WITHERBRANC

Trying To Be Normal

I'm on my way to the fair where my new friend Rebekah invited me, and honestly, I just hope I can clear my head and have a quiet night for once.

The taxi stinks pretty bad—I wrinkle my nose and crack the window—but my life stinks more, so what can you do. I look up at the sky. The stars are beautiful tonight, and the moon is full, casting a pale glow over everything. I feel something heavy in my chest ever since I saw that figure eating an animal. I can't get that image out of my head. Every time I close my eyes, I see it.

My phone pulls me out of my thoughts. A notification about school grades, and then a text.

Dad: Where are you? We didn't give you permission to go out. You are so ungrateful. Come back right now or you will have problems with us.

I just roll my eyes and shove my phone into my pocket. I look up again, and I can finally see the fair lights in the distance. They flicker like tiny stars, warm and inviting.

Ten minutes later, I'm there. I get out.

"How much is it, sir?"

"Twenty dollars," he says.

I pay him, thank him, and I see Rebekah waving at me in the distance.

"Hey... Rebekah. I hope I'm not too late."

"Not at all, Thea! Don't worry, you got here just in time. Let me introduce you to my friends. This is Leo."

Leo smiles. "Nice to meet you, Thea."

"Nice to meet you, Leo."

"This is Bryant."

"Nice to meet you, Thea," Bryant says.

"Nice to meet you, Bryant."

"And she is Madison."

Madison waves. "Nice to meet you, Thea. I hope you like us. Rebekah has told us a little about you."

"Nice to meet you, Madison. And no, not at all. I hope she said good things and not bad ones, eh?" I laugh a little, but my chest still feels tight.

Rebekah claps her hands. "Okay, what are we waiting for? Are we just gonna stand here talking or are we going to have fun?"

We all laugh and go in.

We get on the roller coaster first. I notice Rebekah is a little scared of heights.

"You okay, Rebekah?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Haha, why do you ask?"

"You seem a little tense."

"Not at all."

The ride goes up. The view from up here is beautiful. You can see everything—the lights, the people below, the dark outline of the trees. For a second, I wish I was a bird so I could fly and be free. Then Rebekah pulls me out of my thoughts, screaming.

"Aaaaaahh! I shouldn't have gotten on this!" She's grabbing my arm so hard her nails dig in. Wow, she is strong. I laugh quietly.

As soon as we get off, she says, "Never in my f*****g life am I getting on that again. I thought I was gonna die." She's even sweating, her face pale.

Then we go to the balloon shooting game. They are so bad, they have no aim. Then it's my turn, and I pop five balloons in a row—pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. They all look at me surprised and ask who taught me.

My father. He liked to hunt.

"Well... never mind now." I hand the gun back and stuff my hands in my pockets.

Two hours pass. It's already 1:00 a.m., and everyone else has left. It's just me and Rebekah now.

"Do you want me to take you home?" she asks.

"Yeah, sure, if you can."

We walk to her car. It's a really cool car—sleek, black, shiny. I get curious and ask if it's hers, then I immediately regret it.

"Sorry, that was a dumb question."

She laughs. "It's fine, no worries. Where do you live?" I give her the address.

"I live on Brooklyn Ave 81739." She puts it in her map, and we drive, talking about stupid stuff, but somehow we just work so well together. It feels like I've known her for years.

We get to my house, and I ask if she wants to stay tonight since it's already late.

"Yeah, I'd like to, but won't your parents be bothered?"

"Not at all."

We get out, and I almost fall on the stairs.

"s**t, that's already twice I've fallen, f**k," I say, and I start laughing so hard my stomach hurts. Rebekah rushes to help me up, asking if I'm okay. We stare at each other for five seconds and then burst out laughing. We go inside and up the stairs slowly so we don't wake my parents.

We get to my room. "Here, put on these pajamas of mine. I hope they fit you." They fit her tight.

"Haha, you look like a squished tomato. A white tomato because of your skin. You'd just be missing green hair instead of blonde to be the complete tomato."

"f**k you," she laughs, throwing a pillow at me.

I tell her to make herself comfortable while I go shower. The water at first is super hot, but then it gets lukewarm.

While I'm in the bathroom, Rebekah checks her phone for messages from her friends and her parents. She takes some pictures in the mirror.

"Wow, what cute drawings you have." She starts looking around my room, and then she finds them. Some photos of a little boy, eight years old.

I come out of the bathroom humming quietly. I freeze when I see her holding a picture of my little brother.

"Who the f**k gave you permission to touch those?" I snatch them from her hands and put them back.

"Hey, calm down, it wasn't that big of a deal. I was just looking. Sorry if I offended you."

My chest tightens, and my hands are shaking. "Forgive me. I shouldn't have acted like a b***h. I didn't mean to treat you like that. It's just... it's complicated. I hope you can understand and forgive me."

"Could I know more about your little brother? Why you got like that? If I can know. If not, it's okay."

"It's pretty long and complicated." I stay silent for a second, staring at the photo. "His name was Ben. He was..."

I get a knot in my throat. "He was my world, but... I couldn't save him."

"What do you mean you couldn't save him?" She laughs a little, thinking I'm joking.

"I couldn't save him... it was my fault he died. Every night I tell myself I wish it had been me and not him so my parents wouldn't hold resentment. But I also try to keep going for him. It's just hard."

Her face drops. "s**t, sorry, I... I didn't know he was dead. I'm so sorry." She pulls me towards her and hugs me and just lets me cry it out. After a while, we change the subject and start talking about boys.

"Do you have a boyfriend? Or do you like someone?" I ask.

"I had a boyfriend, but he cheated on me with my cousin. We were together for three years, but the i***t threw everything away, and since then I'm better alone," she says.

"Wow, he really is an i***t. If you want me to curse him or go beat him up, just tell me."

"How I would love to see you beat him up, but then they would file a report on you," she laughs, and we laugh together. We talk all night until we fall asleep.

The next day at 7:30 a.m., I wake up before her. She's still sleeping on my bed. I go to the bathroom and throw a little water on her face. She jolts and falls off the bed.

"What the f**k is wrong with you? I was having such a nice dream about my wedding!" she yells.

I laugh out loud. "You better go shower because you stink pretty bad."

Twenty minutes pass. I'm getting ready, deciding what to wear when she comes out. We start planning what to do since it's Saturday.

"Hey, do you want to go somewhere?" I say.

"Do you want to go buy clothes? My treat, so you look even prettier and see what boy you can get."

"Haha, you're crazy," I say, and I blush.

"Wait... did you just blush? So you do like someone! Tell me!" She grabs my arm and shakes me like a little kid. "Come on, tell me, tell me, I want to know."

"Not at all, there's no one I like. Haha, we better go shopping before the day steals our time."

We go down the stairs. My parents are there, and they greet us like they are different people—fake smiles, forced politeness. In a low voice, I mutter, "What hypocrisy."

"What did you say, sorry?" Rebekah asks.

"What? Nothing, haha, we're running late, let's go." She notices all the tension but says nothing. We leave and get in her car.

One hour later, we're shopping. Rebekah keeps saying, "Hey, try this on, it's gonna look super cute on you! Hey, try this on!"

I start getting dizzy. "Hey, Rebekah, a little slower, I'm going crazy and getting dizzy," I laugh.

"Sorry, it's just... we have things in common and I feel a nice connection with you, and I got excited."

"It's okay, but calmer, okay?"

We go from store to store when we run into Derek.

"Rebekah, this is Derek. Derek, this is Rebekah, my friend." He shakes her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Rebekah. Thea's friend is my friend."

He looks at my bags. "Wow, you have a lot of bags there."

Someone taps Derek from behind. "Hey, brother, who are they? Or are they your girlfriends?" He laughs.

Rebekah makes a face. "God forbid, ugh, not my type."

I just laugh. And wow, how beautiful his sister is... but I better look away. I don't want them to think I'm a pervert.

Derek says, "Hey, do you want me to help you? You have a lot of bags, and I also want to talk about something with you."

"No, not at all, if you want to help us, go ahead. We have no objection. And you, Rebekah?"

"Not at all."

He grabs the bags, pretending they're not heavy—but I see his muscles tense under his shirt. Derek looks at his sister. "Hey, Lilian, do you mind if I help them, right?"

"No, not at all, you always leave me alone," Lilian says, making a sad face.

"But... but..."

"Haha, I'm joking, dummy. I don't mind at all that you help them. See you at home."

We leave the store and get in her car while listening to music and talking. Derek follows us in his car. Thirty minutes later, we arrive at my house, and Rebekah has to leave. Derek and I go into my house while he carries my bags up to my room.

"Make yourself comfortable. Do you want something to drink?"

"Water, please."

I go down to get him one from the fridge and come back up. We talk for a good while and laugh until Derek asks, "Hey, I was going to ask you, by any chance... have you seen anything strange around here in your house or somewhere else?"

I look at him, surprised, with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of weird question is that? I don't understand."

"Just answer my question, please."

"Well... yeah, I saw something weird one night. I don't know if it was my vision or if I was seeing things, but... I saw a figure eating an animal. I couldn't see who it was. I could only see that much." I watch how he pays attention, serious his body goes still, his eyes locked on mine.

"Is that it? There's nothing else? Have you seen something else?"

I tell him no, that was it. I ask him why he asked me that, and he tells me it's complicated and that in due time he will tell me. Then he changes the subject. I noticed, but I didn't say anything. The whole afternoon, we just stayed talking about nonsense.