Talks on Sunset Hill

Chapter 1-new neighbor

Alice sighed as she lifted the heavy box out of her dad's giant pickup truck.
She still couldn't believe that her parents got divorced, all because of one little argument.
She recalled it vividly.
She remembered the papers on the table that said "overdue bill" and "doctors bill."
"Why can't you just contribute to these payments!?"
"I just lost my job! I can't, I just-CAN'T!"
"Oh, would you stop being so overdramatic!"
"I'm sorry, would you like to pay them all by yourself? Then I guess I'll just leave!"
"Fine with me, I wanted you to leave ever since we had HER!" (Alice.)
And that's what Alice's dad did.
He left, and took Alice with him. But the court did say that her mom could have custody over her too.
Alice didn't want that. She never was close to her mom. All she wanted was to choose where she went, and she wanted to stay here with her dad.
"Sir, do you need some help?" A man said, walking up to them. He seemed like the fun kind of guy who loved kids, dressed in jeans and a plain gray t-shirt with a faded blue hat and gray-ish hair.
"Oh, that would be very nice! Thank you!" Adam Lexington, Alice's dad, responded with relief.
Adam was always a very polite man, with the exception of a few weeks ago over some bills, which he apologized for.
Annie wouldn't hear it.
"I don't care, I want a divorce! I'm tired of your fake apologies!"
Alice scowled to herself. None of those apologies were fake. Truthfully, she did not like her mother at all. She wondered why her dad even apologized to the monster.
"So, you just moving in, then?" The man said.
"Yes. I do like this neighborhood so far, it looks very nice and quiet," Adam said.
"It is. By the way, I'm Jason Skyles, labeled as "the ultimate dad" in this neighborhood by the kiddos. What's your name?"
Alice giggled to herself at the total dad-language he displayed.
"I'm Adam Lexington, former Assistant at CVS," he responded.
"Former? Lost your job?" Jason asked sadly.
"Yes. I worked at the CVS down in Larrisville, but I'm heading to a job interview in a week," Adam shook his head.
"Larrisville CVS. I heard they weren't that great anyway," Jason stated.
As they were talking away, Alice looked around to get a full view of the neighborhood. As she turned towards the direction Jason came from, she saw a blonde boy about her age standing at his porch, leaning on the fence and looking sideways into the setting sun.
He looked over at the general area of the moving crew, and spotted Alice.
He smiled gently and waved.
Alice copied the motion shyly.
"Who's that?" Adam was at Alice's side, scaring her half to death.
She gasped and jumped back. "I-I don't know, he just waved," she stuttered. She looked back at the boy, who did a slight laugh at her jumpiness. He suddenly turned his head, hearing his mom's voice, and walked back inside his house.
Alice shrugged it off as nothing more than a new neighbor saying hello, and continued to carry things into her brand new house, which was bigger than her other one. She smiled at it, for it looked very clean and spacious.
But inside, it looked amazing.
Clean carpet floors, a nice staircase with a wooden railing off to the left, walls painted a light cream color, a tile floor kitchen with recess lighting, and upstairs—two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a laundry room, and downstairs again, a relatively small garage, but enough to fit a small car. Compared to her other apartment, this was much more suited to her taste.
Alice came back outside to find her dad and Jason still talking.
"My son would come out here to help, but he's inside doing some laundry. He's a great helper, ya know," Jason boasted.
"That's good, that's good. Alice here is doing a great job as well. She's my little helper, aren't ya, Alice?"
Alice rolled her eyes playfully and smiled. "Thanks, dad," she chuckled. Adam pulled her towards him with the rough fatherly side-hug.
They all stood there, smiling awkwardly, Jason rocking on his feet.
His face lit up.
"I gotta show you guys Sunset Hill! It's just past this house, around the corner, and across the street," Jason smiled excitedly. "Follow me!"
Alice and her dad smiled and followed Jason towards the hill.
"Now, the sun is setting right now," he said, "and this is the perfect time to see it! Look there," he pointed when they were at the top of the hill.
Alice stared with her mouth slightly parted and her eyes wide.
It was. . . More than words.
A slight breeze floated through the warm air, making her long brown hair slide gently off her shoulders, revealing more of the scene around her.
"Now this, you don't just get used to this. The sunsets and sunrises are different every single day. Not one of them were the same for as long as I've lived here. And I've lived here for 14 years! Now aren't they beautiful?" Jason said, swelling with happiness.
Alice smiled. "They are beautiful. More than beautiful."
"Wow, is all I can say," Adam gasped.
Jason laughed, and Alice looked at him.
He looked like Howie from AGT, just with hair and without glasses, and more dad-like.
After staring at the beautiful sunset for a while, Jason led them back to the truck with the last of their stuff. They unloaded it into the house, set up some mattresses, and grabbed the car blankets. It was getting late, so they put the mattresses on their bedroom floors full of boxes and fell right asleep.

Long day for them😅 so what do you think of their new house/neighborhood/Sunset Hill so far? Comment your thoughts!

Chapters will be posted sporadically.

Have a nice day! :)