The House

Chapter 1: Raleigh

Nine years ago

I'm leaning over the metal restraining lines on the side of the boat. My legs are slid forward so my toes drag through the fast water below me, and the salty spray soaks my legs. Addie is beside me, mimicking my position. She sees me smiling at her and grins widely back at me as the boat races through the water.

"Grandpa?" I call out over the roar of the waves.

"Yes, Raleigh?" He calls back from where he's at by the wheel.

I push my curly mop of hair away from my face before speaking. "When I get to be old enough to have a house, I want a house just like yours. And every day I will go sailing and visit Addie! And I would have baby eagles under the deck just like you, too!" I tell him.

He laughs loudly from his position at the wheel. "Well, when you get old enough, you can do anything you want to. Trust me."

I look over at Addie and we share another smile. She's happy I included her in my plans, I can tell. We were best friends after all. I already hated seeing her only over the summer, so why not see her all the time?

"Will you be here next summer?" Addie asks hopefully, reminding me that school was starting soon, and I was leaving Rhode Island again.

"Of course," I reassure her, "I'll come back every summer!"

"Good, 'cause you're my best friend, Raleigh. Ever since we met, I knew we would be best friends." She states matter-of-factly. Her eyes sparkle with the reflection of the glimmering water and the blue sky.

"Thanks, you too. I think Verona Bay is the best place in the entire world, way better than dumb Manhattan." Addie cocks her head to one side, looking at me. She must have realized I had said something about my family- or something close to it. She wants me to tell her more, but I already have shut down. I merely stare out at the ocean and at the growing island in front of us.

"Almost home!" Grandpa shouts to us, breaking the silence. "You guys ready to roast hot dogs on the beach?"

"Yeah!" Excitement flashes in Addie's eyes. Roasting hot dogs is her favorite.

Grandpa docks the sailboat and the dogs, Nemo and Dory bound towards us, barking and licking the salt water off our legs. I bend down and pet Dory's head, running my fingers through the soft white hair.

We head towards the house, and I can see a soft blue-green glow coming from the fire pit.

"Grandma just lit the fire, let's go!" I cry. I look at Addie, and we already know what to do. We glance back at the dogs and Grandpa one more time, and take off running, full speed ahead.

- - -

Present Day

Here I am, standing in the barren living room of Grandpa's house, and I'm lost. I breathe in deeply, smelling mint leaves and salt water in the air. The air smells stale and dusty, and my nose tickles with the beginnings of a sneeze. I quickly stifle it, because sneezing will make my nose run, and then the guys will think I'm crying. I'm definitely not that kind of guy, definitely not the one to cry when others will see me.

But I am upset. That, my friends know. I wear it around me like an ugly Christmas sweater: disappointing and, of course, ugly. They won't confront me, even though sometimes I wished they would. When they just leave me to my thoughts, it makes the sadness so much worse. It just sits in the bottom of my throat, until I manage to swallow it away. The distractions they provide help me to clear my head in times like this.

My thoughts are interrupted as I hear Rent screech his long, loud, battle cry. I know this cry well. It's the cry he yells from the bleachers when I'm playing in a big lacrosse game, or when he's had too much to drink, or when he's just really excited. Which is most of the time.

"Raleigh! This place is huge!" he screams from the foyer. "Man, this summer's gonna be great!"

Gabe jogs into the living room with Rent on his back. Rent seems to have an invisible whip in his hand, and he's pretending to snap it on Gabe's back as Gabe drags him around. Gabe quickly turns around and dumps Rent roughly onto the the worn grey-blue striped fabric of the couch. A puff of dust flies up in the air as he does so, causing Gabe and I to cough and sneeze loudly. Rent laughs and topples to the floor with a thud.

He looks at the light, wood floorboards and asks, "Where's Erica?"

"Over here!" I hear Erica call from the entrance of the living room. I look at her and she's pulling two rolling suitcases behind her, one in each hand.

"Those are both yours?" Gabe asks, shocked.

"Yeah, why?" Replies Erica.

"They're giant!"

"Oh," Erica laughs, "I've got even more in the U-Haul. Wanna help me bring it all in?"

Gabe scoffs. "Yeah-no."

"Well then. Let's start moving in anyways, what's taking you guys so long?" Erica asks.

"I'm tired," Rent groans.

"You're tired? You slept the whole way here! I had to drive!" I say, only half joking. It had been a long day.

"Fine, fine. Calm down, Raleigh." Rent's only a little offended.

"Come on, Pancake," Gabe says, using my lacrosse nickname as we walk back outside to get our suitcases and boxes from the U-haul.

"It's so freaking hot out." Gabe grumbles, peeling his sweaty shirt off a while later after all our belongings are inside.

"I know. It's more humid, if anything though." My hair clings to my forehead and my skin still glistens with sweat. I wordlessly point to the skylight above us, and the sky is dark. The ocean waves crash in the distance, and I know from experience that it's going to storm.

"Ooh, that looks foreboding" Erica draws out the word 'foreboding' for five seconds too long. It doesn't go well with her southern accent.

Rent smiles proudly at his girlfriend. "Nice word, babe."

Gabe drags by the staircase. "A storms a-brewin'," He drawls.

I run a hand through my dark curls and pull at my face. "I'm living with a bunch of weirdos," I groan.

Everyone laughs, then we all scramble upstairs to pick rooms. I immediately sprint to my old room, calling it mine again. It's the same way I left it when I was young. Same Batman sheets I was too modest to ask to be replaced when I got older, same comic-books, same everything.

"Nice superhero sheets, man. They're pretty cute." Rent pokes his head into my doorway and laughs.

I just flip him off over my shoulder and start unpacking. Gabe is in the room across the hall. Rent and Erica share a room at the front of the house since the house only has four rooms, and we still needed to save one.

We settle in quietly after the long day, the rain pounding on the windows, welcoming us into our new home for the summer.

"Hey, Raleigh." Erica walks into my room, I can tell she's trying not to laugh at my room.

"Hey," I reply shortly.

"When's your friend coming?" She asks quietly as I fold up a shirt and put it in the dresser. Her voice is tinged with concern but I choose to ignore it.

"Hm. Good question," I answer. "Any time now I guess. She texted me a while ago."

"Her name's Abby right?"

"No, it's Addie. Short for Adalene." I tell her, feeling excitement in my chest at the thought of seeing her again.