As much as Ashley was unsure about the town, time kept flying on by. Every day passed just the same as the one before it. She spent her days out with her dad and her new friends exploring. Her dad made sure she had everything and Liz and Kara provided the starting friendships she needed. It was interesting when Ashley got the two of them together. The two had apparently never hung out before and despite their differences, they did pretty well. Liz talked enough for the three of them and Kara kept it interesting with her strange thoughts and mood swings.

A couple weeks after they’d gone to see her jeep, it rolled into their driveway. Her dad brought her outside and there were Nathaniel and Morgan. She was in shock as the jeep looked nothing like when she’d first seen it. All the dents were gone and the glass was back in. What appeared to be painted on dirt was now replaced with a vibrant blue. She hugged her dad and moved forward to look at it as Nathaniel and Morgan laughed.

“Good as new my dear,” said Morgan. “She’s got new tires, windows, gears, and everything else you could want. The paint job came out pretty well I think.” Ashley quickly agreed and looked inside.

“You guys are good,” laughed Alex. “I can’t even tell it used to be a broken down piece of crap.”

“We try,” said Nathaniel proudly. “My brother and I worked on this for a long time, but my dad went over the final inspection himself.”

“Seems I taught the boys well,” said Morgan as he put his arm around Nathaniel.

“I hope so. Do you like it Ashley?”

“Yes! It’s amazing!”

“If you’ll just sign here, she’ll be good to go,” said Morgan, producing a clipboard. Alex took it and began looking over the papers. Ashley stood next to him trying to contain herself. She hadn’t been this excited in a long time.

“It’s not going to break down on us in a week, is it?” her dad asked jokingly.

“It better not. If it gives you any problems you bring it to us and we’ll straighten it out.”

“I drove it over here,” said Nathaniel. “It didn’t give me any issues so I wouldn’t be worried about it.”

“I see,” said Alex. “So does this mean we get you with the car just in case it has any problems?”

“I don’t think your daughter would like that,” said Morgan. Ashley gave a small smile Morgan didn’t miss. “Or maybe she would.” Alex turned around and gave Ashley a look of his own. Ashley reddened and had to look away from her dad. She pretended to look at the jeep, but she didn’t think it worked.

“Well there’s something I’ll have to watch for,” Alex said. “Hopefully she doesn’t try and break the car on purpose just to go back to the shop.” Morgan laughed.

“You better hope not. We’re not going to cover you for that.”

Ashley wished for a distraction right then and to her surprise, it was answered instantly. There was an excited shriek from across the street as Liz stepped outside. She sprinted across the street and came to a halt next to Ashley.

“This is your new car?” she asked, astonished. Ashley nodded and Liz out a low moan. “You’re so lucky. How come I don’t get a car like this?”

“Obviously your parents just don’t love you that much,” joked Nathaniel. Liz shot him a dirty glare and he snorted.

“You can’t talk,” she said.

“Why not? You think my dad would give me a jeep like this?” As if to confirm his words, Morgan laughed behind him.

“You can’t say anything Nathaniel since you have that cool motorcycle,” countered Liz.

“I started working on that when I was twelve and had it finished by the time I was sixteen. What were you doing as a kid?”

“Playing with dolls and makeup like any other normal girl.”

“I guess you’ll have to ask your parents nicely for your own car,” said Alex, passing the clipboard back. Liz put her hands together and batted her eyes at Alex.

“Or I could move in and be Ashley’s new sister.”

“And share my spoils with you?” joked Ashley. “Not a chance.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“Hey!”

Morgan handed a few pairs of keys to Alex. “We made a few copies just in case. Unless you need us for anything else, we’re going to get back to the shop.” Alex shook his head and both of their hands.

“No, thank you both very much.”

“I’ll see you around,” said Nathaniel to the girls as they left. Ashley just waved goodbye and Liz called out to him.

“You better! You’ve been a recluse all summer.”

“I’ve been busy,” he said as he got into his dad’s truck.

“You should come hang out with us sometime!”

“Alright. We’ll make it happen.” The pair drove away and Alex held up the keys and jingled them in front of Ashley and Liz.

“Well, does anybody want to go for a drive?” Everyone grinned and they clambered into the jeep. The jeep rumbled pleasantly with only a slight turn of the key.

The jeep handled beautifully in Alex’s hands. He drove them through town and up into the hills for a bit. It didn’t seem to care whether it was on paved roads or going through dirt and rock. The ride just became bumpier. When they got back Alex said it was Ashley’s turn to drive.

It was terrifying. She’d never driven a car before and the jeep was very powerful. She’d also never even been in a stick shift car before so it was all very confusing. To her relief, Alex was very patient with her and thought the whole thing was amusing. After her first day she’d only managed some simple basics. Alex stayed with teaching her and had her out every day for a week.

The week after she had her license and the world became open to her.

She still felt sad whenever she looked at her mom’s photo, but she found herself becoming too busy to be depressed anymore. She had a town to learn and friends to hang out with. Her old friends didn’t try and contact her anymore and that was okay. She told herself out here would be her new life and she would make something out of it. Ashley would always miss her mom and parts of her old life, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her mom wouldn’t want her crying over her forever. The summer was almost over and school was about to begin. She had a new life.

Before school started, she went in with her dad to get registered. Their high school was a lot smaller than the one she was used to in California, but it also looked a lot better. There were only a few two-story buildings around an amphitheater. There was a long hall of classrooms on one side of the school and the track and football field on the other side. Inside the office was a skinny woman sitting at a reception desk. She had orange hair, thick glasses, and looked to be somewhere in her fifties. The nametag on her desk said Margaret.

“Can I help you?” she asked politely.

“Yes, I’m looking to enroll my daughter here. Her name is Ashley Lebell.”

“Oh that’s right,” said Margaret. “I have your paperwork here.” Margaret brought out a large folder and placed it on the counter in front of them. “In there is everything you’ll need. We already have her enrolled, she just needs to choose her final classes.”

“I already did,” said Ashley as she handed over the schedule she’d worked out.

“You’re already on top of things!” said Margaret, pleasantly surprised.

“I try.”

“Like father like daughter.”

Ashley just smiled and looked at Alex. She was beginning to see him a bit more as her father than just the man she was living with. He smiled back. After a few minutes, they left knowing she was settled in her classes.

*

One day when she was feeling a little bored, she decided to see if Kara was free. She dialed her number and Kara picked up instantly.

“Hello?”

There wasn’t a single time over the summer in which she’d called Kara and Kara hadn’t picked up after the first ring. Either Kara was waiting by the phone all day or she really had nothing to do.

“Hey Kara, it’s Ashley.”

“I know, what’s up?”

“Not much. I was just feeling bored and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight?”

“We could. It’s already a bit late though, we wouldn’t be able to hang out long.”

“You could always spend the night over here.”

“Let me ask my parents.” She disappeared for a minute and then returned. “My parents aren’t sure about me spending the night there, but they’re okay if you want to stay the night here.”

“Sure. I’ve never been to your house before so why not.”

“Sounds good. Just come over whenever you like.”

“Okay. I guess I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay bye.”

Kara hung up the phone and Ashley stared at hers blankly. What was wrong with her house? She shrugged and casually packed some things up for the night. When she was ready, she headed downstairs to look for Alex.

“Alex?”

“In the basement!”

Ashley stepped into the garage and headed down into the basement. It was a decent size room filled with plans for projects he was working on. He even had a few model houses and buildings down there he worked on.

“Yes?” he asked as she entered.

“Is it okay if I spend the night at Kara’s?” He put down the papers he was looking at.

“At Kara’s?”

“Yeah. Is it okay?”

“I suppose so. I thought you were going to invite Kara over here for the night.”

“I did, but I guess her parents didn’t want her to.” Alex chuckled and shook his head.

“Those two. They don’t even trust me.”

“Trust you?” asked Ashley, confused.

“The Fortunes are good people, but a bit paranoid. I honestly doubt if Kara has ever spent the night at anybody’s house before.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t mind if you go over there, just take your phone with you.”

“I will.

“Good. If you have any problems or don’t feel comfortable, you know you can come home at any time, right?” Ashley smirked and waved his words away.

“I’ve been to a sleepover before. I’ll be fine.”

“I know, it’s just Kara’s parents can be a bit odd. I’m just letting you know if you feel weird in their house, it’s okay to come home.” Ashley’s smile dropped a bit.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Have a good time.”

Ashley nodded. That was new. She’d never heard Alex talk bad or down about anyone. Kara was a little strange, but she was still a friend. If her parents were anything like her, she wasn’t worried.