Anything But Normal

How it Started

I'll start from the beginning, because my English teacher always says there's a beginning and end to everything. I have my beginning, but that's about it. So here it goes.

Everything happened, more or less, without my direct consent. It was the fall of my senior year. It was starting to get colder, soccer workouts were getting harder, but besides that, nothing ever changed.

Every day, I had the same routine.

"Matty, up and at 'em!"

My mother would pound twice on my door, making sure I was up before she left for work. Her shift at the hospital started at 7, school started at 8, so after I got dressed and showered, I poured two bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios for myself and my twit of a brother Max. I fed Peanut, our golden retriever, and I packed the two of us lunch. Max slammed the sliding glass door that led to our moderately sized back yard, letting Peanut out to do his business. My dad called the home phone, already at work, making sure the two of us were halfway out the door already. Always, we were.

I dropped Max off at the freshman wing at our public high school around 7:45, then doubled back to the senior lot and parked my Jeep by 7:50. At 7:51, I was swinging my backpack over my shoulder, slamming the door to the 2006 wrangler, and probably already fist bumping my best friend Brendan, who usually parked his truck the next spot over. We walked towards the senior hallway, and at some point our second best friend Chase would catch up to us, out of breath from running from his twin sister's BMW. She was always late.

I ditched most of my books in locker 2567, still talking to Brendan about whatever show he was watching or girl he was chasing. My last name is Parker and his is Pearl, so we were almost always next to each other in every single school organized event.

The warning bell rang, and I waved off Bren to head to math. Some days I walked with a girl I've known since grade school, (her name was Taite and she was drop dead gorgeous and super cool) other times I walked alone.

After math came English, then chem, then US History, then lunch. Of course, I sat with Bren and Chase everyday, along with a few boys from the team I got along with but didn't really care about. After lunch was gym, my current events class, and finally drama. I had avoided taking the subject all four years, but since I needed to fulfill my arts requirement and Art 1 was full, drama it was.

After that, I had practice or a game, then I fixed whatever dinner mom had left in the fridge during her lunch break. I fed Peanut, watched Netflix, and maybe reached for my backpack, depending on how good my episode was. Mom and Dad both came home around 9, where we all sat down on the couch and talked about our days. Dad and I had a bowl of chocolate ice cream, but Max didn't because he's a freshman boy who is probably trying to impress some girl or another. Then, we went to bed.

This was my routine. Every. Day. The weekends were about the same, except replace school with going to Brendan's castle of a home on the end of Hillcrest Drive, and it's the exact same thing. I am normal. Our house has a picket fence. I live in a nice suburb. My name is Matthew James Parker for god's sake, it just does not get any more cut and dry than that.

But then, the unspeakable happened. I, one of the seven Matt's in grade 12, me, Matt Parker who's never had a girlfriend, the same Matt Parker who's really only seen porn twice, me, Matt J. Parker, spoke to THE Cash Ryder. And I never had a routine again.

It was a Saturday in September, and it was strangely warm for a suburban Connecticut fall. Brendan, Chase, and I were at the school in our gym shorts and t-shirts trying to start a game of pick-up basketball. A bunch of guys we hung out with were on their way, but the three of us started shooting around anyway.