Chapter 1
Augusten Burroughs was waiting at the bus depot for his best friend Natalie Finch. They had become friends out of strange circumstances. You see Augusten's mom had been one of Natalie's dad's patients. Augusten had been sent to live with the Finchs because his mom was tricked by Dr. Finch. Augusten met Natalie and after almost a year of living in the house, they had become friend. When they both realized that the rest of the Finch family was either insane, or stuck there Augusten had called Natalie and had asked her to run away with him. She had been too scared at first to come and had sent her mother Agnes Finch to see Augusten off. Agnes had looked to Augusten as like a son and wanted what was best for him, so she gave him all the money she had saved over the years and wished him luck. Augusten asked where Natalie was and Agnes had replied saying that she had decided to stay at the house. Augusten was sad, but knew that everything happened for a reason. After saying his good byes to Agnes, and was just about to board the bus, he heard a familiar female voice call out to him to wait. He turned around to see that Natalie had shown up after all. "Wait Augusten…I'm coming too. I've thought about it and decided that you were right and we could both get a job somewhere and live together as roommates." Augusten's smile grew and he wrapped his arms around Nat and replied," I'm so glad you're here and until then I will take care of both of us." They soon both said their good byes to Agnes and boarded the bus together.
While riding on the bus towards New York City, Augusten turns towards Natalie and asks, "So, what changed your mind about coming?" Natalie sighed and responded, "I knew that my life would never be the same without you there and I would end up going insane living with Hope." Augusten busted out laughing and nodding in agreement, "I can understand that last part completely." Natalie chuckled back and smiled as she rested her head on his left shoulder. "So, what now?" It was now Augusten's turn to sigh as he responded, "Well, I'm going to apply at the local cosmology school and get a job to help with bills." Natalie nodded as she took everything in, "Okay, well I'm good and receptionist work and can get a job doing that to help." They both smiled as he said, "Well, it looks like our short time goal is set." He then added as they soon reached the city, "Now to find a hotel to stay at until we can find a good enough apartment." She smiled as she helped him with their luggage.
They soon found a nice hotel to stay at and headed up to their joined together rooms. They both unpacked their things that they had brought with them. Soon, Natalie knocked on the door separating their two rooms. They had gotten a suite with two bedrooms because that way they could cook as well as have a living area to hangout in. Augusten sighed as he sat down next to Nat on their couch, "Well I guess we hangout and relax tonight, then tomorrow we can both start looking for work and I can go apply at the local college." He turned so he could face her more, "You know. You should go apply at a local college as well." She chuckled sarcastically, "Me? Yeah sure…I mean who would know of my doctor father?" Augusten decided to ignore the sarcasm and added, "Sure, Nat…I mean you've always wanted to become a coed student and be an English Ligature major." She got quiet and somewhat teary eyed, "Yeah, but what about my background?" He replied quickly, "They will understand and help you get yourself started. I mean even I can tell you want to leave the past behind you." She smiled, "Really? You think so?" He smiled, "I know so." She smiled more and replied, "Okay…I will." Augusten smiled, "Awesome…sounds like a plan."
The next morning they each got up and took a separate shower before freshening up and getting dressed. They both dressed nice and soon after checking each other over to see if they looked good enough, they headed out and out of the hotel. They first went to the colleges that they wanted to go to and got accepted into them almost right away. They paid for their classes and got their class schedules. Next, they went and started applying at places hiring. Nat got a great job as a receptionist at a local doctor's office. Augusten, however, got a job at a hair salon styling hair. Because of his studying on his own back in their home town he got into advance classes and had a beginner license to cut and style hair from the college. Neither of them could count their lucky stars enough and were so grateful for the luck. Later on that evening, Augusten pick Nat up at her work and they decided to head home for a quiet night in. They soon arrived at the hotel and headed to their suite. Nat sat down on their couch after supper in her pajamas and looked towards him smiling, "So, what's next on our list?" He smiled, "Well, I guess we save our money as best we can and start looking at apartments." They both already felt right at home already in the big city.