Mysteries in Massachusetts [Rae & Fiction]

[Raerae]

Beacon Hill, Boston.

"Welcome to Boston! Not too shabby, eh?"


"Mom... Stop shouting."


"Oh, am I shouting? Oops," The brunette flashed a cheeky grin, whirling around and hurrying up the steps to their new town house. Her keys jingled in her palm as she jiggled a little golden one into the doorknob of the left French door, looking over her shoulder, still smiling, "It's a little worn, but we'll fix that."


I grimaced as the older doors finally opened with a groan, revealing a small foyer, with steps ascending to the second floor, hugged to the right side of the wall, and then a long, narrow corridor on the left, leading into another part of the brownstone she'd yet to see.


"Girls? What are you waiting for? Grab something from the truck and let's explore! Isn't this great?" She disappeared inside with two duffle bags.


"Who's she trying to convince, us, or her?" I asked, pulling my hip length, cinnamon locks into a high ponytail, before grabbing a box I knew was to heavy for me, and heaving it up the steps and inside. Behind me, my younger sister snorted, grabbing a simple grocery bag with snacks and heading inside.


"Mom! Where are you?"


"In the kitchen!"


Upon stepping over the threshold, wooden boards beneath us groaned in greeting. An annoyed sigh escaped my lips as my younger sister took interest in them, rocking back and forth in her feet, a groan emitting from the ground with every shift in her weight.


"Knock it off."


She just giggled and passed me, purposely stomping down the hall, a cacophony of squeaks and hisses under every step. I trudged forward, behind her, noting naked walls with chipping paint, and eventually came to another open space. To my left, the kitchen, which I assumed was as outdated as the rest of the interior. On the right, was an wide empty section, presumably the living room which, by the look on my mom's face, she was already starting to design. A ways before me was a little sliding glass door. Sunshine seeped in through the panel, illuminating the floor boards and reflecting off then onto the ceiling, warmth centered in that one spot. That's when I noticed the house was colder than it'd been outside- but that was the fault of vacancy, of course.


As I dropped the box and poked my head outside, I sighed, sorely disappointed with the view. An unkept lawn, golden and crunchy, with one, towering tree left to rot, barren of leaves with outstretched branches that scratched on the rooftop eerily. A six foot high, weathered brown fencing surrounded the area, leaving just enough view of the distant mountains and other complexes.


"Like it?"


I jumped as my mom's head popped outside, beside mine, Brown eyes wide with hope.


"...Yeah, just... waiting for Caspers uncles to get home."


"Oh, stop," She disappeared again, and I heard the distant sounds of her footsteps as she scaled the stairs. "Come claim a room, kids! You're finally going to have your own room! Once we settle in we'll go get you enrolled!"


To that, I visibly slumped, plopping down on the small deck and slamming the glass door behind me. That was the last thing I wanted to think about.


-


Next day


-

East Boston High School


Riiiiiiing!





The school bells blared as I exited the car, waving off mothers wishes for a great first day. I'd heard it fourteen times in my life, it was getting a little tedious.


Teens sprinted to their classrooms, and I visibly grimaced- The dread of a classroom was the worst feeling ever. The squeak of expo markers, that one kid who refuses to stop texting, the misuse of AC- I dreaded. Absolutely dreaded it. Yet here I was, again, making my way across a palatial campus and to room 108, which was...


I smoothed out my crumbled schedule, audibly groaning as I read math. Math. Of course it was math.

 

[Fiction Fanatic]

THE PREVIOUS EVENING


----


As autumn's dusk descended on the city of Boston, I mostly just wished I could feel the cold.


I'm sure it's a thought that must have seemed weird to most people, and I'm sure that I would have agreed with them, before. But, there I was, seated on the curb of a busy street watching the traffic dwindle as the evening wore on, absolutely dreading the fact that the cold breeze didn't hit me like it used to. Or that the wind didn't catch and tug at the sleeve of my grey hoodie, or that my hand resting on the pavement couldn't feel the material's coarse texture; that it wasn't able to distinguish between it and the specs of rock and dirt that were resting on top of it.


I know it seems like a petty problem, but that lack of sensory connection to the world around me, compounded by... however long I've been like this really took it's toll. If you can't feel the cold, you can't feel warmth, either. And that mostly just left me feeling hollow.


----


The neon sign directly behind me, wearily advertising the fact that Adam's Convenience Store was opened, blinked off, and shortly after the girl who had been working the counter exited the building, locking the door behind her. That kind of surprised me, because it meant that midnight had crept up way faster than I expected it to. I'd stopped there at a loss for where to go, and figured I'd wait a bit and watch the people who still seemed to have a places to go and people to see drive their cars past one another. That had been hours ago now. I had these weird moments of mental lapses where time slipped by me in the blink of the eye. They'd been happening since I changed, but recently they've been getting more severe, and frequent. Another aspect of that change itself, I imagine.


I sighed and stood up, watching as the female convenience store clerk rounded the corner of the block. She hadn't stopped to say anything to me, of course. Nobody ever did. I was relatively certain I was invisible to everyone else around me. Unable to feel the world, or interact with it at all, really.


----


THE NEXT DAY


I think the reason I always ended up returning to East Boston High School after I was done wandering was because I had a craving for something resembling a routine in my life. It sort of acted as my gravitational center, in some way. Plus, the place seemed... familiar, in some way. It seemed likely to me that I had attended this place, before I had become like this, and nowhere else in the world really resonated with me in that way. So, most mornings, I would walk passed the courtyard and atrium where a bunch of teenagers were gathered, and slip into one of the classrooms. No one ever saw me, of course, but it at least felt like I was among peers, if I really allowed myself to slip into the illusion. And, honestly, listening to a lecture was one of the few things I could do normally. I liked being able to sit in an English Class and just.... learn. Like a typical student.


This particular morning was much the same as any other, with me weaving in between groups of people before first bell. The funny thing about no one being able to know you're there is that you end up overhearing a ton of things, and I spent a good amount of time just listening to them talk.


Eventually, though, they all scattered, rushing to their first periods, and I followed after them, eventually picking a class at random to enter. I waited until I was sure everyone had arrived, I sat in an empty seat, observing the people around me either grab textbooks or talk to the people beside them.

 

[Raerae]

As always, I waited for everyone to file into the classroom before I entered. Though I wasn't one to cower, I also bruised easy, and being shoved around for being the only lissome figure in the doorway wasn't on my agenda this morning.


Oh, God... It's only morning. I have five more periods to go!


As I stepped over the threshold, I noted there was only one little plastic chair, settled in the back of the room, but I didn't care about placement, the more hidden the better I assumed; either way, this subject would be the death of me. After avoiding two out stretched legs presumably meant to trip me, and the mad dogging, crystal blue eyes of a blonde the row in front of mine, I came to the spot I'd been left with. Beside the chair, both of which were a little isolated from everyone else, was a young man, wispy, sombre, with endearing, gray eyes. My focus sharpened as I admired his aura, they didn't surpise me as much anymore, but his radiated hues of snow white and jet black, some thing I'd never seen before.


"Miss... What's your name?"


My head shot up and the tingles of anxiety had already pricked at my finger tips. I'd tried to process what he questioned, all the while adjusting my eyes to the change of focus.


"...E-Evans. Rae Evans."


"Well, Rae Evans, would you care to take a seat so I can begin teaching?" The older, gruff man remarked.


The brunette only rolled her eyes, and plopped down in the seat beside the guy whose aura still weighed on her mind. However, merging with those thoughts was that rage that'd been silently building up since first grade. She couldn't stand the belittling.


"Just a little bit longer, and I am so getting my GED." She groaned, half talking to the guy beside him, but mostly to herself.