the fourth roommate » alex ernst

THE REVELATION

Mason was nervous, to say the least. Living with three assumably gorgeous LA girls would be intimidating to anyone, especially a nineteen year old Georgia girl who felt beyond lost and ended up in LA without knowing how to be her own person.

She woke up at 7:30 so she could take her time getting ready, even though she knew she wouldn't ever look amazing getting ready in a motel room with large bugs in the drain and a cracked mirror. Still, she did her best to brush her hair straight and apply a thin layer of makeup. She never really had major skin problems, a break out or two once a month, but her under eye bags since moving had darkened dramatically.

She was overall a very pretty girl, which she believed is why she got signed so fast when she moved to LA. Her skin was tanned from the hot Georgia sun and her hair was light and long like she had stolen it straight from Rapunzel's head. She was thin, thanks to her father's metabolism and her dog walking service back home. She never doubted her beauty, but that almost made her more insecure about what she believed was a lack of personality, which she attempted to make up for by being the most peppy person you could meet.

When Mason was finished getting ready, she took a deep breath and sat down, praying that the girls were nice and normal and the bedrooms were big enough to share. The rent was the cheapest she had found that wasn't in the ghetto, so she was praying these girls would like her.

The apartment was maybe a five minute walk from her motel, so she gathered a small purse with her phone, room key, and other small items like Midol and chapstick and closed the door behind her. She gave herself a peptalk the whole way there, even going as far to talk to her blurry reflection in the elevator door on the way up to the sixth floor. She wanted to look nice, normal, and like she could pay the rent. Alex had gotten back to her the morning after she sent the email, so she assumed there was a bit of desperation behind them that gave her a better chance of being chosen.

She knocked on the blue door, fixing the checkered romper when it suddenly swung open. A man with pink hair greeted her.

"Uh, hi, I'm looking for Alex Ernst? Are you her boyfriend? Am I at the right apartment?"

The man's jaw dropped, and suddenly he began to laugh.

"Alex, dude, we've got a fucking problem."