My alarm clock went off. I waved my arm around until I finally knocked it to the floor.
      Kate came out of her edroom. "Come on, Lauren, get up! I heard your clock go off."
      I pulled the sheet over my head. "It's too early."
      "Listen, if you want to stay, you've either gotta get into a college or get a job."
      "Why? My parents paid for my trip," I argued.
      "Yeah, but why should I pay all the rent if you're living here, too?" she asked.
      Touché. I pulled the sheet off and sat up. "Okay, I'll look for a part-time job."

      Drew is sitting at his desk, typing. Kate came over to his cubicle and sat down.
      "How's it going having a roommate?" Drew asked.
      "Not bad, although I did have to talk her into atleast looking for a part-time job," Kate replied.
      I walked over and joined them.
      "How's the job hunt going?" Drew asked.
      "Well, ya know, it's funny..." I started.
      "You didn't get a job and gave up looking?" Kate said.
      "You're half right. I did get a job," I said.
      "That's great! What are you doing?" Drew said.
      "Now, that's the funny part..." I started again.
      Lewis came over and joined us. "Did you hear what she did?"
      "We were just about to," Kate said, dryly.
      "Oh," Lewis said. "Would you believe she managed 'assistant janitor' at DrugCo?"
      Suddenly, I felt their eyes burning holes through me. "What?" I asked. "I tried some other places and got nowhere."
      "I thought you said that DrugCo gave you the creeps?" Drew asked.
      "Well, it did... until I saw the monkapotamus," I said. "That thing's actually kinda cute."
      Oswald came over. "Awe, are we picking on Lewis without me?"
      "No, she was talking about the monkapotamus," Lewis said.
      "Oh," Oswald said. "Why was she talking about it?"
      "I saw it when I went to DrugCo for a job," I said.
      "Yeah, 'assistant janitor'," Lewis said, then glared at me.
      Mr. Wick came out of his office. "What's going on here?"
      "They were just leaving," Drew hinted.
      Kate left. Oswald followed. Lewis and I argued our way out.

      After all the excitement of the day, I went back to Kate's, plopped on the couch, and ended up taking a little snooze. Kate was with Oswald, probably still at the Warsaw. they'd been there since we all left Winfred-Louder. It was about 10pm and I was still zonked out.
      The doorknob turned, the door opened, and Lewis came in. I never did get that key from him. Gonna have to change the locks. He saw me sleeping on the couch and came over.
      "If I don't wake her up, she'll probabl be late and get fired," Lewis said to himself. He stood there debating with himself until finally a grin appeared. He sat on the edge of the couch, leaned over, and started kissing me.
      Amazingly enough, I didn't go and smack him right away for waking me up... that is until I noticed his hand on my shoulder "for balance."
      I pushed him away. "Okay, I'm awake! Just tell me it isn't morning."
      "It isn't morning," he replied.
      I gave him a half grin. "Ha ha, nice wake up call, by the way." I turned my head and looked at his hand, which was still resting on my shoulder. "I ain't gonna ask, I'm just gonna assume that you do know you should let me up now. You did know that, didn't you?"
      Lewis sat up. "Of course, I knew that! I just did that... for balance."
      Told ya. "For balance, huh? Another inch south and I'd've had to kick you where you'd lose your balance!" I said, then stood up. "Well, we going or what?"
      "Oh, yeah. That was my reason for coming over here. I knew I had a reason," Lewis said.
      "A legit reason," I corrected.

      The next morning I get back to Kate's apartment and just flopped on the couch.
      Kate came into the room. "You look worn out. Chasing the lab monkeys all night?"
      "Naw, that was only part of the night," I said.
      "So, what was the other part, dare I ask?" Kate said.
      "Well, the monkaptamus got loose and we ended up chasing it all over the building a coupla times," I said.
      "Did you finally catch it?" Kate asked.
      I grinned. "Yeah, finally. See, Lewis found a tranquilizer gun and after he hit a coupla monkeys, bounced a few off the walls, and well, one of 'em skimmed past me, he finally hit the thing and it's now sleeping it off."
      "Ah, now I remember why morons shouldn't be allowed to use guns. Thanks," Kate said. "I gotta get going. See you later." She left.
      I shook my head. "Whatta night." I tilted my head back.
      There's a knock at the door.
      "It's open," I said, not really caring who it was at the moment.
      The door opened and Oswald came in.
      "How was work?" he asked.
      "Tiring," I said.
      "Oh, the monkapotamus get loose again?" Oswald said.
      "Yeah... again?!" I said.
      "It does that about every other week," he said.
      "Oh man..." I muttered.
      "Just don't let Lewis near the tranquilizer gun. He's got terrible aim," Oswald said.
      "I know... which is really odd since he always kicks your butt at pool," I said.
      "You don't know?" Oswald said. "I let him win. Keeps 'im happy."
      "Ah," I said.
      "You like it here?" Oswald asked.
      "Yeah, I do," I replied.
      "You really like Lewis?" he asked.
      I looked at him. "Now, where'd that come from?"
      "I was just wondering. I mean, I still think it's just a little odd," Oswald said.
      "DOn't worry, Oswald, I won't hurt him," I said, then grinned. "I can take care of myself. I just spent an entire night running around DrugCo with him chasing lab monkeys and the monkapotamus... I think I passed the initiation."
      "I just wanna make sure you're happy," Oswald said, then started for the door.
      "Wait," I said, got up, and went over to him. "Thanks." I gave him a hug.
      "What's a cousin for?" Oswald said, then turned for the door.
      "You don't really know, do you?" I asked.
      "Nope," he said and left.
      I went over and plopped on the couch again. Seconds later, there was another knock at the door.
      "Geez..." I said, got up, and went to the door. I opened it. "Hi, Lewis. Gee, it's been what, fifteen minutes?"
      "Ha ha, very funny," Lewis said, then came in.
      "What's wrong?" I asked.
      "Well, you remember all that stuff that got broken last night?" he asked.
      "Yeah," I said.
      "Okay, then don't wonder why you won't be getting a pay check this week," Lewis said.
      "Why me? I didn't do it!" I said.
      "I know that! I'm not getting one, either," he said, then propped his feet on the table.
      "Great, and Oswald told me the monkapotamus gets loose every other week," I said, sitting next to Lewis. "How do you make any money?"
      He looked at me with the strangest look I'd ever seen from him: seriousness. "I don't."
      "Then why keep the job?" I asked.
      "Because I like it," Lewis said. "Oh, sure, the animals get a little stir-crazy every once in a while... so you just let them run all night and they don't bother you for a coupla weeks."
      "I would've never thought of it like that," I said.
      "Yeah, well, the other thing is getting to use the tranquilizer gun," he said.
      "I'm glad you mentioned that. I wanted to thank you for nearly getting me with it," I said, sarcastically.
      Lewis smiled. "Nearly."
      "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
      "Nothing," he said, trying to keep from laughing.
      "I remember you shooting the darts at the monkeys and one buzzed past me and..." I said, then paused. "Then, I remember sitting on the couch in the break room... Hey!?"
      "I didn't think you'd actually remember all that," Lewis said, smirking.
      "That's the problem, right there, I don't remember all of it. How long was I out?" I said.
      "I don't know... an hour, maybe," he replied.
      "Great, I get knocked out for an hour by a tranquilizer dart, apparently was carried into the break room, and then..." I said, getting more and more annoyed. I glared at him, narrowing my eyes.
      "I wouldn't do anything like that and you know it!" Lewis said, then paused. "Actually, you don't."
      I shook my head 'no' slowly.
      "Well, I didn't. I went back and kept chasing after the monkeys," he said.
      I looked him right in the eyes. Yup, that was the truth. That's good to know. "For some reason, I believe you."
      "So... how were you planning on spendng today?" Lewis asked, changing the subject.