Suburbia | Kaytlen Bennett

It was the typical suburbia, identical white stucco houses on a perfectly straight road. Neat little lawns with one tree in front left corner, perpendicular driveways that pull up into two car garages. Between each house, a white fence approximately four feet high. It was called Tranquility Meadows. Every morning the Duroville Examiner would arrive at exactly 6:30 and would be greeted by the men on their way to work, each in their compact cars.

Mr. Howard Petersen was one of these men. He would wake up at exactly 6:00 a.m., shower, brush his teeth, comb his full head of hair, and make his way down stairs into the kitchen where his wife, Claire, would greet him with a breakfast: two slices of bacon, one over easy egg and a steaming cup of coffee. After eating he’d kiss his wife and walk out the door, briefcase in hand, pick up the newspaper, read the front page, walk to his car and leave for work.

Shortly after Howard would leave, his daughter, Ashlee, would wake up and make her way sleepily down to the kitchen where she too was greeted with breakfast-one piece of bacon, scrambled eggs, and a piece of toast. After breakfast, she would make her way up to her room and get ready for school. She was a senior at Duroville High, Student Body President and the only brunette with blue eyes making her the prettiest girl in school. She was average height and perfectly built (slim with just the right amount of curves.) Her smile was white and straight, no braces were ever needed. An hour later her captain of the football team boyfriend, Trent Sorenson, would pick her up and take her to school.

Around 2:45 p.m., Ashlee would arrive home followed shortly by Mr. Petersen. Ashlee would go up stairs and work on her homework until her mother called her for dinner at 4:30. Some nights after dinner, she would stare out her bedroom window at the house next door. The house next to the Petersen’s was the only empty house in all of Tranquility Meadows. Its lawn hadn’t been mowed since Mrs. Jones, the 81 year old widow, died a year ago. It was the black spot on the perfection. This is the way it had always been, as long as Ashlee could remember and this was the way it was until the summer after she graduated high school.

Late one summer evening, Ashlee was sitting in her room primping while waiting for Trent to come and pick her up for a date. A noise out on the street startled her so she ran to her window and peered out. An old, bright blue pick up truck sat parked outside the empty house. Its bed was filled with sheet cover items. A man appeared from inside the truck. His pants were torn; his stained white shirt clung tight to his tan muscular form. Whiskers speckled his face, his dark hair was messy. Ashlee watched his as he reached the door and unlocked it. A light flickered inside. Wanting to get another glimpse at him she continued staring out of her window.

A honk from Trent’s car broke her trance and brought her back to her senses. She grabbed her purse and ran down the stairs. When she emerged from the front door she glanced to her right at the house just as the man did also. Their eyes met. Time seemed to slow as Ashlee looked deep into the man’s brown eyes: her heart sped, breath quickened and face reddened. The feel of Trent’s hand in hers brought her back into sync with the world around her. “It’s not nice to stare babe.” Trent’s deep voice sent shivers down her spine, the kind of shivers one feels when being sucked back into reality, realizing that one had just been in another dimension of time or so Ashlee felt.

As the car sped away, Ashlee glanced back; the man was still standing on the doorstep looking back at her. When she could no longer see him she turned her head back around and let out a few short breaths. “Baby, are you ok? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m fine,” Ashlee heard herself say, but was she really, she didn’t know. Who is that man? That thought occupied her mind the rest of the night even as she kissed Trent good night. Once inside her house, she rushed past her mom who was waiting by the stairs to hear about her night up into her room and locked her door. Grabbing her chair from her desk in the corner of her room, she walked to her window, opened it, set the chair down just right so she could see out of her window but still not look like some sort of a creep.

The lights were on in the room level with Ashlee’s but there was no movement. After a moment, she began to question herself. Why was she doing this? Why was she so interested in the man? Why did she need to see him again? Her mind rushed with these thought until a slight creep on a door hinge in the house yanked her from her mind. There he was. Suddenly she realized that if he looked over he would see her. Quietly she slid her chair behind and knelt on the floor and peered out of the bottom corner of her window. Dazed she watch as he brought box after box into the room until they filled the room. He then started opening them one by one: this was his room.

A knock on Ashlee’s bedroom door jolted her back once again. Startled she ran into her chair which fell over causing a huge racquet. Hoping that he hadn’t heard she glanced back. He had hurried to his window to see what had made the noise. Eye contact. “Ashlee, honey, is everything ok? What happened? Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, mom I’m fine,” she lied, “I just ran into my chair, how silly of me,” she said as she frantically put her chair back at her desk and opened the door. There her mom stood in her baby pink nightgown with a glass of water in her hand.

“Is everything ok, honey? You seemed a little upset when you got home tonight. Is everything fine with you and Trent?” Ashlee sensed the worry in her voice. She liked Trent. Ashlee even sometimes caught her on the phone with one of her book club friends talking about the wedding.
“Everything is fine Mom, I’m just really tired that’s all,” Ashlee lied again making her way to her dresser pulling out a pair of pajamas.

“Ok, good night dear,” her mom said as she pulled the door closed. Ashlee took a deep breath as she pulled off her clothes, set them in the dirty clothes basket and slipped into her pajamas. When she crossed the room to turn off the light she glanced out the window. The light was still on but the room was empty. She switched off the light and climbed into bed. Sleep came in short bursts, weaved in and out with dreams of the man. There was something about him that took over Ashlee’s entire unconscious mind.

When morning’s light trickled into Ashlee’s room, she was already awake. Anxious, she jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Peterson was busy at the stove cooking wearing her bright red dress, her short blonde hair flipped out at the ends. Mr. Petersen looked surprised to see his daughter awake. “You’re up early, sweetie,” his raspy but calming voice broke the silence that had filled the air, “is everything ok? Did you have a bad dream?”

“No daddy I’m fine,” he always treated her like she was still a child. Frantically she searched her brain for a reason why she was awake so early, “I just couldn’t sleep any longer, today is such a beautiful day.” Did they buy it? That was a horrible excuse. I’m such an idiot; they’re going to know something is up. Ashlee was nervous.

“You’re right. Today is going to be a marvelous day.” Her mom spun around holding a plate filled with two slices of bacon and one over easy egg. “And do you know why it’s going to be a marvelous day? Because it’s the third Thursday of the month,” she said without waiting for a response. She was beaming. Ashlee knew what this meant: book club. But this wasn’t any normal book club day; it was the day that Ashlee would be accepted into the book club circle because she was now eighteen. It was a vicious cycle; her mother had been accepted into the book club by her mother who had been accepted into the book club by her mother and so on. There was no evading it. Ashlee was now doomed to spend every third Thursday of every month for the rest of her life with a bunch of aristocratic ladies, gossiping about everybody and anybody worth talking about.

After eating breakfast as slowly as possible, she trudged her way up stairs to her room. As she walked past the open window, her mind completely forgot everything. There he was in a tight white tank top and grey shorts, sitting on a bed that had been moved into the room. He was writing. What was he writing? Was it a bout me? Ashlee laughed at that last thought. He probably didn’t even know she existed but then he looked up. He saw her. Time slowed again. She could hear her heart beat. It was then that she realized that she was still in her pajamas, no make up, her hair was messy but then something unexpected happened: he stood. In shock, Ashlee just watched as he put down his notebook and pen, slowly walked to his window and opened it. She reached the window. Silence.

Their eyes were fixed on each other. Neither one could speak. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes seemed like hours. Unspoken feelings surged between them. A smile formed on his face. “Hi,” his voice was deep, calm, and soothing. Ashlee’s insides jumped. “I don’t really know what to say. I’m captivated by you and I don’t even know your name.” “Ashlee, Ashlee Petersen,” her voice was quiet.

“Ashlee, I’m Breckon McKile.” Silence followed. They sat staring deep into each other’s eyes. Transfixed on each other, neither daring to look away or blink for fear that they would wake up.

“Ashlee,” her mom’s shrill voice broke their dream-like state, “Sweetie, are you almost ready? The ladies are going to be here momentarily.”

“Umm, yea Mom,” she said as she look down at her pajamas then back up at Breckon. “I’ll be down in a minute.” She waited until she heard her mom’s footsteps go down the stairs.

“I’m sorry; I’ve got to get ready. I’m getting inducted into my mom’s book club. It’s a long standing tradition in my mom’s family. She’s really excited.”

“Are you?” Breckon’s voice was calm but inquisitive.

“Am I what?”

“Excited?”

“No, I’d rather not spend the rest of my life gossiping with old ladies.”

“Well what do you want to be doing?”

Be with you, She thought. “Umm, I’m not sure. Be anywhere but here, that’s for sure”Breckon smiled. The sound of car doors brought panic to Ashlee. “Crap, I really need to get ready. I’ll talk to you later ok?” She didn’t even wait to hear his response, she ran into her closet and grabbed out her mom’s favorite dress and ran into her bathroom to get dressed. Ashlee hated the dress. It was white with lace trimming on the collar and the bottom of the skirt that landed just beneath her knees.

When she was dress she rushed back into her room to her vanity and ran a brush through her long hair. Quickly she put powder on, mascara and a little bit of blush. That’s going to have to do, she thought. When she walked past her window a whistle caught her attention. She stopped and walked to her window. “How do I look?” She said jokingly.

“Beautiful,” Breckon called with a smile. Ashlee’s face lit up as she walked out her room and down the stairs. The smell of old lady perfume greeted her as she entered the living room. The room was filled with ladies with bright red lipstick, fancy hair, and expensive jewelry. The youngest one there other than her was her mother, who just happened to be 48.

They were already gossiping when Ashlee’s mom announced her arrival. She stood. “Attention ladies, if I can have your attention please.” All eyes shifted to Ashlee, “I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Ashlee Marie Petersen.” Mutters filled the room. Quickly Ashlee took her seat next to her mother who was sitting on the other side of the room. The room gradually got louder as refreshments were served.

Pretty soon the ladies forgot she was even there. They gossiped about the cute postman and the new guy next door. “Did you see his pickup truck?” One would say.

“Claire, I don’t know how you’ve been able to stand living next to that dump,” another would say to Ashlee’s mom, and so on.

Ashlee’s head began to hurt between thoughts of Breckon and the aroma of perfume mixed with tea. Politely she excused herself and snuck into the kitchen for a glass of water and fresh air. She glance at the back door that led into the backyard.

Before she knew it she was slipping out the back door and climbing over the short fence. What am I doing, she thought but that did stop her. She reached the back door, her heart was pounding. She knocked. Moments passed. Maybe he didn’t hear? What am I going to do when he answers the door? She began to turn back around when she heard the door knob turned. She turned around. There in the doorway was Breckon with his shirt off, his hair was wet. “Hey, I didn’t expect you to be here. I was just getting out of the shower, sorry it took so long. Aren’t you supposed to be at book club or something like that?”