The shitty apartment that I had lived in during the previous eight months had finally taken its toll on me. As much as I hated looking for new housing, I knew I had to get out of my cramped, musty apartment. I knew I wouldn't find a place to live for as cheap as what I was paying, but I also I knew I could cut back on my budget to afford a nicer room farther away from my job.
College students, like myself, overrun the city I live in. There are a lot of houses, especially near the universities, that are devoted to students. These houses are not usually kept up to high living standards - they were messy and completely worn down - but they are cheap.
One of the first ads that I looked at didn't have a picture, but seemed to fit what I was looking for. It was a private bedroom in the basement of a house. The price was in my budget and it had a washer and dryer. I contacted the guy who posted the ad and set up a time to meet up and look at the place.
A few days later I headed to the house. I pulled up to the house and my potential roommate came out to greet me. He had a friendly, calm aura about him and shook my hand with a firm grip and a smile. He was a good-looking guy, standing at about 6'2, three inches shorter than me. He was fit and had a lean, toned physique. His short light brown hair peaked out of a baseball cap and he wore a t-shirt and jeans.
"Welcome to the house! My name's Alex. Good to meet you," he said.
He seemed kind and laidback and sent out good vibes. I introduced myself and we chatted for a minute about work and school. It turns out we were both taking the upcoming semester off of school, working to save money for the following school year.
"What brings you down here?" Alex asked, knowing that I was moving from a city 45 minutes away.
"I lived here for a few years, but moved to the city about 8 months ago. I don't like the city as much as I thought I would and haven't met very many people there. I'm somewhat of an introvert. I have some really good friends down here and I wanted to be closer to them again," I explained. "That, and the apartment I'm living in now is a total shithole," I added.
Alex laughed. "I'm a little bit of a recluse myself. I devote all of my social time to my girlfriend," he said.
The house was just what I wanted and I decided to move in. The house was shared between three of us: Alex and I, who lived in the basement; and the landlord, who lived upstairs.
After getting all of my things settled and arranged, I found that I liked the house even more than I expected. Alex had a friendly schnauzer, which made me feel at home, since I grew up with dogs. His girlfriend, Jessie, was nice and he was clean and friendly, so we eventually got to know one another well and began hanging out and chatting when we were both home.
A few weeks passed by and Alex and I continued to find common interests. We started hiking, biking and climbing with his girlfriend and some of my friends on a regular basis, and we would make dinner together a few times a week. We quickly became good friends and felt very comfortable around one another.
As we got to know each other better, I explained the reason for moving to the city months before. My girlfriend of a year and a half cheated on me with one of our mutual friends. I expressed how hard it was to be in the same town as them and how it was the motivating factor for moving away. They had gotten engaged a month ago and she followed him to grad school in Arizona, so I felt okay moving back.
Alex explained that he had gone through a similar experience. He had gotten married about two years ago to his high school girlfriend. After a year and a half of marriage he found out that his wife was cheating on him and they got a divorce.
As the semester went on, our friends became engrossed in school and didn't have as much time to hang out. Although we both worked, out schedules weren't regular and we rarely worked 40 hours a week. The two of us would hang out during the week and we would hang out with our friends and Alex's girlfriend on the weekends.
The weather got colder and we began hanging out indoors. I would work on art projects while Alex played the guitar or worked on sewing projects, like wallets and ties, which he sold online.
One day we were both in my room working on projects and Alex began asking me about how I handled being single.