131 Ways to the Top

Christian Keagan

After a long airplane ride, I finally arrived at my apartment.

I paused outside of the door and swore when I heard voices inside, but I walked in anyway and dropped my bag on the couch.

"Mind fetching me a drink, pretty boy?" I asked, walking over to the bar and leaning against it with a grin.

Sunny

I stared at the guy mixing drinks, giving him my "are you serious" face. What a player.

"If there's Gatorade, or something, I'll have one of those," I said, walking toward the back of the apartment. "The last room to the right is mine!" I called, dumping my stuff just inside the door. I walked back out--

Only to find yet another random person in my--our--apartment. "Mind fetching me a drink, pretty boy?" he said, leaning against the bar.

The guy mixing drinks basically ignored him, and tossed me my Gatorade. I caught it with one hand, and took a big swig. "So," I began, sitting down on a barstool. "If we're all gonna stay here, we might as well introduce ourselves. ...Hi, I'm Sunny. And the rest of you are...?"

Bella Knight

I look over at Sunny, leaning against the wall and taking a sip of my drink. "I'm Bella. I sing, dance and play guitar." I said doing the moon-walk to the couch. I plopped down on it, chuckling. "Are we gonna throw any parties around here or what?!" I asked looking at everybody.

I won't be on for a few days. Continue without me, if you want to.

Raymond

I threw a few mixtures into a glass, then handed the fruity-est concoction I had ever made over to the blonde boy.

"What a shame, I thought I'd have all these pretty ladies to myself," I took a sip of my own drink, "Well, I guess I can share."

The blonde girl introduced herself as Sunny. The brunette introduced herself as Bella, then asked about parties. I liked this girl, a lot.

"I'm Raymond D'Cheu," I grinned, "but you can all call me Ray. My friends back home call me Cheu, but I'd rather be on a first name basis with you all. Would you guys care for some music?" Before getting a response, I went back to the stereo and turned it back on. One of my best songs swam through the speakers. It was a fast rock melody, mixed with my friend's techno skills, the closest I had ever made to party music.

I slid next to Bella, leaning against the bar and crossing my legs; "You said something about a party?"

Bella

I nodded, grinning. "Oh yeah. We need like two hundred people coming. Like alot. Boomin' Music, It'll be boss. And I could show off my dancing." I chuckled, standing and grabbing my guitar.

Sunny

"And how, exactly," I said, "do you plan to cram two hundred people into one apartment? I don't want to rain on your parade, but I don't really want the apartment to get destroyed, either. I mean, parties are fun, sure, but you always get some crazy drunk guy throwing up on the couch and making out with random people..." I couldn't tell if I was getting through to her or not. To be honest, I wasn't a big fan of parties like that. Maybe it was a little conceited of me, but I thought of myself as a musician, an artist, not a pop star who hit the town and went wild every night.

Bella

I sighed, "That's the point! Just to let go and be free! And about the cramint two hundred people in here...This place is HUGE! It could be the party of the year!" I chuckle, sipping out of the whiskey bottle.

Sunny

"Okay," I said, giving in. "If you guys want to. I'm going to unpack my stuff." I walked back toward my room, determined to drunk-guy-proof it for the party. The last thing I needed was some random person going through my stuff. Suddenly, I realized how smart it had been to ship my guitar straight to the studio. There was no way it could get hurt there.

Merlene Romiro

“I’m not too big on parties,” I said, hoping to catch their attention, “but maybe if you guys cut down on the size.” I wiped away the tears from my face. “I am Merlene Romiro. I specialize in fashion.” I said this standing, to show off my brand new outfit. “I sewed it myself. That is the one thing I’m good at. Sewing. I twirled once, to show off my outfit. The shirt was a light green long sleeved shirt with thin lines of black sequins running in parallel lines. It was long, almost down to my knees. The leggings I wore underneath were black as well. My shoes were tall green high heels.
“Excuse me now, for this has been a long and rather disappointing day. I am now going to choose a good room before you people snatch them all up.” I reached down and grabbed my suitcase and sewing machine. I walked down the hall and strode into the second room on the right in the left wing. It had light blue walls and a wide window, looking out into the city. From the window, a smell of exhaust drifted in. “Ugh!”
I drifted to the room across the hall and admired how thick the mattress was. This room also had a window, this one looking out over a small park with a pond. The walls were a light green, just like my shirt. “This one is mine.”I called, flopping down onto the mattress. I began unpacking. Becoming bored, I strode out of the room, to explore the apartment.

Bella Knight

Everyone goes to a room and I sigh, almost all of them taken. The boys already got theirs. There were none left. I smiled. Finally! "I'm sleeping out here." I chuckled, feeling slightly drunk.

Seth Veros

After applying for the add in the paper, my mom gave me the money and a plane ticket. Practically shoving my out the door, she gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead,

"Come back rich for me Seth."

...

After the longest plane ride that I've ever slept through, I take a taxi to the apartment. It's already dark outside, I assume that everyone is sleeping already. I open the door and creep in, people were still up, but they weren't cohesive enough. To make conversation, they just pointed me towards fly bed, I was sharing it with another guy. That wasn't going to be an issue, in the morning I was going to start making conversation.

Maybe...

Chika

"So, do you accept?" asked the voice on the line. Krithika gripped the phone tightly, and said, "Yes. When is the flight?"
"Tomorrow. 9 o'clock at night. You arrive in the U.S. the day after that. The flight us around eighteen hours long. One if the longest in the world, I believe. "



Krithika stumbled off the plane, glad to be on solid ground again. I thought that flight would never end.. She caught a taxi to Ferris apartment, and when she opened the door, her bags dropped in surprise. Five people lay on the floor in disarray.

She understood immediately what had transpired. The government had forgotten to give her the fine print of the offer. She knew that they would be sharing. Sincw there were seven rooms. Choosing the one closest to the large balcony, which opened out from the drawing room, she walked in.

S
A few moments later, she came out, knowing that the five on the floor would need a pick-me-up. She set about preparing one.

Sunny

Although I had my iPod turned up pretty loudly, I heard the door open and close through the pounding beat. I got up, pulled my headphones off, and went out into the kitchen. The other five had passed out drunk long ago, and I had quietly excused myself and hid in my room. I'd have beer or something occasionally, but I didn't drink a lot--frankly, I just didn't like the taste of alcohol.

Out in the kitchen, a cute little Indian girl was preparing some sort of drink.

"Hey," I said, walking over to the bar. "I'm Sunny."

"Krithika," she returned. "But you can just call me Chika."

"Chika, that's cute," I remarked. "Are you sharing the apartment, too?"

Seth!

I woke up early the morning, I get out of my bed groggy. With close examination, I can see that most of the other candidates are passed out drunk. I got a quick shower in before making breakfast for myself. There was a bunch of different food in the fridge, so I made myself some eggs and turkey bacon. I had a nice glass of orange juice before I saw any of the other people stirring.

Sunny

When I came out of my room, one of the guys was in the kitchen drinking orange juice and frying bacon. "Hey," I said. "Is everyone else still unconscious?"

"Yup." The guy jerked his head toward the living room, where four bodies were still scattered across the floor.

"Okay, enough of this," I muttered. I got out a glass, filled it with water, and walked out to the living room. "Everybody up!" I shouted, flicking water onto each of their faces.