Upon seeing the Martìnez house, Rae concluded that a government job must pay well.

After being dropped off from the transit, she almost wondered if she had travelled to the wrong place. Looming over her like a castle was several levels of scraped down stone bricks. Everything from the tinted windows to the arched doorway looked old and worn down, with the weight of thousands of years upon it, but still stood tall. It looked small compared to the mansions beside it, but made Rae's home look like a minuscule doghouse.

Rae found herself upset that such a large area of land was given to one family, when others were living in sheds, but she also found herself desperately wishing she lived here. Mainly because what she saw outside the house took her breath away. The only colourful part of the otherwise dark design, were something Rae couldn't have recognized had she not met Lin: plants.

Bushes outlining a garden with real grass, and real dirt: plants. Flowers of colours she didn't even know existed dotted the garden and in the centre, a giant oak tree that seemed to sway peacefully with the wind: plants.

Everyone knew Darren lived far away from school, but Rae hadn't expected it to be miles away, in what some called the "Rich Country." She hadn't really expected any of this.

A bit tentatively, Rae made her way down the cobbled, snaking path leading to the heavy metal door, shoes snapping beneath her. She held down on the old fashioned doorbell, which rung loudly enough to hear from the outside. Almost immediately, the door flung open and Darren stepped out, as if he had been waiting for her the entire time.

"You be late."

"I-um missed my transport."

"It be happening... all the time."

He was grinning, but for the first time, Rae was able to pull her eyes away from his face to what he was wearing. She had expected him to wear his school outfit, like she had, for it was certainly cleaner than the 'comfort' clothes the government provided. But instead, he was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, which was dyed a Caribbean blue.

Now, if you are living in the century I think you are living in, these may seem like casual wear, but you have to remember, cotton, colour and basically all resources cost a fortune in Rae's time. So, of course, Rae felt very underdressed.

"Nice shirt." She smiled at him rather nervously. And then cringed inside. Not the conversation starter she was hoping for.

"Ugh, no." He leaned against the doorway casually. "My mother be choosing it out."

"Well your mother has good taste."

He laughed and backed away, letting the door open a little more. "Speaking of my mom, she be home in a few hours. Come in, we should be beginning."

Rae followed him into a hallway that her room could've fit into. She couldn't help looking at the framed pictures on the wall, as her family couldn't afford any, and because baby Darren was just adorable.

"Aw, that's you... and your mother?", Rae asked after finding a large golden framed picture of a moment frozen in time. A visibly crying baby with Darren's mess of black hair and tan complexion sat in the lap of a lady with blonde hair pulled back in a serious looking bun. Beside her sat a man whose skin was similar to Darren's— maybe a little darker— and his black hair was nearly identical to Darren's. He smiled in a carefree way, and his face had a gentle look to it. It reminded her of— Rae stopped herself before she got carried away analyzing Darren's family.

"Yeah, she be white." He replied now, smiling at the picture. "And my dad w-be Mexican. I be half and half. I was a grumpy baby, wasn't I?"

"And where's your dad now?" Rae watched him squint at the picture.

He hesitated. "Work. He probably be home after mom." There was definitely something there, but she decided not to go into it. "We be starting now?"

Rae nodded and followed him through another pair of ancient archways into a room lit by a ginormous chandelier. There was what she assumed was a dining table— although it seemed long enough to be considered a bench. The chairs were covered in satin pillows, much like Lin's house. The room was covered in a rose gold wallpaper and was large enough to allow walking space.

She sat down on one of the chairs and Darren sat down on the chair next to her, his knee accidentally brushing her leg. He rummaged through his bag and came out with a thick book, that looked fairly old.

"Shakespeare.", Rae said when he put it down on the table, "I see why you would have trouble with that."

"I be somewhere over here..." he flicked through the pages and followed the words with his eyes. He stopped somewhere in the middle and pointed at a page, where Rae began to read.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" She beckoned at him to continue.

"Thou... thou art more lov... lov—"

"—Lovely"

"—lovely and more temp...temper—"

"—Temperate:" she whispered. "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,"

"And summer's..."

"—Lease."

"And summer's lease hath too short a date:"

"Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often his gold complexion dimm'd."

As they read, Rae often looked up to see Darren's dark eyes staring intently at the words and felt... something. Like they were reading the words to one another— no, like the words were written for them. It was as if they were one soul separated into two bodies, two hearts drumming to the same beat. She leaned over and they both read the last line as one:

"So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee."

Darren looked up at the same time that she did and their eyes locked. His mouth quirked up into a smile and Rae felt the need to blush. She felt the strangest impulse to lean in and—

"All these thees and thous be getting my brain mixed up," Darren said "do you be understanding any of that?"

Rae shook her head and laughed, "No. Maybe we should start with something else."

He took out another book and they kept reading until Rae's throat was so dry her voice came out croaky. Darren looked up mid sentence and asked, "You be wanting water?"

Rae shook her head even though she did, "I can get some at home."

"No, no, you be having some of my rations."

Rae tried to protest, but he had already ran off to the kitchen. A while later, he returned with a glass cup about halfway full with water.

"Thanks." she took it from him, but hesitated before taking a sip, "You be sure?"

Darren rolled his eyes, "Yes. I not be needing that much after the pills. I not be minding them."

She sent the water down her throat in one shot and wrinkled her nose. "Really? I be hating them. My brother, he'll try and skip dinner just to avoid them."

"Oh. You not be having flavoured pills then..."

Rae shook her head and felt embarrassed. She should've realized, that Darren, who lived in a house like this would of course only eat well too.

"They be overrated, honestly." Darren said to break the silence, only succeeding to start a new one.

"You have a nice house." Rae said after a moment of looking anywhere but at each other.

Darren shrugged. "It be feeling empty sometimes."

It seemed the conversation could only get more depressing after that, so they went back to reading. They were so engrossed in the text, that when the doorbell rang loudly, they both jumped out of their seats.

"That would be mom..." Darren frantically started shoving any trace of the reading session into his bag and Rae helped. He ran to open the door, and Rae followed, peaking out of the corridor into the hallway, half curious to see what the Head of Transportation looked like in real life.

First, she just heard voices.

"Darren, your friend still be here?" The voice sounded high pitched but very professional. It felt strange to imagine that she was talking to her son.

"Yeah." Darren this time. "We be finishing up. Rae?"

Now with an invitation, Rae could step out into the hallway and saw Mrs. Martìnez for the first time. She was tall, and her high heels just added to the effect. She looked tired and still in her work clothes, but there seemed to be an air of royalty to her. Her nose was stuck high in the air, and even though she smiled at Rae it seemed more like a subtle sneer. Yet her dark brown eyes held a gentleness and vulnerability Rae had only ever seen in Darren, and her forehead wrinkled when she nodded.

"I not be thinking we have ever met.", she strolled down the corridor and Darren locked the door behind her. "But I do be thinking I heard of your father... he used to work in the Food Department, be I correct?"

The words used to rang in Rae's ear. "Y-yes Mrs. Martìnez."

"Please, call me Laura." But her face looked so threatening, Rae was sure she'd be killed if she called her Laura. The more she talked to her, the more Rae realized that she was most likely going to turn out to be like Laura when she grew up. "Nice to be meeting you."

She shook Rae's hand and left for the lounge (Rae was still shocked that Darren's family could afford a whole lounge). "You be welcome to stay for dinner!" Her crisp voice carried from the next room.

"That's alright, we're done here!" Rae yelled back, not nearly as crisp-ily.

Darren grinned almost apologetically. "So, goodbye, then?"

Rae nodded and grabbed her bag. "Goodbye." But it seemed incomplete. She squeezed his hand on the way out, and he squeezed back.

"We be meeting up again? I think I be getting a lot better..."

Rae nodded. "Definitely. You be working on the books for now."

The last thing she saw before closing the door was Darren's gleeful face. She couldn't stop smiling the whole way home.
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A.N: I wrote this whole chapter (and it was a long one) listening to an AVPM playlist... I have issues.

Thanks storieslover1230 , Isabel7789love , potterhead8910 and basically everyone who reads this story caussseee it really means a lot to me.