Waking up, I stretched and crawled out of bed. Since we had gotten home so late last night I didn’t exercise like usual and felt off. After years of training in the evenings, I always felt like this if I couldn’t.
Deciding to do a short jog and some yoga before breakfast, I changed out of the hoodie and nightgown and put on a pair of yoga pants, a light pink t-shirt, and the pullover hoodie Rebecca gave me that was light blue with Stitch on it. Even though it was big on me, it was soft and warm.
I DID NOT say it was cute and you can’t prove I did. I will admit that I liked Stitch though… What? He’s cool.
Ya, my mind is definitely changing. Just breathe and go with it for now. Trust that Jacobus was right.
Please be right.
I walked into the kitchen and noticed a note on the counter from Alex. He had the same Idea, though I bet he would run longer than I was going to. He also left breakfast in the microwave again so I didn’t have to worry about that.
After putting on my running shoes I went out and ran for a while. It helped me process the last couple of days and clear my mind. My body felt like my own, and the dysphoria was almost completely gone, giving me some peace of mind. I also believe that I was coming to terms with my situation.
Still, I wouldn’t say I liked how I was so shy now. I had a feeling that it was from the fear and uncertainty about what was happening to me, yet I don’t believe that that was all it was. I was suspicious that it also had something to do with the memories that Jacobus had given me.
There was a nagging feeling that maybe Valeria had ‘dreamed’ her daughter was shy.
I had to get over this. I would get over this.
Returning to the R.V. after about forty-five minutes, I moved the little table and spread the rug to do yoga. Thinking about what else needed to be done before school, I came up with a few Ideas. I would be about a month behind in class when I went back to school, so I needed to find out what had been covered so far.
With that thought in my mind, I rolled up the mat and put the table back. Picking out a pair of black thigh-length socks that had a white band at the top, a purple skirt, and a white button-up shirt, I took a hot shower before changing.
This hair was a pain. It took forever to take care of and was hard to dry and do anything with. Even with all the time and effort it took, I was beginning to get used to it and it made my stomach churn thinking about cutting it. I know some of that was from the memories, yet not all of it. I was starting to truly like having that long of hair and found it beautiful. I know, weird right?
While heating my breakfast, I looked at my phone to see what time it was. There was also an email from the school that I must have missed while I was in the shower. Taking my food to the table, I opened it as I started to eat.
There wasn’t much of importance other than stating that the house visit was scheduled for two pm on Friday. Wait, no, there was another tidbit of information that was worth noting. The guidance counselor for Plumb Valley was also a licensed Child Services counselor and they had been assigned to my ‘case’ somehow.
I see a little Deus Ex Machina there.
If it makes things easier, who am I to complain? I only hope whoever it is, they are level-headed.
I cleaned my plate and set up my laptop to look at the school’s website again. I wanted to double-check all the forms and see if I could video chat with someone about what homework I could try to catch up on.
“Ah, crap,” I said as I put my elbows on the table and put my face in my hands. “This might be a problem.”
Looking over the forms, I noticed that I had put Athervon as my last name. Should I have put Drakoen? I really hope that this doesn’t make things difficult. I needed to see what it was on my social security card and birth certificate.
“Hmm. What the heck? Why doesn’t my stuff have a last name?” I quickly grabbed my bank card and it too didn’t have a last name. “What is going on?”
As I was racking my brain wondering how Jacobus could mess up so badly, my phone dinged with a text message.
(Hey Sasha, Just wanted to tell you that once you choose a last name, it will appear on your documentation. We left it blank to make it easier. Have fun. Jacobus.)
“OI! What are you trying to pull, you stupid IDIOT?” I groaned as I hit my forehead on the table.
“Are you alright Sasha?” Alex opened the door and saw me holding the sides of my head while my forehead was on the table.
I jerked upright and blushed. “I’m alright Uncle Alex. I’m only worried about catching up with the other kids in school.”
“You’ll be fine Sasha, you’re a smart kid.” Alex sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulder. “I don’t want to push you right now, but we need to talk.”
“Umm. Is everything alright?” This didn’t sound like it was going to be good. I hope that something didn’t get messed up.
“Well… Remember when you met Kennith and my old crew and didn’t know how to introduce yourself?”
“Oh, ah… Ya. Why?” Ok, so I have a feeling that the text I just received was foreshadowing. What should I do? Should I see about changing my school paperwork and going with Drakoen, or should I use Athervon? It would be easier to stick with the latter.
“I received a call from your lawyer while I was out running. The paperwork for your adoption is finished except for your last name. He was unsure how to proceed and wanted my input. I didn’t want to do anything until I talked to you about it. You’re young but smart so I felt that it should be up to you. I will support you with whatever you decide. I know this is a hard decision and it hasn’t been very long since all of this happened…” He squeezed my shoulders as he looked out the screen door, lost for words.
“Oh… U-umm…” I looked down at my hands that I had put in my lap. making fists I made up my mind. “I think I already made that choice Alex.” I turned my laptop so he could see the forms that I had been looking at.
“What? You didn’t use ‘uncle’.” He looked confusedly at me and then at the screen.
“After everything happened, I was lost. You were there for me and worked really hard to help. I don’t remember putting your last name on the form, but I want to leave it that way.” Well… That was true, even if he was going to take it the wrong way.
Alex squeezed my shoulders again. “Your parents would be so proud of you Sasha. I really wish none of this had ever happened though. Just remember that I’m here for you and we will get through this together.”
“T-thanks… Umm…” I looked up at Alex who was looking at me with a sad smile. He truly seemed to have emotions. “I-I was wondering if I could ask you something?”
This next part was going to be weird, yet for some reason, I needed to do this. I had something like a compulsion to continue and hoped that the age regression or the memories made it that way. Though a lot of it was wanting to give back to this person who was me and yet not me as well. I know this Alex wasn’t real, just a construct made to fit a part, but I couldn’t see him like that now and I couldn’t treat him like that either.
“Go ahead Sasha, if there is anything I can do I will.”
“O-Ok… C-can I…” Ugh, this is hard to say and really embarrassing. I took a deep breath. “Can I call you dad?” My face burned. I know, I know… This is weird. Just hear me out. I always wanted a family though I figured it would never happen. This is hard to explain… Some of what I said was from me, that’s what I meant by hoping that it came from the age regression. The rest was because I wanted Alex to have what I couldn’t. I hoped this would help both of us in its own way. “I know you always wanted a family of your own. Y-you’ve always been family to me and now you adopted me, so I…”
Alex hugged me tight, tears in his eyes. “If that’s what you want Sasha. You don’t have to force yourself…”
“No, I want to.” I shook my head. “I can still be with family if I’m with you.”
“So mature,” Alex mumbled. “Ok, Sasha. If that’s what you want, I will be the best dad ever.”
“Just be you, Dad. That’s all I need.” I heard Alex catch his breath. You didn’t think I didn’t notice when someone would say that I was Alex’s daughter he would tense and get a wistful look, did you? As I said, I always wanted a family so it was easy to notice. I looked up at Alex to see a bittersweet expression on his face. We might have wanted a family, just not like this.
We sat like that for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts. Finally, Alex gingerly let go and stepped outside to call the lawyer back with what we had decided. Looking through my stuff, it had my ‘new’ old name now.
I could only hope this wouldn’t bite me somehow. It felt right though.
I was able to get a packet emailed to me from the school and printed it off. Surprisingly there wasn’t that much to it. There were four worksheets per subject. Science, Math, English, and Social Studies.
“Oh, I guess these are the tests for each subject. It looks like they have a test at the end of each week.” I murmured while reading through the directions sent with the paperwork. It explained where I could find the study material on the school’s website, and how the tests would be used as a baseline for my grades instead of a pile of worksheets. Alex was supposed to watch me take them so I wouldn’t cheat. I could see how that could be a loophole for some people to extort. Not like I needed to, looking at the contents of the questions.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Science was mostly basic principles that I wanted to brush up on to jog my memory. English was going to be the hardest as spelling and grammar were my worst subjects in school the first time. Social Studies was going to be easier, yet I wanted to brush up on that as well. Math was going to be a no-brainer for me as I used tape measures and decimal points every day for work. I would need to get used to doing it on paper though so I spent the rest of the day going over the study material.
Getting out of bed, my plan for today was to study until about noon and then take the tests with Alex, so why was I in Rebecca’s office instead?
Alex was notified that something at the restaurant needed his attention early this morning. He didn’t want to leave me home alone if it ended up taking all day and dropped me off here. It’s not too bad though, being fairly quiet with my headphones and she even pulled a desk out of somewhere for me to use. We did have some drama after I arrived, the office personnel kept trying to chat with me and fawning over how cute I looked today. Honestly, I’m kind of getting used to it. Still trying to figure out whether I should be happy or sad about that.
The office personnel ordered lunch and had a small office party using me as an excuse. My embarrassment was at an all-time high. I had been fawned over a few times already, yet this had to have been the worst so far. For over an hour, I was bombarded with questions about my hobbies, clothes, and worst of all, if there were any boys I was interested in.
Please Rebecca, quit smiling like that and SAVE me!
Finally, after Rebecca broke up the gossip session, I was able to get some peace and quiet. I sat down and laid my head on the desk with my arms stretched across it. “Ugh, my head hurts…”
“Haha, that was quite the interrogation they put you through,” Rebecca said as she pat my back. “Don’t worry too much about it, they do the same thing to Natalie when she stops by.”
“Oh, I feel sorry for Natalie. I’m not used to things like that. Especially when they asked me about boys.” I grimaced.
“Oh? Do you not like boys?” Rebecca teased, her eyes glittering with mirth.
“Umm, I have more friends who are boys than girls I guess?” How much should I know about relationships at ten?
“Well, you’re still young. As I said, don’t worry about it too much. You don’t need to rush growing up.” Rebecca smiled at me. “Are you ready to take those tests?”
I didn’t have any plans to rush growing up this time. Been there, done that. Even though things were different this time, I was going to enjoy my youth as much as possible. Taking things slow and not worrying about life for a while sounded nice. Well, I still have plenty to worry about, yet some of those were getting easier to handle. Maybe I was coming to terms with my new life. A little at least.
Not that I would tell Rebecca any of that.
“Ugh.” I grimace again. “Let’s get it over with.”
It took a little over five hours to finish all of them, which impressed Rebecca that I managed to get through them so fast. After glancing over them, she scanned and emailed them back to the school for grading. I hadn’t realized that was how to turn them back in.
“Rebecca, Alex just sent me a text. He is just leaving the restaurant and should be here in a bit.”
“Hmm, why don’t you two come over for supper again? We can meet him at the house. It’s a little late to cook, but we can order something and have it delivered.” The look she was giving me said ‘You’re coming over for supper and that’s that.’
“Ok, I will text Alex and see what he wants to do.” In other words, ‘Alex, Rebecca said we are eating with them again. Meet us at her house.’ is what I sent back. “He said that’s fine with him and he will see us there.”
“Alright, what sounds good tonight? There is a good Ramen place that delivers.” Rebecca asked while she was locking the doors.
“Is it Tokyo Ramen?”
“Oh, have you eaten there?”
“Alex got it for me after I moved here, the tonkotsu was really good.”
“I like it as well. Would you like it again, or do you want to try something else?”
“I would like the garlic tonkotsu this time please.”
“Alright, do you want to ask Alex what he wants?”
“I will text him, but I bet he gets the spicy beef.” I still sent the text and received an affirmative a few seconds later. “Yep, spicy beef for Alex.”
“Haha, you do know him pretty well I see.”
“Yep, Alex would always take us out to eat when he visited so I figured out what he likes.”
“Hmm…” Rebecca had a smirk as she raised an eyebrow and looked at me.
“Umm, is something wrong?” I tilted my head in confusion.
“Nope, nothing wrong, but that look is very cute. You better be careful not to steal all the boy’s hearts looking like that.” Rebecca teased me as we pulled into the drive. I blushed and looked away as she laughed.
“Why would anyone want something like that.” Hearing that scared me. Rebecca was only teasing, yet it still gave me goosebumps. This was something I didn’t want to think about yet.
I managed to calm down before we made it inside, knowing that if Natalie saw me like that I would be smothered even more than usual. I was still pretty much tackled by her as soon as I walked through the door.
“Natalie, please…”
‘Sorry, you’re so cute though, and I missed you!” Natalie said as she hugged me tighter.
“I was here the other day though.”
Natalie pouted as she released me. “I know, but you’re so cute, and my little sister. Do you not like me?”
“NO. No, it’s not that.” I started to panic and wave my hands. “I’m just not used to other people doing that so…”
I trailed off and looked around noticing the other people in the room had amused grins. “Humph!” I stomped my foot and turned my head. “I’m not talking to you anymore.” Wait, did I really just do that? Why would I do something like that?!
Crap, I’m really acting like a ten-year-old now. This is scaring me.
It was Natalie’s turn to panic. “Sashaaa… I’m sorry, please forgive me, please?” She had tears in her eyes as she pleaded with me.
“Let me think about it.” I would forgive her, but a little payback is in order. I’m not one to be vindictive, yet turnabout is fair play, right?
“I warned you, Natalie,” Rebecca scolded with a laugh. “Sasha still needs time to get used to us. Why don’t you call in our order? Here is what Alex, Sasha, and I want. Jasmine, Eric, tell Natalie what you would like as well. Brandon isn’t going to make it again and Kennith wanted the spicy beef.”
“Thanks, Mrs. McGreggor.” Jasmine smiled and grabbed Natalie by the arm. “Come on, leave Sasha alone for a while and she might forgive you.”
“I suppose…” Natalie looked so much like a sad puppy I almost busted out laughing. “What do you want Eric?” She asked as they sat back down at the table.
“That was a little harsh Sasha,” Alex said softly as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s fine Alex,” Rebecca interjected. “Natalie needs to learn some boundaries and it’s not fair to Sasha either. She needs time to get used to us and if she doesn’t like it, Natalie needs to stop.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it, I haven’t had people do that kind of stuff before so it surprises me,” I said softly, head downcast.
“You don’t need to feel sorry for telling her to stop Sasha, and if you don’t like it you need to make sure and tell Natalie. She should calm down soon enough though. She always wanted a little sister she could spoil and latched onto you. Part of that is probably my fault. After raising two boys and her being so much younger than them, I might have spoiled her too much.”
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing mom,” Eric said as he walked up to us. “She won’t say it, but I think she’s always been a little lonely. She used to try and follow me and Brandon around but we were always busy with school and sports or helping dad. I’m Eric by the way. Nice to meet you, Sasha.”
“Nice to meet you too Eric,” I replied as I shook his proffered hand.
“Perfect timing Eric. Help me check Sasha’s worksheets so we can have an idea of how she did. I already emailed them to the school so we should hear back from them tomorrow, but I don’t want to wait that long.”
“Huh? Oh, sure I guess, but why me? Brandon would be better.”
“If he was here, yes. You check the Math and Science and I will check the English and Social Studies.”
“Ya, that works.”
As they started going over my worksheets, I couldn’t help but think I was forgetting something. I couldn’t pin down whether it had to do with me going back to school or something else though. Alex and I sat down at the table with everyone else and waited for the food, Rebecca and Eric to finish and Kennith to get home. I chatted with Jasmine while Natalie still pouted and looked dejected. Maybe I should let her off the hook now, it was almost painful to see her like that.
“Hey Natalie, I’m not mad at… NOPE! STOP! STOP!” As soon as I spoke, she bolted out of her chair towards me.
“Natalie, that’s enough,” Rebecca looked up from the paper she was going over and snapped. “You need to calm down. Sasha isn’t going anywhere and if you keep this up I will ground you.”
“Alright mom, sorry Sasha.” Natalie was almost in tears as she sat back down. This girl acted just like some of the characters in light novels I’ve read.
At this point, I was seriously wondering if this wasn’t some alternate dimension or actual light novel. I remembered some girls acting a little like that in high school, though not to this extent, and I couldn’t think of any time I had seen some of the things that had happened to me either.
Well… I’ve never been a ten-year-old “Cute” (as others keep saying I am) girl before, so there is that.
Kennith had perfect timing and walked in before I could say anything. He took one look at Rebecca and Natalie and sighed. “Do I want to know what I missed?”
“Nothing much dear, welcome home. The food should be here any minute.”
“I see,” He shrugged and sat down between Rebecca and Jasmine. “Hello Alex, Sasha. Are you getting excited about school?”
“Umm, I’m more scared than excited… Wait! Dad, the furniture delivery! We forgot about it.” That’s what I was forgetting and in my haste to tell Alex, I called him dad in front of everyone. I wasn’t going to hide that I was calling Alex dad now, though I did want to give it a little more time. I didn’t notice what I said until the silence and stares penetrated my brain, making me blush.
“I was wondering what was different,” Rebecca said with a knowing grin. Still blushing I looked at her and tilted my head. I’m pretty sure I heard Natalie and Jasmine mutter “so cute” under their breaths, but I’m going to ignore that. “You haven’t said uncle Alex all day.” Rebecca continued.
“Oh…” That was all I could come up with, still too embarrassed to really think.
“Sorry Sasha, I forgot to tell you. They weren’t able to make it today. They called earlier and notified me they would show up tomorrow, probably around the same time as the school and state employees.”
“That’s how it usually works,” Rebecca agreed. “What time is the school supposed to show up?”
“The email said they would be at the house around two. I was hoping that we could at least have the bedrooms set up by then, though that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. I did swing by the storage and load the rest of the kitchen and bathroom stuff so I can work on that in the morning at least.”
“Don’t push yourself, Alex. If you need help call us.” Rebecca reminded him. “You don’t need to hurt yourself trying to do everything on your own, especially now.”
“That’s true. You have a habit of trying to do things on your own when you should ask for help.” Kennith was right, I tried to help others but had a tendency to not ask for help when I needed it.
“I promise I will call if I need help…” Alex started to answer when the doorbell rang. I could see the slight relief on his face after being “saved by the bell” from another lecture.
“I’ll get it.” Natalie stood up and started towards the door.
“I can give you a hand.” Alex jumped up and followed Natalie in a hurry to escape for a moment.
“He never changes does he?” Rebecca sighed.
“Not in the few years we’ve known him, though I think Sasha being here is helping. She’s good for him.” Kennith smiled at me.
“True, he’s opening up more since you came Sasha, which is a good thing. Now, from what I see, you missed two on the English tests and one on the Social Studies.”
“She didn’t miss any on the Science or Math and I had to look up some of the answers. Looks like Natalie might have to step it up to keep the best grades in the family.” Eric laughed.
“I-it helped that I could study what was on the test…” I mumbled while looking down.
“That’s the point of studying Sasha. You put the effort in and that’s what happens. Alex said you were smart and diligent.” Rebecca said as she put the worksheets away.
“Did I hear that Sasha did really well on her homework?” Natalie asked as she put the food on the table.
“I told you she was smart. She had straight A’s at her old school and I bet she keeps them coming.” Alex had a proud grin as he sat down and handed out the food he carried.
When did I get straight A’s? I don’t remember any of this. I know I have knowledge well above middle school level, but can I really keep that up? Hopefully, this doesn’t turn into a problem. Now I have to go back to middle school and get good grades.
Crap. I’m even more nervous now!