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"He just knocked our socks off," Karen Varinecz, Trevor's mother, said in an interview Saturday. He had secretly practiced Michael Jackson dance moves to prepare.
"We went from that high to ..." his mother said, her voice trailing off.
Less than a week later, on Oct. 16, 2009, Trevor was dead, in an incident his parents still question and believe illustrates the need for increased understanding of a disorder that affects 1 of every 150 people.
They don't believe their son went to school to commit suicide, which was the conclusion of a SLED investigation that determined Trevor attacked officer Marcus Rhodes with a "bayonet-like" weapon and the officer's decision to shoot him was justified.
"There were only two people in that room," Tom Varinecz said. "Only one of them came out alive."
Rhodes, who was injured in the incident, has declined to be interviewed. Greg Hembree, solicitor for the Fifteen Judicial Circuit, could not be reached on Saturday.
The 'real' Trevor
Trevor's parents want answers. But they also want the public to know the real Trevor, the Trevor who loved '80s rock, refused payment for helping a neighbor do odd jobs and donated his Match Box collectable cars to a children's charity instead of selling them on eBay.
He covered his ears when kids screamed, and he sat in the hallway during school assemblies.
Asperger sufferers are not adept at handling social settings, said Russell Vaden, assistant professor of educational psychology at Coastal Carolina University.
"They find it difficult to navigate social relationships and have difficulty understanding 'unspoken rules,'" Vaden said.
Despite those challenges, Trevor had never been violent or been sent to detention, his parents said.
Trevor loved history so much he asked his teacher when they'd get to study feudal Japan.
"Maybe in your second year of college," he was told.
He sought out tutors and earned an invitation to the Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Advanced Placement history class.
He loved historical fact-based video games and memorized a book about military uniforms.
He was "Little Hef" because his routine was to wear a fleece bathrobe all weekend, every weekend. He declined cake for dessert if he had eaten a cookie for lunch.
"He was a buddy for both of us," Tom Varinecz said. "I enjoyed his company."
He became a role model for a group of children who had Asperger syndrome and was asked to serve as a counselor's aide during a summer program.
The last day
Trevor was becoming independent. The shadow - a trained specialist who had attended classes with Trevor since the seventh grade - was being phased out. Their son was looking forward to life, his parents said, which is why the suicide claim was a shock.
That morning, Trevor got dressed and ate breakfast like normal.
"Hakuna matata, dad," he said as he left, his lunch in hand, repeating the "No worries" quote from the "The Lion King." Those were the last words his father would hear his only son speak.
He turned in an excused-absence note at school and chatted with the attendance official, told her about the fun had at his sister's wedding. He was scheduled to attend a meeting later that day to plan the first Halloween party he would ever attend.
According to the SLED report, he asked to leave class around 8:20 a.m. to speak with Rhodes. He told investigator the 16-year-old seemed "agitated and anxious."
Trevor attacked Rhodes with the weapon, stabbing him seven times, the SLED report said. Rhodes responded by firing five shots. It was not a knife, Tom Varinecz said. It was a collectable World War II bayonet and didn't have a sharp edge. He gave it to Trevor years ago after Trevor showed interest in that historical time. He told Trevor never to take it out of his room.
"Before that morning, Trevor never broke that promise," Tom Varinecz said.
Then why that day? They believe Trevor took it to school because he was afraid.
Asperger sufferers are prime targets for bullying and misunderstandings, Vaden said. They are "more likely than their typical peers to come into conflict, also to a more severe extent," he said.
The condition makes it difficult for them to read social cues, making them seem withdrawn and more impulsive. Those not trained to spot Asperger symptoms view them as being abrupt.
The note SLED labeled a suicide letter was an "if you are reading this, something has happened to me" letter, not a suicide note, Karen Varinecz said.
"Trevor thought he was going to be killed by somebody," she said. "He did not say who."
If his parents are correct, it wouldn't be the first time an Horry County Schools student took a weapon to school for protection. A Myrtle Beach High School student a few years ago shot himself in the leg during class with a gun he carried because he felt threatened. Fatalities are rare in the state's schools, though. Trevor was the first student to have been fatally shot by a resource officer in an S.C. school.
"We are not in denial, we just want the truth," Karen Varinecz said.
Why would he take his lunch and look forward to planning a party if he wanted to commit suicide? they ask.
They have other questions. Were other alternatives explored during SLED's investigation? Why did a custodian find three bullet fragments in the room weeks after the shooting? Why have school and district officials all but ignored their family since the incident?
If officer Rhodes yelled at Trevor to put down the bayonet, that may be standard police procedure but is the wrong way to get control of an Asperger sufferer, Karen Varinecz said.
Horry County Schools officials declined comment because of a potential lawsuit.
The Varineczs have not decided if they will sue. But they know that for the first time in 32 years they don't live with their children. Two have grown up and are have their own families.
The third, Trevor, is bigger than this tragedy, they said.
"You're angry because it happened and it probably didn't have to," Tom Varinecz said. "We're still adjusting. It's a new normal. But his legacy, we would like it to be changes in the way special-ed kids are treated in school."
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