She pulls her car into the parking lot, looking at empty spots as she passes them. She needs to find spot thirteen. That's the one she's allowed to use free of charge. It came with the apartment. She really should have been paying attention when Dusan brought her here with her furniture. She slows down, looking for any empty space so she can figure out where she's supposed to be.
Eventually, she sees spot sixteen, no car in the spot. She continues on for three more spaces, seeing spot thirteen sitting empty, waiting for her. Spot twelve also happens to be empty so she parks a little closer to that one other than spot fourteen. After she gets everything inside, she can put her car away properly.
As soon as she puts her car in park and turns it off, she lowers her sunglasses, looking at the building. She knows that the majority, if not all, of her neighbours should also be studying at the university. Hopefully, she could get close to them and actually make some real friends. Hell, there might always be someone studying Law near her. Maybe she'll find a permanent study buddy who can help her get through the Hell that she knows will be Law School. She opens the locket hanging from her mirror, seeing pictures of both of her brothers. Arkyn was going into Law, and he made it to his fourth year. He made it there before...
She shakes her head, hoping the thought will scatter. She just needs to make it two weeks before Dusan can get off work for a week and will come to stay with her. She pushes her sunglasses up on top of her head and grabs her keys out of the ignition. She gets out of her car, keeping her eyes on the building. For it being days before school starts, the place seems surprisingly dead. She moves over to her trunk and pops it, starting to collect her things.
-13-
"Has anyone heard from Yumi yet?"
Jade walks behind Pierre and puts her hands on his shoulders. He stops and she jumps up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He hooks his arms under her legs, boosting her up so he's more comfortable. Carter shakes her head, silently laughing.
"She said she would text when she gets through airport security. She's supposed to be back sometime tonight," Oscar explains. "I offered to pick her up from the airport when she lands if anyone wants to come for a drive."
"Does she need to pick up her car tonight too?" Jade asks him.
"No. She can't get it until tomorrow at the earliest if she actually wants her own car to drive around this year."
"Well, if I'm still awake, I'm down for a drive," Jade offers, tightening her grip on Pierre.
"While I would love to, I think I might pass," Carter says. "No reason for us all to go. I'll hug her when she gets back here."
Oscar bumps his shoulder into Carter, almost knocking her off the sidewalk into a random car. She gets her bearings and shoves him back into Pierre. Pierre's grip on Jade slips for a moment so her arms get tighter around him. He manages to catch her before she falls and boosts her back up.
"Didn't you go to South Korea for two weeks this summer to visit her and meet her Grandma, Jade?" Pierre asks.
"I did. Honestly, if I could've stayed there, I would have loved to. I don't know why she chose to come here rather than staying in that beauty of a place. I'm jealous she gets to be from somewhere like that."
Oscar's eyes trail off, looking around at the parking lot. He catches sight of a girl by her car, struggling with her boxes. He smiles.
"Looky, looky. I think we got ourselves a new neighbour," Oscar says. "I'll be right back."
Oscar tucks his hands into his pocket and he takes off towards the girl standing by her car. Jade furrows her brows and jumps off Pierre's back, following Oscar on his mission. Carter and Pierre chase after those two, confused about the whole situation. Oscar reaches the girl first, coming up behind her.
"You look like you could use a hand," he says.
The girl jumps, knocking her sunglasses down her face. She pushes her glasses back into her hair and turns to Oscar. He takes a step back, holding his hands up.
"Sorry," he apologizes. "I didn't mean to scare you." He holds a hand in her direction. "My name's Oscar. I live in Apartment Eleven."
The girl reaches out and takes his hand, shaking it. But before she can say anything, Jade comes up to Oscar's side, leaning against him and taking his arm in her hand.
"I'm Jade. I'm Apartment Fourteen. Pierre and Carter are just behind us and they're from Apartments Fifteen and Sixteen."
"Thanks for letting us introduce ourselves," Carter scoffs as they catch up to the other two.
"I'm Hensley," the girl introduces. "I'm moving into Apartment Thirteen."
"Apartment Thirteen?" Jade asks in disbelief. "Seriously?"
"Yeah? Why?"
"There are rumours about Apartment Thirteen," Oscar explains. "Everyone believes that there's something else already living in there and it doesn't want a roommate."
Hensley scoffs and rolls her eyes, pulling more stuff out of her car.
"I don't believe in ghosts," she laughs.
"It's not a ghost. It's more of a demon. That's its apartment," Carter explains
"Well, now it's mine."
Hensley pulls several boxes into her arms and immediately stumbles. Pierre jumps forward, helps her find her balance, then grabs a box off the top of her pile.
"Do you want a hand? We all live in the apartments surrounding yours so it's not out of the way," he offers.
"You know what? Sure. I would really appreciate it," Hensley sighs.
Everyone starts grabbing things until Hensley's car is empty. She slams the trunk shut and presses a button on her keys, locking the car behind them. She leads the way to the main door and everyone follows her. She lets everyone through the main door then Oscar takes over, leading the way to Apartment Thirteen. Hensley sets everything in her arms down and uses her keys to let everyone in. As soon as everyone is in, Hensley looks at what everything is carrying.
"Harley Quinn and Nice Guy, I'm bad with names, sorry, you have stuff that goes in my room if you want to come with me. Everything else can just set stuff wherever and I still need to sort through it," Hensley says.
Jade and Oscar follow Hensley to her room while Carter and Pierre explore into Hensley's living room. Once they set everything down, Carter starts looking around.
"She made this place look really fucking cool," she whispers to Pierre, running her hand along the frame of a painting she has hanging on the wall.
"For this place being haunted, she really made it seem like it's full of life," Pierre agrees.
"So, what do you think about the new girl?"
"Honestly, I don't know. She's kind of abrupt. I don't know if we just came on too strong, or if she's actually not super into the idea of talking to us and is just using us for free labour right now."
"I don't think she's using us. Like you said, I think we just kind of came on strong. Maybe if Oscar first introduced himself and then we slowly started meeting her or if he pulled her to us, maybe it would have been better. We don't really know anything about her. The only things we know are her name and that she's moving into the cursed apartment."
Carter looks down the hall and crosses her arms. She approaches Pierre, putting her hand on his chest.
"This place may be made up but there's still something that seems creepy about this place. It doesn't matter how much you clean up a haunted house. There is still something evil lurking in those walls."
-13-
Hensley sets the boxes in her arms on the ground before turning to Jade and Oscar. She grabs the bagged clothes from Jade and puts them down on the bed while Oscar puts the suitcases against the wall. He pushes his glasses up his nose, looking around.
"Could I ask for your names again?" Hensley requests.
"Jade and Oscar," Jade says with a smile. "And it's Hensley, right?"
"Yup. You got it. And in the living room are?"
"Pierre and Carter."
"Thank you. Sorry. I'm completely awful with names."
"So Miss. Hensley, tell me," Oscar says. "Whatcha studying?"
"I just finished my degree in paralegal studies so I'm starting in Law School," she explains. "What are you studying?"
"I'm in military and war hist-"
"Lesson one, Hensley. Do not let Captain here go off on one of his war tirades," Jade jokes, putting her hand on his chest. "If you let him, he will talk for hours and hours about some stupid battle."
"And unless you feel like talking about clothes for hours, don't bring up anything fashion-related to Jade," Oscar scoffs.
"So how long have you two been dating?" Hensley asks, nodding along to their conversation.
"We're not dating," Jade and Oscar reply at the same time.
Hensley smiles and holds up both of her hands, silently laughing to herself. She takes the plastic bags off her hanging clothes and starts loading them into the closet.
"I really appreciate the help," Hensley tells her company. "My brother was planning to come help me but he ended up having to pick up some extra shifts so he's in the hospital right now."
"In the hospital?" Oscar asks, concern in his voice.
"He's an ICU nurse," Hensley explains. "You better hope you meet him here, not while he's at work."
Oscar's phone starts ringing in his pocket. He pulls it out and answers, gesturing to give him a moment before leaving Jade and Hensley in the room. Jade turns around, looking into Hensley's mirror in her room. She starts fixing her hair, completely absorbed in her appearance. Hensley lets out a small laugh.
"Do you love what your own face looks like?" Hensley jokes as Jade starts trying to fix her lipstick.
"Of course. Don't you? After all, you have a giant mirror in your room."
"Actually, that mirror was already hanging in here when my brother and I moved my furniture in," Hensley explains. "I've never liked being able to see myself from my bed. It's kind of unnerving. I took the mirror down but I guess my brother hung it back up before we left."
Jade stops looking at herself, her actions stopping entirely. She turns to Hensley, trying to figure out if she's joking or not. But before she can ask any questions, Oscar comes back into the room.
"So Yumi just called. She was offered a seat on an earlier flight because they overbooked hers, so she's sitting at the airport, hoping I can come to get her early. I'm going to go pick her up if you're still interested in going for a drive," Oscar tells Jade.
"I'm still down. I'll just be a minute," she says.
"Okay well, I need to get my keys so I'll meet you out at the car. It was nice meeting you, Hensley. I'll grab Pierre and Carter on my way out."
"Sounds good. Nice meeting you too."
Oscar leaves Jade and Hensley in the room, both just staring at the other. Once the front door opens and shuts, Jade shakes out of her trance.
"It's really nice to meet you, Hensley. I hope we can be friends," Jade says.
"It's very nice to meet you too. I'm sure we will be."
Jade tucks her hair behind her ear, looking down at the floor. She hesitates for a few moments before looking back up at Hensley. She smiles and nods before leaving Hensley in her room alone. Hensley sighs and continues to unpack, though she can't help but gaze up at the mirror a few times.
-13-
"I don't know about you guys but just the idea that someone moved into that apartment is unsettling. And that girl? How can you move into a haunted apartment and then live in denial of the paranormal?" Pierre groans.
"Are you done, Perry? She seems like a nice girl. We can't make assumptions based on the fact that she doesn't believe in ghosts," Oscar argues.
"I mean, he has a point," Carter says. "Come on. She was so dismissive of everything we told her. She wouldn't even think for one second that we know what we're talking about. We're the people who have lived there for a year already. We kind of know what we're talking about."
"But maybe we don't. Maybe it's all just rumours. Our best way of checking that is to become friends with Hensley and check out the place throughout the year," Oscar sighs.
He looks over at Jade. She's zoned out while she's sitting on the edge of the box of his truck, twirling her hair between her fingers.
"Want to help me right now, Jade?" Oscar snaps, calling her attention back to the group. "You are the one who's talked to her the most."
"What are we talking about?" she asks.
"Jade, dear, did you develop a little crush on the new neighbour?" Carter taunts.
"I don't admit to anything."
"Guys!"
Everyone turns in the direction of the familiar voice, seeing Yumi come out of the airport. She waves before starting to run in the direction of the rest of the group. She releases her bag as she gets close to them and throws her arms around Carter and Oscar. Pierre grabs onto Yumi's bag, handing it to Jade to throw into the box of Oscar's truck. Yumi released the hug to move over to Pierre, giving him a quick hug before moving to Jade. She jumps down and gives her a hug before pulling away.
"It's been too long. You guys should all plan a trip to come see me during the summer," Yumi laughs.
"We can make a plan for next summer," Carter offers.
"So everyone needs to catch me up on absolutely everything exciting that I've missed."
"Well, I guess the big thing we can get out of the way right now is that we just got a new neighbour in the building," Carter announces.
"New neighbour? I didn't know there were any open apartments."
"They moved into the one that's always empty," Pierre says with a sigh. "Apartment Thirteen."