Tristan Strings Is Not Normal

•1•

Some girls at school swooned after Tristan but he didn't see why they did. He was ugly- on the inside and out. Or at least, he thought he was.

Before he knew it his mother managed to open up the locked door and grab him by the ear, pulling him out of the bathroom in one swift motion.

She was used to this, so was he.

"Tristan Strings! You were already ready young man" His mother scolded, a stern expression on her face, wearing the same frown Tristan did for a split second
"Now hurry down the stairs, we have to go grocery shopping and you're coming with me" she continued, a cheery smile replacing the frown on her lips as she ushered him down the creaky stairs, holding onto the banister as she did so, ignoring the groans and complaints from her son.

"Do we have to wear those stupid hats mom? They embarrass me!" Tristan protested as she pulled out two white hats from the counter which were stitched in rainbow threads to say "I love my mom, I love shopping" and the other saying "I love my son, I love shopping".

"I don't want any attitude from you, I raised you under my rules so you will abide to them, understand?"

"Yes, yes, now can we just get this over with already?" Tristan grumbled, his eyes lowering to the floor as he walked towards an Ikea shoe rack that looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment, grabbing his black converse's and slipping them on his abnormally large feet.

Tristan let out another deep sigh as he sat in the passenger seat of his family's only car, the hat especially made for him on his head. He felt bad for being rude to his sweet mother, so he grudgingly accepted it.

The car was minute for the tall, dark brown haired boy. He struggled for comfort in the small space but his knees were hitting the compartment box and he had to keep his long neck craned down to not whack his head and touch god-knows-what on the roof of the car.

As the two Strings' walked into the large grocery store, people looked up at the odd couple. Tristan looked sullen and dragged his shoes across the white floor, creating a squeaking sound every now and following his mother like a zombie. His mother was the polar opposite, she had the brightest smile she could muster, almost skipping towards the gardening section, her curly brown hair bouncing up and down.

Much to Tristan's distaste , the whole place reeked of fish, his nose wrinkling up as he decided it was best to just breathe through his mouth for now.

As Tristan turned into an aisle away from his mother, muttering something about getting chips , he bumped into a person a bit taller than half the height that he was, who stumbled towards the frozen containers and held onto it for dear life, her big brown eyes wide and curly black afro as she pressed the back of her head to it. The rectangular framed glasses that was once on the strangers face were now somewhere underneath a shelf.

"Shit ,are you okay?" Tristan questioned genuinely , actually waking up after not sleeping a whole night.

"I'm okay, not sure about my glasses though" She joked- her voice wobbly, trying to make the situation appear less serious as she let out a small chuckle at her own joke, one dimple appearing on her left cheek and her eyes squinting as she tried to see what Tristan looked like.

Tristan let out a sigh of relief, all tension leaving the aisle they were in as he felt a weird sensation bubbling up in his throat.
He chuckled.