Disclaimer: I own only Anna.
Warning: Some swearing, not in this chapter but in the rest of the story when the angst gets started.
Anna sighed as she unpacked the last box. So, this was it then. They had officially moved. That didn't make it go away, though. The memory of what Jeremy had done still sent waves of nearly crippling pain through Anna's entire body.
The voice of her mother broke through Anna's reverie, "Anna, honey, could you bring the washing in?"
"Sure, Mom!" Anna called out in reply as she headed out towards the yard, grabbing the washing basket and pegs on her way.
It was windy outside and Anna's hair flew everywhere. She ignored it, bothering with trying to keep her hair still would have been an exercise in futility. When she had finished pulling all of the clothes off the line, she put the pegs on top of the basket and prepared to go back inside when she heard a noise.
Anna wandered over to the fence, her curiosity getting the better of her. The fence was wooden, and quite tall, so she stepped up onto one of the wooden bars holding it up, giving herself enough height to see what was happening over the fence. Anna saw a boy there, and decided that if she was going to do the cliché, fifties, over-the-fence thing, she might as well do it properly. "Hi!" She said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, "I'm Anna – Your new neighbour"
The boy laughed, and looked up at Anna. "Hello, Anna." He said, "I'm Kurt."
"Nice to meet you," Anna said conversationally as she gathered her hair up and pushed it behind her.
Kurt looked at his new neighbour strangely, "Do you spend a lot of time on fences?"
"More than you'd think," Anna said, propelling herself up to sit on the top of the fence. "So, feel free to tell me to mind my own business or whatever, but I'm going to ask anyway – Do you go to school around here?"
"Yeah, McKinley High" Kurt said, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked up at the strange girl sitting on the fence.
"Cool. I'll see you at school then." Anna grinned, if she was going to do this whole moving-on thing, she was going to have to start by making friends.
"Anna, dinner time!"
"That's my Mom." Anna told Kurt. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Kurt responded in a voice that suggested he found Anna incredibly strange. Which, if one was going to be completely honest, she kind of was.
As soon as she saw the familiar head of red hair walking through her living room, Michelle smiled at her daughter. "Anna, what took so long?"
Anna returned her mother's smile and sat down at the dinner table with her. "I was meeting the neighbours."
Michelle was happy that her daughter was at least trying. She wouldn't have wished what Anna had seen on her worst enemy, let alone her only daughter. "Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked gently.
"I will be." Anna wasn't sure if it was true or not, but it sounded nice.