Do not own Orange Is the New Black or any of the characters.

Okay, I think I say this like every time I start a new story- I don't need another one! Lol.

Now, don't worry all my others stories are in the works of being updated. (Yes! That means Hot Child in the City!)

Just, like as I always say, testing the waters with this one! :)

Thanks fig-aruna for editing!

The Suburbs

The air was hot and sticky.

The sky was an endless stretch of a bright vibrant blue. The sun a little ball of yellow beaming down.

It was one of those summers days that you remembered as a kid, playing outside on the street, hours on end in the beaming sun, sweat running down you nose and back. Your clothes sticking to your body, but hey, you didn't really mind because it was summer. You much rather be out, playing in the uncomfortable heat than in some stuffy classroom. You were happy in the sweltering sun.

Well, Alex Vause wasn't happy. Not by one bit. The heat was unbearable for her. She didn't mind summer. It was her favourite season. However, this humidity they were currently experiencing now was not right with her. It was way too fucking hot out, she thought as she twisted her long dark hair into a knot at the base of her neck.

She wiped the sweat off before going back to her task of cleaning out the garage. God, she couldn't wait until she could get out of this hell hole of a place and go back to her life in the City. However, that wouldn't be for a while still. It was taking her a lot longer to clear out her mother's house than she originally thought it would.

There was so much shit.

So much fucking shit.

Shit she'd long ago buried away or tried to at least. But now as she faced it, box after box, she was starting to realize that maybe she hadn't put it all behind her.

A sigh escaped from her lips as she looked down at the cardboard box at her feet. It was filled with all her old school stuff. Finger-painted pictures on yellowed paper and old school reports. Stuff that only a mother would keep or care about. Alex's school days were long behind her now. She hardly looked back at those days with fond memories. Sure, there were a few, but she wouldn't go back to those playground days of her youth if you paid her. She much rather be an adult and have to deal with the hard shit that came with being one. Like paying taxes and getting a job and such. She rather much have to deal with any of that stuff than playground drama again.

Let's just say growing up hadn't been that easy for her.

Alex adjusted her glasses which had began to slip down her nose as she sighed again. Placing her hands on her hips, she drifted her attention away from the box, along the driveway, and across the street where a moving van had just pulled up. It looked like the newest idiots of the neighbourhood where moving in, she thought in amusement to herself.

Alex didn't know why anyone would live in the suburbs of their own will. It was so boring and bland here she found. But hey, not anyone could afford the luxury of a brain, right? She stepped away from the box and walked casually to the end of her driveway to catch a better glance at the new arrivals. She knew she wouldn't be the only one showing interest in the moving van. Everyone would want to catch the first glance of whoever was moving in.

It was a pretty fucking big deal around here when someone new moved in.

She squinted slightly underneath the harsh rays of the sun as a white car pulled up into the driveway of the house.

Of course it was a white car. Everything here was some sort of shade of white: the stucco of the houses, the cars, the fences...the people. Let's just say the neighbourhood was a big fan of the colour white.

The couple didn't say anything as they pulled up into the driveway of the house and sat there, allowing the cold blast of the AC to blow over bare skin. They both peered out the windshield of the car and up at the house. Their house.

Piper Chapman, correction Piper Bloom (She still wasn't used to her new name) couldn't believe that she owned a house, correction again- that they owned a house.

She and Larry.

She still couldn't get over that they were married. It had been three weeks, almost a month now since they'd tied the knot. They'd just come back from their honeymoon in Florida. She knew, it's not the most glamorous place a girl dreams of going for her honeymoon. It was no Bora Bora. But money was tight at the moment for them with buying the house and Larry freelancing as a writer and herself starting her own business with her best friend, Polly. Florida had been really the only thing they could afford to go, and they had gotten a good deal. Piper hadn't been too upset about it; as long as she was on a beach of sorts, she was happy.

However, Larry promised her that he would take her on a proper honeymoon as soon as he could.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Bloom!" Larry's breath was warm against her ear as he leaned in close to her.

The blonde immediately turned her head and locked eyes on her husband. A smile spread across her features at being called a Mrs. She felt a small thrill of excitement in the pit of her stomach as she continued to hold Larry's eye.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Bloom," she whispered playfully back as she cupped the side of Larry's face before pulling him into a soft kiss.

The couple kissed briefly before pulling apart and getting out of the car. The humid air hit Piper like a ton of bricks as she stretched her legs and closed the passenger door of the car. She stood there watching as Larry walked down the driveway towards the moving guys, who were just getting out of the moving van.

She lifted her shoulder-length blonde hair off of her already sweaty neck and twisted it into a knot before letting it drop again to her shoulders. She shifted her attention away from Larry and back over to the house. She still couldn't believe she owned it. It felt kinda surreal to her how her life was turning out. It just seemed liked yesterday she'd graduated from Smith and was living back at her parent's house for the summer. That was eight years ago really. Not only had Piper had a few jobs since then, but she had met Larry and fallen in love and was now married to him and starting this whole new chapter of her life.

And this house was a shining new symbol of this.

The house wasn't one of those new developments that her best friend Polly and her husband, Pete lived in across town. No, this was an older house. The development that they were in had been built in the 1950's or so. The area had been pretty much abandoned since newer, modern homes and developments had began to be pop up nearby in the late 90s and early 2000's. A contractor had recently bought some of the houses in the neighbourhood dirt cheap and began renovating them. Keeping that 1950's charm, but with all the modern amenities and essentials. Or so they advertised. All that Piper knew really was that the house had been in their price range.

She would had been fine staying in the City for a few more years, renting until they bought a place, but Polly like everything else had convinced her otherwise to make the plunge into homeownership. Polly had wanted them to move into her neighbour, but the houses weren't in their budget. So they had settled for the older neighbourhood in town. It was still nice in Piper's opinion. It had that suburbs feel, but the houses here didn't look all the same like they seemed too in Polly's area. Plus, the older part of town was supposed to be making a comeback or so the real-estate agent had informed them when showing the house.

She continued to look at the house for a moment or two longer before glancing over her shoulder to see where Larry was. However, before she could, someone caught her eye. There was a tall dark-haired woman watching her from across the street. She figured this was one of her neighbours.

The two women locked eyes on each other and just stared for a good moment or two. They were both trying to make sense of each other or something it seemed.

Piper felt a funny feeling come over her as she felt the other woman's eyes continue to pierce into her. She couldn't quite place what she was feeling at the moment as she continued to look at her. Not knowing what else to do, Piper found herself raising her right hand and waving at the woman.

"HI THERE!" she called out with a smile.

The woman just looked at her for a second, almost looking perplexed at her gesture before a smirk appeared on her face.

"HEY!" called back the other woman at Piper.

She didn't wave like Piper had done. She just merely smirked, looking on at the blonde with an amused look before turning suddenly on her heel and walking back up her driveway, disappearing into her house.

Piper just stood there for a second longer, under the heat of the sun, looking at the house across the street and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

So what do you think?

Please, leave your thoughts in a review.

Thanks for reading.

Julie.