I. Moving In
August in Missouri is always terribly hot, except when it rains, and then it is just bloody hot. It is constantly humid, some of the worst humidity the North American continent can muster. He may have bitched about it a lot, but really, Logan didn't mind too much. The heat and humidity just meant that all summer long, the girls wore really short shorts and mid-riff baring tank tops and cute little sandals.
He didn't want to know if it was over a hundred degrees on the day they were all moving into their new apartment. There were going to be five of them living in a four-bedroom place just a few blocks from campus. He liked the apartment a lot, and had signed on for a room before he even met his new roommates. It was big and somewhat furnished: dining room table, random assortment of thrift-store chairs, lots of old sofas in the living room. It had clearly been inhabited by college students for several years. He had vague memories of coming to a few parties here; it was a good space for keggers. He was the first to show up, early on a Friday morning in the middle of August, before the heat was too oppressive, intent on having first pick of the rooms in the apartment. He chose the room in the back. One of the two bathrooms was right next to it, and his bedroom door opened into the dining room. There was a door connecting his room to the adjacent bedroom. Both doors had locks. He only had a couple boxes of junk, mostly books and a Nintendo, a bag of clothes, his laptop computer, and a box fan for the window. His room had half a dozen tall windows. He dragged an old futon from the living room into his bedroom, found a milk crate to set up his computer on, and started making a list of things to try to find at the Goodwill to make his room a bit more livable.
It was a little before noon when his new roommates started showing up. Lauren and Adam were the first. They had been a couple since high school, he discovered, and this was their junior year in college. They would be sharing a room down the hall from him. Lauren was a little fox, five-foot-four, light brown hair, perky tits and a tight round ass. Logan thought she could have done better than Adam, who seemed like a bit of a jock, at least six feet tall and solid muscle, but they had been together for years and if there was one thing he understood, it was the blindness inflicted by love. He helped them bring in their boxes from the U-Haul moving truck, which they had driven all the way from Virginia. He was happy to see they had brought a big T.V. and a Playstation, which were promptly hooked up in the living room. They also had a queen-size bed. Logan and Adam were both sweaty by the time they got it in the house. The heat from the sun was now at full blast. Lauren was running around the apartment in a short tan skirt and a tight yellow tank top, getting their bedroom in order and unpacking boxes while Logan and Adam finished bringing in the boxes. Logan learned that Adam was pre-med and did, in fact, work out. Lauren was going into veterinary medicine. She loved animals a lot. There was already talk of getting cats and a dog for the apartment.
As Logan was pulling the last box from the U-Haul, a pick-up truck stopped in front of the apartment, and a short girl with dark cropped hair hopped out. "Which one is 1A?" she asked him. That was his apartment.
"Up on the left. That's my place. I'm Logan," he said.
"I'm Kitty! I guess I'm one of your new roommates. Looks like Lauren and Adam beat us here." She grabbed a backpack from the cab of the truck and ran inside. The driver, who Logan assumed was her boyfriend, got out.
"I'm Brad," he said.
"Logan. Are you living here, too?"
"No, I'm on the soccer team. We have to live on campus. But you'll probably see me a lot. Kitty and Lauren have been friends forever, and me and Adam go way back."
"Right on," Logan said. "Does she have a lot of stuff to bring in?"
"Not too much. I'll get it. You look like you've been hauling Adam's shit all afternoon."
Logan realized he was pretty sweaty and hot. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Is that place air-conditioned?"
"I wish."
Kitty and Lauren came out the front door and bounded down the steps. They grabbed Kitty's bags from the bed of the truck and ran back inside. Logan and Brad followed them in. Kitty had claimed the room next to Lauren and Adam's. Their rooms were connected by a door, like Logan's and the one unclaimed room. Brad got Adam to help him bring in Kitty's bed from the truck. Logan went back to his room. He ripped his list out of a notebook and grabbed his keys. He stopped by Kitty's room on the way out. "I'm going to the Goodwill to see if I can find any deals," he told them.
"Have fun," Kitty said.
"See if you can find an air-conditioner," Lauren said.
"I think we might have to all pitch in and get a new one," he said. "I'll be back in a while." Logan passed Adam and Brad at the front door, bringing in Kitty's bed, a twin. A little while later, Adam and Brad left to take the U-Haul to its rental center, leaving Kitty and Lauren alone. It was getting late in the afternoon, but it was still really humid and hot.
Lauren was the first to say it: "Well, Logan's pretty hot."
"I know, I was hoping for some dork so I wouldn't be tempted when Brad was gone," Kitty said.
"Me too," Lauren replied. "He's probably got a girlfriend, though."
"I bet he's a player," Kitty said.
"He can play with me anytime he wants," Lauren said, giggling.
"Lauren! Be careful what you wish for!"
"You're right. I love Adam, I would never cheat on him."
"Is that why you two have been on again, off again since you got to college? Just remember that you signed a lease to live with him for the next nine months."
"Yeah..."
There was a knock on the front door. "That must be roommate number five," Kitty said. The girls went to the door and opened it. Standing there was a girl, taller than both of them, with long straight dark hair, tan skin, and big brown eyes. She was dressed like them: short shorts and tight tank top, which barely contained her big round breasts.
"Hi, I'm Hanna," she said with a charming smile. "You must be my flatmates."
"I'm Lauren."
"I'm Kitty. The boys will be back soon."
"Boys?" Hanna asked. "I didn't know there would be boys living here."
"My boyfriend Adam," Lauren said, "and this guy Logan. There's only one bedroom left, let me show it to you."
"Thanks," Hanna said. She followed the girls into the apartment, and Lauren took her to her new room, the one with the door that connected to Logan's. "This place is huge!" Hanna said, as they walked through the living room and dining room. They came to her room, and she dropped her bag inside. "Wanna help me drag a sofa in here for me to sleep on for a few nights?" After inspecting all of the half dozen or so sofas in the living room, Hanna picked one with a pull-out bed and the girls pushed it through the apartment and into Hanna's room. "I've got a blow-up mattress, but this'll be way better, at least until I can get a decent bed." After that, Hanna went back out to her car, and Kitty and Lauren helped her bring in her bags and boxes. The last thing to get brought in was her electric keyboard.
"How long have you been playing?" Kitty asked her.
"For as long as I can remember," Hanna said. "I'm a music major."
"That must be fun. Logan will be happy to meet you. I think he plays the guitar," Lauren said.
"Yeah, I saw that Stratocaster in his room. Do you play, or is that Adam's guitar in your room?"
"Oh, that's Adam's. But he doesn't really play. He picks it up every now and then, but he can't play a lick."
The front door opened, and Brad and Adam came through, each carrying a case of cheap beer. They were introduced to Hanna, and everybody opened a beer. It was late in the afternoon, still hot and muggy. All the windows in the apartment were opened. A few fans were turned on to get the air flowing, but it didn't really help. Adam, Brad, Lauren and Kitty rearranged the sofas and recliners in the living room and then lounged about, drinking, while Hanna turned on her stereo to the local classic rock station and went about setting up her new room.
