Imposter Syndrome: Chapter 1, Part 2
The Red Light in the Night.
Imposter Syndrome is a spooky young adult mystery set in the weird town of Shady Springs, where nothing’s ever quite what it seems. Paid subscribers can read full segments of the story as they’re released (and help support my fiction writing in the process). Annual subscribers will also get a free physical copy of the novel when it’s published in full.
Previously…
Inside, the Oakwood home was much like the exterior: formerly grand, now a little tired. It was all mahogany and painted-over wallpaper that was beginning to peel in places, with squeaky floorboards and candelabra-style ceiling lights. But it was clean and tidy, and the walls were covered with framed family photos: Tiffany and Alex building sandcastles at the beach as children, Uncle Kurt with toddler Alex on his shoulders, Tiffany’s first day at Elementary School, the whole family outside a theater in some city. Theo even caught sight of a photo of him - probably aged seven or so - with his arm slung over Alex’s shoulders, both drenched and happy after a water fight in the park back home. He remembered that day, but the memory was dull now, like an out-of-focus polaroid photograph.
Aunt Noelle pushed through the kitchen door at the end of the hall and the smell that wafted out made Theo’s stomach gurgle audibly. Uncle Kurt chortled.
“You must be hungry, son,” he said, his bushy eyebrows jiggling. “Alex, do you want to show Theo around before dinner? This is his first time here, after all.”
“Um, sure,” said Alex.
“Show him the dungeons first,” Tiffany called from the living room, where she was already flopped in front of the TV. “That’s where he’s sleeping, right?”
“Tiffany!” Aunt Noelle scolded from the kitchen. Uncle Kurt walked off, still chortling to himself.
Alex spread her hands and said, “Well, this is the hallway, I guess.”
“Cool,” said Theo, looking around as though there was a lot to see.
His younger cousin turned in a full circle, then said, “Oh, I’ll show you upstairs. Leave your bag here a sec.”
He followed her upstairs. Every step creaked and groaned, threatening to collapse under their minimal weight, but Alex didn’t seem bothered by it. She pounded quickly to the top and Theo had to hurry to keep up.
“So, this is the upstairs hallway,” Alex said unnecessarily once Theo joined her. “The bathroom’s here. You’ll have to use the shower early if you want plenty of hot water. Once Tiffany goes in it’s mostly gone. She takes forever now.”
Not a problem back home, Theo thought glumly.
“That’s Mom and Dad’s room - it’s always tidy because Mom’s, like, a neat freak - and that’s Tiff’s room. Do not go in there, ever. She’ll actually kill you.”
“I won’t,” Theo promised.
Alex led him to the end of the hall. “There’s only one window up here so it’s a little dark in daytime, but it’s not a big deal. You’re sleeping downstairs anyway.” Theo noticed there was a slight skip in her step; her earlier shyness was evaporating and there was a tinge of excitement in her voice now.
She’s proud of this place, he thought bemusedly, glancing at the faded ‘Keep Out’ sign stuck on Tiffany’s door. He wondered vaguely if he’d ever been proud of his own house. It’d never occurred to him before.
“And this is my room,” announced Alex. She pushed open the door and Theo followed her inside.
Back home, his Mom often described his bedroom as “what the inside of a dumpster must look like, only worse”, and he’d always assumed every teenager’s room was the same. All his friends’ bedrooms were, anyway. His clothes spent more time on the floor than in his wardrobe and as long as the blanket was on the bed, he considered it made. To Theo, bedrooms were for sleeping, so who cared what they looked like?
Alex clearly had other ideas. Her bedroom was pristine: her bed was made and her carpet was devoid of discarded clothes; the items on her desk, positioned just below the window, were neatly arranged; the shelves of a bookcase in the corner were stacked with paperbacks (Theo had exactly two novels in his room and used them as bookends for his video game collection) and there were more on her bedside table. The only things in Alex’s room that Theo immediately approved of were the movie posters tacked to the walls - The Hunger Games, Star Wars, Doctor Strange, The Maze Runner - but he didn’t vocalize it once he noticed the enormous Twilight poster adjacent to the bed.
Her room smelled differently to his, too, and it took him a moment to understand why. Because it’s clean, he thought, and she’s not a boy.
He suddenly realized Alex was looking at him, waiting for his reaction. “Oh, looks great,” he said. She beamed, and just then she looked a lot like Aunt Noelle.
“Glad you like it,” she said. “I didn’t have time to tidy before you got here.”
Wait, this is her room when it’s messy?
“Oh, I found something yesterday,” Alex said, going to her desk. She pulled a box from the bottom drawer and turned to Theo, holding it up. “Remember this?”
Theo recognized it right away. It was a board game called Escape from the Sinking Island. He hadn’t seen it in years. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“Do you wanna play it?” Alex said, a little breathlessly. “Tiff never wants to, not since she got her driver's permit. I haven’t played it in ages. I can set it up on my desk, I just need to move some things.”
“Um, yeah,” Theo said reluctantly. His stomach rumbled again and he thought, When the heck is dinner, anyway? “Later. Sure.”
Alex’s smile faltered and a flush crept into her cheeks. She lowered the game box a little. Then, as though someone had tugged an invisible string on her back, her smile returned, wider than ever. “Ok,” she said, “later it is.”
“Kids!” Uncle Kurt’s voice from downstairs. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Oh man, I’m starving,” exclaimed Theo. “Come on!”
“Wait,” Alex said, “I didn’t show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Show me after, ok?”
Theo hurried from the room, his stomach growling like an animal now. Alex looked down at the game for a moment, then slipped it back into her desk drawer and followed him.