Normal - 1. Chapter 1

I can’t say that I was ever one of those kids that just couldn’t wait to move out and go away to college. Sure, I was excited for the next chapter of my life, but to say I wasn’t at least a little bit nervous would be an understatement. This was one of those coming of age experiences thatI had been looking forward to for the last few years.

Like any other day this summer, I woke up in my bedroom in my parents house in suburban, nondescript Philadelphia. A typical suburban neighborhood, you know the type, manicured lawns, stupid flag supporting one cause or another out front, and the back yard with a deck and a swimming pool. Yall have seen it in the movies, suburban life, well, that’s just how it is.

Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Tyson. Tyson Saunders, but you can call me Ty, everyone else does. I’m your typical suburban kid, well young man, now. I graduated in June from the local high school where I played soccer and wrestled, did the super smart nice kid thing and got into NHS and was a Boy Scout. Yeah, you can say i'm the all around typical boy next door.

I’m from this pretty affluent area outside of Philadelphia, the every haughty Main Line, a bunch of snobby people. I don’t hate the area, but the people...lets just say they care more about money than I do. I’m housed, fed, clothed and generally get stuff if I ask for it. I mean, its not like my parents went out and got me a sporty BMW for my birthday, so i'm not totally spoiled, but just taken care of.

My family is pretty normal, I’d guess, Dad and Mom are still super in love with eavg other, had three kids, and a dog. Dad is a computer nerd, and mom is a nurse practitioner. What does that mean for me? Filters on everything, and never faking sick days in school. I guess it could be worse though. I have an older sister, Natalie and a younger brother, Derek. Shockingly, we get along well. Natalie is 2 years older and in California for school, Derek is 3 years younger and trying to do everything I did, well, most everything.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not perfect, I’ve got my flaws. One of which, I’ll tell you, but I’ve bever told anyone else this before--and here I am about to expose myself all over the internet for people to read about forever.

I’m gay.

Yeah, probably not the plot twist you were expecting, or maybe you are since this is a gay story site, but hey, I can hope that my plot twist is kinda cool. Probably not all that unique, but it's part of me. One of those things that I’ve kept hidden throughout my idyllic, charmed suburban life growing up. How poetic can this be? Athlete, smart kid, Boy Scout...and a closeted gay teenager. I guess it makes sense, in some way. I’ve just never felt the need to tell anyone that I’m gay, my parents havent pressured me to date, my siblings, well, they’re siblings, right? And my friends, they just let me be Ty.

So it’s probably not going to be a total shock when I eventually come out to them, who knows, maybe they even suspect it and I’m too oblivious to actually see that they know, or think they know and are just waiting for confirmation from me. I don’t know, but that's a problem for later. Today is a huge day for me.

I’ve spent the last month making runs to Target for all the crap that a college freshman thinks they need, you know, 3 sets of sheets, towels, storage, food, mini fridge, etc. Honestly, I’ll probably never use half this stuff, it'll probably just collect dust in my dorm room. I’ve been packing up my room with all the stuff that I think I can’t live without 120 miles away from home.

Today is move in day at Penn State, it's the place half of Pennsylvania’s high school students want to go. Far away enough from home that Mom and Dad have to plan to come up, but close enough that I can catch a bus closer to home if I need to come home, or just want to get away for a weekend. We have around 40000 students, which is a ton more than my suburban 400 person graduating class. I’ll be with 4000 of my classmates in the East Halls, some old dorm buildings on campus, I think I’m excited for it. If nothing else, it’ll give me some eye candy, I hope.

Which brings me to my roommate, Colton Deemer, we really don’t know much about each other, other than we were assigned to share a room by some pencil pusher in the housing office. We got each other's email addresses about a month ago and tried to plan out what to bring so that we didn't duplicate anything. He seems pretty chill, but I think everyone seems that way until they actually get to know each other. Hopefully he isn’t a weirdo or a homophobe...or doesn’t shower, I’d gag if I had to smell someone else's BO all the time.

Colt, as he’d rather be called is from the middle of nowhere, PA. Which sums up pretty much the entire state outside of Philly and Pittsburgh. He’s only half an hour from home, which I guess is kinda cool. Maybe that means we’ll get a few home cooked meals throughout the year, I guess I’ll have to see.

I’m totally off track here. Now that I’m up, it's time to shower, grab a last breakfast at home with the family, then we’re off to University Park! It’s about 3 hours from home through nowhere until we’re there. I won't bore you with details of breakfast, but it was just a somber but some excitement. Dad was stoked that I was going to his alma mater, Derek was excited to see the “hot college chicks” and Mom, well, Mom was being herself, probably reminiscing about her middle child growing up and now going off to be a man, well, young man.

We left for Penn State around 9:45, Dad figured that we could get there with enough time that it wouldn’t be too packed around East Halls, so that we could park, unload and get me setup. I’m sure that he’s more excited to be back at his old stomping ground than he’s actually letting on. As we get closer, I’m getting a little nervous, not because I don't think I’ll do well, but more on the social aspects of college. Will Colt and I get along, will I fit in, will I do something on campus, will I join a fraternity? Dad has been talking up his fraternity since we were toddlers, I think he really wants me to at least give it a shot. He regaled us with stories of the “best times of his life”, so I’m sure that I’ll have to at least go to some kind of rush thing. As I stare out the window, I start thinking about Colt again, I wonder what this is going to be like. Will he be hot? Maybe he’s a nudist, I doubt I’d mind that. Unless he’s a real dick, then, all bets are off.

After 3 hours in the car and a stop at Wawa for Derek to take a leak, and me to get my last vestiges of home, namely an Italian Hoagie and a soft pretzel, we arrived ad the place was mobbed with minivans and soccer moms; luckily, we have a Tahoe, so even though Mom was a soccer mom, she didn't have that persona, nor the minivan as an accessory to that life.

Speaking of life, mine was about to change drastically. Gone was the days of carefree living, Mom doing my laundry, and home cooked meals. I was about to enter into a mix of freedom and terror. The great unknown of college. We were able to park relatively close to East Halls and find our way to the lobby, loaded down with the first load of a few to go.

I was able to check in and sign my life away for my room keys, and head for my (thankfully) first floor room. We walked down the hall to Room 112, the door was open and inside was one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen. Holy crap, Colt was gorgeous.

This is going to be the best year or the worst year….

To Be Continued.