Denial

End

The entire time, there were anvils going over Norman's head. 

As if his sister was enough. Despite seemingly understanding back at Theodore's place, she quickly reverted back to wanting hot chocolate. And it wasn't even ten minutes through the snowy walk when she complained yet again. Norman was good at staying emotionless when he wanted to; perhaps he could ignore her berating and whining for now. 

"He did nothing! He did nothing!" she was tugging on his coat roughly, her face looking like she could bite him anytime. "You're very mean! He wasn't mean to me, yet you decided to call him evil and drag me out. What a...what can I call you?"

"A scaredy cat would be appropriate," Norman snorted, not bothering to stop her from tugging.

"Right, right!" she tugged harder this time. "As you would call it: You're a pussy!" her face was screwed up in a funny way — one brow raised and the other pushed down, and the two sides of her mouth pushed down as well — to the point her insult seemed rather narm-y.

Norman smirked tiredly. "Yes, a pussy. That's the greatest insult and swear you ever pulled off." this certainly wasn't the first time she swore, and this was definitely not one of her best efforts. 

"Still! You didn't let me stay for one more hot chocolate. It didn't taste funky at all, I swear. Norman, I'm young and brighter and better than you. I have more common sense and I am not paranoid. You don't even trust your own lover!" 

Norman looked back at her, groaning quietly as he felt the air get chilly again. He remembered how back then, he had the patience to deal with her forgetfulness and ditziness. Now, he felt like it was just gone. "Look, I came to you because I wanted advice. You do have more common sense, so I figured I could get something out of you." he paused, noticing her brightening expression. And then he added, "But you decided to run off, and got kidnapped by my pedophiliac ex-lover. Let's go; Mom and Dad were worried about you." 

"You think I'm stupid, la la la. But you're the one with the straight C's and I'm the one with straight A's. Give me credit!" she cried out to him. 

"Fine! Fine! But you don't understand the severity of any situation! Someone could be evil but then you wouldn't care! Dad could be homophobe or ableist-ic or racist and you wouldn't care! I could be possessed by a Beyblade and you. Wouldn't. Give. A. Single. Shit."

"You say he's evil," she mused as she shuffled ahead with him, and didn't frown at his apparent frustration. She tilted her head. "What makes you think that? I honestly don't think so. I mean, recently you hung out with him and talked to him, and he gave me hot chocolate. What he did lately isn't too bad."

"It's hard to explain. But whatever, you wouldn't understand. You don't know how much I have went through. I wish my life were a lot easier."

His sister said nothing else, and only placed a hand onto her chin to think. Finally. Norman though, sighing out a little. Some peace. 

They had only reached the curb when his sister perked up. He swore he saw a brightening aura from her, like she was a star or lightbulb. 

"I think I understand," she poked his arm, and also tugged on his coat again. Only, this time she was actually tugging playfully. "You went to a mysterious and ambitious place because of him. You weren't very happy there, but you had everything you ever wanted. It was harsh and didn't have the best policies, but you almost didn't care. You didn't care about anything! Maybe except for one guy who looks weird and smelled like McDonald's leftovers. He was very annoying. But everyday, people died."

"Then there was one other guy who died. He died when you started dating Mr. Glitter. You blamed Mr. Glitter because you thought he was evil. And then he decided to bring you home to calm you down and to show you he wasn't evil. You needed advice from multiple people, like Mr. McDonald's Leftovers and me. But still, you hate him now. You also keep denying that you're like, super rainbow gay and that Mr. Glitter has a nice side." 

Norman's eyes went large at her explanation, which was quick paced and said in a funny way. But his surprise quickly churned towards alarm, and he gasped.

He stepped back a little, almost tripping over the curb and wobbled. He then straightened himself, and looked at her bashfully. Well... might as well confess that she's right. "How do you know all of this? You seriously can't just... know all of this. I thought — " he facepalmed with a groan. How could this be. His sister was literally supposed to be stupid and clueless! But she knows what's going on, like this was something normal.

She winked at him. "The stars!" well, there's the answer. Even if he didn't know what that was supposed to mean. "I'm half serious. It was just a hunch. It actually sounds like a fanfic I read before on WattPad... but you know, in the end, things don't always go bad." 

"Would be funny if there was some 'fanfic' based on my life choices," Norman snorted. "But that would barely get any reads and likes!"

"You'll never know."

"Fine, fine. I'll admit, you're the brightest kid ever. Now let's go home before you complain about hot chocolate. Again."

"Yay! Yay!" 

Norman dreaded the day he would have to go back to college. 

During this fiasco, he completely forgot about trying to work a part-time job. Heck, he barely thought about his future plans and finance junk. He slumped in his seat, and then faceplanted onto his table. While he dreaded college, he knew he should be afraid of the day he wouldn't catch up with his rents. But for now, time to worry about college, his annoying life, life choices, and whatnot.

And Theodore.

Speaking of Theodore, his sister was still pestering him. The most recent moment was last night, where she spammed Emojis at him. As far as he knew, she was not in the hospital for a poisoning incident. 

If that meant Theodore did one thing right, then that was a relief. But Norman still can't forgive his own Snake Pit boss for other mistakes. Those terrible ones chipped away his trust for him, and it would probably take a while to get them back. As for his homophobic father, that would take a while too. 

Do I know who I am? What I want to be? Who I want to be? Norman thought to himself, getting back up and going back to the kitchen for coffee. Maybe it's time to step up. Maybe it's time to stop Beyblading and now focus on life. Beyblade was fun, but it sure ruined his life. So much and so badly, he just had to outright state that to himself! Not to mention, he can't have his little sister doing better than him at school. 

He barely stepped in the kitchen when he saw a small envelope by his door. Luckily he saw it, since the front door was between the living room and kitchen of his apartment. Norman reached down for it, and looked at its front. He frowned upon seeing it was from Theodore.

Without any further thought, he looked at the letter inside. The letter read:

Hey there, Norman.

It's been a long time, but I wanted to check up on you. I heard how great you're feeling; is this true?  And here's some great news: Your father and I agreed that you are probably dumb enough to not keep up financially, so I decided to help you on that. I will use a portion of my earnings to help you pay for college needs! I don't want anything in return. Though, I miss you a lot and your sister wants us to be together again. Does that sound fair?

Also, please acknowledge that it is OK to be who you are. You may be dumb, but you're strong and still standing in the Snake Pit. Besides, being an open and acknowledging bisexual Blader will stop Silver Eye from pestering you. You know how much he likes to annoy people for not realizing who they are.

Regards,

Theodore Glass.

Norman sighed out, both tiredly and peacefully. There goes some of his problems. Thank goodness Theodore existed so he could not deal with them. He tucked the letter back inside, went back to the table. Forget the coffee; he had other important business. And Norman took out his phone, and called Theodore.

The end! I wanted to get this done before school and because I felt like this was really shabby. A lot more shabby than the previous incarnation of this story. But hey, I'm proud of it. It's better than nothing!