Page 9 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“No, it belongs to Scott.”

“Who’s Scott?”

“Your neighbor.” She smiles. “He’s really hot. Like the kind of hot where it’s hard not to stare.”

“Does he have a girlfriend?”

“No, he’s more of a casual dater. You’ll see a lot of girls coming and going from his apartment.”

“So aside from your neighbor and his occasionally loud music, you like living here?” Sara says, trying to stay positive.

“Yeah, it’s been great!” Jenna turns to me. “And don’t worry about Scott. He’s a really sweet guy once you get to know him. I’m sure he’ll invite you to his parties. They’re a great way to meet people. There’s always lots of single guys there.”

“Parties with single guys? Right next door?” Sara smiles at me. “That’s convenient.”

“The last thing I need right now is another guy,” I tell her.

“Now, sure, but eventually, you’ll be ready to date again.” Sara looks over at Jenna. “She just broke up with her boyfriend. That’s why she needs an apartment.”

“I’m sorry,” Jenna says to me.

“It’s fine,” I say, even though it’s not at all fine. “I just need to forget about it and move on.” I straighten my stance, trying to appear like I’m already over the breakup. “So what’s the rent?”

When she tells me, I think I must’ve heard her wrong. It’s ridiculously cheap, which makes me think there’s something she’s not telling me.

“That’s it?” I say. “How can it be that cheap?”

“I got a deal on it,” Jenna says. “It’s possible he’ll raise the rent after my lease is up, but you’ll get three months of cheap rent.”

“Trina, you should take it,” Sara says. “You’re not going to find a place that cheap anywhere in the city.”

“I have twenty people wanting to see it,” Jenna says, looking at her phone. “And I only told people at work. I haven’t posted it online yet.”

I look around the tiny space, my stomach knotting up as I realize this is now my life. Living alone in this shoebox of an apartment with no furniture.

“I hate to rush you, but I need to get going,” Jenna says. “And I kind of need to know if you want the apartment. This girl just texted me that she’d take it without seeing it.”

The music next door gets louder and I hear some guys shouting over the pounding bass.

“Trina?” Sara says. “What do you think? You want it?”

I nod, realizing I have no choice. It’s all I can afford. Maybe in three months, I’ll have saved up enough money to get a bigger place. It’s not likely, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

“Great!” Jenna says, rushing over to one of the boxes. She takes out a piece of paper. “I just need you to sign the sublet agreement.” She hands it to me, along with a pen.

I quickly look over the agreement, then sign it, and hand it back to Jenna. “I might need a couple days to get you first month’s rent.”

“Oh,” she says, chewing her lip. “I guess that’s okay. It’s just that I don’t know you and—”

“She’s good for it,” Sara says, smiling at me. “Trina isn’t going to scam you out of the rent.”

“No, never.” I take my wallet from my purse. “What if I give you enough for the next few days?” I search my wallet and only find a twenty-dollar bill. “Or how about twenty dollars?”

“Keep it.” Jenna smiles. “You seem honest, and you have Sara as a reference.”

I shove the money back in my wallet. “What about Monday? Will that work? I promise it won’t be later than that.”

“That should work. I’ll talk to him just to make sure.”

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