As soon as it was time for them to go home, Tanner drove Autumn to her house where he parked out front. Like before Autumn didn't say much during the drive, but that didn't mind him as he watched her gather her things.
"I had a fun time today," he told her with a small smile.
"Me too" she agreed with a shy smile.
"You know, you may think that nobody wants to be your friend, but if they just get to know you, they'll see how cool you really are."
"Well my sister doesn't think I'm cool" she put in with a small sigh, "She thinks I'm annoying because of who I am."
"Well in that case-" he smirked "Don't tell her I said this, but screw her. You're cool, and hopefully, I'll get to see more of your cool side."
"If you do see more of the real me, you're going to wish I'd stay quiet."
"I'll be the judge of that" he smiled as she gave a shy giggle.
Just seeing her smile made him feel all bright inside, it was like already seeing the side of her she refused to show.
"Well um-" he began to say "I'll let you go now."
"Okay," she said quietly as she opened the door and stepped out.
After saying goodbye, Tanner watched her go to the front door where she stopped and turned to face him. He gave a wave as she smiled and waved back before going inside. With a smile on his face, Tanner drove off while feeling proud of himself to have a new interesting friend.
That night, as soon as Max came over, Tanner began explaining about his day with Autumn as they snacked in the kitchen.
"She's really interesting" he stated while munching on a bag of corn chip "Once you get her to open up, she's fun to talk to."
"So what did you find out about her?" Max inquired.
"Stuff about her family and things like that. You know her parents are still together?"
"Really?" he remarked a bit surprised "Wow, looks like she's one of the lucky ones."
"And get this-" Tanner added "You know how people with Autism and Asperger's are uncomfortable being touched? Well since I'm trying to help get better at social skills, I made her touch my hand."
"Oh no," Max's eyes widen as he stopped eating "What happened? Did she have another panic attack?"
"Not exactly" he sighed, remembering how she reacted to just a simple touch of his hand "She kinda did freak out a bit, and I watched her trying to fight against it. And by the look of her face, she looked really uncomfortable, I had no idea what a simple touch could do to her."
"Damn" Max breathed a bit shocked "Having Asperger's must really suck."
"What are you guys talking about?" Ally suddenly appeared.
"Why do you care?" Tanner questioned a bit annoyed.
"Because it sounds like you two are talking about a girl" she stated with her arms crossed "And it's not Dayna. Who is she?"
"It's none of your business Ally" he declared.
"Are you cheating on Dayna?"
"No" he replied shocked by her questioning.
"I wished you said yes," she said disappointed "When are you gonna dump Dayna, we all don't like her."
"Ally" he hissed with embarrassment.
"She's not wrong" Max agreed as Tanner gave a groan.
"Guys" he sighed "Don't get involved in my love life. I'll dump Dayna when I wanna dump her, and right now I'm trying not to think about that."
"Well, you should" Ally suggested as she walked off.
Max gave a snicker "I like her."
Tanner rolled his eyes while putting the bag of chips into the cupboard.
"Hey Tanner-" Max put in "When are you gonna hang out with Autumn again?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"Any chance I can join? I wanna get to know her too."
Tanner gave a snicker "Is this because you don't wanna be alone whenever I hang out with a girl?"
"You know me so well" Max smiled as Tanner gave a small laugh.
"I'll see about it" he smirked while taking out a Coke bottle from the refrigerator.
"Hey wait a minute" Max suddenly spoke when a thought came to him "Isn't her birthday the first day of Autumn?"
"Yeah."
"Dude that's next Friday" his eyes widen.
Tanner nearly choked on his own words "Oh damn you're right."
Even after she told him about it, he had already forgotten that her birthday was nearly here along with the first day of autumn.
"You uh, gonna do anything special for her?" Max smirked.
"Well-" he breathed as he began to think "I don't know what yet, but I'll think of something."
He began to think about what he could do for someone like her. Perhaps a movie, but he was hoping for something else where he could talk to her. Something that will get her to open up and really connect with him. But then he wondered what kind of gift she would like, only knowing that she enjoys writing, his options would have to be anything writing related.
"You got all next week to think about it" Max suddenly put in "So you got plenty of time. But in the meantime, I suggest you dump Dayna's ass."
"Dude..." Tanner groaned "For the last time, stay out of my love life."
"What love life?" Max doubted as he headed into the living room.
At first, Tanner felt offended, but after thinking about it, he realized Max was right, even though he was with Dayna, he was starting to lose interest in her.
YOU ARE READING
Becoming Normal
Romance(Inspired by my own life story, well not completely) Senior year of high school is already starting off well for Tanner Gray, he's got his whole life planned out, and he can't wait to share it with his best friend and girlfriend. That is until he me...
