Maxine & Celeste

Maxine
New occupants already? Hmm… I took out my state-of-the-art blackberry and did some quick profiling on the members of 406. They’d just brought all the boxes in last night and two of them had fallen asleep halfway through the unpacking. I giggled to myself; I liked the look of those two—that curly-haired one and the blonde one. The girl looks like she’d be a pretty dependable friend, though. I went through a few classmates.com-esque websites and came up with some more facts: The girl, Phoebe Valise, had her own pediatric clinic; one of the boys (the roguishly good-looking blonde) was an A&F model, no surprise there; the curly-haired one was an athlete (guess that’s why he looked so muscular under that tee…); and that Andre dude was a cook of some sort.

“MAXIE! I NEED YOU TO WATCH THE HOUSE!” Sasha’s unbearably loud voice broke me out of my reverie, and nearly made me fall off the ledge I’d perched myself on.

“It’s hardly a house…” I scoffed.

“I HEARD THAT. I’VE GOT A LIST OF EMERGENCY NUMBERS ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER. THE WELCOME KIT FOR THE NEW NEIGHBOURS IS BESIDE IT. REMEMBER TO DUST YOUR ROOM!” She called out spitfire instructions before slamming the door shut.

I sighed and swung back up to our apartment’s balcony. Sasha was completely devoted to her wedding planning and catering business. She loved that cozy little office of hers too much. Poor girl.

"You better do what the boss tells you, Maxie." Stefano Degachi whined. Stefano had the kind of voice that would wake the dead and send newborns into the afterlife. His disfigured face was born that way, believe it or not.

“You want me to shut them up, Max?” Jared Datary asked.

“If you would be so kind.”

“Just try it, Jared.” Stefano said. A knock on the door distracted us from the possibility of a violent outbreak. Jared went over to the door and opened it. Standing there was the girl, Phoebe. She smiled at Jared and I didn’t even need to see his face to know he was infatuated.

“Hi! I’m Phoebe. I live down the hall-” Jared was now gaping and I felt bad for him to be humiliated so badly so I stepped in.

“I’m Maxine Shizi. This is Jared Datary.” I extended a hand and she extended hers. “How may we be of service?” Phoebe smiled apologetically.

“Our phones haven’t been connected yet and my cell phone’s dead and I was wondering-”

“Sure!” Jared said, a little too enthusiastically. I stepped aside to let Phoebe in.

“Who’s she?” Stefano demanded.

“This charming man is Stefano Degachi. The other guy is Austin Tard. Together they are the two most useless semi-human life forms you will ever meet.” Phoebe laughed as she picked up the phone and dialled her number.

“Hey, Richard. We just moved in and our phone isn’t working yet. My cell is dead so...yeah...just wondering where you were. Haven’t heard from you in a while.” I exchanged a glance with Jared. She hung up. I smiled, sympathetically.

“Boyfriend?”

“Soon to be ex-boyfriend.” She laughed, ruefully. “Never date at work. Doesn’t work out.” She paused. “Pun intended.” I gazed at her.

“Puns are a punishment.” She grinned.

“You like using puns too?”

“Likes it? She could make a career out of it.” Jared snorted.

“Tell me something, Phoebe. I saw two of your roommates yesterday.” I said. She smiled.

“I know what’s coming next.”

“They are too gorgeous for words.” She laughed.

“That they are.”

“Have you....you know...?”

“God, no.” She shook her head and sat down at the kitchen table with me and Jared.

“How come? They’re so beautiful. How can you resist?”

“The thing about Connor and Grant is that they are marvellous to admire from a distance. Once you get to know them like I do, the attraction disappears. I’m well aware that they are physically magnificent but I just don’t like them in THAT way.” I shrugged.

“Hard for me to imagine, I guess.” Phoebe laughed.

“You’ll see.” She smiled, warmly. “I have to get back. We invited our neighbours to the right over for dinner.” Her eyes widened in excitement. “Hey! Do you want to come over too?”

“YES!” Jared said, eagerly. I kicked him under the table.

“I’d love to. I’ll extend your invitation to Sasha.”

“Sasha?”

“Our roommate.”

“Great! We’ll see the five of you at eight?”

I glanced at Stefano and Austin. “You’ll see at least three of us.”


Celeste
I glared. The wrath of my gaze should have been enough to make anyone quiver. But not the reflection in the mirror. She glared back, equally angry.

“I will win this war!” I snarled at her. She snarled back. Dropping my mask, I sighed. “This isn’t going to work.” I addressed the girl lying on my bed. Felicia Lima sat up.

“Come on, Celeste. You’re a famous actress. I’m sure you’ll get the part.” I flung my script at the wall.

“This is bullshit.”

“Don’t be a diva. It doesn’t work.” Felicia grabbed my hand. “Come on. I’m sure Sasha has some miraculous dish hidden in a container at the back of her fridge that we can steal.” She dragged me out into the hall. “Celeste, don’t look now but there is a massively hot guy walking down the hall.” I glanced up to see the gorgeous blonde who seemed to be completely absorbed in his own world.

“Shit almighty, Felcy. He’s a god. He must be the new guy Adriana was talking about.” I was gawking. “I’m going to say hi.” Stepping into the hall, I intercepted the man as he walked. “Hi, I’m Celeste Ambridge.” His jaw dropped and now, he was the one gawking.

“I know who you are! You were in my dream. I mean....uh....” He blushed bright red.

“Let’s start with your name.” I said, gently.

“Connor Malinger.” He said, staring at the floor.

“Wonderful; that’s progress.” He raised his eyes up to my face, slowly and timidly. He was so cute; it was almost unbelievable. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Malinger.”

“Please, call me Connor.” He said, earnestly. “Ms. Ambridge, I’m such a fan.”

“My name is Celeste not Ms. Ambridge. And thank you; I’m flattered. But you look familiar.” He blushed again.

“I’m a model for Abercrombie and Fitch.”

“Ah, yes. I’m more used to seeing you without a shirt.” I laughed. Connor flushed so red that his face could be easily compared with a tomato. Felicia prodded me in the side. “Oh, right. This is my best friend, Felicia Lima.” Connor smiled at her, seemingly regaining his sense of chivalry.

“A pleasure to meet you.” He said, warmly. “Will we be seeing you tonight?”

“You will be now.” Felicia replied.

“Great. I’ll see you both then.” He smiled at me once more, having recovered his courage and dignity. He entered his apartment, leaving me and Felicia in the hall.

“Oh my god!” We squealed.

“He SO likes you!” She cried.

“I think he was just left speechless by my fame. Not actually because he felt an attraction to me. Right?”

“WRONG! He completely digs you!”

“Who digs who?” The voice of my boyfriend Kent Wither brought us back to reality with a rude bump.

“No one’s digging anybody.” I said, slipping my hand into his. Felicia rolled her eyes and made no effort to disguise her dislike for him.

“Have you seen the new neighbours? What fags.” I gritted my teeth. “The brown chick is pretty sweet in the looks category and she’s got a rocking body. But the other four guys all look gay to me. That’s probably why she lives with them.” I pulled my hand away, repelled by his superficiality.

“Well, we’re going to their party tonight.”

“Don’t tell him that, Celeste. He might try to crash.”

“Me? Felicia, you surprise me! I would never try such a thing.” She rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Celeste. We need to get some food in you.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Sweet cheeks.” Kent called out to me.

“That’s such a vulgar nickname.” Felicia complained. But I wasn’t listening to either of them. I was still lost in the blue of Connor Malinger’s eyes.......