The Usual
The first thing I want to get out of the way is that I don’t really like telling stories, so this is kind of new for me. I honestly want to just summarize this all up into a tiny one paragraph essay(the kind of paragraph where you cheat and write four sentences instead of the standard five to eight), but this story is so frickin’ weird and ridiculously twisted that it would honestly just be disrespectful to myself to not tell it so here we go.
So rewind back to October of 2019. I’m from Steplan, Colorado, and the best word I or anyone from here could use to describe Steplan is damp. The weather is always the same dreary and gloomy cloudy mess that it is ninety-nine percent of the year. My name is Zachary Higgins and I just might be the most average person on earth. I get just about average grades, mostly B’s and C’s, and I’m grateful for the rare times in my life that I somehow manage to get an A in a class.
Anyways, I go just about unnoticed at school mostly because according to my best friend’s girlfriend, Carrie, I’m a solid six and a half on the looks scale. Dark hair, dark eyes, and my awkwardly average height. Standing at five-eight made me taller than some but didn’t exactly give me a staggering advantage to the six-foot-four jocks at my high school. The smug look of everyone else in this town would make tourists wonder if we had anything substantial to brag about(we don’t), that is if we ever had tourists. Most tourists either went to Boulder, or Denver, the places in Colorado that actually had things to offer. My school Steplan Academy is just like any other high school in the US- the worst freaking place in the world.
On a random morning, when the leaves had turned from gold to brown and were beginning to litter the streets, I parked my honda civic in my assigned parking spot near the football fields. I slipped out of the drivers seat, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I slammed the door and locked the car. I let out a breath that manifested as a puff of vapor evaporating seconds later. Without looking I headed forward towards the back entrance of the school before the startling sound of a car horn sends me reeling back.
I let out a loud yelp before leaping backward and landing on the pavement, winding myself in the process. I hear the loud tell-tale laugh that belongs to none other than my best friend Carter Briggs, as I peel myself from my parking spot. He parks in the spot next to me as his laugh rings out louder than the silence of the parking lot. He slams his car door and jogs over to me covering his mouth with his hand so I can’t see him laugh.
“You literally suck.” I spout as I try to catch my breath.
“Ok, you’ve got to admit that was funny as hell!”
“No, and it wasn’t funny the ninety-nine other times you didn’t either.”
“Whatever, come on were about to be late.” Carter grabs my sleeve, dragging me towards the school.
If I was the most average person on earth, Carter was the exact opposite. He was one of the more well-known guys at school, mainly for his looks and for athletics. If greek gods played tennis, they would probably look a little something like Carter.
“You ready for practice today?” He asked as he adjusted his racket in his backpack, shoving it deeper in and probably crushing a couple of homework assignments.
“Eh, I don’t think I’m ever really ready for practice,” I snickered hopping over a small puddle and onto the curb, “I just show up and hope for the best.”
Carter chuckles, “Don’t we all?”
“Exactly, and thank God we had a break last weekend, I was beginning to wonder if Coach was going to work us to death with those sprints,” I say holding open the door to him.
“Ugh, dude I went to my chiropractor and she told me my back looked like I’d let an elephant sit on it.”
“Carter!” The high-pitched voice of Carter’s weirdly enthusiastic girlfriend Chrissie pierced through the hallway and might’ve deafened me in my left ear, as she scurried down the hall, her heels clickity-clacking in sync.
“Oh well it appears this is where I must take leave sir,” Carter spewed in a very bad British accent as his girlfriend grabbed his arm while sending a quick wave at me and dragging him down the hallway.
I watched them leave before letting out a depressed Monday morning sigh and heading to homeroom.
♕♕♕♕♕
Later that day, I got changed into my practice uniform and got ready for practice, twirling my racket in my palm and walking towards the court when I noticed someone standing oddly close to my car. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman because of the strange black trenchcoat and huge fedora that they donned. I changed course and started walking towards my car once I saw them looking through my window.
“Excuse me!” I said crossing my arms, “this is my car, can I help you with something?”
My voice must’ve come off a lot stronger than I thought because the person must’ve jumped ten feet in the air, and then another ten feet when they saw my face.
The fedora slid off revealing the face of a woman that must’ve been in her late 30s or early 40s. After seeing that I saw her, she snatched up her hat and sprinted past me, bumping my shoulder and making a break for a black unmarked sedan that I didn’t notice before. The back door popped up and she flew inside before it sped out of the lot leaving skid marks and a trail of smoke behind.
“What in the actual hell?” I thought out loud, before looking into my car to see if anything valuable was taken.
“Zach, what gives bro?” I hear Carter’s voice question in the distance, “Coach Lake is pissed!”
After seeing everything intact, I jog over to Carter and relay to him the strange experience that I’d just had.
He squinted looking to where I’d pointed and raised his eyebrows at the skid marks in the parking lot.
“Do you have anything super valuable in your car?”
“Not that I know of, the most valuable thing in there is probably my earth scented air freshener.”
We both looked at each other with mirrored suspicious looks, and then looked at my car again.
“You know what, we’ll talk about this later, let’s just go before coach makes us run laps,” Carter said heading off towards the tennis court again.
I nod walking after him before looking back again
♕♕♕♕♕
The next day I was more than spooked as I got dressed. The night before I had covered all of the windows in my room and set my chair under my door, all of which might have been a little extreme but it was all I could do to not freak out and call the police. The only thing that had gotten me out of my room that morning was the smell of something amazing down the stairs. My Dad stood in the kitchen probably whipping up some sort of culinary masterpiece for his catering service, while my mom sat at the table overlooking some contracts that a client had probably asked her to inspect.
“Sup kid!,” My dad exclaimed as he spotted me coming down the stairs.
“Morning Dad,” I say before walking to my mom who gives me a kiss on the cheek before going back to her papers.
“How was your night? You seemed a little spooked when you came home yesterday.”
As usual, I couldn’t get anything past my Dad.
“Maybe he’s stressed out with school,” my mom suggested carefully placing stray strands of her dark hair behind her ears.
“Or maybe he’s just a weirdo,” my older sister Charity’s voice filtered into our conversation as I heard her pad down the stairs, her bright pink reflective pajamas blinding me as I turned to her.
Don’t be fooled by the good-natured name that my parents had mistakenly christened my sister with, the girl is literally the spawn of satan. There was nothing Charitable about her, and her biggest talent was grabbing a twenty out of the offering basket at church after sliding in a one-dollar bill.
“Your one to talk,” I say before gesturing to the rat’s nest atop her head, that was most likely due to her restless sleeping.
She scrunched her nose at me before taking a seat at the table.
As far as families went we were a pretty normal one at face value. My parents both had stable jobs, and their two kids managed to stay out of trouble. I am a high school student that was already planning to go to Steplan Community College next year and Charity is a college dropout that works as a professional ‘watchdog’ over the house(her words not mine.)
“I’m fine by the way,” I said before grabbing one of egg and turkey bacon panini’s my Dad had set in the middle of the dining table and heading towards the front door. The lie tasted like a bad apple in my mouth as I twisted the doorknob.
“If I get kidnapped Mom is so gonna curse me out.“I thought as I shut the door behind me.
I looked around the neighborhood, looking for anything out of place before making a break for my car.
My plan definitely failed because I slid in the grass and flew headfirst into the side of my car.
“Well, that was rather graceful.“I heard what sounded like a woman with a thick French accent say from behind me.
Groaning, I pull myself up expecting to see my neighbor, Mrs. Perkins who is talking to me.
A tall blonde woman in a very tight looking black jumpsuit and deadly looking stiletto boots stares back down at me and I squint in question for a moment before recognizing her facial features. I propel myself off the ground and run to the other side of my car before pointing my finger at her.
“You’re the stalker woman from yesterday!“I accuse, my index finger probably akin to Abigail from the crucible.
“Yes I am,” she says smiling a slightly intimidating big-toothed smile, “I’m Nadine and I need your help.”
