Feeling bored on a Sunday, Tanner needed to find something to do before he dies of boredom in his room. Max was busy, and he didn't want to hang with Dayna, but perhaps if he ignores her more, the more she'll realize that they clearly weren't meant to be, that is if it really does work. But for now, Tanner needed to do something.
Remembering that Autumn's birthday was next Saturday, he decided today would be a good day to find a gift for her, and he knew just the place to look for someone like her: Barnes and Noble, the center spot for every reader and writer. He's only been there a couple of times, but it was just for books he needed to buy for school.
Once he parked his car in the parking lot, he went inside and could already smell the book pages and coffee that scented the store. Not knowing where to start, he decided to check out the new young adult books, hoping to find a novel that she will like. Already knowing that she enjoys writing romance stories, perhaps she would like one herself.
But as he was searching, familiar voices caught his attention as he stopped and turned, and to his astonishment, Autumn was checking out a book in the classic stories area as her sister Kara was more distracted on her phone. Tanner could already feel a smile spreading across his face as he watched as Kara went away, giving him the perfect opportunity to go talk to Autumn.
With her nose embraced in a book, he made his way behind her as he slowly peered over her shoulder and looked down at the book she was reading.
"Watcha reading?" he spoke making her shriek with a jump.
Tanner stood back surprised by her reaction when he noticed that all eyes were on them.
"Nothing to see here" he announced as they all turned away.
He had forgotten that people with Asperger's are really sensitive and tend to be jumpy. And by the looks of Autumn with her hand on her chest, she appeared really embarrassed.
"Sorry" he apologized with guilt "I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's fine" she assured, "It happens a lot to me."
Putting the thought of imagining her reacting to sudden surprises, Tanner continued to talk.
"So what are you reading?"
"A classic" she replied as she showed him the title.
"Treasure Island" he read the title "Wasn't there a Disney movie based off that story?"
"Yeah, it's 'Treasure Planet'. I recently watched it and now it makes me wanna read the original story."
He raised an eyebrow "How many genres do you read?"
"Well, it depends on how interesting they sound. But I mostly prefer fantasy, mystery, romance, and adventure."
"You're a pretty avid reader you know that?" he commented with a smile.
"Well when you're a writer you do a lot of reading" she smiled.
"Hey speaking of reading, when do you wanna meet up and work on our assignment?"
"I can do it tomorrow after school" she offered.
"Perfect" he grinned just as Kara came over.
"Tanner?" she snickered when she spotted him "What's a guy like you doing here?"
"What a guy can't check out a book store and run into a friend?" he replied in a slight chuckle, not wanting to tell the real reason to ruin the surprise.
"I'm not your friend" she responded with a side smirk.
"He was talking about me" Autumn corrected.
"Well, no dip Sherlock" Kara stated in an obvious tone.
Even by a little comeback, Tanner noticed that Autumn seemed really hurt by the comeback but was trying to hide it with a fake smile. If someone had given him a small comeback, he would have shrugged it off, but Autumn appeared to be having a hard time doing so.
"Well-" Kara continued to talk to Autumn "Mom and dad wanted me to tell you that we're leaving in 15 minutes, so are you gonna buy something or not?"
"I'm still looking" Autumn answered.
"Well hurry up" Kara complained as she walked off.
"Sorry about her" Autumn turned to Tanner "She can be a bitch sometimes."
"It's fine" he guaranteed, "She kinda reminds me of my own sister."
"It's just Kara's not interested in reading, she only reads a book on her own like every 2 months."
"Well some people just don't like reading" he stated with a slight shrug.
"Like you for example" she smirked.
"... Yeah" he admitted in a sigh "I guess I just prefer watching a story in action, you know what I mean?"
"I do. But reading a book is basically a movie in your head. And even though sometimes the words may be complicated, you can always look up the summaries online to help you understand the story. That's what I did when I didn't understand 'Pride and Prejudice' the first time I read it."
"Well, that's because it's an old story so the language is old."
"And that's why there's the internet" she smirked as he gave a chuckle.
"I guess I can give it a try" he declared "Although I haven't read a novel in a long time so I don't know if I can handle it."
"Don't worry, once you get hooked onto a book, you'll never wanna put it down. The same thing happened to me when I was discovering who I was. I used to not read any books, but then my dad introduced me to his mystery novel collection, and I was immediately drawn to them. And that kinda started my love for books, and then all of that reading inspired me to become a writer."
"Wow," he breathed amazed "Who knew books could do so much?"
"What I'm trying to say is, if you think you won't be interested in reading, give it a shot, it may surprise you. I know I was."
Tanner could already feel himself getting interested, one minute he wasn't interested in reading, but now after listening to Autumn's back story, he figured he might as well give it a shot.
"You got any suggestions?" he inquired.
"Well, what kind of genre do you wanna read?"
He began to think, what's a genre that can suit him?
"I guess adventure" he replied.
"Then read this" she handed him the 'Treasure Island' book "It has pirates, treasure, a one-legged captain, and a talking parrot."
He smiled as he took the book.
"Will you be reading it too?" he asked.
"You know I will" she smiled as she picked up another copy of the book.
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...
