Far from Normal

Chapter 1 - Two days before the Accident

                   Matthew Lyte

                    "Ah shit, I'm going to be late again" I mutter as I run toward the crime scene. My name is Matthew Lyte, and I'm about to be late to my job as a Crime Scene Investigator.

                    "And there he is late again," Officer Thomson joked, "So, what's your excuse for this time?" He asked, "Mind you, the last excuse you used was car trouble. Wanna know why that one is particularly memorable?" He adds.

                     I am sort of out of breath but I manage a "I do not own a car."             

                     I get to work, I examine the safe—now melted open—and see that the marks of those of a blowtorch. I look around the place where the safe was before the robbery, and I see plastic gloves near the safe under the desk—Idiots—I quickly took the gloves and found some hairs, probably knuckle hair, and test them through the criminal data base, and sure enough, I found a match. I take the data to the captain and close my lab for the night.

                     As I walk out the station I get a text from none other than my best friend Amelia. I've been her best friend 6th grade. We met during lunch when I jumped off the lunch table and got hurt, Amelia was close by and made sure I was okay, I wasn't crying but it hurt like hell. She called the recess supervisor and they got me to the nurses office. Later that day she asked if she wanted to hang out. I don't know why she wanted to hang out with the idiot who jumped off a table. We later that day she gave me a call on my phone and we talked for a while since I hadn't said yeah or no. She was really cool, the next day we hung out during lunch.

                     And she had just invited me over for a movie. We had been busy with work and we hadn't hung out in quite some time so I was happy that we both had free time at the same time for once.  

                     Matt : Yeah, I'll be there at 8:30, which movie? — I type on my phone as I walk out the station.
                     Amelia : Captain America, The First Avenger, see ya there. — Oh, a classic, awesome.

                     I look at my watch, 7:30, "Okay," I mumble to myself as I pull out my apartment keys. Quickly, I take a shower and don't bother to do my hair since I just got a haircut. Amelia's house is about 10 minutes from my house walking and I don't have a ride. I'm ready to leave it's 8:10, so I take my keys and my backpack, and text to Amelia.

                     On my way, see ya in a bit. — I walk out my door and lock it. Once I'm about to get there I notice somebody getting mugged in an alley. Classic mugging —  I not that stupid kid anymore, I put down my backpack, and I walk into the alley. I see two tall dudes one about 5'10" and the other about 5'9". I am 5'10" so I could take them. I walk up, "Hey! Leave her alone! I walk up and disarm the guy with the stun gun one had. Then, the other dude clobbered me with a bat directly in the fucking forehead. I almost pass out and kick the dude in the balls. He falls over and I knock the other dude down. The dude that was getting mugged held the dude with the stun gun down while I called the cops.

                     Once they arrived, the dude offered me some money for saving, I don't take it, I get paid enough with my job. Then I remember that I was on my way to Amelia's, Fuck. I look at my watch, 8:54, I get up and run to her house.

                     "What the hell Matt, why'd you take so long to get here?" Amelia asks angrily. "Sorry, I got stuck helping a dude getting—" "What happened there?" Her expression softens, "Did u get in a fight?" She looks seriously worried. I tell her what happened. She gets me an ice pack and she looks for the movie disc. "Sorry, I got mad" she whispered. I hugged her and said, "It's fine, I should have called you."

                     We watched the movie, once it was done I was extremely sleepy. I got up and noticed Amelia had completed passed out. I looked at her slightly confused since I was sleepy. Once I figured it out I decided to cover her in her blanket and straighten her out on the couch. I got a drink of water from the kitchen and then as I was about to leave Amelia woke up and walked up to me. "Goodnight, Amelia," I say quietly as I hug her. I feel odd, we never act like this when we hung out before. "Goodnight, you fucker," she says. She did used to say that, she says in a way that makes me feel warm inside.

                     I think about how weird she been acting. She was sleepy, maybe that's why. The more I thought about it the more I wondered. The last time we hung out she was a little weird but nothing like this. Anyway, once I got home, I was so tired, I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.