Page 8 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“No. I don’t know Jenna that well. I just see her at work.” Sara gets her phone out. “I’ll text her to let her know we’re here.”

“This is legit, right? She wouldn’t scam me?”

“No, she’s really nice. And if she did try to scam you, I know where she works.” Sara laughs. “But really, you have nothing to worry about.”

A girl walks out of the building, smiling when she sees us. “Hey, Sara.”

“Hey.” Sara points to me. “This is my friend Trina, the one who might want the apartment.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jenna smiles at me. She doesn’t seem like a scammer, but after being deceived by Asher, I’ve lost my trust in people. “Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around.”

She takes us into the building and goes down a long hallway, stopping at the very end. I hear music next door, but it’s not as loud as I was expecting.

Jenna opens her door and goes into her apartment.

“I know it’s small,” she says as Sara and I join her in the tiny room. “But I like to think of it as cozy.”

It’s about the same size as Sara’s place and has the same style kitchen with just a sink, microwave, and mini fridge. But it feels even smaller because Jenna has boxes stacked up all over the floor and piles of clothes everywhere.

“Are you taking all this?” Sara asks, glancing at Jenna’s stuff.

“Yeah, everything’s going to Leo’s place. He has a two bedroom.” She smiles. “It’s going to be so nice to have all that space. I can’t wait!”

I remember what that was like. The excitement of moving in with your boyfriend. I was thrilled when Asher asked me to live with him, especially since his apartment was so much bigger than my tiny dorm room. Now I’ll be living in a place even smaller than that, assuming I decide to live here.

But I think I have to. I can’t afford anything else. I don’t have a job.

No boyfriend. No job. Could this day get any worse?

CHAPTER THREE

Trina

“So the apartment will be empty,” I say, as I realize I don’t have any furniture. I don’t even have a bed, and I don’t have money to buy one.

“I could loan you my air mattress,” Sara says. “And people are always leaving furniture on the street. I’m sure you could find a dresser and maybe a chair.”

Great, just what I want. Discarded furniture that probably has rats living in it. I think I’d rather have an empty apartment.

“What do you think?” Jenna asks, smiling at me. “It’s a great location, and there’s a grocery store just down the street.” She points to the mini fridge. “That barely holds anything so you’ll find you have to go to the store a lot.”

Asher had a full-sized refrigerator, but we didn’t keep much in it. We usually went out to eat. I won’t be doing that anymore. I’ll have to start cooking meals, or microwaving them since I don’t have a stove.

The music next door gets louder and I hear a door slam.

“What about the neighbor?” I ask Jenna. “Sara said he can be kind of loud?”

“Yeah, but you get used to it.”

“Does it get louder than it is now?” I ask.

“Only on the weekends.” She pauses. “Well, sometimes it’s during the week, but not usually. Do you have to be up early for work?”

“No. I don’t have a job right now.”

“Oh, then I wouldn’t worry about the noise. It’s like the city noise. You get used to it after a while. And the good thing is, you’ve got no one on the other side.” She points to the wall opposite the neighbor. “That’s just a storage room.”

“Does it come with the apartment?”

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