Daphne folded the newspaper, “Why don’t you just call Adrienne?” Justin frowns, “I haven’t spoken to her in, like, forever!” Not since I was with Brian… Daphne shakes her head, “Who cares?” They had just spent the past hour looking through the classifieds for a job. Justin’s cash supply was running low and he didn’t want Daphne to start using her own money to help him out. What he wanted was a place to stay that was his own. And a car. That, he decided was a necessity. And to pay for all of that, he would need a job.

He had called Michael the day before and cancelled their bi-weekly comic meeting. He lied and said he had the flu. Michael knew he was lying, but thankfully wasn’t in the mood to start his usual whine-fest with him and let the conversation go. Justin hoped that he wouldn’t try to call Ethan’s place to speak to him. He still hadn’t told anyone that they had broken up. He wasn’t planning to tell anybody actually. Though he did tell his mother, but only because he felt that it was the right thing to do. But he did not tell her the real reason of the breakup. That, he felt, she did not need to know.

“Daphne, I can’t just call her up and use her like that.” Now it’s Daphne’s turn to frown, “Use her? What are you talking about, Justin? You wouldn’t be using her. You don’t use people… Tricia, in my journalism class, now she uses people.” Justin laughs softly; Daphne had a knack of making him laugh whenever he was feeling down. She smiles, continuing, “She offered you a job at the gallery she opened.” He nods, “But that was a year ago.” She agrees, “Yes, and your work has only gotten better.” He sighs, looking down at the folded newspaper. Adrienne had seemed interested in his work. “But Mel and Lindsay are her friends… they’ll find out.” “Who cares?” He’s pensive. That’s true. I can just tell Adrienne that I fell of a ladder or something…the bruise on my cheek is the only visible one now.. .the one under my eye is gone, and the rest can still be covered by clothing… even if she does talk to Lindsay there’s a good chance she won’t even mention my bruise… “She did offer me free room and board… but that was when I was having some hand tremors…things were different then.” Again, Daphne is the word of reason, “Who cares?” True… “She did say she would love for me to come work for her…” “She’s an amazing artist, Justin.” He nods, “She wanted me to be like her apprentice or something… and she would teach me different techniques and help me with my art…” “Not like you need much help, Justin. Your art is incredible.” He blushes, “Thanks… but,” he sits up, grinning, “A true artist is always a student… learning new ways of expression each time he picks up a pencil.” She laughs, “Very poetic.” He laughs as well, “Thank you, I just made that up.” Shaking her head, she leans back against the bed, “You should call her. Do you have her number?” He shrugs, “She owns her own gallery. I can just look it up.” “She lives there as well?” He nods, “Yeah, the entire second floor is hers. I haven’t seen it, but I’m sure it’s amazing.” She nods, “Probably is. Call her. What’s the worst that can happen?” He smiles, “You know, Daphne, if journalism doesn’t pan out for you, you can always go into psychology.” She grins, “Thanks for the tip, but I think I’ll stick to writing.” He chuckles, stretching out his legs on her bed. Now that midterms were almost over, he felt ready to concentrate on getting his life back on track. And with a best friend like Daphne by his side, he knew he could do it. If I work at her gallery, I can still be close enough to school and take the subway to my classes… I’d have a place to live… free food… but wait, what about a car?

Daphne can tell he’s deep in thought about something, “What now?” He frowns, “Free room and board means that I’m not going to be getting paid, Daphne. That’s the trade-off.” “You don’t know that.” “But it probably is.” “Fine. Then tell her you want to make money and she can help you find a job. I’m sure she has better connections than we do, Justin.” How does she do it? He smiles, staring at her. She frowns, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Kissing her cheek, Justin continues to grin, stating, “You rock, Daphne.” She laughs, “Thanks, Jus…You rock too.” Getting off the bed, he turns on her computer, “Let’s find the phone number then.”