Chapter 2 2

When he got home, the first thing Xander did was mow the lawn. He cut the grass, used the weed whacker to clean things up and edged, and then got out the leaf blower and cleaned up all the hard surfaces. He made sure to be finished before his dad got home.

By the time he wrapped up and put the equipment away, Xander was a worn-out, sweaty mess, and a little worried about being in such poor shape. He showered, changed, and headed downstairs for dinner.

His parents asked him and his sister about their first day at school. Izzy excitedly spent three-quarters of the meal regaling them with everything that had happened to her. Finally, his mom put a stop to the stories.

"Let's give your brother a chance. What about your day?"

She'd caught Xander with his mouth full, so he quickly finished chewing before filling them in.

"Fine."

"Nothing out of the ordinary?" Mom prodded.

"Nope, just your typical first day. I got my books, and we sat around and did a bunch of nothing," Xander said, vastly expanding on his day's details.

"What about the girl you sat with on the bus?" Izzy asked, sticking her nose in and stirring things up.

"I sat next to Karen. I think I surprised her with that."

'She might be an actual Karen,' he thought, but left unsaid.

"Not her, your new girlfriend."

Xander realized the error of his ways. He should've offed his little sister much sooner because her questions piqued his parents' interest.

"Do we need to have the talk?" his dad asked.

"Anything but that," Xander mumbled.

"What was that?" his dad asked, suddenly getting pissed.

"Izzy misspoke; I'm not dating anyone. I'm much too young and unsure how a talk would help me. For that matter, I'm not even sure why I would want a girlfriend," Xander rambled.

His dad looked at his mom, who shrugged in response.

"Who was your new friend on the bus?" Xander asked Izzy to distract his little sister.

"Oh, that was..." Izzy said and took off on another tangent.

His dad glared at Xander. Xander suspected that wasn't the last he would hear about 'the talk.'

Safely in his room, Xander set about getting organized. In his previous life, he'd run large projects, and that mode kicked in. He needed to take stock of what he had to work with, but before that, he had to clean his room.

In his younger years, Xander had thrived on chaos, but now he realized he'd let it go too far. The question was whether, if asked, he could find anything in this mess. Was it fair to call it organized chaos? Maybe not.

They'd only lived there for a few weeks, and he already had piles of clothes on the floor and stuff strewn everywhere. Xander's old self was embarrassed by the mess he faced. For once, Xander thought his older self was completely correct: he couldn't live in a pigsty of a room.

Their mom kept a laundry basket in the bathroom, and if Izzy or Xander wanted her to do their laundry, it had to go there. As he filled it, he'd put the clothes he'd worn to mow the lawn on top, and they stank. He couldn't stand the stench, so he hauled the basket downstairs and put a load in the washing machine.

Then he ran back upstairs and refilled the basket. When he came down, he found his mom in the laundry room with the washer lid open, looking confused.

"What's wrong?" Xander asked.

"Did your father put his load in?"

That made Xander realize that the first time around, he'd never done a load of laundry until he went to college. He'd learned a valuable lesson when all his whites turned pink.

"No, I did it," Xander said.

She quickly shut off the washing machine.

"Did you sort the clothes?" Mom asked.

"I read the instructions on the bottle," Xander said, pointing at the detergent.

She grabbed it, and thankfully, it gave basic instructions. He'd told a little white lie, hoping it would get him off the hook because he was supposed to have no idea how to do his laundry.

His mom didn't believe he knew what he was doing, so she pulled out his first load and dumped it into the laundry sink. She made about a buck and a quarter by emptying his pockets, something he automatically did as an adult. She also found candy wrappers and a pack of gum.

It made him realize that was how his mom had figured out he'd had sex his junior year: it must have been the condom wrapper he'd stuffed into his jeans. He'd been a complete dumbass his first time through.

"Sorry, Mom. I should have come and got you, but I didn't want to burden you with doing all this," Xander said.

His mom gave him a curious look but didn't say anything.

"Just bring it all down, and I'll do it," Mom said.

"If you show me, I can help," Xander said.

His mom showed him the basics but made him promise to come get her when he started the next load so she could supervise.

Once he'd picked up all the junk from his bedroom floor, Xander swept and mopped. He was a bit grossed out when he found a bunch of crusty tissues stuffed between the wall and his bed. Mother Nature had worked her magic, and Xander had learned the joys of self-pleasure.

Seeing that made him strip his bed because he was sure it needed it.

After he remade his bed with fresh sheets, Xander wiped down all the surfaces. Once he finished, he gazed around his bedroom; Xander doubted the room had ever been that clean from the time they moved in until he left for college.

He then pulled out a pad of paper to start a list. First, he had no money to speak of that he could call his own, except for the change in his piggy bank. That limited his possibilities. A good project manager always secures the funds needed before almost anything else. He wrote on his list: 'Earn Money.'

Then Xander stripped down and stood naked in front of his bedroom mirror so he could make an honest assessment of his body. He saw a scrawny, thirteen-year-old boy, five feet four inches tall and 108 pounds.

Xander remembered he'd grown six inches during the last year of middle school, making him five-ten when he started his freshman year of high school. But he was disappointed that he still weighed only about 110 pounds then. He'd been the definition of a string bean.

Xander looked down and observed a couple of stray wisps of hair coming in; apparently, he hadn't yet fully developed down there. He realized his equipment would mature along with his growth spurt, so he didn't worry about its current state. Besides, based on the tissues, everything seemed to be in working order.

During high school, Xander played football and started on the varsity squad in his junior year-one of only four juniors to do that. So he expected he would quickly add muscle to his frame during his freshman and sophomore years.

He'd enjoyed working out in high school. Still, if his performance mowing the lawn was any indication, Xander should start some kind of exercise program. If for no other reason than not to be a skinny freshman who might get blown over in a strong wind. He added 'Work Out' to his list.

Xander dressed, pulled out all his textbooks, and skimmed through them, confirming the old saying that you'd never use most of the stuff. His old self had to scratch his head at the majority of it. He'd obviously learned it well enough to pass, but sixty years into the future, much of it made no sense. At least now, Xander recognized what it would take to survive in college. He needed to establish good habits before he wasted all those years, as he'd done in his past life. He added 'Study' to his list.

The last item on the list was the most obvious. It was why Xander wished to relive his life, to be more confident, and not to be his own worst enemy. He wrote 'Face My Fears' on his list.

For now, that seemed like enough to keep him busy. Xander realized his list was only a starting point, and he would add to it over time.

He trotted downstairs to put the next load in and saw his mom had already done it. Xander made another pile consisting of his sheets and stray towels he'd found. He then strolled into the den to watch TV with his parents. Xander wanted to be sure he would be the one to put the sheets into the washing machine. His mom probably recognized the mystery stains, but no one else should have to deal with that.

Once his laundry was done, his mom helped him bring it all upstairs. When she walked into his room, she stopped.

"What happened in here?"

Xander expected she was probably shocked to see the floor.

"Like I said, I'm making changes. I hope it's okay."

"Yes, it's okay. I had just stopped fighting with you about cleaning your room. I never imagined I'd see the day it looked like this."

"It won't always be this clean, but I'm tired of living in a mess," Xander said.

"I'm not going to make a big deal out of this," Mom said, sounding more like she was talking to herself than to Xander. "I'll only say I approve."

"Thanks. And thanks for your help with my laundry. Next, I might even make dinner."

His mom was funny. She clutched her chest like someone having a heart attack.

"When I see it, I'll believe it," she said with a wink.

He knew she'd never allow him to cook without her supervision. Something he admired about his mom was that she was a hard worker. Her father was also a contractor, and she came from a family of four kids, including an older sister, a younger one, and a brother, the youngest. As a girl, Mom was the family's tomboy and her daddy's little helper.

His mom had actually painted the inside of their house, another example of his dad being cheap.

The only problem was that Mom didn't respect boundaries. During high school, a rumor started that the girl Xander had recently broken up with was pregnant. She'd dumped Xander to date her ex, who was a couple of years older. Ultimately, she had the baby, and the two of them got married.

Xander's mother showed up at the girl's family's front door and wanted to discuss Xander's responsibilities in the matter. Thankfully, he hadn't been part of the conversation. However, he still shuddered at the audacity of his mother doing that.

They said their good-nights.

Xander put away his laundry. It took longer than expected because his teen self had simply shoved stuff into the dresser. He pulled everything out and put it back into drawers that made sense: e.g., socks together and t-shirts in their own drawer.

While he was at it, he sorted out all the stuff he would never wear, had outgrown, or had worn out. Xander would give it all to his mom to donate. He imagined his poor sister would be a recipient of some of his castoffs. His mom had to be careful about what she spent money on because she didn't want to face his father's wrath.

The next day, on the school bus, Brian, the perv, made a little leer and patted the empty seat next to him when Izzy got on. Xander nudged her past him and took the seat.

"Why'd you do that?" Brian complained.

"I know you get hard for little girls, but she's my sister. If you do anything, and I mean anything to her, I'll chop your dick off and feed it to you," Xander said calmly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just trying to be friendly," Brian whined.

"Can it. Everyone has warned me about what a weird fuck you are. Just remember what I said," Xander said, then got up and walked back to sit next to Karen.

Yep, it was a total fabrication, but Brian had no idea whether people talked about him. Xander knew most high school boys had confidence issues, and hearing that others thought you were a 'weird fuck' would be a tad unsettling.

Xander figured one of two things would happen soon. One was that Brian would cave and leave Izzy alone, which Xander suspected would be the case. If Brian really was a pedophile, there were plenty of innocent girls who didn't have a threatening older brother.

The second scenario would involve a confrontation. Brian assumed that because he was older and bigger, he could kick the shit out of Xander. While that might be true of his old self, Xander had 'old man' knowledge. Not that he claimed to be some kind of secret ninja; far from it. It was just that old men didn't fight fair, and they fought for keeps.

Most school fights between boys like Brian and Xander devolved into posturing, shoving, and the like. An old man knew he had zero stamina and, in a real fight, would get annihilated. An old man's only option was to strike first and end it as soon as possible. Brian would learn his lesson, even if he outweighed Xander by at least fifty pounds and was two years older.

Brian must have glared at Xander as he walked back because Karen asked, "What's Brian's problem?"

Xander sighed. It looked like there would be a fight, so he decided to head that off.

"He was perving on my little sister, so I set him straight," Xander said.

"He's in high school, and your sister's in grade school! You're joking, right?!" Karen asked, getting indignant.

Xander was evil. A characteristic of 'Karens' is their hatred of injustice, to the point that they act irrationally. If they perceived something as being wrong, even if they were batshit crazy and totally off base, they would launch into a fight for justice.

Karen all but pushed Xander out of his seat so she could waddle up to where Brian sat and give him a piece of her mind. And she did it in front of the entire bus, loud enough that no one had to strain to hear her rant about what a filthy scumbag Brian Miller was.

Xander innocently took his seat and bit his tongue to keep from laughing. When he saw the look of horror on Brian's face, Xander almost felt bad for him. Almost. The entire bus sat in wide-eyed silence as Karen tore into his ass.

Her rant lasted until they reached the middle/high school drop-off point. The schools were next to each other, so the few high schoolers who rode the bus had to walk half a block to their school.

Brian bolted from his seat to get off first. Karen followed him off the bus, screaming at him the whole time. Once they were off, it took a beat for everybody to realize what had happened. Pandemonium erupted as everyone rushed off to spread the gossip.

Xander just sat and watched it happen. He was surprised when Izzy sat down next to him.

"Thank you. Now you need to get off, or you'll have to walk back from the grade school."

It was only ten blocks away, but he'd be late for homeroom if he didn't get off.

"I have your back," Xander said, then got up and rushed off before the bus left for its last stop.

Tim, Brian's younger brother, found Xander at his locker.

"What was that all about?"

Xander's grandfather had decided to build several houses around the lake that the cold spring had created, and the first one in the planned subdivision would be the Millers'. Tim and his family would move in around the first of the year, and Tim would become a friend. So Xander didn't want to alienate Tim just because he didn't trust his brother.

"I just told Karen what Brian did with my sister. I think she read more into it than necessary," Xander said.

"That's Karen, but I can't say she was wrong. My dad put parental controls on our home PC. I heard my parents talking, and Brian's browser history was a bit disturbing. Those were my mom's words, not mine-I never got a chance to see what he was watching," Tim said.

That made Xander feel a bit better, knowing his instincts about Brian were correct. If he'd not experienced Brian exposing himself in the first go-around, Xander might not have thought anything of Brian offering Izzy a seat. But the little leer and patting of the seat felt wrong.

"I might have put a bug in her ear," Xander said to come clean.

He did feel guilty about provoking Karen because he knew exactly what she would do. It might have been cleaner to have had the fight. That way, it stayed between the two of them. Now everyone would be talking about Brian.

Before he died, teenagers had been committing suicide at an alarming rate. He'd read somewhere that sixty percent of teen girls had suicidal thoughts at some point.

While Xander's goal was to stop Brian from abusing his sister-and avoid getting his ass kicked-if Brian hurt himself, Xander would never get over it.

"You might want to talk to your parents and let them know. If Brian gets too upset, who knows what he might do? It might be best to get him someone to talk to," Xander said.

"Fuck him," Tim said with more venom than Xander expected.

Xander wanted to dig into that, but the bell rang. He and Tim gave each other a bro nod and headed off to class.

Xander was one of the first to arrive at lunch, so he chose a prime table. Pam spotted him when she entered the lunchroom and got in line. Once she had her food, she joined him.

"I finally have you all to myself," Xander said, waggling his eyebrows.

Kelly heard him as she sat down.

"Sorry to rain on your parade."

Xander gave a dramatic sigh.

"What am I ever going to do with two women?"

"The same you would do with one ... nothing," Pam said haughtily.

"It's okay, Xander," Kelly said. "If you're a good boy, I'll let you carry my books to class as a reward."

"At least it won't be as bad as the poor guys who carry their girl's purses at the mall," Pam said to pile on.

It didn't take long before the best-looking girls in their middle school came to take the remaining empty seats. They weren't aware that Xander had invited Pam to lunch, so they all looked at him curiously. Pam and Kelly were a bit taken aback when Xander didn't squirm in his seat like an ordinary boy.

"Ladies," Xander said with a smile. "Your joining me for lunch is the new guy's dream come true. Now every girl at our school will wonder what I've got that made you all join me."

Barb Grimes, a lanky brunette, looked him over.

"You're not unfortunate-looking. I guess I can be seen in your company."

Peggy Wallace, who looked like a tomboy, rolled her eyes.

"No one is ever good enough for you," she told Barb. "I think he's cute. What's your name, cutie?"

"Xander Thornwood."

Stacy Vale, who had big brown eyes, smiled.

"Tell us all about yourself."

Pam gave Stacy a predatory look.

"Back off. He asked me to lunch."

"When did this happen?" Kelly asked.

"You skipped the bus, so I sat with him."

All the girls looked back and forth at the two of them.

"Say what?" Kelly asked.

"I'll speak slowly. I ... asked ... Pam ... to ... lunch," Xander said. "Did you understand all the words?"

Barb burst out laughing, causing Kelly's face to turn an interesting shade of pink.

"I leave you alone for one bus ride, and this happens. We even talked on the phone last night, and you didn't mention this little development," Kelly ranted.

"It was worth seeing your face right now," Pam said. "It's not like we're dating or anything. We're just getting to know each other."

"I say we adopt him into our group. We need someone who can tell us what guys are really thinking," Stacy said.

"Slow your roll," Xander said. "I'm not your innocent gay guy who you can take shopping."

"I'd hope not. We want a real guy to talk to," Peggy said.

All the girls turned to look at Peggy. Finally, Kelly asked, "Since when have you liked boys?"

"I've always liked boys; I just never met one who wasn't intimidated by all of you. We've only had dumb jocks brave enough to try to sit with us. They all ran away with their tails between their legs. This one has some backbone."

"Speaking of bones," Barb said with an evil smirk.

"Back off, Barb. I get first shot," Pam said.

"What are you doing after school? Is either of your parents home? I could get off at your stop," Xander said with a big smile as he acted overexcited.

"You walked into that one, Pam," Kelly said as the girls laughed.

When he'd come back, Xander hadn't expected he would become the center of attention. People he hadn't even met yet said hello and smiled. Sitting with the 'Princesses,' as Xander learned they were called, had suddenly pushed him into the limelight. He wasn't sure that was a positive.

When he got to the bus stop, Brian was waiting for him. As Xander slowly walked toward him, Karen appeared and became a 'Karen' again, beginning to berate Brian.

"Shut your mouth, you fat bitch!" Brian said and backhanded her.

Xander was sure every person there secretly cheered Brian on because who hadn't wanted to exact a similar form of justice on the 'Karens' of the world? But not on his watch!

In his previous go-around, Xander had doubled as a punter. Like riding a bike, the mechanics of punting a ball came back to him. He took two quick steps and figuratively kicked two balls forty yards down the field. Brian's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the sidewalk. The two bus monitors-aka teachers who drew the short straw that day-rushed to check on Karen and Brian.

In the ensuing chaos, Xander's bus pulled up, and he got on. Everyone was out of their seats with their faces plastered against the window to see what had happened.

Karen was in full meltdown mode, pointing to her red cheek as the bus pulled away from the curb.

'Yep. You don't mess with an old man,' Xander thought as he settled into his seat.

When he got home, Xander changed into gym shorts and an old t-shirt. After his hospital stay in his first time around, he'd regained his strength by doing isometric exercises. His doctor had suggested that type of rehab because he wasn't in good enough shape to do isotonic exercises. Those involve pushing, pulling, or lifting, such as bicep curls, squats, and pull-ups.

The isometrics had helped him rehab. He did five exercises: planks, dead hangs, isometric bicep curls, glute bridges, and wall squats.

When you're old, those could be challenging. Xander was just starting to get into shape, and he thought this would be a good way to begin.

Xander got down on his hands and knees on the floor for the plank. He extended both legs straight out behind him so his body was straight. The goal was to hold that position for 30 seconds or more. When he felt the strain, Xander would rest for a moment and then do it again.

Next, he did the dead hang. He didn't have a pull-up bar, so he reached up, grasped the top of his bedroom door, and hung there.

The isometric bicep curls required dumbbells. Instead, Xander grabbed his two largest books and curled them toward his shoulders. The goal was to stop halfway with his elbows bent at a 90-degree angle and hold there.

The glute bridge had him lie on his back with his feet on the floor. He then lifted his pelvis off the ground and held it in place.

The wall squats required him to lean against the wall for support. He slid down until he was in what looked like a seated position with his knees bent at a 90-degree angle, then held that position.

None of that sounded too challenging, but Xander could feel it when he finished. Once he could easily do those, he would be ready to do 'real' exercises.

After dinner, Xander helped his mom put the dishes in the dishwasher. He glanced around to make sure his dad was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Mom, I need to make money."

His mom looked around, too. Knowing his dad, if he found out Xander had any extra cash, Wayne would confiscate it.

What confused Xander was that, though his dad was an absolute miser, if he decided to buy something, he would do it without consulting Xander's mom. His most recent acquisition was a pop-up camper.

Xander cringed when he saw it because he knew what came next: they would be spending their weekends out in the great wild. Xander loved the outdoors, but camping with his dad was always stressful. Once he went to college, Xander firmly believed that the Holiday Inn Express was the closest thing to camping he ever planned to do again. He dreaded what was to come.

"What do you need money for?" Mom asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I would start by just saving some money. Maybe you can open a savings account for me where I can deposit it."

"Give me some examples," Mom pressed.

"Someday, I'll want to buy a car. I might also want to take a young lady out on a date. Another example is I'll need cash if I plan to buy drugs."

His mom was used to his quips and ignored that last one. She knew his dad would never pay for a car, even though, after his parents divorced, his dad promised to buy him a car when Xander graduated from college.

The kicker was that at his graduation party, a new pickup truck with a bow on it was parked in the drive. It was for his cousin, and there wasn't one for him. He had to smile and act like he was having a good time, while vowing never to believe his dad again.

"Girls, huh?"

"I know. It's supposed to be that everything is equal, but I've read some blogs, and it seems that girls believe the guy should pay for a date."

"Someday, you'll understand why they have that power," Mom said.

Xander understood full well why a guy would pay.

"Let me talk to my dad," she continued. "He might have some stuff you can do for him. He can also open the account for you. That way, your dad won't be able to get his hands on it."

His mom was a genius. His grandfather had broken ground on three houses, so there might be something Xander could do after school and on weekends at the job sites. Having them within walking distance was a bonus.