Chapter 17: Adult life.

Humphrey's POV:

Kate and I watched as Silas returned to the house, silence held at bay by the rhythmic hum of the mustang as we were left alone. As Silas disappeared into the house I looked at Kate who turned to me with a smile, looking cute as she held her arm with her hand and twisted her toe on the paver she was standing on as though trying to dig into it.

"Well Humphrey, thanks again for the lift. I'll see you at school tomorrow?" She said after a second. I smiled in response, flourishing my hands as I bent forwards in an extensive, over-the-top bow.

"At your service milady." I said, looking up after a second as Kate laughed and turned to go inside. I watched her head inside, returning the wave she gave me as she paused and turned back in the doorway before vanishing into the house, the double doors closing a moment later. I shut the trunk of the car and walked back around to the driver's door, smiling as I slid into the seat and realised how much I had truly missed this car over the years. I put it in gear and took the handbrake off, slowly letting of the brake and crawling away to avoid tearing up the gravel of the driveway. As I moved through the second half of the loop I noticed a black sedan parked in front of one of the garage doors and stopped for a moment to take a better look. There was something incredibly familiar about it but I couldn't place what it was as I took in the sleek lines, blacked out windows and large black rims. It had a Chrysler badge on the back and was very modern but I didn't know what model as I shrugged after a moment and continued driving.

My head was filled with thoughts about what had happened during the day as I drove home, flicking my headlights on about halfway there as the sun dipped below the mountain line and plunged the valley and most of Jasper City into darkness. The tranquil drive lasted just short of two minutes longer before I was abruptly ripped from my thoughts by a blaring siren, the interior of my car suddenly lit up with splashes of red and blue. In a panic I sat up straighter, looking into my rear-view mirror to see a police cruiser right on my tail.

"Maybe he's not-" I began to mutter to myself as a voice sounded over the loud-speaker.

"You in the green mustang, pull over. I repeat. Pull over."

"Guess not." I said with a wry smile, hitting the brakes and flicking on my indicator as I headed into the emergency lane and came to a lazy stop. As I waited for the officer to approach I thought back but couldn't figure out why he'd pulled me over; I was almost certain I hadn't been speeding.

A knock on the window a moment later brought me to earth as I wound it down, looking up at the stern face of the officer with a nervous smile.

"Evening officer. I-is there a problem?" I began, trying to keep my tone upbeat.

5 minutes later.

As I finished explaining things Officer Hawford nodded, handing back my license and registration before looking at the car for a moment with a strange expression.

"You seem like a good kid Humphrey, and I understand the situation. I'll let you off with a warning this time but make sure you get those plates as soon as possible. Understood?" He said, giving me a serious look at the end.

I showed my understanding with a solemn but somewhat relieved nod. With that I figured we were done and moved to turn the car back on but paused as he spoke up once more to my surprise.

"You'd be a junior Jasper High right?" He asked me, the question more of a statement of fact than anything.

"Yeah I just started there today." I admitted with a small chuckle, wondering why he'd brought it up. It was the only high school in West JC so it seemed fairly obvious.

"Do you know a girl named Brittany?" He continued, the reason for his line of questioning made clear. I was a little stunned and could only nod in response, amazed that he had asked about someone I actually knew given that I could count on both hands how many people I knew at the school.

"Say hi to her for me. I'm her cousin." He said with a grin, tapping a hand on the door before disappearing from view. I watched him go in the mirrors, shaking my head a little at the bizarre coincidence as I turned the car back on, waiting for a gap in the traffic. Thankfully the remainder of the drive was uneventful and soon enough I arrived at Charlie's, or home as it had become, sliding the car into the garage.

Letting out a tired sigh I turned off the car and got out, grabbing my bags from the trunk and heading inside, greeting Charlie on my way past as I headed upstairs, quickly unpacking, organising and repacking my bags for the next day. That done I put my phone on charge and headed back downstairs, joining Charlie in the kitchen to help prepare dinner. As we prepared, ate and cleaned up from dinner we made small talk with Charlie questioning me about my first day as well as why I was so late home, not that she minded. I explained about where I'd been as well as what had happened in my classes during the day as Charlie occasionally interrupted with questions about specific things. Eventually the conversation turned to basketball, as expected really with her being the coach and me now on the team with Charlie explaining a few things and giving me a playbook to memorise.

"By the way, I was thinking about looking for some part-time work. What do you think?" I asked just before I was about to head upstairs to read through the playbook and Charlie was settling down to do some schoolwork. She frowned for a minute, falling into thought as she considered my question. I hadn't told Charlie exactly what had happened in the past but she knew about the allowance I was getting which was maybe half of what I could expect to earn from a job. Since I would be getting gym sessions at school for basketball as well as practice three times a week I had some spare time and figured I may as well work if I could.

"Well I think it's a good idea, even if you've got some inheritance waiting for you it'd definitely be a benefit to work some and get a taste for adult life." Charlie said after a moment, nodding slowly before looking up and frowning a little.

"That said, you've got to keep your grades up. If you get a job it'll cut down on your time for homework and study." I nodded as she spoke. It was a good point and something that I'd already considered but didn't have a definite answer for, although I didn't think it'd that I'd be too pressed for time.

"Here's what I think." Charlie spoke up again after thinking a bit more. "Get through this week. By this time on Sunday you should have a fairly good idea what your classes are like as well as how much homework you're likely to have. If you still think that you can handle part-time work after that then I say go for it." She finished and I nodded and agreed, thanking her for the advice. It certainly seemed like a sound plan as I headed upstairs, making sure I had an alarm set before settling down to begin reading through the playbook. It was an interesting read but I knew I'd never really memorise them until I did it myself on the court. A hour or two later I felt my eyes start drooping and decided to head to bed, heading into the bathroom to get ready to sleep which included a quick shower. 'One down.' I thought to myself as I got into bed and shut my eyes, thinking that for a first day in a new school it couldn't have gone any better.

A/N: Hey all. Enjoy the chapter? I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for the support you guys are showing. I promise I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. FYI I've got extra shifts at the moment and I'm a little sick so maybe no bonus chapters for a while but I'll do my best.