The Realmare (completed)

Day 1

Aaron, Casey and I enters Mr. Richards shop. Immediately, the smell hit me.
"What's that smell?" Casey asked
"Dust?" Aaron asked
"Old antiques waiting for a new home." I mumbled.

As the bell rang, Mr. Richard came out from behind the back. His hair was a spikey red that was slowly turning grey with age. He was wearing a button down plaid shirt with a blue jacket over it and long jean pants, despite the fact that it was summer.

"Rainy!" He said as we entered the shop.
"And guests." I said.
"Ooh! Care to introduce me?"

I pointed to the man on my left. He was a year younger than me but was still cool. He had on an old faded band t-shirt and black pants on. His black hair was long, down to his shoulders. "This is Casey." I said.

I pointed to the man on my right. He was a year older than me. His black hair had recently been died blue. He donned a light blue t-shirt from one of his favorite stores with dark blue shorts. "This is Aaron." I said.

"I see. Well, what can I do for you all?" Mr. Richards asked.
"It's summer. Do you have anything interesting for us to do?"
"Well... I might have something."

He ducked under the check-out desk and popped back up with a thick looking book. The three of us walked over to the desk. The books cover was made of thick black leather. The pages were yellow with age.

"What is it?" Aaron asked.
"It looks like a Necronomicon." I commented.
"A what?" Casey asked.
"An ancient book that gives you the power to summon creature such as Cthulhu." I explained.
Both of the boys nodded.
Mr. Richards laughed.
"Your not far off Rainy. This book is called a Houja. It predates any of the paranormal books I've shown you." Mr. Richards explained.
Casey coughed "nerds"
"Oh please, I've been called worse." Mr. Richards scoffed at. Casey. "Anywho, what do ya say Rainy, you wanna see what it's all about?"
I looked over at the guys.
"How much?" Aaron asked.
"I don't charge Rainy. I know coming here has been helping recently." Mr Richards said.
My eyes widened and I looked down at my feet.

"Xavier, the cookies are ready!" An elderly sounding lady yelled from the back.
"Bring then out here!" Richard responded.

Suddenly, an elderly lady shuffled out with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Her curly hair was grey with a hint of blond. She was wearing a red blouse with a blue skirt.

"Elaine, meet Rainy's friends Casey and Aaron." Mr. Richards said.
Elaine smiled and set the plate of cookies down. "Well, it looks like I should make a second batch. In the mean time, help yourself kids."
Casey's eyes widened. We all said our thanks to Elaine as she went into the back.
"Is that your wife?" Aaron asked.
Mr. Richards nodded.
We all complemented Elaine and how sweet that was as well as how fantastic the cookies were.

After stuffing ourselves with cookies, we were ready to leave the shop.
"Wait!" Richard half yelled before we got out the door. We all turned to him. "Be careful. Rainy. You know why I say that."

I nodded as we walked out.

As we exited the small shop, Aaron pulled me aside.

"You wanna explain what old man Richard was talking about?" He said as calmly as possible.
"What do you mean? Is this about the book?" I asked, holding up the thick black leathered book in my hands.

"No, what did he mean about you coming there? Is this," he said, pointing back at the store "the reason you never hung out with us after school?"

I was startled. I looked at my feet and then back up at Aaron. After a moment of silence, I was barely able to mumble  "I... I just..." the rest was inaudible. Aaron asked me to speak up. I looked back down at my feet again. My eyes swelled up with tears. I used my, obviously dyed, jet black hair to cover my tears. A tear fell onto the pavement as I began to sob.

"Rainy," I Casey began, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Aaron and I just want to know what's wrong." I looked over at Aaron. He was tall, easily six feet, probably more. He could have played sports if he wanted to. Instead he chose to befriend Casey. Later on meeting me, the shy new girl that everyone else seemed disinterested in. They told me it was going to be alright. That those kids were shallow anyway. I didn't want to be friends with them. Eventually, we formed our own Loser Club.

I had begun hanging out with Casey and Aaron, but always during lunch. Any time they asked me to hang out after school or during the weekends, I made up some sort of excuse. At first, they understood, but I could tell they were becoming suspicious.

Casey was only a few inches smaller that Aaron but they easily towered over me. I was only 5 feet tall, maybe less. Aaron tried to hug me, which turned out to be very awkward. I pulled away and Aaron was left with his arms open in a hugging position, just dangling there in the air.

"I'm sorry." I said, wiping my eyes.
"No need to apologize." Aaron said, finally putting his hands at his side.

It was obvious that Aaron liked me, but both of us were to nervous to admit it to each other.

"Rainy, talk to us." Casey said.

I used my bright blue band t-shirt to wipe the rest of my tears away. I wiped her hands on my ripped shorts and cleared my throat. "I need to go home."

"Oh come on!" Aaron yelled. "You always need to go home! Why can't you just stay and talk to us?" I jumped back, startled.

I checked my phone, then slid it back in my pocket. Before walking away, one word sprung from my mouth as I slipped into the distance.

"Dinner!"