I carry box after box up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building. I finally got my own place. No roommates. No cleaning up after other people. No sharing bathrooms. It's about damn time.
My parents are helping me pay for it, even though I make enough money to pay for it myself. The apartment is nothing too special, but it's perfect. It has one bedroom with an attached bathroom and huge walk-in closet. A half bathroom by the front door. A cute balcony that's big enough to have a reading space outside. It looks over the apartment's pool, which is ginormous by the way.
I still have more things to move in, but I carry the TV up and set the big thing down and get to work on setting it up, along with everything else. I have only seen one other person here so far. It was a guy across the hall. He barely acknowledged me, so I guess I will introduce myself later.
Hours later I'm still unpacking and decorating, listening to Britney Spears as I go. This is the first time I'll have my own balcony to hangout on... with wine and book of course. I'm outside hanging these cute string lights on the railing when I hear someone on the phone.
It's then that I see him. The guy I saw earlier across the hall. He's cute, now that I'm staring at him. And eavesdropping on his conversation. Oh crap, he hung up and saw me.
Before I can even think of what to do, he's telling me to come across the hall so we can meet. I get all giddy because he's cute and wants to talk to me. But he's just being polite, so I can't think that way.
"Maybe I can come over after I've unpacked some?" I say as I take a swig of wine. He eagerly agrees before saying, "I'm Chris, by the way." He smiles and I notice how tan he is against his perfectly white teeth.
"I'm Ali... I'll be over soon!"
I hear him go inside and say "Hey, the girl across the hall is-" before the door shuts out the rest of the sentence. A part of me is hoping he says hot but most of me is hoping he just says that I'm coming over to say hey.
I guess that means he has a roommate then? I'll found out soon.
I go inside, finish my glass of wine, and put on a quick swoop of mascara. Then the nervousness hits and I'm wondering if I should knock or just walk in... he knows I'm coming but is it rude to just come in? Should I change clothes so I look cuter? Or would it be weird if he saw me 10 minutes ago and I changed just to introduce myself?
After applying a little mascara, I look at myself in the mirror to make sure I'm presentable. My brown hair is in a messy bun from a long day of moving, my green eyes look tired and my face is a little red from the moving and 2 glasses of wine. I wouldn't categorize myself as beautiful, but I'm definitely not ugly. Add some mascara and I'm kinda pretty.
I look at the rest of me. I thank God that my parents made me participate in sports. My dad is some kind of manager for an NFL team. My mom is a writer, but is also a runner and blogs about running and living healthy. It's pretty convenient for them. When he needs to travel, she can take work with her.
I'm short and still in shape from years of gymnastics. Even though I quit the university's gymnastics team after 2 years to focus on school, I still have a pretty decent body. My boobs finally went up to a perky C cup after quitting and gaining a few pounds.
It's times like these when I realize that overthinking does nothing more than make me nervous and I have no reason to be nervous. These jean shorts and tie dye t-shirt will have to do for now.
I grab another glass of wine and head over. I knock so I don't come off as rude. Chris opens the door and his chocolate brown eyes light up and he gives me a hug. I'm not much of a hugging person, but I let it happen anyways. I walk in and he introduces me to Ryan, who doesn't even look up from his phone as he says hey.
Chris is cuter than I thought. His brown eyes go perfectly with his tan skin and dirty blonde hair. He gets a beer out of the fridge, pops it open and takes a big swig.
He asks Ryan if he wants one. Ryan still doesn't look up from his phone, but replies, "Yes. Please. I need alcohol."
Chris tosses him a beer and Ryan looks up to catch it, finally noticing me. His mannerisms change from quiet and irritated to completely intrigued. He stands and heads my way, "Hey, sorry I wasn't paying attention. Nice to meet you. I guess you're our new neighbor then?"
He's tall. Not as tan as Chris and his hair is very dark - almost black, but not quite. He's halfway across the room when I realize I haven't said anything back. "Uh yeah, I just moved in today." Unsure of what else to say, I take a sip of wine. And then three more because he's cute and I'm overthinking again.
Ryan comes up to me and shakes my hand, unlike the very enthusiastic hug from Chris. These two guys are very different in almost every way possible. We make small talk and it's hard for me to focus because of the mixture of wine and Ryan's beautiful eyes. I can't quite figure out if they're blue or green, but every time I almost reach a conclusion, I realize I'm in a daze and probably seem so weird just staring at him.
Ryan's phone buzzes and that gets him out of his trance. "Sorry, this girl is driving me crazy. Oh, not you. I mean Caroline. She never leaves me alone. Oh man when she finds out I have a hot neighbor she's gonna go nuts."
Chris rolls his eyes and explains to me that Caroline is Ryan's wannabe girlfriend. She has all these feelings... and she's crazy. But he just wants to get through his senior year of college without being tied down. A wave of disappointment hits me, although I have no right to be disappointed when I don't even know him enough to consider dating him.
"So y'all live here together?" I ask, hoping to make some conversation that doesn't involve Ryan's love life that I'm dying to know about... and get involved with.
"Yeah, we've been here a couple months. It's nice. We're actually having a party in a couple days. It's my 22nd birthday!" Chris is beaming with excitement. "You should come!! And bring whoever you want!! It's gonna be so fun! We'll have a keg and mixed drinks. You won't have to drink nasty wine."
Before I even realize what I'm saying, I'm agreeing to come, hoping to get to see Ryan again. As if I don't live across the hall and can see him every day. He's already staring at his phone again with a very annoyed face. I want to know more about this Caroline chick. And how to get rid of her.
I hang out with them for a while. Talking about our majors and explaining to them that I want to be a doctor, but all I do is study and I need to live more before I get to med school. We decided that I'll start living more at the party. It sounds like a good idea, but the only reason I want to even go to this party is to be around Ryan. What have I gotten myself into?
...
The next morning I get up early to go for a run. Chris is on the balcony when I get back to our building. "Hey Ali!! Wanna go to the pool? Me and Ryan are going!" That's all he needed to hear. "Yeah! Let me change and I'll be over in a minute!" I shout up to him before going upstairs in a hurry.
I put my hair up in a messy bun with the cutest bikini that I have. I want to look cute for Ryan, but don't want it to be obvious that I'm trying.
My boobs look great in this top and the bottoms accent my athletic butt just right. The dark red compliments my warm skin color and I actually feel pretty hot. I make sure my boobs have the perfect amount of cleavage before I throw on a tank top and shorts and head out the door.
They're both loading a cooler full of beer with no shirts on. I didn't think either of them could get any better looking... but seeing them shirtless has changed my mind. Chris has the perfect body of a guy that lifts weights but drinks a little too much beer. His arms are perfectly toned and definitely doesn't skip leg day. Ryan is a little skinnier to go with his taller body frame, but still very toned and has the sexy V that points straight down to his dick.
"Ali, do you want bud light or coors light?" Chris looks at me expectantly.
"Ummm, bud light is fine. I don't need to drink though."
