Chapter 53

• Neighbors with benefits
• Jack was relieved that he had finally found a place to live for the school year. He was about to begin his first year of graduate school in a new city, and because of a housing arrangement that had fallen through he was struggling to find a place to live near campus as classes were rapidly approaching. Most of the nearby apartments had long since been leased to other students, and as he didn’t know anyone in the new town, he didn’t have a roommate to share a house with. Finally, he came across a house that had a separate unit built off the back, equipped with its own kitchen. He eagerly signed the lease. He had never lived in a duplex before, but he was thrilled to have his own place, close to campus but away from the overcrowded nearby apartments. It looked like a nice, quiet place to get his studying done.
• A couple days after moving in he decided to knock on the front door and meet the people he would be living in close quarters with. He was a little apprehensive as he didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t have to be friends with the people – he just hoped they weren’t too weird, or noisy. He waited for a second on the front porch until the door swung open. A young, sweaty, shirtless guy opened the door. He looked to be a couple years older than Jack’s twenty-two.