Hi!
Thank you for checking out my story :) I wrote this story for my English class and the assignment was to write a text using a number of complex words (such as hamper, credible, enhance etc.) and this is what I wrote. English isn't my native language, so I apologize for any spelling- or grammatical errors. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did when I wrote it. If you do like it, I would be extremelly grafeul if you could tell me what you think of it! :)
Eight months is quite a long time. Especially if you're on your own. It has been eight months since Santana left the placid home of her parents and moved into her very own apartment. To say she was excited the day she moved in would be the understatement of the century. Everything was perfect, she had more space than needed, a great view overlooking the city, with the sun enhancing the view every morning when it rises, and the rent was quite low. She absolutely adored her new home. Except for one thing: her neighbors.
The man and woman currently inhabiting the apartment above her had an awful habit of arguing with each other every other night, hampering Santana's attempts of sleeping. Numerous times she has filed complaints to her landlord, explaining the reprehensible behavior of her neighbors. But he is yet to take action against their nightly disagreements.
A loud crash followed by a muffled thud suddenly echoed through Santana's living quarters, successfully making her cower. She lifted her gaze towards her ceiling, wishing she could convey her displeasure to her neighbors and make them stop. For two months they have done nothing but argue with each other, Santana cannot comprehend the purpose of them living together if all they do is cause each other pain. The anger and rage is so obvious even she can feel it, it is so thick it is almost tangible.
With a sigh she gets up from the couch where she was trying to get comfortable and read the latest gossip. She realizes her attempts of getting a night of relaxation were all in vain. She throws the magazine onto her coffee table and heads to her bathroom and tries to ignore the constant shouting coming from above. Bad idea. The tiled room only amplifies their voices and Santana lets out a groan in frustration. She puts her hands on either side of the sink and looks at her image in the mirror. Her brown hair was a mess. Dark circles and bags have formed beneath her eyes, solid proof that she has been deprived of precious sleep for weeks.
"You're never home Noah! You're always out and about, only god knows where! How am I supposed to know what you want when you're never here?"
"God, Brittany you don't get it do you? I am so sick and tired of us arguing, that's why I'm never here! Why are you so stupid?"
Then there was silence. Did Noah push his girlfriend over the edge with his abrasive manners? Santana remained motionless for a few minutes, making sure she was not imagining. A door slammed in the apartment above and that was it. No more noise, no more shouting.
"From here on, this day shall be renowned as the day of silence." Santana mumbled to herself.
She decided to hasten her actions in case she was mistaken and the crazy couple's arguing would begin again, she didn't want to take that risk. After a few minutes she finished in the bathroom and headed to her bedroom to change into her sleepwear. She pulled away the covers on her bed then stopped her motions, trying to make out any sounds coming from above. But it was still silent.
Satisfied that she would, hopefully, not be disturbed tonight she settled into her bed. It was almost not credible. Would she finally get a decent night of sleep?
Waking up the next morning she felt thoroughly rested and decided to just lay there and relish in the silence. She put her hands behind her head, looked up towards her ceiling and just smiled.
"I wonder who left yesterday, was it Brittany or Noah?" she thought to herself. "Doesn't really matter, it's quiet now. Huzzah!"
With a grunt Santana got out of bed and decided to continue her morning ritual, starting by going to the kitchen across the hall to prepare her breakfast. While devouring her oatmeal she scanned through the magazine she gave up on yesterday. Work has been difficult these past weeks with all the commotion, as a graphics designer you need imagination, be creative and have patience. Santana felt she lost all of that together with her sleep. Thank god for working at home.
She finished the last of her breakfast and continued her morning by going for a run. After quickly changing into her workout gear she headed out the door. Once the door was locked she turned around and headed down the stairs. Living on the sixth floor in an apartment building with no elevator was always such a joy. Especially when she had been grocery shopping. Carrying multiple bags bulging with groceries was just the perfect way to end your day. At least it had given her great legs.
Santana pulled out her phone and plugged in her earphones. Running without music didn't exist in her world. It must be the right song and artist playing, otherwise she might as well not run at all. While she was focusing on choosing an appropriate song she failed to notice someone climbing the stairs in front of her. With a thud the two collided, making Santana stumble backwards.
"What the fu-" she was interrupted mid sentence.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I was in my own little world, thinking of pretty flowers and how my life isn't as wonderful as they are and-" the woman Santana had collided with suddenly stopped talking. She raised her eyes to look at Santana.
"I'm sorry" she said again, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" Santana replied dryly. She squatted down to pick up her phone which she had dropped in the process. Her eyes quickly scanned its surface to make sure it had received no exterior damage. Satisfied, she tucked the phone in her pocket. But she could feel her mood rapidly declining. Her morning had started off so good, why did this woman have to ruin it?
She met the other woman's eyes. "Oh god, it's the blonde girl living above me." she thought to herself, "why, of all people, did I have to meet her?"
Santana let out a frustrated sigh "You should really watch where you're going. We're lucky no one fell down the stairs."
The blonde's eyes widened, if Santana wasn't annoyed she wouldn't have hesitated laughing at her expression.
"Please don't say that. No one got hurt. Look, we're both fine." she exclaimed and started patting her stomach and down her legs, as if to prove she was alright. "See, we're good."
Santana just rolled her eyes, how old was this girl? Twelve?
"Yes, I know we're both fine. I just said what could've happened. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of ending up at the hospital with a broken leg."
The blonde woman lowered her gaze to the floor. She suddenly seemed very interested in the carpet. She anxiously clasped her hands in front of her and made small circles in the carpet with her foot. After a few moments of silence she turned her head upwards to face Santana again.
"I'm very sorry" she said again "I've just been fighting a lot with my boyfriend recently and that's all I've been thinking of lately. I tried thinking of something else, but then I just ended up walking straight into you. Maybe I shouldn't think at all." She gave Santana a sad smile.
This woman and her boyfriend have kept Santana awake several nights in a row with their constant arguing. But when she looks into her blue eyes she sees nothing but sadness and regret. She can't stay mad at her. Even if she wants to.
"It's fine, really." Santana says, "Shit happens, right?"
"Right." The other woman replied and smiled. "I'm Brittany, by the way." She says as she extends her hand for Santana to shake.
"Yeah, I know. I'm Santana." She shook Brittany's hand lightly.
"Wait, you already know? But I've never met you before."
"I live in the apartment below you, I know a fair bit about you and your boyfriend. You guys don't seem to keep anything in when you shout at each other."
Brittany covered her face with her hands and groaned.
"Are we really that loud? Gosh, I knew we weren't exactly quiet but I never thought of anyone hearing us. Is it bad? Are we disturbing you?"
For a second, Santana considered lying. She considered telling Brittany that it was no problem at all. That she just ignored their shouting and only caught a few bits of information about them, such as their names. But something in the back of her head stirred. It told her not to lie. Tell the truth. Tell the woman how you really feel. Tell her that you some nights want to ram down their door, charge in, rip their throats out and then perform a victory dance while you let the silence embrace you.
"Seriously, what's wrong with my mind?" Santana quietly asks herself.
"Huh?"
"Oh! Erm, nothing. Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am slightly disturbed by your shouting. I mean, it's not like I lose hours of sleep every night and fail to finish my tasks while working and have a constant head ache due to lack of sleep or have dark circles the size of potato bags beneath my eyes." Santana said sarcastically.
Oh shit.
She didn't mean to be that honest.
"Oh" the blonde said, hurt evident in her eyes "I didn't know. I'll make sure it won't happen again. Well, we're very likely to keep arguing, but I'll try to keep the volume down."
That was unexpected. Santana had almost expected the blonde to verbally attack her. She was expecting to get the same treatment Noah gets every night. But instead, the girl made promises of improvement.
"I'll even make it up to you, I mean, you've lost a lot of sleep because of us. Let me pay you back. How about coffee? Or maybe lunch?" Brittany was smiling and looking at Santana expectantly.
"Um... Look Brittany, that really sounds great. But, no offense, I barely know you. This is the first time we're having a conversation. Besides, I've got plenty of work to catch up on."
The smile on Brittany's lips instantly disappeared.
"Okay, I get it" she says sadly "although having coffee would be a great opportunity for us to get to know each other."
Santana let out a sigh. "Maybe ano-"
"What do you do for a living?" Brittany rushed out.
Santana was taken aback by the interruption and furrowed her brows. "What's up with this girl? Why doesn't she just say 'I'm sorry, bye' and leaves like normal people?" she thought to herself. The whole situation was making her slightly uncomfortable.
"I er... I'm a freelance graphics designer."
"Oh! What does a graphics designer do?"
"Oh my god, smack me in the face with a shovel. She wants to find out everything about me only to come get me when I sleep and feed me to her troll of a boyfriend!"
Wait, what?
Santana slightly shook her head to get rid of those silly thoughts."She just wants to get to know you that's all. You know, like normal people do."
"I design web sites and create logos for companies. You know... stuff like that." She rubbed her right elbow with her left hand and looked down at the floor.
"Now she's got me feeling uncomfortable too. I have to get out."
"Wow, you must be really creat-"
"Hey Brittany, I've got to go. It was nice talking to you though! I um... yeah, you know... was going to... just... I'm sure you've got a friend you could talk to. But I've got to go. No more talking to me. So... call a friend and have fun. Okay. Bye!"
Santana quickly rushed down the stairs to get away from the other woman.
Brittany stood at the top of the stairs and watched as Santana ran away and almost stumbled.
"But I don't have any friends..." Brittany said quietly to herself.
Santana didn't stop running. Not even when she reached the door leading outside. The door flew open and startled the few people on the sidewalk. They glared at the brunette woman but she ignored them.
"Well done Santana, that was the first human interaction you've had in weeks, and what did you do? You acted like a paranoid parrot."
She let out a groan in frustration. Brittany wasn't nearly as awful as she had always expected. She thought the woman living above her would be a complete bitch. But she actually seemed rather sweet. Maybe a bit too talk active, but hey. It's better than awkward silence.
But there was something about the blue eyed woman. Sure, Santana's mind does sometimes wander and make up silly thoughts. But not like that. The whole situation seemed alright at first, but when she gave Santana that sad smile everything was turned upside down. All the anger from being run into disappeared, and those weird thoughts started forming.
She ran her hands through her hair and sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Her thoughts were in a mess. Picking up her phone from her pocket she picked a random song, and started running.
More chapters coming in the future.
Thank you.