The Ponder Point

part IV with TWO pages since i was absent last night.

i doubt anyone is reading this, but here's an extra page since i didn't put anything up last night. She didn’t get back that night until a little after midnight, a bag of cheap fast food in her hand. Studying had been a bust, just as eating at a reasonable hour had been. Judging by the strew undergarments littering the floor; Jess’ night had been considerably better than hers. _______________________________________ Nikki woke up the next morning amongst a pile of used taco bell wrappers, and a soda cup dripping onto her sheets. All she could remember was the crap chuck had pulled, her note cards, and sore shoulders. Everything else was lost amongst a flurry of colors and grease. She could hear that the coffee maker was on, and little rays of sunlight were scattered through the room. That was a very good sign, though the lack of panty’s or jockeys anywhere on the floor was even better. Maybe today something good would happen. Mitch and Jess were feeding each other breakfast in one of their nauseating displays of post (hopefully not pre) humping glows. They lived together in an on campus apartment style housing unit. Mitch was more like a permanent house guest who paid rent in, well, she didn’t really want to know. It worked okay though, she thought the guy was a skeeve, but there were worse people to have as roommates. She grabbed some of the leftover breakfast, surprised that there was any left and joined them. “Guess what we’re doing this mahnin’ Nickers,” Jess asked. “Oh come on, not you too, I haven’t had…” “We’re going apartment hunting!” She exclaimed, holding up a copy of the seven days. She had even taken the liberty of circling certain prospects. Nikki hated the fact that she was impressed by this, but god help it, she was. “We’ve looked and found a couple of great places in the west part of Burlington, and a few downtown.” “Can we afford any of these?” “That’s the great thing, we CAN! Look, they’re all in our price range, some even cheaper!” That’s what worried her. Still, she figured living in a shack beat being homeless. “Okay then, what time do you want to leave? Um, is Mitch coming too, or…?” With his tattoos, face rings and everything else she didn’t think he would make a good impression. She liked him okay enough, but this was zero hour, and sacrifices would have to be made. “Sorry, but my ever endearing and charming presence will be elsewheres todae,” She could swear he misspelled day, when he said it… no that’s just crazy. “Todae’s the big rally downtown; we’re finally going to bring Vermont’s form of environmentalism to the rest of the country.” “Overpriced organics and Birkenstock hippies?” Oh crap, she did it now! He hated being called a hippie, most hippies do. In fact, that’s the best way to determine if a person’s a hippie or not. Nikki grabbed the listings and Jess’ hand and bolted out the door as Mitch started ranting. _______________________________________________________ “That was really mean. You know how much Mitch hates the H-word.” “If he wasn’t a damn filthy hippie, I wouldn’t have called him one.” “He’s not a hippie! He’s just very passionate about the environment and” “’The capitalist infrastructure imposing it’s will on the working man and subverting him to meet its twisted needs.’” Jess gave Nikki her shut the hell up look, her gaze piercing through Nikki’s mind as though it was a thin veil. “What’s got your panty’s bunched up today?” Nikki was going to counter by pointing out that she actually wore them, when they came across the first apartment on the list. It wasn’t hard to see why the rent in this area was so low. It was the bad part of Burlington, which meant it was still more expensive than some of the best neighborhoods in Missouri. The neighborhood seemed to be in a continuous state of disrepair. The lawn was already becoming shaggy and unkempt, despite the barely being in the growing season. Old toys many of which were metal were strewn throughout the yard, already rusted and ready to cause tetanus. “Well, some new paint some tender loving care and this place would look pretty good.” Jess said this, and Nikki gave a noncommittal grunt, but neither of them really believed. Looks could be deceiving of course, they, more than anyone had known that, but saying that this place looked like crap would be a drastic understatement. Cautiously, they knocked on the door, unsure of what to expect. Would the inside be as horrific as the outside, where they could now see mice emerging from a crack in the corner of the building? A woman emerged from inside, brandishing a smile both of them immediately thought of as fake as a college term paper. “Are you two the girls who called about the apartment?” She spread her smile to the far corners of her face, and gestured them in. “Boy, no wonder there are so many abstract painters in this part of town,” Nikki mused. “Picasso would have loved her; either that or he would have sued her for copyright infringement.” She chuckled at her joke as they followed the woman upstairs. “What’s gotten into you nick… Nikki? This isn’t like you, well, it is, but usually it’s spread out over a more manageable timeframe.” Nikki was going to take the bait and fight, she wanted to in fact. They were both the type to fight, just for different reasons. Jess was oft described, usually by herself, as more of a lover than a fighter, and the thin walls sadly would test to that. “We need to make sure the walls here are thicker than the old place,” Nikki announced, the thought suddenly popping into her head. She still felt like fighting, but felt even more like a nap. While a good argument, or even what her mother tactfully called “bitch-fests” were a wonderful source of entertainment, now they just seemed tiresome. “Here we are apartment 42. It’s a cozy little space, perfect for the college student on a budget. It’s wonderfully ventilated, no need for air conditioning in the summer, a bit chilly in the winter, but you’ll be moving back into campus then anyway. Pets are allowed, even recommended, and the city noise is completely drowned out.” They went in, and their mouth’s dropped ever so slightly.

Posted at 11:47PM Jun 19, 2008 by taylor.poro in General  |  Comments[0]