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. 

The Friday after New Year's, Xander heard music coming from the Turners' house. He peered out his bedroom window and saw cars parked everywhere. With all the noise he heard, it added up to a party.

His mom and Izzy had gone back to Dallas to get some stuff out of storage there that his mom wanted. His dad had informed her he wouldn't renew the storage unit's monthly lease, so she had until mid-month to clean it out.

Xander had gotten out of helping because his grandfather had started clearing the lots for the next wave of houses he planned to build. Grandpa Davidson had put Xander on log-splitting and wood-chipping duty until he returned to school.

Xander's mom and Izzy planned to catch up with friends, so they wouldn't return until the next weekend, right before school started. Xander assured his mom he'd survive a week without parental supervision. He knew he could count on his grandparents if something came up that he couldn't handle. Xander suspected numerous unannounced visits would occur.

The old man inside him wanted to call the police and file a noise complaint, but that would be social suicide since the partiers were all high schoolers. His teen self wanted to go to his first party where alcohol was being served. A beer or three might be just what he needed.

Xander threw on a sweatshirt so he wouldn't have to wear a jacket. He didn't want his coat to disappear before he went home. He'd just gotten a new one, and his mom would pitch a fit if it went missing.

Xander found the Turners' front door cracked open, so he walked in. The house was designed so that people entered on the second floor. Since the lot dropped off toward the back where the lake was, the change of elevation allowed folks to walk out of the lower level.

The lower floor held a family room-aka kids' room-and three bedrooms for the girls, while the living area, kitchen, and main bedroom for the parents were upstairs.

About fifty teens were milling around, drinking and talking loudly. He stopped one of the older boys and asked, "Where can I get a beer?"

"The keg's on the deck. Go through the kitchen."

Xander donated ten bucks for a plastic cup and poured himself a beer.

"Look who showed up," a girl said.

Xander turned and smiled. It was Kelly, Pam's BFF, along with Pippa, the youngest Turner daughter.

"Ladies. Are you having fun?"

"More now that you're here. Come dance. The older boys are ignoring us," Kelly said.

Pippa nodded her agreement, so Xander drank half his beer and followed them into the living room, where a few older girls danced in groups or with guys.

Two beers later, Xander noted Pippa and Kelly were showing the effects of their drinking. They'd started before him, imbibing a punch drink that must've had a kick, and were now all giggles and a little unsure on their feet. The two girls were all but hanging on Xander, which didn't bother him in the least.

"I need to go lie down," Pippa announced, abandoning them, enjoying the benefit of having the party at her house.

"I guess it's just us. What do you want to-" Xander got out before Kelly suddenly fastened her lips to his.

"Let's go somewhere more private," Xander said once they came up for air because they'd gained an audience.

Kelly giggled.

"You're a naughty boy. You just want to take advantage of me."

"The thought had crossed my mind."

'Where did that come from?' Xander wondered. It wasn't because he was buzzed. All the dancing had made him sweat out all the effects of the alcohol.

"Good," Kelly said, grabbed his hand, and led him downstairs.

When they reached the family room, they found a couple on the couch, making out. Knowing the layout of the house, Xander led Kelly to a hall leading to the laundry room and mechanicals, a perfect spot for some privacy. Once alone, they began to make out.

She wrapped her arms around his neck so she could kiss him, and Xander didn't resist. Their lips were like magnets as they came together. Kelly parted her lips, their tongues touched, and tingles of excitement shot through him. Xander became more aggressive and pressed his tongue into Kelly's mouth.

Xander didn't want to push his luck, so he placed his hands on Kelly's hips and didn't let them wander. Kelly, on the other hand, showed less restraint. She slid her hands under his sweatshirt and rubbed his chest and stomach, which caused a predictable problem: the front of his pants bulged. Wearing jeans a size too big kept him from tearing a hole in them.

The devil on his shoulder encouraged Xander to take advantage of the situation, while the angel was nowhere to be found-raging teen hormones had tied the angel up. If his old self hadn't slowed things down, he would've thrown Kelly against the wall and dry-humped her.

"Yesss..." echoed into the hallway, occasionally followed by, "Oh baby ... nice."

Kelly and Xander continued making out to the background of moans from the nearby room.

"Carl, no. We can't do that here."

"Don't worry; no one will come downstairs. Take your top off for me."

Kelly broke their kiss and giggled. She grabbed Xander's hand, pulled him down the hall, and they peeked around the corner. The oldest Turner sister, Connie, had pulled her shirt up and wasn't wearing a bra.

Her boyfriend, Carl King, was the starting quarterback and only a junior. He would lead the football team again next year.

As soon as her breast appeared, Carl leaned down and sucked on her nipple, which caused Connie to whimper.

Kelly gasped and covered her mouth in surprise.

Xander pressed up behind her as he wrapped his hands around her midriff and nuzzled her neck. Kelly spun around and pushed Xander back to resume making out. This time, he let his hands slide down and cup her butt as he kissed her.

It seemed Kelly had done this before. It made Xander wonder who she'd practiced on because he wanted to personally thank them as Kelly pressed herself against him and rubbed herself against his raging hard-on.

Meanwhile, it sounded like Carl knew what he was doing because Connie's moaning increased in volume. Xander tuned them out to focus on Kelly when he heard, "Suck my cock, baby."

'Suck my cock?'

Kelly and Xander stopped kissing and stared at each other. By some unspoken agreement, they crept down the hall to see what was happening. They saw Carl sprawled on his back on the couch, stark naked. Xander took in the male figure and mentally compared it to his. Carl had obviously benefited from working out and, being older, had more muscle definition.

It gave Xander an idea of what he wanted to work toward, especially if it meant a girl as attractive as Connie might want to suck his cock someday. He vowed he would never let his body go in this timeline.

Shirtless, Connie positioned herself so her head hovered over Carl's cock. Her breasts weren't large by Xander's porn standards, but they appeared firm and had zero sag to them. She grasped Carl's dick at the base to make it stand straight up so she could lick the glistening tip as Carl leaked pre-cum.

"Ever see something like this?" Kelly whispered.

"Never live, but I've watched some porn."

"Maybe you can show me sometime. My parents have locked our internet, so I can't watch stuff like that."

Xander marveled at what a good girl Kelly must be because everyone he knew had figured out how to bypass the parental settings ages ago. All you had to do was search for a how-to video, which made it dead simple.

Xander reasoned that the controls were created to give parents peace of mind rather than keep horny teen boys from having spank material to reduce stress. God only knew what would happen if teen boys were deprived of their access and ran around with constant raging hard-ons. They'd be humping everything in sight. Try explaining why little Jimmy was getting busy with a pillow when company arrived.

Xander and Kelly were mesmerized as Connie locked her lips around the head of Carl's cock and slid it into her mouth, inch by inch.

"It's so big," Kelly purred. "How can she-?"

Kelly gasped when Connie took all six inches of Carl's cock, and Xander's member throbbed at the sight of her nose pressed into Carl's pubic hair.

Xander had a 'little Jimmy' moment as he unconsciously slid his hand under Kelly's t-shirt and grasped her breast. At the same time, he pushed his bulge against her firm bottom. Watching a live sex show was much better than the internet.

Xander pushed Kelly's hair out of the way to nibble on her neck. She seemed pleased when she pressed her butt back and ground against him.

"Are all guys that big?" Kelly asked in a whisper as her hands reached back and rubbed the sides of Xander's butt.

Connie's head was bobbing up and down Carl's wet shaft.

"They come in all shapes and sizes," Xander replied in kind. "I would guess Carl is average."

Xander froze when Kelly slid her hands between them to find his cock. She used both her hands to grasp his length, causing him to suck in his breath. She turned to give him a wicked smile over her shoulder.

"You've been hiding this. Wait until I tell the girls that Xander Thornwood has a bigger one than Carl King."

"Do you want me to tell the guys what great tits you have?" Xander asked.

Kelly giggled. He took that as a 'yes.' The least they could do was promote each other to their classmates.

"Fuck, yeah!" Carl groaned as he grabbed Connie's head to force his cock further into her mouth.

Connie gagged as Carl pumped his baby-makers into her throat. When he finished cumming, Carl slumped back with his eyes closed.

"Carl ... Carl!" Connie said, shaking his shoulder. "Motherfucker! Did you just pass out and leave me hanging?!"

Xander and Kelly tried to hold it in, but couldn't help laughing.

"Who's there?" Connie demanded.

Kelly slipped behind Xander to hide.

"Sorry. We didn't mean to watch," Xander said as he entered the room. He heard a door close behind him, which meant Kelly wouldn't face Connie. He figured Kelly could leave through a back door if she wanted to make good her escape.

"Who were you with?"

Xander looked back and shrugged.

"If I had to guess, my mystery girl just made a run for it so she doesn't have to face your wrath," Xander said. "Do you need help with him?"

"I want to kick his ass," Connie said without covering up.

Xander smiled.

"Do you have a magic marker? We can draw on him and take a picture to remember the night."

"Who are you?" Connie asked as she slipped on her shirt.

"I'm your neighbor, Xander Thornwood."

"Let me go get the markers," Connie said.

Welp, Carl would regret his lack of performance.

Connie was an artist. She first drew a set of boobs on Carl and then had Xander roll her boyfriend over. Next, she drew a sign on his back that said 'glory hole' with an arrow pointing down and used some Vaseline to lube his ass. Then Connie opened a packet of mayo-the sort you got at a drive-through-to make it look like something unthinkable had occurred.

Xander worried Connie might be going too far when she grabbed a candle. She shoved it between Carl's butt cheeks to make it even worse. Xander wanted to believe she hadn't violated him. If this had happened to Xander, his first thought would have gone into the gutter. He was sure his brain would convince him he'd been despoiled.

Xander had two reactions: first, remember to never, ever piss Connie off. The second was that he wanted to be her new best friend. Anyone this talented and evil was someone he wanted in his life.

She applied the finishing touch when she lit the candle.

Once she'd gotten her Kodak moment and removed the candle, Connie looked at Xander and said, "Help me get this dumbass home. His parents will kill him if he spends the night."

That was when he knew she hadn't entirely gone to the dark side. She cared enough to keep Carl from getting reamed by the parental units.

Connie put Xander in charge of sitting Carl up so she could put his shirt on him. They skipped his underwear, stuffing them into his front pocket, and Connie simply slid his jeans back into place. Then Xander had to carry Carl to his car. It was true what they said about dead weight; Xander was breathing hard by the time he got Carl in the back seat of his car.

"I'll drive," Xander said because Connie seemed to be feeling the effects of the party.

Connie didn't even think about it and tossed him the keys. Fortunately, it was like riding a bike: you never forgot how to drive. They were silent during the trip to Carl's house.

"How should we do this?" Xander asked as he parked in the driveway.

"If it were anyone else, I would just lean him against the front door, ring the doorbell, and let his parents deal with his drunk ass. We need to drag him to his room and dump him in bed."

"Won't his parents hear us and come investigate?"

"If they do, let me handle it," Connie said.

Xander struggled to get Carl out of the back seat. After he was out of the car, Xander was able to hoist him over his shoulder and carry Carl to the front door.

"Keys," Connie said as she held out her hand.

"They're in my front pocket."

She gave him the evil eye but relented, pushed her hand into his pocket, and found the keys. Connie flipped through them until she had the house key and used it to open the front door. She led the way to Carl's bedroom, where Xander dumped drunkie onto his unmade twin-size bed.

Xander took a moment to look around. Carl's room was a mess, reminding Xander of his room before he returned and cleaned up his act. Carl's dresser was covered in athletic trophies, and his walls had pictures of muscle cars.

"Let's go," Connie said and led him out of the house.

After they locked up, she tossed him Carl's keys.

"I'll bring it back tomorrow," Connie said.

Xander started the car and then turned to back it up since the reverse camera didn't seem to be working. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this without one-in the future, cars would have the ability to self-drive to simplify this. So Xander was concentrating on what he was doing when her hand touched his upper thigh and slid onto his package.

Xander hit the brakes and looked down.

"You've been such a good boy so far tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to help a girl out," Connie said.

"If it involves my dick and you touching it, count me in."

Connie started to undo his pants, but then stopped.

"Drive," she ordered.

He'd backed out of the driveway and onto the main road. He put the car into gear as she freed his dick from its confinement.

"This will do nicely," Connie said to herself as she pushed his foreskin off the tip of his dick to expose the head.

A moment later, Xander almost wrecked as Connie leaned down and blew him.

This was a completely new experience for him. He was obviously a virgin in this timeline, but in his past one, he'd never had a girl undo his pants and go straight to sucking his cock. Xander also decided to write a strongly worded letter to the pocket pussy people because this felt ten times better. They must have sold him a defective device.

"If you're going to do that, I need to pull over," Xander hissed, not wanting to get them killed.

"Boys are all the same: they can't seem to multitask," Connie wisecracked.

"When a man is having his dick expertly sucked, it's rude not to give that all his attention."

"I'll be good while you drive," Connie promised.

That didn't mean she let go of her new favorite chew toy.

Xander managed to get them back to her house in one piece. Once he parked the car, Connie filled her mouth with his man meat.

Xander rolled his window down so the cloudless night's cold air would clear his head, providing some much-needed perspective. He was with one half of West Fork High School's power couple. If word got out that Connie had sucked his cock while Carl was passed out, Xander would be lynched.

The crucial fact that made him hesitant to stop a fantastic blowjob was that he knew Connie had more to lose than he did. There was no way she would tell anyone this had happened. Thankfully, his older self would prevent teen Xander from bragging about his conquest.

Teen Xander was currently a drooling mess as he tried to wrap his feeble mind around the fact that a high school junior had her lips wrapped around his shaft.

He whispered her name as she dragged her tongue down his member's length. Xander rested his shoulder against the car door. She looked up, watching the pleasure on his face as she took him into her mouth, her tongue caressing the smooth flesh. Connie continued to tease and suck on him.

His reaction must have emboldened her as she took the tip into her mouth again. Xander almost jerked off the front seat as Connie's tongue caressed a sensitive spot around the crown of his dick.

"That's even better," he rumbled.

She pulled off for a moment to smile at him.

"I finally found the perfect dick to practice on," Connie said.

"Anything you need."

She clearly didn't yet have the experience to be a world-class cocksucker, but her enthusiasm made up for it. He wasn't about to complain because what she was doing felt great. He could tell she wanted him to lose control.

Xander reached down to stroke her hair. His youth didn't take much longer to catch up with him. As Xander came apart, he thrust his hips up, pushing his manhood as deep as it would go. Unlike when she blew Carl, Connie couldn't get the last couple of inches into her mouth. Xander trembled wildly as she used her hand to pump his shaft to get every last drop out of him.

Xander was spaced out after such a life-changing cum. He remembered the first time in his past life, and it hadn't been nearly as good.

Suddenly, Connie kissed him. It took him a moment to realize he'd never tasted his own cum before. She pushed her tongue and his spend into Xander's mouth and segued into aggressively making out with him.

His inexperienced self was squicked out, but his more mature self realized that he'd just shot his load into Connie's mouth without even asking permission. He was being forced to share and savor his own salty leavings with her.

She pulled back to see how he would react.

Xander grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into another deep French kiss.

Once they pulled apart, Xander said, "I probably deserved that."

Connie looked at him curiously.

"You're different."

"In what way?" Xander asked.

Connie ignored his question and asked, "Are you willing to go down on me?"

"I'd love to, but I have to warn you, I've never done it before. You'd have to tell me how you want it," Xander said.

"Like I said, you're different," she said, and when Xander frowned, Connie added, "In the best possible way."

"Was that kiss some kind of test?" Xander asked.

Connie shook her head.

"Honestly, it was payback for not warning me and giving me the choice of where I wanted you to cum."

"Sorry. It all happened so fast, and I was lost in the moment. I'll try to do better next time," Xander said, praying there would be a 'next time.'

Connie chuckled.

"This will probably never happen again. I'm with Carl and don't want to mess that up. You caught me when he'd pissed me off by acting like a selfish pig, and you helped me take his drunk ass home. Consider that a onetime thank you."

"To be clear, I understand and would never do anything to hurt your relationship with Carl. I was happy to help and didn't expect you to do anything in return. Your doing that with me means a lot. I hope we can become friends because a teen guy like myself may need to ask someone a bit older for advice.

"On top of that, I think you're special-not 'special ed' special, but someone I think I can trust. Someone who knows what girls think and can translate their craziness for me," Xander said.

"How old are you?" Connie asked suspiciously.

"Age is just a number..." Xander replied, launching into some bullshit spin attempt.

Connie gave him a look that he clearly could decipher, so he came clean.

"Fourteen. Pippa's in my class."

"F-me! I just sucked off a middle schooler?!"

"On the positive side, you certainly did an outstanding job of it. If I could give you a review, it would be five stars. If you're ever looking for more middle schoolers to do that with, I can provide a list," Xander said.

'FUCK! She's crushing my balls!'

"Sorry ... sorry," Xander managed to gasp.

That was another valuable lesson: don't act like a smartass when your balls are exposed. It was the hard lessons that he learned the best.

Connie released her grip.

"For only being a middle schooler, you amuse me. I'll give you my number so you can ask your questions. Just don't abuse the privilege."

"Not to be too forward, but if you ever are in need, I am very discreet," Xander said as he slapped his palm over his family jewels.

"I wouldn't hold my breath, if you know what I mean," Connie said.

"Fair enough. I just don't want you to think, just because I'm young, that I'm not interested in being of assistance."

"I'm fully aware of what you want to do with me," Connie said.

"Like right now ... if you're on edge..."

"Get out of the car and go home," Connie ordered.

"Just saying," Xander said with a wink, which earned him a slap on the arm.

He returned his junk to where it belonged and got out of the car. He bit his bottom lip because Connie would be at his door the next morning: Xander had Carl's keys.

Xander had to use his pocket pussy three times before his dick finally settled down enough for him to get to sleep.

The following day, Xander was in the shower when the curtain was flung open. His mom was an old movie aficionado, and this reminded him of the shower scene in Psycho. He squealed like Izzy when she found a bug in her room and crashed into the wall, trying to protect himself from a plunging knife.

"Big baby," Connie said.

"Bite me. I'm here all alone, and some crazy person ripped the shower curtain open. What should I have done?" Xander asked indignantly.

"When it's a gorgeous woman, you invite her to join you," Connie teased.

"If I thought there was a hope in hell, I would," Xander said.

Connie raised one eyebrow as she checked his body out. She might have murmured, 'Nice butt,' but he wasn't sure.

"I know you're just baiting me, but since I'm only fourteen, I'll throw caution to the wind. Care to join me?" Xander asked.

"I'm here because I need Carl's keys, and you didn't answer the door."

"Right," Xander said and turned off the shower, stepped out, and grabbed his towel.

He quickly dried off and walked naked back to his room. If Connie wanted to be a perv, he wasn't about to disappoint her.

Xander was halfway back to his room when a random thought popped into his mind: why was he walking naked? At that age, in his previous go-around, his teen self had been body shy and would've never walked brazenly naked in front of Connie. Then it hit him.

His older self had been in and out of the hospital. After a hospital stay, all worries about what others thought about your body flew out the window. Doctors and nurses constantly saw you at your worst. After a while, he'd just blocked it out.

"Are you some kind of nudist?" Connie asked.

"Remember? Fourteen-year-old boy, all alone in a big house with no supervision. How else should I be dressed?"

"I see what you mean. Maybe I should start doing that," Connie said.

"No one's stopping you," Xander quipped.

"Kids these days," Connie said.

"Please. You're just jealous you didn't think of it."

"So, you plan to be naked the whole time your mom and sister are gone?" Connie asked.

"Why not? Feel free to stop by if you want a show," Xander teased.

"If you wouldn't mind putting on a pair of shorts, that would be great."

"Anything you want," Xander said, making sure to bend at the waist and wiggle his butt at Connie as he stepped into a pair of shorts by his bed. "Happy?"

She glanced at the bulge caused by the erection that had popped up and rolled her eyes as she held out her hand.

"Keys."

He found them and handed them to her. As Connie turned to leave, Xander called after her, "I'll be naked all week."

She didn't look back as she flipped him off.

'So there's a chance,' Xander thought.