Many thanks for all the favourable and useful comment on Chapter 1, and a huge vote of thanks to Mericeman1964 for his enormous help with editing and reality-checking this story so far, I couldn't have done it without him!
Please note, I'm writing this in England, in 'English' English, so if anyone has a problem with the way I've spelled certain words, please don't tell me, look it up on the Oxford English Dictionary website and see for yourself; in my world, the OED is the ultimate arbiter of common English usage, so I defer to it in the matter of common spelling and proper syntax...
If you like it, please vote for it; if you have a point to make, or have a problem with the story, please, feel free to comment, I do read and absorb all valid comment, all the rude and pointlessly nasty comments get deleted (unless they're funny...)
And now, to the story...
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I was waiting to drive Ashley to school. Mother had checked with her insurance company and the DMV to see if I could drive her car using my UK License, and told me that I could drive her car with her permission, so I would be covered with her insurance, but she would get me added to her insurance as soon as possible, and that she would take me to the DMV later to get my New York driver's License sorted out. She was also taking me to get my Social Security number issued, and the Department of Labor to check my qualifications.
First though I was taking my gorgeous sister to school...
Ashley bounced out of the house, her bag and books under her arm and slid into the front next to me, waved cheerily at Mom, and grinned at me. "Let's go, Nicky, education awaits!"
As soon as we were out of sight, she slid as close to me as she could and I put my arm around her, Ashley giggling at the stir she was going to cause when I dropped her off. This whole idea of popular/outcast, where you're one of the in-kids, or you're nobody was a little hard for me to understand; the schools in England don't work that way, at least I never saw any evidence of it; we were all united in common cause against the teachers, who saw it as their mission to interrupt our bouts of intense lounging around with lessons, and I had happily ambled from one group to another without ever once wondering if they were the 'right' group to be a part of.
Perhaps it was because there was no premium placed on sporting achievement in the UK school system, none of that urge to win at all costs. I thought about it, but that didn't seem adequate or plausible; teenagers were the same the world over, surely, the same drives, ambitions, likes and dislikes, so what had made them turn so comprehensively on her, made her feel so unwanted? But, at least she was happy right now, so I was happy.
We pulled up outside the school, and Ashley waited for me to open her door for her and hand her out of the car. She curled her hand around the back of my head and pulled me in for a long, sizzling kiss that was definitely inappropriate at that time of the morning, but far too hot to pull away from! I kissed her back with enthusiasm and all the finesse I could muster, at one point her eyes rolling to indicate the group of other kids watching us with intense interest; then I got it; I was on display. OK, if it made her happy.
I eventually let her go and handed her all her stuff, pulling her back into me and planting little butterfly kisses all over her face, special deliveries from me to her, making her grin happily. She walked off inside smiling, without a sideways glance at anyone, obviously enjoying every second of the mystery she was creating. I grinned to myself – the girl had style, I had to give her that.
Still grinning, I turned around and headed back home, Mother had a busy day planned for me, time to get started.
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True to her word, Mother took me to the DMV, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, helping me fill in endless forms and declarations, but at last, all my paperwork that properly identified me as an American Citizen with the right to work, pay taxes and drive was in the pipeline, so all I had to do now was wait until they came through. I spent the rest of the day chatting with Mother, helping her plan dinner, installing the automatic porch light, and cutting in the barrel-bolts in the front and rear doors. Now the house was secure, and they could relax at night. I hadn't installed a light on the rear door, as the neighbors had installed one on their rear porch after what happened to Ashley, and anyone approaching the rear of either house set that off, flooding the rear of both houses with light.
At almost 3pm Mother reminded me to go and pick up Ashley from school. She'd called her insurance agent and added me on to her insurance so I could now drive legally. I decided to wear one of the shirts Ashley'd insisted I buy, and drove down to the school to wait for her, being all 'Joe Cool' with aviator shades, leaning on the car, arms folded, my freshly washed hair flopping down over one eye, just posing like hell and laughing gleefully on the inside at myself for being such a poseur, something I'd always mocked and despised!
I got a few interested looks as people started filing out, and I wondered again at the differences between the school's here and back home; there, as soon as the bell rang we hit the blocks and sprinted for the exits, desperate to not spend a second more than necessary in that place, but here, it seemed as much social as educational; perhaps we could learn a thing or two, I mused.
Ashley eventually came tripping out, her books under her arm and her bag over her shoulder, grinning hugely at me, and planting a big kiss on me as she hand-combed my hair back off my face while a gaggle of girls looked on interestedly.
"Oh look, it's the Englishman!" brayed a harsh voice I recognised.
I turned slowly and slid my sunglasses down to look at chubby, stubby Monica, then slowly look her down, then up, then down again, Monica slowly flushing , the flush deepening when I said "Oh dear, Ashley darling, look, she's out again, and dressed like that, this time, will she never learn?!" The kids around her laughed and giggled, and I heard a muttered buzz "it's that guy...this morning...Ashley...English...DaVinci's...that accent...tall...!"