then tighten back up. I was sure she was thinking about what I originally wanted to use the money for. I gave a quick shake of my head, trying to indicate we would discuss it later. I didn’t want all the girls to know yet since I was still unsure of what my next step would be, and communicating telepathically with Lila was getting exhausting.
“Well, I have an idea. I’m not sure if you’d be up for it, but it’s an offer,” Hannah said, right as the waiter came and set our steaming plates in front of us. We paused while we opened our napkins and shuffled our silverware out, tucking in for our first delicious bites. The white cheese sauce in my quesadilla oozed as I cut in daintily with my fork and knife, then gave up and picked it up with my hands, shoving the triangle piece into my mouth. Heaven.
“All right, what’s your idea?” I asked Hannah after a few bites.
“Why don’t you move in with me? I have a second bedroom that isn’t being used and plenty of space. It wouldn’t be too difficult to move your stuff up a few flights of stairs.”
“Really? You would really give up your huge-ass apartment and quiet quarters for me? Hannah, are you sure?” Hannah lived on the fifteenth floor of Wacker, or the ‘penthouse’ as us commoners liked to call it. Her apartment was a spacious two-bedroom unit, with a large bathroom and even a dishwasher. The fifteenth floor was definitely for the rich kids. Hannah used the second bedroom as her “study room” and we all knew that she loved her peace and quiet for when she was working on homework. I was a little surprised at her generosity, but then again, not really. That was just Hannah.
“Of course. I get lonely by myself sometimes and if it will help you out, then I’m more than happy to give up my study room.”
Carmen let out a giggle. “Study room. Gets me every time.”
Hannah shook her head but was smiling. “Anyway, what do you think? You don’t have to answer now, you can think about it for a while. Just know the offer is open.”
“I don’t have to think about it. Of course I would love to be your roommate! Thank you so much, Hannah. This will really help me out.” I leaned across my seat to give her a half hug. “I’m moving to the fifteenth floor. The penthouse! Everyone will be so jealous of me. Wait–– Hannah, how much is rent there after we split the cost?” Would the move actually hurt me more financially?
Hannah waved away my concerns. “I’ll talk to my dad about it, but I’m sure he won’t mind you living there. He pays my rent now. I don’t think adding a roommate will make a difference.”
“Hannah, no. I can’t ask you to give up your space and then just be a freeloader. Please let me pay my part.”
“You didn’t ask, I offered.” Hannah took a sip of her water, trying to signal our conversation was over.
“What if I paid what I pay now? I’m sure that’s barely a fourth of your rent, but it would really make me feel better. Please, Hannah. Or else I’ll just feel like I constantly have to be quiet and do all the dishes and make you dinner every night. I’ll feel like a house guest instead of a roommate.”
Hannah considered my proposal. “All right. You can pay what you pay in rent now. If that will really make you feel better.”
I nodded, satisfied. “It will. Whew, what a relief.”
“Wow, things are really changing around here,” Emma said. “Lila moving to LA, Alex and Hannah going to be roommates, Hannah has a serious boyfriend, and Carmen and I...”
“Carmen and you what? Do you have news too?” Lila asked.
“Nah. We’re just Carmen and Emma. The unexciting gals with no cool news,” Carmen finished up. “Maybe we should get working on that, Em. Be more exciting. Move, get a cool job, a boyfriend. Anything! We used to be the exciting ones in the group.”
“Truth. We’ll just have to work harder. Hey, that new bar downtown is hiring girls to go around and dance and hand out shots. I think they call them shot girls. We could apply for that.”
“Sign me up! I love dancing and I love shots.”
We all laughed and started discussing what we thought the job duties of a shot girl would entail. Our dinner passed smoothly,