I want
to be NORMAL
By Savanah Williams
I Want to be Normal
By Savanah Williams
Designed to be Worthy
Published by:
Designed To Be Worthy
102 W.McElhaney Road
Taylors, SC 29687
Copyright 2012 Designed To Be
Worthy. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of
America.
First printing May, 2012
Dedicated to
My family who has taught me the
value of trusting that God has
made each one of us to be a very
special creation.
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my parents
for urging me to take this writing
course and for getting me there
each week.
I would also like to thank
Vanguard Homeschool Academy, HRC
for the opportunity they have
provided through it’s co-op
classes where I have friends and
good teachers.
Thank you too to Mrs.
Wong,the Director, for all she
does.
Lastly, I would like to thank
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church for
allowing HRC to use their
classrooms.
Thanks to my classmates;
without a class full of people,
I’d have to answer all of the
questions.
Thank you to Mrs.Husman for
editing my novel and for helping
me set up the pages. I have
learned a lot about computers this
year, but there’s a lot more I
need to learn.
Table of Contents
1. The Start
2. Day One
3. Preparation
4. Bieber Fever
5. The Wish, the Dream
6. Normal
7. A Place of Regrets
8. Contrition
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7
Chapter 1 The Start
It all started when I graduated from
elementary school. After elementary I had
two months until I had to start middle
school. All summer long, I was very nervous,
so I tried to calm my nerves by doing the
stuff I loved to do.
One memorable event was my super
stupid sunburn. I asked my mom if she
would take me to the zoo. She agreed. When
we arrived at the zoo, it was closed because
both of their lions where sick; I was very
upset that we couldn’t go to the zoo. Mom
suggested we could go home and get ready to
go to the pool or we could just stay home.
I cheered, “Let’s just go to the pool!”
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When we got there, my mom said that
she had forgotten the sun block, so we
couldn’t stay that long. After an hour and a
half at the pool, we drove home.
I had to take a shower, and then I
went to my room to rest. When my dad got
home, we ordered pizza.
The next day, I awoke feeling super
sun burned. I looked in the mirror: Ugh. I
was so red and looked super funny. I wished
we had remembered the sun block! That day,
I went to the park alone just to walk around
and be by myself.
When I got home, I found out my
parents had invited my friend Elizabeth to
hang out. I don’t really like her because
sometimes she can be really rude to me, but I
call her my friend. I just knew that today she
would have a rude comment for me about my
sunburn, and she did.
Just as I expected she blurted out a
comment: “WOW! You are red like a tomato!”
Inside, I knew it’s because I had fun at the
9
pool, unlike some people who had been stuck
at home. I knew at that moment we were
starting to get in a fight, so I told her it
would be best if she went home. And she did.
10
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Chapter 2 Day One
Well, summer ended, and my
nervousness about middle school became
reality. Today was the first day of middle
school. And, I didn’t know anyone. My mom
took me to school in our 15 passenger van,
jamming to her oldies. I couldn’t wait to get
out of the car because I didn’t want anyone
to see me in the worst car ever. As I looked
at everyone else getting out of their cars,
they had the most awesome cars ever. Well, I
wished it was still summer. I really didn’t
like school at all.
Ugh! The first class I had was science,
my worst subject ever. After science, I had
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math, history, grammar, and finally lunch. I
didn’t know why I was excited for lunch
because all I did everywhere was embarrass
myself. Well, my wonderful mother had
made me a salad with mushrooms, garlic,
tomato, onions and lots of garlic dressing.
Since I was hungry, I didn’t mind eating it. It
really didn’t taste that bad.
When I saw Elizabeth, I walked up to
say hey. When I did, she grimaced, saying,
“What is that bad smell?”
“ I don’t know?” I tried.
“Is that your breath?”
“ No.”
She played along, “Oh. Okay,” and
rolled her eyes as if she knew it really was.
I finished my orange juice, but as I
went to throw away my cup, the little bit in
the bottom spilled on my pants. I tried to
make sure no one saw the wet spot on my
pants, but of course my old friend Jamie
from 5th grade noticed, yelling out, “Bad
breath Emily just peed her pants.”
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I was so embarrassed my face
turned as red as a tomato. I ran to the
bathroom.
Moving on to my afternoon classes
sounded bad too, but it did mean being closer
to the end of a bad first day of middle school.
It was time for gym period. I was doomed
because t just so happened that the night
before I had run out of deodorant. In a
panic, I asked Mom if she could go get some.
She was busy checking her Facebook and
said plainly, “You’ll be fine, Emily.”
When class started, I hoped he
wouldn’t make us do stuff that would make
us sweat, but he did. First, he made us run
three laps around the outside track. I knew I
smelled badly already, and I knew everyone
else could smell me too. When we got back
inside, he made my group line up on the left.
There was Jamie, and on the right was
Elizabeth. Then he instructed us to do fifty
jumping-jacks. I totally panicked because I
knew everyone around me would smell my
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stink and make fun of me. My plan was to do
the jumping-jacks, but to not really lift my
arms, hoping no one would smell me or see
the sweat marks under my arms. And of
course, they did.
Next thing I know, Jamie loudly
whined, “What is that? It smells! I think it’s
Emily.” And everyone laughed.
I felt tears run down my eyes as I
asked coach C. if I could go to the bathroom.
He nodded. I ran.
I plopped straight to the floor, crying
my heart out. Eight minutes later coach sent
Cole Jonson to come get me.
She asked softly, “Are you ok? “No…
I hate middle school. No one likes me, and
they hurt my feelings.”
“ That’s not true. I like you,” she
confessed. “Dry your tears and give me a
hug.”
I knew from that point I had found a
friend for life.
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Chapter 3 Preparation
After the worst day ever at school,
decided that I definitely didn’t want to go
through that any more. After I did all my
homework, I insisted my mom get some more
deodorant for me for tomorrow. Also, I
carefully picked out my clothes. I picked out
my purple skinny jeans and my Justin
Bieber t-shirt I got from the concert I went to
last year. Then, I made sure to pack my own
lunch and even asked Mom if I could walk to
school. She agreed. That night, I went to bed
knowing I had done everything I could to be
ready for the next school day. When I
woke up, I was ready to get dressed. I got my
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book bag and lunch and other stuff together
and I said, “Goodbye.”
I left for school an hour early to make
sure I would be there on time. Walking
along, I saw Cole up ahead so I ran and
yelled, “Hey Cole.”
She smiled, “Oh, hey Emily. I had no
idea you walked to school.”
“Oh. Yeah, I just started,” I admitted.
“Oh, cool, I love your shirt; I love
Justin Bieber too.”
“Awesome. He’s the best.”
So we walked together all the way to
school. We got there thirty minutes early. So
far, so good; I hadn’t been made fun of or
anything. I was kind of normal.
Mom had said I could have someone
spend the night, so I invited Cole. She said
she would love to come. After school, we
walked to my house. The worst thing ever
began our overnight --my dad was making
dinner. I didn’t want Cole to have to go home
because she had gotten sick from eating
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dinner, so I begged Dad to bake a frozen
pizza. He caved.
We had a great time until my parents
started to act a little weird. Well, not that
weird, just annoying because they were
listening to their old people music. Cole
didn’t seem to mind, though, so everything
went well and we had an awesome time.
In the morning, Cole had to go home
right away because she had to hang with her
family. That left me to hang with my
abnormal family.
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Chapter 4
Bieber Fever!
Soon, I’d celebrate my 13th birthday. I
knew what I wanted: I wanted to go to the
Justin Bieber World Tour Concert and I
wanted to take a friend. I knew who I would
take-- Cole, of course, because she is my best
friend for life. Besides, she really likes Justin
Bieber too. We would have a terrific time.
When I asked my parents, they said
they wouldn’t mind as long as we stayed
together and did the buddie system.
Cole and I had become great friends,
so at school the very next day I told Cole
what I had planned for my birthday. She
agreed it would be awesome and she loved
the idea of going with me.
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That same night her parents gave her
permission to go. While our moms worked
out the details, we texted. We texted until
11:30 when finally went to bed.
When I awoke, I remembered it was
Sunday. Sundays are good because Cole and
I go to the same church. We hung out at
church and then our parents decided to get
together for lunch. After lunch, they invited
meto their house to hang out for a little bit.
When we got there, Cole asked if I
would like to watch television, and I agreed,
so for two hours we watched the new
Twilight movie Breaking Dawn that she just
bought yesterday because it had come out on
DVD. It was the best one yet. Cole is on team
Edwards’s side and I am on team Jacobs’s
side. The whole time we cheered saying, “No!
She’s going for Edward,” or “No! She’s going
for Jacob.” We went back and forth the whole
time; it was so fun. I had an awesome time!
Finally, it was the night before the
Justin Bieber concert and Chloe was
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spending the night again. I had planned an
awesome sleepover. First, we would watch
the Justin Bieber movie on my family’s 3-D
television. Next, we would listen to Justin
CD’s while coloring signs for the concert.
After the movie, which made us cry a
lot, we put on the music. The signs were his
favorite colors -- red and purple. They looked
awesome; they were just the best. After all
that, we showed each other what we are
going to wear. She was going to wear her red
skinny jeans, a t-shirt with Justin’s face on
it, and a red jacket. I thought it looked
awesome. I was going to wear purple skinny
jeans, a t-shirt with Justin’s face on it, and a
purple jacket. We pretty much had chosen
the same outfit, just different colors. We
looked great. Our tickets where on the first
row, and we jumped and clapped to the
music until the concert ended.
After the concert it was so late that, as
planned, Cole spent the night again! It
wasn’t a problem with me.
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At home, my parents embarrassed me
again. I wished they would just be “normal”!
I hated when they acted like themselves; it
made me so mad.
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Chapter 5
The Wish, the Dream
Before I slept, I made a wish. I
wished that God would make me and my
parents normal so I wouldn’t be embarrassed
by anything anymore.
That night I thought a lot about this
wish. I so wished it would come true. How
awesome it could be to be normal and have
normal parents who did normal things. That
very night, I dreamt.
In my dream, I was wonderfully
popular and normal, and my parents were
normal too. It was weird and surprisingly, I
didn’t like it at all. You could call it a
nightmare!
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Chapter 6 Normal
When I woke up, I found that my
dream had sadly turned into real life. Here’s
what my wished-for normal looked like.
. The next morning, the first thing I
noticed was that the house was really clean
and redecorated too. Then, while browsing
in the pantry for breakfast, Dad, Mr. Notta
Cook, interrupted me, offering an omelet
with a side of jelly toast and a glass of orange
juice. He was dressed up in a suit. My mom
was also dressed up in a nice skirt and
blouse. They both looked nice, but why would
they be dressed up? My mom was a stay-at-
home mom and my dad was an exterminator.
Well, after breakfast, they each kissed me
and said, “We love you.”
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Mom told me, “Dad will be picking you
up from school today because I have to work
late.”
“Um. Well? Mom? I thought to
myself. Aloud I said, “Um, Mom. You don’t
work.”
“Of course I work, Honey. I’m a
fashion designer for Kim Rogers.”
“What!” I thought to myself. “My mom
has always been a stay at home mom.”
All I said was, “Oh. Yeah. That’s what
you do.”
“Dad? Why are you so dressed up for
work? I asked, trying to get a hold of this
new normal mom and dad.
“Sweet Pea, I am a part-time owner at
BMW sales.”
“Oh. I guess I forgot all about that,” I
responded, now really confused.
“Anyways, we should get going,” Mom
and Dad said together.
Not much was different, just a few
new things popped up each day, little things.
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Chapter 7 A Place of Regrets
A few weeks later, the car line lady
announced, “Emily Huffman’s ride is here.” I
looked everywhere for my car, but I didn’t
see it.
Next thing I knew, a super nice
Bugatti pulled up with the window rolled
down. It was my dad.
“Hey, Honey, did you forget what kind
of car I drive or something?”
“Yeah, I did. Sorry. I am just really
sleepy,” I lied.
“Well, try not to be so tired because we
have a very nice dinner with the other part-
time owner tonight, and I want everything to
go well.”
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“Ok. I will be on my best behavior,
Dad,” I spoke up.
“Oooo-kay, sounds good,” he smiled.
That night at the dinner party, I was
so confused. I had no idea what had been
going on, and I didn’t like it. I never got to
see my parents much anymore and I had to
be by myself a lot. I didn’t like it and I
wanted my old life back. Too many little
changes had piled up, making everything
bad, although probably very normal-looking
to everyone else. I was so crushed that I was
willing to do anything! Yes, anything!
That night, I prayed and then cried
myself to sleep because I didn’t want my
parents to be that way. After a month of this
going on, I had had it! I had been ground to
pieces and broken. I was truly sorry for my
wish.
When I prayed, I prayed and prayed
that when I woke up, God would have
changed my parents. I felt better, and then I
fell sound asleep.
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When I woke up the next morning, my
parents were the same. So was I.
“Why God? Why would you do this to
me? Why? How am I supposed to be happy
with who I am and how my family is, when I
am not? Am I stuck with the parents I don’t
want to have because I’m not being happy? I
poured out my questions to God, still
regretful for my wish.
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Chapter 8 Contrition
A second night went by of me crying
and praying, “Why God?
God answered me. It was like He
struck me on the head. With a new heart, I
realized that I had learned that I should
have been happy with what I had before I got
my wish. I also realized that what I had
wanted because of my own greediness didn’t
get me anywhere but a place of regrets.
When I woke up the next morning, my
old parents were back! I was so happy.
I promised to never again wish for
anything better because it can’t get better
than THIS. I know why God gave me that
lesson: it was to show me that I should be
thankful for what I have and I shouldn’t
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want anything more because that is greedy.
Next time I feel like I want more, I plan to
remember that I already have everything I
need.
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Author’s Note Broken Vessel
Isaiah 66:2
New International Version (NIV)
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and so they came into being?”
declares the LORD.
“These are the ones I look on with favor:
those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.
About the author
Savanah Williams is an outgoing,
energetic middle school girl. She
enjoys sports, music, and friends, as
well as being a big sister to her
younger siblings. This book has been
an exploration into her abilities as a
writer, and it has shown her that she
has the ability to encourage others
through her heartfelt writing.
From Wikipedia: Contrition or contriteness (from the Latin contritus 'ground to pieces', i.e. crushed by guilt) … sincere and complete remorse.
Savanah Williams’ story I Want to be Normal takes the reader to a place where matters of the heart are solved. It begins with Emily Hoffman living out a very real life of an almost-middle school girl: she just wants to be normal! She wants her parents to be normal. After Emily wishes this, she dreams a different reality. When she awakes, it is real. Maybe normal isn’t so good. Savanah has captured a real teen’s frustration and the beautiful end of the story provides a valuable lesson for the heart: be happy with what you have been given and who God has made you to be.