I've Spent My Life Being Different, So How Can I Be Normal?

Chapter 2: Hey, SpongeBob!

Julie groans, and ushers me to our next class. I tilt my head to see out the windows. What is that? It looks like... It looks like SpongeBob! I peer up, over the lockers, and -ow!

Some boy was standing between me and SPONGEBOB! How dare he? I'm about to tell this to him, when Julie glares at me. Hm. Well, it would be rude not to say anything, so I say the second thing that comes to mind.

"You should get shorter. See, I'm not too tall, and neither is Julie, and we could get seriously injured if we bump into you again."

Julie's look says I said the wrong thing.

"Okay, okay. Um... sorry for crashing into you, but I really needed to see if that was SpongeBob or not."

The boy doesn't get what I'm saying. He's just staring at me with an expression I know all too well.

"DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU BLOCKED MY VIEW OF SPONGEBOB!!!" I yell.

Poor kid. He doesn't seem to realize the importance of SpongeBob in his life. Based on his expression, he's either fighting the urge to bail on this disappointing conversation (although I don't see why) or really needs to use the bathroom.

I don't think I make good first impressions.

Apparently so, because Julie drags me away before I can destroy her reputation any more. Sadly, I would have liked a view of SpongeBob. Nothing's better than an animated sponge living in a tropical fruit. Julie sighs. 

"Emily, what am I going to do with you?"

"I dunno."

I don't think she wanted an answer, but she took it anyway. I talk too much for my own good. At the wrong times. 

By the end of the day, I'm pretty sure I annoyed three people, freaked out two new kids, and made one very uptight girl completely lose it. 

I'm worse than last year.

Demonstration, please?

Okay, let's see. I was walking to Biology for last period when this new kid (evidently so, because he had that utterly lost expression on his face) asked me where the English classroom was. Instead of telling him where it was, I told him that I ALMOST saw SpongeBob earlier today. (Yeah, I'm still fuming from that. Who wouldn't be?) After that, I launched into a very long recitation of pages of useless depressing poetry ripped out of various people's notebooks that flew out of car trunks in the past two years. That was probably the part where he decided I was a freak. Usually the new kids come to that conclusion on their second or third day, not their first. Must be a fast learner.

At least the kid was decent enough to say an extremely wary "bye" after my monologue was over.

I'm sure we'll be very good friends.

"Emily?" Julie sits down next to me on my bed. "You know this is high school. lt's only going to get worse the more weird stuff you come up with."

"Thanks a lot."

She sighs. I beginning to think I influence a lot of sighing on her part.

"Emily, why are you so... not normal?"

I don't know about that question. It's like asking why my hair is brown. 

"My cousin's pet chicken told me I would be better off being not normal rather than normal."

Where did that come from? Oh, well.

Julie lets a small smile flutter around her lips. Strangely, she reaches out and hugs me.

"Well, then, just keep being that not normal self you are, then. After all, all the tofuian gods wouldn't get their tacos without you, right?"

I smile. At least someone doesn't judge me on this stuff.

"Right."

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