The Priders

By Emily Delgado

Meet Harvey Edmund, a fifteen-year-old boy who was born with a rare condition known as normality, which means no flaws. To Harvey, it's a serious disease because he wants to have what everybody has: flaws. Perhaps moving and meeting a fourteen-year-old girl and joining a gay rights group known as the Priders can help him find the flaws he desires.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638817567

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Prologue

1: My History

2: Kylie Jay

3: The Pride House

4: The Devil's New Body

5: Ren and Roosevelt

6: Grandma Talk

7: Training Day

8: Dr. Isaac Howser

9: The Undercover Priders

10: Poisoned Soup

11: The Raging Bullets

12: Kylie Jay's Everything

13: Bottle Mysteries

14: The Priders vs The Hetero Hunters

15: Soup is Done

About the Author

cover.jpg

The Priders

Emily Delgado

Copyright © 2023 Emily Delgado

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2023

ISBN 978-1-63881-755-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63881-756-7 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Prologue

People often fight for what they believe in. It has taken them months to even years to finally earn their rights. Sometimes, people would even join gangs as a way of saying they want rights or rebelling the unfair rules. Not all gangs are bad, and I know because I am part of one that forever changed my life. That gang was known as the Priders.

1

My History

My name is Harvard Manuel Edmund. People called me Harvey, which I did not really blame people because my name was both weird and confusing. It was due to the fact that I was named after my mother Amy's favorite college and where she met my father Sam, who was not only a student there but was also working part-time as a janitor to pay off his student loans. They both attended and earned their degrees so they could get their dream jobs as a nurse and a mechanic since they said how it was their callings. Both of my parents used to live in New York but left to go to Harvard University, and then they decided to move to Colorado because they liked the peace and quiet and felt like me being born in New York could have damaged me into a rowdy rough boy. They also named me after the college they met and fell in love but believe that I could have an amazing career and be intelligent.

My middle name came from my Dad's grandfather Manuel Edmund who was one of the most famous car owners in Mexico. It was from him, love of vehicles like cars and trucks just grew on my Dad. It also inspired him to be a mechanic since he always helps fix cars and other vehicles since he was a child. Dad wanted to honor his grandfather by naming me after him.

My mother Amy was nice and loved to garden and write poetry, but her flaw was that she could be nosy and liked to talk about the things about what she saw at the job, even if it's really gross, like what happened during surgery, and tell it at the wrong time like during dinner. She was also a neat freak. My dad Sam was cool and liked biking, science, and jogging, but his flaw was that he was stubborn and hated to admit that he was wrong. Plus, he would brag about how he can fix any car or technology that he was faced with. He liked to do challenges because that's how the brain is built up. Nevertheless, I loved my parents even with their flaws.

As for me, I was pretty much a normal person and had a normal life. For those who were wish that they can be normal or thought being normal was great, guess what? It was not! It was actually the rarest and worst that could happen to anybody. Yeah, being normal meant regular, but it almost meant being boring. I had regular brown hair, green eyes, peach skin, and a normal height of 5'5. Just your average fifteen-year-old boy who got good grades and rarely got bullied or got grounded. Yeah, it was all good, but I felt like I was too bland. I was too bland to even be a human. It was like I had a rare disease of normalitis," where I basically grow up to be a boring person with no flaws, challenges, or anything. Hell, even my own parents had flaws, and their own son did not have any, but they didn't worry about these kinds of things because they believed that I would figure it out for myself. Sadly, I did not figure it out, and I didn't think I'd ever will. I tried so many times in the past that I just gave up because nothing worked out at all. Did it worry my parents? Honestly, yes, it did worry that I might be antisocial, but at the same time, they were not those type of overbearing parents who would force me to blindly be friends with random kids. They would respect my choices and know that I will find my own way someday and think it's better not to push it because it will make things worse.

If I were any kind of food would be soup, because like soup, it's just noodles and liquid, nothing else. I needed more spices and vegetables in my life so I could be a real soup. I needed something that could make me fully human because my Grandmother Dana always said to me, "Flaws is what make us humans. The good kind anyway."

I guessed that was why I was obsessed with flaws, because I didn't have any of my own. I did not blame my parents for that because they did raise me right and not some crazy serial killer. I did not even have a calling because the things I did for school like English, Science, Math, etc., were just school things that you basically were forced to do and learn. Plus, those things I learned in school did not really interest me or the teachers or even the students. Some of them even looked and acted like zombies as if they were trying to disguise themselves as humans. Sometimes I felt like God either forgot to add these flaws or he just got a sick sense of humor.

But one day, I felt like my wish came true because my family was moving from Colorado to New York. The reason why was because my father opened up a new mechanic shop in Ridgewood, Brooklyn called Dr. Fix It. It had always been his dream to open up his own shop and be his own boss. I remembered when Mom and Dad told me the day we were going to move to New York. I was sitting in the living room watching TV, and I saw them looking uneasy and they slowly walked to me.

Mom was uneasy. Harvey, we need to talk to you about something.

Okay. What is it?

Dad replied, You know how your mother and I have been working overtime and saving some extra money?

Yeah, what about it? I questioned.

Well, I used that money to open up a new mechanic shop. I feel like it's time to start owning my own business and be my own boss. Said Dad.

Mom added, But the thing is that it's not going to be in town…It's going to be in New York City.

I was surprised. Whoa, really?

Dad answered, Yes. Business is better over there. It is also a big city that has a lot of cars and they pay extra.

Mom said, We also feel like it could be a good change in our life because sometimes in life, doing the same thing in a same place isn't exactly living or fun. Your father and I miss New York City, and being a nurse over there in those fancy city hospital does pay more. We were just wondering about how you feel about this, Harvey.

Dad added, And you can be honest with us. It's okay.

I could not lie to my parents, they were my parents, and to tell you the honest truth, I was not much of a liar. Honestly, I was acting surprised that my parents admitted that they were tired of living in snowy hellhole. But the weird part was, why would they ask me. They were the parents: I basically had to do what they ordered me to do. Then again, they were one of the few parents who actually listened to their children and their feelings instead of just dismissing them as either phases or just kid feelings.

So, I just thought told them, I think it's a great idea.

Mom was surprised. You really think so? You aren't mad or anything?

No. I am not.

Dad confirmed, Are you sure? You can be honest with us, son.

I told my parents I am sure, Dad. I am actually excited about this new move because it could be good for us. Besides, I think living in New York could be good for us. I mean, I heard the weather is better over there than here.

Mom was smiling. I'm so happy that you are being okay with the big move, Harvey. Dad added, Not that you give us any trouble, that is. We will move around May because not only you will be done with school but it will be warmer, and the sun will be out longer.

I asked, What about school?

Mom shrugged. You're pretty much done with school. You did take your finals pretty early, and you did ace them. I'm sure a school in New York will have you either move to the next grade or even have you skip a grade because of your grades.

Dad said, And June is the last month of school, and that's when things are pretty much laid back. Not even teachers care about the work because they also cannot wait for the summer vacation. You have to admit it doesn't make sense to put you in a new school now because of how it's the middle of May.

I agreed, Yeah, that is a good point.

Mom added, Also, it would be nice to be with the family again. Haven't seen them since the last family reunion anyway.

Oh, another reason why I was okay with moving was because most of my family members lived in New York, and it's been a while since I saw them because they would only visit during the holidays and birthdays, and vice versa. The big move would make the holidays and birthdays easier for all of us, and I could actually do a real bonding with my other family members because I felt like during holidays was not enough time. I was actually happy that my parents admitted that they were getting bored of Colorado and wanted to move back to their hometown for excitement. Was I upset about the moving and leaving the people? To be honest? Not really. I did not really have a lot of friends, just acquaintances. Do not get me wrong, they were nice people, but they didn't interest me, nor did Colorado. It was like living in the Great Depression. Only it was set in modern times. I thought the place was the reason why I was born with normalitis. Nothing interesting happened over there anyway. A couple of kids from my old school would say that they would miss me or admitted that I was lucky that I was moving to an awesome place like New York City because it was an amazing place to live in. I was actually surprised that I was going to be missed because I never saw myself as the popular kid but more like the ghost kid because I was usually quiet and just blended into places and stayed out of trouble. Sure, I talked to some kids, but it was only because if we ended up as partners for a school project and they were nice, but as I mentioned before, they didn't interest me because I felt like I was too normal for their taste. I never really saw them as their friends, and even though I was glad about it, I rarely got bullied because it was like, What's the point on picking on this kid? There's nothing weird about him. Even the teachers admitted that they would miss me because I was one of the best students they had. I was surprised at that too, because to me, I just felt like if the student just did the work, they would get good grades and be good students too. I just did it because what choice did, I have? Besides, the faster I did the work, the faster I would graduate.

I would admit, I would miss Colorado, but if I didn't take this chance into moving, I wouldn't have more flavors in my life. Plus, it would be nice to move and to live inside of a house since I used to live in an apartment. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to move too: I always wanted to move to New York City. All my life, I had been hearing Mom's and Dad's stories on New York, like the tall skyscrapers, the Statue of Liberty, the restaurants, and how the nights look beautiful, especially in the warmer seasons. Even their adventures, like how Dad and his friends did pop wheelies contest to see who can do to it the most and even playing football in the park no matter how muddy and rainy it got. Mom even had adventures in New York, like visiting the zoos to see the animals and take pictures or travel in Central Park to do a lot of cartwheels and backflips because she wanted to unwind, and she even traveled in random places and one time discovered secret places, like a cave that had native drawings and rare flowers. Hearing these adventures made me amazed on how a place like New York got so much excitement and landmarks. I would see pictures and posted on my wall, even postcards that I would get from my family members. Sometimes, I would even act out that I lived in New York, but I knew it was not the same at all. I wanted that life my parents had. I wanted that adventure my parents got to experience. And now I was going to get it.

My parents and I were almost done packing, and we put our stuff in the truck. I took one last look at my former home, and honestly, it felt weird leaving because of how I lived there most of my life. But at the same time, I knew if my family and I stood here, we would have become one of the zombies. So, I took one final look and closed the door and got into the moving truck with Mom and Dad. Mom looked out the window and had a slightly sad look on her face.

Dad said, Don't worry, honey, this will be good for us. I mean, we get to be home again and 169 see the family again.

Mom slightly cheered up. Yeah, that's true…It just feels weird.

Well, Mom, I think it will be good for us. I mean, it can help you and Dad get more money. I heard New York's hospitals are pretty big and pay a lot of money.

Dad agreed, Yeah, and I am owning my own business shop. This is a good change in our lives. Mom said, "Yeah…I mean, being back in New York is exciting, but at the same time, it's making me all jittery