I don't own anything!

The other day I was thinking about what "normal" meant. I've come to the conclusion there is no such thing.

Surely, even the most popular girl in school has some sort of quirk.

Admittedly, not all oddities in people are necessarily great but my point is we shouldn't be so quick to judge just because they don't like the same band as everyone else or they dressed a little differently. Okay, I acknowledge the fact that I've judged others too… Hey, I'm only human.

But, if there were such a thing as normality, I would describe it in the sense that I don't live in a broken home (literally and figuratively), I have friends, decent grades – that kind of thing, if you'd really like to label me from the high school viewpoint, I'm fairly average.

Truthfully, I like it that way. I couldn't care less about popularity. All I know is, as much as I love where I live, it's still a town with the definition of absolute desolation. I will travel and then preferably settle somewhere in Europe. I will become a sophisticated grown up, have an amazing job and wave my middle finger in the faces of the people who've annoyed me so much, I've just wanted to smash their faces in.

I might be exaggerating the teensiest bit but seriously, there are some people who need to learn some manners.

"Hurry up!" Paul grumbled moodily.

"Oh. I wasn't aware that I was holding up the lunch queue. Nope, definitely not the lunch lady's fault." I snapped. Paul said nothing. He stalked away from the cafeteria, his fists held tightly together, banging the doors loudly as he left. OK, maybe I was too harsh but what's with him? He always seems so angry these days. Oh well, not my problem.

I could feel my stomach grumbled uncomfortably and I eventually sat down on my usual table and only Chloe was there today. The others were probably with their boyfriends or god knows where. Don't worry they're all awesome.

"Kim! Kim! Kim! Kim!"

"Chloe! I'm right next to you. Stop saying my name so many times, it's starting to sound like a funny noise."

"Haha, it does! KimKimKimKimKimKimKim… Anyway, I forgot to tell you. I bought my prom dress!"

"It's like 3 months away."

"It was perfect and I had the money."

"Fair enough."

"Aren't you going to ask me what it looks like?"

"Nope."

"Oh, Kimmy. Why are we so mean to our precious Chloe today?"

I heaved a heavy sigh and shook my head gravely. "I'm always mean. Insert evil laugh here." By now, Chloe had begun a variety of high to low pitches of evil laughs, quickly ending in real fits of laughter from the both of us. By the time the bell rang, we were laughing about some other ridiculous thing. As we calmed down Chloe asked,

"What's your final period today? I wanna come over."

"Sure thing. I have English but I have to get some stuff in my locker first so meet me at my car?"

"Okay then. Bye baby, see you later."

"Later babes." It's fine. We aren't crazy (only a little bit). "Baby" and "babes" are a reflection of how we dedicate our lives to sarcasm.

With a final wave, we parted ways and I headed off to my next class.

Yes! Final period! I sat down and prepared myself for an hour of English. The seat next to me had been empty since the beginning of the semester. I usually sat next to Jared. We're arranged in order of surname. I think he might have transferred or was seriously ill. He was okay to sit next to, I guess. Jared was popular and great at sports; the girls were all over him - etcetera.

I've never considered him as a friend. We were more like mutual associates. I knew him, he knew me. We talked, but most of the time it was to do with the work. I never liked him in that way like the other girls do, simply because over our years in middle school and high school, I still don't know him well, even though we've sat next to one another so many times.

It's obvious we didn't really click. He was just one of those people you knew but never really hung out with, despite the fact you've known in each other for so long. I can't lie though, he was still pretty hot.

Ew, I am such a girl. Anyway, it's not like I'm going to admit it to him anytime soon.

Oh, look at that. He's conveniently walked into this lesson for the first time this semester while I think about how gorgeous he is. I'm guessing he was ill for a very long time.

Oh boy, and it's definitely done him a whole lot of good. Shit. He's had a super short haircut and he's totally ripped. But it's definitely not the disgusting type of muscly. He just looks hot. Oh god, I'm gushing now. This is embarrassing. It's one of those times where I'm glad nobody can read minds. I am genuinely ashamed of myself. I'm going to stop now.

"Okay class, settle down. Today we'll continue analysing the characters in Of Mice and Men. We'll be discussing Crooks' character in depth and I'd like to start you off with telling your partners your perspective and understanding of him. I'll give you five minutes."

I did wonder vaguely why he was away for so long but I'm not really one to pry, unless it's about my friends of course. And I did think he had left the school. Besides, like I said, I barely knew him. I turned myself around slightly to face him, feeling uncomfortable from my previous thoughts but nonetheless began to speak.

"Well, five minutes isn't exactly enough to describe Crooks and his significance in the book, don't you think?" He continued to stare at the desk and didn't reply.

"Um, Jared. Hello? Are you OK?"

"Huh? Sorry, I zoned ou-" He stared at me. I stared back. It felt like years and it was oh-so awkward that I broke our staring contest and looked at my book. I coughed and pretended to look for something in my bag. When I thought it was safe to look at him, he was still staring at me funny.

He then grinned like a madman. I had no clue what was going on.

"Please tell me there's nothing on my face." I asked warily.

"Nope, nothing at all. Perfect." I was legitimately scared now.

"OK… Um, right. So, I think Crooks' is obviously the symbolism of the segregation of black people during the 1930's." This was good. The change of subject should stop him acting strangely. He still had that far away glazed look though and it was aimed towards me.

"Jared, could you… uh, stop staring at me." I told him uneasily. Like in the movies, he snapped out of it and shook his head. Haha, like a dog!

"Oh crap." He muttered to himself. Jared then suddenly started having a coughing fit.

"Could –cough- you –cough- call –cough- Mrs…"

Since he was going crazy or rapidly caught Tuberculosis and was about to die, I gently touched his shoulder to bring him to Mrs Kotoua's front desk while he coughed more violently. He was extremely warm. Maybe it was because he was actually dying or he was still very sick but he stiffened at my touch so I immediately took my hand away and said,

"Sorry. Let's take you to Mrs Kotoua and then you can go to the nurse." Mrs Kotoua could see that Jared wasn't in the right state for a lesson so she excused him. Nevertheless, she looked frustrated as Jared was missing his first lesson in 3 months. He nodded and I heard something like a cough and a rough, "Thanks."

He rushed out of the door and I glanced at him briefly and went to sit down.

Yeah, there was no such thing as normal.

A/N

Hello! It's my first time to write a fanfiction so please tell me your thoughts! Also, I'd like to know if there's anything that sounds britishy as I'm from the UK. I actually had to google some stuff (I won't tell you, it's too embarrassing)...

And the book mentioned was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I chose it because we were studying it for English and relevant to (some) Americans :)

I have no clue how long "semesters" are in America and the way classes work so I'm sorry if they're awfully inaccurate! And I promise things will get more interesting :D

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