One

Joslyn sighed as she threw herself backwards onto the bed, “God, I’m glad I have rich friends.”

“We aren’t rich,” Dora, the woman whom Joslyn usually referred to as Izzy, insisted.

“Your moms and dads are rich, it’s close enough.”

“If we were that rich, there wouldn’t be four of us sharing a flat.”

Joslyn shrugged, “Why not? We each still get our own bedroom. This flat is huge. I thought we’d be, like, crammed all into one bedroom and have one little bathroom to share and all that. This is like a frigging house, though.”

Dora just stared at her for a moment, then shook her head, “You’re so American.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re American, too.”

“I’m less American than you are.”

“I don’t see how being American is a bad thing,” Grant suddenly piped in from somewhere beneath the two large boxes balanced in his arms.

“You’re Irish,” Dora pointed out. “You’re supposed to hate everyone. Or maybe everyone’s supposed to hate you...”

“And you’re British; you’re supposed to be a total bitch. Oh, wait...”

Joslyn laughed and took one of the boxes from Grant so he could see where he was going and set it on the floor amid the dozen or so other boxes staging a coup on the living room. Though Dora and their fourth flatmate Giordi had been in the flat for about two weeks now and had most of the furniture and decor set up, Grant had arrived two days before, and Joslyn just the day before, and so there was plenty still to unpack.

Giordi stepped through the door and dumped another two boxes on the floor before announcing, “Well I think the Irish, the Americans, and the British all suck and the Italians should rule the world.”

“You’re American.”

“I’m Italian.”

“Your parents are Italian.”

“Which makes me Italian.”

Joslyn shook her head, “No, it makes you Italian-American.”

“Shut up. Nobody asked you anyways,” he grumbled, kicking a box of her clothes before leaving the room. Joslyn and Dora laughed as the latter helped the former begin carting her boxes up the stairs to her bedroom, the corner one she had flipped Grant for and won.

Joslyn sighed at the appearance of her bedroom, “God, I love it here. Will you look at this bedroom? It’s by far the largest bedroom I’ve ever had.”

“That’s actually really sad because it’s not that big...”

“Well I think it’s fantastic,” Joslyn insisted, dropping the boxes on the mattress. She still needed to get her bedframe put together, since Dora and Giordi had left the bedrooms to be set up by their individual owners. As it was, her mattress dominated the floor while a chest of drawers would share the far wall with a bookshelf once it was put together, a desk perched beneath the largest front window, and a door leading into the bathroom she shared with Dora had absolute control of the fourth wall.

Most of Grant’s and Joslyn’s things had been shipped to Dora’s parents house about an hour and a half outside the city, and Dora and Grant had spent the morning packing up a moving truck with the nice collection of things taking up Mr. and Mrs. Rainwater’s garage. They had been very kind in offering the space, though, and didn’t seem too concerned about not having a garage for several weeks. The fact that they and Giordi’s parents had paid for most of the furniture in the flat was just another of the endless ways in which they were helping their only daughter venture out into the world. Actually, Dora had admitted to Joslyn late one night, they were ready to have her gone and had promised to help fund her way if she would just move out already. At twenty, Dora figured she still had a few good years left to live at home, but when Joslyn mentioned she wanted to move to London, and when Giordi mentioned he wanted to share a flat with them, and when Grant had mentioned if they were all living together, he didn’t want to be left out, it had been decided.

The only one in the house Joslyn had known before the past summer was Dora, but she, Dora, and Grant had spent a week together in France back in July. She knew he occasionally slipped into moody fits, but that wasn’t too bad –guy moody spells were so much better than girl moody spells. And then Giordi... Giordi who had picked her up at the airport and driven like a loon to impress her with his speed and reflexes. The longer she spent with him, she realized he really was every bit as arrogant and spoiled as Dora had warned. He seemed harmless, though, and even his arrogance could be amusing if you were clever enough to prick his pride every now and then. And Joslyn was nothing if not good at cleverly deflating egos.

Yes, Joslyn thought, the four of them would get along famously. It would be a wonderful year, or however long they all managed to put up with living under one roof together. The only thing missing was–

“Can we get a dog? Or a cat?” Dora asked when all the boxes had finally been unloaded and distributed to the correct sections of the house.

Giordi shook his head, “I’m not picking up dog shit and I definitely don’t want some cat curling up in bed with me at night.”

“What makes you think it would want to sleep with you?” Joslyn inquired pointedly.

“Because who wouldn’t want to sleep with me?” he demanded, instantly laughing at his cleverness. Joslyn rolled her eyes and raised her hand. Dora raised her hand. Even Grant raised his hand. “Fuck all of you,” he laughed.

Dora shook her head, “I think that’s what we just debated.”

“Personally, I’m all for a dog or cat,” Joslyn voiced. Though she wouldn’t classify herself a country girl by any means, her suburban upbringing had still given her home plenty of room to house an odd assortment of pets while growing up. She had never been in a house without at least two non-human companions and didn’t think that even living with a bunch of friends could make up for a rainy night snuggled up to read without a cat stretched across her lap.

“Well if that’s what the girls want...” Grant laughed and Joslyn smiled. So that’s how things were going to be. She and Dora were the girls; Grant and Giordi were the boys. Already they were slipping into their roles in this makeshift family.

“We’ll see,” Giordi consented. But he smiled at Joslyn and she knew she could get him to give in.

Grant settled himself on the couch behind Joslyn, not seeming too distraught when his added weighed forced her to roll back and lean against him as he asked, “Well so now what do we do?”

“We... live here.”

“Well Joslyn already went grocery shopping but she bought jack crap,” Giordi rolled his eyes.

Joslyn gasped, “Hey! Whatever I bought I had to carry with me, and I had to walk like ten miles to find a frigging grocery store.”

“Are you always so dramatic?” Giordi demanded.

Joslyn made a face at him and argued, “No. Only about thirty percent of the time. Forty percent of the time I’m making fun of everyone else for being too dramatic, and the remaining thirty I’m too laid back to care.” Giordi fell silent to see if he could catch her in her math, but she had divided up her percentages accurately, much to his disappointment. From what Dora had told him, Joslyn was a smart little thing, made no qualms about letting people know how smart she was, and he had taken this as a challenge to catch her in something.

“Isn’t there one just down the street that way?” Grant asked about the grocery store, pointing in the opposite direction from which Joslyn had spent her morning wandering. She sighed and threw her arms up in the air, demanding to know why no one had informed her of this.

“Well it doesn’t matter. I’m famished now, so how about we all go out and eat –it’ll be a celebration of our move-in. Then we can swing by the market and get actual sustenance for the house.”

“With what money? I’m seriously down to like twenty dollars,” Joslyn frowned.

Dora shook her head and laughed, “God, Joz... Thank God you have rich flatmates or I don’t know how you would survive...” Joslyn smiled because she knew it was true. But it was nice to be young and immature and spoiled.

With all the excitement of the move-in, it wasn’t until late that night that Joslyn finally had time to herself to begin unpacking her room, dumping the boxes out on the floor in order to refold everything and organize things in her drawers. Despite the chaos she had grown up in, or perhaps because of it, she had turned into quite the little neat-freak and actually had quite a bit of fun putting her room together just how she wanted it. It was too much to do for one night, of course, but she already had some grand ideas for painting the furniture and walls, what color bedding and drapes she wanted, and what posters or pictures would best fit where on the blank walls.

“Are you wound down yet?”

Joslyn glanced over her shoulder at Dora leaning in the doorway, her bathrobe wrapped tightly around her thin body.

She gave a sleepy smile and nodded, “Yeah. I feel like I ran a marathon today.”

“Probably jet lag mixed with all the excitement,” Dora nodded, stepping in to fall onto Joslyn’s mattress. “We’ll get your bed put together tomorrow, if you want.”

“Sure. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping on this tonight, though.”

Dora smiled and watched her slip the last few shirts into the shirt drawer, then patted the place beside her on the bed, “You know, Joz, I’m glad you’re here. You’ve always been my favorite cousin.”

“You’re just saying that because you have to live with me for at least the next year.”

“Maybe,” Dora laughed, slipping her arm around her younger cousin’s shoulders. “But this is going to be fun.”

Joslyn let her head fall to Dora’s shoulder as she agreed, “Of course it is, Izzy. We’re young and beautiful and we’ve got the world at our doorstep. What could possibly go wrong? Besides everything, I mean...” They both laughed at the cynicalness of it.

“Here’s to the stupidity of youth,” Dora announced, holding an imaginary glass in the air.

“May we make mistakes we’re ashamed to tell our children about in thirty years,” Joslyn added, clinking her own imaginary glass with it. They laughed and downed the invisible drinks.

After final hugs and good nights, Dora disappeared for her room and Joslyn finally changed and crawled into bed, the drastic time change and momentum of the day suddenly crashing down over her head.

“The stupidity of youth, indeed,” she sighed to herself with a small smile, then closed her eyes and was out before her head hit the pillow.


	One Joslyn sighed as she threw herself backwards onto the bed, “God, I’m glad I have rich friends.” “We aren’t rich,” Dora, the woman whom Joslyn usually referred to as Izzy, insisted. “Your moms and dads are rich, it’s close enough.” “If we were that rich, there wouldn’t be four of us sharing a flat.” Joslyn shrugged, “Why not? We each still get our own bedroom. This flat is huge. I thought we’d be, like, crammed all into one bedroom and have one little bathroom to share and all that. This is like a frigging house, though.” Dora just stared at her for a moment, then shook her head, “You’re so American.” “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re American, too.” “I’m less American than you are.” “I don’t see how being American is a bad thing,” Grant suddenly piped in from somewhere beneath the two large boxes balanced in his arms. “You’re Irish,” Dora pointed out. “You’re supposed to hate everyone. Or maybe everyone’s supposed to hate you...” “And you’re British; you’re supposed to be a total bitch. Oh, wait...” Joslyn laughed and took one of the boxes from Grant so he could see where he was going and set it on the floor amid the dozen or so other boxes staging a coup on the living room. Though Dora and their fourth flatmate Giordi had been in the flat for about two weeks now and had most of the furniture and decor set up, Grant had arrived two days before, and Joslyn just the day before, and so there was plenty still to unpack. Giordi stepped through the door and dumped another two boxes on the floor before announcing, “Well I think the Irish, the Americans, and the British all suck and the Italians should rule the world.” “You’re American.” “I’m Italian.” “Your parents are Italian.” “Which makes me Italian.” Joslyn shook her head, “No, it makes you Italian-American.” “Shut up. Nobody asked you anyways,” he grumbled, kicking a box of her clothes before leaving the room. Joslyn and Dora laughed as the latter helped the former begin carting her boxes up the stairs to her bedroom, the corner one she had flipped Grant for and won. Joslyn sighed at the appearance of her bedroom, “God, I love it here. Will you look at this bedroom? It’s by far the largest bedroom I’ve ever had.” “That’s actually really sad because it’s not that big...” “Well I think it’s fantastic,” Joslyn insisted, dropping the boxes on the mattress. She still needed to get her bedframe put together, since Dora and Giordi had left the bedrooms to be set up by their individual owners. As it was, her mattress dominated the floor while a chest of drawers would share the far wall with a bookshelf once it was put together, a desk perched beneath the largest front window, and a door leading into the bathroom she shared with Dora had absolute control of the fourth wall. Most of Grant’s and Joslyn’s things had been shipped to Dora’s parents house about an hour and a half outside the city, and Dora and Grant had spent the morning packing up a moving truck with the nice collection of things taking up Mr. and Mrs. Rainwater’s garage. They had been very kind in offering the space, though, and didn’t seem too concerned about not having a garage for several weeks. The fact that they and Giordi’s parents had paid for most of the furniture in the flat was just another of the endless ways in which they were helping their only daughter venture out into the world. Actually, Dora had admitted to Joslyn late one night, they were ready to have her gone and had promised to help fund her way if she would just move out already. At twenty, Dora figured she still had a few good years left to live at home, but when Joslyn mentioned she wanted to move to London, and when Giordi mentioned he wanted to share a flat with them, and when Grant had mentioned if they were all living together, he didn’t want to be left out, it had been decided. The only one in the house Joslyn had known before the past summer was Dora, but she, Dora, and Grant had spent a week together in France back in July. She knew he occasionally slipped into moody fits, but that wasn’t too bad –guy moody spells were so much better than girl moody spells. And then Giordi... Giordi who had picked her up at the airport and driven like a loon to impress her with his speed and reflexes. The longer she spent with him, she realized he really was every bit as arrogant and spoiled as Dora had warned. He seemed harmless, though, and even his arrogance could be amusing if you were clever enough to prick his pride every now and then. And Joslyn was nothing if not good at cleverly deflating egos. Yes, Joslyn thought, the four of them would get along famously. It would be a wonderful year, or however long they all managed to put up with living under one roof together. The only thing missing was– “Can we get a dog? Or a cat?” Dora asked when all the boxes had finally been unloaded and distributed to the correct sections of the house. Giordi shook his head, “I’m not picking up dog shit and I definitely don’t want some cat curling up in bed with me at night.” “What makes you think it would want to sleep with you?” Joslyn inquired pointedly. “Because who wouldn’t want to sleep with me?” he demanded, instantly laughing at his cleverness. Joslyn rolled her eyes and raised her hand. Dora raised her hand. Even Grant raised his hand. “Fuck all of you,” he laughed. Dora shook her head, “I think that’s what we just debated.” “Personally, I’m all for a dog or cat,” Joslyn voiced. Though she wouldn’t classify herself a country girl by any means, her suburban upbringing had still given her home plenty of room to house an odd assortment of pets while growing up. She had never been in a house without at least two non-human companions and didn’t think that even living with a bunch of friends could make up for a rainy night snuggled up to read without a cat stretched across her lap. “Well if that’s what the girls want...” Grant laughed and Joslyn smiled. So that’s how things were going to be. She and Dora were the girls; Grant and Giordi were the boys. Already they were slipping into their roles in this makeshift family. “We’ll see,” Giordi consented. But he smiled at Joslyn and she knew she could get him to give in. Grant settled himself on the couch behind Joslyn, not seeming too distraught when his added weighed forced her to roll back and lean against him as he asked, “Well so now what do we do?” “We... live here.” “Well Joslyn already went grocery shopping but she bought jack crap,” Giordi rolled his eyes. Joslyn gasped, “Hey! Whatever I bought I had to carry with me, and I had to walk like ten miles to find a frigging grocery store.” “Are you always so dramatic?” Giordi demanded. Joslyn made a face at him and argued, “No. Only about thirty percent of the time. Forty percent of the time I’m making fun of everyone else for being too dramatic, and the remaining thirty I’m too laid back to care.” Giordi fell silent to see if he could catch her in her math, but she had divided up her percentages accurately, much to his disappointment. From what Dora had told him, Joslyn was a smart little thing, made no qualms about letting people know how smart she was, and he had taken this as a challenge to catch her in something. “Isn’t there one just down the street that way?” Grant asked about the grocery store, pointing in the opposite direction from which Joslyn had spent her morning wandering. She sighed and threw her arms up in the air, demanding to know why no one had informed her of this. “Well it doesn’t matter. I’m famished now, so how about we all go out and eat –it’ll be a celebration of our move-in. Then we can swing by the market and get actual sustenance for the house.” “With what money? I’m seriously down to like twenty dollars,” Joslyn frowned. Dora shook her head and laughed, “God, Joz... Thank God you have rich flatmates or I don’t know how you would survive...” Joslyn smiled because she knew it was true. But it was nice to be young and immature and spoiled. With all the excitement of the move-in, it wasn’t until late that night that Joslyn finally had time to herself to begin unpacking her room, dumping the boxes out on the floor in order to refold everything and organize things in her drawers. Despite the chaos she had grown up in, or perhaps because of it, she had turned into quite the little neat-freak and actually had quite a bit of fun putting her room together just how she wanted it. It was too much to do for one night, of course, but she already had some grand ideas for painting the furniture and walls, what color bedding and drapes she wanted, and what posters or pictures would best fit where on the blank walls. “Are you wound down yet?” Joslyn glanced over her shoulder at Dora leaning in the doorway, her bathrobe wrapped tightly around her thin body. She gave a sleepy smile and nodded, “Yeah. I feel like I ran a marathon today.” “Probably jet lag mixed with all the excitement,” Dora nodded, stepping in to fall onto Joslyn’s mattress. “We’ll get your bed put together tomorrow, if you want.” “Sure. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping on this tonight, though.” Dora smiled and watched her slip the last few shirts into the shirt drawer, then patted the place beside her on the bed, “You know, Joz, I’m glad you’re here. You’ve always been my favorite cousin.” “You’re just saying that because you have to live with me for at least the next year.” “Maybe,” Dora laughed, slipping her arm around her younger cousin’s shoulders. “But this is going to be fun.” Joslyn let her head fall to Dora’s shoulder as she agreed, “Of course it is, Izzy. We’re young and beautiful and we’ve got the world at our doorstep. What could possibly go wrong? Besides everything, I mean...” They both laughed at the cynicalness of it. “Here’s to the stupidity of youth,” Dora announced, holding an imaginary glass in the air. “May we make mistakes we’re ashamed to tell our children about in thirty years,” Joslyn added, clinking her own imaginary glass with it. They laughed and downed the invisible drinks. After final hugs and good nights, Dora disappeared for her room and Joslyn finally changed and crawled into bed, the drastic time change and momentum of the day suddenly crashing down over her head. “The stupidity of youth, indeed,” she sighed to herself with a small smile, then closed her eyes and was out before her head hit the pillow.