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1. ipseity

ip•se•ity |ipˈsēətē|

noun. selfhood - the quality of being oneself; the essential element of individual identity

It had been sunny for months before the Muller's moved in next door to the Scott's. However on they day they arrived, thunder rumbled distantly in the sky. It wasn't often that it rained in the town, so some might have claimed the thunder was a good omen. Others might have found the sky ominous with somber clouds rolling in at an alarming rate. Regardless of what the impending storm meant, Bryan Scott was in a sour mood.

He was definitely not pleased with being coerced downstairs by his older brother to make small talk with their new neighbors, especially since he already knew what the conversation was going to be like and had it memorized like a script:

Following the unwritten rules of well-mannered families, he and his brother would first introduce themselves to the strangers and plaster on fake smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes. The other people would then make a remark about how strikingly similar the two brothers looked. After a few minutes of conversation and polite exchanges, the strangers - like clockwork - would mistakenly praise Bryan's brother for successfully raising Bryan as an extremely courteous son.

It was already agreed upon between the two brothers that neither one of them would ever correct the strangers. In all fairness, they understood where the misconception came from since Bryan was the epitome of a pubescent pre-teen at twelve years old and his brother was at the ripe age of forty-four.

The reason why the Scott brothers decided to never correct the strangers was quite simple: if, in fact they decided to correct the strangers and reveal that they were brothers, the strangers would become skeptical of the thirty-two year age gap. Skepticism leads to prying, and prying leads to questions - questions that Bryan and his brother wouldn't ever dare answer truthfully because, frankly, the truth is sometimes too much to handle.

So the brothers would continue the conversation, going along with the lie that the strangers weaved, and the brothers would remain "normal" in the strangers' eyes.

There is a certain beauty behind the idea of being "normal." People who are "normal" pass through life under the radar. They are the civilians of the world, trying hard to get through life without many troubles. They are the girls who cake on makeup to conform to the impossibly high beauty standards. They are the boys who hit the gym with their buddies even though they couldn't care less about "getting big." They are the people who never get bullied for being different.

However all "normal" people have skeletons in their closet, but it is up to them to decide whether or not to take the plunge from normalness by revealing their demons. They have the choice to embrace their true selves - skeletons and all - even though it may come at the cost of verbal or physical attacks. The people who embrace themselves wholeheartedly are the people referred to as the independents, the revolutionists, the brave.

The Scotts were not brave, and keeping their secret was the price they were more than willing to pay to be "normal." So like the well-mannered 'son' Bryan was supposed to be, he went downstairs obediently to meet his new neighbors and followed the script to a "t".

• • •

It rained for a week after Bryan met the Muller's, and the rain did not seem to have any signs of stopping. During those dreary days, Bryan became acquainted with Josephine Muller. She was a shy girl around Bryan's age, and seemed to walk around in terror.