Unfixed

ONE

"Normal is Boring"

The Magnussens were your average successful family living in the rural county of Sussex. They lived on a road surrounded by fields and scattered with buildings varying from cottages to great manors. The nearby schools offered the best education they could and each of the four Magnussens attended them.

The name 'Magnussen' was one know through generations for their ownership of several newspapers. Charles, the father of this particular generation of Magnussen, had inherited his father's ownership and at the age of twenty-five, he had made a name of himself.

Known as the 'Napoleon of blackmail' Charles had ties to people all over the Western World and made enough money to keep his family happy. He aimed for his eldest- Isaiah- to carry the Magnussen name through the business and immediately offered seventeen-year-old old an apprenticeship when he passed his GCSEs with straight As.

His other three children showed promising grades and already he knew they would be successful. David, his second eldest strived to join the Metropolitan Police Service and had already been promised a place in their training program. Trinity was excelling in her cadets course. Already she had become a leader and was offered a job assisting at the local leisure centre. His youngest, Genesis, showed extreme curiosity in all he did. She begged him to show her his work and he would often find her snooping around his office- the child was extremely agile and streetwise it was almost concerning.

All of his children were born with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, a trait they inherited from their mother. They were all relatively tall and lanky, their metabolism working faster than they could chew but- despite onlookers worrying for their health each child was happy and healthy.

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Genesis wasn't allowed friends. It wasn't her fault or her parents' fault or the school's fault. It was her name. When parents of children learnt that Genesis was a Magnussen they feared her father- she couldn't blame her loneliness on the man because it was their fault for being afraid.

She had kind teachers- specifically Miss Murdock. The English professor had left her position at the local university to teach the younger children for a reason unknown to all but her. Immediately, Genesis had latched onto the woman. She wanted to learn everything she could teach her and Miss Murdock was happy to offer the year 5 advanced tutoring- with permission from her parents of course.

It was during the lunch and break times they spent together did Genesis begin to notice things about the teacher she hadn't before. Miss Murdock- alike to herself- was lonely. Whether she secluded herself in her small cottage by choice was unclear but Genesis knew that they were each other's only friend.

Miss Murdock had taken note of the child's love for reading instantly and- as it turned out- the likes of Shakespeare inspired her immensely.

It was one cold day in November, after Genesis had handed in a copy of Romeo and Juliet after reading it for the third time that year, did the moment everyone had been waiting for happen: the announcement of the Christmas Mayhem. The one time of year where the entire school pitched in to make the last day of school memorable.

Students were allowed to dress in their own clothes for the day before being invited back to school for 4 o'clock entertainment. The musically inclined students would perform for half an hour before the students were given a full Christmas dinner and fruit mocktails. Each classroom was set with a different form of entertainment: some a movie, some group activities, some solo activities. The hall was cleared completely and a disco ball hung from the ceiling. The students were issued with glow sticks upon entry and encouraged to dance to the latest hits the DJ issued.