That caused her to look at me in shame once more. I had known for quite some time that she had helped the pranksters in school. I also knew that she was the one who provided them with my locker-combination, making her partly responsible for the prank that ruined my textbooks and ultimately led me to working with Bill. I just never saw the need to confront her about it, since I had more pressing issues with them that weren’t lessened by talking in the least. I knew what I needed from them, and Danny was absolutely right about it. But I still didn’t know how they could ever prove to me that they changed. The car was quiet for the rest of the drive, while Ava seemed to mull my words over in her head.
When we arrived in her driveway, she wordlessly stepped out of my car, just as Aaron stepped out of the front door and rushed over to my window. At the same time, Claire stepped out of the house right behind Aaron. She, however, stopped on the porch while fidgeting around with her hands. And instead of coming over like her husband, she just stared at me with a disturbed look in her eyes. I brushed it off as fear over the impending Interviews with Social Services.
“Tim!” Aaron almost shouted when he reached my car. “Danny filled us in. Thanks for driving her home. Are you staying?”
“No.” I replied, as I put the car in reverse.
He had barely enough time to step back before I pulled out of their driveway. When I put the car back into drive, I glanced over to them and could see Ava demanding a hug from her father with her head still hanging. I also noticed Claire not even registering Aaron’s and Ava’s nonverbal exchange, since her entire focus was still solely on me, her expression still just as disturbed as before, though now she was gripping the railing that ran along the porch. I just shook my head about their behavior and drove off.
My next stop was the family lawyer, though it was highly unsatisfactory. The lawyer explained to me that the legal requirements for my emancipation were indeed met. I was seventeen, managed my own finances for quite some time already, and lived on my own with my parents’ approbation. When she said that last part, I perked up, and she further explained that, while someone had called social services, it was my grandparents instead of my parents. Since my parents themselves never called anyone about me being gone, not even the police after realizing I had run away, and never even visited the place even after knowing where I was, that could be construed as their acquiescence.
I was elated! And then she shot me down again.
Apparently, in the end it would be the Judge who makes the final decision, based on how they feel at that moment, really. She also warned me that the judge can order counseling and psychological examinations before making a decision, which I would have to pay for as well, because the state wasn’t exactly eager to emancipate teenagers. So, the lawyer discouraged me from petitioning the court unless there is an actual necessity for emancipation, and definitely not so close to Christmas, when those old folks in court are ‘more likely to call upon family values’.
Dejected from, once again, realizing I had gotten my hopes up for nothing, I made my way to my last stop for the day. A local safe manufacturer. I found a commercial model I liked, though it weighed 318 lbs, so I had to pay extra for delivery, which would happen the next day already.
Back in school, I moved into the library to work on my last few online assignments until Mia was done with her classes. It had the benefit that I could see whoever entered the building, so I could honestly claim to have done my job properly for at least two thirds of the day. But it was hard to concentrate. Despite what Danny had told me, I kept blaming myself for revealing as much as I did while talking to that social worker. If I had just kept my mouth shut, trusting that I was too old and self-reliant for them to do anything, the others could’ve said anything they wanted and the social worker wouldn’t have to dig too deep. But now, that I had revealed what was going on, they would specifically look into the parents’ relationship with their children.
Even those thoughts were constantly interrupted by my phone vibrating whenever I received yet another push notification for a new connected device in the Miller household, thanks to the construction crew being busy there. Though, the knowledge that it worked just as intended was somewhat reassuring. By the time Mia’s last class was about to end, I closed my Laptop and walked outside to wait for her by the Library’s entrance.
“Mr. Brown! I thought you were off for a while longer?”
I turned to see Mrs. Jenkins, my hot English teacher and wife of Coach Jenkins, inspecting me with critical eyes.
“I am. Got to pick someone up.”
“Well, why don’t you use that opportunity to visit the school store and get some of the appropriate apparel in the right size? I have to say, you went through quite the transformation.” she said with a small smile, while holding her hand out, pointing in the direction of the store.
I realized I never bothered picking up the school clothes in my new size. I had gotten around that, since wearing street clothes was tolerated as long as they were in the school colors and didn’t feature any brand names. But exclusively wearing the same tone of blue shirts each day meant that, after a few days, I started feeling like a cartoon character that owns only one single outfit. I complied and, to my surprise, her extended arm turned out to be an offer to escort me there.
“Even my husband was impressed with your new stature.” she continued, “May I ask, how did that change come about?”
“I’ve been working for a security company for a while now. They have their own gym we train in daily. So, it was kinda inevitable.”
“Oh? Sounds exciting. What kind of job are you performing in that company?” She sounded intrigued, as we had reached the Apparel Store and I started picking out what I needed.
I got two pairs of sweatpants and 2-button jerseys for gym class, workshop shirts, and a bunch of polo shirts in different versions for my regular classes. Since it was winter, I also picked up two quarter-zip sweatshirts. None of it was the first choice for what style the other students preferred, but it looked more like what I was seeing on my coworkers, so that’s what I went for. For some reason, Mrs. Jenkins seemed to approve of my choices. I also decided to pick up a new sports bag to carry my purchases in.
“Mainly IT stuff and writing reports. Sometimes actual security work as well.” I answered her question casually, as I pulled out my wallet. I noticed Mrs. Jenkins’ intrigued look as I removed the cash from the Money clip attached to the wallet, and counted off the $370 Dollars I just picked in clothes.
“Do you always carry around that much money?”
“Most times, yes.”
“I take it that job of your’s pays well?” she asked, with a bigger smile now, while we left the building.
“You could say that.” I just answered, as we reached the car and I remotely opened the trunk to throw my purchases in it.
In addition to her eyes growing bigger, now her eyebrows lifted towards her hairline as well, as she examined the luxury SUV I had just opened. Since it wasn’t featuring any company logos or advertisements, she probably thought this was my own car. I didn’t exactly plan on flaunting any riches around, but I did very much enjoy letting her believe I was loaded after they had all disregarded and dismissed me before. Well, strictly speaking, I actually was loaded with almost two million dollars sitting in my apartment. But I never saw the appeal in using it to impress people.
“Do you have a dog?” she asked in speculation, pointing at the blast-shield behind the backseats.
“Oh, no. That car is armored. That shield is in case someone shoots at me from behind.”