What Are We Getting Into?
New Beginnings
June
"Do you have any apartment preferences?"
Sabrina pushed up her glasses and looked from her textbook to stare at Chloe. They were supposed to be studying for their final exams the coming week. But, as per usual, the study session had regressed to Sabrina over-studying while her friend lost focus and started fiddling with her phone. Over the past few years Chloe had slowly improved her academics, but she still struggled with staying on task.
"Chloe," Sabrina said, "we've only been at this for an hour."
"But if I study any more I'm afraid that my brain will fry! Besides, we've already been accepted to University. There's no point in worrying about it at this point."
"I could lose my academic scholarship if I fail, Chloe."
"Sabrina we've been over this before. If you'd just let—"
"I received a full ride scholarship. That means that, as long as I keep my grades up, no one has to pay for me to go to University."
The two glared at each other for what felt like hours.
They'd been fighting on and off about Sabrina's finances for over a year now. Between Chloe's stubbornness and Sabrina's pride they couldn't come to an agreement. Chloe was dead set on providing for her best friend and Sabrina wanted to prove to herself that she could make something of herself.
Sabrina also had suspicions that Chloe was still trying to make up for everything that she'd done wrong while they were younger. Sure it had been endearing the first few times when she would go out of her way to be nice, but now it was starting to aggravate her.
Because, more than anything, Sabrina just wanted them to move forward. It felt as though their friendship would start to stagnate if all Chloe did was wallow in the past. And those of their class that liked to take advantage of Chloe's guilt certainly didn't help matters either.
Eventually, Chloe broke first.
"Fine," she huffed and went back to her phone.
Sabrina sighed and returned to studying. It was likely that they would never agree, but for now it seemed as though they could put it aside. She turned the page of her textbook and was about to highlight a term when Chloe's earlier words suddenly came back to her. She looked up again and gave her a quizzical look.
"Wait, what did you mean by apartment preferences?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Well I wasn't going to just choose one without asking you first. Unless you don't have any preferences, then I'll just go with—"
"No, no. I know what you mean by preferences. I meant why are you looking at apartments to begin with?"
"You didn't actually expect for us to live in those closets that they call dorms, did you? I love you, Sabrina, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Mainly between living like a dog and a human being."
"But, aren't you living at home?"
The shift was subtle. One moment Chloe was smirking confidently and the next she wore a blank mask as her eyes stayed trained to her phone. Most likely she wasn't actually seeing what was on her screen as she scrolled, but she methodically swiped her finger nonetheless. Sabrina gave her a few moments, but when Chloe's silence continued, she called her name and gently placed a hand on her arm.
"Papa, he…" Chloe cleared her throat. "He says that it's best if I live somewhere else when I graduate." She gripped the phone tighter than strictly necessary. "When we graduate he said that I need to find someplace private to live. Since it's sort of a last minute decision he said he'd give me a monthly allowance for living expenses until I'm done with University. It won't be as luxurious as I'd hope for us, but since it's only our first apartment I imagine—"
Sabrina turned Chloe so that she could look at her more directly.
"What do you mean he wants you to live somewhere else? Last month he was talking about how he couldn't imagine you living anywhere but at the hotel."
"Election season is coming up soon. He said that it'd be easier if I kept my… lifestyle somewhere else," Chloe said. "He thinks that as soon as I go off to University I'll go to all of these parties and sleep around with as many people as I can. I tried to tell him that I wasn't interested in anything like that... But he just ignored me.
"It's ironic, really." Chloe laughed, though to Sabrina it sounded hollow and mirthless. "He makes all of these great speeches about how he supports this or that, but the moment we're home all he can talk about is how he can't wait for me to 'find the perfect man' and 'pick the right side.'
"It's almost as if he conveniently forgets about how I might not marry a man, let alone anyone. And, heaven forbid, I even think about reminding him that this isn't some phase I'm going through.
"It's like I'm just some tool for him to use to stay mayor and not his daughter."
Sabrina squeezed Chloe's arm. She knew it had been rough between them when she'd first talked to her father. She could remember how, on the worst of nights, Chloe showed up on her doorstep at all hours of the day demanding that they watch sitcoms and do each other's nails until they fell asleep. And, no matter when it was, she would open the door and they would do just that.
The last occurrence had been nearly six months ago, though, so Sabrina had taken that as a sign that thing were better between them. That if Chloe wasn't complaining about her father anymore, then everything was okay now.
But it appeared as though she'd been mistaken.
"I'm sorry, Chloe. I didn't—"
"It's fine, Sabrina. I didn't want to bother you with it." Chloe sniffed and wiped at her eye. "I should probably be the one apologizing. I kind of decided this on my own and thought you'd go along with it since I know you're nervous to live in the dorms and I don't necessarily want to live by myself."
Chloe bit her lip and Sabrina felt as though she couldn't look anywhere else when they made eye contact.
"It sounds kind of pathetic, but I guess I just thought that, if I had to choose someone to live with, I'd choose you."
As Chloe's words rang in her ears as a strange cacophony of emotions began to reverberate inside of her head. Sabrina couldn't put an exact name to all of their notes, but something about them made her heart sing.
And, more than anything else, she wanted Chloe's heart to sing, too.
Chloe gently patted Sabrina's hand, causing her to break from her trance. "Anyways, I'm going to go get us something to drink from the café, do you—"
"I do!" Sabrina's cheeks flushed. "I mean. I-I want to move in. I mean I love— I'd love to be your roommate!" Her hands flew up to her mouth as butterflies began flying in her stomach.
"Really?" Chloe's eyes brightened. "Are you sure? I don't want to pressure you into this."
Sabrina nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, I'm sure! I was just surprised by the idea is all."
"Oh this is wonderful!" Chloe launched herself forward and hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Sabrina! I promise I'll make sure everything is set up so that all you have to do is move your stuff in! In fact I'll even hire movers so all you have to do is pack!"
Sabrina barely had any time to reciprocate before Chloe pulled away.
"Ok. I'll go get you your favorites and while I'm gone you write down everything that you want in the apartment and we'll start looking at listings alright?"
Before Sabrina had any chance to respond, Chloe was out the door and heading downstairs. In the wake of her excitement were left three things. A sudden silence, papers fluttering across the table, and a very overwhelmed Sabrina wondering one thing:
What was she getting herself into?
A/N: Hello and thank you for reading! I recently participated in the Miraculous Pride Zine over on Tumblr! It was a wonderful experience and I encourage you to check it out over on the Tumblr page by the same name. So many people worked hard to make it beautiful so if you do check it out let them know what you think of their works!
I'm really excited to continue to work on this piece! I'll be uploading Chapter 1, which was also in the zine, soon and from then on we'll be exploring the life and times of Sabrina and Chloe! I have some things planned, but if there are specific topics or suggestions let me know!
Also, thanks to the lovely beegene for taking a look over this! Your enthusiasm was really helpful.
Again, thanks everyone for reading and I'll see you soon!