Back Home, To You

Chapter One

"Can I stop the flow of time? Can I swim in your divine? 'Cause I don't I'd ever leave this place. Oh, turn the lights, turn the lights down low. Yeah, now I'm feelin you breathin slow,"

- MAX, Lights Down Low

"Whaaaat?" 

Farrah glanced at Alison's troubled and worried face and sighed, nodding. "I know, I know," Farrah grumbled, laying her head down on the table. "She left me a note, though, so I guess it's a good thing that she didn't forget about me,"

"Well, what did the note say? My poor, darling, loving daughter of mine. I'm so sorry that I couldn't take you with me, but I didn't want to trouble you any longer with these very harsh punishments of mine, so I'm taking off and hopefully the debt follows me?" Alison joked. Farrah chuckled a bit.

"No. It said, I'll regret it, but goodbye," Farrah replied, shrugging. 

"That's it?" Alison cocked an eyebrow, writing down the notes the professor was rambling on about. Farrah nodded. "So, what are you going to do? You can live at my place if you want. Although, my parents kinda hate you..."

"I don't want to trouble you, Ali, so I searched up online if anyone needed any roommates and I looked at every bulletin board that I could find for fliers and I ended up finding this--" Farrah took a piece of paper out of her purse and set it in front of Alison who analyzed it through and through. 

"Well, it doesn't look all that suspicious, so I guess it's safe," Alison muttered still analyzing it. "When are you going to go to... Underwood Avenue 38150?"

Farrah took the paper and stuffed it in her bag. "Um, after class," she decided on the spot. "Hopefully, the owner decided that none of the other candidates were good enough. I'd have to pay for half the bills, so that won't be a problem, I have about ten grand in my bank right now. I could've used that money to buy a nice apartment, but student loans are a pain in the ass," 

"When will you be going back to work?" Alison asked. 

"In a week or so. Miss Rodriguez was kind enough to give me about a month to cope, but I don't need that much especially when she's still paying me. I'm actually fine right now," Farrah smiled. Alison grinned back, showing her pearly whites.

"You know, you're pretty cool, Fae," she said. "You haven't complained one bit ever since your mom left,"

"No, I don't think I'm cool at all. Just levelheaded," Farrah chuckled, softly. 

"Whatever," Alison shrugged, returning to the lecture. 

Finally, after class ended, Farrah packed up her stuff and waved goodbye to Alison while walking out of the room. Eventually, she ended up catching a cab within twenty minutes of attempting to do so. "Excuse me, but could you take me to Underwood Avenue... Um--" Farrah checked the paper-- "38150?" 

"Will do, ma'am," the taxi driver smiled, nodding his head. 

"Please and thank you," she smiled. 

It took about fifteen minutes before Farrah arrived at her destination. "How much will it cost?" Farrah asked, flipping through her wallet. The taxi driver held up ten of his fingers and Farrah set ten dollars into his palm. 

"Thank you, ma'am," he nodded at her as she walked out, then drove off. Farrah turned around and looked at the house. It was a basic, everyday, one story house. She let out a long breath and walked up the stairs, clutching onto her purse like it depended on her life. 

Her fist lingered inches away from the door, ready to knock and when she finally built up the courage, the door slammed right open and two men who appeared to be fighting stood in the doorway. Farrah let out a startled screech causing the men to look at her. One seemed to be covered in paint as if someone had spilled it on him and the other looked nothing but scared and terrified. 

The paint-covered man, let go of the scared guy's collar and studied Farrah for a few seconds. "You lost or somethin'?" he asked, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms. The other man let out a sigh of relief and began to tiptoe away until paint man grabbed his collar and pulled him back. 

"U-um, no, I-I-I'm not lost," Farrah muttered, nervously. 

"Then what are you here for? I don't wanna buy your cookies, I don't want to pay for any kind of charity at the moment, and I definitely don't want to look at your works," paint man bluntly stated. Farrah shook her head no. My... works?

"No, no, no, I'm n-not here for that..." Farrah said, unable to meet eye contact mainly because he was covered in paint and the fact that she could barely see his face or read his features. "I'm actually here because of the flier about the roommate thing..."

"Oh, that," paint man mumbled, suspiciously eyeing Farrah through and through. She fumbled with the strap of her purse and squirmed in his presence. The paint man stood aside and Farrah took this a cue to step in. "I'll show you to your room,"

The other guy's scared features converted to happiness and he smiled at Farrah, giving her a thumbs up as if saying good luck. Farrah nodded at him in acknowledgment as she followed the paint man down the hallway.

"What's your name?" he asked, not even looking at her. Instead, he jammed his hands into his joggers pants and continued walking. 

"Farrah Andres," she replied. 

"Kai," the paint man named himself. Suddenly, he stopped at a room and opened the door. "This is your room. In the morning, I usually wake up around ten. Do you work? Go to school? Cook? What are you majoring in? How old are you?"

"Woah, Kai, go easy on the girl, she might run away if you keep bombarding her with questions," the other guy chuckled, walking toward them. 

"Shut up, Aaron," 

"So cold," Aaron muttered painfully, clutching his chest dramatically. 

"I do work. I work at Brew and Chew as a waitress. I usually work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays for about five to eight hours. I go to the local community college and I'm aspiring to become an author, so I'm majoring in writing. I do cook, I enjoy cooking and I won't mind cooking breakfast for us every morning and I'm nineteen," Farrah said, breathlessly. 

"Breakfast? Every morning?!" Aaron leaped up and down in excitement. "Kai, Kai, can I come here every morning, too? I'd love it if a cute girl cooked me breakfast!" Farrah blushed, but the two were unable to notice. 

"No, you're annoying," Kai replied in monotone, walking away.

"B-But, I thought we were friends!" Aaron grabbed Kai's arm. 

"No, let go of me, I don't know you!" Kai struggled to get out of Aaron's grip. 

Farrah smiled at the two of them. Opposites, yet best friends. Kai finally got free and he marched into his room, Farrah assumed. Aaron turned to Farrah. "Hey, there, I'm Aaron," he smiled, taking her hand and kissing it. 

"Farrah," she muttered, flushing red. 

"You're not really used to guys sweet-talking you, are you?" Aaron chuckled. 

"N-not really," Farrah let out a nervous laugh. 

"Anyway, whatever," Aaron shrugged, putting his hands in his hoodie pockets and leaning against the wall. "Listen--" he mumbled-- "Kai may seem like a cruel, emotionless, melancholy, mean, rude, dismissive--"

"Shut the hell up," Kai said from his room.

"--but he's a good guy, 'kay?" Aaron nodded, determined with his answer. Farrah nodded and waved goodbye when Aaron decided to leave the house. She entered her room and looked around. 

It was a pretty simple room with yellow wallpaper, a single-person bed near a large window, a tall dresser, a full-body mirror, and a small closet. Farrah smiled, sitting down on the bed and rolling around in it. It might not be home, but it's better than nothing, right?