Somewhere Else

Chapter 12: Try (ii)

"You can stay with me until you find a place," Priscilla tells me two days later.

It's my first day back at class, after making it back to Helsinki. The day before, I'd managed to get a place at an AirBnB in the Kallio district – not the best option, considering that the cost per night is too high for a tiny studio apartment in which two of the light bulbs don't work. I've only been there a night, and I'm already tired of going around the apartment with only the light from my phone during sunset hours.

Even so, it's better than being homeless. I've said as much to Priscilla and the gang, after telling them nothing more than the fact that I've moved out of my original apartment. There had been a silence while they must've filled in the blanks in their heads. Then Priscilla came out with her offer.

It takes me by surprise. As I blink at her, my mouth half-open, my mind working furiously to catch up with current events, Priscilla laughs at my befuddled expression.

"It's not a big deal," she says. "It'll be like an extended sleepover! How fun would that be?"

"But..." I am still trying to process this turn the conversation has taken. It was one thing to crash at Tatiana's, but another entirely to impose on Priscilla. I've been friends with Tatiana for over two years now. I don't even know Priscilla that well. "I don't want to be a bother."

"Oh, come on!" Priscilla blows out an exasperated breath of air. "You won't be a bother. I have the whole apartment to myself and there's plenty of space."

"Someone's rich," Ludo comments dryly.

Priscilla shoots him a glare, fixing her hands on her hips. "It's a studio apartment, not a mansion."

Ludo shrugs. "I rent an apartment with four other people. Living alone is a luxury to me."

Grimacing, Priscilla turns her attention back on me. "What do you say, Emi? It's better than wasting money on that hovel that doesn't even have working lights, right?"

"That's true," I finally concede. "But are you sure it's okay? Will your landlord agree to it?"

She shrugs. "I'll text him to ask, but it should be fine as long as I pay the rent on time. He doesn't really care about much else."

"I'll pay for it if he asks for extra," I'm quick to assert. "I don't want to put you out more than you already are."

Priscilla huffs. "How many times do I need to tell you, it's no trouble at all. That's what friends are for. Now, have you paid for your AirBnB or can you still back out of it?"

"I've paid for a week's stay, and I don't think I can get a refund. But it's okay. I'll stay till the end of the week before moving to yours."

"Ask for a refund!" Zuzi interjects. "You shouldn't be staying somewhere where the lights don't even work. They should've given you a refund anyway."

Ludo is nodding, too. Frederik, loathe to agree with anything Zuzi says, twists his lips and shrugs.

"Why not contact them and see if you can get refunded if you move out immediately?" Priscilla says. "I'll text my landlord now."

This is moving all too fast for me, but they're only trying to help, so I smile and acquiesce. "I'll text to ask later," I promise, even though I'm not entirely sure I will be doing such a thing.

It hadn't crossed my mind to ask for a refund at all. I haven't met the owner of the apartment face-to-face – she left the key for me at a bar next door, where I went to pick it up – and I have no desire to potentially get into a disagreement with her. If keeping the peace means not getting my payment back, so be it. I can even stay in the dark for the rest of the week, if it comes down to it.