Chapter 5 5

When Xander entered his granddad's house to play poker, he hadn't expected to find so many people there. Three tables sat nine players each, and all the seats were full, forcing Xander to sit out until someone quit or lost all their money.

Watching poker without knowing who held what cards was boring, which was why the players' hands were shown on TV. But Xander had played enough in his last go-around that he was able to pick up some of the players' tells as he watched.

Most were businesspeople from the area, with a few cops and government types mixed in. It reminded him of some of the home games he'd played in his first time around.

As he watched, most players folded before the river. So many hands were just guesswork. Most players seemed tight, meaning they didn't risk their money unless they had a good hand. That was why the handful of more aggressive players took down most of the pots.

Xander knew that didn't mean the aggressive players would win because they tended to have more chips in each hand. All it took was for them to run into some of the tight players' winning hands to clean them out.

Finally, after nearly an hour, one of the aggressive guys lost three consecutive big pots and had to go home.

Xander took his seat and pulled out a couple hundred dollars to buy in.

"That's a lot of money, son. Do you really want to risk it?" a woman in an Arkansas Razorbacks sweatshirt asked.

She'd been taking advantage of the men because they assumed she didn't know what she was doing. He found her quite skilled and would keep an eye on her.

"My grandfather told me that if I wasn't willing to risk the buy-in, I shouldn't play. While I won't be happy if I lose it all, I want to try this," Xander said as he pulled out a sheet of paper.

"What's that?" the woman asked.

"It tells me what beats what."

That produced general chuckles around the table. This was the clear sign of a 'fish'-a player who consistently makes rookie mistakes that lead to them steadily losing. That was the type of player any seasoned poker player loved to have at the table. They all eyed his stack with dreams of taking it home.

"Is this the first time you've played a game like this?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. My grandfather said you'd all go easy on me, so I figured I would take a risk."

Grandpa Davidson called out across the room, "Remember what I told you. A flush beats a straight."

"That's when they're all the same color, right?" Xander asked.

"Suit," Grandpa Davidson reminded him.

"I keep forgetting that," Xander said.

Over the next thirty minutes, Xander misplayed a few hands to encourage his opponents. For these poker sharks, it was confirmation there was blood in the water. It didn't take long before they would all be in any hand he stayed in, to take his chips.

Xander finally had a hand when he woke up with pocket sevens, one a heart and the other a spade. In his previous go-around, he'd used a trick at the World Series of Poker called 'set mining.' It was when a small pocket pair would catch a third card on the board to give him trips. Since it was well hidden, he usually won bigger pots.

When it was Xander's turn to bet, he just called. That way, if he missed the flop-meaning cards came out higher than his sevens-and someone bet, he could fold.

When it came out, the flop was good to him: seven, king, seven. He held a nearly unbeatable hand. The best part was that two diamonds came out with it, increasing the chances that someone would get a diamond flush and consequently raise the pot.

He wasn't surprised when one of the more aggressive players raised to twenty dollars, but it did surprise him when three other players called in front of him.

Xander looked around the table with a confused expression. After glancing at his cards, he took on a stubborn visage and threw in twenty dollars. The two players behind him quickly called. There was close to a hundred and fifty dollars in the pot.

The next card was the ace of diamonds. Now, anyone with an ace or king would have two pairs (aces and sevens or kings and sevens), a hand that usually won. If someone held two diamonds, they would have a flush, beating the two-pair hands.

The aggressive player threw in fifty dollars, which meant he had something. The following two folded. Xander swallowed hard and called. The next guy called, but the last one to act went all in. His was the big stack, at nearly three hundred dollars.

The aggressive player smiled and shoved all his chips in.

Xander wanted the guy who would act after him to call, so he said, "I'm not sure what to do."

"If you're not sure, you should fold," the woman said, coaching him.

"But I have a pair," Xander said.

He hesitated and then pushed all his chips into the center. The guy behind him decided he didn't want to get involved, so he folded.

The aggressive player proudly turned over the queen and ten of diamonds for a flush. Next, the guy who went all in showed he had pocket kings, giving him a full house to take the lead. Everyone turned to Xander, who turned over quad sevens.

The dealer put out the last card, a meaningless three of clubs. He looked at the dealer as if to ask who'd won.

"Fuck me," the aggressive player groaned.

The woman who'd been looking out for Xander looked him in the eye. "You little sandbagger. I won't fall for your clueless act moving forward. But I plan to take all your chips as a lesson."

By the night's end, she'd given all her chips to Xander, but she wore a smile.

"Next month is at my house. I expect you to bring all that money with you so I get a chance to win it back."

"Yes, ma'am. That only seems fair," Xander said.

When she lost, it broke his table, the last one playing. His grandfather came over to see how he'd done. When he saw all the chips, he just shook his head. Xander had turned his two hundred dollars into nearly thirteen hundred.

He was a little irritated when his grandfather took all his money.

"This is going into the bank first thing Monday morning."

Xander bit his tongue to keep from objecting. Then he remembered his dad. His grandfather was right; it needed to go into the bank for safekeeping.

Xander had just finished his run when his phone made an irritating noise. He'd ignored it yesterday because it usually was some spam message. People loved enticing old people into forking over their life savings, so he ignored it.

Then, a chirp sounded.

"Fuck it," he mumbled and checked his messages.

There were ninety-eight, all from kids in his class. Somehow, he'd been included in a group chat, and they were discussing the dance.

John had spotted Donnie at his parents' pharmacy; he resembled a raccoon with his two black eyes. Xander chuckled because it looked like he'd broken the boy's nose.

Then the conversation turned when Pam announced Xander was her boyfriend.

Kevin used a term he expected all the kids to know, but Xander was clueless, so he ran inside to track down his little sister. He found her in her room, doing something with her tablet.

"I hate to admit this, but I have no idea what this means," Xander said as he handed her his phone.

Her eyes got big, and she burst into gales of giggles. At least she found him entertaining.

"Rizz means you've got style, charm, or allure," Izzy said with a smirk. "Rizz comes from the word charisma. Guys are said to have rizz if they can smoothly pick up women."

"Okay, so what's a Rizzmaster?"

"It means you're the best at talking to girls and getting them to ... uhm ... like you," Izzy said. "It's a big compliment."

Xander absorbed that factoid. He'd never been a ladies' man, so this was unfamiliar territory to him, but he understood how he might seem like that when his peers were thirteen and clueless. Still, if you asked any of the guys, they would tell you they'd scored already.

The funny part was that every story described some out-of-town girl who'd begged them to fuck her. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were all full of it.

"How should I respond?" Xander asked.

Izzy stared at him like he'd lost his mind.

"When did you become so clueless?"

"Pam's on this chat and just agreed to be my girlfriend. I don't want to make her mad at me."

He again got the 'my brother's crazy' look from his sister, but then she blinked and considered it for a moment.

She picked up his phone, typed a response, and hit send.

"Wait! Let me read it first!" Xander said, trying to snatch the phone out of her hand.

"Too late now. You can thank me later," Izzy said.

He read the message: 'Not sure about having rizz. I'm just lucky Pam even agreed to go out with me'

A flood of messages instantly came in.

Kelly: 'I'll be your rebound when Pam wakes up.'

Mike: 'Uncle Xander needs to give more lessons'

Jake: 'A little how-to would go a long way.'

Barb: 'You losers wouldn't know what to do with a woman.'

It devolved from there as insults ricocheted back and forth. Some of them made him laugh.

He did get a private message from Pam: 'I'll save you a seat on the bus, BOYFRIEND' with a bunch of emojis.

He showed Izzy, who squealed and covered her mouth.

She quickly sent one back with a bunch of hearts.

"I take it she sent something good?" Xander asked.

"Yep. I guess you really are the Rizzmaster, big brother. I can't wait to tell the girls at school."

Xander closed his eyes momentarily as he imagined Izzy's friends all staring at him the next time they came over.

He decided to head to the shower before his little sister got any more ideas.

On Monday morning, Xander skipped working out with the guys to ride the bus. The guys were fine with his reason: a new girlfriend. Kelly and Pam had saved Izzy and Xander's seats. Izzy was excited about sitting with the older kids. She would have a lot to tell her friends when she got to school.

"Miss me?" Pam asked as Xander sat down.

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss as a response. That put a big smile on Pam's face.

Pam prattled on about how excited she was to be the only girl with a boyfriend for the rest of the trip to school. Xander predicted that distinction wouldn't last long.

When they arrived at school, Xander got up and stepped back to allow Pam and Kelly to go ahead of him. Pam gave him a wink when she caught him checking out her butt. The old man in him did a mental shrug. Even at his age, it was okay to look.

When they got off the bus, the Princesses awaited them. Pam and Kelly stopped to tell them how Xander had kissed Pam. He entered the school to drop off his backpack and get his first class's textbook and notebook, and mentally cringed at the latter. Xander now had enough money to buy himself a decent tablet, which he was more familiar with.

He reached to close his locker just as Donnie appeared. The boy held up his hands to show he didn't want to start anything.

"I want to apologize for my remark Friday night. Looking back, I would've punched me, too."

Xander didn't recognize this version of Donnie.

That momentary pause made him realize he'd been drawing completely off the last timeline to color his opinion of his ex-best friend. While he disapproved of the way Donnie treated women and was still pissed that he'd borrowed money and not paid it back, that was a future Xander intended to change.

Xander knew he didn't want to hang out with Donnie, but he didn't need them to be arch-enemies, either. Besides, Donnie would play football, too, and their fighting would cause problems.

"I wasn't too happy with what you said, but I admit I should have found a better way to handle that. Just remember that if you do something like that again, I'll probably pop you in the mouth again," Xander said.

Donnie chuckled.

"You can try, but I'll be ready next time."

"Big talk. I think we're done here," Xander said.

"Hang on. I didn't mean that," Donnie said. "I just want to fit in, and starting a fight with you would be the quickest way for me not to make any friends."

Donnie had never been stupid. Xander sighed.

"Tell you what: I won't stop you from making friends, but I don't see us being close."

"You could introduce me to some of Pam's friends."

Xander shook his head 'no' and left it at that. If anything, he planned to warn Pam and let her spread the word about not trusting Donnie. She'd not been happy with the guy's comment Friday night. This would allow Xander to stay out of it.

"I have to get to homeroom," Xander said.

"Okay. Maybe I'll see you at lunch."

"It's a big room. I'm sure you will."

"I meant-" Donnie started to say, but his thought died on his lips.

Xander turned and headed off to class. He bit the inside of his mouth not to laugh because he couldn't remember Donnie ever being at a loss for words.

When Donnie followed him, it confused Xander for a moment. Then he remembered they shared the same homeroom.

He would have to play this carefully and not let Donnie worm his way into his life.

By the time lunch came around, rumors were swirling. Xander's friends had manned up and asked their dates to the dance to go out with them. He had to think hard to remember what dating in middle school entailed. They couldn't do too much because none of them had cars, and their parents kept too close tabs on where they went and with whom.

He did find it disturbing that he wasn't bothered by dating a thirteen-year-old. He would have to be careful not to use his foreknowledge to move their relationship along too quickly. Frankly, he was simply amazed that his high school crush considered him her boyfriend.

It made him wonder if his physical age controlled his maturity level, even though he possessed much older knowledge. For example, he busted out laughing when Karen let loose a loud fart before lunch. Yes, farts were funny, but he found himself really laughing. It was nice to discover he still had the joys only the young experienced.

He also found that something-perhaps his physical age-suppressed his urge to 'fix' things. He'd spent years being a problem solver, which spilled over into his personal life. Most women would tell you they found that one of the most irritating things a guy did. Older Xander did that in spades.

Now, he saw the kids around him making mistakes left and right, but he didn't feel the need to 'save' them. A good example was John, who claimed he'd gotten more than a kiss from Barb at the dance. Anyone with half a brain knew that even getting a kiss would've been a major feat.

Xander continued to be surprised his mom hadn't taken his head off for kissing Pam in front of her. He figured it stemmed from that 'girls' night out.' Despite being outwardly concerned, the moms secretly rooted for Xander and Pam.

But this was a lesson most guys had to learn the hard way. John's bragging soon got back to Barb. At lunch, she marched up, gave him a piece of her mind, and explained she would never date him.

You might expect that the public takedown would have been an object lesson for the rest of the guys, but KJ couldn't help but try to embellish his dance experience. Word soon spread, and his date turned and glared at KJ.

"Looks like you and John will be dating each other," Kevin quipped.

Lesson learned? Xander doubted it. Teenagers were stupid at times.

Xander left their dating life up to Pam. She seemed fine with the occasional stolen kiss in the hall or with holding hands on the bus ride home. While it had been years since he was last with a woman, he'd read enough romance and watched an ungodly amount of porn to have pushed things along. But even though he'd resolved to keep his behavior age-appropriate for this timeline, his hidden knowledge felt unfair for some reason.

Unlike when he was thirteen the first time around, he knew the mechanics of how to please a woman. He imagined that if he broke out those skills, word would quickly spread. Just as people said, girls matured faster than boys. It wouldn't take long for some of them to realize they'd rather spend time with someone who knew what they were doing than the fumbling messes guys his age were.

Granted, they had access to the Internet and had more of a clue about what to do than previous generations did. But unfortunately, porn set certain expectations that real-life teens would never measure up to. Guys that age were just starting to mature, and when they compared body parts, it wasn't really fair. Porn stars received their jobs in part because of their equipment.

Something else teenagers didn't have was staying power. The first time a guy ever has someone else even touch him, he can't believe how much better it is than his own hand. And anything more than mere touching, well ... The end result is that they are typically on a hair trigger.

If the guy in question is lucky, the girl understands and gives him more chances to improve his staying power. But the girls also watch porn and see the supposedly incredible orgasms the women have, then wonder why their boyfriends don't give them the same pleasure. That the porn star was acting never crossed their minds.

But Xander worried he was getting ahead of himself. He needed to train his new body to last long enough so that when the time came, he wouldn't have the same insecurities he'd had before.

Xander reasoned that part of the problem was that teens used the act of masturbation to relieve the pressure that built up. He did it at least twice a day, if not more. At a minimum, he did it once first thing in the morning, and then in the evening because he couldn't sleep if he didn't jerk off. The objective was to reach a climax quickly. Xander needed to train his body to slow down the process.

To achieve that, he'd made a few changes. The first didn't make sense at first glance: he'd started to build up money in his savings account. Since it didn't earn that much interest, he talked his grandfather into opening a checking account with a debit card. Grandpa Davidson agreed because, with a debit card, Xander couldn't spend more than he had in his account.

Grandpa Davidson also agreed with the wisdom of having the card for emergencies.

But Xander really got it to buy something online: a sex toy called a 'pocket pussy.'

Xander fell into his old habit of researching different products when buying his endurance trainer. He first worked to identify criteria that fit his needs. They included the device's appearance, durability, ease of cleaning, and customer reviews.

He picked appearance first because, like most guys, Xander was the visual sort. Some models had a more modern design, but that didn't work for him. He wanted it to look like a porn star.

Durability was an obvious criterion; as a thirteen-year-old boy, he had no doubt it would get frequent and vigorous use. That being the case, he didn't want to buy something that couldn't handle a pounding, pun intended.

His teen self would probably not have thought of cleanability as a criterion, but his older self didn't want to buy something hard to clean up afterward. Xander searched for one that would use simple household products like soap and warm water. Again, that had more to do with the expected frequency with which he would use it.

Customer reviews also played a major role in his purchase; he wanted to read what others thought. This was still an excellent measuring barometer, unlike in the future, when AIs would be used to give false reviews to help increase sales.

When he finished conducting his research, he'd narrowed it down to three models. Two were very similar, but the third had a suction cup, making it usable for hands-free fun. Xander thought about it, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd had actual sex where Xander held his dick while doing the deed. So he ordered the one with the suction cup.

Xander had it delivered to his grandparents' house since he didn't need his little sister to get the mail and open it. She assumed anything that came was for everyone, which explained why no one ordered her birthday and Christmas presents online. Everyone had to go to an actual store to buy gifts for Izzy.

The following month, Xander stood in front of his bedroom mirror. He hadn't remembered his growth spurt feeling painful the first time around. Frankly, it had just happened, and he'd gone from five-four at the beginning of eighth grade to five-ten when he started high school.

Over the past month, Xander had felt like an old man again, with a deep ache in his bones and joints. He'd assumed it was because he and the guys were working out. But when he looked closely in the mirror, Xander saw visible changes compared to the previous month's pictures. He'd put on muscle and no longer resembled the string bean he'd been. The results boded well for his goal of being in better shape later in life.

Xander stepped on the scale, which showed he weighed 119 pounds, a full nine pounds more than when he entered freshman year his first time, and it was only November. He was already five-eight, which meant he'd grown four inches in three months. That explained why Xander's mom needed to let out the seam in his jeans almost weekly, or he would have been walking around in high-waters.

She was unhappy because it had reached the point where she needed to buy him new clothes again. He'd given most of his t-shirts to Izzy because they'd become too tight or short for him.

Xander saw that he now had hair growing in nicely down there. He also looked bigger in that department. He'd never measured his package the last time through, but Xander thought it seemed as big as his old adult self. Part of that might be due to him being overweight then, and now he was fit with a flat stomach, which exposed more of his junk.

All of this made him wonder if it meant that not everything was the same in this timeline. Had his body taken to the increased activity? Xander was working out his junk with his new pocket pussy; he was on his way to testing its durability limits. Did that make a difference in his size?

He knew he'd impressed Coach Carlton with his workouts. Xander also set a good example for his future teammates. He used a trick to get them involved, telling them girls preferred fit guys. The walking hormones desperately wanted girls to notice them with the hope of more. Though their bragging hadn't slowed down, proving that some things never changed.

His and Pam's romance cooled down. Now that she felt she had him hooked, she no longer needed to kiss him as often. He remembered that, come freshman year, she would end up with an older guy who she would allow to take her virginity.

Xander had to ask himself if he wanted to beat the guy to it.

The rumor mill in Xander's previous life said her parents had caught her and the guy in the act, and there was a pregnancy scare. Her parents wouldn't allow her to see the boy any longer. In fact, Xander couldn't remember Pam ever dating anyone in high school after that. It made him wonder if the scare might not have been real and she'd gotten pregnant.

He knew Pam had never given birth, so the pregnancy was purely conjecture. But it would explain why she never dated anyone after that.

It wasn't as if he was in love with Pam, either. Their dating had made him almost popular, something he'd never achieved before. In the past, he'd been a guy in the crowd that no one thought much about, so this was better-maybe he wouldn't spend his life alone this time around.

In the past, what happened to Pam was of only passing interest. This time, he found that she'd become a friend, a friend he didn't want to see hurt. He would let things play out for now, but he vowed to talk with Pam before she dated the older guy.

Xander's mom had started working for his grandfather. His grandfather and dad were utterly different builders. His dad built cookie-cutter homes because he could build two or three at a time right next to each other. Using the same floor plans made it easy to put all of them together, which saved him money.

Grandpa Davidson built spec homes designed specifically for his clients. They may cost more to construct, but Grandpa got a higher margin on his houses than his dad did on his. His grandpa charged enough to make up for the difference his dad saved since they tended to be higher-end homes.

His grandpa had given Xander more responsibility. When it came time to paint the interiors, his granddad's usual painter was tied up full-time, working for Xander's dad, so Grandpa Davidson gave Xander and his mom the job. After they finished, his grandfather insisted he pay them the professional rate he'd budgeted.

All this got Xander thinking. In his past life, he'd managed computer systems, and the use of AI had slowly taken over that work. He'd been lucky enough to work for a firm that embraced AI early on, so he'd become well-versed in its capabilities.

With his mom working in the office now, Xander casually mentioned something while painting.

"Have you ever considered using an AI to help design a home?"

"No. Your grandfather usually meets with the clients, collects their needs, and then sends those off to the architect to develop plans."

"I'm no expert, but I think even I could do a better job than his architect is doing," Xander said.

He knew his mom agreed because even she'd commented that the architect was a man and had no idea how to design a kitchen. It was completely functional, and his grandfather had built a quality house, but little things made a difference.

"I'm not sure your grandfather would embrace something like that. He's been doing it one way for years, and it works."

This was one of Xander's greatest peeves: the 'This is how we've always done it' justification for not making a change for the better.

"How about this: give me one of the floor plans, and I'll scan it into an AI architect software package and ask it to optimize the living space. Show it to Grandpa and see what he thinks. If nothing else, he'll appreciate you thinking outside the box," Xander said.

"But I won't know what to tell him if he has questions," his mom said.

"Okay, so how about this: I'll show you what I do so you understand each step."

"That should work."

"Also, I think the paint colors on this house suck," Xander said.

"I didn't want to say anything..."

"What say I take pictures of the other homes and feed them into a decorator AI to render what a room can look like before Grandpa buys paint? He can show it to the new homeowners and see what they want."

"That, I completely agree with," his mom said.