the fourth roommate » alex ernst

FOUR

"So, your first night in the apartment, let's fucking party," Dom said after we had all settled in the living room, except David who went to Liza's. He once again slid a bong towards me, which I politely declined.

After we got my bags from the hotel, David drove us to Target so I could pick out some groceries for myself. I bought a lot, mainly because I liked cooking and needed to save money for rent. We went from Target back to the apartment where I unpacked my food and placed it in my very own cabinet, which made me feel special.

Before David left, he mentioned calling the moving people. Apparently they had a fourth roommate before me and they had two full beds in a storage room somewhere. David just had to find time to get the beds swapped. Until then, I was going to sleep on the couch. God, please don't let these boys be rapists.

"I don't smoke," I smiled, pushing the bong back towards him. "I prefer to get high off life."

"What a pussy," Alex made fun of me, and I turned my head to glare at him. I knew he was joking, but that wasn't what I made him think.

"Sorry I'm not throwing my life away by getting drunk and high whenever possible, but I'm not that stupid," I kept a straight face and spit the words out with as much anger as possible, effectively silencing the boys who had no idea what to do. They sat for a solid ten seconds, staring straight forward silently, before I broke and started giggling. "I'm kidding, do whatever you want. I just don't like to smoke."

"That was fucking scary," Dom looked shocked but he was laughing along with me. "I thought we had a problem on our hands."

"No, I mean you guys are adults, I can't influence anything," I shrugged because it was true. Obviously finding one of my roommates shooting up heroine would be a bit more troubling, but weed and alcohol weren't that serious to me. I went to some parties in high school, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

"Do you want to watch something?" Dom and Alex were sitting on one half of the couch and I was laying on the other, not paying attention, so I didn't even know they were talking to me until the remote hit me directly between the eyes.

"Ow!" I yelled and for some reason, my hand immediately came up to smack myself right where the remote hit which only made the pain worse. "Holy shit."

"I'm so sorry," Alex laughed, leaning to the side and rubbing my head. Luckily, my head was in the corner of the L, so he barely had to move to comfort me.

"What were you even going for? Do I look athletic to you?" I motioned to my body, which, while toned, was fairly tiny and lanky and not like I had a good catching hand.

"I'm sorry," they were both laughing like idiots while I turned the television to one of my favorite shows, Ghost Adventures. I loved scaring myself shitless before bed, even though it was the worst thing I could possibly do to myself.

"Is this okay?"

"Mason, you live here. Pick whatever the fuck you want," Alex reassured me, although I still felt like I was just a guest in this house. My bags were sitting in David's room solely because there was nowhere else to put them, and the only thing that made it seem like I lived here was my cabinet in the kitchen. I didn't even have a key to the apartment yet; Dom said he would have one made the next day.

"If you guys want to watch something else—"

"Mason!" Alex yelled and I flinched, nearly flopping off the couch before catching myself. "Pick whatever you want."

"Okay," I sighed, dropping the remote on the small white table and listening in on Zak was saying. I found this show, and anything else paranormal or horror related, super interesting. I noticed that Alex's hand didn't leave my forehead, but I didn't make anything of it. Maybe he forgot or his hand was cold.