Sincerity Lane (a short story)

Chapter One

Chloe stood in the middle of her new room, trying to decide how to decorate it. Today would be Chloe's first night in her new house. Her new home was comfortable, but she wasn't exactly thrilled to be two hours from the only friends she knew. I guess it could always be worse. She thought. 

Unfortunately, Chloe has no idea just how bad the next few days are going to get for her.

Chloe was happy that her father got a promotion with his company, but why couldn't he have stayed at the same location he's been at for the past fourteen years. The move doesn't affect her mother, like it does Chloe, since her mom writes articles for a magazine. She can just email the finished article to her editor, Kevin, once she's finished.

"Chloe, dinner's ready," her mom called from downstairs.

Chloe rushed down the stairs with her cell phone in hand, and into the kitchen. "Mom, what's our new address again?"

"662 Sincerity Lane," her mom answered. "Now put that phone away and sit down before your food gets cold."

Chloe put her phone on mute, and laid it on the kitchen counter. "Where's dad?" She asked as she at down at the table.

"Mike, your dinner's going to get cold," Chloe's mom yelled without answering her.

About that time, Chloe's dad came strolling into the dining room. "Mmmm, smells good honey. I'm starving," Mike said as he sat down at the table next to Chloe.

The three of them held hands as Chloe's mom said the blessing. It's a tradition in their family that was passed down from Chloe's maternal grandparents. Chloe and her parents don't consider themselves your every day Christians, but they do believe in God, the Ten Commandments, and the power of prayer.

Chloe was helping her mom clean off the table when the doorbell rang, the noise making Chloe's Chihuahua, Zeus, bark wildly. "I'll get it," Chloe said before heading for the front door.

Chloe opened the door to see three strange people standing on her front porch. There was a short woman with her brown hair cut in a bob, a taller dark haired man with glasses, and right behind them was a gorgeous guy about Chloe's age. The woman and man had huge smiles on their faces, while the young guy seemed somewhat annoyed. His eyes immediately locked with Chloe's.

"Umm, hi," Chloe told them, breaking her eyes from the gorgeous guy and back to the short woman.

"Hi there young lady, we're the Ansley's. We wanted to welcome you and your family to the neighborhood," the woman said. "Are your parents home?"

Just as Mrs. Ansley asked the question, Chloe's mom walked up behind her. "Hi, I'm Kate Archer, and this is my daughter Chloe." Kate rested her hands on Chloe's shoulders.

"Hi Kate, I'm Donna, this is Tom, and that young man behind us is our son Landon. We brought you a basket of muffins as a welcome gift." Mrs. Ansley handed the basket to Kate. "We live right across the street from you." The woman used her hand to motion toward their home right across the street.

"Thank you Donna. That was very thoughtful of you," Kate replied with a small smile.

"Okay, well, we'll let you get back to unpacking. I know how much of a hassle moving can be," Mrs. Ansley told us. "Oh by the way, everyone on the lane goes over to Mrs. Hindley's house for prayer meeting on Wednesdays if you'd like to join us sometime."

"That would be great, thank you," Kate told them.

"We'll see you around." Donna waved as she and Tom turned, stepped off the porch, and walked back toward their home. Chloe watched as Landon practically ran back.