The Red Lounge

Chapter 4

The banker at the bank looked at me with judgement and suspicion. I understood that it wasn't normal for a 17 year old to open an account and depoist over a thousand dollars in a day, but I could do without the awkward stare.

Once she handed me the receipt, I ran out and headed to the Starbucks at GWU. They had a bulletin board full of advertisements for businesses, jobs, and rooms. A lot of the rooms had certain restrictions such as age, gender, job salary, having no guests over, quiet hours, and more. I needed something that was flexible in all departments just in case things didn't go as expected.

I lifted up one of the flyers and saw another room posting underneath it. It didn't give much information just that they were looking for a female in the GWU area who could afford $500/month. That was an unbelievably cheap price for a place in DC.

I pulled out my cheap smartphone and called the number. It rang a few times and right when I thought it was going straight to voicemail, someone answered.

"Hello!" The girl chirped.

"Oh, hi! My name is Morena and I'm calling about the room for rent. Is it still available?"

"Oh my God, yes! I've been waiting for someone to call! You can have it!"

I was a bit suspicious about the girl considering she didnt know anything about me and handed me the room. "Okay...um great! When can I stop by to see the place?"

"Now, if you have time! I'll text you the address!"

"Alright, sounds good!"

One second the call ended and the next second I received a text from the same number. This girl must have been really desperate to look for a roommate, that or I was about to be kidnapped but I'm really hoping for the former.

The apartment was a five minute walk from GWU which was ideal since I would be walking to class since I didn't have a car. I climbed up the flight of stairs and knocked on the first door on the left.

The door flung wide open and a girl around my age stood in front of me. "Hi! You must be Morena! I'm Pia!" She went in for a big hug and brought me into the apartment.

"Okay, so this is the living room and the dining room." The walls were a light grey color and the living room was furnished with a dark grey two piece sectional sofa, a black coffee table with a plant on it, and a massive TV.

The dining room was small but the modern pub table set fit in it perfectly. The place so far was amazing and I couldn't believe that I only had to pay $500 a month. There had to be a catch.

"This place is awesome, but is there a catch or something?"

Pia looked at me with her confused hazel eyes. "Umm, no?"

I shrugged. "Its just too nice for $500 a month."

She waved at me dismissively. "It's not a big deal. This used to be my parents place but they gave it to me since I'm going to school. I mean, I have to pay a thousand a month and they'll pay the rest. Though, I'm not ready to put down a thousand a month so I decided to cut the bill and get a roommate." She flashed a smile. "And they also refurnished the place to my liking!"

This girl was fortunate that she had loving parents that cared for her well being. They were teaching responsibility by having her pay for some of the rent but also offered a helping hand. A felt a bit envious but it subsided since we all have to go through our own paths of struggle and journey.

"Alright, let me show you your room now." She  led me down the hallway and into a white semi-furnished room. It had a bed with a frame on it and a grey dressing table. "Yeah so, this is your room. I placed some furniture in there, courtesy of me, but if you don't want the dresser you can just tell me. There's also some more space to add a desk or something."