It's strange how one event can be a trigger for a whole world being turned upside down. Mine was when I got a letter from my landlord saying my rental agreement was nearly up. The letter tried to be polite, but it all boiled down to that if I wanted to extend things I would have to pay significantly more per month. I wasn't sure why the price was being hiked as I felt like I was the perfect renter, in that I always paid my rent on time, had no complaints from my neighbors, and rarely if ever took problems to the leasing office.
It was frustrating because no recent renovations had been done to the complex nor had any been announced. As near as I could tell this was just the company that owned the complex trying to squeeze out what money they could from their renters. When I complained about this to one of my work friends, Melissa, she was as shocked as I was.
Melissa suspected that the company that owned the complex was trying to take advantage of me because in their eyes I was, "a young and dumb girl" as she was renting a two-bedroom for about the price I was paying currently for a one-bedroom. As we talked, she offered to have me come in as share her apartment and we could split the rent. The second bedroom had previously been lived in by her ex-roommate who had moved out a couple of months back. She had been planning using it as some sort of creative space, but she had actually found she missed having someone to share the space with.
I had to give this some serious thought, as the main reason I had my one-bedroom was that I was a bit of a nerd and hated when others belittled my interests. It was so strange, I knew looking in the mirror that I was reasonably cute, but people always acted so much different when I let slip that I did things like play video games or watch anime.
There were a few types of reactions I got from people. You had the guys that could not accept that I was a nerd, and were constantly trying to test to see if I was a "real nerd". Also, there were the girls that when they learned I engaged in non-traditional activities for girls, would look down their noses and hardly give me the time of day. Or just people, in general, that would act like my interests were for kids and not adults.
That though wasn't Melissa and perhaps why we got along so well. While she might look athletic, I learned fairly early on after we started working together that she was a closet nerd too. I even remember when I learned she was a nerd. She had mispronounced a word, and one of our coworkers did one of those eye rolls and "Um actually, it's said..." things that everyone just LOVES.
Without even missing a beat, Melissa responded, "I've heard it both ways." something I personally found amusing, but our shared coworker just huffed at and walked off. Later I asked Melissa if she ever watched a TV show called Psych, and sure enough, it was one of her favorite shows. Since then we have enjoyed being nerds around each other and going out to do things together after work.
So after some thought and discussion we agreed, we would have a sleepover for a whole weekend, from the end of business Friday to a carpool to work on Monday. If things went well, I would move in as her roommate, and if for some reason they didn't she would help me hunt for a cheaper place so I could continue to live on my own.
When the weekend arrived, I made my way to her apartment with a suitcase with essentials for the weekend. Things like changes of clothes, toothbrush, and things of that nature. I must admit I was rather nervous and was sure she was too. She was my best friend, and I didn't want to ruin that. I had heard horror stories about best friends moving in together thinking it would be the best thing in the world, only for them to realize later that their habits drove each other insane.
Upon arriving, she gave me the grand tour, "Over there is the kitchen," and turning without even needing to walk anywhere, "That's the living room that you can see just sort of becomes the dining room after an imaginary line." Stepping around a corner and into what could barely be described as a hallway, she indicated three doors, "That door leads to the bathroom, that door my room, and that final door potentially your room."
Taking a peek into what I hoped would be my future room, I saw it was completely empty but about the same size as my bedroom. So if I did move in, I should be able to arrange my room pretty much the same. Glancing back at the living room and the couch, I asked, "And that's the couch I'll be sleeping on this weekend?"
Following my gaze, she turned her head and responded, "Oh... well, I suppose you could if you wanted. I guess I just sort of figured we would do this like we were kids again having a slumber party. Stay up late having fun and just crash in my bed when we decide to go to sleep."
Leaving my suitcase in the empty bedroom, I turned to her with a grin on my face, "Slumber party? Sounds like it could be fun." I might have been mistaken, but I was fairly sure when I turned to look at her that I had seen the briefest look of disappointment on her face when she wasn't sure how I was going to respond. But it was so quickly replaced with joy that I was on board, that perhaps I had just imagined it.
She then opened the door to her room, for the next part of the tour, "As for my room, as you can see I've got a king-size bed so plenty of room for both of us." Other than the bed taking up a very large portion of the room, it looked like a fairly normal room at first look. A dresser against the wall opposite of the bed with a TV so one could watch while laying down, a door to a closet, and a window with closed curtains.
Honestly, everything about the apartment seemed very normal. The place had been obviously cleaned for company, but there was still a bit of clutter here and there. If roles were reversed, I might have left out a few things as well just so she wouldn't assume I was some insane must have everything put away at all times sort of person. Nothing so far jumped out at me as red flags like weeks of dishes in the sink. Though that wasn't surprising, she had actually told me before she never used the dishwasher, and instead just washed what few dishes she dirtied by hand as she finished using them. All in all, though everything seemed promising so far.
For a bit more we chatted about things like how we might rearrange the living room if I moved in, as I too owned living room type stuff. For instance, I had a larger living room TV so we could swap that out, while her couch was bigger and comfier so I could sell off mine.
We then ordered pizza to be delivered and decided to change into our pajamas before it arrived. Afterall who eats slumber party pizza in anything BUT pajamas. It would also be amusing to see the look on the delivery driver's face when a couple of cute girls in their nightwear answered the door. My pajamas were a matching pair of flannel cotton pants with a button-up top, while hers was an adorable full body onesie with a zip-up front. It even had footies to keep her toes warm and one of those butt flaps at back. Seriously, I loved it and even if this didn't work out I was totally going to get myself something like that.
