Below freezing tonight. Third time this week. I closed my weather app, pulled on a sweater, and put on water for tea. This old house doesn't hold heat worth a damn. At least we're only here for another month of our six-month lease. No more leaky sink, no more weird stained rug, no more shitty front door that doesn't even sit right in the frame. And our new place isn't in a fucking meth head neighborhood either. I'm only exaggerating a little bit. Cheap rent isn’t worth this.
The light in the bathroom I shared with my roommate Lillie clicked on—it showed under the door because, would you believe it, that one doesn't fit either. I heard her moving around and then the toilet flushing. The landlord won't fix the god damn door; probably doesn't think it's worth it since we're moving out soon anyway. Good luck finding someone else who wants this shithole of a place. The kitchen is tiny, basically just a two-eye gas stove and a refrigerator. No dishwasher, no oven. No cabinets, just a long shelf running halfway around the room so high up that Lillie, in all her 5'3" glory, can't even reach it. The window over the sink doesn't seal right, and more cold air comes in that way. No living room to speak of, and two bedrooms connected by a bathroom complete with mildew-stained tile. Why it was deemed deserving of being a freestanding structure, I'll never know. Even in this neighborhood.
Something clattered loudly to the floor of the bathroom and I heard Lillie make a deep, grumpy huff. It was a constant laser maze, trying to maneuver in that tiny-ass space without knocking something over. There was some shuffling as she put back whatever had fallen, then the light creeping under my door clicked off and I heard the whine of hinges as Lillie went back into her room. A few moments later, my phone buzzed, and Lillie's chat bubble popped up.
11:21 pm
Can you leave the kitchen tap running tonight? We can't have the pipes freezing again
I heaved myself off my bed, disgruntled. Come on, Lillie, do it yourself. You're technically closer to the kitchen anyway.
The tile was cold under my bare feet as I left my room and pattered towards the kitchen. I realized, with a slight start, that the front door was unlocked. Had I done that? The doorknob wiggled loosely in its housing as I turned the button. Oh, for fuck's sake. That's new. At least a loose doorknob was something I could fix myself. The bathroom doorknob had come off a couple weeks ago, and all it took was tightening the screws up. This one was significantly more ominous though, considering the locale we were in.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out—another message from Lillie.
I opened my texts, and suddenly, somewhere, a switch in my brain flipped from mild annoyance to panic. The phone slid from my fingers and dropped to the floor.
11:24 pm
I'm over at Alex's place tonight, don't wait up
Submitted January 19, 2018 at 11:52PM by bluelazurite http://ift.tt/2FVz1jd nosleep
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