Two Kids Stupid and Fearless

I didn't realise I had fallen asleep until I woke to the sound of my phone going off. After I had explored the apartment, I'd unpacked all my stuff, which was quite exhausting, so I guess I fell asleep on my bed. I grabbed my phone and pressed the center button.
It was a text message from my mom.

Hi honey! How is NYC? Love you <3 -Mom

I shut my phone off, not really wanting to talk to her, and got up to go to the bathroom. I had just flushed when I heard the door opening.

Oh my god. I just moved in and I'm already getting robbed. This is crazy, what will I tell my mom if the burglar kills me?

I heard the door swing open with its signature creak, and the first couple footsteps as the intruder came down the entryway. I grabbed the first club-like object I could find, which happened to be one of those scrubby brush things you use to wash your back in the shower. This one was pink and it had little ducks printed on it. Not very intimidating, but it's all I had at the moment. I swung it over my shoulder like a baseball bat, ready to beat the living daylights out of whoever was in my apartment. Slowly and quietly, I left my bedroom and started down the hall to the kitchen.

Now, I come from a small, suburban town in Southeast Michigan. I've never been robbed. But I'm pretty sure when you're robbing someone's house, you should act stealthy and be super super quiet. But this guy walked into the place like he owned it. He wasn't even wearing pantyhose on his head! And this idiot has the audacity to come in and sit on my couch and play on his phone! It's now or never...he could be ready to strike at any moment.

"INTRUDER!!! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU NUTJOB!! IM ARMED AND DANGEROUS!!!!" I screamed, running at him, ready to swing my deadly shower brush at him. I was about a foot away from him and even closer to beating the crap out of him when, at the last second, he jumped up from the couch and grabbed my wrists, stopping me from hitting him.

"Stop! What the hell are you doing?! I live here!" He ripped the scrubby rush from my hand and threw it down. It skidded on the wood floor and came to a stop a few feet in front of my bedroom door. There goes my weapon.

"Let me go! I'm the only person who lives here! HELP!!!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!!" I started to thrash around, until he grabbed me by the waist and threw me on the couch. He kneeled down in front of me with his knees on my feet and his hands wrapped around my wrists so I couldn't move. I got a good look at him for the first time.

He had dark brown, almost black, hair with a chunk of blonde in the middle that was neatly spiked into a mohawk. He had big eyebrows and an even bigger nose, and thin, light coloured lips. His cheeks were big and squishy-looking and he had a slight stubble on his jaw. The most captivating part were his wide, innocent brown eyes. They were baby-like and were framed by long eyelashes. His body was lanky and skinny, covered in tight black pants and a shirt with a flying pig on it.

"Listen, Mia-"

"How do you know my name?"

"I'm J. I'm the guy who sold you this place on Craigslist. I live here," he explained.

"This is crazy! I'm supposed to live here alone!"

"Listen, you basically will! I'm only home for about three months total every year. I have a job that requires me to travel a lot. The guy who owns the apartment building threatened to evict me because I'm rarely home and I only pay a third of the rent when I'm not here. He would make more money if someone lived here year-round and payed full rent all the time. So I put an ad on Craigslist for someone else to live here because I really don't want to lose this apartment, my mom says if I get kicked out again, I have to quit my job and move to Lebanon to work for my dad. I need you to live here, really. I'll be out of your hair in three weeks and then I'll be in Europe for three months. Please Mia, stay. I love my job. I have lots of people depending on me." He leaned back from me and pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his legs. "I don't know what else to do," he mumbled, voice cracking.

I actually felt sorry for the guy. "Why didn't you say you lived here on the ad online?"

He looked up and rubbed his face. "Because I'm never here, and I didn't want to scare people off. You were the least creepy person who responded to the ad. Plus I could use the help around the house." He smirked.

"I'm not your maid, J," I crossed my arms assertively, looking down at him like a little kid.

"Jack. My name is Jack."

"Okay, Jack. I'm not your maid. But before I agree to keep living here and before I decide not to press charges for holding me hostage, what's so special about this job of yours?"

He looked down and started playing with his toes. He looked uncomfortable.

"Are you a mafia boss?" I asked. He shook his head. "A stripper?" Another no. "Are you a terrorist?" That got me a glare. "Okay. So you won't tell me. Does your job involve sex for money or killing people?" He shook his head again.

Well...I don't really see any reason I should leave. He didn't seem too bad. A cute skinny kid like that couldn't do too much damage. There weren't that many apartments in New York within my price range. And I sure as hell was not going to live in Hawaii with my party animal parents.

Jack saw my hesitant expression and clasped his hands together and stuck out his bottom lip. Though I thought it was impossible, his eyes got even bigger as he looked up at me through his mile-long eyelashes.

"Pwease?" He was giving me puppy eyes now. Oh god, not those. Anything but puppy eyes.

"Okay. I'll stay," I agreed. "But I'm not cleaning up after you."

Jack squealed in delight and rose from his knees to give me a big hug. Despite being so skinny, he was comfier than I expected. Plus he smelled like a god. Yeah, I could get used to this.