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When my roommate disappeared overnight to live with her boyfriend, I thought she\u2019d at least handle the rent situation like an adult. Two months later, she showed up pounding on my door, screaming about changed locks and missing belongings.<\/p>\n
When I first rented this place, the landlord told me there was already one person living here, and they just needed one more roommate. Her name was Milly.<\/p>\n
Honestly, I was happy about it. Living alone seemed scary, and having someone to split the bill with sounded perfect. I thought I\u2019d found the ideal situation.<\/p>\n
Boy, was I wrong about being happy.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, Milly wasn\u2019t a bad person.<\/p>\n
She was sweet, caring, and genuinely nice when you talked to her. She\u2019d ask about my day, remember little things I mentioned, and we\u2019d sometimes watch movies together on weekends. But the thing was, she never had her own stuff.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m talking about basic things like toilet paper, dish soap, and laundry detergent. I\u2019d buy these things, and somehow they would disappear twice as fast as they should.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d even use my shampoo and coffee. When I\u2019d hint about it, she\u2019d say things like, \u201cOh, I\u2019ll grab some next time I\u2019m out!\u201d<\/p>\n
But next time never came.<\/p>\n
The rent situation was even worse. She was always late.<\/p>\n
The first month, she came to me three days after rent was due, looking stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Cynthia? I\u2019m so sorry, but I\u2019m a little short this month. Could you cover me? I promise I\u2019ll pay you back next week.\u201d<\/p>\n
I covered her.<\/p>\n
Next week came and went, but I got no payment.<\/p>\n
When I brought it up, she got this hurt look and said, \u201cI thought we were friends. I\u2019m going through a rough time right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are friends,\u201d I replied. \u201cBut you said you\u2019d pay me back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise I\u2019ll pay you back next week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But that payment never came.<\/p>\n
Besides that, the dishes piled up like Jenga blocks in the sink, the trash overflowed until I couldn\u2019t stand the smell anymore, and the bathroom looked like a tornado had hit it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d clean everything, and within days, it was back to chaos.<\/p>\n
I often wondered how Milly was managing before I moved in. Like, how was she even surviving in this place if she wasn\u2019t doing the bare minimum?<\/p>\n
The landlord had mentioned she\u2019d been living here for six months before I arrived. Did she just live in filth? Or had she found other people to take care of everything for her?<\/p>\n
It made me wonder if Milly had become careless intentionally because she knew I would take care of everything. Maybe she\u2019d sized me up as the responsible type who couldn\u2019t stand mess and would just handle it all.<\/p>\n
I stayed patient for months. I even tried talking to her about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMilly, we need to figure out a system for chores,\u201d I said one evening. \u201cAnd the rent thing is becoming a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded enthusiastically. \u201cYou\u2019re totally right! I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019ve just been so stressed with work and everything. I\u2019ll do better, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
But promises don\u2019t pay rent or wash the dishes.<\/p>\n
Then something changed. When our lease ended and we went month-to-month, Milly just disappeared one day.<\/p>\n
No calls or explanations.<\/p>\n
Most of her belongings were still scattered around the apartment, but she didn\u2019t come home.<\/p>\n
A few days later, I found out through mutual friends that Milly had basically gone to live with her boyfriend. She was staying with him in the basement of his mother\u2019s house, playing house like some kind of teenager.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, I was stuck paying for her half of the rent, and she didn\u2019t pay back what she owed me before vanishing either.<\/p>\n
When I finally worked up the courage to text her about the rent situation, her response made my blood boil.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019m not living there right now, so why should I pay rent?\u201d<\/p>\n
Excuse me? I stared at my phone in disbelief. Did she seriously think that\u2019s how rental agreements work?<\/p>\n
I texted back, \u201cDoes that mean you\u2019re officially moving out then? Because I need to know what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crickets. Complete silence.<\/p>\n
So, I covered May\u2019s rent alone. All of it.<\/p>\n
Then June rolled around, and I was doing it again.<\/p>\n
I texted Milly constantly, asking for answers, for money, and for any kind of communication. But I got nothing.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d read my messages, and I knew that because I could see the blue check marks. But she never responded.<\/p>\n
At that point, the whole situation was driving me crazy. I was working extra shifts at my campus job just to afford her half of the rent on top of my own expenses. My savings account was getting drained because my roommate decided to play house with her boyfriend.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Milly\u2019s mother texted me out of nowhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cHi honey, I know Milly\u2019s going through a rough patch right now. She just needs some time to figure things out. She\u2019ll be back soon, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seriously? I thought. A rough patch?<\/p>\n
She was living rent-free in someone\u2019s basement while I was breaking my back to keep a roof over both our heads. And she was the one going through a rough patch? Yeah, right!<\/p>\n
I texted back politely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand she\u2019s going through something, but I can\u2019t keep covering her rent indefinitely. If she\u2019s not coming back, I need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence. No response from her mom either.<\/p>\n
By July, I was done being the patient doormat. I\u2019d given Milly every chance to communicate and to pay what she owed.<\/p>\n
Instead, she\u2019d ghosted me completely while expecting me to maintain her half of the apartment like some kind of storage unit.<\/p>\n
I sent her one final text, \u201cMilly, if you don\u2019t respond by July 1st and sort out the rent situation, I\u2019m going to assume you\u2019ve moved out permanently and act accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 1st came and went. Still nothing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I decided to take matters into my own hands.<\/p>\n
I called up three of my friends and told them the situation. They were just as outraged as I was.<\/p>\n
\u201cGirl, you\u2019ve been way too nice about this,\u201d my friend Sarah said. \u201cShe\u2019s literally stealing from you at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, we packed up all of Milly\u2019s stuff.<\/p>\n
We packed her clothes, books, and all the random knick-knacks she\u2019d left scattered around the house.<\/p>\n
We donated what looked basic, like old clothes, worn-out shoes, and generic items that anyone could replace. I saved what looked valuable or sentimental, just in case.<\/p>\n
Then, I called the landlord and explained the situation. He was surprisingly understanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been off the lease since it went month-to-month anyway,\u201d he said. \u201cIf she\u2019s not paying and not living there, she has no legal right to the space.\u201d<\/p>\n
He changed the locks the next day. Phew!<\/p>\n
Bye-bye, freeloading ghost roommate.<\/p>\n
I thought that was the end of it. I thought I\u2019d never see Milly again.<\/p>\n
But I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Three days later, Milly was pounding on my door like the building was on fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are the locks changed?\u201d she screamed through the door. \u201cI LIVE HERE!\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened the door calmly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, hi, Milly,\u201d I said. \u201cActually, you haven\u2019t lived here in two months, and you haven\u2019t paid a dime of rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face was red, and she looked genuinely shocked that there were consequences for her actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was COMING BACK!\u201d she yelled. \u201cThe situation with Jake didn\u2019t work out! His mom kicked me out!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot my problem anymore, Milly. You\u2019re off the lease, and you ghosted me for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the waterworks started. She burst into tears, the kind of dramatic sobbing that probably worked on her parents when she was 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have nowhere to go! I just need some clean clothes and a SHOWER! Please, Cynthia, I thought we were friends!\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt a tiny pang of guilt, but I pushed it down. Friends don\u2019t abandon friends with rent bills and disappear without a word.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s left of your stuff is in the closet,\u201d I told her. \u201cThe rest I donated to charity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her crying stopped abruptly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDonated to charity?\u201d she repeated. \u201cWhat do you mean, donated?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I gave it away. You abandoned it for two months, and I\u2019m not running a free storage facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pushed past me into the apartment, rushing to what used to be her room. When she came back, her eyes were wide with rage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s my grandmother\u2019s wedding dress?\u201d she demanded. \u201cIt was in a special box under my bed!\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped. \u201cWhat special box? I saw a dusty old cardboard box that looked like trash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat WAS the box! Oh my God, you gave away my grandmother\u2019s wedding dress!\u201d<\/p>\n
Honestly, how was I supposed to know that some random, unmarked cardboard box contained a family heirloom? If it was so important, maybe she shouldn\u2019t have abandoned it for two months.<\/p>\n
But instead of realizing that it was her fault, she went absolutely nuclear.<\/p>\n
\u201cYOU MONSTER!\u201d she yelled. \u201cYOU GAVE AWAY MY LIFE! I\u2019M CALLING THE POLICE!\u201d<\/p>\n
I shrugged, staying calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo ahead,\u201d I said. \u201cI documented everything, and even your mom knew about the situation. I told you in May, then in June, and you ghosted me completely. I\u2019m not the one at fault here. Do whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
She screamed, sobbed, threatened to sue me, and called me every name in the book. But then she finally realized she had no case and no keys, and there was nothing she could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t over!\u201d she yelled as she stormed out.<\/p>\n
But it was. Completely over.<\/p>\n
I hope she learned that ghosting your roommate doesn\u2019t mean your stuff ghosts with you. And I also hope she knows that I didn\u2019t throw her out. She threw herself out by ghosting me.<\/p>\n
I just made it official.<\/p>\n
Do you think I did the right thing? What would you have done if you were in my place?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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