Everything.

The following morning,
Mr. Unise called in a repair company to haul out the broken washer. I watched them load it up and take it away from my small balcony, a white coffee mug between my hands.

I thought again of the strange man I'd met last night, and wondered if he'd ever come around again, or if he only faked his pleasure because he's an actor and didn't want to hurt our feelings. I shrugged, not caring either way, walking back into my apartment, feeding Thing 1 and Thing 2 before I got dressed and headed down to the store.

Mr. Unise watched the repair company proudly as they hauled away the washer, leaving a darkened patch on the white tile where it had sat, wedged between two identical ones.

"What are we doing today?" I asked, feeling a little lost in the routine.

"Would you mind scrubbing up that stain over there? There's supplies in the closet." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the janitor's closet.

I nodded and went to get a bucket and a scrubbing brush, filling the bucket half full, crouching and scrubbing at the yellowed water stain.

"Guuuurrrrrrllll!"

I looked up as Amanda walked in, the bell chiming above her head, she frowned a little.

"How'd it go?" I ask, grinning.

She pouted. "I couldn't even get on the second floor, hospital was packed.

"With fans, patients, security or family?" I asked skeptically.

"All of the above." She nodded, sitting down on the squeaky wooden bench behind me with the butt grooves worn into it from previous people sitting on it, waiting impatiently for their laundry to finish washing.

"Well, hey, now you can say you were in the same hospital as Steven Yeun." I raised my eyebrows at her, and her eyes lit up.

"You're right!" She squealed, grabbing my hands and yanking me to my feet, happy dancing, looking somewhere distant with a fantasy look on her face... "Give it a few weeks, we'll be to the first kiss stage."

I made a disgusted face and shoved her face back playfully. "Ew, keep your fangirlling to yourself. Even this brush might not be enough to scrub the image of you kissing Steven Yeun out of my brain." I laughed.

She pretended to be offended. "Fine!" She scoffed, crossing her arms snootily. "You're not invited to the wedding."

I made a gagging noise, and she smacked the back of my head. "You're so mean to me." She laughed.

I paused and became thoughtful, like I was going to apologize. "That's right..." I mused. "That's good, someone needs to be."

She groaned. "Mind if I go upstairs? I want to check the news."

I laughed loudly, "Amanda Baker, you are so weird!" I exclaimed.

"Am not!" She defended.

"You're cyber stalking Steven Yeun!" I cried out, laughing.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever... So, can I?"

"Go for it. It's locked, but you know where the key it, just watch out for one and two."

"Okay." She laughed in agreement and headed towards the stairs, disappearing up the stair well, I sighed contently, my lips still frozen in a smile.

The workday went smoothly, I day dreamed a lot, but that wasn't unusual. I mentally criticized the junkies who came in, too baked to figure out how to work the washer. People like that annoyed me. Drugs annoyed me. If they disappeared off the face of the planet, everyone would be forced to be clean. But noooo, just gotta keep trashing society.

"Lunch break, Rebecca." Mr. Unise called to me, and I snapped from my thoughts again. I check the time on my phone, surprised that I'd missed the first five minutes. "Oh... Lost track of time. Thanks, I'll probably be back in ten."

I jogged up the steps to my apartment, when I walked in, Amanda was on my computer, the news channel buzzing in the background. I looked up at the screen, mildly pleased that they weren't going on about Steven Yeun again. It'd just give Amanda more reasons to stay and watch TV all day.

"What are you doing?" I groaned, going to the kitchen for a quick snack, Thomas followed, curling around my ankles as I stood at the counter, rummaging through the cupboard above the sink for peanut butter and a loaf of bread.

"Trying to find out if anyone on the Walking Dead Fangirl Forum knows which room Steven is in..." She replied absently.

"Oh, wow, okay, you're on a whole 'nother level now." I replied, laughing. "I thought that they couldn't share personal information like that on there?" I asked, looking over her shoulder at the messaging board.

"They can't..." She sighed glumly, slouching back in her chair. "I'm hoping someone will give me the goods."

"Good luck with that." I giggled, going back to finish my sandwich. Then I heard her exasperated cry from the living room, sighing to myself, I waited for her to shout. Three... Two... One...

"Noooo!" She wailed. "Fucking chat moderator kicked me out of the chat room for being 'nosy'." She pouted on the couch, the laptop resting on her legs. I looked at her sympathetically as I sat down with my lunch. "You poor, sad little creature." She glared at me and shot a punch at my arm.



That night, I sat on my couch, flipping through channels. I watched some tattoo show for a while, out of curiosity, then I flipped it to channel 107 for some South Park. Generally, I don't watch this show a whole lot because it's on at like eleven at night, but tonight, it was on early. Amanda sat cross legged on the couch opposite to me, playing on her phone.

"We should order some pizza." She says abruptly, a sly smile slides across her face as she imagines the possibilities.

I laugh. "You paying?"

"Hell yeah, what's the number of that one place up the street?"

"Or... We could walk up the street and pick it up." I suggested tentatively.

She made a disgusted noise in her throat. "Ugh, God, outside? How normal can you get?" I shrug and focus on the slightly complex personalities of the little round people on the TV show.

"Nevermind, I'll Google it."

I listened to her call in her order, and say the names of toppings I'd never heard of before. I prayed she actually knew what she was doing, and wasn't ordering the stuff because it sounded cool.

"Are you up for some games?" Amanda asks.

"Nintendo?" A big grin spread across my face. The ancient Super Nintendo was my brother Derek's. He left it with my parents when he moved out, so Dad took it up, and soon I was all over it, too.

"Yeah! Donkey Kong Country?"

I smile at her wistfully "You know me so well."

Around fifteen minutes later, Amanda was slapping a couple dollars into the impatient pizza boy's hand. "Thanks!" She called after him, but he was already halfway down the stairs.

"You're such a damn slob." She laughed, it was more of a jittery chortle. Pizza sauce ran down my chin, I chased the pizza with a sip of Pepsi. This is how I appreciate my nights off. "Here." She tossed a napkin into my face and dug into her own food, popping the top of her Mountain Dew.

"This is great." I say, smiling fondly at the flatscreen, where two monkeys, one dressed in a classy red tie, the other with a red baseball cap and a red t-shirt.

"What is?" She replied in confusion. Taking a break from horking down her food to actually look at me.

"This," I gestured around the living room. "This is my idea of living it up, playing video games and eating pizza like a slob with my best friend." I shot her a smile.

"Awww." She made an appreciative pout with her lips. "That's just the Pepsi talking, hun. You hate my guts and none of this is real."

We both broke out laughing, shoulders touching as we cackled forced ugly laughs. This is why I love having Amanda as my best friend, I can be my absolute stupidist, and we just laugh. I can do my wretched snorting laugh, and we laugh together.

"Okay..." Tears were streaming down her face, her eyes wide and she looked like she was about to laugh again. "Seriously, what was so funny?"

We look at each other again and burst into another fit of contagious laughter. "You..." She sniffled, coughing another laugh. "You need someone in your life. I'm sick of always having your undevided blondeness on me."

I laughed again, but thought about what she said. I waited until we'd both calmed down again before I said anything. "Actually...." I began with a small, embarrassed smile, wringing my hands in my lap, the game on pause. "I met someone last night."

"What?!" Amanda shouted in disbelief, "You did not!"

I slowly nodded, my grin growing with my own surprise. I had met someone, someone extraordinarily odd, and last name-less. Weird punk music listening-to Mark.

"Who?! Who?! Give me the details!" She squealed, improving my own enthusiasm. I recrossed my legs and she stared at me in wide eyed impatience. "Go on!"

"His name is Mark." I concluded quickly with a matter-of-fact nod of my head, she narrowed her eyes at me in disbelief. "What's his last name?" She demanded. I shrugged and shook my head, "That... I don't know. But he was weird. Met him at eleven last night."

"Oh, wow." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You met him at eleven, where? A street corner?"

My cheeks flared up pink and I pretended to be looking for Thomas and Carl to hide my embarrassment. "No... Downstairs. I wouldn't have spoken to him if it weren't for him using the broken washer and my help ended up... I don't know, fucking everything up. Water and bubbles went everywhere and Mr. Unise was not happy..." I shook my head at the memory. It was a crazy memory, so crazy, I'd have easily dismissed it for a weird dream if I still couldn't smell it... Just barely, the wispy scent of the cinnamon from the bubbles in my hair.

She laughed in disbelief, shaking her head slowly. "How often does that happen?" She asks, "Where two people meet each other under hilariously embarrassing circumstances?"

My cheeks burned again, only this time I didn't try to hide it.

"Oh sweety, it's nothing to be embarrassed of!" She snickered, "It probably happens to a lot of people."

I wasn't sure what she was going on about now, so I just nodded along. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter, anyways. I probably will never see him again."

"Aww, don't be so negative." She cooed, ruffling my hair.

"It's true. And it's fine, I didn't expect anything else to come out of it, friends, if anything. He was into one of the bands my Dad was, so I thought we could talk music." I shrugged, "Hey look at that, poor Kong's waiting on us, c'mon, let's play."

Amanda grudginly agreed, though she watched me carefully, so I fought to controll my expressions and pretend the only concern bouncing around in my head right now was the well being of Donkey and Diddy Kong. When really, it was curiosity. Curiosity and wonder, would I ever see Mark the part-time actor again?



The next morning, on the radio, I had heard that Steven Yeun was seen leaving the hospital that morning. Needless to say, Amanda left pretty soon after that. The rest of the week went without incident. I worked until twelve on Saturday, slept in the next morning and took Sunday off, the Laundromat was closed on Sundays.

So, I went out and put on a nice summer dress instead of my normal shorts and chucks, and went to the neat little chapel up in the nicer neighborhoods. I drove my rusty Camero convertible, the top down, wind tossing my curled hair back, tangling it all into a big damn knot I'd have to deal with later.

I sat in the backrow, holding the small, delicate silver cross charm in my hands, crossed in my lap while I listened to the priest. The charm used to be on a necklace of my Grandma wore all the time, then the chain broke, and she gave it to me before she passed...

"- As we forgive those who trespass against us. For Thine is the kingdom, in Jesus name, Amen."

The words echoed around me, slipping from my own lips in a quiet murmur as well.

My momma is Catholic, my Daddy was Christian. So I always kinda stood between those to religions. I fiddled with the hem of my skirt while the priest moved onto another chapter of his leather bound bible.

I quickly searched the surrounding crowd for anyone I knew, it was a vain hope. Out of everyone I knew in Atlanta, which was a small few, none of them were here. In fact, only a fourth of them actually went to church on Sundays. Amanda was Catholic, but with her collage and other endeavors, she somehow never ended up on the pew beside me.

"Can I sit here?" Someone whispered, I looked up, half expecting to meet a pair of dark Ray Bans and a hoodie, but it was just some boy in his late twenties, looking sharp in an old grey trench coat with the collar turned up.

I nod and he sits down on the bench beside me, quietly whispering thanks. It doesn't occur to me for a while that he's wearing a heavy coat in 90 degree weather. I shoot him glances out of the corner of my eye every now and again, but he's never exchanging them. During the remaining half hour of church, I notice he has striking green eyes and fluffy, long black hair. He constantly pushes it out of his eyes, watching the priest parade on stage.

He rubs his knuckles quite a bit, as well. A nervous tendancy? It's my only guess. Soon, Father Macdonald concludes the Sunday service, and I'm rising from the bench, gathering my things, sliding the spare copy of the bible bound in red leather into the slot behind the pew in front of me. The boy is gone by the time I turn, had I expected him to speak to me? To turn into Mark with a snap of my fingers? I am not sure, and a little confused as I work my way through the crowds to my car.

I just sit there behind the wheel for some time, untl the crowds clear and the parking lot is empty. I sit there silently sorting out the shit storm in my head, organizing my thoughts into a more manageable mess before I turn the key and start the ignition. The dashboard clock declares the time to be noon.

I could get lunch and go home, be alone for another twelve hours before my shift starts bright and early tomorrow morning, or I could actually do something. I contemplate what there is to do in Atlanta.

Stupid question... I think to myself. You live in the capitol of Georgia, of course there's stuff to do.

I decide to head home and get a change of comfy clothes, grab a snack, and just explore the town. I got payed Friday, so I have a full tank of gas and some spending money still. I smile to myself, proud to finally be proving a point: Atlanta isn't so bad.

I unlock my apartment, and Carl and Thomas come running, taking turns curling around my ankles trying to trip me. I succesfully evade them and go into my bedroom. The gorgeous view of the busy city below is visible from my window. I pause to look out at it.

Crappy as my apartment and job may seem at times, I can't deny that this is one of the perks. Something I never would have seen from any of the windows of my parents' one story house back in Montana. The tall trees were something I adored there, here, I have to bugs, humidity and kudzu vines to take over everything.

At some point while I was pulling a baggy t-shirt over my head, I starting singing a Spongebob song shamelessly.

"Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song..." I sang loudly, yanking up black shorts and slipping my feet into some sandals.

"Be back in a bit, kiddos. Don't kill each other." I warned Carl and Thomas as I locked up.

Where I was going, I do not know. Am I okay with that? Absolutely. Nothing like a good adventure.