|| Episode 1 ||

It is a bright, beautiful day in New York. The sky is blue and clear, not a cloud in sight. Signs of fall are beginning to show as a little cool wind blows outside.

At LaGuardia International Airport, people are bustling about as usual; likely hurrying to catch either a flight or cab.

At one of many arrival/departure terminals, a Hispanic young woman with pretty olive-colored skin and a black ponytail ending mid-back sits Indian-style on the floor, staring at a Starbucks cup. Periodically, she looks around, seemingly for someone in particular.

"United Airlines Flight 2001 from Rochester New York, arriving momentarily," comes over the PA system, of no direct concern to this woman, who is intent on cooling down the caramel apple cider in her cup by blowing on it.
Soon, people from the landed plane begin to pour out into the terminal lobby.

Dream: "I knew the person I was supposed to meet had the last name 'Hermanez', so I assumed he or she was Hispanic, but I didn't know much else...not until after I bust my ass."

Suddenly, the young woman who was seated on the floor felt the sharp tip of a boot graze her back, and then witnessed a body fall, in a heap, in front of her.

"Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry," came from the heap, before it had even fallen good. The young lady held back a smile as the distressed face of an African-American girl emerged, struggling to get her lot of thick, wavy hair back where it belonged.

"It's cool. I probably shouldn't have been sitting in the middle of the floor like this." She got up and held out a hand. "Besides, you only bumped my back. You okay?"

The fallen young lady accepted the hand with a "Yes, thank you." Then, once she had completely recovered, she noticed the one who had helped her up wore military fatigues with the name 'Hermanez' stitched over the right jacket pocket.

"Delinah?" she inquired.

"Dream!" Delinah responded. Both women laughed. "What a way to meet a roommate."

"I know, right? You probably think I'm a complete retard," Dream said, still fiddling with her hair. It was then that Delinah realized her own bun had fallen and quickly put it in place.

"I can't believe my hair’s been down this long while i'm in uniform. My CO would have me shot," she said.

"CO?"

"Commanding Officer."

"Oh, so you're really in the military."

"Mhm. Marines,” Delinah grinned, pointing to the 'U.S. Marines' title stitched over her left jacket pocket.

"Aw, girl, I thought you were just going for an extreme fashion statement. Marines, huh? That's bananas."

"Tell me about it."

Dream laughed. "You tell me."

Delinah laughed, too. "Sure, on the way to the baggage claim. We need to make moves. There is way too much going on in this airport."


***


“Ugh. This is horrible,” Dane said of the airline-served coffee.
Ashley started to laugh but was shushed by Dane.
“Can you hear it,” he asked.
“Hear what?

“My teeth. They’re screaming. ‘Ah! Help! Let me out of this…cesspool! Not a second more, please!’” he acted out loudly.

Ashley giggled freely, now. Dane was still exaggeratedly gagging.

“Please stop. That face is heinous, and you are being so the drama queen right now,” she smiled.

Dane smiled back. “Yeah, but Grams over here likes my acting,” he said, motioning to the elderly lady seated across from Ashley and him.

He blew the lady a kiss.

She twitched.

He burst out laughing and, try as she might to resist, so did Ashley.

Ashley: “This character Dane…I just met him a couple of hours ago, and he already has me cracking up with him like we’re the best of friends. If the other roommates are anything like him, the next few months are going to be like non-stop recess.”

***


A young man and young woman stood outside an old-looking brick building in The Village.

“3436,” he said. “This is it.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, really…” he started, offering her the paper in his hand and nodding his head toward the number on the building.

“No,” she shooed his hand away. I know that’s what it says. I just…I hope it looks better inside than out.”

She took a deep breath and trudged up the steps to the door, tried the knob. It didn’t budge.

“We don’t have a key, huh?” She turned halfway towards her companion, without looking at him.

He shook his head.

“Great,” she huffed, taking a seat at the top of the stairs.
He stood back to try and see up into a massive window on the third or fourth floor, but as the sun began to hurt his eyes, took a seat a couple of steps below his traveling mate.

They were quiet for a while, and then he looked up at her.
“So, Dom,” he said.

“My name is Dominique. Dom-i-nique.”

“Right. Dom, tell me something. Do you find see any issues arising with a person, who characteristically walks around his own home naked regularly, continuing said habit when, say, 7 other people are effected?”
“What the f***?”

“Problem?”

“Problem?!”

“Just answer the damn question!”

“Naw, man.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you don’t see a problem in that.”

“Hell yes! There’s something wrong with you.”

“Well, if you meant ‘yes’, then why the f*** did you just say ‘no’? S***!”

“You got a dirty mouth.”

“And you don’t?”

She eyed him fiercely, but he kept his composure, maintaining a blank expression. Then, he started making faces and she couldn’t keep hers.

“Whatever.” She was still trying futilely not to smile.

He smiled, too, and shook his head. It was then that she noticed his green eyes.

They were quiet again until they heard a voice at the door.


***


When they arrived at Building 3436, Delinah ran directly up the stairs and Dream, in stilettos, scuttled close behind. By the time Dream reached the door, which had been left open, her counterpart was squealing for her to hurry before the elevator door closed.

Dream: "We stopped on the third floor. There was a set of double doors at either end of the hallway."

“Paper says '34A'," Delinah hurried to the doors on the left end and opened them with equal speed. "Oh s***," she yelled and proceeded to explore.

"I'm sure you're exaggerating," Dream called after her, making her own way to the door. "It's probably not all th..." she stepped inside her new home. "Oh...oh!" She took off her boots and followed suit. "Yes, it is!"

Delinah: "I knew it! I got inside that house and...from the doors...big, tall, cherrywood double doors...the floors are hardwood. Then the living room, oh! One whole wall is glass. The view is amazing. The couch is white as snow. It is sooo big and with the pillows and the t.v.... it's a huge flat screen...everything is in the wall...and the hardwood floors! and there's a spiral staircase! And the lighting...oh! The lighting is beautiful!"

Dream: "The loft is serious! The downstairs is huge. The whole place is immaculate, and everything seems mixed up, but coordinating. Like how at the door and in the living room the floors are the cherry hardwood, but in the kitchen and everywhere else downstairs the floor is the shiny, black lacquer. Then there's a steel spiral staircase going upstairs. It's...wow."

The two were marveling at the loft home when Dream noticed a guy sticking his head in the front door. "Hi," she smiled, uncertainly.

"Hey," he smiled with perfect teeth. "Are you..."

She saw his bags. "Yeah." She was still grinning.

"Good," he seemed relieved. "This is it," he called behind him, then stepped inside the loft.

"I'm Dream," she said.

"Beautiful name, Dream. I'm Devann-you can call me Vann, though."

"Nice to meet you, Vann." She held out her hand to be shaken-he gave her a hug instead.

She laughed softly. When they had finished embracing, Dream noticed the girl who had walked in behind them.

"Hi. I’m Dream."

"Dominique." The new arrival extended a hand. Dream shook it. "Excuse me," Dominique said to Dream then punched Vann rather hard in the shoulder.

"Ow! And I did what?"

"You didn't help me with my bags." She spun around and went to where they sat in front of the elevator.

"Dang, girl. I was coming back." He followed to assist her.

"You two know each other?" Dream inquired when they had both returned.

"Not outside of today," Vann answered, "We're both from Atlanta, so..."

"Oh." Dream nodded her head. "Well, y'all should see this house."

Neither of the new arrivals had yet to pay attention to it.

Vann: "This place is unreal."

Dominique: "The kitchen is teal, white, and black. The whole place is an interesting mix of modern and old. It's beautiful."

Between squeals, Delinah met the others. Pretty soon, Dane and Ashley also arrived, to praise the house with the rest of the bunch.

Dane: "So, everybody’s just checking out the house, then we find this random dude sitting in the living room. Just sitting there! We’re all ‘Oh…hi?’ Strangely enough, Jordanis claimed he had been in the house a whole half hour before we even realized he was. Um...why did no one see you?! So, yeah, I find him a tad creepy."

When everybody had finally calmed down-except for Jordanis who had been calm the whole time-and come together in the living room, the focus moved from the house to the housemates. They made small talk and tried to remember names, soon realizing the group was missing one.

Ashley: "As soon as we had said it, Chris rang the doorbell."

Delinah went to answer the door. "Hi."

"Hi. Chris Farrel." As they shook hands, he eyed her fatigues.

"Marine Corps," she said. He seemed as impressed with that as she was with his British accent. She let him, then showed him to the living room.

"Here's the eighth," she proclaimed. "This is Chris."

There were introductions and handshakes from everyone as he settled into the group. Delinah went to turn on the stereo. A radio station was playing house music.

"Ooo. Let's go out," Vann suggested.

"But we haven't even picked rooms yet. We're barely even here" Dream said.

"Aw, come on, Dream. Poor Farrel just sat down, and you don't hear him protesting," Vann looked to the suggested. Chris threw both hands up, suggesting neutrality.

"Spontaneity is the key to happiness," Jordanis chimed in.

"Thank you, Ghandi," Dane commented.

The group started to agree that going out was an excellent idea. Vann looked at Dream for approval.

"Alright. Sure."

"That's what I'm talkin' about," he smiled, then clapped his hands together. "Let's do it."

Farrel: "Everyone was pretty much up for that idea. I'm not really a party person, but I figured I'd keep the 'togetherness' going and participate. Couldn't hurt."

Everyone got freshened up and changed, and by 9:00 were ready to go.

Dane had been ready first and noticed an IM had popped up on the computer screen with all the house info, including the location of the car and keys.

"Sweet," he said aloud. "People, we have a car."

"Car? In the middle of downtown?" Dream inquired.

"Aren't you the little debater?" Vann touched her face.

She blushed. "Not really. It's just...why not use the subway?"

"Don't Manhattanites, like, not use the subway?" Dane asked, grabbing the keys.

"We are those, aren't we? Manhattanites?" Delinah inquired for fun.

"Yeah!" Dane said excitedly. He and Delinah executed some makeshift handshake.

Everyone laughed.

"Let's go get that car!" Dane led the way out the door. Outside, the group soon found their black, extended-passenger Escalade, and was off, in search of a club. They stopped at one that looked hot, and went inside.

Ashley: "We were all so GQ going into this club. It felt good walking in with all these beautiful people. *Laughs* I know it sounds corny, but I mean it."

Dom and Vann headed straight for the dance floor. Ashley and Dane soon followed. Jordanis made his way to the bar, and not a second later a girl came up to Farrel and asked him to dance.

The house music near the floor was bumping.

"Let's find a table," Delinah hollered over it. Dream followed her through the crowd. They found a booth and sat down. At least they could hear each other while speaking in a natural tone of voice now. "And then there were two," Delinah said.

Just then, a waitress came to their table and sat down a Corona in front of each girl and a small bowl of lime slices. "Compliments of the gentleman at the bar," she said, pointing out an attractive Caucasian stranger.

Delinah glimpsed at him and turned away in one swift motion, then looked up at the waitress and smiled. "Thank you," she told her. The waitress nodded and went about her business.

"What the..." Dream said, rotating her bottle. "This is crazy."

"Oh, yeah?" Delinah said. "You should see this dude."

"You mean the one who sent us the beer?"

"Yes, girl."

Dream started to turn her head.

"Uh uh!" Delinah grunted loudly. Dream paused. "Not until I say."

Waiting…

"Okay, now."

Dream looked at the man intently.

"You're looking too long! He'll think you're interested or something," Delinah said.

"Sorry." Dream giggled.

"What?" "His teeth," she could barely contain her laughter.

"What teeth?"

"Exactly!"

By now, Dream was nearly dying with laughter. Delinah, puzzled, looked again at the man who was now giving an almost toothless grin.

"He looks like a ferret," Dream was delirious.

"Uh uh. That’s not even funny. It's scary."

Dream's laugh grew louder. Delinah started, too. They laughed for what seemed like a long time.

Then Delinah said, "We may as well drink these."

Dream stopped abruptly. "Huh?"

"We may as well drink the beers."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, come on. They didn't actually come from him. He just paid for them. No ferret germs to worry about."

"No, it's not that. Delinah, we aren't..."

"Legal?"

"Shh," Dream tried to hush Delinah. "Someone will hear."

"Well, if you weren't acting all giddy like you never had beer before..."

"I haven't."

Delinah gasped. "Really?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Nothing. Shocking is all."

"Yeah," Dream said, believing this little battle was over, but Delinah was persistent.

"Well," she said, picking up a lime slice and squeezing it into Dream's bottle. "There's a first time for everything."

Dream threw her head back on the soft cushion of the booth in exasperation.

Dream: " I may as well, I thought. After all, I did come here to experience some things, right?"

Dream sat up straight, looked at the grinning Delinah and grabbed the Corona bottle.

"Bottoms up," she said, drinking.

"Bottoms freakin' up!" Delinah exclaimed, turning up her own bottle.

Soon, the rest of the roommates gravitated to the girls’ booth.

"Let's bond," Jordanis said. "We'll play 'I Never’ ".

Dominique: "Even though his motive was probably only to drink more, Jordanis' idea was a good one."

Jordanis got shot glasses for everyone. "Let's go youngest to oldest." They got their ages straightened out quickly.

"Alright," Farrel started. "I never...had unclean thoughts in a church."

Dane and Jordanis had to drink. Everyone else laughed. Farrel grimaced.

"I never kissed a family member," Dream said.

Ashley and Jordanis.

"Ew," Dom commented from her resting spot on Vann's chest.

Ashely blushed. Her turn was next.

"I never did illegal drugs."

Farrel, Delinah, Vann, Jordanis.

"Good-ness," Dream said.

Dane's turn. "I never cheated on a girlfriend or boyfriend." Jordanis.

"No good," Delinah commented. "My turn. Um...I never kissed an immediate family member."

No one.

"Hallelujiah," someone said.

"I never kissed someone of the same sex."

Ashley and Vann. Dom looked up at him.

"Wow."

"I know. Wow!" Delinah looked interested. No one was so concerned with Ashley as with Vann.

"Not up for discussion. It was a one-time freak accident; that's all,” Vann explained. “Moving right along. I never compromised myself in a romantic relationship."

Ashley, Delinah, Dom.

Jordanis' turn. "I never romantically loved somebody I had no business loving, for whatever reason."

Farrel, Dom, Vann.

"Uh oh. Getting heavy here." Delinah said, having another shot just for kicks.

"Really," Farrel agreed, doing the same.

"Well, then. Let’s get light!” Dane suggested. “I never got drunk!"

Everybody took a couple of shots.

"Does the first time count?" Dream asked wearily. Her roommates laughed, then applauded rowdily as she took her shot as well.

Dane:"When we got home it was like 3:30. Everybody just milled around for a while until we all ended up falling out in the living room. We had a hard night! Ha!"

Dream: "I was so throwed."

Delinah: "Dream got messed up!"

Vann: "I kept hearing somebody get up and go to the bathroom. *Laughs* Probably Dream. Everyone else slept like a baby..."

Dream: "If the next four months are going to be like this..."

Vann: "...trying to re-up for the next 120 nights, I guess. *Smiles* I hope."