Normal by Jason Conley

one last deep breath and rounded the corner.  Even though Carissa was not looking his way, he recognized her.  He stopped, legs shaking.  A strange sensation of excitement and fear swept over him.  He muddled, not being able to speak. Carissa did not notice.
                  David watched her as she sat in the desk tapping her fingers, looking to the windows.  He was rude to her that morning, and now he had to tutor her.  A teacher must be stern and command respect. His mother’s words, not his.  He still could not separate his actions from the morning and how they would meld into the now.  They had never met until today.  Now, twice their paths have crossed.   Why?
                  David believed deeply in fate.  Even with God’s hand on the world, protecting the believers from the Satanists, he believed that God had planned events that were going to happen.  David believed God would put people in his life when he needed them.  Up until now, he just never needed them. 
    Of course, he never let his mother know.  Mrs. Shelton had never even gave the notion a second thought.  David had once asked about fate.  He was young and had heard the Smurfs say it.  He wanted to know what it meant.  “Fate is a sin.  God does not like boys who believe in such things.  They draw His children away from their true purpose.  God has a plan for you.  He told me what it was but I cannot tell you just yet.  But, in time you will know.”  The television was removed later that day. 
                  David was inquisitive even as a boy.  He had gone to his mother’s library (what most people would call the living room) and looked up the word.  He had only needed two seconds to realize that his mother had absolutely contradicted herself.  Predestined events.  She told him God had a plan; would that not be a predestined event.  In that moment, he knew that his mother was not always correct.  She could be wrong.  However, the bible also teaches children not to question their parents. 
                 
                  A pencil slid from David’s notebook tapping against the linoleum floor.  Carissa heard the low thump as it hit the ground.  David quickly crouched down to retrieve it.  Carissa turned and saw his thin fingers grasp the yellow wood gently.  Oh, hell , Carissa thought, focusing on the button-up shirt and Khaki pants. He’s my tutor!
                  David stood timid and still as if he were trying to not be seen.  They stared at each other like boxers before the fight, no expressions.  A cold stare was the only barrier between their awkward silences merging with their mutually flummoxed reaction to the strange twist of the day.
                  “So, you are going to be my tutor?” Carissa asked only to break the uncomfortable silence.
                  “Yes.  My name is David,” he said just before the bell rang. 
                 
                 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    5
    David sat so that there was a desk separating him from Carissa.  He knew that if he sat next to her the devil would tempt him.  He had been warned about the temptation of the harlots his entire life.  The women of the night would corrupt him, derailing him from his chosen path.  “Your path is the Lord’s path,” Mrs. Shelton would tell.  “You must move toward all that which is good and righteous, David.  The Lord has revealed you to me.  He has revealed you not as you are now but as you will become.  The harlots will keep you from the path he has for you.  You must be prepared and you must be strong.”               
    David also did not want his mother seeing him and thinking he was trying any “vile” acts.  David’s mother did not want him to as much as talk to girls just in case they were harlots.  They were the reason for