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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
Contains mature content

The Cockney Canuck - 51. Chapter 51 Two Sides of Nicola

I could feel my mood changing the moment that I stepped out of the cab and onto the driveway of the house that I was still struggling to think of as home. After our talk with Nathan’s parents, I had been treated well to the point of being spoilt, and I rather enjoyed playing the role of boyfriend. His mom and dad seemed to like me, and his sister had definitely taken a shine to me; smothering me in the same way that she did Nathan, which oddly enough, I quite liked. I knew however that when I returned home, the shields would have to come back down and I would need to go back to the Robbie of old.

As I opened the front door, I could hear Nicola shouting at Daniel. That wasn’t unusual and I tried to block it out as I bypassed the pair of them to get to the stairs.

“Mom, Robbie’s home,” said Nicola, and I stopped on the first stair, expecting to be summoned into the kitchen.

“Hi honey,” said Sue, “can I have a word please, before you disappear?” I sighed and begrudgingly turned around and made my way into the dining room where she was sitting at the table. She looked and sounded cheerful as usual, but it belied an inquisitive nature that was beginning to test my patience. I had long since run out of plausible excuses to explain my increasingly extended absences from the house, and was now relying solely on the right to remain silent. It wasn’t working and the women of the house were determined to prise some answers out of me.

“Hello,” I said, and I offered her a smile.

“Where have you been, anywhere nice?” She always sounded so pleasant when she questioned me, but I was becoming accustomed to her style and I knew that it was more than just a passing statement. She would want a meaningful answer and the truth which I wasn’t prepared to give her.

“Shopping,” I said, showing her the bags of new clothes.

“That’s nice, on your own?”

“No, with a friend from school.”

“Have you eaten, I’ve saved some dinner for you?”

“I’m not really hungry, thanks,” I said, “I did eat earlier.”

“At your friend’s house?”

“Yes; can I go now, I wanna try on these clothes?”

“What did you buy?” asked Nicola, she had been listening of course, and had come over to try and peek into my bags. I pulled them away from her prying eyes, which brought a curt response. “I only wanted to see, geez, you are such a jerk sometimes.”

“I bought myself some new shorts and a top,” I said, pulling the shirt from the bag. It was a timber shirt that Nathan had picked out for me. “Happy now?”

“That’s nice, did your girlfriend choose that?” asked Nicola.

“What girlfriend?”

“Robbie, I don’t believe you chose that yourself, it’s way too stylish for your taste.”

“Don’t be bitchy Nicola,” said Sue, but I was prepared to ignore her. She was right anyway; I probably wouldn’t have bought it, if it hadn’t of been for Nathan. “Robbie, before you go.”

“Yes.”

“You know that you can invite your new friend over here anytime you want,” said Sue. “I would like to meet her one day.”

“It’s not what you think,” I said, “I haven’t got a girlfriend, it’s just a friend that’s all.”

“A boyfriend then?” said Nicola, but I knew that she was clutching at straws; if she had known anything, it would have been all over town by now.

“You could say that.” I paused to see what kind of reaction I would get, but neither of them took the bait. “He’s a friend and he’s also a boy,” I finished.

“Who is it then?” asked Nicola, “at school, the only guys you sit with at lunch are Rory, Nathan or David.”

“What is it with all the questions,” I said, “why can’t everyone just leave me alone? I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ve been coming home every day on time, I haven’t drunk any alcohol since I was grounded, I’ve been helping out around the house, and I’m trying hard not to swear!” Nicola huffed and strolled away, but Sue walked over and ruffled my hair, forcing me to duck my head away and step backwards.

“We’re not picking you, honey,” she said, “and we know that you’ve been trying hard recently. I’m proud of you for that. I just don’t understand why you need to be so secretive lately. We don’t mind you going out with friends, but we would like to know where you are.”

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, honey.”

“That means you don’t.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You might as well have.” I shook my head and walked back into the living room. “I know that you’ve been checking through my things.”

“What are talking about?” she said, following me to the stairs.

“Searching my pockets and in my drawers; what are you looking for? I already told you that I don’t do drugs.”

“Robbie, we do trust you, and I promise you that I haven’t been searching through your drawers,” she said. “I check your pockets before they go in the wash, that’s all dear. I do that with everyone’s, even my own.” She reached over to pat my arm as I stood at the top of the stairs, confused.

‘Maybe I am jumping to conclusions? What she said makes sense. All this crap is making me paranoid’.

“I’m sorry,” I said, before uncharacteristically leaning over to give her a quick hug. I don’t know why I felt compelled to do it, but it was a mistake, and I realized this the moment that I saw her studying my face. I took a step back, as her expression changed to concern.

“What happened to your face?”

‘I knew it; she doesn’t miss a fucking thing’!

“Nothing.”

“Let me see,” she said, but as she moved closer, I continued to back away.

“It’s just a rash or something.”

“Well, let me take a look at it and see.”

“No, I’m fine. It’s nothing to worry about, honestly.”

“It doesn’t look like a rash to me,” she said, as she narrowed her eyes to study my still sore chin. “Have you been fighting again?”

‘What does she mean fighting again’?

“No! Look it’s nothing okay.” I was relieved when she didn’t follow me any further, but she stood her ground at the top of the stairs so that I had to pass her critical eye, in order to get to the relative safety of the bedroom.

When I entered the room, Daniel was at his computer, staring at the Google homepage. He looked a little hot and flustered as he greeted me, but I resisted the temptation to comment on what it looked like he had been doing before I interrupted. I had been around the internet long enough to know that he had closed down the site that he was visiting the moment he heard the door open, but it made me wonder how he had managed to bypass Don’s ridiculously over-protective parental locks. I had tried on a number of occasions to surf the darker side, but there was probably more chance of me hacking into the Pentagon than snatching a quick perve at some hot guy’s willy.

As Daniel shut down his computer and went to take a shower, I actually felt a little guilty for ruining his bit of boy fun. If I had known what he was up to, then I would have waited upstairs for a while to give him some time, instead of forcing him into the shower to finish off his routine. I still thought of it as his room and it still was. It was his posters that were on the walls; I didn’t even like ice hockey, let alone the Maple Leafs, and I didn’t care much for Oasis either, even if they were English. It was his CD’s, books, and photographs on the shelves, and his gadgets and games everywhere I looked. Even the floor was covered in his discarded clothing, which was difficult for me to bear, but I still felt like a guest in his room. Like a never-ending sleepover.

* * * * *

“I like your glasses, are they real?” I said, studying the computer screen. The image wasn’t the best quality and the picture kept freezing but I could hear his voice crystal clear.

“Yeah, I have to wear them, but at least I can see properly now.”

“I didn’t know you had bad eyes, but you look kinda…good in them.” I nearly tripped up and said sexy, but that was the truth. Five months after I had left England and as far as I was concerned, Tom still looked as hot as ever. His new designer frames made him appear a little older than his fifteen years and a lot more sensible than I knew him to be, but that cheeky sparkle had returned to his piercing eyes and when he smiled at me, it was as if I had never left.

It had been a few weeks since we had last talked on Skype, and it pleased me to see him back to his glorious best. He looked happy again and full of life after the dip that he seemed to go through following my enforced departure. Despite having little choice in the matter, I still felt guilty for leaving him and making him suffer, even though he always refused to admit it. The chirpy Tom that I was speaking to that Sunday morning had gone back to being the boy who I fell in love with in England, and it was easy to see why.

“So why did you split up with your girlfriend?”

“We just weren’t compatible,” I said, but I knew that he wouldn’t buy into such an outrageous lie, even if it was true in a sense.

“Bollocks,” he said, “it’s because she doesn’t have a dick.” His statement made me laugh; he knew me so well. “I knew it wouldn’t last, I can’t even imagine you with a girlfriend.”

“This is why I always make sure that I’m alone before I call you,” I said. “I share a room remember?”

“Oh yeah, sorry,” he said, “how is your sexy new brother anyway? Anything juicy to report on that front?”

“No, of course not, what do you take me for?”

“Just asking…I thought you might be sharing a bed or something by now.”

“You’re a dickhead,” I said, as he laughed. “I have my own bed.”

“That didn’t stop you from jumping in mine every night.”

“That was different,” I said, “I was sleeping on the bloody floor and it was freezing, and anyway, it was you who asked me, remember?” He laughed, but unlike the Tom of a few months ago, he didn’t try to deny our little secret, and that pleased me. “So what about you, what have you been up to lately?”

“I have a girlfriend,” he said, a little bashfully but with a smile. It was good news and something that I had wanted to hear, but it still hurt me inside when he said it, and it may have even shown on my face. I had been expecting it for some time, Tom was a nice-looking boy with a great personality and many of the girls in school considered him a good catch. For his own well-being, I wanted to be happy for him, but the sudden feeling of resentment took me completely by surprise and for a few seconds I struggled to portray any joy at his statement. Once again, I was consumed by guilt as I noticed his own cheerful expression quickly fade into concern. I knew that I had no right to feel bad about him finding somebody else to spend his time with, but it didn’t make it any easier, and I couldn’t understand why.

‘Am I jealous after all this time, do I still have those kinds of feelings for him? How can I feel bad about him being with someone else when I’m doing the same thing? And I love Nathan, I know I do’.

“Her name is Jennifer,” he continued, although he seemed a little less enthusiastic now. “I don’t think that you know her, she’s new in school.”

“Is she nice looking?”

‘What a stupid question to ask, I don’t even want to know what she looks like’.

“Of course, you dick, do you think that I’d go out with a dog?”

“Well, I’m happy that you met somebody…a girl I mean. So you finally gave in to the opposite sex huh?”

He looked me in the eyes and gave me a warm smile that could still have melted my heart had we not been three and a half thousand miles apart. “I’ve had girlfriends before you know? But yeah, it was always gonna happen one day.”

“She’s a lucky girl,” I said, “I’m gonna want to meet her, you know? On Skype.” He had said the same thing to me when I told him about Fran, but I never gave him the opportunity and I hoped that I wouldn’t get one either.

“You will don’t worry mate. I’ll call you next time she comes over.”

‘Next time she comes over. Does that mean she’s stay’s over, is he screwing her already? No way would his parents allow that’.

I wanted to ask him, but I couldn’t think of a polite way of doing it. Perhaps this was an indication of how distant we had become. In the past, I wouldn’t have hesitated to grill him for some tasty gossip.

“So what really happened with that girl you were seeing then?” he asked.

Before I called him, I had been toying with the idea of telling him about Nathan, but decided against it at the last moment for fear of hurting his feelings. There was no longer any reason to withhold this from him, so I smiled and decided to come clean.

“You were right,” I said, “she didn’t have a dick.”

He laughed. “So did you meet someone who does, or are you still looking?”

“Yeah, I met somebody.”

“Wow, that’s cool. Is he nice? Wait, forget I said that, of course he’s nice. I’m really happy for you mate…honestly. You weren’t cut out to be straight.”

“I tried,” I said, “I gave it my best shot, but I dunno…Fran was a nice girl…but you know.”

“Did you like…do anything with her?”

“Yes of course.”

“But you didn’t like it?”

“I liked it but…well, girls are okay you know, but they’re not like the real thing.” It made him laugh and I joined him, but despite his better mood we never really managed to relax and find the same comfort level that we once shared. We had been inseparable for years, but we were now quickly growing apart and we both knew it. Our frequent and uncomfortable silences provided yet more proof of this, and in the end, I think that we were both looking for excuses to end our conversation.

When we did hang-up, I shut down the computer and sat back in the chair for a couple of minutes to remember all the good times we had. It made me a little weepy, but at least I didn’t cry. Those goodbyes were becoming a lot easier to handle after five months, but it was clear to me that there was still a part of Tom in my heart that probably would never go away, and I didn’t want it to either.

* * * * *

I was always under the impression that Nicola didn’t like me. Even the day that I arrived she had seemed a little offish, and I had been unsure about how to take her. Maybe she saw me as a threat to her dominance in the house. As the eldest kid, she usually got her own way, and Daniel and Amy would generally allow her to boss them around without complaining too much. Before arriving in Canada, I wasn’t used to having a bossy big sister telling me what to do, or anyone telling me what to do for that matter. It was hardly surprising therefore that we would clash and as we both had that stubborn streak that ran through the family, arguments I suppose were inevitable.

I knew that brothers and sisters argued with each other even in the most harmonious of families, and I had always expected my sudden arrival in the family to cause a certain amount of friction. In the beginning, it was Daniel who I was most concerned about. After the novelty wore off, I was sure that he would begrudge giving up half of his room to me and all of his privacy. He was a good-natured boy, but there would have been times when I pissed him off, and our ages were too close not to have the occasional row. Instead, it was Nicola who had become my main adversary within the family and we had had several quite verbal disagreements that were left simmering before we both went for each other that Sunday afternoon.

It was my job to clear the table after dinner and put everything in the dishwasher, while Daniel made tea for everyone. Nicola would help Sue prepare the meal and lay the table. Her job was over the moment dinner was served and after eating; she would disappear downstairs to watch television, leaving me to clear up.

I had left my phone in the bedroom but I could hear my distinctive ring tone from the kitchen and I made my way downstairs to retrieve it. I knew who it would probably be, but I was in no rush to answer. If it was Nathan, then he would allow it to ring three times and hang up, then I would call him back in a few minutes from the relative safety of the garden. That was the new plan that we had agreed upon to counter any attempts by the members of my family to unearth my increasingly suspicious activity. I had also changed his name on my phone to Adam, which was Nathan’s middle name, and it was a decision that paid off immediately, as I heard Nicola answering my phone within the allotted three rings. He must have hung up the moment that he heard her voice, but I wasn’t happy about her blatant incursion into my private life and I scowled at her as I snatched the phone away.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I demanded, “don’t answer my phone.”

“Fuck you,” she said, quiet enough for only me to hear her. “I was doing you a favour, what’s the big secret anyway?”

“You wasn’t doing me a favour; you were being nosey.”

“Well, whoever Adam is, hung up when he heard my voice, so your little secret’s still safe.”

“It’s not a secret.”

“Yeah right, that’s why he hung up, dickhead. You must think I’m stupid. What are you going to do now, go into the garden and call him back, or call her back, more like it.”

Nothing hurts quite like the truth and Nicola had the ability to rile me like nobody else. She had, of course, got it pretty much spot on, all except for the sex and identity of the mystery person. Only a few hours previous to this, I had been congratulating myself for outsmarting them, but in hindsight, I suppose it must have been quite obvious what I was up to and my reaction would only have confirmed it.

“Fuck off, you know nothing about me!”

“Who is it that you’re fooling around with, that you’re so scared of anyone finding out about? Is it a teacher, Mrs Reigor?” She laughed to mock me, but her tone was serious and her expression was filled with hatred.

“Yeah right,” I said, sarcastically. Mrs Reigor was close to retirement age.

“Was it Adam, who you went shopping with yesterday?”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Why be so secretive?”

“Because unlike you, I don’t want my life broadcast to everyone. I don’t need to be fucking popular all the time.” It was a fairly hefty blow to her self-esteem and one that I had been saving up for just such an encounter. It had her rocking, but she retaliated with some heavy artillery of her own that I wasn’t expecting.

“I know about you Robbie,” she hissed, “I know your dirty little secret.”

“YOU DON’T KNOW FUCK!”

“Wanna bet, DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY IT OUT LOUD?” Her shouting got Sue’s attention, who yelled at us from the top of the stairs, but I ignored her as the red mist descended.

“SAY WHAT? You’re just trying to cause trouble for me. If you want to tell tales then go ahead and tell them, see if I care.”

“You’ll be sorry,” she said, through gritted teeth.

“You two stop it please,” said Sue, but once again her pleas fell on death ears.

“Don’t make me laugh,” I said, “I’m not scared of you.” I was certain that I could see steam coming from her ears, as she narrowed her eyes at me, and clenched her fists. It looked as if she was about to lose it and my instincts told me to back off, but the devil in me told me to push her even further. “You’re a fucking bitch.”

“Don’t push your luck,” she sneered as she put her face up to mine.

“I don’t have any luck to push,” I said.

“Oh, you poor little boy. Let’s all feel sorry for Robbie, because he doesn't want to be here, and he’s had such a bad fucking life. Let’s all run around and do things for him. Isn’t that what you want? Everybody to feel sorry for you all the time. You treat everybody like shit, and we all have to be nice to you because you’re upset. EVERYONE IS SO FUCKING SCARED OF SAYING THE WRONG THING TO YOU, BUT NOT ME!”

“NICOLA!” It was Don, shouting from his study. “COME HERE PLEASE.”

Nicola screwed her face up at me, but I just folded my arms and smiled annoyingly at her, as she turned away to explain to her dad. “Now you’re gonna get grounded,” I said and laughed, but it was short lived.

“YOU TOO ROBBIE!”

‘Shit’!

We weren’t grounded, but we did have to stand in front of Don’s desk while he gave us a long-winded lecture about respecting each other’s opinions and learning to live with each other, plus a few other well-worn clichés. He reminded Nicola that I was, or soon would be, her adopted brother, and she would have to get used to me being around, but she just rolled her eyes. Then he turned his attention to me.

“Robbie. You know that we all think a lot of you, and we’ve all tried very hard to make you feel part of the family.” I looked over at Nicola, who standing beside me glaring. I was pretty sure that she didn’t want me there. “We’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we? I’m not making an exception for you anymore. You need to play by the same rules as everyone else. I don’t want to hear my kids using foul language around the house, and that includes you. I get the feeling that you’re trying to see how far you can push us, but the honeymoon period is officially over. I promised your mother that we would treat you the same as the others; that’s what she wanted. I know it’s been difficult for you, but sometimes I get the impression that you’re not even trying to fit in.”

“I am trying,” I mumbled, then I looked across at Nicola, who had taken my stance from earlier, smiling at me with her arms folded.

“Good, now apologise to one another and get on with whatever you’re doing. You don’t have to like each other, but you do have to live in the same house, so it would be easier for all of us if you could at least learn to be civil.” We glanced uneasily at each other, but neither wanted to apologise. “You can both stay here then until you say sorry,” he said.

“Fine…I’m sorry,” said Nicola, in a huff, without even looking at me.

I shuffled my feet and shook my head as Don stared and waited. “Sorry,” I said flicking my head only slightly towards her, before resting my eyes on the desk in front of me.

* * * * *

I managed to avoid Nicola for the rest of the day, and we didn’t speak to one another until Tuesday afternoon at school, following an incident in the main corridor. It was busy and I was walking to my final lesson of the day when I noticed a guy heading towards me. He was taller than me and looked like he was in grade twelve. I didn’t recognize him at all, but he was staring right at me as if he wanted to talk to me. I stared back at him, thinking that he would look away, but he didn’t, and as he neared, I chose to sidestep him and move out of his way. He looked as if he was angry at something or somebody, but I had no reason to believe that it was me. He kept eye contact with me until we were almost level, before veering over and pushing me hard into the lockers with his shoulder. The attack caught completely unawares and I crumpled, falling to my knees and dropping my books.

“Outta my way fag!” he said, and then laughed with his friends. I wasn’t really hurt, but I was surprised and shocked as I picked myself and my books from the floor. I had never seen this guy before, but obviously, he knew me and knew something about me that I thought was under wraps. My mind was in a spin as I stood there looking back at him, rubbing my shoulder.

“Are you okay, who is that jerk?” It was Nicola and I felt her hand on my arm as I turned to face her.

“I’m alright. I don’t know why he did that; maybe he got me mixed up with somebody else.”

“What did he say to you?”

“I dunno, he just told me to get out of his way or something. It’s not important.”

“He just attacked you for no reason, you should report this, do you want me to go with you to the office?”

“No, forget about it, really, I’m okay.”

“I’ll find out who he is,” she said, “fucking asshole.”

“Look, I don’t need your help!” She gave me a stern look and I expected her to turn on me too, but she just shook her head and went to walk away. “Nicola.” I grabbed her arm and she spun around.

“What?”

“Thank you,” I said, “I mean that.”

She huffed and walked off. “Whatever.”

‘Normal service resumed’.

As I continued my walk to class, I wasn’t sure what surprised me the most, the unforeseen attack by some brute, who I had never met, or Nicola’s reaction to it. In different circumstances, I would probably have been grateful for her help and concern for my well-being. However, this was an incident that I didn’t want to take any further. It was obvious that he knew or had heard something about me, and I didn’t want to fan the flames by asking questions or reporting the incident. I was happy to forget about it and hope that he would too.

‘He doesn’t know anything, it’s just a silly rumour. He’s probably just seen me sitting and talking to Nathan a lot and decided to have a pop at me. He’ll probably forget about me and find someone else to pick on tomorrow. That’s if Nicola doesn’t get to him first and stir things up’.

I found it ironic that even when Nicola was on my side and defending me—which was hardly ever—she was still causing me problems and making life difficult, even if it was unintentional.

If you enjoyed this chapter, then please take time to like, review, and follow the story. Your feedback and comments are always welcome and noted. Members are also invited to discuss the story and characters with others, and there is a discussion on the forum via the link below.

http://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/42134-the-cockney-canuck-by-dodger/
In the next chapter, the boys hatch a plan for a little alone time and Robbie has an embarrassing moment.

Copyright © 2017 Dodger; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

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For discussion of themes and topics. The book can be found here: https://www.gayauthors.org/story/dodger/thecockneycanuck After 47 chapters and lots of drama I think it's time this story has a discussion topic where readers can interact with the author and each other. There are certainly plenty of situations, characters and emotions to bring up, and of course most of all Robbie the Cockney Canuck. Dodger has kindly given me permission to start this thread and has promised to be part of the di
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Chapter Comments

Someone mentioned that Robbie might be misinterpreting Nicola's actions towards him.

 

It's hard to understand what possible reason Nicola might have for so clearly violating Robbie's privacy. Does she think he's into drugs or something else equally unsavory? Does she think that "Adam" is his dealer (or pimp)?

 

Why didn't Don chastise Nicola for invading Robbie's privacy?

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Because Don never asked what the reason for the fight was. He's a pompous idiot who only cares about outward behavor. That's why Nicola normally has him fooled.
I can understand Robbie's confusion about Nicola. He doesn't know that bossy older sisters live to pester you at home, but get completely protective if someone from outside the family tries to hut you. I have to be honest, this chapter doesn't make me like her any more than before, so I wish Robbie would tell Susan about Nicola snooping in his things, including answering his phone. If he did it the right way, she could be in trouble for once.

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Nicola and Robbie have been seething at each other for quite some time. Her explosion had to come sooner or later - in fact, I am rather surprised it hadn't happened already. The unfortunate thing is that the longer Robbie waits to reveal himself entirely, the longer Nicola will have to hurt him, and the more it will hurt. But it is puzzling why she would choose to defend him in school - is it that she views him as a thorn in her side, but that Robbie is her thorn? Just a thought.

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Thing is, I'm not entirely surprised she defended him at school. We know she certainly has strong opinions so in some people that translates into a strong sense of justice as well. She may pick on Robbie but she probably wouldn't stand to see him (or any member of her family) bullied when he clearly didn't deserve it. Plus, it would just be way too simple from a storytelling perspective if his bitchy older cousin was his enemy at home AND school.
That being said - girl's got issues (of course, so does Robbie but we knew that). Something clearly irritates her about Robbie's secrecy - could just be she's a Type-A personality and loves being in control. Knowledge IS power after all so something Robbie clearly wants to hide is something she very much wants to know - whatever it is. Otherwise I'm confused why she can't let it go. Her actions at school are somewhat redeeming but only in that they show people are more complicated than they first appear.
I'm a little envious of Robbie, maybe it's cause I'm an only child but I can't imagine my parents letting me get away with that much secrecy even if I had a couple of siblings haha. Then again, maybe Don and Susan don't usually allow that and that's what's pissing off Nicola, who views it as yet another special privilege that Robbie only gets probing questions when they would have demanded answers from her or Daniel.
One thing that has me wondering is could the root of this rivalry be her relationship with Robbie's mother? In the first or second chapter she tells him that they were close. Not entirely sure how it would affect things but their shared love of his mother is a connection that I haven't seen mentioned here yet.

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On 11/12/2016 08:51 AM, Israfil said:

Thing is, I'm not entirely surprised she defended him at school. We know she certainly has strong opinions so in some people that translates into a strong sense of justice as well. She may pick on Robbie but she probably wouldn't stand to see him (or any member of her family) bullied when he clearly didn't deserve it. Plus, it would just be way too simple from a storytelling perspective if his bitchy older cousin was his enemy at home AND school.

That being said - girl's got issues (of course, so does Robbie but we knew that). Something clearly irritates her about Robbie's secrecy - could just be she's a Type-A personality and loves being in control. Knowledge IS power after all so something Robbie clearly wants to hide is something she very much wants to know - whatever it is. Otherwise I'm confused why she can't let it go. Her actions at school are somewhat redeeming but only in that they show people are more complicated than they first appear.

I'm a little envious of Robbie, maybe it's cause I'm an only child but I can't imagine my parents letting me get away with that much secrecy even if I had a couple of siblings haha. Then again, maybe Don and Susan don't usually allow that and that's what's pissing off Nicola, who views it as yet another special privilege that Robbie only gets probing questions when they would have demanded answers from her or Daniel.

One thing that has me wondering is could the root of this rivalry be her relationship with Robbie's mother? In the first or second chapter she tells him that they were close. Not entirely sure how it would affect things but their shared love of his mother is a connection that I haven't seen mentioned here yet.

Thank you Israfil for your interesting review. I think that you've got a lot right here and clearly despite Don and Sue's attempts to reign Robbie in, he is still able to get away a lot more than his adopted siblings. This obviously provokes Nicola who believes that Robbie is playing the sympathy card and of course he is. However, despite what Robbie may think, she doesn't hate him and as we have seen, she is even prepared to defend him.

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On 11/12/2016 06:05 AM, Parker Owens said:

Nicola and Robbie have been seething at each other for quite some time. Her explosion had to come sooner or later - in fact, I am rather surprised it hadn't happened already. The unfortunate thing is that the longer Robbie waits to reveal himself entirely, the longer Nicola will have to hurt him, and the more it will hurt. But it is puzzling why she would choose to defend him in school - is it that she views him as a thorn in her side, but that Robbie is her thorn? Just a thought.

Thanks Parker. Yes, the argument has been on the cards for ages. Nicola has some issues with Robbie and she's not the type to suffer in silence, so conflict was inevitable. Robbie doesn't understand what he's doing wrong and fights fire with fire. Nicola's reaction in the corridor at school is an indication that she does actually care about him, even if he is a thorn in her side.

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On 11/11/2016 05:08 PM, Timothy M. said:

Because Don never asked what the reason for the fight was. He's a pompous idiot who only cares about outward behavor. That's why Nicola normally has him fooled.

I can understand Robbie's confusion about Nicola. He doesn't know that bossy older sisters live to pester you at home, but get completely protective if someone from outside the family tries to hut you. I have to be honest, this chapter doesn't make me like her any more than before, so I wish Robbie would tell Susan about Nicola snooping in his things, including answering his phone. If he did it the right way, she could be in trouble for once.

Yes Tim, I think that Robbie should be putting forward a better defense to Don and Sue, rather than try to tackle Nicola head on. Both parents could have stopped a lot of the tension by pausing their busy lives and taking the time to find out the reasons behind the friction, instead of glossing over everything and hoping for the best.

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On 11/11/2016 01:02 PM, droughtquake said:

Someone mentioned that Robbie might be misinterpreting Nicola's actions towards him.

 

It's hard to understand what possible reason Nicola might have for so clearly violating Robbie's privacy. Does she think he's into drugs or something else equally unsavory? Does she think that "Adam" is his dealer (or pimp)?

 

Why didn't Don chastise Nicola for invading Robbie's privacy?

Nicola is still irritated by what she sees as favoritism towards Robbie. She knows that he's hiding something and she's determined to find out what it is. Don and Sue are failing both of them at the moment.

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I know that from Robbie's POV Nicola is a total mole of a person, but that's just his POV. I really like her character. She's so fed up by now of Robbie getting away with murder, but that doesn't mean she's a bad person. ❤️ Let's not just put the umbrella of "bitch" over everything she's doing just because Robbie's not used to having to contend with siblings and all that jazz. So well written, again. 

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I don’t get how Don & Sue can say that they all want him as part of the family after Nicola went off like that in front of Sue as well as in hearing range of Don. Just like I believe Daniel once said, when Nicola was harassing them and walking into their room without knocking, they won’t do anything about her. She is supposedly irritated over Robbie receiving favoritism yet she clearly gets away with a lot of stuff most wouldn’t. Don is right about how in the past Robbie was trying to see how much he could get away with but now I think he’s just irritated to death with how Nicola treats him as well as gets away with treating him right under the noses of her parents so he lashes out in anger at her though this time it was mutual. I mean if nothing else most kids would get admonished for standing there grinning and gloating over the other getting in trouble yet not a word from Don. I’m not saying the foul language is appropriate but if I was used to saying it I’d react similarly when someone like Nicola pushed me that far. Honestly both Don & Sue disappoint me sometimes in their parenting style. Nicola seems....bipolar as she was upset about how Robbie was treated at school yet that’s the only time she’s shown much feeling about him besides jealously, anger, embarrassment, and worry that he would hurt her popular image. I don’t like how she shamelessly invaded his privacy and gave that lie about supposedly doing him a favor. I’m also thinking back to that moment when Robbie thought he was being paranoid when he accused Sue of looking through his stuff because they don’t trust him and wonder if Nicola has been going through his stuff.

 

In her world everything tends to center around her and sadly everyone except maybe Robbie helps contribute to that delusion ranging from her parents letting her get away with this attitude to things like how Robbie remarks that both Daniel & Amy let her boss them around without saying much. Yes fighting with your siblings isn’t right but neither is being a doormat as Daniel is old enough to stand up for himself when she pushes him around. As I said in the past even though they’d label him a petulant brat I couldn’t be adopted into this family as things stand. You’ve got parents turning a blind eye, one parent who’s homophobic while you yourself are gay so you know that will result in friction when revealed, and you’ve got a cousin who doesn’t want you as her sister as well as does everything to give the impression she hates you. The main change will be his last name when adopted as his living situation would be identical so I see more cons than pros at the moment to officially becoming a member of this family. I’d have to hold off until Nicola either treated me better or my guardians got their eyesight fixed & grew some balls. Yes Robbie isn’t helping the situation but they can’t be this ignorant to what’s going on.

Edited by NimirRaj
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I was having trouble with such word pairs as 'loaned' and 'lent', 'kneeled' and 'knelt', and so forth. So I did some research on the matter of past tense and past participle. I found, after wading through much confusion, that the difference is essentially between British and American English. Okay, I can live with that and will fold my Troll tent and steal quietly away.

I still see Nicola's antagonism as a result of the threat that Robbie is making to her position as the family Alpha. However, her inclination to defend him in school situations indicates that she very likely will begin to walk in his moccasins at some time in the future. She could become his staunchest advocate, though it might be quite some time before that happens.

Grossly superior writing, Dodger, and grammar improving all the time. You will always be British, but we may make an expert writer out of you yet. The future holds great promise.

Will H.

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On 8/11/2018 at 2:52 PM, Will Hawkins said:

I was having trouble with such word pairs as 'loaned' and 'lent', 'kneeled' and 'knelt', and so forth. So I did some research on the matter of past tense and past participle. I found, after wading through much confusion, that the difference is essentially between British and American English. Okay, I can live with that and will fold my Troll tent and steal quietly away.

I still see Nicola's antagonism as a result of the threat that Robbie is making to her position as the family Alpha. However, her inclination to defend him in school situations indicates that she very likely will begin to walk in his moccasins at some time in the future. She could become his staunchest advocate, though it might be quite some time before that happens.

Grossly superior writing, Dodger, and grammar improving all the time. You will always be British, but we may make an expert writer out of you yet. The future holds great promise.

Will H.

Thanks again, Will. I love your comments. I still get a little tangled up with American and British English. To make it even more confusing, Canada also has a number of words which are only used here and that's without the slang. 

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Despite the tense relationship Robbie and Nicola have I guess Nicola does on some level consider him family so while she has her issues with Robbie she still has that you F with someone from my family then you are F-ing with me mind set

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