ABOUT

michael jeffery Gauthier WAS BORN ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON A HOT AUGUST NIGHT. THE THIRD AND FINAL CHILD TO JOIN THE Gauthier FAMILY, HE WAS GREETED WITH TIRED ENTHUSIASM AND AN APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF DOTING AND COOING. WHEN HE WAS CLEANED OFF AND EXAMINED CLOSELY, THE DOCTOR PROCLAIMED WITH A TONE OF SHOCK, "OH MY GOD!" WHEN His PARENTS ASKED, TOTALLY PANICKED, WHAT WAS WRONG, HE TURNED TO THEM WITH THE BABY IN HIS ARMS AND SAID, "IT'S A boy and Terrence, HE LOOKS JUST LIKE YOU!" THIS CAUSED His FATHER TO CURSE A BLUE STREAK UNDER HIS BREATH, AND His MOTHER TO LOOK AROUND THE DELIVERY ROOM FOR SOMETHING TO THROW AT HIM.

michael GREW UP MUCH THE SAME AS ANY YOUNGEST CHILD WOULD -- SLIGHTLY SPOILED, BUT HELD TO HIGHER STANDARDS THAN His OLDER SIBLINGS. His BROTHER HAD ALWAYS BEEN A SHIT-STIRRER, AND His SISTER WAS THE TYPE WHO WOULD GET LETTERS SENT HOME FROM SCHOOL, SAYING SHE SHOWED GOOD POTENTIAL AS LONG AS SHE WOULD JUST APPLY HERSELF. michael, WHO HAD BEEN CALLED ANYTHING BUT His FULL NAME FROM A VERY YOUNG AGE, WAS DIFFERENT FROM THEM IN ONE VERY OBVIOUS WAY. HE LOVED SCHOOL, AND FOUND MORE COMFORT IN THE WRITTEN WORD THAN ANYONE ELSE IN His FAMILY. HE HAD TAUGHT HimSELF TO READ WHEN HE WAS VERY YOUNG, AND WAS ALWAYS ADVANCED IN SCHOOL. HE BROUGHT A NOVEL TO his SECOND GRADE class ('jeremey thatcher dragon hatcher' by bruce coville) TO READ DURING THE MANDATORY SILENT READING PERIOD AFTER LUNCH, AND ONE OF THE BOYS SITTING IN His DESK CLUMP MADE A SNIDE COMMENT THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE READING, NOT JUST LOOKING AT PICTURES. HE WOULDN'T SHUT UP UNTIL HE SHOWED HIM THAT THE BOOK HAD NO very few illustrations at all, AND THREATENED TO PUNCH HIM IN THE NOSE. HE GOT SENT INTO THE HALLWAY FOR DISTURBING THE CLASS, BUT His TEACHER TOLD Him LATER THAT HE WAS PROUD OF mike FOR BEING SUCH AN AVID READER.

IT WAS THIS LOVE OF BOOKS THAT GOT mike THROUGH THE HARDEST TIME IN His LIFE. WHEN HE WAS FOURTEEN, His PARENTS WENT TO A CHRISTMAS PARTY ACROSS TOWN, AND THEIR CAR WAS STRUCK BY A DRUNK DRIVER, KILLING BOTH OF THEM BEFORE FIRST RESPONDERS COULD GET TO THE SCENE. THEY WERE FOUND IN THE WRECKAGE OF THE ACCIDENT HOLDING HANDS. DESTRAUGHT, THE gauthier SIBLINGS ALL BEHAVED VASTLY DIFFERENTLY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS TRAGEDY. JESSE, WHO WAS SEVENTEEN, WENT ON A DISCTRUCTIVE RAMPAGE. HE SMASHED THINGS, HE KICKED A HOLE IN THE WALL, AND HE SCREAMED. HE SCREAMED A LOT. LUCY, WHO HAD JUST TURNED FIFTEEN, WENT TO ANY PARTY SHE COULD AND DRANK TO FORGET. SHE EXPERIMENTED WITH DRUGS, SHE HAD SEX WITH ANY BOY WHO GAVE HER A SECOND LOOK, AND TRIED NOT TO BE SOBER IF SHE COULD HELP IT. AND mike, WHO HAD GONE NUMB FROM THE MOMENT THE POLICE OFFICER HAD TURNED UP AT THEIR DOOR, BURIED HimSELF IN His SCHOOL WORK, AND READ MOUNTAINS OF BOOKS. TUCKED INTO His AUNT'S TINY SEWING ROOM, HE READ His MOTHER'S TRASHY ROMANCE NOVELS, EVEN IF THEY MADE Him ROLL His EYES, AND HE READ His FATHER'S MEDICAL JOURNALS, EVEN IF HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HALF OF WHAT WAS BEING SAID. WITH HEADPHONES ON AND His DISCMAN NEVER FAR FROM His SIDE, HE BLOCKED OUT THE OUTSIDE WORLD THE BEST THAT HE COULD. His SIBLINGS GOT THROUGH THEIR SELF-DISTRUCTIVE PHASES IN TIME. IT TOOK JESSE BEING CAUGHT BY A STORE SECURITY GUARD WHEN HE TRIED TO STUFF A NINTENDO GAME DOWN THE FRONT OF HIS PANTS (THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A NINTENDO ANYMORE, HE WAS JUST BEING REBELLIOUS), A PREGNANCY SCARE FOR LUCY, AND THEIR UNCLE THREATENING TO SEND THEM BOTH TO REFORM SCHOOL, BUT THEY BEGAN TO STRAIGHTEN OUT. mike WAS SIXTEEN, A STRAIGHT A STUDENT, AND FELT A STRANGE MIX OF PRIDE AND EMBARRASSMENT WHEN AUNT KIARA SAID TO HER SIBLINGS, "WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR brother?"

IT WASN'T THAT mike WASN'T ANGRY HimSELF. HE JUST CHOSE NOT TO LET His EMOTIONS GET THE BETTER OF Him. HE'D READ TOO MANY BOOKS WHERE doing so had ENDED BADLY FOR THE CHARACTERS. WHEN HE DID FEEL OVERWHELMED, AND LIKE HE MIGHT EXPLODE, HE WOULD PUT ON His ROLLERBLADES AND GO OUT FOR HOURS, SKATING UNTIL His ANGER GAVE WAY TO EXHAUSTION. HE WOULD COME HOME WITH BRUISES AND SKINNED PALMS FROM TUMBLES HE TOOK, BUT IN MUCH BETTER SPIRITS THAN SHE HAD BEEN WHEN SHE LEFT THE HOUSE HOURS EARLIER. when winter came, and the ground was too icy for wheels, he would switch to ice skates. he got pretty good at skating, even learning a jump or two, and quickly learned that it was hard, and exhausting, but gratifying as hell.

mike WENT TO UNIVERSITY; THE ONLY ONE IN His FAMILY TO SO, AND HE GOT A FULL RIDE, TOO. ONCE AGAIN, His SIBLINGS WERE SUBJECTED TO THE "WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR brother?" LECTURES, EVEN THOUGH AT THAT POINT THEY HAD BOTH MOVED OUT FROM THEIR AUNT AND UNCLE'S PLACE, AND WERE LIVING ON THEIR OWN. THIS CAUSED BOTH JESSE AND LUCY TO LOOK AT THEIR brother WITH NO SMALL AMOUNT OF DISTAIN. USED TO THEIR CUTTING EYES AND SNIDE REMARKS, mike IGNORED THEM AND FOCUSSED ON His STUDIES. HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH His LIFE YET, BUT HE KNEW HE WANTED TO WORK WITH BOOKS. HE DECIDED TO STUDY LITERATURE, AND BEGAN VOLUNTEERING IN THE CHILDREN'S SECTION OF THE LIBRARY HER SECOND YEAR. HE LOVED THIS SO MUCH THAT HE DECIDED ON A DOUBLE MAJOR; HE WOUND UP GETTING His BA IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, AND His MS IN LIBRARY SCIENCE.

UPON GRADUATING, he moved to illinois, AND GOT HimSELF A JOB AS A LIBRARY TECHNICIAN AT Chester Public Library. HE STILL skates, AND HE STILL PERFERS NIGHTS IN WITH A STACK OF COOKIES AND A THICK BOOK.

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