The Smith-Flores Backyard

While Jim's mom offered to drive them, they declined, as the party was only a few blocks away.

While the idea of a neighborhood full of people dressed a fraction of their age sounds like a white-van abduction waiting to happen, the neighborhood was a gated community. There were emergency public phones around every corner, security cameras, energy-efficient street-lights and being a member of the neighborhood watch was practically mandatory to live in this community. A creep couldn't even blink without at least three pairs of eyes watching his every move.

The Smith-Flores House was one of the biggest in the neighborhood, home to Assistant Mayor Gabrielle Smith-Flores, her husband Louis and their daughter Marie.

Tied to the flower-bushes out front were balloons in a variety of pastel colors, with various cars parked out front and people from all over the neighborhood walking in.