For Someone Like You

“I can’t believe this. This place is crap. I already miss home!” Devin whined as I pumped up the air mattress I’d gotten as a gift for my graduation. I stopped momentarily to stick out my tongue at her. “But we do have wifi. My phone is getting attacked with Twitter updates.”

I smiled, then continued to pump. It was the last thing to do before we were done, we’d already put everything else away. The mini fridge that came with the small apartment – along with the freezer, shelves, and dresser – was already filled.. We made sure to pack it full of Arnold Palmer, Mountain Dew, and fruit. The freezer was almost completely bacon, and I brought plenty of Ramen. After a few last vigorous pumps, I sealed the temporary bed and fell on it, staring at the blotchy ceiling. “Did you notice that the window over there’s broken?" I pointed at the wall opposite of us, offended by the ivy that was breaking through. I stood, picked up the vine, and attempted to throw it out of the broken glass. It didn’t want to budge, and I was forced to go closer to the window, pushing the small leaves and vine through the hole it had found, catching my hand on the shards. I roared some profane language and searched for bandages as Devin watched, then announced that we should go to a drug store, snatching up a few napkins to used as gauze.

After a lot of coaxing, Devin stood up and took the keys, and we made our way to a Wallgreen’s. She went in for me, taking some money I gave her for band-aids as I hung out of the car, trying to pull a shard out of my hand with eyebrow tweezers.

Devin soon returned with a can of mango juice and bandages for me, as well as a bottle of Mountain Dew for her. She looked down at my hand in disgust, then threw the box of large band-aids at me, along with some Neosporin she’d put in her pocket. I dressed my small but painful wound quickly, then downed my juice. It was extremely hot and humid, though it was only the beginning of summer. I was used to there still being a possibility of having snow on the ground.

“Since we’re out, we could go exploring,” Devin sighed. “I just don’t want to go back to that apartment.”

“Agreed,” I grimaced, then sat back in the passenger seat of my car. Devin went around to climb in, turned the air on, and stared at my hand some more.

“You won’t be able to play guitar for a while.” I shook my head and stretched my fingers. She groaned quietly. “Sad. I was looking forward to it.”

“Last time I stabbed through my hand, it was only like this for maybe two weeks. I heal fast, don’t worry. It gives us time to settle in and find a place with an open mic so I can play for people.”

“You get famous so we can move out, okay?” I laughed, even though she wasn’t kidding. “Alex… if you would’ve gotten famous before I had to take tour manager school, our problems would’ve already been solved.” ”Well, I’m sorry for not being rich.”

She folded her arms. “I’m hungry. Let’s find somewhere to eat.”

I pushed myself out of the car.

“Where are you going?”

“To find food. Come on, let’s walk.”

“I’d rather drive.”

“And I’d rather not pay anymore for gas. Have you seen the prices here? People don’t need to drive here, man. Taxis, feet, and sidewalks. Let’s go.”

“We’ll have to walk double to get back to the car!”

To stop further conflict, I simply began to walk toward the sidewalk, pull my wallet from out of my pocket, and count thirty dollars. I slipped it back in, winced from the pain in my hand, then laughed as my best friend raced to be by my side.