I'll Give Her Melodies

An excerpt from a short story I'm writing:

     

          I never realized how much I appreciated those summer months after four years of hell. Those lazy, drowsy days make me want to drop out of school and never get a job. I want to read all day longing in the golden sunlight, eating strawberries and smoking cigarettes. And when dusk comes, perhaps I’ll invite a few friends over and we’ll dress up in party dresses with sequins and tulle. We would never leave my backyard, but instead, make apple martinis and chatter in the candlelight. We would refill our lipstick-stained glasses with vodka and fruit juice until we were impregnated with a fireball, that would spread warmth throughout our lanky limbs and our bloated bellies. There would be twenty-seven dead cigarette butts, between the three of us, thrown carelessly in my homemade ashtray (or on the cobblestone patio) with  red and violet and pink stains.

  That was the last summer before we moved into our own apartment. It was dirt cheap, but it was evident when we first moved in that we had gotten what we paid for. The red paint on the walls were chipped and the hardwood floors creaked under our black-patent-leather-clad feet. On the carpet in our single bedroom had numerous spots, smaller than the circumference of a penny, that were the color of charcoal as if someone had put out their cigarette on it. The only two rooms that had walls for privacy were the one bedroom and the bathroom. It was a shit-hole, but it was our home. 

  As soon as we unpacked our meager belongings (or rather, threw them all on the floor), all three of us embarked on our journey to design the most imperfect, perfect apartment. We weaved in and out of thrift stores, wandered into independent shops, buying and collecting furniture and trinkets for our new home. Our plan was simple. Each of us would purchase home wares based on our personal style and also, practicality. Then, we would combine our possessions and treasures in order to construct the most eclectic, bizarre apartment that would reflect our idiosyncratic qualities.