Santana Lopez was not accustomed to expressing joy without the pretense of sarcasm beneath her grin. But the three other girls in the kitchen were screaming and shouting so excitedly, she couldn't help the goofy smirk that had spread across her face.
"Tina! That's my pot, put it back!" Rachel said, a flurry of bubble wrap adorning her lap as she shoved a glass in with others in the cardboard box in front of her.
"No way, Rach, this is totally mine!" Tina said, pulling the dish out of reach.
"Rachel, it's a wok," Quinn started laughing loudly again.
"And I can't have one? Just because Tina is asian doesn't mean I can't own a wok," Rachel protested, reaching forward to grab the deep frying pan.
"Yes, it does, Berry, because you're vegan and don't even eat anything you could cook in that," Santana said, rolling her eyes, but couldn't conceal her smile. They were all sad that Tina was leaving, but the excitement of packing was leaving them somewhat giddy.
"That is not true! I eat tofu! You can make tofu stir fry!" Rachel spouted and then suddenly began listing all the things she could make with a wok.
"Fine, keep it, even if it is mine," Tina said to stop Rachel from ranting any longer. "Mike's mom probably sent him enough cooking utensils for both of us."
"I still can't believe you're moving in together," Rachel said sadly. Instantly the smiles disappeared from the girl's faces and they appeared to slump in silence.
"We're really gonna miss you," Quinn added, leaning over to give the asian's wrist a gentle squeeze. "You're kind of our rock."
"Rock?" Tina said quizzically. Santana leaned back, her brow raised in confusion as well.
"Well, with Quinn and I always trying to one up one another and Santana and Quinn's constant bickering-" Rachel started.
"-we don't bicker, Berry, why can't you just understand the nature of our relationship?" Santana scoffed.
"-regardless, Tina, you've always been the most stable and sane person in this household," Rachel continued, giving Santana a sharp glare before softening at Tina.
"You guys act like I'm never coming back," Tina laughed. "I'll see you guys all the time. I still work with you, Santana, and you guys all started going to Mike's dance class. Plus he lives like 10 minutes away. I'm more worried about you guys finding a new roommate."
No one said anything for a while. In the roller coaster of emotions from being both happy and sad for Tina to move out, none of the girls appeared to have thought about getting a new roommate. They definitely couldn't afford to continue renting their four bedroom apartment without Tina, even if she paid the least. She quickly assured them she was going to pay her share of the next months rent to hold them over until they found a suitable replacement.
Rachel stood up, scattering the bubble wrap and news papers to the floor as she scooted through the mess to the island countertop in the center of the kitchen. She rummaged through the mess and found a pad of paper and pen before turning back to the girls.
"Well, we should start listing what kind of roommate we all agree to look for," she nodded, writing 'Roommate Requirements' with a heart next to it at the top of the page.
"Can't we do this later?" Santana whined, cramming another plate into the box in front of her. Compared to Rachel's strategically placed and organized box, Santana's was a disaster. "I want Tina to leave on a happy note, not some sobfest of us realizing no one is a good enough replacement."
"Aww, Santana..." Tina said, her eyes fluttering as she placed her hand on her chest in an exaggerated manner. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Well," Santana said with a light shrug, "It's not like I hate you."
The girls laughed. Santana had always been abrasive, but she had softened severely since they had started renting the apartment together little more than a year ago. After what Santana claimed was an excruciatingly painful experience with on campus housing with a socially incomprehensible mess of a roommate, she had been so overjoyed at the prospect of rooming with Quinn, even if she had to live with Rachel Berry as well. It was actually kind of a huge surprise Quinn asked her to be roommates. Apparently Yale wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, and luckily the determined blonde had managed to transfer to NYU with some of her credits in tact. She had to make up some classes over the summer, but if anyone could keep up academically, it was Quinn Fabray.
It was a miracle to be rooming with familiar faces, really. Santana had gotten hit with the realization that things could always be worse, and it was definitely a perk to be living with her best friend from High School. Rachel still didn't seem to get their friendship - who could blame her? Quinn and Santana had been so cut throat at each other over boys and the Cheerios captain position in High School, Santana had questioned their frienemy situation herself. But through all the fights and drama of cheer camp and glee club and boys, they had always managed to keep their friendship going. It just worked, somehow. And now that high school ended, popularity wasn't as important as before. Santana couldn't bring herself to hate Rachel the way she used to. She even kind of liked her, when she managed to keep her mouth shut for long enough.
Things were different with Tina. Quinn and Rachel had always been closer to her, but with Tina being a year younger than them and never in the same social standing as Santana, they had rarely interacted. But it was true - Santana didn't hate Tina. And there had been several instances where Tina managed to get her back. They had a quiet sort of friendship that evolved after Santana got Tina a job working with her at the bar a few blocks away. It had been a simple gesture, but one that had solidified their friendship.
"If we don't start working on finding a new roommate immediately, Tina's support for the rent will be gone before we know it," Rachel said.
"As much as I don't want to sour the mood, Rachel's right," Quinn nodded. "And besides, Tina is the most objective of all of us and can keep our craigslist add concise."
"Craigslist? What?" Santana said, shock evident as her eyes widened. "Ew."
"How else do you want to find a roommate?" Rachel said quizzically. "Do you know anyone you'd want to ask? And no boys, Santana!"
"Ughh..." Santana stood up and sauntered towards the pantry. "Fine. But I'm not doing this sober - I can barely stand making a grocery list with you." A bottle of wine appeared in her hands and she quickly arranged four glasses on what little counter top space she could find.
"Oh yes, write a craigslist add for the future equilibrium of this apartment while intoxicated. That's a brilliant idea, Santana," Rachel said. It was her turn to roll her eyes.
"I think a glass couldn't hurt," Tina said and slid up next to Santana. Although the latina was notorious for drinking excessively, sometimes to the point were she became so overcome with emotion she was insufferable, Tina was aware of a badly hidden secret none of the other girls seemed to have caught on to yet. Santana was a lot nicer with some alcohol in her.
"And this is why you're my favorite," Santana said, clinking a glass with Tina. "Seriously, boo, Rachel, why can't you be the one to move out?"
"You know exactly why," Rachel said, stiffening. The mood shifted harshly as Santana realized she had implied Rachel move in with her boyfriend, Finn Hudson. The unfortunate circumstance was that Finn had moved to L.A. last year to continue his studies because the New York branch of AMDA only had a two year program. It was putting quite a strain on their relationship, but the girls had learned it was best to leave Rachel alone about it unless she brought it up.
"I meant your bestie NYADA buddy Kurt is still looking for a roommate," Santana said quickly to cover up her error. "And I was joking, gosh, Berry."
"Kurt is a boy, Santana," Rachel said, but her tone indicated she had forgiven the latina. Santana let out a soft sigh of relief as she turned back to the wine glasses to finish pouring Quinn and Rachel's glasses.
"And he's capital-G gay," Santana said while swerving to hand Rachel her glass. "He's more of a girl than I am."
"Well, Santana, you could stand to care a little more about your skin," Rachel said defiantly. "Seriously, Kurt's regimen has been a life saver to my pores."
Santana gulped back some of her wine to curb the blow Rachel made at her skin. What the hell did she mean? Her skin was flawless. Maybe it wasn't as soft as a babies buttocks like Kurt and Rachel deemed it necessary, but she had a bomb tan and silky skin. Whatever, she thought to herself. She didn't want to continue on this topic, since it was still so dangerously close to the topic of Finn.
"So, roommate requirement number one: cannot have a night time skin routine that interferes with one Rachel Berry," Santana said, leaning against the island countertop and tapping the paper with a perfectly manicured nail.
"Roommate requirement number two: must be able to endure the insufferable personality that is Santana Lopez' snarky attitude," Rachel spat back.
"Guys, can we take this seriously?" Tina said, snickering into her own glass. "Here, honey, why don't you stand a few feet that way so I can jump in and save Rachel when you try to rip out her throat."
Santana was guided back, and she nodded quietly. She distracted herself by downing the rest of her wine, catching Tina's eyes before the asian rolled them.
"I think we should list the qualities we like most about Tina being our roommate, and go from there. We can add our personal preferences later," Quinn suggested, still sitting on the ground, covered in newspaper.
"Must be asian," Santana said quickly. "Write that down."
"And like vampire movies. Oh, Twilight," Rachel giggled.
"Ew, no, Berry, I'm not living with another Twihard," Santana said.
"I meant things like how Tina always keeps to the cleaning schedule or pays rent on time," Quinn said with a sigh. She exchanged a tired look with Tina. The asian smiled sympathetically.
"Don't be interuptin' our workflow, Fabray," Santana hissed, waving her arm carelessly in Quinn's direction. She was already halfway through a second glass of wine, and Quinn stifled a laugh. "Must be able to sing glorious melodies in the shower," the latina continued.
"And harmonize with me while baking cookies," Rachel laughed. "Vegan cookies, that is."
"Right," Santana ignored the last statement, and twirled to bump hips with Tina. "And shake her tush."
"And grin and bear how stupidly goofy you two are," Quinn laughed as Santana grabbed Tina's hands and started to pull her into an over the top dance routine around the kitchen.
"And I thought you said you were doing badly in Mike's class," Tina said between giggles.
After several hours of goofing off, a few impromptu dances, and at least two more glasses of wine each, the four girls managed to make their roommate requirements list. Tina made the three promise to wait until they were sober to post it, but also not to correct it too much just because it was a funny list. She gave them all hugs and the promise to return tomorrow for the rest of her things. Quinn and Rachel disappeared to their bedrooms as Santana walked Tina to see her out safely.
"Santana, you will be okay alone with them, right?" Tina asked as she pressed her back against the wall of the elevator.
"Alone? With who?" Santana said, wavering a bit as she fumbled with the buttons for the floor selection. Tina reached forward and pressed 'G' and then curled her arm over Santana's shoulder.
"Q and Rachel," Tina said. "With me leaving?"
"I don't wanna talk about you leaving," Santana mumbled.
"Aw, are you really going to miss me? I thought you were Santana Lopez, hard ass bitch from Lima Heights Adjace-"
Santana twisted and curled her arms around Tina, pulling the girl into a tight hug. Tina let out a silent gasp and then slowly hugged her back.
"Of course I'ma miss you," Santana said in a hoarse whisper, and Tina was positive she was about to start sobbing.
"Shh, it's going to be okay," Tina said soothingly and stroked the latina's hair. "Forget I mentioned it, I know you'll miss me."
"You'll stop by every day, r-right?"
"Maybe not every day," Tina laughed.
"Then at least come to dance classes with us," Santana insisted. "I'm so terrible, Tina."
"I thought you didn't want any more witnesses to that," Tina laughed.
"I don't... but I want to see you more than just at work." Santana pulled out of the hug to wipe her eyes.
"Santana, I'm moving a few blocks away. I'm not even going to be 15 minutes away," Tina said firmly. "If you want me to come to dance classes with you guys, I can try and fit it in my schedule, but I don't know if I want to take a class my boyfriend is teaching."
"Yeah... I get that," Santana nodded, trying desperately to piece herself back together. "Okay, but you have to come over for movies or drinks or at least dinner once a week. Rachel's almost convinced Quinn to start her stupid vegan diet, and I need some defense in that department."
"Okay," Tina nodded. The elevator door popped open, and Tina gave a small smile before walking out with her arm linked to Santana's. "Well thank you for seeing me out...! That was very kind of you!" She pretended to curtsy by dipping her head down.
"Anything for my home girl," Santana mustered a laugh. She gave her a tight hug and whispered, "Miss you."
"Not leaving you," Tina said back. "Just having a permanent slumber party at my boyfriend's place."
"Girl, get up on that," Santana laughed.
"Please at least stop hugging me before we discuss me having sex with Mike," Tina said.
"Go, just go. You're no fun," Santana said, pulling away from the hug and shooing her away by flicking her wrists.
"Santana..."
"Go on, get out of here!" Santana said, but she was smiling.
"Call you later," Tina waved.
"Text me. When you're home."
"Of course."
Santana returned to the apartment, still a little grim looking. She was still feeling sorry for herself and losing Tina, but nearly crashing into the couch snapped her out of her mood. She cursed and continued to stagger into the kitchen. She looked down at the dining table and saw her open laptop next to scribbled on pads of paper and a few empty glasses of wine. Glancing at what was on the page they had drafted for their craigslist add, a smile reappeared on her face. She spun around, off to her bedroom, carrying her laptop and dragging the cable along behind her as she stumbled down the hallway. She read over the roommate requirement list again, quite proud of their work, and decided there wasn't any reason not to post it. The sooner, the better. Hadn't that been Quinn and Rachel's argument anyway? Without a second thought, she submit the craigslist add, closed her laptop, and rolled into her bed to get some sleep.
I couldn't sleep. Not a wink. I was really happy Jenna got a job - she graduated a year ago, and hadn't been able to find anything stable. We had managed to get by the past few months thanks to part time jobs and rent control, but we both secretly knew this day was coming. But I didn't think she'd be leaving New York. That made me all kinds of dizzy. She had to leave in a matter of days, and she knew it was going to hurt me by leaving, but she couldn't offer any help financially - the rest of her savings were going into the move.
What was I going to do? I didn't have enough money to keep our apartment. Should I look for roommates? With the added cost of utilities creeping up as well, I couldn't figure how I would be able to afford the wait of finding a roommate. I shot up out of bed and scrambled to my laptop. If I couldn't afford to stay here, I would have to look for somewhere else to live, and soon. I'd managed to have a stroke of luck the last time I searched craigslist when I landed this apartment, so I decided to start there. But being on my own? I guessed I would have to look into room shares instead of just apartments.
I felt a headache coming on as I was reminded how lucky I was to get the rate I had at this apartment. Everything in New York was expensive, but luckily Jenna had managed to soften the blow by being my roommate. Still, with utilities and everything, I was still paying over $700 a month.
I spent a few hours scrolling through listings, growing more and more disheartened as I went on. I replied to two that I thought might be promising, but the asking amount for rent was higher than I pay now for both of them. There was one that was super low, but it was from a couple of guys looking for a 'Super hot female roommate'. Something about a Saw. I don't know what that had to do with anything, but there was a picture included of some guys. One of them had a mohawk.
I was about to give up and start getting ready for the day when I decided to refresh the listing for good measure. My heart nearly skipped a beat. I clicked on the new link.
$650 Looking for Female roommate!(utilities and internet)!
Room available ASAP!
Looking to complete our quartet! The room is furnished with a desk and a dresser! (Bring yo own bed - S) The apartment is in a convenient location, safe, with a ton of cafes, bars, restaurants, 24 hour delis, a grocery store (that has plenty of vegan options - R), and close access to subway routes (convenient, seriously - Q).
You will be sharing with three other girls (Q, S, and R). Q is majoring in dramatic arts at NYU, S is studying ReMu there too, and R is something at NYADA (Musical Theater, S
- R). Right, musical theater. Something about dancing and singing and being a big big star. We're pretty awesome, but our super fantastic resident asian is leaving us.
( :[ - S)
If you fit the following qualifications, we might just let you live with us hot bitches.
Roommate Requirements: (It's like the room of requirements! - R) (Shut up, R - S)
-U must be asian
(No, she's joking - Q)
(No I'm not - S)
(She is - R)
-Tolerate R's stupid Vegan diet
(It is not stupid, and no one is forcing you to, S - R)
-Adhere to our annoying cleaning chart
(You don't even fit the requirements, S - Q)
(I live here already, bitches - S)
-Dance and/or sing. No exceptions. This is literally the most important thing.
(It's fine if you don't, really - Q)
(No, I agree with S, we need to keep the balance of talent - R)
(Shup, I'm right - S)
-Pay rent ON TIME
(NO EXCEPTIONS - S, R, Q)
-Non smoker
(So gross - R)
(Cigars are OK - S)
(No they aren't, S! - R)
-No dogs
(Cats are OK - R)
(Ugh - S)
(Cats are cute, though, S - Q)
-Be okay with impromptu musical performances varying from broadway musicals to disney movies
(Wicked! - R)
Mama Mia...? - Q)
(Poor Unfortunate Souls - S)
(That's not a movie, S - R)
(It's a song from a movie, R. Shut up - S)
GOOD LUCK BIATCH - S
S... that's mean - R
Stop being so lame, R - S
Sorry about them - Q
U WILL LOVE US
(I will miss them - T)
I snorted. Loudly. I couldn't keep from cracking up, whoever these girls were, they were hilarious. It had started out fairly serious, but then got ridiculous towards the end. I wasn't sure if the ad was real or not, but I supposed it couldn't hurt to reply. I quickly typed an email, saying how I was a dance major at Juilliard and that I totally love The Little Mermaid and I was sorry I wasn't asian. I made sure to mention Lord Tubbington - my cat - but I was unsure if cats were really okay. I hope that wasn't a deal breaker. I hit submit and closed my laptop. I had like fifteen minutes to get ready or I'd miss my bus to get to class on time.
"You're looking for a new apartment?"
Jenna sat across from me, pausing with her subway sandwich held half way between the table and her mouth.
"'eah, ah' kin'a haf' to," I said, my hand overing in front of my face as I spoke with my mouthful. I gulped and continued, "I mean, you're not giving me much notice."
I didn't intend that to sound mean, I didn't, but Jenna looked kind of hurt. She took a small nibble of her sandwich and didn't say anything else.
"I think this one is promising, but there weren't any pictures listed or anything. The girls that live there are all into theater and music," I tried to remember more specific things, but I could only remember the comments. It made me wonder if they were going to make me audition for the role of their new roommate.
"Ugh, that might be awful," Jenna said as her nose wrinkled. "They'll probably try to make you teach them dance moves the whole time and then criticize you for how much harder their majors are."
"But I like teaching dance," I said with a shrug. "I mean, I already do teach it. And, I don't think I would argue with them if they said they work harder."
"Brittany, you work your butt off. Literally," Jenna frowned.
"I know, I just mean... it's not hard when I love what I'm doing." I smiled and continued to eat, and Jenna gave me one of those rare 'You're smarter than you look' smiles she gives me sometimes.
"When you're right, you're right, Brittany," she nodded. "Just make sure you call or text me before you go to any of these apartments so I know to call the cops if I don't hear from you after."
"I don't think a troupe of singing girls are out to kill me," I laughed.
