Imposter Syndrome: Chapter 2, Part 2
Welcome to Shady Springs
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…
Shady Springs was wide awake and bustling when they rolled into town. It was already hot at nine-thirty. Most of the adults were at work by now, tugging grumpily at their shirt collars and complaining to one another about the heat, but the sidewalks on Main Street were busy enough: the older folks were out and about (they’d been up since five, didn’t you know), buying their local newspapers before lining up at the Post Office for their daily chat with the nice man behind the counter; stay-at-home parents ferried pushchairs from the bank to the supermarket to the coffee place, checking errands off their list before the day got too warm; and kids, briefly free from the tyranny of the school year and determined to squeeze every last drop of fun from their summer, biked or skated or roller-bladed their way from one end of Shady Springs to the other, laughing and joking and being altogether too boisterous for the adults’ liking. Some kids were still at home, in bed or in front of the TV, but they were sure as heck missing out, weren’t they?
Theo knew if he was at home right now he’d probably still be asleep. But as he and Alex came to a stop at the north end of Main Street, resting in the shade of a little produce store with sweet-smelling plums and pears displayed out front, he decided that being outdoors on a warm summer’s morning wasn’t so bad. Except it was already so hot.
Alex wiped her forearm across her brow. “Tired yet?” she said, grinning.
“No way,” replied Theo, resisting the urge to wipe his brow as well. His head felt like it was cooking under the helmet.
“Good, because I’ve got some stuff to show you later.”
“Is any of it indoors? Maybe in, like, a place selling air conditioners or something?”
“You’re so weird.”
“I know.” Theo saw she was about to start pedaling again and grabbed her handlebar. “Wait, tell me about it first. About the binder. You said you would.”
“Ok, but not here,” Alex replied conspiratorially, glancing around like she suspected they were being watched. Maybe there’s a spy in the plums, Theo thought. “Comic book store. This way.”
She pedaled off. Theo readjusted his helmet for the fourth or fifth time, and followed.
They turned right and started along Main Street. Alex took it slow, weaving expertly between pedestrians. Theo did his best to follow suit, wobbling after her on the pink bike. Some people glanced his way and one or two smirked, but most didn’t care. They were in a hurry, doing their own thing.
“This is Main Street,” Alex announced unnecessarily, just as she’d done during her tour of the Oakwood house the night before. “It’s where all the stores and stuff are, apart from the big sporting goods place. This is basically most of the town, right here.”
“Right,” said Theo, almost bumping into a red-faced mother dragging a screeching toddler towards her car.
“The comic book store’s just up here,” Alex called over her shoulder. “Come on.”
They pedaled on for another three or four blocks, Theo growing sweatier with each passing second, Alex seemingly oblivious to the morning heat. How can someone who likes the sun so much be so pale? Theo wondered, as his helmet slipped down once again. Has she become a vampire since I last saw her? No, because then she couldn’t -
“Here,” said Alex, and he promptly ran into the back of her. “Ow!”
“Sorry,” he muttered, “didn’t see you.”