I'm Not a Princess

"Wh-what?" Avery stammers.

"Oh, hush," Daniella rolls her eyes. "Personally, it's not a problem for me, okay? But I would like to try and do this legally, if you know what I mean." She shrugs and leans back. "So?"

Avery slouches. "I'm eighteen... is that okay?"

Daniella squints, cocking her head again. Minutes pass and Avery's heart thuds though she's not sure how to respond now. Finally, the strange Chinese girl sighs. "Okay, it'll do. You look young, but I'm going to take your word for it."

"Thanks," Avery nods.

"Yeah, no problem," she waves her hand. "Aaaaand back to business, eh? Okies, soooo, OH! Dang," she laughs. "I never really introduced myself! Ehm- so I'm Daniella Creek, okay? But my boyfriend calls me Ella and my friends call me Dani, and I'm 20."

"Uh... well, I'm Avery Waters, and I'm 18," Avery offers.

"Good, good! Okay... so from the looks of it, you're a girl. That's good. Now do you drink, smoke, or do drugs?"

"Uhmm... no. I've never done any."

"Oh, a newbie, eh? I'm already dying for the chance to poison you," she winks and runs a hand casually through her hair. "But if you ever do them, please don't come back intoxicated, okay? And onto cleaning.... can you do anything? And please say you can cook, cause I've been eating take-out for a month, I swear."

Avery gives a small smile. "Yeah. My mom taught me to take a lot of meals. I know what to buy and everything," she adds generously. "I've learned at least 20."

"I like you already," Dani grins. "So, the apartment is pretty nice- you'll have your own room. We'll share the bathroom, but that shouldn't get too bad. Oh, and just to let you know- the couch does not fold out onto a bed, but if you lie on it like it is now, you'll find it's comfy- as are the pillows and beanbag chairs.

"What else? Uh.... the room already has a desk, bed frame and mattress. Sort of small closet, but you can always get bins to go under the bed or something. Oh and there are sheets there too, if you don't mind funky Chinese cats too much and a bright yellow comforter." Dani looks at the ceiling.

"Okay, so in all," she starts the finish, "I'm majoring in fashion at the few college classes I take, pretty early every morning. Then I work at this vintage boutique just three blocks down. It pays super well, so I could afford living here alone and everything, but I wanted a mate to help with cleaning and the like cause I suck at it, aaaaaand it'd be awesome to have a buddy here. So I can keep the need for rent pretty decent, say $300 a month? And that's cheap, here in L.A.," she reminds me. "That's dirt cheap. But it also means you have to do the cooking."

Avery contemplates. "That might be able to work... will you help pay for groceries?" She asks.

"Sometimes, yeah, sure," Dani nods. "You in?"

"If that's okay, yeah," Avery nods. "Although, could I pay slowly? I need to find a job."

Dani thinks about it. "You know, actually... I might be able to find a job for you. The boutique could use some extra hands on the weekend, and there's this music store right next to it that is always running out of people."

"Really? Are you sure?" Avery bites her lip. "I mean, if you're really going to already let me stay here, that's just...."

Dani waves her hand away. "Oh, it's cool! You seem like a cool person. Uptight and shy, but whatever, I'll knock it out of you. And I'm always losing the land papers, so let's just shake on it." She sticks out her hand.

Avery takes a deep breath, puts out her hand, and they shake on it, a deal struck.