I want. to be NORMAL. By Savanah Williams

Transcription

1 I want to be NORMAL By Savanah Williams

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3 I Want to be Normal By Savanah Williams Designed to be Worthy

4 Published by: Designed To Be Worthy 102 W.McElhaney Road Taylors, SC Copyright Worthy. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America Designed To Be First printing May, 2012

5 Dedicated to My family who has taught me the value of trusting that God has made each one of us to be a very special creation.

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7 Acknowledgements I d like to thank my parents for urging me to take this writing course and for getting me there each week. I would also like to thank Vanguard Homeschool Academy, HRC for the opportunity they have provided through it s co-op classes where I have friends and good teachers. Thank you too to Mrs. Wong,the Director, for all she does. Lastly, I would like to thank Pleasant Grove Baptist Church for allowing HRC to use their classrooms. Thanks to my classmates; without a class full of people, I d have to answer all of the questions. Thank you to Mrs.Husman for editing my novel and for helping me set up the pages. I have learned a lot about computers this year, but there s a lot more I need to learn.

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9 Table of Contents 1. The Start 2. Day One 3. Preparation 4. Bieber Fever 5. The Wish, the Dream 6. Normal 7. A Place of Regrets 8. Contrition

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11 Chapter 1 The Start It all started when I graduated from elementary school. After elementary I had two months until I had to start middle school. All summer long, I was very nervous, so I tried to calm my nerves by doing the stuff I loved to do. One memorable event was my super stupid sunburn. I asked my mom if she would take me to the zoo. She agreed. When we arrived at the zoo, it was closed because both of their lions where sick; I was very upset that we couldn t go to the zoo. Mom suggested we could go home and get ready to go to the pool or we could just stay home. I cheered, Let s just go to the pool! 7

12 When we got there, my mom said that she had forgotten the sun block, so we couldn t stay that long. After an hour and a half at the pool, we drove home. I had to take a shower, and then I went to my room to rest. When my dad got home, we ordered pizza. The next day, I awoke feeling super sun burned. I looked in the mirror: Ugh. I was so red and looked super funny. I wished we had remembered the sun block! That day, I went to the park alone just to walk around and be by myself. When I got home, I found out my parents had invited my friend Elizabeth to hang out. I don t really like her because sometimes she can be really rude to me, but I call her my friend. I just knew that today she would have a rude comment for me about my sunburn, and she did. Just as I expected she blurted out a comment: WOW! You are red like a tomato! Inside, I knew it s because I had fun at the 8

13 pool, unlike some people who had been stuck at home. I knew at that moment we were starting to get in a fight, so I told her it would be best if she went home. And she did. 9

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15 Chapter 2 Day One Well, summer ended, and my nervousness about middle school became reality. Today was the first day of middle school. And, I didn t know anyone. My mom took me to school in our 15 passenger van, jamming to her oldies. I couldn t wait to get out of the car because I didn t want anyone to see me in the worst car ever. As I looked at everyone else getting out of their cars, they had the most awesome cars ever. Well, I wished it was still summer. I really didn t like school at all. Ugh! The first class I had was science, my worst subject ever. After science, I had 11

16 math, history, grammar, and finally lunch. I didn t know why I was excited for lunch because all I did everywhere was embarrass myself. Well, my wonderful mother had made me a salad with mushrooms, garlic, tomato, onions and lots of garlic dressing. Since I was hungry, I didn t mind eating it. It really didn t taste that bad. When I saw Elizabeth, I walked up to say hey. When I did, she grimaced, saying, What is that bad smell? I don t know? I tried. Is that your breath? No. She played along, Oh. Okay, and rolled her eyes as if she knew it really was. I finished my orange juice, but as I went to throw away my cup, the little bit in the bottom spilled on my pants. I tried to make sure no one saw the wet spot on my pants, but of course my old friend Jamie from 5 th grade noticed, yelling out, Bad breath Emily just peed her pants. 12

17 I was so embarrassed my face turned as red as a tomato. I ran to the bathroom. Moving on to my afternoon classes sounded bad too, but it did mean being closer to the end of a bad first day of middle school. It was time for gym period. I was doomed because t just so happened that the night before I had run out of deodorant. In a panic, I asked Mom if she could go get some. She was busy checking her Facebook and said plainly, You ll be fine, Emily. When class started, I hoped he wouldn t make us do stuff that would make us sweat, but he did. First, he made us run three laps around the outside track. I knew I smelled badly already, and I knew everyone else could smell me too. When we got back inside, he made my group line up on the left. There was Jamie, and on the right was Elizabeth. Then he instructed us to do fifty jumping-jacks. I totally panicked because I knew everyone around me would smell my 13

18 stink and make fun of me. My plan was to do the jumping-jacks, but to not really lift my arms, hoping no one would smell me or see the sweat marks under my arms. And of course, they did. Next thing I know, Jamie loudly whined, What is that? It smells! I think it s Emily. And everyone laughed. I felt tears run down my eyes as I asked coach C. if I could go to the bathroom. He nodded. I ran. I plopped straight to the floor, crying my heart out. Eight minutes later coach sent Cole Jonson to come get me. She asked softly, Are you ok? No I hate middle school. No one likes me, and they hurt my feelings. That s not true. I like you, she confessed. Dry your tears and give me a hug. I knew from that point I had found a friend for life. 14

19 Chapter 3 Preparation After the worst day ever at school, decided that I definitely didn t want to go through that any more. After I did all my homework, I insisted my mom get some more deodorant for me for tomorrow. Also, I carefully picked out my clothes. I picked out my purple skinny jeans and my Justin Bieber t-shirt I got from the concert I went to last year. Then, I made sure to pack my own lunch and even asked Mom if I could walk to school. She agreed. That night, I went to bed knowing I had done everything I could to be ready for the next school day. When I woke up, I was ready to get dressed. I got my 15

20 book bag and lunch and other stuff together and I said, Goodbye. I left for school an hour early to make sure I would be there on time. Walking along, I saw Cole up ahead so I ran and yelled, Hey Cole. She smiled, Oh, hey Emily. I had no idea you walked to school. Oh. Yeah, I just started, I admitted. Oh, cool, I love your shirt; I love Justin Bieber too. Awesome. He s the best. So we walked together all the way to school. We got there thirty minutes early. So far, so good; I hadn t been made fun of or anything. I was kind of normal. Mom had said I could have someone spend the night, so I invited Cole. She said she would love to come. After school, we walked to my house. The worst thing ever began our overnight --my dad was making dinner. I didn t want Cole to have to go home because she had gotten sick from eating 16

21 dinner, so I begged Dad to bake a frozen pizza. He caved. We had a great time until my parents started to act a little weird. Well, not that weird, just annoying because they were listening to their old people music. Cole didn t seem to mind, though, so everything went well and we had an awesome time. In the morning, Cole had to go home right away because she had to hang with her family. That left me to hang with my abnormal family. 17

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23 Chapter 4 Bieber Fever! Soon, I d celebrate my 13 th birthday. I knew what I wanted: I wanted to go to the Justin Bieber World Tour Concert and I wanted to take a friend. I knew who I would take-- Cole, of course, because she is my best friend for life. Besides, she really likes Justin Bieber too. We would have a terrific time. When I asked my parents, they said they wouldn t mind as long as we stayed together and did the buddie system. Cole and I had become great friends, so at school the very next day I told Cole what I had planned for my birthday. She agreed it would be awesome and she loved the idea of going with me. 19

24 That same night her parents gave her permission to go. While our moms worked out the details, we texted. We texted until 11:30 when finally went to bed. When I awoke, I remembered it was Sunday. Sundays are good because Cole and I go to the same church. We hung out at church and then our parents decided to get together for lunch. After lunch, they invited meto their house to hang out for a little bit. When we got there, Cole asked if I would like to watch television, and I agreed, so for two hours we watched the new Twilight movie Breaking Dawn that she just bought yesterday because it had come out on DVD. It was the best one yet. Cole is on team Edwards s side and I am on team Jacobs s side. The whole time we cheered saying, No! She s going for Edward, or No! She s going for Jacob. We went back and forth the whole time; it was so fun. I had an awesome time! Finally, it was the night before the Justin Bieber concert and Chloe was 20

25 spending the night again. I had planned an awesome sleepover. First, we would watch the Justin Bieber movie on my family s 3-D television. Next, we would listen to Justin CD s while coloring signs for the concert. After the movie, which made us cry a lot, we put on the music. The signs were his favorite colors -- red and purple. They looked awesome; they were just the best. After all that, we showed each other what we are going to wear. She was going to wear her red skinny jeans, a t-shirt with Justin s face on it, and a red jacket. I thought it looked awesome. I was going to wear purple skinny jeans, a t-shirt with Justin s face on it, and a purple jacket. We pretty much had chosen the same outfit, just different colors. We looked great. Our tickets where on the first row, and we jumped and clapped to the music until the concert ended. After the concert it was so late that, as planned, Cole spent the night again! It wasn t a problem with me. 21

26 At home, my parents embarrassed me again. I wished they would just be normal! I hated when they acted like themselves; it made me so mad. 22

27 Chapter 5 The Wish, the Dream Before I slept, I made a wish. I wished that God would make me and my parents normal so I wouldn t be embarrassed by anything anymore. That night I thought a lot about this wish. I so wished it would come true. How awesome it could be to be normal and have normal parents who did normal things. That very night, I dreamt. In my dream, I was wonderfully popular and normal, and my parents were normal too. It was weird and surprisingly, I didn t like it at all. You could call it a nightmare! 23

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29 Chapter 6 Normal When I woke up, I found that my dream had sadly turned into real life. Here s what my wished-for normal looked like.. The next morning, the first thing I noticed was that the house was really clean and redecorated too. Then, while browsing in the pantry for breakfast, Dad, Mr. Notta Cook, interrupted me, offering an omelet with a side of jelly toast and a glass of orange juice. He was dressed up in a suit. My mom was also dressed up in a nice skirt and blouse. They both looked nice, but why would they be dressed up? My mom was a stay-athome mom and my dad was an exterminator. Well, after breakfast, they each kissed me and said, We love you. 25

30 Mom told me, Dad will be picking you up from school today because I have to work late. Um. Well? Mom? I thought to myself. Aloud I said, Um, Mom. You don t work. Of course I work, Honey. I m a fashion designer for Kim Rogers. What! I thought to myself. My mom has always been a stay at home mom. All I said was, Oh. Yeah. That s what you do. Dad? Why are you so dressed up for work? I asked, trying to get a hold of this new normal mom and dad. Sweet Pea, I am a part-time owner at BMW sales. Oh. I guess I forgot all about that, I responded, now really confused. Anyways, we should get going, Mom and Dad said together. Not much was different, just a few new things popped up each day, little things. 26

31 Chapter 7 A Place of Regrets A few weeks later, the car line lady announced, Emily Huffman s ride is here. I looked everywhere for my car, but I didn t see it. Next thing I knew, a super nice Bugatti pulled up with the window rolled down. It was my dad. Hey, Honey, did you forget what kind of car I drive or something? Yeah, I did. Sorry. I am just really sleepy, I lied. Well, try not to be so tired because we have a very nice dinner with the other parttime owner tonight, and I want everything to go well. 27

32 Ok. I will be on my best behavior, Dad, I spoke up. Oooo-kay, sounds good, he smiled. That night at the dinner party, I was so confused. I had no idea what had been going on, and I didn t like it. I never got to see my parents much anymore and I had to be by myself a lot. I didn t like it and I wanted my old life back. Too many little changes had piled up, making everything bad, although probably very normal-looking to everyone else. I was so crushed that I was willing to do anything! Yes, anything! That night, I prayed and then cried myself to sleep because I didn t want my parents to be that way. After a month of this going on, I had had it! I had been ground to pieces and broken. I was truly sorry for my wish. When I prayed, I prayed and prayed that when I woke up, God would have changed my parents. I felt better, and then I fell sound asleep. 28

33 When I woke up the next morning, my parents were the same. So was I. Why God? Why would you do this to me? Why? How am I supposed to be happy with who I am and how my family is, when I am not? Am I stuck with the parents I don t want to have because I m not being happy? I poured out my questions to God, still regretful for my wish. 29

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35 Chapter 8 Contrition A second night went by of me crying and praying, Why God? God answered me. It was like He struck me on the head. With a new heart, I realized that I had learned that I should have been happy with what I had before I got my wish. I also realized that what I had wanted because of my own greediness didn t get me anywhere but a place of regrets. When I woke up the next morning, my old parents were back! I was so happy. I promised to never again wish for anything better because it can t get better than THIS. I know why God gave me that lesson: it was to show me that I should be thankful for what I have and I shouldn t 31

36 want anything more because that is greedy. Next time I feel like I want more, I plan to remember that I already have everything I need. 32

37 Author s Note Broken Vessel Isaiah 66:2 New International Version (NIV) 2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being? declares the LORD. These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 33

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39 About the author Savanah Williams is an outgoing, energetic middle school girl. She enjoys sports, music, and friends, as well as being a big sister to her younger siblings. This book has been an exploration into her abilities as a writer, and it has shown her that she has the ability to encourage others through her heartfelt writing.

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41 From Wikipedia: Contrition or contriteness (from the Latin contritus 'ground to pieces', i.e. crushed by guilt) sincere and complete remorse. Savanah Williams story I Want to be Normal takes the reader to a place where matters of the heart are solved. It begins with Emily Hoffman living out a very real life of an almost-middle school girl: she just wants to be normal! She wants her parents to be normal. After Emily wishes this, she dreams a different reality. When she awakes, it is real. Maybe normal isn t so good. Savanah has captured a real teen s frustration and the beautiful end of the story provides a valuable lesson for the heart: be happy with what you have been given and who God has made you to be.