The American Roommate Experiment Novels & Stories

Doctors aren’t God. I knew they were my memories, because people from my past confirmed the events I recalled as true and exact. I plodded back into the living room where Julia was sprawled on the sofa watching some crappy MTV reality show. The apartment I shared with my absentee roommate was a luxurious one, and more than I should’ve been able to afford. But my roommate, Jane, was another rich gal like Julia, and her moneybag parents bought her the place. Because of her mutual friendship with Julia, she charged me less than half of the rent price.

“Six per cabin.” I let that news sink in. I haven’t had a roommate since my first week of first-year student year. That was a short-lived disaster. Mama quickly forked over another two thousand dollars. I snagged one of the last available private rooms. We’re not poor, but my parents like to live frugally. Either way, neither Mama nor her bank account will fix a problem with a roommate here or five roommates, potentially. I hope not.

I'd managed to bank over $19,000. I met my roommate and we worked out the room details, picking beds, closet sides, moving our furniture around. He was also a sophomore, ROTC, and had been going out with a girl the previous year. They hadn't stayed in touch over the summer and he was fretting about getting back together with her. He seemed like a pretty decent guy, and I was hoping we could be friends.

No answer. She shrugged and started carrying boxes into the smaller bedroom on the left. The roommate was supposed to be some reclusive guy who worked nights. She had not even seen a photo. As long as he was not a creep, she did not care. She needed cheap rent more than peace of mind right now.

She dropped her arms around my shoulder and said, “Best friends.” “Aw. You guys are so lucky. I just got in the next room,” Karen points with her right hand, “but I haven’t met my roommate yet. We spoke online though and she seemed cool but you never know. Anyways, I’m just glad we got the double rooms and not the triple occupancy rooms. One roommate I can deal with, two I’m not so sure.” Karen was the person who was banging a hammer into her wall. Way to go girl. Disturbing my peace and now disrupting our meeting.

"I don't mind discussing whatever you want." "Um, sure." He shrugged. "Would you like to hear how Mark, Kyle, Carlo, and I ended up living together?" I agreed when he posed the question. "Well, my freshman year, my roommate was Mark. We had a lot in common and got along famously, so I couldn't have asked for a better random assignment." I took a deep breath as his hand continued to trace those comforting circles on my back.

Marcus said. I dropped my phone on the table when what he said made me recall the freshmen. No wonder I could not get a roommate after asking at least twenty people. What was I supposed to do now? I could not accept his idea about asking Alex Gray to share his apartment with me. He would not even agree to it anyway. Alex was the definition of cool. He could never have a roommate like me who was the opposite of cool whatever that word was. Plus, I did not feel like I was ready to be subjected to having to witness Alex get it in with different girls every night. I cannot stand that.

He nodded as he checked it out. “This is nice. Way better than the tiny spots I’ve been looking at. Rent split sounds fair too.” He turned to her. “You sure you’re cool with a guy roommate? I know your ad said female preferred.” Mia shrugged. “I was hoping for a girl, but you seem normal. And I need someone now. If you’re good with the rules…no bringing random people over without asking, keep the common areas clean…we can try it.” Jamal grinned. “Deal. When can I move in?”

Miranda was a cautionary tale that brought some sense back to them. They began to spend more time and energy on their studies. After all, no one wanted to follow in her footsteps and be expelled due to flunking too many classes. There were no more foolish plans for the future. I thoroughly enjoyed my college years. … Soon, we were graduating. Everyone went on with their own lives. I went abroad for further studies. When I returned, I bumped into one of my two roommates in a restaurant. She was working as a waitress. Apparently, the other roommate was married to a rather average man after repeatedly failing to make the cut in the workforce. Now, she lived a life dependent on another person's

Logan looked thoughtful. “That feels oddly specific.” “It is.” I immediately pointed at her. “We’re not telling that story.” “You’re no fun.” “No.” “Fair.” For the next twenty minutes, conversation flowed surprisingly easily. At one point, Logan mentioned his current dorm roommate. The one apparently conducting science experiments. And somehow that led to a fifteen-minute discussion about the weirdest roommates we’d ever heard of. By the end of it, all three of us were laughing. Which made the decision pretty easy.