Crossing Over

Two

It had been twenty minutes already when the pizza arrived and her brothers still weren't back yet. Dae opened a pack of paper plates, claimed to pieces of pizza for herself and returned to the living room to wait. She was thankful the furniture had arrived before they had and took up a spot on the overstuffed couch. 

A creaking of the floorboards upstairs caused the hairs on her arms to stand up. She glanced up towards the ceiling and paused. Her hand hovered slightly in front of her with her second piece of pizza just inches from her lips. Two seconds went by, then three, then four. The house was quiet. She huffed and resumed eating. This was why she hated old houses. They made unnecessary noise. The sounds were downright creepy and uncalled for. 

Headlights swept across the living room as a truck pulled into the driveway. Dae leaned forwards to see through the window facing out from the front of the house. The top of Namjoon's blonde head could be seen first. Jin's over the top laugh echoed as they opened the door. 

"It wasn't that funny," Namjoon muttered. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

"But it's a SEA turtle! Get it?" Jin continued laughing. 

"Oh I got it alright," the blonde grumbled. 

Dae got up to throw her paper plate away and joined them in the kitchen. "Pizza came about ten minutes ago," she told them. 

"Sweet baby Jesus I'm starving!" Jin cried out and grabbed a slice from the box. He didn't bother with a plate, shoving the pizza in his mouth instead. "You wouldn't believe the traffic! Your university is already packed with people moving in last minute and they do not know how to drive!" 

She shrugged and looked over her shoulder at the boxes still in the living room. "I guess I'll have to unpack some stuff for class tomorrow. Where are my boxes I labeled?" she asked. 

"First room upstairs. I put them up there already so you wouldn't fall down the stairs trying to move them," Namjoon spoke around his mouthful of food. 

Dae curled her nose up at the sight. "I'm far less likely to fall down the stairs than you are but thanks. It saves me a trip." 

It wasn't a secret that she was a little clumsy, though it was nothing compared to Namjoon. He could trip over air. 

Jin laughed in agreement as she exited the room. The stairs squeaked and groaned as she made her way up them. Leave it to Jin to pick a house that sounded like it was ready to fall apart. Sure, he had done wonders with the last few houses he had fixed and this one was pretty in a way, but she couldn't imagine just how much time and effort he would have to put into fixing it. 

The wallpaper peeled away from the wall in spots along the staircase leaving bare patches among the pale floral print. She absently ran her fingers along the designs until she reached the top of the stairs. The banister looked like it could give her a splinter if she stared at it for too long. She stepped over the edge of a curled rug and pushed the first door open. Even the door needed a fresh coat of paint. 

The room was bigger than she had expected. The walls were an off white cream color which went well with the white lace curtains over the window. Her bed was pushed against the left wall and her dresser against the right. It was the same layout she had went with over the past five years to give her as much room in the center as possible. The closet door was open and from the looks of it, gave her more closet space than she could possibly fill. 

Dae moved the boxes around until she found the one labeled 'School Shit' in her not so elegant hand writing. She sighed and began digging into it. It was the first day back and she doubted she would need more than her laptop since few professors bothered with anything more than the syllabus on the first day.  

"Where's the charger?" she mumbled to herself as she looked around for it. She laid the computer on her bed and continued searching the box until she reached the bottom. It wasn't there. She moved on to her backpack, her computer bag, her suitcase, and even boxes with her clothes in them. She was just about to give up when the closet door slammed shut behind her. 

She stood up straight and spun around in one swift move. "That's not funny!" she yelled out. She had expected to see Jin or Namjoon standing there with a large grin at the stupid prank yet there was no one. She glared at the door for a minute before marching over and roughly yanking it open. Hanging around the closet rod was her computer charger. She snatched it and stomped out into the hallway. "Thanks!" she sarcastically called out. 

Namjoon poked his head out of the door down the hall. "Thanks for what?" he asked. 

She held her charger up into the air. "Scaring the shit out of me?" 

Joon raised an eyebrow and stepped past his door frame. "What are you talking about? Jin's downstairs organizing the kitchen and I've been unpacking." 

"So my charger walked into the closet and slammed the door on its own?" she smirked. It was obvious he was playing dumb. She was too old to fall for such a childish prank at this point. 

Joon shrugged and turned back to his room. "Believe what you will but cut out the yelling. I have class tomorrow too." His door clicked shut behind him leaving her alone in hall again. 

Dae turned on her heel and slammed her own door shut. He could have at least admitted to his dumb prank. She threw a quick glance towards the closet before shutting the door back. She ran a hand through her hair and plopped down on her bed to charge her laptop and browse through Netflix for something to watch before bed.