how do you know?

@ momentai.
Ally sighed as she dragged more stuff off of the truck, and into their new home. All in all, the community seemed nice... It was quaint and seemed like a nice place. Their house was large but at the moment very empty and echoed with all of the shuffling of boxes being moved in. Ally was taking it better than her sister though, Dawn. Neither of them were particularly happy of the move of course, but Ally was more of a "glass half-full" type and she was going to make the most out of this whole experience, for her father's sake. She knew he was under a lot of stress with the pressures of the new job. Ally noticed a boy in the neighboring house and smiled, blushing slightly.

Zane woke up in the late morning to the sound of moving trucks and groaned. Didn't they know that some people needed their sleep?! He rolled in his bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking straight out his window. No wonder it was so loud - the moving vans were parked right in front of his home... Must have been moving into the neighboring house. Great, he had new neighbors... He caught the glimpse of two girls, presumably sisters. Good -- hot neighbors... But that was all the more reason that he had to hide. Getting mixed up with the wrong people as a werewolf had devastating consequences and he had to be careful. At least he could meet them though, right? He made his way downstairs, walking outside and towards the moving vans. "Any way I could help?" He asked one of the beautiful girls.

Sam hadn't expected to hear so much noise so early in the morning. It didn't make much sense and, when he moved to inspect it, he was surprised to see moving vans. Since when did people move in around here? His eyes watched people move around, though he spotted a girl's attention on his home and he stared at her for a moment. Deciding to be a good neighbor, he moved from the window and got dressed before he headed out and over to the house, though the smell of human surprised him. Humans had never lived in the community before; it was always just supernatural creatures. So what were humans doing there now? Approaching the girl who'd been watching him, he offered a small grin. "Hey," he greeted, "I didn't know we were getting new members to the community."

Dawn didn't like this at all. Why did she have to move with everybody here? She'd rather be back at home, hanging out with her friends, getting drunk and partying constantly. But, instead, she was stuck moving to a boring gated community that probably didn't even know the meaning of fun. Or, better yet, their idea of fun was probably something lame like Bingo or community meetings. Sighing, she moved to grab one of the boxes, but frowned when somebody approached her and she eyed the guy for a moment when he asked about helping. "Yeah, it'd be a huge help if you could just get me the hell away from this stupid community," she said bluntly, not bothering to hide the fact that she didn't want to be there.

Ally smiled when a guy who looked her age, maybe a year or two older, came out to greet her and the family. She smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm Ally and we're the Winters family... My father is going to be the new chief of police in the community." She said and then her father called to her to help move some more boxes and stop "dilly-dallying" as he called it. "I gotta..." She motioned to the moving van and started walking that way, hoping he would follow her.

Zane recoiled at her negative response and shook his head. Humans... never happy. He didn't usually mix well with them. This was the reason why. "Well then... I guess I won't be helping... But hey, don't knock the community until you try it - we're pretty fun. After you're all done unpacking maybe I could show you so." He said with a smile, picking up a box anyway and following her inside with the box. "I'm Zane - by the way."

Sam smiled slightly and nodded to her words. "I'm Sam," he told her, though it surprised him to hear that a human would be the new chief of police. What was the community's higher-ups thinking? And why hadn't anybody been informed about this? "Do you need help with those boxes?" he asked, though he was quick to follow after her when she started walking to the van.

"What's so fun about it? The thrill you get when you win a round of Bingo?" Dawn asked almost mockingly, though she snorted quietly. She didn't believe him for a moment. There wasn't anything appealing about the community so far, except maybe this cute guy, so she doubted there was anything fun to do. She sighed, though, to his introduction as she grabbed a box and headed inside. "Dawn," she introduced herself.

Ally smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Sam." She said with a smile and then nodded as he asked about the boxes. "Yes, if you don't mind." She answered and handed him a box or two. "So you live close by?" She inquired as she picked up boxes of her own and led him towards the house. It was nice to have someone willing to talk to her.

Zane scoffed a little at her insult. He was really trying to be kind and get to know her... but this human was anything but agreeable in the moment. "You know, just because you don't like the community doesn't mean you have to bash it the way you are. It's not my fault that you were moved here and I was just trying to make it more bearable." He answered.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Sam said with a smile as he accepted the boxes she gave him without complaint. He figured the family had a lot to unpack, considering how many boxes there were. At least the house itself should have been fully furnished. "I do. I live right next door," he told her as he gestured to the house, "You probably won't have very many friendly neighbors, though. The community in general kind of prefers its privacy."

Dawn frowned and turned to narrow her eyes at him. "Did I say it was your fault?" she shot back, "You think your way of approaching the situation makes the fact that I got uprooted away from all of my friends and the lifestyle I have fun in makes this more bearable? Yeah, great, you totally accomplished that feat." She rolled her eyes and returned to taking boxes inside.

Ally smiled and nodded her head. "Oh that's nice!" She said as she showed him where to set down the boxes and then led him back out to grab some more. "Yeah, it's seems like a pretty quaint and quiet community. Are there many people our age or does everyone basically just keep to themselves?" She asked.

Zane had to hold back a deep growl and shook his head. He had to take a second to just breath to avoid getting too angry. HE really didn't like to deal with humans - especially rebellious and angry girls like she was. "Listen, I'm sorry - I was just trying to be a kind neighbor and I was just offering my help. I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone." He almost yelled.

"There are plenty of people our age, but they all still mostly keep to themselves. Even communities like this have... Ah, cliques, I suppose," Sam offered in response, though he offered a small smile to her and shrugged. "But, don't let them get to you if they don't welcome you with open arms or something. It's nothing against you. Everybody's just... Tightly knit around here."

Dawn flinched when she heard his voice bordering on yelling and she took a moment to collect herself, to pretend she hadn't jumped or flinched, and glared at him. "Well, you did a shit job," she said, attempting to keep her tone firm. She didn't say anything more to him, though, and gripped firmly at the box in her hands before she rushed inside and upstairs to the room she had claimed.

Ally smiled and nodded her head. "Thanks for the information.. Yeah, I'm sure it's going to be a little hard to get to know people in such a small community like this. But I'm glad that you came to introduce yourself." She stopped to talk to him for a moment since the truck was almost empty now. "What's there to do around here anyway?"

Zane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're welcome." He said angrily and shook his head. This girl was nearly unbearable. He really wanted to be kind and get to know her but he really couldn't help with it right now. She was in a bad mood - and that was putting her into a bad mood.

Sam thought about it for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. "We have a small shopping center," he told her, "And the school has events every now and then, along with the community having its own celebrations. There's a bowling alley and a mini golf place and an arcade, too."

Dawn didn't bother responding to him. Instead, she slammed her door shut, making sure it would be loud enough for anybody nearby to hear, and tried to focus on unpacking. All the while, she attempted to forget the events from earlier as well as the fact that she had met that guy.

Ally smiled with excitement as he told her about the things that there were to do around here. "This community doesn't seem so bad!" She said, mostly to herself though she was still talking to him. "It's been such a long time since I've been bowling or played mini golf!" She said with a laugh.

Zane didn't follow Dawn anymore. He saw Sam talking to the other girl and silently congratulated him that he was having better luck with her than he had had. He was in a bad mood now and really needed to run. He hid himself in the thicket of deep wood and changed to his wolf form, needing to work off this anger.

Sam was surprised with her excitement but he offered a smile and nodded. "Well, I could show you around, if you want," he suggested, figuring he could show her where the bowling alley and the mini golf area was. He also figured it might be best, in case somebody approached her or in case somebody tried to cause trouble.

It wasn't long before their dad asked Dawn to go to the market to get them some food. He assured her over how to get there, having been to the community a few times to look at the house and handle paperwork. She wasn't happy with the thought of going, but at least it got her out of the house, so she headed out.

Ally smiled a little as he offered to show her around and she nodded her head. She didn't want to be eager though. "I mean - I don't want to impose. I won't bother you." She said. She wasn't used to a cute boy asking to show her around. And she didn't want to scare him away.

Zane watched as the girl, Dawn, left the house and had the urge to follow her. He couldn't help it... There were a lot of bad things in the community and he didn't want someone else trying to cause trouble with her. He quietly, slyly followed after. He was staying far enough away to not cause an issue but to be there in case she needed him.

Sam offered a small nod to her words. "I don't mind," he assured her as he smiled slightly and took in her features. "We can go the moment you're ready to explore." He didn't want to rush her, after all, though he made a mental note not to let her stay out too late.

Dawn hadn't really noticed anything, but she was mostly concentrated on how much she hated this place already. As she walked, she noticed how quiet the area was and it only served to make her feel as though she was correct about this place being boring.

Ally smiled and nodded her head. She was very much enjoying his company and she would be excited to get more of it. She didn't know why Dawn was so uneasy about coming here. "Yeah... Give me a little time to get settled in and freshen up - say, 6:00?" She asked with a smile.

Zane couldn't take it anymore and finally approached her, falling into step with her. It would be safer if he could stop anything from happening first instead of having to step in once something was happening. "Well, fancy seeing you here." He said with a chuckle, glancing over at her.

Sam nodded slightly to her decision. "Alright. I'll come back then and show you around," he decided, figuring that it gave him enough time to think of a game plan. He'd have to be careful of which places he showed her, after all. "I'll see you, then."

---

Dawn arched an eyebrow and looked to Zane before she sighed and looked away. "Sneaking up on people is creepy. Weren't you aware of that?" she drawled out in response, though she focused her attention on the path ahead.