“Sebastian… are you SURE that Sadie would let me live here… gratuit?” Michelle asked nervously as the two walked up the many flights of stairs. Sebastian grinned.

“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll let you stay here for free… at least, until you’ve got a job. Sadie’s a sweetheart like that. Plus, she owes me a favor, and I was gonna use that favor to get free entrance to one of her shows, but, this seems to be more important.” Sebastian said, never loosing his smile. Michelle couldn’t help but smile. It was contagious.

“Merci, Sebastian. You’re too kind. For all you know, I could have murdered mon chum with a tuba.” Michelle said seriously. Sebastian laughed.

“I don’t think that you’re capable of doing that.” Sebastian said. Michelle glared.

“Ah, oui? Bien, why not?” She spat out. Sebastian sighed.

“You don’t look like the kind of person who plays an instrument, nor do you look like you’d date someone who plays the tuba. And, no offense, but you seem too… innocent. If you’d have killed your boyfriend with a tuba, you’d probably be a lot more jumpy. At the border, you were calm. Most people who’ve done something wrong and then try to escape into America tend to break down at the border.” Sebastian explained.

“And you would know this, how?” Michelle asked. Sebastian grinned.

“I was young once, too.” He said knowingly. Finally, they reached a door on the top floor of the building. “Here we are.” He said more to himself than to Michelle. He knocked on the door and waited a few seconds. Sure enough, they heard the sound of feet shuffling on the other side of the door, and then they heard someone unlock the door and open it.

“Seb? What are you doing here at this ungodly hour?” Sadie asked with a yawn. Her hair was all over the place and there were dark circles under her eyes. Sebastian moved aside to reveal Michelle.

“I have a new tenant for you. I heard that Prudence split yet again, and this poor doll was out in the middle of nowhere, but you know how Lea would react to me bringing an attractive young girl home…” Sebastian ranted. Sadie sighed and moved aside and motioned for Michelle to come in.

“I’ve got it, Seb. Goodbye!” Sadie yelled, and then slammed the door shut. Michelle raised her eyebrow.

“What was that about?” She asked. Sadie brushed her hair out of her face.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about living here is don’t make friends with Sebastian, because he is VERY clingy and stalkerish.” Sadie explained. Michelle nodded and looked around. Sadie sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Sadie asked. Michelle shrugged.

“I don’t have any money.” Michelle said. Sadie grinned.

“Don’t worry, hun. I’ll give you time to get on your feet, get a job, get rid of that black eye of yours, and once you’re all set, you can start paying your share. In the meantime, we have two EXTREMELY delicious males that wouldn’t mind paying your rent.” Sadie said happily. Suddenly, her smile turned into a frown.

“Are you okay?” Michelle asked. Sadie took a deep breath.

“I’m fine.” Sadie said. Michelle was about to open her mouth again, but Sadie cut in. “How about I give you a tour?” Sadie asked, clapping her hands together. Michelle shrugged and followed Sadie around.

“This is the main room… living room… whatever room.” Michelle looked around and smiled.

“It’s very… comfortable.” Michelle said quietly. Sadie grinned.

“Basically, everybody crashes here. You see on that beanbag chair, that big red spot? One of my tenants, Max, cut his foot open there. No one will sit on it now, because they’re afraid of ‘Max Cooties’, as my old tenant, Prudence used to put it. On that couch, that white patch, it was my tenant Jude. He spilled coke on my couch, and instead of using water, he used BLEACH to wash it out. That rip is from when Lucy was trying to turn a tablecloth into a dress, but she ended up cutting the couch instead.” Sadie recited every memory. Michelle examined the couch and then her eyes fell upon a chair that had ‘S and J forever’ carved into one of its legs.

“What does ‘S and J forever’ stand for?” Michelle asked.

“It doesn’t stand for anything!” Sadie exclaimed. Michelle winced, and Sadie looked at her apologetically.

“I’m sorry, hun. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I’m just… going through a bit of a rough patch.”

“C’est correct. Everyone has their rough patches. I just got myself out of one.” Michelle said. Sadie smiled.

“That rough patch wouldn’t happen to be the guy that gave you that black eye, would it?” Sadie asked. Michelle shrugged.

“Peut-etre.”

“My tenant Max is going to love you.” Sadie said happily. Michelle raised her eyebrow, but decided not to ask. “Anyways, I should show you to your room.”

.o.O.o.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘JOJO LEFT’?” Lucy yelled. Everyone in the diner turned to look at her.

“Luce… would ye keep yer voice down a bit?” Jude asked. Lucy glared daggers at him.

“DON’T TELL ME TO KEEP MY VOICE DOWN! Jojo, someone who we THOUGHT was our friend, just LEFT one of our friends!” Lucy exclaimed. Max grabbed his little sister’s hand and started rubbing it.

“Lucy Goosey, we’re all upset over it, some of us more than others, but, we have to be strong for Sadie. She’s probably going to pretend that everything’s all right when we get back, but she’s really hurting. You should have seen her cry last night. I swear to god, I’ve never seen her like that, and I’ve seen her do a LOT.” Max said with a perverted grin. Lucy pulled her hand away from his and slapped him.

“MAX! I don’t want to know what goes on between you and our landlady!” Lucy exclaimed. Jude, however, seemed very keen on the idea of finding out what Max had been doing.

“You… and SADIE? You are a GOD!” Jude announced. Max stood up and took a bow.

“Thank you, thank you! I’m here all week!” Max said gallantly. Everyone in the diner rolled their eyes. By now, they were used to Max being… Max. Lucy looked at her watch and sighed.

“Alright you guys. My shift starts in 5. You guys are free to stay here, just, don’t attract too much attention to yourselves.” Lucy said, mostly to Max, who was looking up at her like a kid who just stole a lollipop from a baby.

“Why you looking at me for?” Max whined. Lucy rolled her eyes and walked towards Jude.

“Love you.” She said, and then she bent down to kiss him.

“You too.” Jude said with a smile. Max started to make gagging sounds. Lucy rolled her eyes and smacked his head.

“Love ya, Maxie.” Lucy said sarcastically. Max shrugged.

“I GUESS that I love you too…” Max said. Lucy glared and Max smiled.

“I’m kidding, Luce. I love you too!” Max exclaimed, standing up and pulling his sister into a tight hug.

“ALRIGHT! Max… let go! I have to get to work! And so do you!” Lucy exclaimed. Max pulled away from the hug and smiled.

“Its Sunday… my day off.” Max said happily. Jude smiled and stood up.

“Alright, Lucy, we’ll see you later. Max, we should go comfort Sadie.” Jude ordered. Max stood up straight and put his hand on his forehead and saluted Jude.

“AYE AYE JUDEY!” Max exclaimed. Lucy sighed and shooed the two out of the diner, and then walked back inside to clock in.

.o.O.o.

“And here, is your room. We still haven’t cleaned it up since Prudence split, and the mattress is kind of broken. If you don’t mind, you can sleep here, or on the couch. But if not, Max wouldn’t mind bunking with Jude while you can bunk with Lucy until it’s fixed.” Sadie said, opening the door to a room. Michelle walked inside and looked around. Surely enough, the mattress had a HUGE hole in it, there were empty, moldy cups and plates everywhere. There was also an awful stink in the room.

“As I said, you can bunk on the couch or with Lucy.” Sadie said. Michelle sighed.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to cause any discomfort to her. And the couch does seem to be quite comfortable, so I guess I can take the couch.” Michelle said. Sadie smiled.

“Alright, now, you look like you haven’t seen a shower in weeks. Come on, you can go take a shower in Max and Jude’s bathroom for now. Just so you know, there’s no mirror.” Sadie said with a smirk.

All right, mes amis, I’m sorry it took so long. Sea Monkeys stole my money so, I had to go search for them.

Seriously.

School’s also added some pressure, so… yeah.