Falling In Love With You

The Neighbor

It was two in the afternoon when Irin left, and Becky busied herself with unpacking, not wanting to stop and be left alone, because then she was sure she'd get homesick and she really couldn't trust herself not to just call home and say this was all a mistake, which it wasn't.

Her record player sat nicely beside the TV, long past its days of collecting dust in her grandmother's living room as it now sat in hers.

She'd always loved the thing, even though Irin had thought it was a tad bit unnecessary. The fact that they were still making vinyl records must have said something, though, because the damned thing was gorgeous and there was just something so satisfying about the scratch of needle on record when a song finished.

She ate ramen noodles under the lamplight and fiddled with her 5G USB until she had internet, and spent her evening as such; not even remembering to go outside and check for nightlife before she had fallen asleep on the sofa with her laptop clutched to her chest and a satisfied feeling about her gut.

It was warmer the next day, but still a little chilly, so she opted for a short-sleeved shirt but long pants, tying her hair back in to a ponytail so that it didn't get in her face while she went back about her business of unpacking, sorting clothes in to drawers and closets and lining her perfume bottles up along her dresser.

It wasn't until that afternoon that she remembered her very pretty neighbor, because, through her open window, she heard the familiar satisfying scratch of a record player's needle jumping to life and then her favorite song started.

She'd loved Piledriver Waltz ever since hearing it for the first time, and owned it, along with about four other songs from the same artist, on vinyl record.

For the briefest of moments she worried that the apartment was haunted and some spirits were messing with her music, but then she turned around and found that it was coming from out the window.

She leant her head out, breeze instantly blowing her hair out of place. The music became louder once her head was out the window, and then she saw her, the neighbor again, this time seated on the ledge of her open window, book in lap as she nodded her head along to the song.

She didn't look up and meet Becky's eye until the song had reached its chorus, and when she did her eyes were wide and not really surprised but not neutral either, there was something there.

Becky half-smiled like she had yesterday, and then an idea struck, and she held up a finger that meant wait.

After a few moments of fiddling around she managed to get her copy of the song to the same point as her neighbor's, and returned to the window, smiling bigger now.

The girl's whole face lit up, excitement setting warm chocolate brown eyes ablaze, and her lips looked very pink and very soft.

Becky considered simply shouting out "I love you," but the whole idea of that seemed a little rash and unthoughtful, so she instead settled for climbing through her window to sit on the ledge as the girl was doing, neither talking as they continue throwing glances at each other respectively until the song was finished.

Both records scratched and a silence fell, and they stared at each other for a few moments longer before the brunette girl stood, waved a hand goodbye, and disappeared into the apartment.

And Becky was almost certain that she was falling in love.