"Be careful with that!" Hiding her face so the movers can't see the disappointment and anger, Weiss immediately realizes the curtness in her voice. "Please. Those records are irreplaceable."
"We're sorry Miss Schnee. Won't happen again." One of the men answers back.
"Thank you." She nods once quickly before she begins to resume her supervisory duties.
Against her father's wishes, she had decided to transfer to a new university for her final year of business school. Sure, Atlas had been a top tier option, but for a Master's degree in business, Beacon was the epitome of excellence. So, she transferred to Vale's finest academic institution. Away from the watchful eyes of her family. If Winter and Whitley had been able to do it, why couldn't she? Winter had opted for the military lifestyle. And Whitley, well, he was off in Mistral doing something with agriculture the last Weiss had heard. But all of that didn't exactly matter. Weiss had wanted a fresh start, and now she had it.
After many hours of exhausting supervision, Weiss had managed to get all of the boxes and furniture settled into her new apartment. Which was thankfully close to campus, and still upheld her standard of living. As she begins to unpack some of her things, she notices an increasingly loud and annoying sound coming from the apartment next door. She supposes it has to be music, though she wouldn't exactly call it that. It was loudest in the living room. Normally, Weiss would've complained. But it's a Friday night and she knows that some people like to have more fun on the weekends, so she lets it slide. That night, she lays in bed, the light droning can still be heard through the walls of her bedroom. Only mildly disruptive, but still just enough to prevent her from getting adequate sleep.
She gets all of her things unpacked and organized throughout the remainder of the weekend. And much to her dismay, the loud music from next door plays nightly like clockwork. The music seems to get progressively louder as the days go by. Though, that may just be due to the increasing levels of annoyance she is suffering through.
Finally, on the night before classes begin, Weiss can't stand it any longer. She gets up from where she is sitting reading ahead for one of her classes and begins banging her hand against the wall. Her attempt to gain the attention of whoever lives opposite of this wall from her is in vain. There is no change to the volume level. If anything, it sounds louder. That night when she goes to bed, she resolves to confront her unruly neighbor and put an end to this disturbance once and for all.
—
The next afternoon, Weiss leaves her apartment for class promptly at half past twelve. She is punctual, if anything. On her way to her car, she stops at the neighboring apartment and knocks on the door. But no one answers. Crossing her arms over her chest and lightly stomping her foot, she knocks again. This time her knock is a little more forceful. Still no answer. She could've sworn she had heard someone up and moving in the apartment not even an hour prior. Maybe today wouldn't be the day, but she is determined to give this neighbor a piece of her mind.
Early the next morning, at roughly half past seven, Weiss prances out her front door. Slightly agitated from the inconsistent sleep she had been getting, she knocks three times on the door next door. Yet again, no one answers. Huffing out a sigh, expecting the avoidance, she knocks one more time before calling it quits. Feeling her fist shake with impending anger, Weiss knocks again. She spins rapidly on her heels only to be confronted, well not exactly confronted since she was at least ten feet from her, by a woman she'd never seen before.
"Hi there. Can I help you?" The tone of the woman's voice is oddly calming, and Weiss feels nearly all of her agitation melt away. Her voice sounds kind, with no hint of suspicion or anger.
"Sorry." Weiss can't help but look away, embarrassed that she'd been caught repeatedly knocking on a stranger's front door. "I was trying to see if my neighbor was home. They've been playing their music really loud at night and it's been rather disruptive."
"Oh. That sucks." The woman has a tired look about her. But Weiss definitely notices that she's more than fairly attractive. She has black hair that barely brushes the tops of her shoulders. And pretty, amber colored eyes. But she can't afford to be distracted.
"Yes. I'm in my final year of study for my Master's degree at Beacon, so it's rather important that I'm able to study and not have to deal with unnecessary disruptions."
"Definitely." Nodding her head in agreement, the woman shifts the weight of her backpack that hangs off one of her shoulders before taking a few steps forward. "Well, I'll tell my roommate that she needs to be quieter at night from now on. Sorry for the noise. Nice to meet you." And with that, the woman opens the door Weiss had been knocking on and disappears into the apartment.
Weiss can only wave shyly in response. Somewhat shocked that the outrageous noise would be coming from the same apartment that such a reserved and demure woman lived, Weiss turns around and returns to her own apartment without another word.
That night, the music stops after a few minutes. And Weiss can hear the murmurs of conversation through the wall, followed by a loud boisterous laugh that couldn't possibly belong to the woman she met earlier that morning, and then the final sound of a slamming door.