Hey everyone! Long time no post! I have been writing, but have been dragging my feet when getting around to posting things because of nerves. But I do have this small story finished for you guys. A real quick read, not anything too fancy, but hopefully you still enjoy it!

As far as exciting lives went, hers was...probably not the most exciting.

Not that she minded! Well sometimes she minded, but most of the time she didn't stop to consider whether her life was exciting or not. It never felt like she had time to consider things like that - although, in actuality, she probably had plenty of opportunities to do just that.

Her daily routine was simple - first, wake up and head to work at a desk job that required very little in terms of creativity or imagination. After putting in the required time she would head home, make dinner, and read a book until setting off to sleep. The next morning she would get up and repeat the process all over again.

Life - at least, real life - was rather uninteresting. Growing up, she'd been filled with dreams of adventure and voyeur just like any other child - she was going to see the world. She was going to change the world. But as she'd grown older and learned how life really worked, those naive visions had fallen by the wayside. For every hero - for every 'love at first sight' - there were a hundred others just struggling to meet the rigorous demands of daily life.

But even if she couldn't play the hero or love interest in this life, she could pretend. That was one of the reasons she spent so much of her free time living in imaginary worlds where anything and everything was possible. Reading unlocked and engaged the part of her mind that sat dormant all day; it spoke to the child in her that still wanted to learn how to tame dragons and battle pirates.

What she read was merely fiction - dreams written on a page for others to enjoy, but for someone as reserved as herself there would probably never be any wild adventures to faraway lands or mystical endeavors in another realm. She would never elope with a complete stranger who just so happened to be royalty in disguise, or get swept up into an investigative mystery centuries in the making.

Her only real life adventure involved trying to find a grocery store when the one down the street had temporarily closed for renovations. Her only real life mystery was trying to figure out who kept taking her stapler at work and leaving it in the break room.

Through books, she traveled the world without ever stepping outside her apartment door. She experienced, vicariously, emotions and events a homebody like herself would never expect to discover. They also made her yearn for something...more...but whenever she thought about what exactly that might be, those relentless things called 'jobs' and 'responsibilities' got in the way.

At the end of the day there were people who would live a life filled with adventures and there were people who would live in the real world. Regrettably, she had somehow ended up in the latter group, but by now she'd accepted who she was. So even though many people would classify her routine as boring, dull, or monotonous, it was comforting, it was hers, and it hadn't changed in years.

Until the day she got new neighbors.

Looking back, maybe there'd been some sort of sign that things were going to change. Had the stars shone brighter the night before? Had the sun followed her path on the way to work? For such a momentous change, the idealistic part of her said that there must have been a clue hidden somewhere that predicated the moment. The realistic part of her thought that the day had probably begun just like any other.

For the past three years she'd lived next door to the Emersons - an elderly couple who kept to themselves just as much as Blake did. From what she'd gathered during chance meetings in the hall, the couple had several adult children who had moved out some time ago. Now living alone, the Emersons were retired, homely, and exceptionally quiet - barely making a peep of noise. This was an excellent quality in anyone who shared a wall with her, especially when she considered herself to have better than average hearing. It had turned out to be a match made in heaven - the perfect neighbors in the quaint little apartment building she called home.

So when she'd learned that the Emersons were moving out (from the burly men walking boxes to the moving truck outside rather than through actual communication), she'd been more than a little disappointed. And apprehensive. Who would live beside her next? Insomniacs who loved to throw loud parties and eat boiled cabbage?

Thankfully, there were no cabbage parties for the next few days while the apartment sat empty. The dead quiet turned out to be even better than having the Emersons nearby and the week following their departure had been positively blissful - not because they'd ever been loud, but because she suddenly felt completely unmonitored. She could have thrown a huge party if she wanted. Or blasted really loud music. Or boiled a bunch of cabbage. Not that she had done any of those things...she'd stayed in and read just like she normally did, but having the option turned out to be more invigorating than she'd ever expected.

Of course, all good things must come to an end...and this one did when she rushed home from work one evening and found that the sign outside the building advertising a space for rent had been taken down.

Thinking nothing of it, she made her way inside and up three flights of stairs to the fourth floor on autopilot, mentally prepared to forget her day at work and begin a relaxing evening. There was a new series she'd begun reading several days ago and she could already feel the hooks of a good story settling into her mind. A familiar feeling was growing in her chest that she just had to know what would happen next.

Taking the stairs was a habit of hers mostly because it was the only kind of physical activity she'd see during the day, but also because the elevators in the building could sometimes take so long to arrive on the ground floor. It wasn't worth waiting when she could easily trot up the steps and be home in no time. Plus, this way she avoided any uncomfortable, silent elevator rides with her fellow neighbors. It was a win-win.

After pushing open the stairwell door on the fourth floor, she walked the short distance to the end of the hallway and took the right turn that would lead to her door.

"Woah!" she yelped in surprise when a tiny creature appeared out of nowhere and ran beneath her feet, nearly causing her to trip while simultaneously giving her a small heart attack. Jumping off to the side of the hall, she stared in surprise at what turned out to be a small dog running freely about the hallway. The pet briefly turned and gave her a happy wag of his tail before rushing ahead and ducking into what had previously been the Emerson's empty apartment.

When her gaze followed the animal she spotted boxes - lots of them - sitting everywhere in the corridor. Each one had a description hastily scrawled on one side in black marker - kitchen, living room, movies, dishes...thankfully none of the boxes were blocking the path to her door, but they came awfully close.

Apparently someone was already moving into the Emerson's old apartment. Hopefully that wasn't their dog...although from the way he'd just run through the open door she would have to assume she wouldn't be so fortunate today.

Great.

It wasn't that she didn't like dogs...it was just that they didn't really have the same energy that she did. If she were to ever have a pet, she would definitely be getting a cat. They were cute, they were small, and they wouldn't mind curling up to sleep for hours on end while she read her books.

Dogs were...energetic. As were the people who usually owned them.

Hearing the sound of voices approaching the corridor, she straightened and mentally prepared herself to meet the tenants who would be sharing a wall with her for the next...however long they planned on living here. Older couple? Younger couple with kids? Toddlers? Screaming babies? The scenarios got worse and worse the closer the voices came.

A few seconds later, her new neighbors stepped out into the hallway and...they were definitely not the people she'd expected to see.

The two girls were talking amongst themselves, joking happily about something. They weren't very old at all - probably just around her age - and they seemed very...lively. Without even looking down, they managed to avoid trodding on the tiny dog dodging underneath their footsteps the entire time.

Standing in the middle of the hallway, staring openly, they immediately noticed her - both doing a little double take while their laughter faded to silence. She had been staring at them, but now they were staring back and it made her squirm in discomfort.

"Uhm...hello," she said, trying out the sound of her voice.

The greeting seemed to have been uttered with some sort of magic - lighting bright smiles on both girls' faces at the exact same moment.

"Hi!" the slightly shorter one quipped, walking forward with an animated bounce before stopping right in front of her face. "I'm Ruby!"

Politely taking the hand that came shooting towards her, she gave it a light shake before backing slightly away from the waves of uncontrollable energy emanating from the girl. Ruby was practically bouncing up and down in abundant pleasure to meet her, which was...flattering? But also a tiny bit overwhelming.

"Blake," she replied, jumping a little in surprise when something unexpectedly pressed into her ankle. Looking down she found the dog smelling the hem of her pants, wagging his tail softly while inspecting her carefully.

"Oh, and this is Zwei!" Ruby added, reaching down and scooping the dog up in both arms. "Don't worry, he's super friendly. Aren't you little Zwei Zwei? Aren't you super duper friendly? Oh yes you are!"

While Blake was busy staring in dismay at the girl nuzzling noses with an extremely happy puppy, a hand appeared upon Ruby's shoulder - reminding Blake of someone else's presence. Glancing up, she found herself staring at...how to appropriately describe the second girl? Slightly taller than Ruby with blonde waves of hair reaching all the way down her back, vibrant lilac eyes, and an effortlessly beautiful smile, the girl looked like she'd just stepped off the front cover of a fashion magazine.

"Please excuse my lil' sis here - she just ate like an entire package of cookies."

"I only ate half!" the brunette immediately whined, setting Zwei back on the ground with a playful pout.

"I'm Yang, by the way," the blonde continued without so much as a glance at her younger sister. "It's nice to meet you, Blake. Looks like we're gonna be neighbors!"

Accepting the second hand when it was offered, Blake shook it numbly - noticing how remarkably warm the girl's hands were and how lilac eyes never broke eye contact with her own.

"It's very nice to meet you two," she replied, releasing Yang's hand quickly and clasping hers together in front of her waist. The energy coming from Yang was overwhelming in a completely different way than Ruby's was, but Blake couldn't put a finger on what was causing it. Still, she needed to be polite...these were her new neighbors, after all.

"Um...do you need any help?"

Gesturing towards all of the boxes in the hallway, she sincerely hoped they would decline the offer - she was beginning to feel a little light-headed from the unexpected and gigantic change in her living environment. Plus, the longer Yang stared at her, the hotter she could feel her cheeks becoming.

"Ah, don't worry - we got this," Yang answered, giving Blake a wink that made her instantly blush full force. "Don't we, Ruby?"

The brunette glanced at her sister once before looking back at Blake.

"Well, you know, we could -"

"Really nice to meet you!" the blonde suddenly spoke over the girl, grabbing her sister's elbow and pushing her gently towards their stacks of boxes.

"You too," Blake repeated quietly, staring for a few seconds while the two girls each picked up another box and headed back into their new home. Both Ruby and Yang glanced back towards her before disappearing into the apartment, making Blake flush again in embarrassment for being caught gawking.

Shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of the deep flush, she then turned to her own apartment door, fished her keys out of her pocket, and unlocked it. Once she was safely on the other side, she leaned against the solid wood and let out a long exhale.

Her heart was inexplicably racing, most likely from the unexpected social interaction with two girls she could only consider to be her peers. It was one thing when she'd lived next door to an elderly couple - she wasn't expected to give them more than small smiles when they happened to pass each other in the corridor or in the lobby. But if they were in her age group much more interaction would be demanded by their very presence.

This was definitely not what she'd been prepared for when she'd left work today.

Even though the recent change was unsettling, curiosity and intrigue were beginning to grow. The blonde girl in particular...Yang...there was something about Yang that made Blake's stomach do this strange little flip. Maybe it was the way Yang had smiled so genuinely and looked at Blake as if she was the only thing in the entire hallway worth focusing on.

Wishful thinking, Blake chastised herself lightly before finally pushing away from the front door.

Deciding that the best way to settle down would be to go about her routine as if nothing had happened, she changed out of her work clothes before walking into the kitchen to prepare dinner. After she'd finished cooking a delicious seafood pasta, she carried the steaming bowl out into the combined living room/dining room area and sat down at the small round table where she normally ate her meals.

Everything was normal - nothing had changed.

Except that every once in awhile she could hear the two girls through their shared wall, laughing and talking while bringing the rest of their boxes inside. The two of them seemed to laugh easily - the merry sound filtering through the wall often. Blake couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about that was so enjoyable. Was it work related? Family related? Inside jokes?

When she was finished with dinner she quickly cleaned up everything in the kitchen, leaving it in immaculate condition just as she'd found it. Only then did she allow herself to partake in her favorite activity of the night - curling up in her favorite chair with a good book.

The chair was oversized, the cushions extra squishy and soft with high armrests she loved to lean against when she'd been sitting for a little too long. It sat right by the window overlooking the street in front of the apartment building, the location ideal for catching as much natural light as possible during the day while also enjoying the twinkling city lights at night.

Grabbing her current reading material off of the small table beside the chair, she flipped it open to the bookmark before even sitting down - eyes engrossed in the page immediately. The sound of laughter from the room beyond was still audible every few minutes, but she found the noise much less bothersome than she might have expected. Maybe that was because they sounded so cheerful...it was hard to be upset with the lack of quiet when someone was that happy.

Sisters...and a dog. It would be interesting, to say the least.