Saturday morning, he came down to breakfast and heard his mom mumbling about the 'goddamned van.' That was funny because his mother never cursed.

"What's going on?" Xander asked innocently.

"Your father wants to redo the van. I have to make cushions for the back row."

One of his mother's talents was sewing. She'd made most of the drapes for their new home. Creating cushions wouldn't be much of a challenge.

"Did Dad show you his plans?" Xander asked.

"They're on the counter," his mom said, pointing.

Xander quickly checked over the design. He was fine with most of it, but wanted one addition: a lockable drawer under the seat. That way, Xander would have a place to store stuff he didn't want anyone else to see. His little sister knew no boundaries, and the last time around, she made it her mission to find his condoms, which would suddenly be in his mother's possession. That was fun ... NOT!

"Go get your sister. Your grandparents are taking us to breakfast."

He turned to yell for Izzy, which earned him the death glower. Xander actually felt the heat on the back of his neck.

"Be right back," he said as he darted upstairs to get his sister.

He found her at the head of the stairs, all decked out in Western wear, right down to the cowboy hat.

"That's an interesting look for Arkansas."

"Go change," Izzy ordered.

This might not be his day for interacting with the women in his household.

"Yes, ma'am," Xander said solemnly.

He stepped into his bedroom and changed into his 'cowboy' clothes. Xander wasn't proud of it, but he actually owned three cowboy hats. His favorite of them-a black leather one that had seen better days-he'd gotten for free at a garage sale. The older lady saw him looking at it and encouraged him to try it. When he put it on, it was too big, so she gave it to him.

"That was my husband's first hat. I have some oil I can give you to make it look good as new," she'd said.

It was still a touch too big, but he put it on anyway. If he tilted it back slightly, it wouldn't fall down and cover his eyes.

He came downstairs to find his grandparents drinking coffee with his mom.

"Aren't they both adorable?" Grandma Davidson asked.

"Looks like they're already set for Halloween," Grandpa Davidson quipped.

"Mister, am I going to have to draw down on you?" Xander drawled.

Izzy giggled, which was his and his grandpa's goal.

"Before this gets out of hand, let's go eat," his mom said.

They drove to the Three Birds Café, which was packed and had a line to get in. He spotted Pam there with her family. She saw him and came over, and they decided it would be best to take a stroll so his sister wouldn't eavesdrop.

"What's the big occasion?" Pam asked, giving him the once-over.

"My sister decided she wanted to dress up in our cowboy gear."

"What a good big brother," Pam said and moved a half step closer to him.

Jill Flint, Kelly's mother, had been talked into taking her daughter to town to buy a new dress for the upcoming middle school dance. Until now, Kelly hadn't shown any interest in boys, so dances weren't a big deal. It seemed their neighbor, John Tyler, had asked Kelly to meet him at the dance, so her daughter now wanted to look her best. Before shopping, they stopped at the Three Birds Café because it offered vegan options.

As they walked to the front door, Kelly suddenly stopped with her mouth agape.

"Mom! Look at Pam! She's kissing a cowboy!" exclaimed Kelly.

Jill looked at where Kelly was staring to see what caused such astonishment in her daughter. Pam was kissing an incredibly handsome, rugged young man who looked like a cowboy. As far as Jill knew, Pam had never even been on an actual date. Pam was like her daughter in that neither of them had shown any interest in boys. Jill had to admit to being almost as shocked as Kelly.

Jill thought it might be time for 'the talk.' And she needed to give Brenda, Pam's mom, a heads-up. Their little girls were growing up, and way too soon.

Kelly recovered from her initial surprise and started toward her best friend, with Jill following closely. Jill felt it was her duty to figure out who this hunk was kissing Pam, and whether she would report it to Brenda.

The couple must have heard the crunch of their shoes on the gravel as they approached because they parted. For a boy his age, he had a nice, slim figure and an incredible smile. What caught her full attention was the intensity of his steel-blue eyes.

As they walked up, he smiled and said, "You must be Kelly's mom. Pam never told me how beautiful you are. I'm Xander Thornwood."

She was taken aback because he hadn't acted like a typical teen boy who would've been mortified at being seen kissing a girl in public-especially by a mom.

Pam's phone buzzed with a new message.

"We're being seated. Do you want to join us?" Pam asked.

"You bet we do," Kelly announced.

Xander just smiled as he walked Pam back to her parents. On the way, he introduced his mom, sister, and grandparents to Jill and Kelly. Then he announced that Pam had agreed to be his date for the dance, which perked up his little sister.

"We need to go," Pam said to get everyone moving.

As they walked to the table, Jill asked, "Are any of your other friends meeting guys at the dance?"

"All of them," Kelly proudly announced.

'Oh, shit,' Jill thought. It seemed like a 'girls' night out' was needed to discuss what was going on. She also planned to invite Xander's mother and figure out who the other boys were, then invite their moms as well.

After breakfast, Xander did the chores his dad had left him, then walked to the job site and continued to deal with the giant pile of cut-down trees. He was feeding limbs through the chipper when a hand touched his back. It was his mom.

"Why has Jill Flint insisted I attend a 'girls' night out'?"

Xander was afraid that something like that might happen. After all, this was a small town, and parents insisted they needed to be in your business.

"That might be because of me."

"I figured as much. Why have I been summoned?" his mom asked.

If this had been his dad, the conversation would've started with the accusation, 'What have you done!?' That would be followed up with him being yelled at because he'd embarrassed the family or some other nonsense.

"I asked Pam Wilder to meet me at the dance as my date," Xander began.

He then told his mom how he'd been talking to the guys and showed them how to ask a girl out.

"Why are you meeting them at the dance instead of picking them up?" his mom asked.

"I don't have a car, and someone mentioned it was uncool for their mommy to drive them. I figured this was the best solution."

"Were you really kissing Pam in the parking lot?" his mom asked.

"I was."

"It's time for 'the talk,'" his mom decided, talking to herself.

Picking up on the cue, Xander replied, "I don't know why. I mean, Pam and I are too young to do anything more than a quick kiss and dancing. There'll be chaperones at the dance to keep an eye on things. You and the other mothers have nothing to worry about."

His mom chuckled.

"I see what you mean. When I was thirteen, I started to have crushes, but I had no idea what to do with them. I wish someone had asked me to go to a dance at that age. It would've been so much better than standing around all night, worried none of the guys liked me."

"Trust me, the guys liked you," Xander said, making his mom blush.

"It still might be time for the talk."

"We had a class for that," Xander said, letting his mom off the hook.

"Okay, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

"I have lots of questions," Xander said eagerly.

His mom gave him her death glower, which caused them to laugh.

"I need to finish this," Xander said, ending the conversation ... for the moment.

Thankfully, his dad had gone to Dallas to empty his tool shed. He'd rented storage space in West Fork to use until he had time to build a shed at the house. That meant Xander's dad wasn't around when his mom came home after the girls' night.

Apparently, drinking too much wine was part of the festivities. Thankfully, Izzy was already in bed when his mother returned and found him watching a movie in the den. She plopped down on the couch right next to him.

"It's official: you're a bad influence."

"How so?"

"By putting impure thoughts into the little preciouses of West Fork."

That made him laugh.

"Please. Those women are delusional if they think their children are as innocent as they seem to believe," Xander said.

"I pointed that out. I think the moms all realize it, but the party line is your big-city ways are infecting this town. It won't be long before we have a rash of pregnancies," his mom said and giggled. "The best part was when Jill admitted that at least they'd be pretty babies if you were the father."

Even his older self was taken aback by that comment. Xander had never thought of himself as good-looking. It had never crossed his mind at any time.

"Maybe Mrs. Flint would be willing to teach me what I need to know to make that happen."

His mom just giggled.

"I got the feeling she just might."

That floored him. His mom must really be drunk.

"I think we should get you to bed," Xander announced.

"Help me up."

Xander did and walked his mom to her room.

"Drink some water and take an aspirin," Xander suggested.

His mom stopped and looked at him.

"How do you know what to do to prevent a hangover?"

'Oops.'

"Well, it's what they show people doing in movies."

"Good advice," his mom said as he closed her bedroom door.

Xander went to bed, wondering if being the town's bad boy was that bad a rep.

Xander got up Sunday morning and stripped off. Each Sunday, he took pictures of his body to track his development. As yet, the transformation hadn't been pronounced; he'd grown an inch taller and looked to be firming up. And Xander was no longer just a stick: he'd gained ten pounds of what appeared to be muscle.

Hair had started to come in under his arms and down below. He realized it would be years before he gained any chest hair. Combine that with being blond, and it never really amounted to much, anyway.

He'd talked to the guys, and they agreed to lift weights with him in the mornings. They worked out a rotation of whose mother would take them each day. Coach Carlton said he'd come in early to help them get started.

Xander had also found that learning better study habits made a difference in school. Not that middle school was hard because anyone who paid even half attention could pass without studying. He'd been a prime example of that last time. Now, he was easily handling the quizzes and tests.

Xander was also beginning to grow his savings account and planned to increase it even more. His grandfather let it slip that he played poker at a rotating game. The following weekend, it would be at his house. Xander was working on his grandfather to let him play. Xander had no doubt he could clean out all the old codgers. Once he'd built a big enough stake, he would use some of the knowledge from his past life to make even more.

The goal was never to ask his dad for anything in the future. Whatever he got had serious strings attached that Xander would not submit to this time around.

It was almost time for Donnie to transfer in. While Xander didn't want him as an enemy, he didn't plan on them being best friends, either. This time, Xander made good friends before Donnie showed up. He was sure Donnie had recognized Xander's lack of a social network, making him an easy target. Xander was sure his nemesis would find someone else to pick on this time.

Xander got dressed and walked downstairs. Izzy sat at the kitchen table, looking out the window.

"Mom's sleeping in. Do you want me to make you breakfast?"

She looked up and smiled.

"Pancakes, please."

He opened the fridge and looked over his shoulder.

"Mom bought fresh blueberries. You want those or chocolate chips in your pancakes?"

"Could you make blueberry syrup over chocolate chip pancakes?" Izzy asked hopefully.

His mom stumbled in.

"And coffee," she said as she lay her head on the table. She glanced up at Izzy and said, "Never mix alcohol, or you end up like this."

Xander bit his tongue to keep himself from making a smart comment. That was something he'd learned the hard way ... more than once.

He put the coffee on first, then stepped into the pantry and grabbed the corn syrup. The ratio was 2 to 1, blueberries to corn syrup. He put that in a pot to bring to a simmer to break down the fresh berries, then started the pancakes.

His mom requested dry toast instead of pancakes. She commented that Izzy would bounce off the walls from all the sugar she'd just consumed. Xander talked his sister into a bike ride to help burn off her energy and allow his mom to go back to bed.

On Monday morning, Xander found his nemesis in his homeroom. Donnie even had to give a brief introduction to the class, something Xander avoided because he'd started at the beginning of the semester.

"Hi, everyone. I'm Donnie Wilson, and I'm from Little Rock. My parents and I just moved here because they're opening a pharmacy over on Van Buren. I'm hoping to make a lot of new friends."

It was so heartwarming and original that it almost brought a tear to Xander's eye ... not!

Xander's next unpleasant surprise was finding his mother walking the halls before lunch.

"Is there something I need to know?" Xander asked.

"Lucky me, I've been volunteered to be a chaperone for your dance on Friday."

From her tone, his mom had her sarcasm dial set at eleven.

"I'm sorry," was the only response that came to his mind.

"The moms decided that since you're the ringleader on the dating front, I should be there to make sure you don't do anything 'out of bounds.'"

"Who said I might do something out of bounds?" Xander asked.

"I probably shouldn't say."

"Fair enough. Just promise me that you won't act like you know me at the dance," Xander tried.

"That's not happening."

He'd given it a shot.

"Fine. I'm late for lunch."

"Maybe you can take your mommy to lunch as a reward," his mom said, twisting the knife.

"I'd love to have you accompany me," Xander chirped.

His mom gave him the death glower.

"Monday is mystery meat day. Last week's winner was armadillo. The brown liquid on top almost makes it edible."

"I'll pass," his mom decided.

She couldn't leave without pulling him in for a big hug and goodbye. That was when Donnie showed up.

"You must be Xander's mom. I'm new here. Donnie Wilson," he said with an extended hand.

"Careful, Mom. He's a teen boy, and you have no idea where that hand has been," Xander warned.

"Nice to meet you, Donnie."

Xander noted she didn't shake his hand.

"I'll leave you to the mystery meat. I have leftover chocolate chip pancakes waiting for me at home."

Xander mentally flipped his mom off and then turned and walked to the cafeteria. He noted Donnie had fallen into step beside him.

"What's your deal?" Xander asked.

"I figured you have friends, so I was hoping you'd introduce them to me. I understand you're new here, too."

Xander used his mom's witty line: "I'll pass."

Donnie stopped as Xander continued to walk. It was all he could do not to turn back to see the confusion on the boy's face. He hoped that nipped things in the bud.

He went through the line, and it was bacon cheeseburger casserole day, just a step below pizza day in the lunch pecking order. Donnie was right behind him when he reached his table, and he tried to sit next to Xander.

"Sorry, that seat's taken," Xander said.

The guys all gave him a funny look, but Kevin backed him up.

"Yeah, sorry, man. We have one more coming."

"Uh ... okay," Donnie said, got up, and left.

"What was all that about?" Jake asked.

"Let's just say I've heard rumors about that guy. All I'll say is if they are true, you'll want to keep him away from your dates Friday night."

"Speaking of Friday night, what did you do to have all of our moms get together on Saturday?" Mike asked.

"Kelly and her mom caught Pam kissing me."

Questions started flying.

Xander held up his hand to slow the guys down.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound like a bunch of girls."

"Fuck you, too. Now, spill the tea," KJ said.

Hearing KJ say that made Xander smile because he was the smallest guy in the group. KJ had to be five feet nothing and might weigh ninety pounds. The only thing that gave him street cred was being Black. Even so, Xander was not shaking in his boots.

He assumed Kelly was telling the girls, so it wouldn't be long until everyone at school knew. Xander folded like he held a poker hand of seven, two, to a board of king, queen, jack, and a big bet. He even told them his mommy would chaperone the dance. He predicted he'd be hearing about all this for years to come, but everyone found it funny ... so it could've been worse.

The dance was held in the cafeteria. The lunch tables had all been folded up and put against the wall. There was a table with some weak-ass punch. It tasted like a premix that had been mixed with too much water-basically, colored water with a weird, bitter aftertaste.

The DJ was Coach Carlton, who had a playlist on his phone. Even in Dallas, a middle school dance wouldn't have that many country songs, and it was like the coach hadn't listened to anything released in the last ten years.

That being said, they tried to make the best of it.

Since the guys had never been to a dance where actual dancing took place, it created an uncomfortable atmosphere that was almost comical. The guys danced from foot to foot, trying their best to maintain some semblance of dignity. Their herky-jerky gyrations caused them to glance around and realize how ridiculous they looked. It made Xander aware he needed to show them how not to make fools of themselves.

"Time out and gather around!" Xander called out.

All the Princesses and his guys formed a circle around Xander and Pam.

"Keep it simple. Elbows are at the side, and you rock from foot to foot. Let your girl be the star," Xander said as he demonstrated.

He saw looks of relief in the guys' eyes. They could do that. From there, everyone started having a good time.

He and Pam decided to take a break when Coach put on a tractor song that made no sense, driving everyone off the dance floor. Pam pulled Xander into a corner and kissed him.

"We should slow down. People are watching," Xander said.

He felt the death glower from across the room.

"I don't care. I want to learn everything," Pam said.

While he liked the thought of that, he did something his old self would've never done.

"The first part of a new relationship has to be patience. The most significant problem people have when it comes to ... erm ... sex ... is that they rush things. We guys usually have a one-track mind in that regard, but girls are just as guilty. So be patient; take your time. Enjoy getting to know me.

"When you're ready, I'll be there to help you every step of the way. But I bet if you asked just about anyone who's done stuff, they would almost all tell you that they wished they'd waited," Xander said.

"Does that mean I can't kiss you anymore?" Pam asked.

"Hell, no," Xander said, slipping his hand around Pam's waist and pulling her to him.

He leaned down and gave her a tender kiss.

"Young man," his mom warned.

"Yes, Mother," Xander said as he gazed into Pam's eyes.

"Perhaps you can find somewhere more private. People are watching, and I don't want to be fired from my chaperone job."

Pam giggled because it sounded like his mom had given them permission to go make out, but to find a better place to do it-preferably one without people watching.

"Since you asked so nicely..." Xander said to his mom as he grabbed Pam's hand and led her out of the cafeteria.

Pam led him into an empty classroom. Xander decided he would show her some stuff, and the first thing he taught her was how to French kiss. She proved to be a quick learner, and his jeans tightened in the front.

He let her push him up against a wall as Pam pressed her crotch against his left thigh while his hands roamed up and down her sides and her back. He'd not been bold enough to grab her butt yet, though that didn't mean he was done with his lessons.

Xander turned his head and kissed Pam's neck. She liked that, so he kissed his way to her earlobe and sucked it into his mouth and nipped it.

"Hey!" Pam complained.

She then mimicked what he'd just done.

"I wondered where you'd gotten off to," Donnie said from the door with a smirk. "I call next."

"Excuse me a moment," Xander said to Pam, then strode over to Donnie and punched him in the mouth.

A girl screamed in the hall as the two boys fought. Luckily, they were two scrawny kids, so they hadn't done much damage when Coach Carlton rushed over to break it up.

Donnie looked sneaky, like he'd gotten the better of Xander, until Pam approached him and slapped his vile words out of his mouth. Everyone stood in stunned silence as Donnie's eyes bugged out.

"You ever say something like that again, and it won't just be Xander kicking your ass: every guy in this school will be there. Do you understand me?" Pam hissed.

Donnie nodded.

"Come on, Xander. Let's see if your mom will give us a ride home," Pam said.

Everyone erupted. Donnie had pissed off the wrong girl. Pam Wilder was the queen bee of West Fork Middle School. If she had a say, he'd be lucky to get a date before he left for college.

Pam stopped to share with the Princesses what Donnie said. They, in turn, told their dates, who now looked ready to kick Donnie's ass. Xander had to gather the guys around and tell them he had this, or that wouldn't have been Donnie's last fight of the night.

That was how his mommy came to drive them home. His mom left them on the front porch while she stepped inside and talked to Pam's parents. Xander gave Pam a goodnight kiss.

"Would it be okay if we became boyfriend and girlfriend?" Xander asked.

He had no idea how that would work, but he could tell it was what Pam wanted to hear. He was sure it was because it gave Pam status in her group as the first to get asked to a dance and now the first to have a boyfriend.

She left him on the doorstep and rushed in to tell her mom. Five minutes later, his mom came out to the car, shaking her head.

"Yep, you're getting the talk when we get home."

Xander just smiled. 

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.

Your grandfather wants to talk to you," Xander's mom said later that week.

She'd shown her father the revised plans and room designs the AI created. When Xander asked what his grandpa thought, she gave him some cryptic message about how Grandpa Davidson had to think about it.

Honestly, he'd never expected his grandpa to go for it since Xander was only thirteen. Besides, anything with an AI was somewhat suspect in most people's minds; they had no idea how the world would soon change because of that technology.

The best comparison Xander came up with was life before smartphones. Now, people could hardly function without them. Xander had grown up with them, so he didn't know what it was like not to have a phone. AIs would have an even more profound effect on everyone's future lives.

In his opinion, people relied far too much on their phones. The best move they'd made at school was banning devices during class. Xander found it funny to watch everyone reach for their phone when the bell rang. Who knew what earth-shattering event might have happened in the hour they'd spent offline?

"When?"

"I'll pick you up after school today, and we'll go to his office."

"Anything I need to prepare for?" Xander asked.

"Nope. He just instructed me to have you there."

"That's not weird at all."

They heard a honk from the driveway.

"I have to go," Xander said, stuffing a corner of toast into his mouth and grabbing his coat and backpack.

He ran out and found Donnie's mom's van in the drive. It was her turn to take everyone to their morning lifting session before school. Donnie had wormed his way into the arrangement when Kevin accidentally mentioned their morning workouts. Xander decided not to make a fuss, so Donnie became part of the morning group.

On the other hand, it made Xander's mom happy to have one more mom in the carpool rotation.

Xander found it amusing that Donnie sat in the back row, leaving shotgun to Xander.

"Morning," Xander said as he got in.

As he put his seatbelt on, Kevin jumped on his ass.

"I hear you're not coming to Pam's on Saturday night."

Pam had sprung it on him the day before, but he'd made plans to play poker with his grandpa that night. She wanted to invite everyone over to watch something on streaming video. Her mom said Pam couldn't invite Xander alone; it had to be a group thing. He couldn't blame Pam's mom, but she didn't have anything to worry about.

Pam wasn't happy when Xander told her he already had plans, but he had visions of cleaning out his grandpa's friends again. Word had spread that Xander had promised to play with all his winnings from the previous month's game. His grandpa said the buy-in had been raised to a minimum of $500, an astronomical amount for a friendly home game. His grandpa's friends still thought Xander was a fish who'd just gotten lucky the previous time.

"I told her I could do it Friday night or Saturday afternoon," Xander said.

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Wilson asked.

"My girlfriend wants to watch Netflix and chill. Her mom said we had to do a group thing."

She missed the naughty reference, which made the guys chuckle.

"What are you doing Saturday night?" Mike asked.

"Playing poker."

"And you didn't invite us?" Donnie asked.

"The minimum buy-in is five hundred dollars," Xander said. "Please watch the road."

Mrs. Wilson had turned to stare at him. She jerked her head around before they drove off the side of the mountain.

"What do your parents think of you playing poker for that much money?" Mrs. Wilson asked.

He pulled his phone out and sent his mom a message to be ready for a call from Mrs. Wilson. And that she should ask his grandpa about the poker game he was going to on Saturday. He got one back with one word: Poker?

Xander chose to ignore it; he would let his grandpa explain. Grandpa Davidson insisted he sit at Xander's table this time, but the lady hosting the game had said they would draw cards for seats. That had gotten everyone off her back about wanting to play 'the kid.'

"I never asked them."

"You have $500 to blow?" Donnie asked.

"Of course not. I'm not going to blow it; I plan to win," Xander said.

"What can't you do?" KJ asked.

"I've yet to figure out women. What do you say, Mrs. Wilson, care to clue us in to the mysteries of the fairer sex?" Xander asked.

She just smirked and shook her head. Thankfully, they arrived at the gym.

"Thanks," Xander said as he bailed out of the van to go lift.

Xander's mom picked him up after school. She'd already collected Izzy, so he got into the back of the van.

The van conversion had turned out great. The back bench folded out into a bed based on the design he'd given his dad. It had a locking drawer underneath that could be used to transport guns for when they went hunting. His dad had installed a high-end cooler in the back that would hold ice for ten days. He'd also installed blinds for the windows so they'd have privacy while sleeping. They would retract when driving so as not to obstruct the view.

Xander's dad, being who he was, wanted to make it something special. He'd also installed solar-powered lights so they wouldn't run down the van's battery. The wall panels had all been swapped out with wood paneling he'd coated in a clear-coat gloss, making it shine. He'd also replaced the carpet to match the bed pads Xander's mom had made.

Xander couldn't wait until he turned sixteen, and it would be his.

They dropped Izzy off at home and then drove to the job-site trailer where his grandpa kept his office. They walked in to see Grandpa Davidson looking at the plans Xander had given his mom. With him was Mr. Klien, the architect, a sharp-featured German man who slightly resembled a bulldog because of his jowls.

"This is my grandson, Xander, who messed with your perfection," Grandpa Davidson said.

Mr. Klien chuckled. "Max Klien. Please call me Max," he said as he reached out and shook Xander's hand.

"We've been going over your plans, and Max is eager to pick your brain before we build anything else," Grandpa Davidson said.

They waved Xander over. He glanced at the drawings they were reviewing and saw marks all over them indicating the differences.

"Janet told me you ran it through an AI architect," Max said.

"That's right. The company offers a free trial, which I took advantage of. The full-blown version is supposed to allow you to optimize for location. An example it gave was that if you lived on a coast, it would optimize the design to survive a hurricane.

"I asked it to optimize living space. That's why it eliminated many of the hallways," Xander said.

"My son has been pushing for us to look into using AI software to assist us," Max said. "But, like I told your grandfather, this is how we've done it for the last thirty years, and no one ever complained ... until now."

"Like I said, I only used the free version," Xander said. "The way I understand it is you can ask the customer what they want and what type of lifestyle they have. Based on that information, it can better design a house for them. For example, we have a giant dining room that we never use. Maybe the buyers are professionals and would prefer two in-home offices instead.

"Knowing that up front would make it easier to put in the proper wiring and office-related features. Better yet, it can redesign the layout to put the offices in spots that make sense instead of simply swapping out the dining room space."

Xander showed Max the website he'd used and pointed out several other AI software options that could assist or replace their current stuff.

Max, armed with the information, departed to face his son.

Once he left, Xander's mom and grandpa wanted to discuss the room colors. They'd met with the buyers of the two homes yet to be painted, and the people weren't thrilled with the choices offered.

"I just uploaded pictures of the rooms and selected options like historical colors," Xander explained. "For example, Dad wanted our home to have a Victorian feel. That period of architecture was between 1830 and 1920. So if you picked that, it would give you color combinations that matched the era.

"I picked Victorian and then chose a color palette they called 'Timeless,' which consisted of colors that could be expected to survive any temporary trend. They have a lot of designs to pick from," Xander said.

"I think I made a mistake in giving them options because we'll be ready to start painting those homes next week, and the customers are now excited about changing colors. Next time, I'll lock them in at the beginning," Grandpa Davidson said.

That made sense. Xander should've guessed it would open Pandora's box. Fortunately, it didn't sound like his customers wanted to change anything already in place, like countertops or tile.

"Sorry, I hadn't thought of that," Xander said.

"It's not your fault," his grandfather assured him.

Xander showed him what he'd done, and his mom watched intently. He had no doubt she'd be the one doing this sort of stuff in the future.

Once they finished, his mom turned to his grandfather.

"What's this I hear about you allowing your grandson to gamble five hundred dollars?"

His grandfather glanced over at Xander, who gave a micro-shrug to let him know Xander would let him handle this.

"Actually, a bit more than thirteen hundred. Xander promised to bring his winnings to this month's game," Grandpa Davidson said.

"You won thirteen hundred dollars?" his mom asked, aghast.

"Xander took them down, and now they all want a piece of him. My money's on him winning a lot of theirs."

Xander had played a lot of poker in his past life and knew that skill didn't always guarantee a win. It only took one unlucky break to lose it all. He'd made it his goal not to be put in that situation. He could always fold if he wasn't sure, though he'd lose a little.

But Xander had an evil plan brewing. He was counting his money before winning it-which meant the poker gods would punish him-but he'd played enough to know it would pay off.

"It's a lot of money, but I guess he needs to learn his lesson now," his mom said.

His grandfather chuckled.

"Xander's confident he's going to win, and after last month, that's understandable. If I remember correctly, he's still a thirteen-year-old, despite all of his supposed maturity. Thirteen-year-olds think they're always right. I'll do you a favor and teach him that lesson."

Xander didn't take the bait. He recognized his grandfather's attempt to get him riled up so he'd make mistakes. He hoped he got seated at his grandfather's table, though. It would be so sweet to take his grandpa down after that jab.

Xander played along, crossing his arms, but he wouldn't look at his laughing mom and grandfather. Let the old man believe he'd gotten under Xander's skin.

He and his mom left to change into their painting clothes so they could finish the house they were working on.

When they came in, his dad was there, and his eyes narrowed, which meant Xander needed to be careful. It usually wasn't an issue because his dad rarely came home until dinnertime. For some reason, he got home early that day.

Xander trudged up the stairs to shower and change out of his work clothes. When he came back downstairs, his parents were arguing. He noted Izzy was smart enough to have stayed upstairs.

"And you..." his father seethed as he turned to Xander. "I learned today that you have enough money to play poker at one of your grandfather's games."

'This is bad,' Xander thought.

He recalled the day they'd moved into their new house. The refrigerator was just inside the back door, waiting to be installed. Xander was carrying a box in when his father backhanded him hard enough that when his head bounced off it, it put a dent in the freezer door. His dad felt he wasn't moving fast enough, even though Xander had hauled in most of the boxes from the moving truck while his dad finished the electrical work.

Xander's older self deduced that the real reason behind his dad's anger was his mom's comment that she expected the house to be move-in ready. Somehow, his dad had gotten the building inspector to give him an occupancy permit.

His dad took any slight to heart and lashed out. Lucky Xander had been his target that day.

He'd not laid a hand on Xander since then. But this seemed like it might escalate quickly, so Xander was on guard.

"It's from the money I earned working for Grandpa Davidson," Xander said.

"Since I pay for everything around here, anything you earn will go to me in the future to pay for your room and board."

'That's not happening.'

"I guess I'll not work anymore," Xander said.

Even his mom flinched at that comment.

'Way to poke the angry bear,' Xander thought.

His dad stood up so quickly that the kitchen chair tipped over.

"What did you just say?"

He didn't give Xander a chance to dig a deeper hole.

"I understand your grandfather set you up with a savings account. We'll go down to the bank tomorrow morning and close the account. I'll use the money for your expenses," his dad said.

"Wayne, that's enough," his mom said.

His dad turned on her and drew back his fist. Xander jumped forward and got between them just in time for his dad to hit him in the eye. Fuck, that hurt. Xander fell against his mom, and they both crashed to the floor.

Izzy had snuck down when she heard their raised voices and witnessed the entire episode. She screamed.

That caused his dad to pause for a moment and consider how this looked. He would happily bully his family behind closed doors, but was conscious of how others outside the family perceived him.

His mom stood up and pointed to the back door.

"Out!"

His dad glared at her. "If anyone's leaving, it's you."

Xander stood and faced his dad.

"If you don't leave, I'll call the cops."

His dad slugged him again, this time in the mouth. Xander's head snapped back, and he again dropped to the floor, already out.

Xander came to just as the ambulance arrived. Police had his dad in handcuffs while his mom and sister sat at the kitchen table, crying. His grandfather came storming in.

"You son of a bitch," Grandpa Davidson growled. "I can't believe a grown man would take his hand to a thirteen-year-old boy. I ought to take you out back and horsewhip you."

"Easy, sir," one of the patrolmen said. "Let us handle this."

By this point, his dad was subdued; he realized he'd gone too far. Wayne mumbled an apology, something he'd never done in Xander's previous life.

Xander tried to refuse to go to the hospital, but the police officer said they needed his injuries documented. Besides, he'd been knocked out, so they wanted to check his head.

From there, it turned into a total clusterfuck. Xander didn't get home until nearly three in the morning, while his dad spent the night in jail. Xander's grandparents spent the night at the house.

When he rolled out of bed at ten, his mom and grandparents sat at the kitchen table.

" ... temporary restraining order. Oh, hey, Xander, how are you feeling?" Grandma Davidson asked.

"I have a headache, but I'm fine otherwise."

"Let me make you breakfast," his mom said.

"I can do it. I'll just grab a bowl of cereal and let you guys get back to whatever you were doing before I came downstairs."

"Before you do that, sit down. I need to talk to you," his mom said.

He took a seat as his mom built up her courage.

"I think I want to divorce your father. I just need time to determine whether I can afford to do so."

"It shouldn't be a problem. Dad doesn't have a loan on the house, and all the vehicles are in your name," Xander said.

"Say what?" his mom asked.

"How do you know?" Grandpa Davidson asked.

"I might've run across some stuff in Dad's office," Xander improvised.

In reality, he remembered all this from his parents' divorce the previous time around. Then, his mom was pissed because she'd waited until Izzy moved out of the house to take action. If she followed through on this now, she would avoid years of abuse.

That was another matter. Years later, Xander's mom admitted that his dad used to hit her as well. Xander never suspected.

"If we can keep the house and just pay utilities, I can get a part-time job so we can get by," his mom said.

"Nope. I don't want that son of-that man to have anything over you," Grandma Davidson said. "We'll buy him out, and you can work for the company."

His mom looked at his grandfather.

"I planned to talk to you about working for me full-time anyway," Grandpa Davidson said. "You'll be fine. We have plenty of money, so consider this part of your inheritance."

Mom took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A slight grin touched her lips.

"Finally," she whispered.

His dad wasn't going to go easily, but when Xander called and told him he'd drop the charges if his dad agreed to the divorce, reality set in. Wayne's lawyer must have explained that he would face jail time if he lost. Plus, his dad didn't need the negative press.

So, by New Year's, his parents were divorced, done in record time because his grandfather had better connections than Xander ever realized. It turned out the judge was the woman he'd met at poker, Kathy Grimes-Barb's mom.

On New Year's Eve, Xander reflected on how everything had gone. Pam broke up with him when he hadn't chosen her over poker. The sad part was that he hadn't even gotten to play poker. Consequently, his title as Rizzmaster rolled over to Steve, who dated Stacy. Actually, they were the only couple still dating after the dance.

Xander's grades had improved to an A/B average instead of all B's, mostly due to his new study habits. They had nothing to do with his having already taken all these classes since the old man in him had forgotten all that stuff.

Besides, who needed to know the square root of some random number when you could just ask your device for the answer? Better yet, why would you need to know the square root of anything in your daily life? Of course, it was that attitude that caused Xander to get a B in math.

The other big event was that his grandfather sold the three houses to families with kids.

The house closest to them had the Turner sisters: Connie, Julie, and Pippa. Connie, three years older than Xander, dated the high school quarterback. Two years younger than Connie was Julie, who Xander had dated and lost his virginity to in his junior year in his previous life. The youngest sister, Pippa, was his age. She never dated anyone until she met a guy a few towns over during her senior year. Not that guys weren't interested because Pippa was an early developer with big, round breasts that every girl would've killed for.

Next to them lived the Millers, who had two sons: Tim, Xander's age, and Brian, three years older and Xander's nemesis.

Finally, the Thomas family had a daughter, Lisa, who was Izzy's age, and a son, Cliff, who was a few years younger than his sister. Cliff was adopted, and Xander remembered he'd eventually ended up in jail for stealing cars.

Xander, Izzy, and his mom were sitting in front of the TV, waiting for the ball to drop.

"Your dad is pushing for visitations," his mom announced.

"That's fine," Xander said.

Izzy and his mom both looked at him in disbelief.

"You know as well as I do he'll be too busy to have us over more than a couple of times a year. It's not worth fighting about," Xander explained.

"I don't want to see him after what he did to Xander," Izzy said.

"I'll look out for you," Xander promised.

Izzy remained unconvinced, but his mom reached over and squeezed Xander's knee to say thanks. She would work on Izzy and persuade her later.

It was finally time for the countdown. Of course, they broadcast this from New York, so it was an hour early, but they always acted like it was midnight.

"Five ... four ... three ... two ... one ... happy birthday, Xander!"

Yep, he was a January-first baby. The family tradition was to have cake and presents after the ball dropped. Izzy rushed to the kitchen to get the cake while his mom stepped over to the closet where she'd hidden his presents.

German chocolate was his favorite cake, and he wasn't disappointed. He chuckled when all his presents were clothes a size too big for him. It was understandable because he'd grown to be five-nine and 128 pounds. He was glad to see new size eleven tennis shoes because he could barely force his feet into his current ones.

Xander's workouts had started to show results: he was beginning to have some muscle definition. He wasn't ripped by any means, but Xander was no longer embarrassed to take his shirt off-the thought of that reminded him of his concern his first time around.

The only part that sucked was that his coordination was shit. His grandfather assured him it would get better with time.