PROLOGUE

Riley was playing with her brand new Bratz doll, dressing her up, doing her hair in floppy hairstyles and other things a five year old girl would be doing.

But then, she heard a loud 'honk' from outside, disturbing her playtime. Riley wondered what it could be, and as her little five-year-old mind only contained information she learnt in kindergarten, she couldn't really decipher it.

So Riley decided to stand up and dust invisible dust off her pink-rose dress. Then she went to her mom, who was baking cupcakes - Riley obviously knew the smell well.

"Mommy, what was that loud noise?" Riley asked.

Her mom looked at her, smiling.

Strangeoutcast
Riley started jumping up and down. She liked the idea of new friends. Riley's mom took out the cupcakes from the oven before leaving them on the hob, letting them cool.

"They're our new neighbours, sweetie." Her dad replied, walking into the room.

"We'll visit them once the cupcakes are ready, m'kay?" Riley's mom said.

Riley nodded quickly, putting her hands behind her back as she walked near her mom, wanting to see the cupcakes.

Her mom carried the cupcakes as they
walked over to neighbours house. Riley was so excited to visit them, that she put on her special bow just to meet them. A big blue bow with white gems all over it.

"Riley, would you like to knock on the
door?" Her mom asked.

Riley shook her head. But then nodded after quickly thinking about it. She ran to the door and started knocking.

A woman with pulled back blonde hair
opened the door. She had brown eyes
and bags under them. She looked as if
she was in her early thirties.

"Hi, my name is Perri. We live just next door and we noticed someone's moving in, so me and my daughter decided to visit." Her mom grinned at the woman, and the woman grinned back at her.

"Hello. My name is Morgana. Come
in, barely anything is unpacked, so
I apologize about all the boxes." The
woman smiled even more - if that was
possible

Riley and her mom walked in when
Morgana moved to the side, allowing
them to step inside.

"Who's that, mommy?" Asked a little
boy around Riley's age.

"Those are our new neighbours, baby."
Morgana beamed at the boy, before
turning to Riley and Perri. "That's my
son, Lucas. He's 5."

"What a coincidence, my little ones
five too! Aren't you, Riley?" Her mom
exclaimed.

Riley nodded. The boy went in front of his mom.

"Do you want to play cars with me?" He asked.

Riley looked at her mom. Her mom just smiled and nodded towards the stairs, but hesitantly looked at Morgana, for
her desicion. Morgana nodded, and so
did Perri.

Riley and Lucas laughed as they started running up the stairs. They went into a light-blue room, where there was a bed that was already made, a train set and a few cars out. Clearly, not enough unpacking was done.

After hours of playing, Perri finally
called her daughter to come home.

"Aw, I really liked playing cars with
you." Lucas sighed.

"Don't worry, I'l ask my mommy if I can tomorrow." Riley suggested

Lucas' face beamed as Riley suggested
it. Then he nodded.

"Bye, Riley." Lucas said.

"Bye, Lucas." Riley smiled at him and he smiled back.

Lucas went up to Riley and gave her
a small peck on the lips. Riley looked
down, blushing. She glanced at Lucas to see he was flustered too.

Then Riley ran down the stairs to be
greeted by her mother. Perri and Riley
said their goodbyes before they left.

Once Riley got home, she started
fiddling with her hair, so she could
get her hair out of the uncomfortable
hairstyle - only to realize her bow was
now missing.