Josh and Adam: The Apartment Pt. 01
August ended with a bang, and the second term of college was about to start.
I'm Josh, and I am 22 now, but this is the story of my second year at State College. My adventures in the summer with my first-year roommate, Adam, are in the "Hayloft Summer." We discovered a lot that summer, about ourselves, our bodies and our hidden desires made real.
Adam had a friend in his town who knew about some seniors at our state college who graduated, and would let us take over the lease on their apartment off campus that they were leaving. After our parents worked out the details, a lease was signed. We never saw the place in person, but we knew the area it was in from our first year at school. It was near a bus stop to get to school and walking distance of downtown with its shops, restaurants and bars.
Though Adam lived in a small town about 30 miles from the small town I was in, we didn't meet for the last few weeks of summer, but spent time with our families. We kept up by phone and text on our plans. It was really only a few weeks from when we finished at the hayloft and Adam went back home, but it seemed like several eternities. We would be able to move in a week before school opened, so we had time to get settled.
One of the leaving previous tenants agreed to sell us a few pieces of furniture that he wouldn't need. So, we would have some basics once we moved in, a couch, kitchen table and chairs, and a bed. Rather than buy stuff in our towns and lugging it to school, we would furnish the flat once we got there from student ads and thrift stores.
We still divvied up stuff like microwave and tv, stereo and dishes, etc., that we would bring with us.
The day came, and with the car stuffed to the gills, my parents and I headed north to move in.
The apartment was in an old house, in the downtown section of town. 100 years ago, it was a stately home, but now divided up into three or four apartments per floor. Many homes in the area had been converted, some to apartments, or offices, an occasional antique or gift shop.
Ours was a bit up the hill and had a small front yard, but a big back yard with a four-car garage. Neither Adam nor I had a car, but the backyard was nice. It retained a large common room, and a kitchen with an oven that everyone could use, (though apartments had a fridge and sink as a mini kitchen). A small first floor room had coin operated washers and dryers.
We were on the third floor, and in a back corner. A nice view of the backyard, which had a back border of trees. No elevators, so it was up and down the stairs with all the boxes I had packed.
We had arrived before Adam, and parked in the pack to unload. After I few trips, I came down to find Adam getting out of the car.
I ran over to hug him. "Wow, this place is amazing! So good to see you." I shook hands with his mom and dad and introduced my parents who had just come downstairs for another load.
Now with six people helping, both cars got unloaded. We just dumped everything in the main room, which was basically the living room, dining room and kitchen combined. There were two bedrooms, one with the bed we bought from the exiting graduate, the other, perhaps smaller, was empty. A tiny bathroom had been added to make it an apartment, with a shower, no tub.
The couch was some sort of fake leather, but was pretty big, easily enough to lay on. The kitchen table was ancient, but sturdy, and came with a mix and match set of four wooden chairs.
Adam was excitedly explaining to us how we could go to the student union and peruse the ads. "There are thousands of ads, I am sure we can furnish this really cheaply. I can sleep on the sofa for a day or two until we find something good."
I said, "Worst case, there are a ton of thrift stores, we can get a dresser, some chairs," and looking round at the bare room, "Curtains, maybe a lamp.."
I think our parents did not share our enthusiasm. But they realized as college students, we weren't looking to win any Architectural Digest awards.
My Dad said, "Tell you what, let's all get some lunch and we go to the grocery store and pick up some essentials so you don't starve your first week here."
Mom chipped in, "And some cleaning supplies."
Lunch was great, we stuffed ourselves, and then to the store for some food to get us through our first week, and the obligatory cleaning supplies. We unpacked the cold items in to the fridge and freezer, turning it down to a colder setting. The dry goods were left on the kitchen table to put away later.
With much shaking of hands, hugging and a few tears, the parental brigade departed. This left Adam and myself alone together in our new rooms.
Adam came over and stood in front of me. He pulled me close and whispered, "I missed you."
I closed my eyes and held him. Feeling him next to me was wonderful. "I missed you too." Thinking of our last night in the hayloft, I kissed him on his lips, then his neck then back to his lips. "I love you." I had never been in love and didn't even know what love was, but I knew I loved Adam.
We stood there in the living room holding each other. The afternoon had turned to dusk and the sky, coming in from the big living room windows was turning purple and orange, covering us with its colors.
We broke apart. Adam, being the practical one, with his eyes sparkling said, "We need to get a tiny bit unpacked. Let's at least get our kitchen stuff put away."
Each of us had labeled our boxes, and started by sorting them out. Pulling out anything that said "kitchen", and carrying it in to the kitchen area. There was a sink, a fridge and a small counter and cupboards above and cabinets below. We discovered a random selection of plates, cups glasses and a few banged up pots and pans.
"We better just wash everything." Adam turned on the hot water to fill the sink. "We don't have a dishcloth to dry. Can you find a towel we can use?"
I rummaged through the "Bathroom" box and found the oldest towel I brought. Adam was elbow deep in suds and glasses and plates were emerging for me to dry and put away.
"This will save us some money. A bit of a move in bonus." I got the dishes organized and started putting away the groceries in the other cupboards and cabinets.
Adam was scouring a particularly well used frying pan. "Tomorrow we can get the bus, it is one block over. At school we can buy student bus passes in the student union. We can check the ads for what we need. I think we need a list."
I had finished drying and got my phone out. "Shoot."
Adam continued, "A coffee table, some living room chairs, we need maybe some night stands, lamps for bedroom, a floor lamp for living room, curtains, two dressers for our clothes,..."
