Author's note: So yeah, I'd ship Beth with an heirloom tomato given half a chance. I love her and they were replaying the old episodes of Breaking Bad so this happened.
The scorching sun blazed through the cab of the rented moving van, casting an ever present glare on everything it touched. Beth adjusted her sunglasses as the useless air-conditioner sputtered in protest to being turned on full blast. She huffed out an exasperated breath, rolling down the window in defeat. Leaning forward to pop her stiff back, Beth caught sight of her sweat deflated hair and big sunglasses in the van's large side mirror. Ugh, she thought, and ran her free hand over her golden main, attempting to tame it just a little. Giving up, she inclined her head closer to the window trying to catch some of the breeze.
All her worldly possessions were stuffed behind her as she drove the last leg of her extremely long 20 hour trip from the farm to her new apartment in Albuquerque. Her cat, Damn Cat, so named by her brother, jumped on her lap and mewed. She looked at him accusingly, taking his attitude as condescension. She batted him away gently and looked around at all the passing signs, finally turning off on her exit. As she neared her destination, she passed several cop cars and a few people lying prone on the ground at a gas station, causing her anxiety to spike. She was almost to her new home and already she felt like she made a huge mistake.
As Beth carried her mattress up the first flight of the three flights of stairs that stood between her and sleep, she was sorely regretting telling Maggie that she didn't want anyone there to help her. She grunted as she pushed and drug the full sized mattress over step after step. After she got enough distance, she would prop her mattress against the wall and run down to grab her pet carrier, unwilling to leave Cat in the van, and then she would begin the process over. At one point, she had to give up and sit down, taking deep breaths to quell her anxiety. Just as she moved to continue, she heard a voice from atop the stairs.
"Yo, bitch, you're blocking the stairs. Move your shit!"
Beth couldn't see around the mattress to give the disembodied voice a face. Instead, she squeaked out a quick apology and did her best to flatten the mattress against the yellowing walls to make way for the extremely cranky resident. She cringed at the greasy paint that was now touching her pillow top, causing her stomach to flip flop. She was going to have to dig out the disinfectant. She was pulled out of her thoughts as a guy, only slightly taller than her, pushed past the mattress and down the stairs. She missed his face, but caught sight of a red and black beanie and baggie pants. Once he was gone, she restarted her game of tug-o-war. As she was about to push her mattress the short distance to the second floor landing, a large body collided with it, causing it to ricochet down a few steps and making Beth whimper in frustration.
"Yo Jesse, wait man...hey." The large, rather fluffy guy stopped chasing his friend to look her up and down, a large smile erupted across his face. "I'm Badger, are you the new neighbor?"
Beth smiled and extended her hand, "Hi, I'm Beth." Badger shook her hand enthusiastically and called up the stairs. "Yo Skinny Pete, we got a new neighbor!" Turning back to Beth, he gestured at her mattress, "need help?" She nodded her head in the affirmative and Badger helped her push the mattress up the stairs. With the added help, she was able to juggle both the mattress and the cat.
Curiosity soon got the better of Pete and he made his way down, stumbling and cussing along the way. It took Beth everything she had not to cringe. Don't judge a book by the cover Bethy, she repeated her daddy's words silently and extended her hand to him. With Pete's help, Beth's mattress was soon propped up beside her front door, waiting to be carried inside. She thanked the two, waving goodbye, they walked into the apartment next to hers. With shaking hands, she put her apartment key into the door and turned the lock. A few small tears slipped down her face and she swung the peeling brown door open. If she had been expecting a mansion, she would've been pretty disappointed. Otherwise, it was right on par with how she felt it would look, judging by the hall and door.
The paint was definitely fresh, indicated by a faint odor emanating from the small space. The carpet was new too and she shook her head, imagination conjuring the image of dead bodies littering the floor. Walking around the open space, she ran her fingers over the blue formica of the bar. She could hear Cat mewing from the carrier and decided it was time to get a move on. She opened her door and drug her mattress inside and into the single bedroom. It was small, but for the first time since arriving, she felt that she could honestly make the place home.
Beth had finally settled into a routine with school. It was boring, but safe. She was even getting used to being alone. The first night had scared the hell out of her. Every sound she heard was an intruder coming to get her. She slept with the blankets tightly pulled over her neck and shoulders, head sticking out and eyes searching. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun started to peek through her bare windows, allowing her to drift off into a fitful sleep, briefly. Before she had even been asleep for a half hour, she could hear the neighbors' door slam and the loud thumping of a stereo right by her head. She rolled her eyes and gave up trying to sleep for the day.
Two months later, she was still fighting what she liked to refer to as the war against sleep and she was losing ground in the trenches. In response to the loud thumping, she dug out her speakers and pointed them straight at the wall. At first, she tried soothing, low key indie stuff. Instead of having the desired effect, he would turn his stereo up, making the wall jump violently by her head. Spitefully, she started playing some of her more angrier music. However, the screeching vocals had absolutely no success. In addition to the overloud music, over the past couple of weeks, she would hear his bed thumping against the wall rhythmically. One night in particular, curiosity won over and she stuck her ear flat against the wall, only to be greeted by the needy moans of someone close to release. She jerked her head away from the sounds and blushed deeply, as if she had been caught.
Since that night, she had been sticking close to campus to get work done. Sitting on a bench, chewing on her pencil, she looked up to see her neighbor slithering by her. She was tempted to get his attention, but waited to see what he was doing. She wasn't disappointed. Her lanky nemesis was talking to what looked like a frat guy, there was a brief exchange and the guy walked off with a baggie in his pocket. What the hell, Beth looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. If they had, they hadn't moved. She watched closely as red and black beanie disappeared behind a building and she scratched her head with her pencil. Hmmm. She heard the clock tower chime and gathered her stuff for her next class.