"Will you please put that fucking thing out?" Fallon snarled, as the girl next to her in the courtyard blew secondhand smoke straight into Fallon's long black hair. "Seriously."

The girl smiled sinisterly and took another drag of the disintegrating cancer stick between her middle and index finger. After holding it in her probably already blackened lungs, she blew a large cloud of ash gray smoke straight into Fallon's face, sending her into a coughing frenzy. Fallon slammed her notebook shut, shoved it into her backpack and started to make her way out of the court yard. As she walked down the sidewalk towards the main road and towards her apartment building, she heard her heels click and clack against the rough cement and was suddenly extremely aware of how badly her feet were hurting her. She knew buying these shoes was an awful idea, she had always had flat feet, but standing only a mere five feet two inches, she needed the extra lift.

Her room seemed extra far today and with her pounding feet, she needed to sit down as soon as possible. The apartments weren't more than a half mile down the road and were technically owned by the university, but they were far enough away from campus that it felt less like living at school, and more like living on your own. She finally reached the front of the building and the sliding door opened automatically. She stepped into the lobby, letting out a small sigh, her bag was heavy and she was winded from the slight uphill slope of the sidewalk.

She slid her key into the mailbox slot of room 203 and found a single envelope inside of it. She smiled at the pink envelope covered in doodles and stickers. The return address was her mom's and she sent Fallon a card every week while she was away at school. Sometimes there was money inside, which was always a nice surprise. Even working a job at the Bursar's office, she wasn't making nearly enough to pay for school and have any extra to put gas in her car, buy groceries, the essentials. Her mom didn't have much, but was always willing to help when she could. Sometimes the cards had a funny drawing, a picture of her dog back home, or occasionally there would be pictures of the two of them from when she was younger; to add to the bulletin board Fallon had of them in her room.

She proceeded to the elevator and tore open the envelope as she waited. There was a card inside, with a cat on the front, mouth open as if it was yelling. There was a dialogue bubble next to it with "I MISS YOU" in big red letters. Fallon smiled as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. On the short ride to the second floor, she read the little note her mom had written inside, amongst the doodles of hearts. "We miss you so much, come home soon!" Enclosed in the envelope was a picture of her mom and their dog Bubbles, and folded around it was a one hundred dollar bill. She slid the card with the picture and money back into the envelope and stepped off the elevator into the hallway. She fumbled in her bag for a moment to find the keys she had tossed in after checking her mailbox and took the few final painful steps to her door. Eager to take her heels off, she threw the door open, tossed the keys on the counter and kicked her shoes off.

The apartment wasn't fancy, there was a small kitchen, a living room with a four person high top table, two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, and a small balcony outside a sliding glass door from the living room. She had opted this year to take a random roommate to make sure she secured her place in one of these apartments. You were more likely to get a room when you didn't come in with someone already set in mind to live with. For most of her college experience Fallon had taken on random roommates and had a good experience, but she never really clicked with any of them to remain friends beyond the year they lived together. It was nothing personal, but living in the same room as someone you have nothing in common with took a toll on you and usually she was happy to get rid of an old roommate and start fresh.

This year, she had lucked out. She got paired with a girl named Sarah, who was Fallon's polar opposite and exactly what she needed in a roommate and a friend.

"I told you not to wear those heels." Sarah came from the kitchen as Fallon tossed her shoes to the side of the room.

"I know, I know, I just thought maybe they would have been broken in enough that they wouldn't be so painful by now."

"Girl, they're heels, they'll never be comfortable." Sarah sat down on the couch with a cup of tea in hand. "There's more hot water in the pot if you want a cup," she said pointing towards the stove.

Fallon started towards the kitchen dropping her bag on the counter as she passed by, "you know we own a Keurig right? It makes hot water without having to wait for it to boil on the stove." She grabbed the teapot and reached for a mug in the cabinet.

"It's better from the pot and you know it," Sarah said, taking a long sip from the cup.

"Sure, whatever you say." Fallon dropped a tea bag into her mug. "Are you around this weekend or are you going home?"

"I'm gonna head home this weekend. My sister is there with her baby and I haven't seen either of them since August really. I need my fill of baby cuddles." Sarah smiled, "what about you?"

Fallon sighed, "my mom sent me a card saying 'come home soon,' but I think I'm gonna stay here. I want to go grocery shopping and clean this place. I have a bunch of stuff to do for class. I'll try again next weekend."

"You don't need to do everything, go home this weekend, we'll do the groceries and cleaning during the week when I come back."

Fallon thought about it for a second or two, "no it's really okay. I'll call her and maybe Facetime her so I can see Bubbles and let her know that I'll be home, just not this weekend."

Sarah gave her a slight smile, "just don't do too much. Relax for once, you're always going going going."

"I won't, like I said, just groceries, some cleaning, and maybe I'll even hit the gym."

Sarah scoffed, "oh sure, when I ask you to go to the gym with me, you're busy and now you're gonna take up going to the gym without me?"

Fallon paused for a moment, "yes, that's exactly it."

Sarah smacked Fallon on the leg, "you're the actual worst."

Fallon smiled and got up from the couch in the living room. She headed back into the kitchen and started taking things from the freezer and fridge and stacking them on the counter. She reached for the cutting board and knife and pulled a pot from under the oven. "Are you going home now or should I cook dinner for two?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Yes, entirely," Fallon said sarcastically.

Sarah got up and brought her mug into her bedroom with her. "I'm packing my things, taking my tea, and leaving you be."

"Are you sure? It won't take me long."

"No, I'm sure. If I don't get on the road soon it'll be late by the time I get there. It's gonna take me at least an hour and a half." Sarah disappeared back into her room, her voice sounded more distant now. "Do you have a duffle bag I can borrow for the weekend? I don't really need to pack a whole suitcase."

Fallon put down the knife and carrot she had begun cutting and walked into her room. She rummaged through the bottom of her closet and pulled out a small tote bag that she used when she went back and forth between home and school. She flipped it upside down, ensuring there was nothing in it and walked over to Sarah's room. "Will this work?"

"That's perfect!" Sarah took the bag from Fallon's hand, "thank you!"

"No problem." Fallon went back to the kitchen and chopped her carrots.

Sarah walked out of her room, mug still in hand and a full tote bag tossed over her shoulder. "I'll see you Sunday night."

"Say hi to your mom for me. Enjoy your baby snuggles."

Sarah smiled gleefully, "I will! Enjoy your...chopped carrots for dinner." She let out a small laugh.

Fallon tossed a carrot piece into her mouth. "It's delicious, here you wanna try?" She tossed a small piece at Sarah, causing her to let out a high pitched squeak before running towards the door. "Be careful driving!"

"I will! Have a good weekend!" Her statement was followed by the click of the front door closing.

Fallon poured some oil into a pan and turned on the stove. She unwrapped a packet of chicken thighs and threw them in, listening to them sizzle. She put in her chopped carrots, quickly chopped an onion and threw that in with it. She put a lid on the pot and let her concoction simmer.

She pulled out her cell phone and quickly sent a text to her friend Trent.

Dinner tonight? I just put it in a pan, done in 20 minutes.

Pushing the send button, she put the phone on the counter and flipped the chicken cooking in the pan. Putting the lid back on, her phone started to ring. She hit the green button and put the call on speaker.

"Hello?"

"I hear you have dinner."

Fallon giggled, "yes, I have dinner. You can also have dinner."

"What is dinner?"

"Does it matter? Are you cooking?"

"Nope."

"It's chicken thighs and vegetables in tomato sauce."

Trent laughed, "I feel like none of those things go together."

"You're suddenly uninvited to dinner."

"You don't wanna eat all alone, I know you."

"Please come eat with me, it might be burnt, but it's food!"

"I'll be there in ten. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"You have anything to bring in that boy house of yours?"

Trent paused for a moment, "beer?"

"I'll take that."

"I'll be there soon."

"Door is open."

The phone beeped, signaling the end of the call and Fallon returned to the pan on the stove. She opened a can of tomato sauce, sprinkled in some salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, and replaced the lid once more to let it finish simmering.

The doorbell rang fifteen minutes later.

"Come in!" Fallon yelled from the kitchen.

Trent entered the room, bottles clinking in a backpack. "Hi," he swung the backpack from his shoulder and placed it on the floor by the table. "Smells good in here," he walked over to the kitchen.

"Hi," Fallon turned to him for a hug, "thank you, I managed to not burn it and it looks pretty edible."

"It looks good." Trent began taking dishes down from the cabinet above the stove and then getting forks from the drawer.

Trent had been Fallon's friend for years, long before they started college. Their mothers had been friends and a year after Trent was born, Fallon came along. Their moms raised them together most of the time, until Trent's dad moved their family a state away when they were twelve years old. Ending up at the same school was purely by chance, they had given Fallon money to attend and since she was putting herself through school, more money meant less debt in the future. While Trent's parents were paying for him to be here, Fallon's mom had told her from the start that she couldn't afford to put her through four years of school. There was money put away, but not enough to take the financial burden completely off her mom. And after her dad left, money was tight anyway. They talked about it and settled on Fallon paying her way through school and her mom would hang on to that money, tucked away, which was why when she threw a hundred dollar bill in the mail or transferred money to Fallon, it didn't feel so bad. It was technically hers to use however she needed, even if that meant only groceries or books.

Trent had always been a good student, but the university didn't offer him much, he just always wanted to be here. He was away from home, but not too far. When Fallon moved into her dorm, he made sure she didn't get lost on campus. And when she decided as a junior to take advantage of the on campus apartments, he tried to talk her out of it and into getting a real house, off campus with some friends like he did. But for Fallon, making friends usually came easy, but she had none here that she really wanted to live with, so taking a random shot in the dark was how she wanted to gamble for a roommate and she lucked out with Sarah.

"You can put the dishes on the table, we can eat like real people, not on the couch."

"Me and the boys eat on the couch all the time."

"Like I said, real people," she said smiling.

Trent took the plates and silverware to the table, set them at each chair and folded the napkins, "there, cause you wanna be so fancy."

Fallon followed over with the pan and dish towel to put underneath, "can you grab the big spoon off the stove?"

"Sure thing."

He grabbed the spoon and came back to the table as Fallon was sitting down. She was struggling to get up on the high bar stool type chair, "I'm too short for these stupid chairs."

Trent laughed as he sat across from her and started to scoop the chicken and vegetables from the pan. He handed the spoon to Fallon.

"Where did Sarah go for the weekend?" Trent asked between chewing.

"She went home, she wanted to see her sister's baby. I can't blame her, She showed me a picture, super cute!"

"That's nice, and you? How come you didn't go home?"

Fallon sighed, "I dunno. My mom sent me a card and a picture of the pup, and money. She said she wanted me to come home soon, and I love her, but I just don't want to go home. I live here and I like being on my own and having Sarah. Going home is hard. I miss Bubbles though," she smiled sadly. "And you're here this weekend, why didn't you go home?"

Trent swallowed, "I'm soaking up the last of my time here, this year is it for me."

"Then you have to be a real person, an actual adult!"

"Sounds awful, want a beer?"

"Please."

He pulled two bottles of Bud Lite from his backpack, twisted them both open and handed one to Fallon.

"Cheers," he held out the bottle to meet Fallon's.

"Cheers."