"Rochelle, good to see you! Are you done with exams?"

The young woman nodded as she stared at her landlord seated across from her. She folded her hands in her lap and replied that she finished this morning. 

"Actually, I wanted to ask you about how I should handle rent payments this summer," she said. "I'm not going to be here – I'm going home and probably won't be back in my apartment until August maybe? I know my mom said we're visiting my grandmother sometime, but I'm not sure for how long. Um...how do other people handle this?"

The landlord tapped her chin thoughtfully and fell silent for a few minutes as she recalled other cases where tenants kept their apartments, but went elsewhere for the summer, before coming back for classes or work. "That's a good question. In the past I've let people pay in advance for the months they won't be here, or you could mail a check to me. The second method's riskier though and I'd hate to have it get lost, not because it's for me, but I know that's a lot of money to be sending in the mail. I'm trying to work with a site webmaster to improve the current website so tenants can send their rent in electronically...I think that might be close to finished soon." She straightened up in her desk chair and asked Rochelle what she felt comfortable doing. 

Rochelle shifted in her seat and contemplated her options. She was all set for this month, so it was just June and July she had to take care of. Unbeknownst to her mom, she had a plan to come back here in August to collect her books and start meetings with her advisor for her thesis. The latter advised her to start thinking now, so the young woman wouldn't be stressed or rushing to get things done at the end. 

"Do you...um, mind if I call my parents and get their thoughts?" Rochelle asked. "I probably won't leave until tomorrow morning."

The landlord nodded and told Rochelle to take her time. She watched as the young woman rose from her seat and she added that she would be in her office around 7 AM tomorrow. 

"We're looking at July," her mom revealed. 

Rochelle could hear papers being moved around on her mother's end and she waited until her mom stopped and revealed the timeframe: 2 weeks.

"I was considering longer," her mom added, "but the trouble is getting enough time off for Bri. She can do the 2 weeks, but anything longer seemed risky. She's in very good standing with her bank manager and team, but she mentioned that it's hard to take that much time off in the summer."

"Okay then, I'm good with whatever," Rochelle replied with a shrug. "But what should I do about the rent?"

Her mom paused for a moment and she greeted her husband who was coming in. "Oh sorry honey, your dad's home now. How about we all talk about this?" She put the phone down and pressed the button for speakerphone. "Can you hear us?"

"Yeah, hi Dad," Rochelle greeted. "I was asking Mom about how I should handle the rent payments for the summer. I talked to my landlord earlier about the options – there's the mail a check one, or I can write a check for all of the months, or there might be a digital website option. The last one's in progress."

"Not to play Devil's advocate, but don't you think we should cover her rent for July? We are asking her to come home and make time for this trip to see Nana," her mom asked her father. 

There was silence for a moment, then Rochelle heard her father comment that he was okay with paying one month of Rochelle's rent, due to the fact she was going to be away for almost half of the month. 

"Oh wow, thanks Dad, thanks Mom," Rochelle said. "I don't like the idea of mailing a check – you never know if that could go missing."

"So much for I.O.U.s," her dad joked. "Well how soon is soon with this website payment option?"

Rochelle shrugged and recalled that her landlord said it was close to being completed. "She didn't give me an exact – hang on, someone's at my door." 

She pulled the phone away from her ear and walked over to the door to look out the peephole. She looked out and saw it was Lucas standing there with his hands in his pockets. 

"Hey can I call you back? A friend of mine is at my door," Rochelle apologized. After she said goodbye, she undid the lock and deadbolt and opened the door. 

Lucas raised a hand and flashed her a smile. "Hey Roca, you um, you too busy to do that really overdue dinner?" 

Rochelle pocketed her phone and remembered the young man had promised her earlier in the year that they'd do dinner. She completely forgot that they never did that, due to having busy schedules. 

"Yeah that would be great," Rochelle replied. "Where did you wanna go? What food you in the mood for?"

Lucas gestured to her and insisted that she pick. "I'm good with whatever – you tell me the place and I'll pay." 

She held up a hand and excused herself to grab her student ID, small purse, and keys. She slung her bag across her body and returned to the door with her keys in one hand. 

The young man gave her space, so she could exit her apartment to lock up. He waited for Rochelle to finish and nodded at the door, before making a slight gesture for her to go first. 

"Have you ever tried that ramen place that opened up in town?" she asked as she began walking to the front entrance of the complex. 

Before Lucas could reply, he noticed someone coming in and he raised a hand in greeting. "Hey Chim, how's it going?"

Jimin paused outside of the building and he greeted the pair, while his free hand hiked his glasses higher on his nose. "I finished work – you guys done with finals?"

The pair nodded and explained they were going into town to grab dinner. The mention of food made Jimin tilt his head and he asked where they were going.

"I asked if Lucas had tried the ramen place – you know, the one wedged between the holistic cafe and the nightclub?" Rochelle described. 

"You want in Chim?" Lucas asked. 

Jimin smiled and thanked them for the invitation. He tugged on the lapels of his lab coat and explained that he wanted to change and put his stuff down really quick. "How about I meet you guys there?"

"How many?"

"There's gonna be three of us – the other guy's on his way," Lucas confirmed. "Or if we're supposed to wait for the whole party to be present, that's cool."

The hostess glanced over her shoulder to survey the seating options available inside. She scanned the tables and her gaze lingered on the bar. 

"You guys cool with the high chairs at the bar?" she asked. 

The pair exchanged looks and agreed that it was fine. 

The hostess picked up three menus, plus a drink and Happy Hour flyer, and led the two to the bar area. She placed the menus in front of three seats and told them someone would be with them shortly. 

"Pick your seat Roca," Lucas instructed as he hung back. 

Rochelle chose the seat toward the end of the bar and she tugged it out toward her. She hoisted herself onto the seat and whipped her head around when she felt it move toward the bar, thanks to Lucas. Once she was seated close enough to the counter, Lucas took the seat next to her and moved his chair closer to the counter. 

"Hello, just one?" the hostess asked.

Lucas looked over at the entrance and saw that Jimin was standing before the hostess stand. He raised a hand to get Jimin's attention and the older student looked past the hostess with a smile. 

"Actually I'm with those two," Jimin explained as he pointed to Rochelle and Lucas. 

The hostess stepped to the side and Jimin walked through the door. He made his way over to the bar and greeted the pair, before taking the seat to the left of Lucas. 

"Another year already over," Jimin sighed as he folded in hands in front of him. He looked over at his friends and asked if they had any plans for the summer. "I can't say I've got anything exciting, other than work and my thesis."

Lucas played with his straw in his water glass and mused that he was going to attend soccer camp in the later half of the summer. "Coach's idea," he explained. "We wanna make sure we nail our skills and focus on improving in areas where we're a little weak." 

Jimin nodded and leaned his head so he could see Rochelle better. "Rochelle, what about you?"

Rochelle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shared that she was going home for most of the summer. "I thought about trying to get my old part time job again – I worked at a party/celebration themed store, but I'll be visiting my grandmother in July. Not sure my boss will take me back for a month and a half, you know?"

"When are you coming back up here?" Lucas asked as he swiveled in his seat to face her. 

"Umm...maybe August? But not a few weeks before classes start – I'm thinking early August, so I can meet with my advisor to discuss my thesis and get my books for the new semester," Rochelle replied. "Damn, next year's going to be it for me. How did that happen?"

Lucas made a face and nudged her in the arm. "Hey, hey, don't talk about that – we should live in the moment! Otherwise, you're gonna bum me out thinking about the moment you and Chim move on and probably never see me again."

"I don't think I'm going to leave once I graduate," Jimin spoke up. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose and added that his workplace wasn't planning to move him to another branch. "I'm allowed to keep renting in the building – the landlord didn't say we had to be students."

"And there's that little thing called e-mail," Rochelle added.

"Video calls," Jimin chimed in.

"Regular phone calls, letters, I mean, Lucas, we can all keep in touch," Rochelle insisted. "That's the beauty of technology. There's plenty of ways to keep in touch with someone."

Lucas sighed and nodded in agreement. Before anyone could say anything, their food was served and the waiter asked if they needed anything else. The trio declined and began turning their attention to their bowls of steaming hot ramen. 

"Call or text this summer, okay?" Lucas spoke up as he looked at Rochelle, then Jimin. "I'm gonna need to talk to someone this summer. I got other friends too, but it's been real nice having good neighbors that I like running into, you know?"