Yoona

1

I stared out of my bedroom window, looking out into the quiet spring night. The night had set and all I could see was a dark black blanket of nothingness. The neighborhood seemed quiet. I glanced at each of the houses next to ours. Each house stood still and cracked through the thick blanket of the night sky, almost breaking the stillness. It mesmerized me how equal the sky outlined each house, almost as if I was staring through a living painting from an art gallery. Staring from a tranquil state, I didn't realize how long I was staring out the window when I heard my bedroom door opening.

"Yoona!" Kathy said in a zingy voice, walking through the door. I turned to face the sound of her voice.

She stood in the middle of the room, cerulean blue paint dripping off of her pale hands. She had bright, cherry red paint splattered across her face, hitting most of her forehead and cheeks. Her white t-shirt and light denim overalls splattered in paint. I could identify almost every single color of the rainbow with a closer look. Her auburn hair is in a tight bun and filled with specks of soft white paint. She stood barefoot, her feet painted in a bright lemon yellow, and wiggled as she waited for a response.

"Yes," I said, nonchalantly.

"It's been five hours!" she said with her fiery, sapphire blue eyes staring at me, her hands now placed on her hips

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused. This time Kathy kept her hands at its place but shook her head no.

"Since....," she continued, "I started that ugly midterm project, and it's still not coming together." She finished with a huff before taking a seat at my desk nearby. I could feel myself cringe, thinking about the big blob of paint that would be there when she got up. But, ignored the thought and walked over to her closer, standing in front of her while grabbing her hand.

Kathy is an art student currently studying at Beverley college. She's an undergrad in her third year of college and is currently in the last semester before the summer break. Since the first day I met her, she was a die-hard artist who dreamt of opening her own gallery someday. We would go to exhibitions and other galleries whenever we had the time, so Kathy could learn and become inspired by other artists for her own work. Currently, Kathy is taking a sculptor class where she has to create a sculpture that expresses deep, human emotion and reflects in nature.

"How far along are you?" I asked, a bit concerned. This morning, Kathy was in her room working on the project, where the only sounds that escaped were the tapping of paint buckets and clanking of metal being hit.

"I don't know how to put it together. Like, it's there and everything is so scattered," she replied exasperatedly.

I chuckled, knowing how frustrated she must be. "Well, can I see it? Maybe I could help if I saw it." I grabbed her hand, hoping she would finally let me see it.

But, she pulled her hand away, standing up to face me, and with a serious look said, "No, I can't let you see until it's done and final." Kathy has made it her mission that I could never see her work until it was complete. And like all her other projects, this one was off-limits, especially this one.

"But-," I pleaded, but she cut me off.

"No, I need this one to be fully complete before you can see it. It's going to be one of my best works, I can feel it. And, I really want to surprise you with my talent." She finished with a smile.

I smiled back and replied, "Fine, but can I have to be the first one to write your review when we showcase it at your first exhibition."

"Of course, if it's not you, then I want my money back." She said with a laugh. I laughed with her and we walked back over to the window to see the neighborhood once again.

"Where's Moon?" I asked. Moon is Kathy's boyfriend and one of my closest friends. I consider him like an older brother. The type of older brother where it would take pigs to fly for us to get along and not have an argument. Moon and Kathy have known each other since birth and have been dating since middle school.

"I don't know, I told him to go work on his midterm project and he just left," Kathy said with a frown.

"Oh." I replied and continued, "Maybe he's at school." I said, thinking of all of his usual hangouts.

"Yeah, he had met up with a couple of old friends from the same department, so he's probably with them," Kathy said, pulling out her phone.

I looked over and peaked to see that it was 11:45 p.m. I didn't realize how late it was until now. I had been working on a review for work for the entire day, and I still had more work to do. "How is your report on Japanese music going?" Kathy asked, noticing my face as I looked.

I shook my head. "Not good. There are so many ways I can go about it and I just don't know which direction I should go."

"Ah, don't worry, you'll get it. You always do. You're the best music journalist I have ever seen. And, I know your report will be as good as the last." she said, patting me on the back.

I groaned at her compliment and sighed as we continued to watch over the window. We stood there for a while in silence, letting our tiredness and need for more energy creep into our bodies.

"Did you hear?" Kathy asked, breaking the silence. I turned to her and replied, "No," before she continued, "Someone is moving across the street."

"What?" I asked in amazement. Since we moved here on to campus, the house across the street had been vacant. It was in good condition and perfect to move in right away, but no one ever moved in there or dared to go inside.

"Yeah, Jung had told me this morning before he left with Moon," Kathy said, now turning to me. "He said that we should be the new neighbors tomorrow," she continued. I nodded, "That's crazy. I wonder who that would be."

"By the way, have you seen Jung today? Did he come back to the house yet? He promised to get me some art materials from campus." Kathy asked, looking at her phone for new messages now.

"No, I think he said he would be at work and then hanging out with Moon. So, I don't think he'll be back soon." I said, pulling out my phone too, checking for any new messages.

"Ah, well, I'll ask him tomorrow when he gets back, I guess," Kathy said, pulling the phone back in her pocket and walking over to the door.

"Okay, but I'm heading over there tomorrow anyway, so I can get them for you too," I said, still by the window, but turning to face her.

Kathy pulled the door open and spoke, "Aww, this is why I love you. I'll text what I need in the morning." Goodnight, go to bed and get some rest." she said. I replied with a, "Bye," and watched as she closed the door behind her.

I turned back to the window for one last glance and took notice of the house across the street. The house looked different, as I could see faded movement in one of the top floor windows. There was a faint, yellow light peeking through the blinds and a very dainty, loose silhouette outlined through the window. Before I could take a deeper look, the light had vanished with the fainted silhouette. As tired as I was, I shook off the image I had seen from the house and went to get ready for bed.