Chapter 20 - Lead up to Christmas

Chapter 20 - Lead up to Christmas

I had a few things I wanted to do before Christmas, I knew it was going to be a busy time. The grandparents were going to be back visiting again.

After my revelation to my Granddad of Dads portfolio, things had been a lot better at Thanksgiving, he mellowed towards Dad, learning that he had made good money had changed his perspective on his sons abilities, I don’t know if Grandma had dropped the bombshell of my net worth while they were here last time, but I was happy that Dad was on better terms now with his father.

But that was secondary to what I was mainly up to.

I was a bit sneaky, but through Chloe I had found out the financial situation of the Burns siblings, both had an allowance, but it wasn’t an amount that allowed them much freedom, it was also dependent on them doing their chores.

My plan for Rory was based upon him having more money than he currently did, so I had been slowly probing Rory about what his interests were, how much spare time he had and finding out by others what part time jobs were available in the area.

Basically since football season had concluded, Rory was volunteering his time helping local farmers bring in their fall harvest, coupled together with his chores on the home farm, he had no time for a job.

I could have financed my plan for him to have the truck as some personal wheels by myself, but didn’t think his pride would accept that, also I didn’t feel it would be good for him if I were to always finance him even if he did agree.

What I had done was to repaint the truck so it was back to being all one color, it wasn’t the greatest paint job, just doing the minimum to make it look more presentable, if everything worked out like I wished, we might improve that in time.

I had gone over the engine, giving it a basic service, changing the filters and oil. I had left the interior completely alone, that would have cost a lot to upgrade, it would have been obvious of the cost put in if I had done it compared to the rest of the truck.

Presents for Christmas had become something of a challenge since I started having serious money, Mom and Dad had restricted the amount available to spend for Christmas presents, I had bought Mom a very expensive necklace years ago, it had cost over $5,000, whereas my presents that year hadn’t come close to $400.

Now we were only allowed to spend $80 on a single present, or up to $100 in total. This meant that we bought more fun or meaningful presents, family board games being a favorite.

This year I bought a Harley Davidson model kit for Dad. I had come across one ages ago, so I bought it in advance for him. Mom was more difficult, cheaper jewelry was alright, but I would prefer to buy more expensive pieces for her if I could.

In the end I found a really nice horse sculpture that I hope she would like. I had arranged for it to be wrapped by the shop for me, it was then put in a box so I could take it home without Mom working out if it was her present.

For Rory I had initially planned to give him the truck. But after talking it over with Mrs. Burns, she asked if I would mind them giving the truck to Rory, paying me over a few months the costs I had incurred.

I actually preferred that idea, it would then be up to them to explain to Rory the running costs of having some wheels. Though I only told them the price I had paid for the truck, not mentioning the money I had put into it since.

That was why I was trying to discover a job for Rory, his love life had continued with April, having transport of his own would improve that part of his life a lot if he could afford to run it.

I also needed to come up with another present, I had thought about getting him a cell, but that was another thing that he would have to pay for. So in the end I had actually gone for a really nice leather bomber jacket.

For Chloe I had been in a mind blank for ages until I saw a few girls admiring a bunch of friendship bracelets. After our discussion about becoming good friends, I thought that a stylish one would be perfect, I solicited Mom’s help to buy one which was pretty but not gaudy or overly expensive. Mom had agreed to wrap that one up for me, since she said that it was just as important for the wrapping to be right as the present was to be appropriate.

Don’t ask me, it was obviously a woman thing.

Once news of me being Chloe’s partner at the Halloween dance, and the incident with Gemma and Smith had made the rounds of the gossip hounds, my standing at school with the females had improved, now I wasn’t ignored like I had been before the dance.

I also had been surprised at the support the males had shown me. From what Rory had informed me, I was still seen as a dangerous person due to the fights I had won, but they appreciated me sticking up for those unable to stand up for themselves.

I wouldn’t say I was now in the popular group, no it was more like I was in a group of my own, but with two quarterbacks of the school taking time to talk to me, as well as some female attention as well, I was seen by my peers in a whole different light than at the start of the year.

End of semester exams were approaching, this was a time of intense lessons and studying time for a lot of the students, more so for the seniors than anyone else, with SAT scoring coming soon.