--GUESS WHO?!-WHITNEY

[abigail]

Abby’s brother had told her that she needed to get out more, she was usually just sitting in her dorm doing nothing, so when he found an opening on a house for her she agreed to look it over and she said she would take it, just because she thought having an actual house with a roommate would be kind of fun. Abby got dropped off by her brother and he helped her with her things. She didn’t really have much because she wasn’t one of those people who gathered clutter. She had been told that her housemate wouldn’t be around so she’d been given a key after signing the contracts and everything. Abby had to admit that she was rather excited. She’d never really done this before, while many people her age were living with their partners by now, Abby had been alone most of the time, with her brother. He had his own shit going on though with his job and he just couldn’t really keep an eye on her all the time, she knew that now but it kind of made her feel better that he had been near when she was living in the dorms. Now they lived a few streets away, so what happened if there was some kind of emergency? It made her rather nervous to say the least.

She got all her stuff out and then put the key in the lock, opening it slowly. She could see that the place didn’t really seem to have much too it at all, it wasn’t decorated or anything and it just wasn’t homely. She had seen pictures of it, but that had been all, her brother had kind of pushed her into doing all this and it had been the first one to come up on the market. In a way she couldn’t blame her brother, she’d just turned twenty-two. Maybe it was time for her to stand on her own two feet without her brother being so nearby? When she had been in dorms she had stayed with him more nights than she had been in her room. Now she didn’t have a choice in doing that. He was paying her rent at least, since she had uni he knew that she did have a big workload, she had to feel a little bit bad for that but she would somehow get a job soon once she was settled, so she could pay for other stuff, she didn’t need her brother paying for everything. She had the inheritance her mother left them but that wasn’t for spending on just anything, and she had her student loan, which she used on fees, food and other things like that. Thinking about it made her realise she actually did need a job.

She looked around and then turned to her brother and frowned slightly. Oh well it would do for now, she would make it look pretty and homely somehow, as long as her roommate wouldn’t mind too much, she hadn’t met them yet and that was what she was rather nervous about. Her brother looked at her and assured her she would be fine, telling her he had to go and gave her a big hug. She sighed, hugging him back almost not wanting to let him go, but he was....he was leaving her. She was trying so hard not to cry but she was really finding it very hard, it wasn’t easy at all. She wiped the tears from her face and watched him leave, then began moving her boxes into the room that she had been allowed. She kind of hoped that her roommate would be back soon so they could get acquainted and settled with one another. She wasn’t good at meeting new people and often talked too much or not at all out of nerves, it would usually depend on her nerves, and right now she could feel like she didn’t really want to talk at all, but she wanted to at least get to know her roommate. The suspense and wait was killing her, and she never usually felt like this. She was not an impatient person at all usually but she didn’t ponder on why she was feeling like that now.

Finally she heard a key in the lock and walked out of her room so that she could be at the door to greet her. She smoothed out her clothes slightly and put her hair behind her ears. She wanted to look presentable for whoever was on the other side of the door. It made her rather excited now. She saw the door nob turn and then the door opened slowly to finally reveal her roommate. Abby smiled brightly at her and went over. She took a deep breath and waited a few moments for her to find her voice and then began to speak. Hi I’m Abby she said holding out her hand for the girl to shake it. I am your roommate I guess she smiled. Now the girl before her looked very tired, and worn out, and maybe like she was on other things but she wasn’t going to judge. I’ve never really lived on my own before, like full time so I am really excited. I hope we can get along well she smiled. Abby had high hopes of the two becoming fast friends, but that was because she saw good in almost everyone.

[whitney leigh douglas]

Whitney pulled into her driveway rather slowly, her old Firebird shaking as it pulled up the shallow incline. She turned the engine off and hopped out, pulling her purse with her. The door had to be slammed, and then she proceeded up the small walkway. She stepped onto the porch and paused to pull her keys out. They always seemed to sink straight to the bottom of her bag, so she had to dig them out. She flipped them over, instinctively landing on the right one and proceeded to unlock the door. It was good to be home finally.

It had been another long night, at the bar, and then participating in some other nightly activities. It was rare for her to be awake in the daylight and her body’s fuel tank was starting to run on empty. She was expecting a roommate at some point and her hair was falling limp, her clothes were creased, and everything smelled like alcohol and cigarettes. She was tired of holding the mess together; all she wanted was a good nap. She’d made a fair amount of money the night before, so she didn’t mind considering some leisure-time activities for later.

Her head was bent and her eyes focused on the lock as she was coming through the door, so she didn’t actually notice Abby standing there till she had walked through. Whitney was a little caught off guard, but managed a slight amount of composure as she straightened and smiled at her new roommate. No reason to make the girl feel unwelcome. She thought briefly, as she shut the door behind her and locked it without really looking. ”Whitney.” She replied in kind and shook the girl’s hand. Abby betrayed her excitement readily and it was actually kind of cute.

“Let me show you around.” Whitney offered, thinking how young the girl looked and sounded, just a baby really. Abby was sweet and seemed a little naïve, which worried Whitney a little, considering how rough she could be around the edges. “The living room is self-explanatory.” It was the first you room you saw walking into the house and it coincidentally had the most furniture. There was a t.v. and a couch. It probably could have used an end table or a coffee table and maybe a couple chairs for extra seating, but Whitney hadn’t given decorating much thought.

”The kitchen and dining area is through there. She said, indicating while she was walking. The kitchen was quaint, but had fairly new appliances. She ate a lot, so the only things in the fridge were beer, hot sauce, and some ranch dressing. “I’m not home much,” Whitney explained. “So feel free to think of this place as your own.” There weren’t even dishes in the sink because Whitney used paper plates and plastic utensils. These two rooms looked empty and virtually unused.

Continuing down the hallway, she lingered around the guest bedroom and bath. Peeking in, she saw that some personals had already been deposited. “I see you found your bedroom.”Whitney commented with a smile and kept moving. It was going to be a very brief tour. “The den is rather large and could also be made into a bedroom, but it doesn’t have its own bathroom.” Whitney laughed a little, “I don’t know what I would do without my own bathroom.”

She continued on, finally stopping at her bedroom door. “I wasn’t sure I wanted roommates, so I snagged the master bedroom.” There was a mattress propped up only by its box spring and a dresser to fill up the space of her room. “I haven’t had time for much decorating.” She admitted. The walls were bare and there was a mess of recently worn or tried on clothing in little piles throughout. There were still a few small unpacked boxes as well and trash bags sitting in a corner. She’d moved in herself not too long ago and hadn’t thought much about setting the place up nicely.

”I’m sure we’ll get along, Abby.” Whitney tried to reassure her, in case it was overwhelming. ”I have a few unsavory habits.” She admitted. “I don’t like closed doors, I’m generally pretty open as a person, but I want you to live however you’re comfortable and forgive me for doing the same.” She smiled genuinely and hoped she wasn’t being too honest too fast.

[abigail]

This was all so new to Abby, being on her own and having a roommate. She didn’t quite know what to make of it but she was trying hard to stay calm and not get too freaked out or over excited. She didn’t want to seem like a complete freak to Whitney, though she figured she would probably already seem that way. She hoped that they could be friends, Abby had only ever had a few good friends in her life, her best friend in San Francisco. She missed her so much, and they’d had so much fun, having sleepovers all the time. Maybe Abby was naive but she saw her and this new roomie of hers as hopefully being the same, even though she knew nothing about her. Many people wouldn’t have been so quick to think this but Abby was too sweet to think anything bad of someone she had just met. She didn’t want to. Nice to meet you Whitney she said politely. She smiled once again, at least the girl was making me feel welcome, if she hadn’t then Abby would have felt so much more nervous than she was right now. She tried to be relaxed though.

As she looked around the place, it didn’t look too bad, it wasn’t what she would go for if she was taking up residence on her own, but it was her first place, and plus she had a roomie, she could deal with it, because thinking that there just wasn’t anything that wrong about it really. It was kind of small, that was all she had to comment on really. The living room was a little bare, and it hadn’t been decorated but maybe Abby could do that now that school was done, although she was thinking of taking some summer classes just because she was like that. It’s nice she commented Though, would you mind if I wanted to decorate the place a little? she asked her curiously, hoping the girl might just say that she could go ahead and do it. I kind of hate bare walls, but if you don’t want me to its fine she said with a nod. It was just an idea she told her I won’t be offended if you reject the offer she said. Well she wanted to let the girl know that she shouldn’t feel bad if she didn’t want her doing anything, it was HER place after all.

She nodded as she pointed to the kitchen and dining area. thanks she said when Whitney said she should think of it as her own. The rooms didn’t look used at all. Abby knew she wasn’t saying much, so she used the opportunity to pipe up and ask what she did for work So, err, what do you do? she asked Like, what job do you have? she said to her, hoping that it wasn’t coming across rude. They then moved to one of the bedrooms where Abby had already put some of her belongings. Ohhh.... she said I hope you don’t mind she said. Then she mentioned about a den and Abby shrugged No, it’s fine I like this one just fine she said, realising the girl probably did not care that she had made this room her own now. She was feeling rather excited that it was hers, she’d had a dorm room at the school but hadn’t used it much and spent most of her time with her brother, just because she didn’t think her roomie wanted her around much. To Abby, she hadn’t been the nicest of girls.

Abby shrugged when she said she hadn’t had much time for decorating like I said, I could do some in between my summer classes she smiled. Then she nodded Yes, yes I hope so! she told her. Then Abby nodded Okay.... she said I appreciate you being honest she said I think that is the best thing for everything. I don’t like secrets she admitted. It was true, Abby thought, because of everything she had been through with her mother, she would rather things were open, she wanted to be open with her brother...she told him EVERYTHING and she was glad that Whitney had the same view.

[OOC// sorry that this is sorta shitty, and it took a while, my next one will be better!]

[whitney leigh douglas]

Whitney could almost sense the girl’s uneasiness, but she was also to worn out to give it her full attention, much less any thought. Abby was very sweet, too sweet really, and the kind of person that was overly apologetic for no reason. That one characteristic may become an irritation at some other point in time, but Whitney’s mind was focused on sounding hospitable.

“That’s fine.” She insisted, listening to the girl chatter on. She obviously disapproved of Whitney’s bare walls and general lack of decorating effort, but at least she offered a solution. “I don’t mind.” Whitney assured her, listening to how quick she was to defend and explain herself. Did she seem mean or particular, why else would her immediate offense be assumed? As long as Abby didn’t turn the room into a pink, fluffy explosion, it should be fine.

Her next question was a little bit of a surprise as far as timing, but not content. It was only natural that her roommate would want to know something about her. Whitney hadn’t been particularly curious because her mind wasn’t exactly fresh and Abby wasn’t exactly intimidating. Looking at it from her perspective, Whitney could see how she might not be immediately endearing. “I bartend.” She replied. “At Club Adrenaline. It’s not an impressive profession, but it pays the bills.” By unimpressive, she simply meant that it would not require a degree or special skills, which she assumed would be the kind of job that would impress a girl like Abby.

As they moved through the house, Whitney tried to think of something she might want to learn about the girl beside her. How could she display mutual attentiveness? Her disinterest was probably coming across as very rude. All her other roommates had been male, so she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Girls placed more importance on the subtleties of relationships - that much she knew. Getting along would be important and not just that, but a blossoming friendship would be encouraged.

“That would be nice.” Whitney insisted, trying to imagine what this place would look like with a little thought and deliberation. “I just haven’t had the time.” She was being sincere on both counts. “So you’re in school?” Whitney took this time to ask the girl about herself. It was strange how much older she felt than Abby, but there couldn’t be too much of a difference. She’d be in college too now if she hasn’t abandoned the idea of higher education long ago. “I don’t have an internet connection, but we could change that. I don’t have a landline either…” Whitney figured a student need a little technology these days. She was a little behind the times, but maybe splitting the bills would be a good idea. She could use a little more interaction with the outside world. “Hell, I barely get basic channels.” She joked, realizing how backwards she must seem. Abby would have gotten a real kick out of seeing the clothes line Whitney had hanging in her room before she finally caved and bought a clothes dryer for the place.

At last, Whitney thought of something she really wanted to know about her new roommate. It was a little personal, but they had both just confessed a preference for openness. “Do you have a boyfriend?” Whitney asked, as politely as she could muster. There were all sorts of reasons she wanted to know; it happened to be a perfectly sensible question. At some point or another Lucas and Abby were bound to bump into each other, so it was only fair she open that can of worms now. This seemed the perfect way to explain her own romantic situation. Lucas was obviously not her boyfriend and neither were any of the other guys that might be gracing this household, but he was one of the few constants in her life, and a fair warning was deserved by all.