Sometimes life was completely unfair. If Spencer was a normal kid, that would have been his argument, but Spencer isn't normal and neither was his situation. He knew the situation wasn't unfair and in fact may have even been good for him, but that didn't make him like it anymore.
He wishes his father would just pack his stuff into a bag and leave, but nothing could be that simple. His father wasn't so irrational that he would leave him alone with his schizophrenic mother who wouldn't remember to eat if she wasn't on her medication. No, instead he decided it would be better to tear Spencer from his roots, dragging both him and his mother to Virginia before dropping them off at Diane's sister, Ethel's house before hauling ass. Spencer kept telling his father that moving as a kid could affect his future relationships, making them have fewer high quality relationships and tend to overall have a lower well-being. His father obviously didn't listen to him.
Spencer doesn't blame his eidetic memory on remembering everything about his parents last fight that set his dad off, he feels even without it he'd have an elephants memory. It was the sound of glass breaking that had woken him up, his immediate thoughts going to them being robbed. Before he could take evasive action, Spencer heard something he had sadly grown accustomed to, his mother crying. His father's falsetto voice barely carried into his room, being mostly drowned out by Diane so it was hard for Spencer to hear what they were saying.
Walking closer to the door, Spencer pushed it open slightly, wincing at the loud creak that emitted from it. He let out a breath when he they kept fighting, obviously not hearing their son had awoken. "Dammit Diane, I can't do this anymore! Every day with the same shit, it's like I'm married to a toddler! Can't even wash yourself without some assistance!" Diane cut him off, hiccups interrupting every other word. "I'm ge-tting better, William. Spen-cer and I even went t-o the movi-es the o-ther day." She cried out, instead of yelling her voice was soft, as if she were talking to a child. William let out a huff and wiped his right hand down his face and walking over to the counter, leaning on it in exhaustion. "That was almost a month ago, Diane. Look," William turned around, looking at Diane with a look of absolute pity. "You know I love you and Spencer, but I can't even leave the house without worrying about you two. You can't take care of yourself and you can't take care of him. I know you don't like the idea but just think about it, it would be good for both you and Spencer."
Diane let out another sob, shaking her head that was resting in her hands. "NO! I don't need anyone to help take care of Spencer and I. We're doing fine on our own." "DIANE, Spencer is taking care of you more than you are him. You two can't go on living like this any longer." How could someone look so caring, yet angry at the same time? Spencer may be able to understand the chemical process of emotions, but he doesn't think he'll ever truly understand them. His mother walked towards William as she realized he was right, falling into his arms as another wave of heart-wrenching sobs rack her body, a sound Spencer would never be able to forget.
That argument had happened just over a week ago and along with it came restless thinking and sleepless nights. When he started being unable to concentrate on the simplest of tasks such as washing the dishes, Spencer finally lay down and read books in his head until he fell asleep. He only getting 6 hours of sleep that night, but it was definitely better than none. He tried asking his parents what they were arguing about and who was going to take care of Spencer and Diane, but he apparently wasn't very good at bringing it up casually, making his father get angry and his mother's eyes fill with either tears or confusion, depending on how lucid she was. When the end of the week came, Spencer was hearing a ringing in his ears from how quiet it had been in the house. William came into his room on Friday evening, a bag in hand and a grim look on his face. "Pack a bag; I'm taking you and Diane to your aunt Ethel's." He said before leaving the room without even looking Spencer in the eyes.
He wasn't stupid, the conversation Spencer overheard now made since, he and his mother aren't coming back to Las Vegas. He couldn't say he was surprised, his father dumping them as someone else's responsibility, William was never good at taking responsibility, even if the responsibility is his wife and kid. It almost felt like fate hated Spencer, first making him smarter than everyone else, which immediately makes them hate him and when he finally starts getting along with people in school by coaching basketball, he has to move. But Spencer never was one to believe in fate.
The ride to Virginia felt like an eternity, each bump on the road bringing Spencer back to the reality that soon enough he would be going to a new high school and will, once again, be despised for his age and IQ. If he could, Spencer would be homeschooled, but his mother was adamant he went and endured the overwhelming smell of cologne and perfume, the testosterone filled jocks, and the bulimic cheerleaders who think they're better than everyone else. Diane thought it would give him character and the chance to have a semi normal life, but Spencer knew he never had a chance at being normal; it was but a pipe dream.
William looked at him through the rearview mirror every once in a while, with pursed lips and a sad look in his eyes. In Spencer's mind, he didn't have a right to look sad, it was his decision to dump Spencer and his mother off at Ethel's. Spencer hadn't seen her since he was 7 and the memories weren't that fond. She was a loud woman, constantly invading everyone's personal space and life and to top it off, she has 4 cats and half of their hair is covering her. She was always complaining about William, saying he was a good-for-nothing husband, who sooner or later was going to leave. Spencer can now see just how right she was.
Looking out the window, Spencer watched as they pulled up to a one story, yellow house with white shutters and dead bushes in the front, the only difference from the last time he was there was that it looked older. He saw her face peak out the window but the curtains closed seconds later and then she was rushing out the door, waving excitedly at them as the car pulled into the driveway. Ethel wasn't a small woman, the opposite in fact, she was a large woman who constantly wore flower nightgowns and had short, curly brown hair that barely went to her ears.
It wasn't a welcoming sight, a creepy old house and an aunt he barely even knew, but it wasn't that bad compared to what it could be. Diane got out of the car before it stopped, rushing to her sister while William sat in the parked car for a second before turning around and facing Spencer. "I know it isn't ideal, but this is what's best for you and your mother. Maybe you'll even like it here." William said hopefully, but even he didn't believe his words. "We both know that's not true." Spencer said after a couple of seconds before grabbing the book beside him and getting out of the car.
"Spencer! Spencer, come here!" Ethel yelled over to him with an excited voice, rapidly waving her hand, motioning him to come to her. Trying to keep the cringe off his face, Spencer walked slowly over to her, preparing himself for unwanted human contact. When he finally made it up the last step, his senses wear bombarded with the scent of cats and cigarettes. He would've sneezed if Ethel hadn't been squeezing him so tightly. "Ohh you've gotten soooo big! How long has it been? 5, 6 years?" Ethel asked, her voice croaking from years of chain-smoking. "3 years and 9 months." Spencer answered quietly, but Ethel didn't hear him. Pulling him to an arm's length, she examines him with a disapproving look. "Oh this hair will not due! It's gotten way too long, we're gonna have to get you a haircut." She says turning his head left and right, looking at it from all angles.
Truthfully his hair wasn't that long, it barley reached his chin but he did plan on growing it longer, no matter what she said. William walked up to them holding some of Diane's bags, causing Ethel to pull Diane and Spencer into an embrace while glaring at William, as if she was protecting them. He only glanced at them for a moment before walking past them and into the house, coming out seconds later to get more bags. Most were full of books, out of the 12 bags, only 3 or 4 having their clothes and other personal items in them. "I told you he wasn't good enough." Ethel whispered feverishly to them, still glaring at William as he passed them.
When all the bags were in the house, William walked up to them with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face. He looked at all of them and let out a sigh, running a hand over his face, something Spencer noticed he did when he was upset. Spencer tried keeping the frown off his face, but at least he could stop the tears that were in his eyes from falling. Even if his father was technically abandoning them, it was still his father and the thought of not being good enough for him was something that made his chest ache. He knew his father would inevitably leave, he could sense it in the way he talked to him and his mother, but that didn't make it any easier.
"I do love you guys, I hope you know that. Know that no matter how far apart we are, I will always be thinking of you two." William said to them in a voice that didn't completely convince Spencer that he meant what he was saying. William got to go back to Nevada, back to their home and go on living as if Spencer and his mother were never in his life to begin with, nothing that he said could change that they all knew that was exactly what he was going to do. He gave Spencer and Diane one last, what was supposed to be a meaningful look before turning around and walking to the car. As William drove away, Spencer felt the weight of Ethel's arm getting heavier and the smell getting stronger, feeling as if it was suffocating him. A small tear rolled down Spencer face when their his father's car went out of sight.
"Come on; let's go get you two unpacked." Ethel ushered them inside, having to pull a hysterical Diane with her. Stepping inside, Spencer felt his eyes widen at how much dust and cat hair there was everywhere. The white walls and cabinets were turned yellow from nicotine, there was one potted plant on the window seal but it had long since died, and animal figurines were on all of the furniture, a collection she had obviously been collecting for a while and was very proud of. The sink and surrounding counter was full of dirty dishes; Spencer was sure he saw a fly buzzing around them. He could honestly say he was not a fan of her house. "Now the attic was turned into a bedroom by the previous owners, I'm sure it's perfect for you Spencey." Ethel said pinching his left cheek, making him try to give a small smile as to not be ruse but it was mostly a grimace. She led Diane to the couch before motioning Spencer to follow her down the hallway. "Now there are boxes up there but there isn't a lot so I'm sure you can move around them." She explained as she pulled the rope hanging from the ceiling, a latter coming down from it. Spencer stared at it, wondering how many different bugs and animals were up there. "Now go on in." She says making a shoeing motion at him.
Spencer gave her an uneasy look before slowly making his way up the latter, sneezing when he got to the top from all the dust in the air. His jaw dropped when his eyes stopped watering and he could see the mess that was the attic. Boxes littered the floor, stacked up on each other so high he couldn't see over them and winding so he couldn't see the whole room. Walking through the empty path, Spencer read the writing on all the boxes, ranging from 'Kitchen' to 'Sports' to 'Gnomes'. He was actually surprised by how many gnome boxes he saw.
It didn't take a genius to see that his aunt was a hoarder and bad one at that. Finally making it to a little open space, a bed was placed beside a small window with a desk resting under the window. Letting out a sigh, Spencer stood, not even liking the thought of being a room with so many germs much less touching the furniture covered in them. It was obvious he would have to do some major cleaning before he would be at least a little comfortable in it, so he got to work. After getting the sheets off the bed, Spencer found the washing machine and put the dirty sheets in them for the maximum amount of time the old washer would allow. Then he got cleaning supplies that looked to be from the 80's and got to cleaning the small area in his room and the path that lead to his area.
He will admit that he made some very unmanly noises when he found a spiders web with one of the biggest spiders he had ever seen in person on it, but when he realized it was just a harmless water spider, he carefully capture it and released it out the window. He moved the boxes into neater piles, so they didn't look like they were going to fall and vacuumed all the cobwebs and dust from the whole room, including the boxes. His aunt Ethel came to check on him every hour or so, making sure to bring the sweating boy a glass of water with her and offering him wide smiles while asking if he was working hard or hardly working.
By the time he gotten the room in decent condition, it was completely dark outside and his Aunt was calling him for dinner, saying a small boy like him needed to get some meat on his bones; to which he responded by saying that for his height to weight ratio he was relatively healthy, if just slightly underweight. When he went downstairs his mother was sitting at the table laughing with Ethel about something he hadn't heard. "Finally Spencer, we thought you'd never come out of your room." Diane said with a wide smile as he sat at the table. He gave her a small smile back before looking at the food choices. She certainly had all the food groups and enough of it to feed a small village.
"So, how has school been going? I heard you were in some advanced classes." Ethel said loudly towards Spencer, shocking him so much he nearly dropped his fork. "He is. Spencer is already in the 9th grade." Diane says fondly smiling at Spencer. "I'm in the 12th grade, mom." Spencer said quietly, looking at his food as his mother looked at him confused. "No, you're not Spencer." She said back. Spencer just nodded his head, agreeing with her knowing it was the best thing to do. "How exciting!" Ethel exclaims, obviously trying to change the subject and luckily Diane does drop it. "Well, the schooling here is very good. I went down and talked to the principle when William told me you were moving in with me and they principle, Mrs. Strauss, said that they had many different elective choices with professionals teaching. From what I remember, they have cooking, home economics, workshop and something else I can't remember. Don't quite have Spencer's memory." Ethel jokes, making Diane let out a chuckle while Spencer could only manage a weak smile.
"Oh, Spencey! Don't look so sad, this move was for the best." Ethel said reaching over and placing a hand on his shoulder. Spencer looked at it for a second before looking up at her and questioning, "Is it really, though?" Removing her hand, Ethel gave him a small smile before looking down at her food, leaving them all in silence except the occasional scrape of a fork. The rest of dinner was filled in the same silence except Ethel and Diane's occasional conversations, leaving Spencer to his own thoughts. When his mother finally dismissed him from dinner, Spencer hurried into the kitchen, glad to get away from the awkward silence. Deciding there was no time better than now; Spencer started washing each dish thoroughly before putting it in the dish washer, not trusting it to get all the grime off.
When he was almost finished, Ethel came in and leaned against the sink next to him. He didn't look at her for a couple of seconds, taking longer than usual to wash the plate in his hand. "Spencer, I know this is hard for you. Your mother and I were constantly moving to new places as kids and going to new schools was a scary thing, especially high school. But it's not all bad. Sure, some people are mean but there are some people you'll meet in high school that you don't understand how you lived without. Change is good." Ethel said, causing Spencer to stop washing and look up at her. "I'm 11, not exactly someone a high schooler would want to be friends with, Aunt Ethel, the opposite in fact. My knowledge makes people hate me unless it's benefiting them. Change isn't always good."
Letting out a sigh, Ethel put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a long look. "Spencey, they don't like your knowledge because it intimidates them. One day, you're going to meet someone who can keep up with that big brain of yours, I promise. Don't always look on the bad side; you'll kill yourself doing that." She said before giving him a kiss on the forehead and walking away. Spencer let out a sigh before putting the last dish in the dish washer and turning it on; leaning against it once it was running.
He couldn't help it if people were intimidated by his knowledge, it was hard to hide being in high school while 11 and whatnot, but maybe his aunt was right. If he just tried harder to not be a know it all and try proving himself, then maybe he could make friends. It would be hard but maybe if he tried acting like a regular kid or teenager it would work and someone would like him for once. But even if they did, someone would always not like them because you can't be liked by everybody. Pushing himself off the dish washer, Spencer walked to the attic and sat on the bed to stare out the window. He just hoped that Monday would come later than expected.