บท 30: What is normal?
"You know, I am really envious of you. If I had gotten a boyfriend, Mom would have never allowed me to go on a date. But you get to go out every time with your little girlfriend," Haley said annoyed while lying on her bed, her phone in her hands.
"Please, you know that Paige isn't my girlfriend. We are just best friends," I said helplessly. Haley never listened to any of my words.
"Yeah, right," she said unconvinced.
Anyway, forget about Haley.
I am indeed going on a friendly date with Paige.
We both undertook a Philosophy major a while ago.
Our newest assignment was assigned specifically to us two.
We needed to go to a normal event with other people and try to put ourselves in their shoes.
We were to try and experience a normal life.
When we did that, we would write a small report about what we think normal life is and if it is something we want to experience.
It was one of the easiest but also one of the hardest assignments I had ever been tasked with.
Paige and I had already agreed on a place and a time to meet.
The time is today, of course. It will be 5:00 p.m.
The place will be a festival in a town a few kilometers away from Los Angeles.
"Mom, I am ready!" I screamed downstairs while putting on my shirt.
"Be careful and have fun," Haley said goodbye with a smile.
I smiled and went downstairs.
I soon sat down in our car. We drove to the university and picked up Paige.
After about one and a half hours of driving, we arrived at the festival.
It was a place with many attractions. There was a small Ferris wheel, for example. This was the first thing you saw.
The place itself wasn't big, but it was densely packed with every sort of attraction. It was arranged in a way that you could easily tour through every attraction in a day.
"What do you want to start with?" I asked Paige.
"With the Ferris wheel. With it, we can overlook everything and choose the best attraction," she said seriously.
"Hahaha," I started laughing.
"Why are you laughing?!" she asked angrily.
"Did you forget our assignment? We should act like normal people. Let's just look around," I said to her with a smile.
"Look at that thing! Let's ride on that," I said, taking her hand and rushing towards the attraction.
It was a platform with a circle on it.
We paid the entrance fee and went into the circle. The inside of the circle was filled with seats.
Paige and I both sat next to each other. Luckily, the ride wasn't full and a few places next to us were empty.
"Are you sure this is a good idea? This seems dangerous," Paige said anxiously.
I took her hand and gave her some advice.
"Just turn off your brain. Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Soon the ride started. There were no safety belts.
If you didn't sit still, you could fall out of your seat onto the floor.
The ride began gently. It made some spins and some small bumps. These became more severe until you needed to hold onto the seat to avoid crashing.
It seemed dangerous, but no one was hurt and it was pretty secure.
"How was it?" I asked Paige after the ride was finished.
"Amazing," she said, only one word. I knew I had caught her.
After that, we visited various other attractions. From vending machines where you could win stuffed toys to extreme rides.
For example, one ride takes you 20 to 30 meters up into the sky and then tosses you around.
The most amazing thing was that it was only built temporarily. This festival would only last 5 days.
After we visited the whole festival, we made one last stop by the Ferris wheel. This was the only thing we hadn't ridden.
"Let's go," I said to Paige, whose hand I still held. I held her hand the entire time. That feeling was nice. I loved it.
We stepped onto the Ferris wheel.
At the highest point, I decided to tease Paige a little.
"What would happen if this crashed down? Would my body be heavy enough?" I asked teasingly, jumping up and down in the small cabin.
"STOP, GABE! THAT ISN'T FUNNY! PLEASE!" she screamed and tried to drag me back to my seat.
"Hahahahaha," I laughed. She lied to me. It was funny.
I stopped resisting her pull and fell into her lap.
I had a good landing and sat up again.
"STOP THAT! DON'T DO THAT EVER AGAIN!" Paige said, hitting me on my shoulder.
I just laughed it off.
We soon arrived at the bottom again.
Stepping out of the Ferris wheel, we noticed it was already 11 p.m.
I texted my mom and told her our location.
"Let's go to the gas station. My mom will arrive in 10 minutes. She was shopping while we were here," I said to Paige, holding her hand.
It was soft but cold. It formed a strong contrast with the warm weather.
It was a feeling you only experience once. I knew that.
We walked across the street. There was a school with a small parking lot. From there, you could easily go to the gas station.
After waiting for another 5 minutes, my mom arrived.
She drove us home.
Paige started sleeping while we were driving.
"Mom, can Paige sleep at our house? I will sleep on the couch and she can have my bed?" I asked my mom. I didn't want to wake Paige up.
Mom thought about it for a few seconds.
"Well, but you need to sleep on the couch! You can't change your mind," she said sternly.
"YES!" I immediately answered.
When we arrived home, I took Paige in my arms and put her in my bed.
I went downstairs and grabbed a few blankets to put on the couch.
While lying down on the couch, I started to think about the day.
I smiled, remembering everything that happened.
I had a small tension in my stomach. It felt like butterflies were flying around.
I couldn't sleep.
Instead, I took my laptop and started writing the assignment.
I only wrote a few things.
"What is normal? There are many different answers to this question, but from what I have experienced, I can say: Being normal is turning off your brain and enjoying the moment. You don't think about the past. You don't think about the future. You just focus on the moment you live in." That was the whole thing. I usually wrote many words. Many, many, many. But this time, I could only describe what I felt in simple words.
After writing the assignment, I tried to sleep again. This time it worked very quickly.
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MC picture(he isn't 13 in this picture/ he is older. Just imagine him in younger)
Paige picture
Picture of the round attraction
Picture of the 20 meter thing
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