"Christ, Kayla, I've lived in my apartment here for a year," I huffed. "I've lived in the Bay Area since I was 10, so I've been here eight years, and I've taken trips to the city, like, twice a month. And yet, I will never, ever get used to the hills of San Francisco."
"Ugh, Alana, please don't talk to me, I need to save my breath." My friend Kayla groaned behind me. Kayla was coming over to stay with me for the first week of summer and decided to take the BART from the airport instead of letting me pick her up. Unfortunately for the both of us, the nearest stop was at the bottom of the hill my apartment was on. Normally, it would be a breeze, for me to go down and meet her there and walk back up, but I didn't know how much crap she brought with her.
"Kay, why the hell did you bring so much shit with you? There's a Ross and like five thousand cheap stores you can buy stuff from in the city."
"It's not a bunch of shit, Al. That bag," Kayla pointed to the one in my right hand. "Has all my interior design books. That one," She pointed to the rolling suitcase in my left hand. "Has my night clothes, ya know, all night activities from sleeping to late night adventures. And the one around you is my computer bag."
"Night clothes? Whatever, what the hell are you carrying then?"
"My design tools and day clothes."
"Wow."
"Shut up, Al and let me walk."
I laughed and kept walking. Kayla was attending a design school in Santa Barbara and was studying to be an interior designer. Not only was she visiting San Francisco to see me, but also to get a feel of the types of style urban communities tended to have, so I understood while she had her design stuff but day and night clothes? Kayla was just too weird.
I chuckled to myself turning off to the side and dragged myself and Kayla's bags up the small set of stairs to the front of my apartment building. "Come on, Kay, get your ass up here so I can show you the code to get in."
***
"So this is your room, and I'm right across the hall." I said, dropping Kayla's stuff on the floor and waving my arms around one of the guest bedrooms. "So if you need anything, it's probably in the kitchen or something so don't make too much noise and disturb me."
"Haha, very funny, Al." Kayla glared at me before throwing herself on the futon.
"I try, I try, Kay." I chuckled, raising my hands and backing out of the room. "Hey so I gotta run down to the Institute and pick up some more canvas, so I'll be back in a little, okay?"
"Okay." Kayla started giggling hysterically and it took me a moment to understand why.
"Really. The Fault in Our Stars, Kayla? Your humor pains me." I smirked, setting her up for yet another reference.
"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt." Another burst of giggles.
I rolled my eyes and turned into my hallway and walked towards the door. I opened the door and called over my shoulder, "I don't see what's so funny!"
The giggles came to an abrupt halt. "Hey! Was that supposed to be a pun about Isaac? 'Cause that's not-"
I slammed the door and ran down the stairs and out the apartment building's entrance, making my way to the Art Institute.
***
I clutched the canvases tightly to my side as I let myself out the front entrance of the Institute. I stood on the curb, looking both ways for oncoming traffic. Seeing none, I ran across the street, the fact that I hardly ever used the crosswalks anymore drifting through my mind. I stopped on the other side and looked back, admiring the campus.
