The New Neighborhood - Chapter one of The Island of Lote

Untitled Part 1

THERE ARE TWO very different types of people in the world: Individuals and followers. Individuals are their own person, and are exactly who they want to be. Followers try to take on the image of the individuals, and do things exactly like them. Individuals don’t follow the crowd, unlike the followers, but create their own image and don’t care what people think of it. Some of the individuals and the followers are rather rebellious. Some choose to be that way, while others simply ended up that way, due to pressure. While most rebellions aren’t very much appreciated, there are times when they can be quite useful. They can help keep people out of trouble, or help teach them to stand for what they believe in, which you don’t see all that often.

One very good-rebellious person in the world was sitting on a car seat one warm afternoon, hugging her knees, and was staring out a window. This person was a fourteen year-old girl, named Milo Hestler. And she was distraught. At least her stomach was. Speaking of which, the distraught feeling in Milo Hestler’s stomach increased to an almost unbearable amount as she gazed out the window of her parent’s car. They were driving through a neighborhood called Shady Ally. Though it seemed to Milo that it was more like a city than a neighborhood, but her parents delclared it a neighborhood, so it remained that. She also didn’t know why it wasn’t spelled with an ‘e’.

The reason it seemed more like a city was because there were no houses. The only living quarters in Shady Ally were apartment buildings. Dozens of them, all lined up next to each other on each side of the road. That road was the only road there, stretching leisurely onward, making it look more like an actual alleyway. Each apartment building was about thirty to fifty stories high, and they took up most of the sky view. The sun was rarely ever directly over head, but always more to the side, casting shadows from the buildings into the street. So in a way, it really was like a shady alleyway.Why the good people who inhabited the place wanted to use “ally” instead of “alley” was a mystery. An ally is supposed to be someone you trust and rely on. If your ally is shady, it probably isn’t a wise idea to continue the relationship.

But that was a very small reason why Milo was feeling nervous. Like any kid moving into a new home, she was worried about adjusting and making friends. The first home she lived in had burned down when she was little, forcing her family to move. She had many friends and relations there and was heartbroken to leave them, especially when she moved into their new house and found that nobody wanted to be friends with her. She moved three times after that, and each time she never made any more friends. She also lost contact with her friends and relations from her first residence.

Continuously finding herself alone, Milo began to fear that she would never have another friend again. She was wrong about that, of course, but for the time being, she begrudgingly sat scrunched in the back seat of a 2002 Camry.

“We’re here!” her mother’s voice sang out as they braked in front of 711 Shady Ally.

“Ooooh! Goodie!” Milo snapped. “Let’s hope we all don’t puke with joy!”

Milo occasionally got creative with her words. Her father turned around in his seat and glared at her.

“Sorry!” she said, lowering her eyes. “It’s just that, how do we know that this time we’re actually ‘here’?”

“Oh, Milo,” her mother groaned, grinding the heel of her hand into her forehead. “Can’t you just try to be a little happy? I mean, we’ve been driving around all day, all yesterday, and all of last week. We didn’t drive all that way not to be ‘here’.”

It was Milo’s turn to groan.

“Fine!” she mumbled. “I’m a little happy. At least we can get out of this car.” She opened her door and got out.