Astronaut

Chapter One: Astronaut

Harvey sings along to the track as he goes over to his little bookcase filled with various books on his favourite scientists, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman etc.
After having some time to himself, he hears the voices and running footsteps of his brothers and sisters outside in the hall, he comes out of his room to see what all the commotion is about. He enters his younger (by three months) brother John's room that he shares with their older sister Caroline, he sees all of his siblings in the one room; he wants to know what all the noise was for, and he begins to ask John the following question:

"What's with all the noise?"

"Nothing really, but we were wondering where you were because you just disappeared upstairs and no one knows where you went. You didn't even tell dad, did you?"

"I just thought I would enjoy some quiet time to myself. Is that a crime? And, no I didn't tell dad because I'd forgotten,"

"Oh, okay, I understand. Are you nervous about meeting the NASA cadets?"

"Nervous? No! Okay, fine, I'm anxious about tonight. I have to be in a crowded room with strangers who I might even have to talk to, which I'm not comfortable with because I can't do small talk like a lot of people can," Harvey replies, starting to become quite flustered as he describes tonight's event.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, plus you have us and the rest of our family to help you if you become too overwhelmed during the meet and greet parts or during the speeches too," John reassures. After a long while, it is finally time for everyone to get ready for tonight's main event. For starters, Harvey is being the most difficult out of all the children, not because he is kicking up a fuss just to throw a tantrum but because he has some minor sensory issues when it comes to clothes, thanks to his autism. He doesn't like tight-fitting clothes (and the little three-piece suit isn't helping matters), and he doesn't like the inside labels touching his skin because it feels scratchy and uncomfortable. He also doesn't like his hair being done up and hates the feeling of the gel if he touches his hair. In all honesty, if it was up to him he would happily turn up in his New England Patriots jersey he got off of his grandparents Joe and Rose, which has: OSWALD-KENNEDY #60 on the back of it, his denim-style NASA baseball cap which he got from his dads, a pair of jeans and trainers.