The whole day, Autumn had avoided Tanner, and the more she did it the more it broke his heart. And by the time he got back home, he went straight up into his room and didn't even bother to start of his homework. At this moment he didn't care, he didn't care about anything besides Autumn, and all of this worrying was making his head ache.
"Okay something's wrong" Ally suddenly burst in making him jump.
"Ever heard of a thing called knocking?" Tanner grunted while laying on his bed.
"That's not important right now, what's wrong?"
"I already told you I don't wanna talk about it."
"Well, I do. Seriously Tanner what's wrong? You're starting to scare me right now."
By the look of her face, Tanner could see how worried she was, and just seeing her that way wasn't stopping him from hiding his pain.
"Fine" he breathed in defeat as he sat up "Um, remember when you told me of me liking Autumn?"
"Yeah."
"Well, turns out, I do."
"Really?" her face lit up, but not even her smile was making him feel better.
"Yeah but-" he added in a sigh, "She said that she couldn't be with me because her disability makes her lose interest in those who befriend her, so she doesn't wanna hurt me."
"Oh" she replied a bit sadly.
"But that's not all" he put in while staring down at his clenched hands, "She told me that she doesn't deserve me and that I need to find another girl who's able to show that she loves me, and that she's normal."
"Ouch."
"I know" he breathed as he suddenly felt his heart aching again causing his lips to quiver.
"You're gonna cry aren't you?" Ally said.
"No I'm not" he lied.
"Don't hide it, let it out, I won't judge."
"You promise?" he muttered just as a tear flowed down his cheek.
She immediately wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in.
"So you're really in love with her huh?" she asked calmly.
"Yeah" he sniffed "She's great."
"So what are you gonna do now?"
"That's the thing" he groaned while pulling away so he could rub his forehead "I have no idea what I'm gonna do now."
"Well you gotta do something, you just can't let her walk away from you like this."
"Well I don't know what to do Ally" he sniffed while wiping his tears away "She doesn't wanna be near me anymore, she told me she was better off alone like she was before."
"Well she's wrong, no one should be alone for the rest of their life, that's just sad."
"Try telling her that. Now I don't know what that feels like but, for her, she's used to it, it's what she prefers."
She gave a big sigh "Well I don't know what else to say but, there has to be a way for her to talk to you again."
"Like what?" he doubted.
"I don't know, but you gotta think of something. I don't want you to lose her, I like her way more than Dayna, and it hurts me to see you like this."
The sound of her words made him burst into tears, and just like that she pulled him into a hug as he held onto her tightly, knowing that he felt blessed to have his amazing sister by his side. And just being only 9 years old, she really knows how to comfort someone.
The following morning, Tanner arrived at school feeling the same stress level as before. And like before he avoided talking to Max, he still didn't want to talk to anyone but Autumn, but he knew it wasn't an option for her, she had declared it.
"Tanner!" he heard Max calling him from behind as he tried to ignore him by marching towards the school.
"Dude!" Max soon caught up with him causing them both to stop "Hey I've been trying to talk to you."
"Well I've been trying to avoid people" Tanner frowned as he tried to walk past him, but Max wasn't letting him get away.
"Dude I get it" Max breathed "I know how stressed you are right now, but I gotta show you something that I've been trying to show you since the night of the cafe."
"If you're gonna show me some stupid cat video that will supposedly make me feel better, it won't work."
"It's not that" Max groaned as he pulled out his phone "Just watch."
Having no other choice, Tanner gave a small groan as he turned his attention towards the screen and was a bit surprised to see that it was a video taking place the night at the cafe that showed Dayna bullying Autumn.
"Someone filmed this?" he gasped.
"Yeah" Max chuckled.
"But why was this so important to show me?"
"Don't you see, man? We have evidence to show how bitchy Dayna is, we can report her to the office."
Now Tanner was fully interested.
"You don't say" he gave a small grin.
"But that's not all" Max added in a sneaky grin.
"What now?"
"Guess who I ran into yesterday at Walmart the other day?"
"Who?"
"Dayna's grandfather."
At that point, Tanner felt his stomach drop.
"Her grandfather?" his eyes widen.
"The only one who's still alive, and the one she told was in the hospital. Yeah, I had a little chat with him and found out he was never in the hospital or even had a heart attack, he seemed pretty healthy to me."
Tanner couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"She fucking lied to me" he breathed, feeling his anger rise "She lied just to prevent me from breaking up with her."
"Typical bitch move," Max remarked.
Clenching his fists and feeling his blood boil, Tanner knew what they must do now.
"You wanna make a trip to the Principle's office?" he asked in a sneaky smirk.
"Do I" Max grinned while clenching his phone.
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...
