Since the run-in with Kai, Rochelle avoided the second floor and quietly shook her head whenever she saw some girl coming in and ascending the staircase. Once or twice she'd see one of them leaving before shooting the upset girl a sympathetic look. 

"He's always been an ," she told one in passing.

The girl had wiped her tears and nodded vigorously, saying that she felt horrible for everyone who had to deal with him every day.

She remained mum about the incident to her mom and sister, not wanting them to worry about her. She also made Lucas swear to never bring it up if Bri or her mom visited. 

"Wait, seriously?"

"Lucas, you really think my mom's gonna remain calm if you tell her I almost punched the guy who lives above me?" Rochelle asked. 

"...Probably not," the young man conceded. "Fine then."

One afternoon Rochelle sighed when she saw another girl pulling into the visitor lot for her building. It was unplanned for her to say something – anything to warn this unfortunate soul about entering, but she happened to be heading back from the mailbox when the girl parked and stopped to inquire about Kai's room.

Rochelle balanced a care package from her friend Annie and cast a look at the staircase, before looking at the young woman. 

"If I were you, I'd leave STAT," she offered. "He's impossible to work with and everyone leaves in tears."

The other girl froze when she heard this and she looked at the staircase, then back at her car. One hand fished out a cell phone and unlocked it. She turned the screen to show Rochelle an e-mail from the culprit in question as she explained that she agreed to meet at his place at this time. 

"I mean, he seemed decent from his note," the girl confessed to Rochelle as she rubbed the back of her neck. 

Rochelle shook her head and leaned closer to the young woman. "He's rude and insults everyone. Also acts like he's the greatest thing on Earth with that obnoxious, smug smirk he has. Believe me, I came this close to punching his front teeth in."

The other girl sank her teeth into her lip, before making up her mind and exiting the building to return to her car. 

"Jimin, have you seen Emmalina?"

"Huh? I'm sorry, who?" Jimin asked as he fumbled with his books and lab equipment. 

Kai groaned as he ran a hand across his face, grumbling something under his breath. From her peephole, Rochelle observed as the redhead nervously watched his neighbor pace back and forth with a tense look. 

The older male checked his phone and growled in frustration, firing off a string of curses in another language. His hand slapped the wall and Jimin jumped in surprise, slowly inching backwards toward his door. 

Karma's a , she thought with a smile. 

"So you're like the scrub buster?" Annie asked. There was a pause and the other girl apologized for the noise in the background. "Sorry, my roomie's been binging Stranger Things and she doesn't listen to me when I say don't watch it at night."

"It's fine," Rochelle replied. "I mean, kind of? I've only warned one girl so far and it worked."

Annie leaned against a wall and transfered her phone to her other ear. "How pissed was he?"

"He slammed his hand into a wall," Rochelle said. "Felt bad for my neighbor across the street. He was trying to get back to his place and stops to ask if he's seen the girl I warned off."

"Neighbor's okay right? The innocent one, not –"

"Probably a bit shaken but yes," Rochelle said. She walked over to the peephole and saw the hallway was empty. 

"No one else yet?" Annie guessed. "I probably shouldn't encourage it, but girl, if this guy's being the campus douche, a girl should look out for her girl gang."

Rochelle hummed as she stepped away from the door. She checked the clock on her microwave and remembered that she promised to help a classmate study for their midterm. 

"Call you later – I gotta run to a study session."

She yawned as she left the library, raising her phone up to check the time as she headed back to the apartment complex. The classmate she studied with was a bit neurotic in her opinion and insisted on running through everything multiple times. They went over the planned time they set for studying in the private room she booked and eventually were kicked out by the next group who were scheduled to be in there. That allowed Rochelle to part ways with her classmate, claiming she had homework to finish before tomorrow. In reality, she was done with her assignments but she wanted to get food in her system and maybe catch up on some episodes of a TV show she recorded. 

Rochelle checked for cars before crossing from the sidewalk to the entrance of the building at a run. She dug her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door, dropping her bag to the floor. She opened the fridge and began pulling pieces of leftover chicken from the roast chicken she bought last night. They went on a plate with some greens and she crumpled the empty greens bag, putting it into the trash. 

She ate quietly, noticing that no music was playing above her. Despite her attempts to ignore the arrogant guy above her, it seemed like the frequency of women seeking him had increased. Before, it was one or two women that would visit in a week asking for him. Now it seemed like every day he had someone over. 

Once she finished, her dishes went into the dishwasher and Rochelle closed up the trash bag to carry it out to the dumpster. She lifted the bag high as she slipped out the door and headed for the building dumpster outside. A car drove by as she dusted her hands off, slowing as the driver stared at the building thoughtfully. 

A few seconds passed before the driver rolled down her window and called out to Rochelle, asking if this is where Kai lived. 

"Yeah, but he's a–"

"Kerry right?" the familiar voice drawled. 

Rochelle bit her tongue as she turned to see Kai approaching them, dressed casually in a tank top and sweats. He brushed past Rochelle with an air of indifference and leaned down to address the driver through her window. 

"You can park over there – I'm on the second floor," Kai told her, pointing to the visitor spots. He stepped back and watched as Kerry parked her car in one of the spots. He cast a side glance at Rochelle and uttered, "Neighbor, you wanna finish that sentence you started?"

Rochelle scowled over at him and tried to come up with a good comeback. Behind her, Kerry exited her car and locked it. 

"Who's she?" Kerry asked as she jabbed her thumb at Rochelle. "Your ex?"

Kai snickered as he motioned for Kerry to follow him. He shook his head and replied, "I think she wishes she was. But she's just my loser neighbor." They ascended the staircase and Rochelle took that as her cue to head back to her apartment. She was about to open the door and slam it loudly for good measure, but she paused when she heard someone yell her name, followed by, "Heads up!"

She turned and fumbled as she barely caught the soccer ball that was thrown at her by Lucas. He grinned as he jumped the last two stairs and held his hands out to catch the ball. 

"How about we kick the ball around a little? You look tense," he suggested. 

"But you didn't engage him, right?"

"No, but I wish I could have punched him!"

Lucas sighed as he used the inside of his foot to kick the ball up slightly, so he could bounce it on his knee. He caught the ball mid-bounce and tucked it under his arm. 

"I only heard parts of what he said, but he was mocking you," Lucas sighed. "As for the girl, well she's not nice period. I had her in one of my classes and she tried using my friend to get a better grade. Had to pull him aside and lay it out for him that she wasn't into him."

"So they deserve each other?" Rochelle offered from her seat on the bleachers. 

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and tossed her the ball. "C'mon Roca, don't you wanna play? It's better for your blood pressure than sitting."

Rochelle sighed as she pushed herself to a standing position and tossed the ball to Lucas. "How long have you been playing?"

The boy caught the ball and he placed it on the ground. He motioned for Rochelle to come closer and he explained it had been since late elementary school. 

"My brother used to do it and we'd have to go to his games all the time," Lucas shared. "Eventually he whined to my mom that it was boring so he quit, but the coach noticed I was pretty good, so..."

"A star was born," Rochelle concluded with a smile.

The compliment made him duck his head slightly as a faint smile crossed his lips. "I guess so. I mean, it got me the scholarship here, right?"

Rochelle nodded as she kicked the ball past him, running with it toward the opposite goal. Lucas blinked and tried to catch up in an effort to block her. However, she managed to manuever around him and kicked it hard to land it into the goal. 

"You're pretty good," he remarked. "Did you play?"

"Oh years ago. Gave it up because I was terrible," Rochelle confessed. "Today was a fluke. So is it just one brother?"

Lucas retrieved the ball and replied that she was correct: one older brother, his mom, and his dad. He turned and kicked the ball out of the goal.

"They're all back home in Hong Kong, well my parents are," Lucas explained. Before Rochelle could ask him about his brother, he checked his smartwatch and noted it was getting late. 

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving and I wanna eat soon before I have to cram for a quiz," he said. "Wanna come with?"

Rochelle held up her hands and admitted she ate already. "I don't wanna keep you from studying then getting a good night's sleep."

Lucas smiled and thanked her. He picked up the soccer ball and called over his shoulder that he owed her dinner some night. 

"I swear it won't be the cafeteria!" he promised before heading out of the stadium.