:maddening:
I live in the NE in a very old house and have been sleeping with my family in the unfinished basement much of this summer due to the extreme heat and given that the basement is the coolest part of the house. Though I worry about critters, I have yet to see any...and I've never in eight years in this house have had issues with centipedes. Ants, yes, but I think I've seen a total of five centipedes in eight years (and those were in our upstairs bath). We slept on air matresses at first but invested in futons when we realized how comfy the space was in the heat.
I also don't necessarily see why the girls sleeping in the basement is automatically bad...it could have been their choice (the older sister may have liked it, and Celina may have gone along despite her misgivings.) We also don't know the layout of the house....maybe the parents slept on the ground floor and liked being between the males and females in the house. And though K was staying in Celina's room, we don't know for sure that it was 'girlie'. Seeing as they were living in a rental, I'm guessing the walls were standard white rather than, say, pink...and Celina may have moved her things to the basement when K moved in. If he had been there for a few months, it seems as though his stay might have been seen by the family as potentially long term rather than a mere visit. In this case, her room might have been given to him to be his...her things (posters, dolls, stuffed animals) may very well have been in the basement, and though he was given Celina's room, he was given her 'old' room, not her room with everything she owned still in it.
