Completely Ordinary
Chapter 1
Stuck in a Family of Geniuses

Ordinary.

Yep, that word pretty much sums it up. It's an entirely normal thing for someone like me to feel. My family isn't what one would call normal. In fact to any outside perspective they're all insane, not the crazy lock you up in a padded room insane, but the brilliant Sherlock Holmes insane. You see I'm stuck in a family of geniuses and it is because of this that I am completely ordinary.

I guess to explain my family I would have to start with my parents. Elizabeth and Henry Kent are two of the most brilliant minds a person could ever come across. My mother, Elizabeth, graduated from Harvard Medical School at the top of her class and is now one of the most accomplished brain surgeons a person could ever meet. My father, Henry, is a rocket scientist. Yes, I did just say rocket scientist. You always hear those, "I'm not a rocket scientist," comments when someone doesn't understand something, but my dad can never use that excuse. He did try once, but stopped himself when he realized what he was saying.

But I'm getting a little off topic, my point is that with a brain surgeon and a rocket scientist it is only logical that their children end up being just as prodigy savvy as their parents. The only thing is that I'm not.

I have three other siblings, all brains, and then there's me. My younger twin brothers, Charles and James, are only twelve and yet they can both school me in mathematics, chemistry, and can build a robot that speaks seven languages, make toaster waffles, and fully comprehends Einstein's Theory of General Relativity out of nothing more than an toaster, a circuit board, a roll of aluminum foil, and a portable speaker that plugs into a headphone amp. I'm nothing like them.

My older sister Avery is even more brilliant than my younger brothers if that is hard to believe. Avery has always been the golden child, excelling at anything and everything she's ever done. I know that my parents put a lot of their hopes and dreams on her shoulders and while I feel somewhat offended that they don't expect as much of me as they do of her, there is a large part of me that breathes a sigh of relief. She is always under so much pressure that sometimes I wonder how she hasn't snapped. She is only nine months older than me, but unlike the rest of my family she realizes that I'm the outcast.

Avery has always been my fun, loving older sister. And as time has passed she has realized that I don't exactly measure up to the rest of the family, however she doesn't care either way. In fact she understands my predicament better than anyone else. I often feel like the rest of my family is running ahead of me on a path, leaving me behind, but Avery is different. She is holding my hand dragging me alongside her, encouraging me, "Come on Spencer, just a little further. You can hold out for just a little more."

She's always giving me complements, even in the most mundane and seemingly uninteresting things. Like last week she peered over my shoulder while I was doing homework and said, "Wow Spence, you have nice handwriting. It's so clear and precise." I couldn't help the small smile when she said that because that was the thing with my sister, she was always sincere and never did anything half assed, so I knew that she meant it. And there are other things too, she tutors me in my homework, comes to my football games (soccer if your American), never misses our weekly movie night. She is the one person in my family who makes me feel normal.

Although what's normal for a family of geniuses? I'd have to say that normal doesn't exist for my family and perhaps never will.

"Hey Spence," Avery came into my room and plopped down on my bed next to me, "What's up?"

"The ceiling," I muttered lying on my back. She laughed at my response and rolled her eyes, but otherwise made no comment.

"Aren't you excited? We start our first day of school tomorrow at La Push High," she said enthusiastically. I fought the urge to groan in annoyance. How can she be so happy about this? I hadn't wanted to move to Washington, it was too wet and too cloudy and far too small.

"Oh, yes I'd do backflips but I'm way too cool," I mumbled with a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes.

Avery seemed to sense my displeasure, "I'm sure it'll be okay. You'll fit in here just fine. It's not like this is New York or London, everyone here could pass as our siblings."

"Not really if you think out it. Mom's only half Quileute which would only make us like one fourth. Besides our accents give us away," I pointed out. It was the truth we would only blend in here as long as we kept our mouths shut. Having been born and raised in England up until about two years ago when we moved to the shining city of New York, we have all very much retained our accents. Our father was a full blooded Brit, while our mother was technically American and from La Push, Washington.

"Kids dinners ready! Avery and Spencer should get down here before the twins turn it into a science project," our mother yelled from the base of the stairs. Avery turned to me and rolled her eyes. If there was one thing we had in common it was that we were both vexed by our twin brothers.

"Coming," she yelled back, standing up from the bed. "Let's go before James and Charlie turn the chicken into a bomb," she laughed, half seriously, sauntering out of the room to the kitchen. Knowing our brothers they probably could turn the chicken in to a bomb so I was quick to follow.

"Hey kids, where are your brothers?" Mum greeted us happily as she placed a bowl of mash potatoes on the table. Avery shrugged as she slid into the booth by the window. Mum huffed and walked back to the stairs, "Charles, James, dinner." I sat down beside my sister and started piling food on my plate. Mash potatoes, green beans, grilled chicken and rolls…yum.

My father sat off to my right reading over some papers from work. He had transferred to a branch in Seattle and could only come home on the weekends, while my mom took a job at the Forks hospital. The whole reason we had moved was because of our Grandma Ruth. My mum didn't want her to feel lonely now that Grandpa Charles had died which I perfectly understood, but Grandma Ruth wasn't lonely. It seemed to me that our moving here was utterly pointless.

It was then that my mother walked back into the room. "Henry, I thought we agreed to leave the scientific equations off the table," she chastised. My father looked up sheepishly and muttered a small apology gathering up the papers and placing them on the counter. Mum took her seat across from dad just as the terrible two came running into the kitchen.

"Avery can we barrow your stereo?" James, the younger and more polite twin, asked. He of course had the usual dark brown hair and olive/russet skin tone of everyone else in the family except for my father and he and Avery also shared the same gray-blue eyes that distinguished him from Charles.

Avery put down her fork, "Why do you need my stereo?"

"Because," Charles explained, "we're building a neuron transmitter so we can teach Raphael how to play the piano."

"Both of you leave that little rat alone. The last thing we need is a rodent that can play the piano," my mother scolded, "Now go wash up and so you can eat." Charles and James nodded solemnly before they ran back out of the kitchen to go was their hands. My father chuckled as he watched them leave.

"I remember when I was that age building robots, mixing rocket fuel, launching the lawnmower up into orbit. Those were good times," he sighed.

"Best not mention that last one to Charles or James. We don't want to give them any ideas," mum whispered. Avery laughed beside me at that remark as she smiled into her glass of water. "So kids," mum turned the conversation to Avery and me, "have you two finished unpacking?"

"Yep," Avery said grabbing a roll, "I finished this afternoon."

"I have one more box of CD's," I told them.

"I can't believe you two will be juniors tomorrow," mum sighed, wistfully. "It seemed like just yesterday you two were starting your first day of preschool and Avery was whining because you took her chips," she looked at me pointedly.

"Well I can believe it," Avery said ignoring the chips comment, "I'm checking out of high school as soon as I get accepted into a college. There was so much drama at Stuyvesant; a small school will be nice. Oh and I've finally perfected my American accent. Do you wanna hear it?"

"Sure," mum encouraged.

Avery took a sip of water and cleared her throat then launched into a long monolog. "I'm writing a letter. I can't write a letter. Why can't I write a letter? I'm wearing my green dress. I wish I was wearing my blue dress; my blue dress is at the cleaners. The Germans wore grey you wore blue. Casablanca, Casablanca's such a good movie, Casablanca, white house, Bush. Why don't I drive a hybrid car? I should really drive a hybrid car. I should really take my bicycle to work, bicycle, unicycle, unitard, hockey puck, rattlesnake, monkey, monkey, underpants," she finished slightly out of breath. Despite that however she didn't once drop the accent she had been so meticulous in perfecting.

"That was great, darling," father nodded, impressed, "but I still prefer your actual accent."

"Wasn't that a monolog from Gilmore Girls?" I asked.

Avery smiled and nodded, "I love that I have a brother who watches Gilmore Girls."

"I only watch them because you make me," I scoffed.

"I only made you watch the first three episodes. It was you who decided to have a marathon," she pointed out.

"So, Spencer, are you looking forward to starting school tomorrow?" Mum interrupted, derailing the impending argument. I looked back at her hopeful expression. Mum knew that I hadn't wanted to move, hell I hadn't even wanted to move from London, she was just hoping that maybe I was a little happy with the arrangement. But I wasn't.

"I guess," I murmured.

"Did you get into that advanced art course you wanted?" Dad asked.

"Yeah I did," I said a little more enthusiastically. Now while I consider myself to be completely average with everything I do, art is the only exception. It is still different from the rest of my family; there is no real brain work involved.

"It's a good thing I got you to do that portfolio," Avery nudged me with her elbow; "you would have been so bored with everyone else, learning the differences of pencil led and basic shading."

James and Charles returned to the kitchen at this point and sat down putting food on their plates. I looked over to them, watching as they very meticulously separated the green beans and the mash potatoes. "Charles, James, did you two finish unpacking?" Mum asked the same question she had asked us.

"Yes," James answered not looking up from his plate.

"I was thinking of inviting Uncle Grant over on Sunday. It's been a few years since we've seen him or Brady," Mum started, "I'm not going to be on call, so it should be the perfect time to catch up. We could cook steaks and play trivial pursuit or monopoly." Avery frowned beside me. She wasn't particularly fond of our younger cousin, Brady.

Brady Fuller was without any better way of putting it, completely ordinary. He was much like me, just a few years younger. We had only actually met him once. About five years ago both he and Uncle Grant stayed with us in London during the summer for about three months. During that time he had followed my sister around like a lost puppy. You know those child-like crushes. Suffices to say she wasn't very pleased with the idea of reconnecting with our cousin.

"Now Avery, don't make that face," mum remarked when she noticed her frowning, "I'm sure Brady has grown out of the crush phase. Besides it's not like anyone could blame him for it. Even your brother notices that you are abnormally attractive."

Well this conversation just got awkward. Avery and I seemed to be thinking the same thing at that moment. Avery opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. "What's the name of the three-headed hound that guards the gates of the underworld in Hades realm?" She blurted out a trivia question. It was the Kent family code, when in doubt turn to trivia.

"I believe its name was Cerberus," dad said thoughtfully.

"Oh are we playing trivia? I love trivia," mum said clapping her hands. Her eyes lit up with unspeakable child-like wonder as she thought of a question. "Year 1525 is significant to German history because—?"

"It began with the Peasants' War that was spearheaded by Thomas Muentzer," Charles answered matter-of-factly.

"What is the name of the three Hindu deities?" Dad asked.

"Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu," I answered. It turned out to be the only trivia question that I answered. The rest of the time I sat quietly and watched as my family shot questions back and forth across the table. I was just fine with not participating, a lot of the questions I didn't even know, while the rest were ones that I knew but had forgotten. It was only an hour of this until we had finished eating and mum had ushered us all to bed. We all had an early day tomorrow, mom going to the hospital, dad driving back to Seattle and the rest of us starting our first day in a new school. I didn't have to be a genius to know that we were all going to stand out. That was just how things worked. I only hoped that maybe, I could finally find a place where I would blend in and not have to live in my family's shadow.

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Completely Ordinary. I really shouldn't be starting another story, but I can't help myself. This story will be told from Spencer's perspective and possibly Avery's. I put some facts to keep in mind as you read below.

The Kent family is cousin's to the Fuller's by the mother, Elizabeth. Grandma Ruth is a full blood Quileute. Elizabeth grew up in La Push but went away to Harvard where she met Henry, then the two of them married and moved to England and raised their kids. They moved back to the States one year after Uncle John, Henry's brother, died in a 'car accident'.

Family Tree:

Ruth-Charles Carol-Lewis

Joyce-Grant|Elisabeth-Henry|John

Brady| Avery|Spencer|Charles|James

Ages:

Avery-17 Spencer-16 Charles & James-12

Both Avery and Spencer are Juniors.