Friends & Life- PG-13
Matt walked down the stairs of the house he grew up in and stopped when he reached the front door. Hearing the horn honk one more time, he grabbed the duffel bag that had been lying next to his feet, yelled good bye to his parents, and sprinted to his Jeep. There, his girlfriend, Miranda, his sister, Lizzie, and Lizzie's best friend and boyfriend, Gordo were all sitting in their seats, waiting for him rather impatiently.
"Hey guys, are we all packed up…ready to go apartment hunting?" With a chorus of 'yeah' and 'let's get going', Matt threw his bag in the trunk and climbed into his car, taking the roof from the back and putting it on before getting the group of four adults on the road to L.A.
"Okay Matt, but why three instead of two? I mean, even if we don't pair off for rommies, the girls could share and we could share. It's kind of useless to have another room."
"Gordo, guest room, and besides, no offense, but I already get enough gay jokes without sharing a room with a guy. That plus I don't want to share a room with anyone buy my girl, Miranda." As Matt said the last part, he took Miranda's hand in his, giving it a light squeeze and a quick glance.
"Good, because as much as I love you Lizzie, I don't think I could be your roommate," Miranda concluded.
Getting off of the 405 interstate, the four college students drove the route that they knew to their real-estate agent's office. They had appointments to look at five apartments near the campus.
"Okay guys, last place. Let's hope the saying that 'saving the best for last' holds true here," said Gordo. Before any of the remaining friends could respond, the door in front of them was opened and they were ushered inside of the last apartment. Looking around, the group realized that Gordo's statement must have been true.
This last apartment held no comparison to the other four that they had seen. It had two full bathrooms and a half bathroom, four bedrooms, two of them with walk in closets. The apartment also had two floors, with a staircase in the back of what the last tenants had made their living room, and the whole place was furnished.
"Before you ask, the only reason that I can show you this place at your price range is twofold. One, you'll have to fix-up the area upstairs if you want to use it. Also, there is an area in the rooftop to the second floor where, when it rains, the ceiling leaks and the water collects on the hardwood floors. The realty company can either give you a number for a handyman or let you fix it yourselves.
"However, if you decide to fix it up at all, the company has decided that they will pay for the supplies and hardware if you do it yourselves." As their realtor finished up her explanation, the four friends were exchanging looks.
"Well, before we decide anything, how about we get a look at the rest, including the second floor." When Gordo said this, the other three nodded eagerly in agreement. Lizzie and Miranda were obviously the most excited about looking at the rest of the place.
"So, if we agree to this place, and agree to fix up the roof and the second floor, we'll get to live here at that price?" Matt was looking at Laurie skeptically as he asked her this.
"Well, only if you agree to do it yourself. The reason we can do that is simple really. If it gets fixed up, this place gains retail value. After you four move out, we can rent, lease or sell this place for twice as much!"
"Ah, but, what if we buy it now and then don't move?"
"Well, eventually, the four of you will find people and live with them. You are all just in college. Someday you'll find that you want families and things like that. It's a give-in that at least two of you will move." At this point, Gordo looked at Lizzie and Miranda pensively.
"Well, I know what you girls will say, and you Matt. Does it come fully furnished?"
"It comes with everything that's actually here right now."
"Well, when can we move in? I know that the sooner we get a head's up on the second floor space, the better I'll feel when my mom comes to help move in my stuff. In fact, I'm gonna go on the roof, check out the leak, ok" Matt said this all very fast, almost not waiting for an answer from Laurie.