Flaws That Make Us Unique
It was a cold, windy afternoon in Nashville. Rodrick, a newly turned 18 year old, looked into getting the doors of his van replaced, but he found out it would cost more to get new ones than the van was actually worth. You see, Rodrick grew up in The Division of Family & Children Services, which is a fancy term for the foster care system, and growing up in and out of different homes where he wasn’t treated right by most of his foster parents, Rodrick grew rebellious and was described to be angry everyday for absolutely no reason. This gave Rodrick a very unlikeable reputation all throughout high school and most people stayed away from him. Some might think that Rodrick was just uptight but the truth is that when he was child, he had a very free spirit and as the years went on, he stopped caring about getting adopted because as soon as he turned 18 he would be leaving to go on his own for good. Rodrick himself got a job as soon as he entered high school to pay for his own needs and wants. He eventually ended up saving his money to buy a 1993 Aerostar Sport that was used, but still in decent condition.
So when Rodrick got into a car accident that totaled his van doors by a woman named Anna who happened to have been deaf and wasn’t in the best mental health at the time of the incident, he was in complete hopelessness. It was a shock to hear that his van’s repair would be that much and when he went to confront Anna out of anger, he realized his words fell on deaf ears, quite literally. He felt ashamed of himself for yelling at a deaf person so he instead decided to storm off because despite his offstandish personality, he did have some compassion for others.
After many uber rides, It had been two weeks after that fateful incident when Anna and her sister, Mica arrived at Rodrick’s door step. Anna explained that she was very thankful he didn’t press charges (which she didn’t know was because he couldn’t hire a good attorney) and because she was from a wealthy family, she offered to pay for his van expenses and take him on a cruise ship. This of course, would be a shock to anyone, but it especially was for Rodrick because this cruise to Europe would give him a new chance to start over where no one would know him or his struggles. He agreed and that is when his life changed in the blink of an eye.
You could say Rodrick was nervous, but in truth, he was just as anxious and excited as one could be. Moving to a European country from America where he barely knew the currency and society norms made him very anxious, but he knew he would manage and really, what sane person in his position would pass up an opportunity to ride first class on an expensive cruise? He knew well that because of all his misfortunes, he had to take advantage of every good opportunity that came his way and to him, he had to enjoy every last bit of it.
As the weeks went by, he got to know more about Anna and realized she was easy to hang around with and made him wonder if he missed out on the opportunity of having friends and making bonds throughout his childhood like everyone else. Even if it made him a little sad, he quickly dismissed the thought because he didn’t grow up like everyone else and even if he made friends, that would all be behind him now because he was starting a new life very soon.
What irked him though was that even if Anna was nice, Mica however, had a strong dislike toward Rodrick and Rodrick only tolerated her because he was forced to meet with her every time he met with Anna because Mica didn’t trust her little sister with such a “shady” looking man, especially since her sister was quite naive. Rodrick understood her almost motherly concern for her little sister, so he wasn’t surprised when he learned Mica would be going on the cruise with them as well.
He was surprised however when he saw the sisters arrive with a third person in the car. As they stepped out onto the dock, he saw that this person was a girl but she seemed very…off. She jumped at the sound of anything, was very fidgety, and never looked anyone in the eye or spoke in a loud tone. He found it odd, but dismissed her antics because it was simply none of his business. He tried to be polite and introduce himself, but she simply waved and Anna introduced her as Yasmine. As they were approaching the cruise though, Yasmine tries to imagine herself down in the keys aboard the boat with Mica, but it's getting harder because it isn’t just Mica and Anna anymore.
You see, when Yasmine was accompanying her friends on a cruise they invited her on, she learned that someone else would be joining them. Any normal person wouldn’t think too much about it and greet however else was invited normally and friendly, but Yasmine was not normal. She had been diagnosed with many mental illnesses, illnesses that made her anxious and overthink every possible scenario. She didn’t know this “Rodrick” man or his personality and because she had to interact with him at least once during the trip, she began overthinking and felt uneasy. When they got off the car and greeted this Rodrick man, she simply just did a small wave at him and hoped it would be enough for him to move on and leave her alone, which he thankfully did.
As they boarded the cruise ship, she saw the twinkle in Anna’s eyes when Rodrick spoke to her without making her seem inferior to him and she wondered if there was ever someone out there for her to look past the things that didn’t make her “normal”. She could see Anna sort of liked him or at least was infatuated by him and she envied that because she wanted someone who would look beyond her strange barriers and get to know the real her. For now though, she could keep dreaming and of course, stay away from anyone who wasn’t Anna or Mica, but what she didn’t know was that her wish would become true soon enough.
…To be continued.
Sentence: Rodrick looked into getting the doors replaced, but he found out it would cost more to get new ones than the van is actually worth. (Diary of the Wimpy Kid; Diaper Overlode)
Sentence: She tries to imagine herself down in the keys aboard the boat with Mica, but it's getting harder because it isn’t just Mica and Anna anymore. (The Sorta Sisters)