Yes

As I step out onto the sidewalk, I take a moment to breathe in the clean, fresh oceanic air. Pacific Discovery Residences has always been a wonderful sort of gated community. They're broadly open-minded, and the environment is somewhat posh.

It isn't as glamourous as Beverly Hills, of course, but it is still a gated community. Aside from Dmitri Fandorin, whom most broadly tolerate, and his son Boris, whom more-or-less everyone in the entire community loathes, everyone's rather nice.

I can hear the sound of songbirds warbling in the planted, well-maintained trees and elderberry bushes that support local and migratory wildlife. There are no pets in the neighbourhood, due to a community ordinance banning anything furred.

As I start to walk toward Amy's house, I take time to admire the surroundings. The tall, white picket fencing provides a lot of individual privacy, and also makes the Homeowners' Association unneeded. Community management maintains fences.

Maintained fences means limited impact on property values from whatever your neighbour's yard happens to look like on the inside. One way or another, your neighbours won't need to see it, which means I can easily be bare in my parents' yard.

The walk down the sidewalk is calm, warm, but not silent, thanks to the singing birds. House parties aren't common, here, because of the community's rules and guidelines. No loud music allowed, or fines must be paid for disturbing neighbours.

At the first crosswalk, passing somewhat close to where Norbert lives and almost directly ahead of the Granger household, I pause, waiting. Once the crosswalk light turns on, I cross, even though I could have crossed before, in the absence of cars.

Hardwired safety-consciousness made me wait, though. Mom and Dad always taught me to wait until I knew I was the one with the right-of-way. Another block of neat, tall houses, pristine and painted in attractive colours that were respectable.

The colours were carefully curated, and the streets were named accordingly. I lived on Blue Street, and Gabrielle's family lived in Violet Circle. Amy, meanwhile, lived on Green Way, in the house the colour of dark green olives. Pretty, neutral.

I'd always liked the houses, here, at least from the outside. I hadn't been in enough to know if every house was identical, in terms of layout, but they seemed to be. I'd visited been in Amy's house more than a lot, and I'd been over to Gabrielle's.

Norbert's parents weren't fond of guests, but I'd gotten to stay over, once. It'd been nice enough, and his parents were on the cool and sweet side. The house layout seemed identical to ours, even to the extent Norbert and I had the “same room.”

Master bedroom on the first floor, one normal bedroom on the first floor, and three on the second floor. Not that unusual, I suppose, but the layout felt like a cookie-cutter mould. Not my place to complain, I suppose, since I get my own bedroom.

Author's Note:
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Here the story continues in Chapter 40: Yes, with my arrival at the Goodheart home.