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After an initial meeting post-beach, Renna had the opportunity to get a look at the place where Bernadette was currently staying. She was right about the neighborhood -- it was fine during daylight hours, but the broken windows, lack of ample streetlights, and general condition of the people slumped against the bus benches hinted at what it might be like under cover of darkness. Still, Bernadette had a couple weeks left on her sub-let, and Renna was more than happy to split the cost of rent just to have a bed and get off of Quinn's couch.

The two girls had hit it off rather well. Renna did, in fact, pay bills on time, and Bernadette was not some creepy predator trying to lure a roommate. They began searching for places to live immediately. Neither girl had a car, but Renna could work a map and Bernadette new the public transportation system pretty well. They had lost out on the first two places they tried to get, but the third time was the charm. It was a 3rd floor walkup on the same block as a cafe and video store. It wasn't exactly a posh part of town, but it was affordable and relatively safe, for Destiny City at least. Plus, it was within walking distance of Horizon Institute and a quick bus ride over to Sovereign Heights.

The apartment had two large bedrooms and -- joy upon joy -- TWO bathrooms. If the building wasn't so damn old, the two girls probably could have afforded it. The kitchen was small, and there was barely space for a table to eat at -- but the living room was open and had two windows facing the street. The girls had rented a zipcar long enough to make a trip to IKEA, and now they faced the long, arduous task of assembling copious amounts of cheap Swedish furniture.

Renna had elected to start small with her desk and desk chair. She had taken a break by spinning around in it until she felt dizzy. Her bed had been a far greater undertaking. It was suggested that two people put it together, but Renna decided to challenge herself and, even if it took her all night, did it on her own. The tall floor lamp and small desk lamp had taken no time at all. She even managed to have a photo print an abstract DC skyline on her wall beside the sunset in Congo. Now she just had a dresser, nightstand, bookshelf, and TV stand left to go, but it was time to flip to the living room.

Boxes full of kitchen stuff were piled on the counter, and Bernadette was putting cups and plates away in neat stacks. Renna took a long sip from her bottle of water and then eyeballed the futon pieces still in the box. "Okay, I think I am ready to tackle the futon," she said, taking a step back to switch on the fan. She still hadn't decided whether she wanted to buy an AC unit for her window or not. The African girl thought most Americans were wusses for the heat, but truth be told, she liked a nice, cold room. For now, though, there was a futon to be handled.

Horizon Institute was a really good school, and it had been thanks to the connections in the Negaverse that someone had been able to greenlight her application for transfer. The home-schooled girl from Africa was apparently an appealing sell for the prestigious institution. She had told Bernadette that she might use a similar tactic. "I can talk to my friend who helped me, maybe," she had told her, thinking back to the Negaverse. Would they be able to help her out? A lot of the organization seemed pretty friendly, but she wasn't sure what the policy was on helping out civilians.

"I am a woman on a mission," she said, ripping the thick tape off of the edge of the box. "I'm good for now. I should figure out a plan of attack before bringing in reinforcements."

In all their time together, Renna and Bernadette had mostly stuck to apartment talk and general life talk. Now that they were proper roommates, she wondered how deep their friendship could go. Friends were the breath of life for Renna. She had been lonely since relocating to DC. If she didn't have the Negaverse eating up so much of her time, she would probably be bored too. "I should have my friend Ume over again," she said, making conversation. "She's really nice. She suggested we get some girls together to go to Club Dread before the school year starts." The title of the club wasn't exactly appealing, but at 17 years old, Renna knew it was the only place that would allow her inside, even if it was only until 7PM.

Even though Renna spent the majority of her life in Africa, she had always watched American television. Her concept of American clubs had been similarly dire before she moved to Baltimore. There was a teen club near her that she went to a few times, and strangely enough, it was more similar to the sketchy environment that she had seen on TV more than the 18+ clubs that some of her neighborhood friends had gone out to, before she was old enough to join them. She would turn 18 in November, and the potential to go dancing like an adult was more than enough incentive for her to be excited.

Popping open the corner of the futon box, Renna began to pull out the various pieces, putting them on the ground in neat piles all around her. "Most clubs are just drinking and dancing," she said, counting the screws in a little plastic baggie. "Whenever you mix alcohol with people, there will probably be fights and drugs, just not as frequently as on TV. Most of the places around here at 21+, but there are a few 18+ spots. When I turn 18, we should go to one. It will be our American odyssey." She smiled at the thought. Going to a club was one of the exciting things that the teenagers in her Lifetime movies were always doing. Granted, they almost always got pregnant or hooked on drugs in those scenarios, but Renna had more faith in herself than that.

The prospect of having people over to the house seemed like a far more attainable goal. An idea struck Renna suddenly. "Hey," she said, stopping what she was doing to look over at Bernadette, "why don't we have a party here, at our new place? We could invite our friends! It would be a Back-to-School, house-warming thing. I can make finger foods. We'll play music. The place is big enough for a party." Excitement bubbled in her throat. Maybe she was too young to go to a club, but living independent from her mother did have certain other benefits.

Renna placed a black tray on the ground with little plastic dividers. Slowly, she began divvying up the different shapes and sizes of screws and fasteners into individual trays. It was a trick she learned from her mother when they first got an apartment in Baltimore. It saved loads of time usually wasted on searching for just the right piece of hardware. Once, after a long day of assembling furniture, her mother had let Renna have a glass of wine. She thought it tasted foul, but was too excited to let on. She downed the entire glass, got a headache, and went to bed. She still bragged about it to this day.

"I've been to New York once," she said. "It was a school trip to a Broadway show. We saw Phantom of the Opera, went to Dylan's Candy Bar, and took an obscene amount of photos in Times Square. I never made it out to California though. I heard it was all tan, blond women and Mexicans." It sounded a little racist, but Renna appeared unfazed. It occurred to her, a bit sadly, that she might never make it out to California unless it was on strict Negaverse business. Did they allow vacations? She was afraid to ask.

It was so strange how much Bernie and Renna's lives paralleled. She had also only been in the city a few months, and most of her friends were from the Negaverse or some of the brief few, like Bernadette, that she had managed to befriend in passing. All the same, Renna could think of at least 8 people she could invite over -- and 8 people was a lot, especially if Bernie had others she could invite too! The prospect of a party put an extra pep in her step as she began screwing wooden beams together, carefully falling the instructions.

"I am sure all my friends will love you," she said quickly, though it wasn't like she should say anything else. "I bet we could have this place together by the weekend. If we put our minds to it, we could be party ready by Saturday!" For a new roommate, Renna realized that might be a lot of presence. "Is that... too fast? If it is too fast we can do it after school starts?" Truth be told though, Renna would much rather do it now. She had heard Horizon Institute was a tough school. After being home-schooled for so long, Renna had a healthy fear that she would not live up to their high academic expectations.

It would have been enough for Renna to simply live with someone nice, but Bernadette was a lot more than that. She shared so many of the traits that Renna herself prized in others. Sure, they had only been roommates for a couple weeks, but the more that Renna learned, the better it got. That didn't always happen, right?

"Well, I haven't gone there yet, and they haven't done many mixing events. At least none that I have made it to," she said. "But I've met a handful of people." Mostly from the Negaverse. Would that be too suspect? She would have to invent a reason for knowing all of them, wouldn't she? Uh oh. That was a bridge to cross for another day.

The slats of the futon slapped against the hardwood as Renna began to line them up. "We could maybe put something together before then, don't you think? I should have a little free time." The prospect of a party was too good to put off, even if it might mean extra work.

"Negatives sound nice. I can set up our living room space. I got this cute DVD tower that has vines creeping up it. I like a warm living room."

Renna was making short work of the futon. She prided herself on an ability to follow directions; IKEA was made for her. Already, there was the bottom half of the frame. She stood to shove some slats into place. "Before long, we will be sitting in style," she said, glancing up to smile at her roommate. They were still getting to know one another, but Renna was more than happy to span any awkwardness with the olive branch of friendship. She needed friends. They were the breath in her lungs, and she had been gasping for air for too long in Destiny City.

"A Facebook event should be fine, I think," she said, mulling it over. "Maybe Saturday night? Could be fun."

With that, Renna went back to work on the couch, a clear getaway for Bernadette. A new roommate, a new place, a new party -- things were looking up for Renna Maddox. Sure, it had taken the corruption of her being to get to this place, but the young girl was fighting her Worst Case Scenario nature to see the good in the situation. She was following in Eden's footsteps, regardless of how clumsily she stumbled along the trail.

Yes, it was certain: things were looking up!