Audrey brushed back her long, luxuriously blonde hair, and smiled with perfect pearly teeth. In the mirror, a pretty girl looked back, smiling.
Smiling even more, she noticed the perfect tan she had gotten last summer was still there. And that diet had really worked, she added happily. She was tall, slim, and leggy.
"Audrey?" her mom called.
"Yes?" Audrey answered.
"Can you come down for a minute?"
"Sure!" she yelled back, smiling at the girl in the mirror again.
She walked out of her door, and when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she called "What is it?"
"Your father and I have to talk to you." came the answer, and Audrey walked into the kitchen, with her father, mother, and younger brother seated at the table.
Grabbing an apple, she chirped "What about?" giving her brother a weird look. He looked upset.
Her parents looked at each other. "Granny died." her father said, his voice quiet.
Audrey sank into her chair, stunned. Granny was dead.
"And..." said her mom. "she left us her house in Tulsa."
"What?" Audrey asked, stilled stunned.
"We're moving to Tulsa." her father informed her. "I'll get more clients up there. You'll make new friends."
"But... but I can't leave Jake!" Audrey cried, and ran out of the room to her bedroom.
No matter how much she had pleaded, her parents did not relent. She was going to Tulsa, whether she liked it or not.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the goodbye to Jake, her boyfriend. He had given her his silver chain, and she fingered it, remembering.
Sighing, she pulled her Walkman headphones on, and began to play "MmmBop" to drown out the sound of the car and her parents' happy chatter.
"This is it!" cried her mother.
Audrey looked up to see a pleasant looking brick house with a big yard. "Joy." she muttered, still missing Jake.
Her brother, Greg, was out of the car running around to get the kinks out of his legs. Their dog, Sweetie, barked and danced along with him.
"Up and out, Sport." said her dad, grinning down at her.
Grumbling some more, Audrey trudged up the path, dragging a suitcase and bag. After waiting for her dad to open the front door, she went inside in search of a room.
Almost immediately she found it. It was at the corner of the house, facing the back yard and the house next door. Plopping her bags down, she collasped onto the bed, exhausted...
"Wake up, stupid." Greg yelled in her ear. "Mom says to watch me while they go out to get take-out."
"Leave me alone, idiot." Audrey yelled, and rolled over to catch more sleep. But she was disturbed by a slobbery tongue in her face. "Sweetie!"
Greg was grinning. "Gotcha!"
"God! Why can't you all leave me alone!" she yelled, and ran out of the room, and out through the front door.
She stopped to cool down, and saw a boy blade up the driveway of the next house, and plop down. He began to unbuckle his blades, and Audrey figured it might as well be nice to introduce herself to her new neighbors.
Walking over the small garden patch that divided the houses, she called out "Hi!" and walked up to him.
The boy looked up, and she gasped. It was Taylor Hanson!
Taylor looked up as the girl called out, and froze. In front of him stood a pretty blonde. Tall, dark tan, all that. He could only stare.
"Hi. I'm Audrey and-" the vision spoke, but stopped as her words snapped Taylor out of it, and he reacted.
Taylor scrambled back from her as if she had a horrible disease, and climbed to his feet. He ran awkwardly with one foot in rollerblades, and the other bare. Reaching his front door, he fell inside, and slammed it shut.
Zac was walking by, eating an apple, and stopped to stare at him. Taylor ignored him and locked all the locks, and thought the 4 deadlocks were pitiful few.
Taylor's breath was rough, and he leaned against the door, gasping for air as if running a marathon. "I'm never going outside in my life again!" he declared when he caught his breath.
Zac grinned. "Another new neighbor?"
Taylor nodded, hair falling in his face. "A girl. Tall, beautiful, blonde, tanned, etc."
Zac groaned in sympathy. "Probably brainless, has a brother, a dog..." he said, biting his apple. "How many female neighbors does this make?" he mused.
"About 5,000?" Taylor estimated, blue eyes wide.
Zac glanced out the window, looking at all the pretty girls hanging around trying to get their attention. They all looked more like zombies, with nothing better to do than ring and blade around outside, trying to get their attention. All the new neighbors were girls, and somehow, they met up with either Zac, Tay or Ike, found out their number, and called everyday. Zac was beginning to think of lyrics to go along with the constant phone rings. I t was a literal infestation in Tulsa.
"I'm going to marry a fat, pimply, disgusting, totally unattractive, greasy haired, shabby, smelly girl." Taylor declared, and Zac nodded. He had his share of female neighbors, and like Tay, never wanted to go outside the h ouse anymore.
Audrey stood out on the drive, stunned by Taylor's reaction. A little bit hurt, she turned and trudged back to her new home, ignoring the other girls out and about all up and down the street...
hits since october 7th, 1998.