The Newest Normal

Chapter One: Morgan

I drop my backpack on the floor with a thump, grab my pencils and ruler, and hurry upstairs. Another typical day, which was how I like it. No surprises or anything shocking.

I tick the day events off of my fingers. Another math test, a perfect article written by me to hand into the newspaper committee, and another attempt to talk to my crush- Max (who I've had a crush on for 7 months now), but all those things are normal. Although... I frown a little as I sit down on my chair. There was that one run-in with that person. His name's Cody. He's the local hunter's son. I've only met him once when he participated in the school's archery contest and won. We mostly ignore each other in the hallways and classes.

It happened today as I was delivering my newspaper article to the newspaper committee. I was already on student council, but improvements had to be made if I wanted to score something more. The newspaper contained an article convincing everyone to vote for me next year for school president when "he" bumped into me in the hallways. Everything in my arms fell and the papers I worked so hard on drifted all over the floor. Instead of helping me pick them up, he simply picked up a sheet, snorted and claimed that the article was the lamest thing he ever read. I ignored him and simply snatched the sheet out of his hands. He irritated me, and I didn't like it. He was capable of ruining my plans, which I didn't like either.

A sudden noise from downstairs interrupted my thinking. My mom had come back from buying groceries.

"Conner!" she cries. "Help with the groceries!" Conner is my younger brother, 13 years old, exactly two years younger than me. No reply. I had a suspicious feeling my brother wasn't coming out anytime soon.

"Conner, come down this minute or you're grounded!" No reply. If I knew my brother correctly, he was probably hiding in the basement, playing his video games.

My mother sighed. "Morgan, you're better than your brother. You can come down, won't you?"

I sigh. I suppose I can. "I'm coming!"