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CHAPTER ONE | NEW IN TOWN
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i like to imagine that somewhere a girl takes revenge for me. she closes her eyes and dreams. she unfolds. she is insignificant and larger than life.
-the girls // odysseus elytis
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Hawkins, Indiana was not the place Jackie would have expected to find the answers to her newfound problem. However, her aunt Peggy was sure that Hawkins held the answers they were searching for. Jackie knew it had something to do with the research labs in Hawkins but she'd been far too zoned out when Peggy explained it all to understand.
Their new house far different from where they'd lived back in Queens — the prime example of difference being that this was an actual house and not an apartment. Between the two of them, there weren't many things for them to move into the house, especially since the movers had taken care of all the big things earlier that day.
Jackie's new room was bigger than what she was used to, and she was a little intimidated by that. Back in New York, they'd been considered to be on the poorer side of things. But now in Indiana they were comfortably middle class. It had something to do with the cost of living, according to Peggy.
And Jackie was in no rush the complain. This change in scenery was exactly what she'd needed. At her old school, she'd been branded a freak with the sudden appearance of strange abilities. A fresh start, where no one knew anything about her, was exactly what Jackie needed.
"All your stuff unpacked?" Peggy asked, ruffling Jackie's hair.
Peggy was setting the dinner table for the two of them. A delicious smelling concoction sat in a cardboard box on the counter, sending out wafts of garlic and cheese.
"I could only manage about half of it," Jackie mumbled, sighing heavily as she threw herself into a chair at the table.
This whole business with her body now just randomly going through things had quickly progressed from annoying to life halting. Half the time, she couldn't do anything because whenever she attempted to put her hands on something, she just wooshed right through it.
"We can try to do some more after dinner," Peggy said in a horribly understanding voice.
Two weeks ago, when Jackie sobbed in terror at the fact that she was suddenly incapable of touching and holding things, Peggy had just nodded and said that maybe it was time to move. Jackie was a furious, swelling storm and Peggy was an unyielding stone wall.
Dinner was short and quiet. Instead of talking, Jackie forced most of her mental power into keeping her hand solid for the duration of dinner. Sometimes concentration worked. Just as Peggy was beginning to clear the table and Jackie was finishing her second slice of pizza, the doorbell rang.
