My roommate is bailing two months into a 12 month lease and I don’t know what to do
So yeah. I moved in with a friend after college—we graduated the same year, met through a shared major, and she proposed sharing an apartment after graduation.
We moved in about 2.5 months ago to an apartment that I can confidently say I found and pursued for the both of us. I coordinated the moving and the storage and drove the U-Haul to move everything in. I’ve been doing the cleaning every week too. She would cook us both dinner occasionally, and I usually did the dishes.
Anyway, the responsibility of everything quickly began to feel one sided and then stayed that way.
I supported her when she decided her internship was asking too much and paying too little and planned to pursue other opportunities instead. I drove her to her job interview and then to work when she got the job. I offered my support when they abruptly laid her off a couple weeks in with no good reason.
After she lost her new job, I offered support again. I was fully willing to help her find something else, problem solve, figure things out. She went to the beach with her boyfriend for a week. A few days ago she texted to say she didn’t think she could afford rent and that we should talk about it to come to an ‘amicable solution’. Then, yesterday, she texted me saying she had decided to move back home. Looking at her location, I could see she had already made the trip, leaving me and all of her things at the apartment we co-signed for.
So what do I do now?
I have half a mind to say ‘well fuck you too’ and block her and be done with it. But now I’m stuck with no roommate and I definitely cannot afford both our shares of the rent. Her message suggested that I~ should be the one filling her place in the lease, but she’d be oh so kind as to help if I really need it. And we~ can talk to the landlord, because apparently that’s not just her responsibility as the one dipping out.
I don’t know, I’m probably presenting this really one sidedly because I’m upset. She has her reasons. Losing that job after quitting her internship left her in a difficult financial position. But I guess instead of dealing with that, she’s passing the burden on to me.
Honestly, I didn’t realize this is something anyone would actually do. It’s not like she’s incapable of getting a new job. She’s quite skilled and hardworking. It just feels like a really shitty thing to do, especially when we’re supposedly friends. And she’s the one who proposed living together. And we both signed the lease. Like that’s a legally binding document right? How is she just going to up and leave like this?
I’m just really frustrated and feel very betrayed right now. I’d appreciate any advice.