LivingTogether Chapter 3

~Sam~

The bus you were riding faintly smells of squash. You thought it was a strange smell, but you sort of liked it. You didn’t dare tell anyone that, though. You sat in a bus seat with faded colors that seemed to be dragged out from the 90’s. The horrible, horrible pit of the 90’s. Your suitcase sat in front of you, wanting to roll to the back of the bus. You held onto it loosely with one hand. To your right was a rather sharp, slick man, fixed in a very loose position.  His hefty bag was leaning on his leg. His presence made the atmosphere just feel… cool. You felt slightly cooler yourself.

On the other hand, a man that was slightly shorter than you sat on your right. His arms were crossed and he was scowling in no particular direction. His brown hair almost covered his eyes completely. His bag kept falling over, so in a very frustrated manner he uncrossed his arms and threw the bag beneath his seat. He returned to his irked position. You wondered what could be bothering him. You turned to him slightly.

“Jett, what’s the matter?” you question, curious.

He glanced in your direction, arms still crossed. “I’m really fucking tired. I haven’t gotten any sleep since this stupid house thing came into question. I just sort of got pushed into it,”

“What do you mean?” you said, puzzled. It wasn’t something that was forced. You were
really confused.

“Look, who’s gonna get a job and support us all? I mean, I’m the only one that’s taken that into question. I’ve been looking for a job all night on my phone and my eyes feel like they’re gonna fall out,” He sighed, loosened up a little bit, and turned to you.
“Sorry. I’m just stressed.”

You slap him on the back and laugh. “It’s all cool, dude! We’ll figure it out eventually.” You smiled big at him. He bore a small grin back, but his eyes said something else. You turned to your right and tightened your grip on your bag as the bus swayed with the wide turn it took. A tumbling noise sounded behind you, following by some crude language.

“Vexed, how are you doing?”

“I’m feeling pretty cool, man. How are you?” he replied comfortably.

“I’m super excited! I can’t wait to meet everyone.”

“Hey, same here. Everyone is so chill,” He sort of leaned forward and looked past you. He was looking at Jett, who was struggling with his bag and cursing repetitively. He leaned back in his seat and whispered “Except maybe him. Looks like he’s having a pretty uncool time over there.”

Jett was standing with his bag in his hand when he turned to Vexed and glared at him. “I heard that. You’re not the one with a huge-ass bag. Listen here, I’ve been under a lot of stress and—” The bus came to an abrupt stop, causing Jett to stumble and stagger. He caught his balance by flailing his arms about and latching onto your shoulder. You look over at him and say, “Whoa there, Jett.” He immediately lets go and glares at you as well. You let out a hearty laugh.

“Looks like this is our stop, guys.” Vexed effortlessly picked up his bag and walked toward the front of the bus. You grabbed your massive suitcase and wheeled it toward him. You both look back at Jett who was still situating himself. “C’mon, Jett! The bus is going to take you to the next town if we don’t get off in the next hour!” He made a growling sound and stumbled forward. Poor guy, he was so devoted to his friends, he would sacrifice hours of sleep just to find a job to support them. You knew he was grumpy now, but he was a fantastic friend.

You all walk out of the bus into the pleasant, slightly humid California air. The drop-off wasn’t too far from the house, just at the bottom of the hill. At the top of this hill, the large house stood before you all, almost inviting you to come inside. The bus door closes and leaves your group at the beginning of a path of street lights leading up the hill. A single dim light was on in the house. You wondered who else was there.

Jett, Vexed, and you make your way up the hill. The crashing of waves sounded nearby, reminding you of how great the beach will be once you all get settled. You DID have, like, 4 pairs of swim trunks. And a lot of butter. That’s why your bag was so heavy. You didn’t really know what you would do with it at the beach, however. You got so into thinking about your butter, you almost walked into the cool guy in front of you who had stopped at the front door of the house. He patted his pockets down and zipped some compartments open in his bag. He looked over to you and Jett.

“Anyone got a key? Looks like I misplaced mine,” he said with a hint of remorse.
You fumbled around looking for your key. You thought you put it in your right jean pocket, but when you reached for it, all you felt was a quarter-sized hole. You frowned at this and shook your head. Jett grumbled and grabbed a small chain off of his neck with a key dangling from it.

“You guys are lucky to have me here,” he grumbled, walking towards the door. He unlocked the door and opened it, holding it open for you two. You both thanked him and were relieved that he was responsible enough to keep a key so close. You and Vexed waltzed in and took a look at the place as Jett closed the door. It was quite spacious, mostly because there wasn’t much furniture or décor around. It was sort of dark, so you felt around on the walls for a light switch. Success! You flip the switch, light filling the bottom floor.

“This is a pretty nice place,” Vexed remarked. Indeed it was. You could see the kitchen, some stairs, a door that seemed to lead to a bathroom, and a living room. You walked toward the kitchen, rolling your suitcase behind you. You enter the kitchen and find a figure that wasn’t visible from the front doorway. They were hunched over at the table on a bunch of papers and plates of food. A butter knife was in his hand. It appeared he had headphones in as well. You let go of your suit case and approach him.

“Zero?” you asked. No response. You nudged him a bit, causing him to jump, squeal, and almost cut your nose off with the knife. Thanks to your cat-like reflexes, you dodged out of the way fast enough. The knife was now stuck in the wall next to the refrigerator. Now that’s some décor. Zero was a little bit angry, but more startled than anything. He asked why we didn’t call him and tell him we would be here. You told him that everyone’s phones died, but honestly everyone just forgot. He grumbled and collected his papers that were labeled “mortgage”. You turned around and went to the fridge, unzipping your suitcase and filling the hollow thing with butter. Everyone stared, but they did not dare question the Sam. Zero blinked and began to venture upstairs. He told you all to take whatever rooms you all wanted.

“Dibs on the one near the kitchen!” you shouted. You jolted upstairs, taking the room right next to the stairs. You closed the door and flipped on the light. There was a small cot and a picture of Bill Cosby hanging above it. It was small, but homey. You flopped down on the cot, snatching the picture. It was signed by Pheonix. There was also a note on the back, which read:

“dear sam,
i took your blanket because i lost mine
i hope you dont get cold at night
like me
when i lost my blanket
--blackkpheonixx
ps
apples”

You smiled and hung it back up. You lay down on the small cot and whipped out your obviously not dead phone to check Skype.


1 new group message


Sassyfox
jegus gog its late omg why am i up

Sam41
jett vexed and i just got to the house

Jett
yep

Vexed
It’s cool they have cots here, I was just expecting an empty room.

Corrupt Messiah, Zer0 Faith
you can thank me for that, i made sure that everyone could have a place to sleep
i guess it was either pay for cots or pay for back issues

William M. Dalton
I guess I’m not the only one not sleeping tonight. It’s good to hear that you all got there safely.

Vexed
Thanks, man

Sassyfox
ahh yes! its great you all are okay :33

Machamp
who all is awake?

Jettvolt
Probably just us

BlackkPheonixx
wrong

Merrodi
Can’t sleep

Deanna
I’m playing minecraft so I’m a little unresponsive. And aww why not Mellodi?

Merrodi
I’m just so excited to see everyone ＼（＠￣∇￣＠）／

Corrupt Messiah, Zer0 Faith
you should get some sleep though because isnt your plane coming in tomorrow?

Merrodi
Yeah, it is, I have to wake up in 4 hours and get on the plane with William

William M. Dalton
I hope I will get some sleep on the plane.

Sassyfox
ahh yeah im driving there tomorrow, ive gotta leave pretty early @_@ i think that table and deanna needed a ride with me too right?

Deanna
Yeah

Table
Correctamundo.

Machamp
wow you guys need to get some sleep

Sassyfox
well alright, goodnight guys

BlackkPheonixx
night

Merrodi
Okay, I’ll see you guys tomorrow night

Sam41
night everyone

You shut off your phone since your eyes were drooping and you were dozing off, turned off the light, and crashed on your cot-bed thing. You slept like a rock.