Hello, Neighbour

New Suburb

The little yellow car bounced along the road, its' driver, Albert-James Johnson - AJ for short - was humming away to music on the radio, looking for his new house. He scanned the houses with curiousity, before spying his new house. The house was not much, just a plain white board building with a red roof. Decorating the boundary of the yard was a short white picket fence - missing in places. The yard was pretty bare, minus some grass and the occasional pink flower. AJ parked his car and jumped out into the warm, fresh air, taking a deep breath and smiling widely. He was so pleased to be in this suburb, away from the city that drained his energy and bored his curiousity to bits. He was so lost in his joy at moving, he did not see the elderly couple approach him.

"Afternoon, young man" the woman smiled.

"Oh, hello!" he spun to see them.

"Are you the new neighbour?"

"Yep! Names AJ."

"Mrs Claire. And this is my husband, Claude" the man on her arm grinned.

"Nice to meet you!"

"I hope you like it here in our little space" Mrs Claire smiled. "Just remember to clean up after yourself!"

"I will."

The couple gave a smile and went on their way and AJ turned to his yellow car, popping the boot and doors. In a matter of mere moment, AJ had pulled everything from the car, scattering it on the lawn, before opening the door to his white and red house. Inside, AJ was surprised to find that whomever had owned the place before had left things behind, like the fridge and the dining table. Well, a few less things to buy myself, he smiled cheerily. The place was perfect for a single guy to live in, so AJ quickly set to work in pushing and pulling his things inside.

In the middle of failing to get the coffee table inside, someone rushed over and helped him move it. Looking up from placing the heavy wood table down, AJ noticed it was a guy his age. He barely had to open his mouth and the guy grinned and held out his hand for a shake.

"Jack, your next door neighbour!"

"AJ. Thanks for the help!"

"Looked heavy" Jack chuckled. "Let me help ya get the rest in!"

Together, both boys managed to wrestle everything inside the house. Once it was inside, the two proceeded to organise the biggest objects, before collapsing onto the couch to relax. AJ, now out of ideas, was curious of his neighbourhood, and who better to ask than your neighbour?

"Who else lives on the street?" he asked.

"Well, there's the Andrews. Old couple, lovely cooking and stories" Jack sat his head back on the couch, looking at the ceiling with a smile. "Raine lives on the other side of your house. She's really hot! And so is her roommate, Fleur!"

"Really?" AJ felt his face grow warm

Jack nodded, then he grew serious, sitting up and looking dead into AJs' eyes. "There is one person who lives here that you gotta avoid."

"Who?"

"Mr Buller."

"Why?"

"He's a real introvert. He hates visitors and parties and social get-togethers!"

AJ blinked, totally blown away. Someone who doesn't like socialising? Sounded horrible! But, he had to know more. What was his first name? Why was he against socialising? So many questions, but not enough answers. As AJ opened his mouth to question Jack, the sound of a car screeching and wood breaking caught their attention. Quickly, they ducked outside and saw a man wandering into the house across the street, his red car having just broken the fence.

"That's Ken Buller."

"Ah..."

AJ felt his lips twitch into a grin of delight. The subject of his curiousity lay at his doorstep, but the night would have to pass before he wandered over to introduce himself to the anti-social Mr Ken Buller.