They weren't neighbors as children, scurrying to each others houses to ask if the other could come out and play. They weren't friends in junior high, or high school, in fact during that time, they didn't even live in the same state or timezone. No, it took until their first year, or more narrowly, their 3rd day at Kentucky University for Heather and Michelle to meet.
They had each been studying, the cover of Cosmo not their chemistry text book, under the shade of a large leafy tree, one that seemed at odds with the painfully overly modern buildings that littered the KU Campus. There, as they each sat, a conversation between the two began. A conversation about nothing of note or substance, but one that carried them nonetheless to becoming each others closest friends - 'BFF' with hearts, they labeled each other in their phones.
In a manner befitting such prestigious titles, they went together to movies; bars; line dancing; parties; bull-riding; and every other activity that could be done in a state like Kentucky. They were inseparable, truly. So much so, that they together came to the conclusion, wise or not, that if they were always bouncing from one's dorm room to the other's, why shouldn't they just rent a place off campus together? After all, they figured, such a move would help them save time, help them study together more easily, and would allow each of them to enjoy each others company, without break or barrier.
With such motivations the two set off and found a small apartment above a busy little restaurant on Cheapside Avenue, in Lexington. It was a single bedroom, which seemed like an issue at first, but when they found they could afford no bigger and no better, they decided to just pull the trigger, and sign the lease. What could be so bad about sharing a bed with your best friend, they thought, as each pressed an overly inky pen to paper. But even as they signed, they knew, that meager though the apartment was, it was not one they could actually afford. But, as Scarlett O'Hara used to say, they'd 'worry about that tomorrow'.
But, as they oft do, tomorrow came, and when it did, the two needed to find an answer to the gnawing question of how they would cure their lack of funds. To each of them the solution came in a blink: they would get part-time jobs, and together that way, make up the difference of the added expense that came with their BFF flat. Such a search was quick, and required them only to walk downstairs, as each found jobs waiting for them at the restaurant beneath their apartment, The Cheapside Bar & Grill.
One paycheck after another came home with them, as the weeks passed, and though they could pay the rent and utilities, their apartment was left near empty. In fact, their furniture consisted of electricity cord spools for tables, milk crates for seats, wood pallet bookshelves, and whatever other cheap-to-free ideas they could find on Pinterest. But eventually, even in their excitement for having found a way to spend more time with each other, Heather and Michelle grew tired of living so penniless.
Just as before, the solution was simple: work more, study less, get less sleep. As before, their solution worked, for a time, leaving each tired: yes, but more comfortable, as their apartment began to fill with furniture they loved and decor that spoke to them as like-minded girls. But with the comfort of furniture, came a desire for better food, and nicer clothes - new cell phones, and a car that they could share to get around Lexington's strange mix of forced rural areas, and almost unwanted urban centers. Such desires they fought off for awhile, dealing with what little they had, but eventually, they were each overcome, deciding in their wisdom, to take a year off from the university to save up money and improve their lot in life.
Work then consumed them, as each found a second job, while working longer hours at each. Eventually, not only one semester had passed but two, and the girls found that nearly 14 hours of their everyday were being spent playing the role of waitress, at restaurants across town. To add to their fatigue, they had together made the commitment to go to the gym after their back-to-back shifts, leaving them near dead when they reached home, each night at around 8:00 PM.
Such a simultaneous arrival at home was intentional, as each wanted to carve out that time for each other. After all, that was why they rented the apartment in the first case - to spend more time together. But as day turned to night and back again - as weeks turned to months, and then months to years, such moments with each other became less and less desirable, as bitterness began to seep into their hearts. Bitterness over anything and everything, but driven and stoked by the fact that each blamed the other for their mutual decision to drop out of college. It was on one particular night, that all said tensions flared, and the title of BFF was truly put to the test.
It was a night like every other they had been living for more than 700 days: work, work, work, work, gym, home. But home, felt like hell, as it was filthy, disorganized, and littered with the signs of the others failings as a roommate. For so very long each muzzled their complaints, and tried to ignore what irked them - what drove them absolutely insane about the other. But finally, after having worked themselves to the point of utter and complete exhaustion, then after traveling past that point by miles, that finally, Heather let loose what was on her mind.
"Uh, I thought you were going to do the dishes last night?" Heather asked from the living room attached kitchen, in a voice clothed and carried by a barely restrained rage.
"I was going to, and then I noticed that they were all YOURS, so..." A short explanation, but one that made clear that Michelle would not be apologizing, it having been spoken from the couch.
"It doesn't matter whose dishes they were, it was YOUR job to do them, Michelle." As she spoke, Heather turned from the sink which was overflowing with dishes, and began to lean on the counter nearest her roommate: "And, half of those are yours! I don't remember eating Coco Puffs, or Ramen - and these forks that are covered in FUNGUS NOW, are yours from a week ago!" Emphatically, did the brunette speak, her outfit the exact same as Michelle's, a bright blue Kentucky University hoodie, with form fitting black leggings, and gray socks, they both having just come home from the gym.
"If you want them done that badly, do them your fucking self! I'm tired, my body hurts, and I am not getting off this couch." Having made her stance known, Michelle tried to pretend that she was listening to the news she had on the TV, turning it up, despite their ongoing conversation.
"Oh no, you're going to get up and do these dishes, right goddamn now. I don't care how tired you are, I am tired too!" Demanded Heather, as her hands raised up off the counter and began to ball, though not intentionally so. "And I just ... I can't live like this..." The brunette's voice frayed at her last speaking, her eyes closing as she suddenly realized how much she hated her life with Michelle.