Sincerity Lane (a short story)

Chapter Two

Chloe rang Landon's doorbell promptly at eight. Landon answered the door and smiled brightly. "Hey, come on in." He sidestepped to let her enter, and then closed the door behind her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Um sure, I'll take a water."

Landon pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to Chloe. "Thanks." Chloe didn't know what to say. Being around Landon made her feel awkward and nervous. She's not used to being at a loss for words, she's always been a social butterfly until she met him.

"We're downstairs, follow me," Landon ordered nicely.

We?

Chloe followed Landon downstairs where there was another girl and guy, about her age, watching television.

The girl is beautiful with long brunette hair, and smoky brown eyes. The guy has shaggy brown hair, and green eyes. He's sweet on the eyes, but as far as Chloe's concerned, he's not as gorgeous as Landon.

"Chloe, this is Lindsay Samuels and Aaron Caplan. Lindsay and Aaron, this is Chloe Archer," Landon introduced them.

"Nice to meet you Chloe," the two said, almost in unison.

"Have a seat," Landon told Chloe, gesturing to one of the empty wingback chairs. Lindsay and Aaron were sitting on the couch, so Chloe took one of the chairs, and Landon took the other, which was almost across the room from her. Way too far in Chloe's opinion.

"Nice to meet you both. Do you two also live in the neighborhood?" Chloe asked, taking a sip of her water.

"Yeah, I live two houses that way, to the left, and Aaron lives right next door to Landon on the right side," Lindsay answered for the both of them.

"How old are you Chloe?" Aaron asked Chloe bluntly.

"I'm sixteen," Chloe murmured.

"So am I. Landon's seventeen and Lindsay is the baby, she's only fifteen," Aaron said teasingly.

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "I'm only five months younger than you, goofball," she said to Aaron.

"So, where are you from Chloe?" Landon asked curiously.

"Madison County, about two hours from here."

"I've heard of Madison, but I haven't been there," Landon replied.

"That's because we haven't been anywhere," Lindsay said sarcastically. Aaron shot her an annoyed glance.

Chloe gave her a questioning look. "Haven't you ever been on vacation?"

Lindsay chuckled. "I wish. Our parents keep us sheltered. We get to go to school and maybe the mall, that's pretty much it," she answered with a grating tone.

An awkward silence filled the room. Chloe looked from Lindsay to Aaron, and back to Landon. She was waiting for one of them to start laughing to confirm that what she was hearing was only a joke.

No one laughed, and the three of them kept their expressions serious. "You're joking right?" Chloe finally asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Unfortunately she's not," Landon answered with a frown.

"I'm sorry." Chloe wasn't sure what else to say. She didn't want to offend them or let it seem that she was making fun of them. She really wanted them to accept her. "Maybe we could have a party," she said without thinking of the consequences.