Rude Awakenings: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 2)

Chapter Three: Lauren, Summer, 1978

Expedition #1. She was an astronaut leaving the pod for her first walk on the moon. She finished her breakfast, emptied her glass of Tang (what all the astronauts drank,) hooked the straps of her overalls, laced her sneakers, took a deep breath and marched to the door of the upper floor apartment that was their new home. There had been five other expeditions, each numbered 1, but she'd had to abort after chickening out each time. Mom was despairing that she would never leave her room, and pleaded with her to at least go outside on such a nice day, she didn't have to make friends if she didn't want to. So, that was what she decided to do, just go outside and pretend she was walking on the moon.

Another deep breath, and she turned the knob and hurried down the stairs before she could change her mind. The day was nice, the air clean, and she could pretend she was doing that bouncy zero-gravity walk when she jumped the ditch.

She was about to do just that when she saw the kids at the end of the street.

She'd seen one, two or all of them each of the other times she'd tried an expedition, and the sight of them had made her run back inside. It wasn't that they scared her, necessarily; they seemed pleasant enough, especially the girl who lived below her. What she was scared of was acting like she usually did and turning them off or, worse, making them hate her and do mean things to her, like they did in Richmond. She really didn't want to turn this girl off, because she wanted her as a friend, but what if she said the wrong thing or did something weird?

She stood there, rooted to the ground in indecision, feeling tight in the chest, readying herself to flee back into the apartment.

That was when she noticed that the kids were looking down at something. One of them was holding a stick and poking the thing with it.

Curiosity overrode her panic. Now she wanted to see what they were looking at.

She crept down the street toward them, hoping they wouldn't look behind them until she was right up beside them and it was too late to run away without looking like a startled deer.

What they were looking at was right where Lawrence Street met Ewen Avenue, where cars drove by at speed. They had to be careful they didn't venture out any further.

She took a deep breath. Here goes, she thought. Don't say anything weird. 

"Hey, what's that there?" she asked. That was all right. A simple question.

They all turned and saw her. The girl, blonde haired and green-eyed, wore a pink t-shirt and jean shorts, and sneakers just like Lauren's. Now that Lauren was up close, she could see her hair was a little tangled in the back, her clothes a little worn and tatty, her knees a little grimy and scraped. She looked like she had lots of fun, and Lauren really, really hoped she could be friends with her.

"You're the new kid," she said in surprise. "You live in the unit above us." 

That meant she'd noticed her! Lauren's heart raced with nervous excitement, and it took an effort to speak calmly. "My name is Lauren Hasegawa," she said. "My father, Toshiro, was interned with his family by the Government of Canada in World War Two. My mother, Ellen, is an English-born Canadian who fell in love with him and married him against the wishes of both their families." 

There she went again, saying something weird. They didn't need her whole family history!

"Oh. Okay," the girl said, and she didn't seem put off at all. "I'm Rachel McWilliam. My dad, Henry, works at the Queen's Hotel down the street. I don't know where my mom is. She left when I was five."

Not only had the girl, Rachel, not made fun of her, she'd mimicked her by giving her own family history!

The girl then pointed to a small boy, only a little taller than Lauren was, with brown hair and a shy expression. "He's Alistair Mackenzie. He lives at the dead end of the street with his mom and dad and two Dobermans that I'm afraid of, Hunter and Duchess."