The Roommate

4

When I arrived home the next day I'd completely forgotten about Chase's little 'arrangement'. I walked in the door ready to crash on the couch while eating ice cream and watching movies when he ran up to me. "I'm so glad your home!" He said giddily.

"Don't you have a job?" I asked wearily putting my bag down, his energy was literally exhausting right now. I guess I'd just been living alone for way too long.

"Yea, but I didn't have work today because I asked for a few days off to move! Now are you ready for a night of complete freedom?" He asked me.

"Uh.. Oh yea, I forgot about that." I yawned.

He gave me a shove, "Go get changed!" He urged.

I slowly walked into my room putting on a tank top with little foxes on it and black shorts walking back out to see him standing there with his car keys. I was still a little groggy from a long day of work as he nearly dragged me to the parking lot in front of our apartment. I gaped to see a motorcycle where a car should have been.

"You've got a motorcycle?" I asked shakily.

"Yup!" He saw the worry on my face, "I'm a careful driver, it'll be okay!"

He handed me a helmet and I put it on, "First you need coffee because you're not going to fall asleep on me!"

And so he sped off, I grabbed him around his torso scared out of my mind. The thing went so fast, and my hair was blowing every which way. I'd never ridden a motorcycle before, my parents forbid it. But they weren't in charge anymore...

So he drove me to a coffee shop ordering me the strongest thing they had, he let me finish it inside before going back out to the motorcycle. It took a moment for the buzz to kick in, and I lifted a hand up into the air hollering at the top of my lungs, filled with a type of excitement I didn't even know I possessed I leaned my head on his shoulder laughing, and I heard Chase laughing too. He had yet to see this side of me, and I hadn't seen it much either. Things hadn't been looking so great for me having almost no friends or social life since I'd moved.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"You'll see." He grinned.

He made me cover my eyes as he guided me into a store. The first thing I noticed was how muggy it was inside. I kept asking him where we were, but he wouldn't tell me. He just kept saying for me to have an open mind, and I tried to. He removed his hands from my eyes, and I immediately turned to leave, but he held me back. "You want to rebel against your parents don't you?" He reminded me.

This changed my mind as I allowed him to slowly get me to sit in the chair. He was talking to the guy he obviously knew, I guess he'd done this before. Wasn't this kind of thing supposed to hurt? When the guy left to leave me to my decision Chase knelt down next to me sensing my reluctance to this decision.

"It is possible to have them removed." He added.

"What should I get? I want it on my wrist!" I said.

He helped me decide which tattoo to get, glad I was agreeing. Finally we agreed on a crescent moon to go on my right ankle. He called the guy, who's name was Jacob, back to the seat. "Ready?" He asked grinning.

I nodded biting my lip nervously. I was still uneasy about this, but how bad could it be? I just couldn't wait for my parents to visit and see all the stuff I can do without them. Chase held out his hand and even though I hardly knew him I gratefully took it. I yelped in pain squeezing his hand, and it was over before I knew it. It wasn't a very complex tattoo so it didn't last very long.

I was glad I'd done it though, as we left the shop I was admiring it. Chase led me back to the motorcycle snickering at me, "Okay what's next?" I asked eagerly, the caffeine buzz still going.

"You'll see."

He was full of surprises. He took me laser tagging (which wasn't something rebellious, but it was still fun), and then he took me to some sort of dance club. "I'm not dressed for this-" I began to say.

"I'm not either!"

We walked in to hear pumping music and he grabbed my hand spinning me around on the dance floor dancing like a complete dork. I was almost embarrassed to be with him. He ordered us both drinks, and we drank until we were a little dizzy before deciding to make our way to the next activity before we made ourselves completely drunk.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom! I'll be back!" Chase called as he walked towards the back.

I nodded and just kept dancing. Some guy came up behind me dancing on me from behind, I just kind of let it happen since I was supposed to not give a fuck tonight. Well at least that's what Chase had said... I hardly noticed what was happening as I was being dragged away by Chase out the front door of the club. I was bouncing with excitement until I saw his pissed face. I was a bit confused.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"No! Why were you acting slutty with that guy?"

"You told me I should just do whatever!"

"Yea but-" He stopped, "Whatever I don't care."

I shrugged as we got back on the bike, "He wasn't cute or anything. I didn't even see his face." I added.

"He looked like a troll." Chase spat, and then he looked over at me. We burst out laughing. "Okay lets call it a night, we can do the other stuff later."

"What other stuff?" I asked.

"You'll have to see. I have a list." He beamed.

If I thought tonight was crazy, I was in for a big surprise and I knew it. He sped me home and we stood on the balcony in front of our apartment door for a while looking at the view in front of us, the stars were actually visible in the sky tonight which scarcely happened. He opened a pack of cigarettes pushing it towards me. I shook my head, and he gave me a look. I sighed taking one knowing this was apart of the plan. I watched him light it placing it between his lips.

"You're going to die." I said allowing him to light mine.

"I don't care." He shrugged, "We're all going to die eventually, I don't give a shit how long I live." I breathed in instantly feeling my lungs clogged with smoke. I began coughing uncontrollably. He laughed patting my back sympathetically. As I recovered from the shock he said, "This your first cigarette?" I could only nod before repeating my previous action, but this time it wasn't as bad. I got used to it after a while.

Finally we went back inside and I said goodnight to him, but he grabbed me pulling me back. "You know there is one last crazy thing we could do before we go to bed-"

"No." I snapped knowing what he was implying.

But he just chuckled, "It was a joke Emerson." He assured me turning his back pulling the couch out.

I let out a frustrated puff of air turning around and storming back to my room. I changed into my pajamas crawling into bed, but I kept staring at the moon tattoo on my ankle thinking about the night I'd just had. It was pretty amazing actually, I'd never been so reckless in my life even if it wasn't much. I'm sure people in my age group did stuff like that every night, it's just my parents had always been strict. I'd never dreamed of riding motorcycles, dancing with strangers, and violating my own body like I had. I kind of liked it. I wanted to be crazy for once. Why couldn't I just not care all the time?