueberry vodka, shot of Raspberry Sourpuss, and just a hint of grenadine, all topped with a few splashes of 7Up. That was how you celebrated.
Pouring the mix in her glass she returned to the living room, taking a drink and sliding herself in against Jade’s side. “I’ve never known you to complain about sex, Jade.”
“I’ve never known you to not suck.”
Rose picked up her burger, interrupted by the familiar jingle of 20th Century Fox.
Two cocktails and three martinis later Jade had finished her beer case, sprawled out on the couch and fallen asleep. Rose was barely conscious herself, eventually opting to turn herself around and rest her head in Jade’s lap. If ever there was anything she was going to miss while Jade was away it was nights like this. Nights where nothing mattered, where responsibility was meaningless- where everything was just fun. Those were her absolute favorite times. But without Jade, Rose doubted there would be very many around.
Especially not when she would have a new roommate to keep on their toes.