double devil (mphfpc)

Before

1983

"Heather, stop that." My mother hissed. Oh, if only it were that easy. I was having a really bad tic day, and my shoulder was sharply rising again and again. Of course, today was the day she had to bring me around with her, because there was no school. Since my tics are Oh So Embarrassing, she was practically begging me to stop. I flipped her off under the table, and blinked hard. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, getting up to pay. We were eating lunch at the diner, which was tasty, but stressful. There was so many old people giving me quizzical looks. Thankfully, we went home after that.
Everything seemed fine, until after dinner my parents said they "needed to talk to me." I got that feeling in my stomach. The one where it feels like there's a million butterflies in there. They sat me on the couch and said only a few things, but I'll never forget it.
"We can't stand you here anymore. You're too dangerous and frightening. We're sending you somewhere so you can be with people like you. In Wales." I blinked. My hand twitched. I sniffed. They kept going. "You are leaving next week. We'll come with you to the home, but then you will be on your own. We're sorry, we just can't handle you anymore." and that was that. I had to say goodbye to all my friends, tearfully explaining that I'd probably never see them again. I'd never been to Wales. I'd never been outside of the US. I was sad, shocked, and regretful, but most of all I was angry. Angry at my parents for doing this, angry at nature for cursing me like this, angry at my brain for being sick, and angry at myself. My friends threw a going away party for me, but it was barely enjoyable. Everyone kept saying "Be sure to visit!" and "Come back soon!". But I had a feeling, deep down, that I would never see any of them again. The time for me to leave came all too soon, and as we drove away from the house I lived all my life, I vowed never to give my parents the privilege of being in my thoughts. They let me get anything I wanted at the airport, as a parting gift. I bought about 30 books, a fuckton of candy, and a nice meal. I wanted to really screw them. A part of me felt bad, but I mentally hacked that part up. The plane was an excruciating 7 and a half hours, from New York to Wales. With my tourettes, flying is near impossible, which is why I'd only done it about 5 times in my life. I watched three movies, and played video games on my phone. Anything to calm my tics. We landed, disembarked, and immediately jumped into a taxi, to the port where the ferry that took us to the island was waiting. On the ferry, I thought about the pros and cons of moving. The only real pro I could think of was maybe now that I'm going somewhere with people like me, I'll stop being bullied. Even that, the chickenshit part of my brain casted doubt. "What if they're mean to you?" It worried. I shook my head at the thought and tried to locate the island through the fog. I squinted hard and was able to make out a big shadow. Otherwise, nothing. I groaned and slumped back into my seat.
When we stepped off the boat, the first thing I noticed was the buzz of generators and the gloom of the day. "Perfect, describes this day well." I thought. My parents brought me to a small bar. Waiting for us was a young woman and a girl with old timey hair. "Hi, you must be Miss Peregrine. I'm Heathers mother." My mom and the woman, who I assumed to be the headmistress, shook hands. "Oh I know. I assure you, Heather will be happier here." She smiled. "Thank you so much." My dad said to her. The girl looked like she was uncomfortable, so I tried to initiate conversation. "Long trip from the mainland, Eh?" I smiled at her. "Haha, I suppose so." She spoke in a thick accent I couldn't quite place. "My name is Bronwyn, by the way. Nice to meet you, Heather." She grinned. "Nice to meet you too." I replied. Then there was an awkward silence. It was broken by my mom pulling me aside. "Heather, you're going to go with those two ladies to the home. I love you, and I'll miss you very much. I'm sorry." She gave me a huge hug. Then my dad hugged me. "Goodbye, Mom and Dad. I love you." I grabbed my bags and walked out of the bar with Miss Peregrine and Bronwyn. I never looked back.

(Hello! Author here. So I decided to write this to 1. raise awareness for tourette syndrome and 2. celebrate tourettes awareness month! i hope you guys enjoy.)