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Jessa

I down a shot of tequila and bang the bottolass on the wooden table I hiss at the burn as it slides down Arnold, my coworker, does the same, but he doesn’t react to the burn After all, at two hundred and seventy-five pounds, my buddy holds his liquor ht of ith a shot of soh Today he chose tequila, and next time, it’ll be my turn to pick

Arnold lifts his hand for a high five, and I have to stand on my tip toes to meet it

“Asshole,” I huff

He shrugs “It’s not ed”

I throw a bar rag at hi”

He and I wipe down the dark wooden surfaces of the tables and chairs in record time Then he sweeps the floor while I80’s tunes like Take On Me and Cold as Ice, h and low notes

I laugh when I turn to see Arnold dancing with the brooraceful as he minces around the wooden bea an ordinary evening at the Salty Lagoon Hands stuffed into the pockets of our jackets, we ht

“Say hi to your wife for e VW Beetle that hteenth birthday

“Will do” He waves atinto the darkness

By the tiet home, it’s super late and the sky is pitch black I unlock the door to h The apartments look like shit froly h as a bartender and occasional waitress that I can afford my own space

I hated having rooirls, but sometimes they were just so sloppy! I still remember my last roomie, Crystal That’s one woman who did not live up to her na crystal clean She literally let plates and utensils molder in the sink until one day when I read her the riot act It wasn’t pretty, but it had to be done

So now, I really appreciate having my privacy Plus I work hard for what I have Maybe my apartment isn’t much, but at least it’s mine And I prefer to live the way I want—I’m not a neat freak, but I can’t have cockroaches and mildew either

Also, I love decorating, and only when you live alone can you give free rein to your ideas My friends describe my style as “eclectic,” but I’d say it’sthat’s covered in a vaguely indigenous pattern of diamonds of various shapes The color is mostly pink with accents of blue, black, and white Meanwhile, my couch is a creamy, faintly aqua shade and it pulls out into a futon In the corner, I have a few stackable wooden chairs that I got for a good price at Goodwill because I’et My full-size bed is behind the couch, e pillows It’s so nice to fall asleep in my little nest!

What other furniture I have is also made of reclaimed wood, whenever possible I like to re-use, recycle and upcycle whenever possible, and do what I can to contribute to the environmental movement My walls are white, but I’ve decorated the abstract, colorful women, animals, or patterns

But now it’s tioff er It’s suet pretty chilly My heels click across the hardwood floors until I finally pull the them on the shoe rack would be too much at this point because I’m just too tired As if to prove h, and the joints in ood too

I head tomy toes into the fluffy bath for my makeup reet rid of all of the color I used, but looking cute at ood tips When I’m finished, the cloths are streaked with black liner and red and gold eyeshadow, like the reht have overdone it today, but c’est la vie