Page 7 of Vacancy

“Wow. Thanks.”

She beamed cheerfully. “Any time.”

I blew out a long breath.

Last month, I thought I’d beensolucky, finally managing to get into the English program at Haverick this semester. The undergraduate acceptance rate here was, like, fifteen percent, and their Journalism program was to die for. I’d seriously been on top of the world to finally make it in.

But this having-no-place-to-live nonsense was kind of squashing the dream.

“Maybe I could sell my plasma or find some escort service to hire me,” I started teasingly. “Or ooh… I keep seeing these posters all over campus from some professor, seeking human test subjects for this lab research he’s doing. They claim he pays well.”

But Jay made a face. “You mean, Professor Zweifel? The crazy chemistry guy? No. I’ve heard rumors about hisresearch. I’d stay away if I were you.”

Well, that sounded juicy. I opened my mouth to ask what kind of rumors she’d heard, only for music blasting from an open, second-story window of one of the fancy-schmancy brownstones we were passing to catch my attention instead.

The song was “Somebody That I Used to Know,” and it immediately distracted me from my current curiosities.

“What a blast from the past,” I said, glancing up to see bits of a gossamer curtain billowing from the open window in the breeze. “Remember when you and I—and Lizzy Maine—choreographed a dance together for this song when we were, like…”

“Ten? Eleven?” Jaylani guessed, letting go of my shoulder so she could clutch her face in horror. “Oh my God, yes. It was…awful.”

“So awful,” I agreed with a laugh as my gaze returned to the window. I swore I could make out movement in the room beyond, someone creating their own dance routine to the beat, and this urge rose inside me, wanting to join in and move alongwiththem. “Good song, though,” I mused nostalgically.

“Hey, check it.” Jaylani nudged my arm.

“What?” I followed the direction of her finger as she pointed to the ground level of the place. And right there in the main front window sat a sign that readOne Room Vacancy Available. Under that was simply a phone number to call for details.

“No way,” I murmured, not even daring to hope.

Because the entire neighborhood was top-notch. All the townhouses connected on this block were decorated in a matching pattern and were either multicolored sandstone bricks, a light tan exterior, or dark brown. This particular apartment was bricked and located at the end. A wrought-iron balcony wrapped around the second story, and a third story of windows told me it probably had a pretty sizey attic up there.

The whole place made my skin buzz with eager anticipation as if my body thought it was actually possible for me to live there.

Except, I’m sure it wasn’t.

“I think it’s a sign,” Jaylani coaxed, lifting her eyebrows at me encouragingly.

I snorted. “Literally.”

She rolled her eyes, and I chewed on my lip thoughtfully as we both stopped in front of the brownstone to inspect it from roof to doormat.

It seemed too good to be true. I mean, it was located right along Bridleway with a straight shot to campus in a very nice neighborhood.

Bridlewaywas the university’s famous pedestrian trail that wound through town, named so because of HaveU’s stallion mascot not because actual equestrians used it. It linked up to pretty much all the major stops in Westport. Everyone on campus used it. And I couldn’t get luckier than to find a place to rent directlyonBridleway.

“They can’t be asking anything less than fifteen hundred a month,” I decided, talking myself out of even the possibility. “I mean,lookat it.”

“Well, you won’t know if you don’t ask,” Jaylani prodded. “You should call.”

I shrugged because, yeah, I guess I could at least ask. And it appeared as if I’d just be renting a single room from an already established roommate, not the entire place for myself. Maybe itwouldn’tbe as steep as I was convincing myself it must be.

“Actually,” I said, nodding in agreement. “It sounds as if someone’s home. I’m just going to ring the doorbell. This way, I can meet the potential roommate, tour the place,andget the rental details all in one shot.”

“But I need to get back and ready for work,” Jaylani argued, biting her lip with worry.

“That’s okay.” I waved her on. “Go ahead and go. I’ll check it out myself.”

“You sure?”

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