“So what’s the next step? Is there anything else that needs covering as well?” I asked Jacobus.

“I don’t believe there is much left to set up. We have your adoption going through, all of the accounts we could think of are set up, we have the back story in place and the construct is good to go. I think that about covers it.” Jacobus was starting to strut a little again.

“If that’s the case I do have a few things I would like to know.”

“Anything we can tell you we will, fire away.” Methodius seemed to always have that stupid grin on his face and it was really annoying.

I just rolled my eyes… Wait, did I really just do that? I don’t remember ever doing that before. I’m not sure what to think about it either. Maybe those memories are changing me? I hope it’s nothing major. Please say it won’t affect me that much. I’m begging here.

“Ok, so first off, What exactly can the construct do? What are the limitations and what did you mean about ‘energy’? I also noticed my car outside, in better condition than the last time I drove it. I feel like I’m forgetting some other stuff but can you start with that at least?”

“Right. That would be good to go over” As Jacobus started to explain, I was surprised to find out he could be somewhat competent. Go figure.

The construct ‘Alex’ was pretty much an exact copy of me up until today. He had all my memories and experiences except for what happened last night. Apparently, he also had the memories of “picking me up” and going through the paperwork along with them being tweaked to align with our back story. That was kind of freaky if I’m being honest, but Jacobus said that was necessary. That way he would act like I would if I had actually been placed in this kind of situation. (Thinking about it, this is that kind of situation… Na, Nope. Not going to think about that right now.) Alex would continue to age just like I would have. He would also experience what was going on and change based on those experiences just like any other person.

“So, if I’m understanding this right and we needed something like groceries, I could ask Alex to get get some and he would buy whatever I would have?”

“Exactly. You can’t just order him around though, He’s not a robot. Best to think of him as another person. He’s going to act the part of being your guardian, even to the point that he will be unsure about things that you wouldn’t have known. He will also ask questions of friends and family to learn what he needs to do to take care of you. It won’t always be like that though. For instance, right now being home alone he will pretty much leave you to your own devices unless you need something or someone shows up. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll figure it out as you go. It will be a learning curve for both of you”.

“About the energy. He will need to rest just like any person. When you send him back, he will be in stasis for the most part and it will act like sleep. He can sleep like normal so I wouldn’t recommend sending him away and for the most part, you shouldn’t unless it’s really needed I wouldn’t recommend doing that during the day, but at night it should be fine. When you or he is home, whether together or alone, he will act like you used to. Working on projects, your new house, or whatever. As a little side bonus, He doesn’t need to eat, drink, or anything else. He is able to, so if you go out to eat or he is at work people won’t get suspicious. He doesn’t need to bathe either, but will keep up appearances and can still swim.”

“That’s interesting. I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you to actually pull something like that off.”

“…”

“Hahaha. She’s got you there Jacobus!” Methodius’ booming laughter made my eyes cross again. Dang, that volume hurts. Is it that or something else though? I do remember thinking my senses were way better than usual earlier.

“Yes. All of your senses are better than they used to be. I’m not saying you’re superhuman or anything, but your eyesight is way above average and won’t go bad again either. I know you had eye surgery a few years ago. Your hearing is better as well. I wouldn’t abuse it like you used to, but it should stay pretty good. Think of it like everything is new again, or something like that.” Jacobus seemed to read my mind again.

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t read your mind or anything. You’re just easy to read right now. You covered your ears and then got a contemplating look on your face. Oh, that reminds me. Since your age regressed your mental state will probably regress as well. NO, hold on. Nothing drastic I assure you. The most you will probably notice is little things like more honest and open facial expressions, maybe some heightened emotions. It shouldn’t affect your daily life that much, at least until hormones kick in.”

“Hormones. I forgot about those.”

I’m not looking forward to that. I don’t really remember going through that my last time around, but I do know it sucked. This time is going to probably be worse. I can just feel it in my gut.

“I’m going to have to learn about that and it’s not going to be fun to try and find information. I know a few things but never paid that much attention. I didn’t need to.”

“Well, good luck with that. What was the last question?” Jacobus asked me.

“It’s about what happened to my car. I thought you said it was completely destroyed.”

“Yep, it was. We couldn’t leave it just scattered around though, and it just disappearing wouldn’t work either so we rebuilt it. We improved it a little and gave it the paint job you wanted as well.” Methodius puffed out his chest when he said that. I couldn’t even say anything. I never thought that people actually did that.

“Well, thank you for that. I spent a lot of time building that car.”

“Yep, no problem… Ah, I just remembered, About your family. We were able to tweak their memories and get them to hold. They know the backstory and believe it as well. Your parents are a bit worried about Alex being able to take care of a young girl, so expect many phone calls, or well, Alex should expect them. They also know about the restaurants and know you had been dreaming about doing that for a while. Also, on the topic of the restaurants, all the startup and construction costs are paid and Alex has plenty of money ‘saved’ up. Just another little gift to help things along. Alex also contacted his boss Kennith after he was notified about Zeke, Valeria, and you, so you don’t have to worry about that. He had already put in his two weeks because of the restaurants being almost finished and Kennith just told him to just stop by sometime to finish up the paperwork. Apparently, all the guys are gonna miss him.”

“Huh. Didn’t think that would happen. I never really hung out with them after work or anything.”

“Well, you did help anyone who needed it, were willing to train anyone who asked, and were just a nice guy to work around from the sounds of it. That would be plenty to make people like you.”

“I guess I never thought of it like that. I was just doing my job.”

“Sometimes that’s all it takes kiddo. You might remember that it doesn’t take much for people to like you going forward. Maybe put yourself out there a little more now that you have another chance.” You know, sometimes Methodius made sense. Didn’t see that one coming either.

“On that note Sasha, I think it’s about time for us to leave. If something comes up or you need help just call me. I should be hanging around for a while.” With that Jacobus and Methodius once again disappeared.

What to do now. I needed to plan and I needed information. If the state was going to do a house call, that meant I was going to need to go to school… Again. I’m pretty sure I’m up to par with at least what, fifth grade I think? I will have to look it up. While I’m at that I better start looking for schools as well. From my ‘memories,’ I’m going to have to look into private schools. This is such a pain. Because of those, I can’t imagine going to a public school. Valeria and Zeke both agreed on that so I bet Alex would honor their wishes. Clothes and other accessories came next. I knew some private schools had uniforms, or at least a strict dress code so maybe I should start there.

Before that, I remembered that we were running low on food so I asked Alex if he could run to town and get some. He seemed a bit nervous leaving me home alone, (That was kinda interesting, not gonna lie) but I was able to convince him that I would be fine and needed to do some online shopping. He grudgingly agreed and a few minutes later I heard my old diesel fire up. While it was warming up Alex grabbed his wallet and changed his shirt and shoes to go into town. That was interesting as well. I was kind of like Valeria that way I guess. I had always made sure I dressed for what I was going to do. Go to work? Dress for work. Going to the store? Dress casually but wear good clothes and be groomed. Maybe some of this won’t be as hard as I’m worried it will be… Maybe.

Waking my computer up, I rifled through the documents that Jacobus had left on the counter. I looked over my birth certificate and social security cards to make sure everything was right. It was a little different looking at those. I guess that’s what really started to make everything hit home. Enough of that. Process later, work, and plan now.

As I set those documents down, I noticed a debit card and cell phone mixed in with everything else. Jacobus surprised me again. I hadn’t thought about that but he came in clutch. Is he smarter than I thought? Nah, can’t be.

The card was in my name and the phone already had my bank’s app set up. The pin code and login information were on a separate piece of paper so I decided to log in and check things out. Impressed couldn’t express what I was feeling when I found out my assets. Let’s just say I started sweating a little and didn’t have to worry about college if I decided I wanted to go.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ok. First, schools. Focus. I did a quick search for private schools in the area and came up with eleven. Four were High Schools, one was a mix of Middle and High School and four were Middle Schools. The other two were Elementary Schools. Unfortunately, one of the middle schools wasn’t accepting applications, but that was fine. It was on the other side of Rapid City from where we were and didn’t have the highest rating so I could shelve that one. The highest rated was the closest to us as luck would have it. It wasn’t a Christian school, but I knew Valeria wouldn’t mind that. She would prefer it, but it wasn’t a must where education was concerned. I’ve always liked pragmatism and it was refreshing to see it from my ‘mom’.

I quickly sent a text to Alex telling him what school I chose, and he replied with an affirmative and asked if I needed any help. It didn’t look too hard so I told him I should be good, he just said to call if I needed anything. With that out of the way, I had all the required documents in front of me so I went ahead and started the application process. Late transfers had to explain the reasons behind the transfer and go through not only the primary interview process but a home visit as well. That’s harsh. The earliest they could set everything up was a week from Monday so that gave us some time to get everything in order. The next section threw me for a loop again. They needed my measurements for the uniforms. It looked like for the boys it was purple slacks with a black dress shirt and a navy tie for fifth grade. The girls had a knee-length purple pleated skirt with a black blouse and a Navy ribbon tie. The girls were also required to wear black hose as well and had to have their hair in a ponytail at minimum. Boys and girls had dress shoes. The shoes were provided and wouldn’t you know, ‘mom’ would be ecstatic. The girl’s shoes had a two-inch heel. At least they were pumps and had a thick heel. They didn’t look like they were too hard to walk in. It was still a pain though. Those were interesting color choices for sure, but it looked like only the tie color changed for grades. I wonder if they copied Japan?

Looking at the measurement page, at least they gave an explanation for what was needed. I guess I’m just going to have to wait for Alex to get home and help me. We don’t have a soft tape measure in the RV, but I do have a three-hundred-foot tape in my pickup. That should work. The measurements weren’t needed to continue with the application so I finished everything else they wanted. Interesting, I had to take a test for my application to be accepted. I was wondering how they made sure that I was the one taking the test, but when I clicked on it another screen popped up and connected to a video chat. A little while later a woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties accepted the chat.

“Good morning, Plumb Valley Prep. I’m Alissa White. How can I help you?”

“Umm. My name is Sasha. I’m trying to complete the enrollment forms.” Speaking in a softer voice than normal, I startled myself. Where did this come from? I know I’m introverted, but I was never shy. Just what I need, more to figure out.

“Hello Sasha, I see that Mr. Athervon called just a little while ago and explained everything. Is there anything that you need to be explained to you?”

Go, Alex. That was good thinking on my part… err, Alex’s part. Figures we would think of something like that.

“No Ms. White, I’m at the part where I have to take the test. I still need to get my measurements (I actually blushed a little saying this, something has to be wrong) but I don’t know them.”

“That’s not a problem and you can call me Alissa. Let’s get you started on the test. It shouldn’t take too long, just fifteen questions. Honestly, I don’t even know why we have to go through this, but I will get it started for you. Give me one sec and it should come up. Sorry, but I have to stay on the line while you take it.”

“That’s fine. I will try my best.”

Alissa just gave me a smile at that. After the test came up, I took a look at it and was disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I know it wasn’t something this easy. I was able to do the handful of math problems without even thinking, the English language questions made me pull at my memory, but nothing major and I unconsciously giggled (yes, giggled. I’m getting worried now. I really hope this is just the stress getting to me and not something else) when I read the science questions. That was it. Five questions on three subjects. I agreed with Alissa. I really hope that this isn’t a glimpse of what the standards are for the highest-rated private school in the area.

“Sorry Ms. White. That was impolite of me.” I’m blushing again while I apologized. The scariest part was that I felt compelled to apologize. I need to do something to clear my head and fast.

“It’s alright Sasha, I completely understand. I’m not sure why those questions are on that test as well. I see you managed to get them all correct, and quickly at that. Well done. With that, all we need is the size for your uniforms, but I can go ahead and submit everything. Mr. Athervon should receive the results tomorrow morning at the latest.”

“thank you Ms. White, I hope you have a pleasant day.”

Alissa just gave me a soft smile and a little wave before shutting down the chat window. After it was closed I covered my face with my hands. This is going to be a problem. I really hope it’s just the stress, but I’m beginning to wonder if it’s not a combination of the age regression Jacobus was talking about and those stupid memories he gave me. I think I need to redact what I said earlier. There is no way Jacobus could come in clutch and not screw something up.

After sitting there for a few minutes to calm down, I realized that the colors for the uniforms probably came from the name. I didn’t really pay attention to it, even when I sent the info to Alex. Not that it really mattered, I just thought it was interesting. I know what you’re thinking and I understand it. I just collect little tidbits like that for some reason.

That finished, I needed something to do. I still didn’t know my size so I really couldn’t shop for clothes. I guess I could clean up the garage section of the fifth-wheel. That’s probably where either I or Alex will be sleeping. There was a secondary bathroom back there that took up some room, but I got a steal when I bought it so I didn’t mind too much. That would come in handy now. I hope the state and school employees didn’t make too much of a fuss about the living arrangements for now. The house was almost finished and the Contractor said about a week and they should be done. After that, I was going to hire a professional cleaning service to go through and do a deep clean just in case. That would probably take a couple of days. Moving in all the furniture should take a few days, but we could still move in right away. As long as we had the beds set up we would be good. That’s another thing, we’re going to need to get another bed. I know it’s just for looks, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

As I quickly organized and got the fold-down bed in order I heard my pickup coming up the drive. Moving to the door I spotted Alex getting out and starting to grab groceries to bring inside. As usual, he started putting bags on the floor by the door and I started to put things away. Old habits die hard. I’ve done that same thing for years while living in an RV, but it’s interesting to see it from a different perspective. This is going to take some getting used to.

“Hey Alex, can you grab your three-hundred-foot tape before you come in?”

“Ya, no problem. What do you need that long of a tape for? I have a twenty-five foot one as well.”

“No, I need a soft tape for my clothes. I will probably need your help as well. Sorry to make you do this.”

“It’s all good little one, anything you need. Is it for the school uniforms? I got a call from them just before I pulled into the drive and they want to set up an Interview Friday.”

“Ya, though their website said they couldn’t do anything until Monday?” Little one? I mean, I can’t say much because that’s something I would say, though now I’m wishing it wasn’t.

“That’s what Alissa said. Apparently, they wanted to move it up to try to get you settled in as quickly as possible. She also said they were going to combine the regular interview with the home visit. I explained our circumstances to her as well. She didn’t see a problem with them because of the division between the garage and the kitchen. At least we have that going for us, right?”

“Alissa? Oh, you mean Ms. White?” Wait… no, just hold on a minute. Did I really have to think about Alissa’s name for a minute? That’s definitely Valeria’s influence.

“Haha, I know that’s how you were raised Sasha, but you can relax more around me, remember?”

“I’ll try, it’s hard though” Yep, definitely Valeria’s influence. I have to figure out how to get this out of my system pronto.

After putting away the groceries, Alex cautiously helped me get all the measurements. I say cautiously because he acted like I would break. I know I have a petite body now, but I’m not that fragile you know. I’m not… Right? Anyway, after about fifteen minutes of him fumbling around trying to read the page that explained where to measure and actually getting them, we finished. I sent a quick email to Alissa and that was that adventure done and dusted. Ok, it wasn’t an adventure, and Alex didn’t help with his bumbling about, but it was done. Was I seriously like that? I must be if what Jacobus said was true. I’m really glad that my coworkers didn’t see me like that, though if some women saw it, I had a feeling they might think it was cute.

This brought up another problem we had to figure out. Now that the home visit was going to be Friday, that might not give us enough time to order clothes online. Wait, that might not be true. I jumped on the computer again and searched for stores that had curbside pickup in the area and there were a few. Browsing around, I notice the only stores that had what I needed and could comfortably order (Thanks Jacobus) were a little more expensive. That’s fine I guess. Hopefully, along with the higher prices, the clothes were better quality.

I managed to find four skirts that I could live with, a couple of light dresses, and five or six blouses and shirts that I could mix and match. How did I know I could mix and match and they would look good? Please don’t ask me that, I’m still a little traumatized about it. I managed to find a couple of sets of clothes I could use to train and work out in, three outfits I could wear around the house, and some running shoes. All I needed to find were the hose and panties. I really don’t want to, but I have to. This is embarrassing and I don’t like it but I managed to get five black and two white pairs of hose along with eight or nine pairs of panties. Nothing cutesy or anything like that. I couldn’t stand it if that was all they had. At least I didn’t need a bra yet. Now that I think about it, maybe I should order some of those sports bras just in case. That might let me get ahead of the game. I think instinct just kicked in there at the end because I really tried not to order any of it. Suck it up. Breathe and move on, it’s all you can do, right?

When I went to grab my new card to pay, Alex already entered his info and bought it all for me. I told him he didn’t have to, but he did it anyway saying it was his responsibility to take care of me and any needs I had. He assured me that my school tuition was already covered as well. I always knew I was a responsible person.

With that done, Alex told me he would pick up my order tomorrow morning unless I needed them now. I was going to decline his having to run into town again right after getting home, but I became conscious of how uncomfortable I really was. It wasn’t the shirt or shorts’ fault. I knew it wasn’t. It was me and those stupid memories. He just laughed at the look on my face and jumped back in the pickup to head into town.

About ten minutes after he left, I had the feeling I was forgetting something. SHOES! I totally spaced buying anything other than the running shoes. Hurrying over to the computer, I again found something I could live with that would work with my memories. I have to say, there are a lot of styles of shoes. Being used to wearing work boots, other types of boots, and running shoes, I never thought about it. Ok, there, I managed to find half a dozen pairs (they all had at least a small heel, unfortunately) that I could mix and match and one pair were luckily sandals. That works for now, but why did I order six pairs?

Sending a quick text to Alex explaining what happened I received one back with the laughing emoji. I want to smack myself upside the head right now. Am I really going to be Ok?