Imposter Syndrome: Chapter 5, Part 4
A New Mystery.
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…
And as it turned out, Bryan did know where the owners of the big station wagon lived.
They’d managed to sprint all the way up Main Street and part way up the road leading out of downtown Shady Springs before their lungs decided they’d had enough. Then, huffing and puffing, they made their way up the hill Alex and Theo had coasted down so easily that morning on their bikes, keeping tight to the verge once the sidewalk ended. Plenty of cars passed them along the way but none slowed down, and no-one would remember them the next day - it was summer, after all, and kids were everywhere.
Almost half an hour after leaving the park, they came within sight of the Oakwood house. Joe thought walking right up the lane to the front door might be a little too conspicuous and Bryan agreed, so they cut across the adjacent field instead and ducked into the bushes along the edge of the garden. They didn’t know it (how could they?), but they weren’t far from the spot where Alex had shown Theo the contents of the binder.
And it was a good thing they didn’t approach via the lane either, because no sooner had they reached the safety of the bushes than the big station wagon came roaring up to the house, kicking dust and dirt into the balmy night air in its wake. Tiffany’s detour to Darren’s house (and her prolonged, sloppy goodbye) had given Bryan and Joe time to catch up. They watched from the shadows as the older girl sauntered up to the front porch, followed closely by Theo and Alice.
No, not Alice, Bryan corrected himself, remembering now. Alex. Alex… Oakwood.
The three disappeared inside.