Shrimp, Grits, N' Pimp Sh*t

Nathan's POV My mama and daddy showed up about thirty minutes after Val's people, my mom looking surprisingly laxed and my dad looking sharp with a fresh haircut and everything. [Chuckles] Wow. I stand up like the gentleman I am and introduce my people to Val's folks (her lil sister still got that ugly ass mug on), and they exchange greetings. Val starts telling her mom about how it was her idea to bring everyone together but it was my idea to do all this 'Gourmet Cooking'. Her mom gave me this weird little smirk that embarrassed me a little bit so I just said 'yeah I guess', and kept it moving. Everybody's pretty much silent except for the TV and sounds of chewing and utensils clattering on the plates. Nathan's dad [Mr. Edwards]: *Abruptly* So Nathaniel. Me: Wassup. Mr. Edwards: How you like living on ya own? Me: It's straight... Got responsibilities now. Freedom. Y'know. Mr. Edwards: Mm-hm. Freedom , huh? ...

Nathan's POV Me and Val finally got settled into this li'l bitty crib. Honestly, I hated the place the moment I laid eyes on it. It looked like one of them bandos on the corner on the south side, all boarded up... Minus the boards on the windows. But I wasn't really worried about it because now we could finally say we had something that belonged to us. We've been spending a lot of time getting to know the city... We went on a brunch bar/gallery crawl or something like that Sunday afternoon. (Val's always been into that bougie, Sex & the City type lifestyle lol) It was dope. I just gotta remind myself to watch how many drinks shorty orders... She's a lightweight. [Chuckles] Valentina: [Sprawled across my bed] Naaaate. Me: What's up? Valentina: We should invite our people over now that we're settled in here or whatever. They'd be glad to see the place! Me: Girl your mom gon think we got married or something. [Laughs] ...

[ Valentina's POV ] After four and a half years of the College Life struggle, I thought everything was going to be easier from here. Finally got that well sought-after piece of paper signed by my university that was supposed to land me tons of "opportunities" and ''open many doors". [Chuckles] All it left me was a $50K IOU to Great Lakes and Sallie Mae & twice-daily 11:11 wishes that something will GIVE. A JOB. AN INTERNSHIP. COIN? SOMETHING. Like, I spent my years in school making sure to earn nothing less than a B+ in all my classes because I was taught growing up that looking like me, you gotta work twice as hard to get half as much as... The rest of them . I worked my ass off, walked across that stage six months ago about fifty people after my best friend Nathan; we both had cords and stoles out the wazoo and matching 3.9 GPAs. I was sure that not even a month later the responses to my thousands of resumes being sent off and job offers would ...

Nat han: 24 year old Law Career student, from the south side, 6'6, brown skinned, bearded, teddy bear. Traits: - Asshole - Petty - Career Oriented Likes:  - "Romantic shit"  - Cooking  - Reading  - 80s R&B Dislikes  - "Petty females" (But ain't you...???)  - Cigarettes  - "Shitty appliances"  - Wearing contacts Valentina  23 year old nursing career medical student, also from the south side, Nathan's childhood best friend, 5'10 brown skinned, athletic build Traits:  - Petty  - Carribean  - Career oriented Likes:   - Neo-Soul  - Snapchat  - Shopping   - "Analyzing different animation styles of anime"  Dislikes   - "Anti-feminism"   - Messy rooms   - "People who say their favorite anime is One Piece"  - Low limit credit cards 

                  The first night in that "rental property" was so wild. Surreal, even. I can't even really explain it. The concept of sleeping in a bed had become so foreign to me, I almost couldn't get to sleep to start with, had I not been so comfortable and exhausted. I just can't believe that one random trip to Solar was what did it for me. I always heard of "angels" and "God putting certain people in your path on purpose", but this was something straight out of a movie. Like, a whole ass miracle. I couldn't believe it. One night, I'm sleeping on a New Crest park bench trying to get as comfortable as I could, and the next, I have a furnished apartment... With a bed.          Now, the first look of it, it wasn't much, like Ms. Erica had said. The furniture was a little bit worn; second hand, I'm guessing. There was a smell lingering in the place like a door or a window hadn't been cracked in years, but I gu...

          As usual, I spent my day around the city just exploring. I realized as long as I've been here I've only visited and been attracted to one spot and that's the park. I decided to get a little adventurous today and visit a lounge a few blocks away from my usual spot.           It was a cute little place, red ropes out front making it look kind of upscale or whatever, but from the looks of the people going in, it was casual. There was no cover charge to get in, so in I went. For some reason, I'm feeling really self-conscious. All the people in here are with their friends or mates; laughing and joking, and here I am just alone. Looking alone. I wish I had a cellphone or something because at least then I could pretend to be waiting on someone instead of just sitting here floating around in this club like an awkward cloud. I decided to head upstairs to the more intimate area because the pressure was becoming too much.    ...

I guess I'll start by saying I'm Janessa! I'm 19 years old, independent... And of course gorgeous. *Flips hair* I just recently moved to New Crest... Trying to get on my feet because after high school I just wanted to get away. The only person I had looking after me, my father joined some crazy religious... Thing. I wanted no parts of it. He told me I could either roll with him or be by myself because "this is just how it's going to work now". I hated school, so college was definitely a NO... I don't trust this country enough to join its military, so that was a HELL NO. I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do soon... I don't have any assistance, I barely have anywhere to stay, I'm just here. I figured if I was thrown into a situation where I had no other way to go but UP, I'd be there in no time. But I don't know if this is going to work. I'm scared. Terrified even. I have my days where sometimes I just want to ba...