Good Morning! My name is Katrina the Reporter Person and I've been interviewing 15 year old Adam Spencer Ross from The Unlikely Hero Of Room 13B.
So, Mr. Ross....
Oh, please, call me Batman.
Okay. So, Batman, for all the people out there who haven't read The Unlikely Hero Of Room 13B, tell us about your adventure and life in the book.
Umm... I guess it all started with me being diagnosed with OCD and joining a Support Group. My councillor, Chuck, told me to go. One of the days I was there this girl showed up and she was perfect. Her name was Robyn and she was tall and tanned and had black hair and long eyelashes. As I said before, perfect.
I thought to myself 'wow, I need to get better for her. I need to protect Robyn Isobel Plummer'. And so I tried to get better and taller. The latter was achieved. The former, not so much. I got to know her kind of, but there was this guy named Wolverine and he was totally hitting on her and I hated him for that reason and many more, including his height, coolness, and overall epicness.
So you're saying that 'Wolverine' was stealing your girl, and one up-ing your epic factor? Have you learned from him, or do you still envy him for his "coolness"?
Naw, he's okay now and I have learned from him. If it wasn't for him being so showoff-y, I wouldn't have made a move on Robyn.
Interesting, but back to the story. What happened after you met Robyn?
Well, during the whole story, I have to deal with the over-complicated life at 97 Chatsworth, my mom's place. My mom was a hoarder, and a bad one. But I didn't talk to her about it, we both just kind of ignored it. It got so bad that I had to started stepping on things to even get to my bedroom.
It was nuts. On top of that, she was receiving these vulgar notes telling her that she’s ruining her son’s (that’s me) life and that she should kill herself. She wouldn’t show me but I found a few of them in the trash and pieced them back together. It was horrible. It was the cause of a lot of counting, pacing, and tapping, some of my bad habits from my OCD.
I totally get the hoarding thing, my brother did that for a while, but it got too messy too fast. But what’s OCD?
Yeah, it means Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
It pretty much means things that shouldn’t matter cause anxiety, like a certain image or a type of object. One of the biggest problems for me was thresholds. In certain places, certain doors, I couldn’t enter without ‘cleansing’ it. I’d do a ritual before entering or else the world would end or something just as bad would happen. In the book, I couldn’t enter the church or the side door at my dad’s house or the large bio lab at school. At one point in the book, I couldn’t even get into my own house.
That’s rough, man. I can’t relate directly, but I can empathize. It must suck, i feel like that would hold you back from accomplishing things. Does it?
Yeah, one time, I couldn’t get into my classroom because I kept messing up the ritual of, like, forty minutes. Also, I took my support group to the church, but I made them turn around so I could get in without them seeing. Yeah, it was a major setback, but not really anymore.
Well, that’s good.
Yeah, but OCD isn’t my whole life. I also have a little brother named Wendell -we call him Sweetie- to deal with, and a half-gone mom to keep from going insane. I was a busy guy. Anyways, continuing with the story. Robyn and I had to walk through the cemetery to get to our houses from Group, so every time we’d go to her mothers grave and sort of ‘pay our respects’.
She was very interested in learning how to be Catholic, so I taught her the holy rosary to do everyday at her mother’s grave. She brought it up at Group and everyone else wanted to be Catholic, too. So I was volentold to take the Group to my church and show them around. I hadn’t been in that church in years, but i kinda like it in there.
Oh, how so? Is there anyone or thing there that’s special to you?
Father Rick. Yeah, he’s cool and really respects me, which is hard to find since I’m often found performing rituals to get into places. People think I’m crazy. Anyways, I also like the labyrinth. I used to walk it all the time when I was little.
That sounds interesting. How did the others like the church?
They loved it. They were all so curious.
Well I would be, too, if it was my first time in a church. They’re huge! So, what happened next?
Then Robyn and Wolverine met my dad. Many Awkward moments. But then I got Robyn’s number so all was amazing again. I called her. Multiple times. Then, we went to a café with Chuck and the Group. Thor taught me how to be a man and drink coffee even though it tastes AWFUL. Nobody thought Thor could talk before then.
I became pretty good friends with all the superheroes, including Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Robin, Green Lantern, and Snooki.
Snooki?!
Yeah. We ran out of super-hero names. Anyways, that Christmas, my mom decided to stop hoarding and take out two garbage bags of stuff to the curb every day. She made a big deal of it too. Until I found out that the bags were full of newspaper balls, not clutter. I didn’t speak up. Then, I went to Robyn’s house for the first time and she told me her ultimate lie. That her mom didn’t commit suicide, but died of breast cancer. Then, I spent New Years with Ben Stones, my longtime friend. It got pretty intense, lots of chocolate covered coffee beans from Robyn and Red Bull to wash them down.
Yumm…..
Yeah, but the whole time I was thinking about the letters my mom was receiving. Those awful letters, I didn’t see who could hate my mother so much. On the bright side, Group was starting to be fun and I enjoyed going. I took the Group to church again and showed them the labyrinth.
Even though i’ve read the book, i’m wondering what comes next! Please, continue!
After that, my OCD started getting worse. I was in meetings with Chuck almost everyday. I couldn’t stop counting and performing rituals and the thresholds were near unbearable.
I told Group about the old-school cut-and-paste letters my mom was getting. That was a huge weight off my shoulders. And Robyn was so proud of me and we walked home together and I kissed her. She’s amazing.
AWWWWWWWWWWW….
But then, Sweetie was shoved off the monkey bars and broke his arm. I had to go to the hospital with him and go through the ‘Cat Tunnel’ with him so the doctors could check for concussions. He got a neon orange cast and we went back to my dad’s house and I got to sleep over, even if I didn’t sleep. Sweetie has so many nightlights it’s blinding!
I walked home from Group one night maybe a week later and there was smoke coming from 97 Chatsworth. I needed to get in there to help my mom only I couldn't get in. I needed to cleanse the house. I finally gave up on the ritual and tried to knock the door in. It was stuck and something heavy was blocking it. Thor came out of nowhere and knocked the door in without even really trying. My mom was lying on the kitchen floor and a burning pot on the stove. There was magazine clippings all over the kitchen table. My mom claimed that ‘he’ had come and hit her and tried to kill her. She had gone crazy. I knew she was making the letters and sending them to herself as an excuse that they were making her crazy. Thor called the police and ambulance and they took mom away. She was sent to rehab. She’s okay now though.
Oh, Batman! That sounds awful. I’m so sorry for you. Did you go live with your dad and Brenda and Sweetie?
Yeah, I did. I had to start sleeping in a twin bed in Sweetie’s room. Then Robyn got better and she was only in Support Group to be around me and it was depressing. I knew I was bad for her and that Group wasn’t any better. I talked to her about it and it was emotional and we knew we still loved each other.
Anytime, Katrina. Batman, OUT!
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ (5/5)
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