Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 03:42:11 +0000 (UTC) From: Tidus Steinbeck Subject: Stories of an Old Boy: Matty?s Turn Chapter 4 Stories of an Old Boy: Matty's Turn Written by: NeverAnywhere (neveranywhere86@yahoo.com) Disclaimer: This story mentions sexual acts between minors. You have been warned. This story is also a fan-written sequel of "Stories of an Old Boy," written by XPud and will contain characters from that story as well direct references to the story. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favor and give it a read. You won't regret it. Thanks to XPud for help with formatting, editing, and suggestions. Remember to support Nifty so that stories like this and more can continue to have a home. Chapter 4 I wake up the next morning, sun coming in through Phillip's windows. I sit up and try to get my eyes adjusted to the light. As I do, I reach down to check my diaper. Thankfully, it looks like I made it through the night okay. It makes sense, I guess. Usually the bed wetting happens after a bad dream or I'll wake up. But I didn't wake up once, so of course it's dry. Of course, I always feel more comfortable in the diaper anyway, so maybe I wouldn't have woken up? Argh! I don't know. Point is I didn't have an accident. I look up and over to where Phillip is sleeping. Man, he really sleeps in the goofiest poses. His legs are kinda spread out with one dangling off the bed and his arms are in this weird little position; like he's trying to catch something. His face is smooshed on its side and his mouth is hanging open. It makes me giggle to myself because of how silly and cute he looks. I know, I know--I always say he looks cute. Anyway, I go off quietly to the bathroom to brush my teeth and use the toilet. I don't know about you, but I can't stand going for too long without brushing my teeth. I always feel really gross until I do. But yeah, I do my thing and come back. Just like yesterday, I open the door and I see Phillip sitting up, just barely awake. I giggle and he looks at me. "Man, you're really not a morning person," I say with a smile. He smiles kinda groggily and says, "Not really. Unless there's food waiting for me." I giggle again and he blushes. He's more alert than he was yesterday, I'll give him that. He reaches for the pill bottle on his night stand and pops a pill in his mouth. I figure I shouldn't stare like I did last time, so I go ahead and take the time to change out of my diaper. At this point, I'm more than comfortable changing in front of Phillip. By the time I'm in my shorts and putting on my shirt, I look over to see him staring at me. It's kinda like he's turned on, but he's also got a question on his face. Finally he asks, "Did you sleep well? Any...accidents?" He asks me that last question after taking a bit of a gulp. I just smile, "Nope! Dry as a bone. Had to pee real bad when I woke up though!" I say this last part with a silly face to make my point. He laughs with a snort, which makes me giggle. I really don't mind him asking me questions about stuff like that. Mostly because I'm over my problems with it and I can rewind and stuff if I do have an embarrassing accident. But maybe if I'm honest and comfortable with my own problems, he'll be more comfortable with me about his? I mean, we're already pretty comfortable with each other, but nowhere near the level of comfort we were the last time around. Phillip goes to the bathroom to do his own thing while I get myself packed up. I hate to have to go home, but it's not like we'll never hang out again. Besides, there's still a lot we have to figure out. Well, him more than me, but yeah. After a couple of minutes, Phillip comes back in. He looks a little distracted by something. "What's up?" I ask. I can see him struggling a bit over something he's dying to share. After a long moment of silence, he finally decides to go ahead and say what's on his mind. "So," he starts. He has a long pause before he continues, "I had a weird dream last night...like, one of those dreams I was telling you about." He looks at me, so I say, "What was it about?" He inhales, "Okay, so first of all," he says, "This dream was actually really different from my usual weird dreams. Like, my usual weird dreams feel more like...stuff I've forgotten. This dream was almost like a normal, weird dream--if that makes sense." He looks at me, "Okay, so if it's different, why even tell me about it?" I ask. He continues, "Because something about it feels like it's...important, I guess." There's a long pause. "Well," I say, "I'm listening. What was different about it?" He takes another breath and starts telling me about his dream. "It's kinda weird," he says, "But I was, like, going through some kind of forest. It was really dark...I felt like I was looking for something. Oh and there were these weird mirrors on the path, but they didn't show my reflection. I mean, they were my reflection, but they looked...I don't know, different. One of them was trying to say something to me, but I couldn't really hear him. Then, there was bright flash of light--kinda blue-ish, I guess?--and this ringing noise, then I woke up." He pauses for a second, looking at me. "Huh...that's a strange dream, alright," I say after another second or two. Phillip rolls his eyes, "That's helpful, thanks." I just giggle and shrug, "Sorry, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say." He rubs his neck, "I don't know," he says, "It just felt so different that it felt like it meant something. Almost like it's connected to the weird memory dreams." I'm not sure what to say here. "I-I'm sorry. I don't have a clue if it means anything. At least not right now." He shrugs in return and smiles, "Nah, it's not a big deal. I don't know what it means either, it's not like I can expect you to figure it out immediately." I nod, giving it a little a thought, "Well, I might not know what the dream is right now, but I promise I'll think about it." I smile at him and he smiles at me. "Thanks," he says, "I know it's a lot to ask and might take a while, but I'm glad you're here to help." He pauses for a moment and starts to frown a little bit. "So, I know this is going to sound weird," he says, "Especially after I just said I'm glad you're around, but...I might need a couple of days to myself. Y'know, just so I have some time to think about...everything." I guess my reaction isn't what he was hoping for because he says, "Look, it's nothing personal. I just...I just really need the time to think. I definitely want to hang out some more, but--" I smile and interrupt him, "It's okay. I get it. I know you've still got some stuff to figure out. But, hey," I touch his shoulder, getting him to look at me, "I will be around at school if you do want to talk, okay?" He gives me another weird look. "Man," he says, "I wish I could figure things out as easily as you. You seem so...sure of yourself." He smiles and laughs a bit, "It's almost like you've done this before or something." I just shrug and smile, "It wasn't easy, exactly. Dealing with cancer just made things pretty clear for me, I guess." Of course, he's more right than I'm going to admit, but I'm not exactly lying. He just nods and smiles, "Well, thanks for understanding," he says. After our talk, we head downstairs and have breakfast with his family. Nothing really interesting there, but it's nice to be able to sit down with them some more. I'm still my charming self, of course. By the time mom comes to pick me up, I get a warm goodbye from all of them--Phillip's mom even says I'm welcome back anytime. Overall, I'd say this weekend's mission was accomplished. It's a good thing the weekend went so well, because the rest of my Sunday is pretty boring. It's really just a lot of schoolwork that I put off. I mean, it's more annoying than it is hard. A lot of this stuff is pretty easy if you've already had it before. Math still sucks, though. Anyway, the rest of the day goes by stupid and slow, but before I know it, Monday rolls back around and I'm walking back to school. For the most part, Monday is actually pretty boring. I have Choir for my first class, which I usually always like. There's this jerk in my class named Chris, though. He likes to make fun of the other boys who still haven't gone through puberty. Him and his friends cut up and make fun of the other kids during warmups and stuff. Really, it's kinda annoying. Like, for real, he's just gonna waste his time making fun of people who sing well? Some people can be jerks. It's not like he's even that great of a singer! Chris kinda sets me off because I had to deal with him in my last life. I mean, it's not as bad as last time, but he's still a jerk. Phillip always said Chris was the one person who could set me off. That's probably why I haven't done anything to deal with him yet. It's one of the things that tests my patience, even with these powers. I try and think of things to do when I rewind to deal with Chris, but they usually end up with me or someone else getting hurt or me losing my cool or whatever. It's not that I don't ever want to get angry, it's just...argh! I don't know! Like, I'm trying to handle these problems and not create new ones, you know? Either way, the best I can do is shrug it off for now, I guess. It won't help to try and solve the problem if I can't see straight when it comes to him. For now, the twins and I just kinda joke and keep things fun to counter his bullshit. It's a good solution, but part of me knows I'll probably need to do more at some point. Oh, and something that's totally new this time around is that Edgar Gutierrez is in Chorus with us. It's weird because he wasn't in our class the last time around. I mean, he's a really good singer--I actually heard him sing before at Phillip's party--so, I'm glad he's in our class this time. I don't know...it's just feels kinda weird, because it's one of the bigger changes I've seen this. Actually, I guess it's not that big a deal, since Phillip's in totally new classes. Argh! Time travel is weird. Anyway, nothing really interesting happens in the next few classes. I go to Social Studies, then get a little more work done in Study Hall. Reading class is after that. I always try to read ahead as much as I can so I don't have a lot of work to do after school--even though the stuff we read is pretty boring sometimes. Finally, I wind up on my way to gym class. This is the first part of the day I get to see Phillip, of course, so it's pretty exciting. I walk into the locker room and see Phillip in his usual spot. I'm there pretty early, so Phillip has really just put his bag down and started to take out his gym clothes. He looks up and sees me. I smile and give him a little wave and he just gives me a smile and a small nod. It kills me a bit, but I decide to go change in a spot next to the twins. Phillip said he needed space, so I want to try and give it to him--even if it's the hardest thing to do right now! After I get set in my spot that I've picked out, I look around the locker room. The weird thing about this being my second life is knowing some of the guys in this locker room even though they don't know me. I know I've talked about that a bit already, but it's still a weird feeling. Like, it's exciting, but it's also a burden. I know it sounds crazy for it to feel like a burden, since I can just rewind or whatever. I mean, I know it's helpful for me to rewind to fix my problems, but it's not exactly helpful to other people, y'know? For the most part, I kinda forget about that pressure until I see someone from my past life that could use a kid like me. There's this kid from my last life, his name's Michael, that I can see across the room from me. He's just kinda changing out, keeping his eyes down and minding his own business while he changes. I notice he's also got his back to Rod and Diego, who are just kinda chatting to themselves (it's a miracle they aren't messing with anybody). I remember right after Phillip had his first seizure and got out of the hospital, he told me...he said Michael would shoot up the school. I've never been really sure what happened between him and Michael, but Phillip kinda lost his abilities after that. Maybe he just overused his powers to save everybody? I tried asking Phillip about it, but he kinda lost his memories around that point. I don't know...it's a big mess. But, it's a mess I'm trying to avoid this time around. I remember Michael being a bit of a loner--pretty quiet--so I know he needs a friend. I remember he used to get picked on a lot, too--mostly by Rod and Diego, which is why he's got his back to them. I haven't really thought about what I'd do for Michael yet, though. I can't threaten Rod and Diego like Phillip did, because I'll just get killed. I mean, I know I can rewind, so it's not like I'll stay dead or whatever...I don't know! The point is even with my powers, I doubt I'd pick a fight with Rod and Diego...or that it'd be helpful if I did. I do need to do something to let Michael know he has a friend, though. Kinda stand in between him and the bullies. But there's not really much of a chance or a need to do anything yet. Everybody changes out with no fuss and we make our way to the gym. We spend the first half of class playing "Hot Foot"--basically dodgeball but with bean bags being slid on the floor. It's a good thing we don't actually play dodgeball, because I'm pretty sure Rod would try to put somebody in the hospital or something. But yeah, the game is pretty fun. The class is divided into four large teams and I somehow end up on a team with Phillip, Vik, Kasha, and Kyle. Weird how that happens...anyway, Michael also ends up on our team. It's a whole lot of craziness going on and I'm kinda distracted keeping an eye on Phillip. Actually, I guess I'm keeping an eye on him and Michael, now. It almost gets me knocked out of the game, though, as I dodge quickly out of the way to avoid a few beanbags. Although, if I did get hit, I'd probably just rewind...what?! It's not cheating! I swear I'm doing it to help the guys...okay, maybe winning wouldn't be so bad either. But I guess I can't make it too obvious. The game gets pretty exciting, with both teams pretty evenly matched. I do rewind a couple of times to keep Phillip from getting eliminated. I pull off some pretty cool plays while I do that; sliding for a few bean bags and skidding them just right to knock the other bean bag out of the way before Phillip steps on them or whatever. Each time I do, Phillip gives me a sort of amazed look and half-smile. I'm watching Michael play and he's actually not doing too badly. I guess he's got some pretty good reflexes. He somehow even manages to eliminate Diego. He must've been aiming for someone else, because he looks like he just realized he made the biggest mistake ever. Diego leaves the court, looking pretty pissed, but I don't really have time to focus on him. I admit, I do rewind here to keep myself from getting out. I know! I shouldn't cheat, but my competitive side got the best of me. I'll make up for it some way, I guess. Anyway, I don't have any more reason to rewind for the rest of the game, but we do actually end up winning. Vik and Kasha make for one heck of a team and they really were the reason we won. My rewinding had nothing to do with it. Honest. The rest of the time is basically a free-play period, like it usually is. A bunch of kids start playing basketball, splitting off into a few different groups. Of course, I start four square as usual with Kyle and the twins. Phillip walks around the gym like he usually does; every once in a while, we catch each other's eyes and he smiles at me while I smile back. Things are kinda complicated right now, but those kind of moments are nice. So, I'm just kinda minding my own business, bouncing the ball around and talking with the guys when I hear this gross sounding thud and a few, "Ohs!". I turn around to where I hear the noise, and I see Michael on the gym floor, hand covering the back of his head, a basketball bouncing away from him. I look around and I see Diego and Rod, walking away but laughing like they're trying to hide something. I rewind and turn around sooner this time and I see the whole thing. Diego threw the ball at Michael! Why is that guy such an asshole?! I rewind again, because I didn't rewind with enough time keep the ball from hitting Michael. On my second try, I try to call out to Michael, but that just makes him a bigger target, I guess, because when he turns to me, the ball catches him on the side of the face. That hit gets a loud yell from Michael. I guess it hurt just as much as it surprised him. Rewind again, but a little further back this time. I think I've got the timing of this now. Michael's not too far away from me and Diego's behind Michael just a little farther from me, waiting for a clear shot while Michael has his back turned. I run over to Michael, as I see Diego get ready to throw. Michael kinda sees me running at him and starts to get a slightly freaked out look on his face--he still stays frozen to the spot, not sure what to do. I run and jump behind Michael, just in time to catch the ball before he gets hit. Michael's only a little bit taller than I am, so the jump wasn't too bad. That really stung, though! Diego must've thrown the crap outta that ball. I can only imagine how bad it must've hurt Michael. I manage to land more or less on my feet. I hear some of the guys in the gym start to react. I hear a few "wows" and "oh shits" and stuff. I just bounce the ball a few times and smile at Diego. "That was a good throw, Diego," I say, "Try not to make me run for it next time, though. It almost hit Michael in the head." Diego just looks super pissed. He doesn't say anything, but I keep smiling. Eventually, I see Coach Rigby kinda make his way over to the gym floor (I guess he had stepped away or something); Rod sees the Coach and taps Diego on the shoulder, nodding over to the coach. They both walk off in the other direction. That worked out even better than I planned. Anyway, I turn to Michael and he's giving me this weird look. Like, he's a little shocked but also like he's trying to understand me. But just like I did with Phillip, I smile and ask, "Are you okay?" His expression doesn't change, but he answers, "Yeah...I'm fine. Uh, how did you know that--?", he points to the basketball I'm bouncing, kinda still trying to figure out what happened. I decide to play it dumb and give him this unsure look. "Huh?", I say. "What are you..." I trail off and look at the ball, reacting like I forgot I was still bouncing it. I just giggle and say, "Oh, that? Nah, I was just looking around and I noticed Rod and Diego act like they were going to throw this at you. I sure am glad I actually caught it! Talk about lucky!", I finish with a smile. Michael gives me a different look that I can't quite describe and says, "Yeah...I guess so." I get a more serious look on my face and say, "Seriously, though, are you alright? Those guys can be the biggest jerks sometimes." Michael kinda shakes it off and nods, "Yeah," he says, "I'm fine. Bye." He starts to walk off. I know something seems off, though. I'm not sure what to do, though. But I guess if I want him to know he has a friend, the next part's easy. "I'm Matty, by the way," I say, holding out my hand. He stops a bit, turning halfway back around. I keep going, "I just realized I hadn't even introduced myself. I mean, I know we have classes together, but I don't think we've ever actually met." Well, not this time anyway, but you know... He hesitates, but eventually shakes my hand and says, "Michael." I smile, "It's nice to meet you." He smiles a little bit, "You too." I keep going, "You know, I'm still pretty new to this school. It'd be great to have someone else to talk to here." Michael raises his eyebrow, "So, what...you wanna be my friend or something?" I shrug, "Sure!" Michael still has his eyebrow raised, "But...why me?" It's kinda sad to see when people like Michael or Phillip don't trust people...I guess I was that way too, once. But I try to play it cool and smile confidently, "Y'know, another friend I made recently asked me the same thing," I say, "I guess I'm a little...direct or whatever, but I like to have a lot of different friends." "I-I mean, it's cool with me, I guess," Michael says, "If you really want to, I mean..." "Cool," I say, with a small smile. I'm not really sure what else I'm supposed to do here. I mean, I guess I did what I was trying to do? But I guess I won't know for sure until later if actually kept him from doing anything...desperate. Michael is still giving me a weird look. "So...", he says, pausing for a little while, "was there anything else, or...?" "Um...no. I don't think so," I say. God, how could I be this at a loss? Should I rewind? Ah, screw it. I'll just go with it from here. I don't care if he thinks I'm a little weird. "Hey, next time me and my friends play four square, you're totally welcome to join us. Or if you ever want to just...y'know, talk before class, that's cool, too. Sound good?" He smiles a bit, still looking at me like I'm a weirdo, "Yeah. Sure. Thanks." I just smile back warmly, "Any time." We both kinda leave awkwardly with a wave. Most of the class has kinda gone on around us, not really paying attention to what happened. Kinda surprising after that move I just pulled off, but I guess I don't want too much attention anyway. Still... I walk back to my game with Kyle and the twins. I look around on my way back and I happen to see Phillip not too far off from the four square game. He's got this look on his face I can't figure out. I wave at him and smile. Phillip kinda snaps out of whatever trance he was in and turns around, going in the other direction. Huh. I wonder what's bothering him. Is he jealous of me talking to Michael? I know he said he had to figure out how he felt about boys and stuff, but I didn't think something like that would bother him. Of course, I remember he used to get jealous over me, I just didn't think he'd feel that way so soon this time. Weirdly enough, it's kinda nice to see. I mean, not that he's jealous--though that is a pretty cute idea. It's nice because it's just good old Phillip shining through a little bit. The next thing I hear is Coach Rigby's whistle. All the boys file back into the locker room and we start to change out. As I change out, I notice someone looking at me. I take a quick look to see that it's Beto. He blushes a bit and looks away. I actually got to know Beto in my last life. Beto's friends with Rod and Diego, but he's actually a nice guy. Phillip kinda got him to stop hanging out with them--Beto even kinda helped stick up for Phillip when Phillip and I were, uh...having problems. I don't really want to talk about it. But Beto kinda turned out to be a good friend. He's not one right now, but I can figure out how to fix that later. For now, though, I just finish changing out and make my way to lunch. I'm feeling pretty good about myself as I sit down to eat lunch with Vik, Kasha and Kyle. I'm glad I helped out Michael a little bit, but I should probably start being more careful. I mean, Rod and Diego can't really do anything to hurt me, but I know how mean they can get from experience, so I don't want them to do anything crazy to anyone else. For the most part, the guys are just talking about their day so far. Suddenly, though, Kasha says, "Okay, can we talk about Matty being major hero? Who knew he had those kind of moves!" I just blush and look down, messing with my food, but smiling. "Oh come on," I say, "It wasn't that special or anything." I guess this is the second reason I need to be more careful with my powers. I don't want too much attention for stunts or anything. I mean, it definitely feels good to hear, but...I just need to be careful is all. Kyle kinda rolls his eyes and laughs, "Oh please! If I could move that fast and that smooth, I'd be a basketball star!" Kasha chimes back in with a smirk, "He's shorter than us, but could probably jump over our heads, I'm thinking." I just roll my eyes and smile a little bit, looking back at them, "Ugh! Come on, guys, it wasn't that special. I just...saw Diego about to throw the ball at Michael and...reacted." I look down at the end. Vik just smirks a bit, "Maybe we could make you a basketball star if Diego would stand off the court and try to throw the ball at people, then?" This gets a round of laughs from the table. I just roll my eyes and start messing with my food again. I look up after a moment and see Phillip again. He's sitting off at a far table. He happens to look up, though, and I catch his eyes as he does. I can see his eyes go wide a bit and he quickly looks back down at his food. I wonder if my talk with Michael is still bothering him...I just hope it's not anything more than that. I must look way out of it or something because I suddenly hear Vik say, "Hey Matty...are you okay?" I look up and shake out of my trance. Vik's looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I finally answer, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about some stuff." Vik is still eyeing me, "Must be some pretty heavy stuff," he says. I shrug and say, "It's nothing...Oh! How was your weekend? You went camping, right?" I see Kasha light up. "It was super fun!" He's kinda bouncing in his seat as tells me about it. "We went hiking along the trails and we saw all kinds of cool bugs and stuff." Vik butts in, "And our father showed us how to set up a tent and how to cook food over a campfire." Kasha nods, "It was still in foil packet, but it was very good! Oh and we roast marshmallows!" He says this with his typical grin as he licks his lips. Vik smirks and says, "Kasha wanted to try and start the fire himself, but Father said no." Kasha pouts, "Well, what if we have to cook over fire so we don't die of hunger? Is ridiculous we learn everything else, but not that?!" I just grin and say, "He was probably worried you were gonna burn the forest down or something." Kasha rolls his eyes, "I wouldn't burn down the forest. I am trustworthy guy." Vik just smirks again, "The only thing I would trust you to do is to make a big explosion....BOOM!" Vik slams his hand down on the table and makes a big, loud boom. It was way louder than I was expecting. I guess it was louder than Kyle was expecting too, because the milk he was trying to drink just starts blowing out of his nose. That gets the whole table laughing, of course. It's a full on giggle fit that we're trying our best to recover from. After we're all done laughing, I ask Kyle, "What about you, Kyle? Didn't you say you were going surfing?" He does look like he spent some time at the beach, actually. He's got a tiny bit of sunburn around his face. At least I think it's sunburn. Could be he's blushing from the milk eruption. Kyle just wipes his nose with a napkin, shrugging as he answers, "It was alright," he starts, his accent showing through a bit. Phillip used to call it a drawl. "Surfing's not that great on the gulf, but we had a few good ones. I'm pretty tired, though. It's a long drive to get there." The twins and I ask him a few questions about surfing and stuff. I mean, I really don't remember him ever talking about surfing last time around. But he's really getting into some of his stories. I don't know, I guess it's a nice surprise to learn something new about someone you thought had all figured out. Eventually, they start to bug me about my weekend. I want these guys to kinda take Phillip in or whatever. They did last time around, but that was when he was the big hero and stopped Rod from picking on me. Now? I don't think Phillip would really go out of his way to make friends. Well, he wouldn't have last time either, but still. Honestly, I also want to see if maybe being around his old friends helps stir up his old memories any. I mean, I know that he might have a seizure or one of his other space-outs, but that's a good sign, right? Argh! I wish I knew for sure. I'll just go with that plan for now, because it's all I've got. "I actually ended up spending the weekend with Phillip," I say, taking a bite of my food. Kasha gets a puzzled look on his face. "Phillip?" He asks, pausing for a second to think about it. "Oh! That kid from gym class? The one you stopped the big jerk from bullying, yeah?" I nod and say, "Yup. That's Phillip." Vik takes a bite of his food and says, "I didn't think you knew him that well." I just smile, "I didn't before, but I wanted to be his friend. He seemed like he needed one." Vik nods, "So, what was it like? What did you two do?" I take another bite of my food. "He's actually pretty cool." I say, "We just kinda played Black Ops at my house on Friday. Oh, but then we went and had, like, a water war at his neighborhood pool!" I try to explain to the guys everything I learned about Saturday Splatterday. How big the pool was, how many water toys and games there were, and how Phillip kinda showed me how to make the most out of it. Kyle smiles and says, "That sounds like fun, I guess." I take another bite, "It was! Phillip's a lot of fun to be around." The guys just all kind of look at each other for a second. Their faces look like they don't really believe me. So I ask them, "What?" Kyle hesitates for a long few seconds and says, "It's just that, well...". He trails off but Kasha finishes for him. "You are sure we are talking about the same Phillip, yes?" Kasha asks with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Kyle nods, "Yeah. I mean, he's not exactly super friendly. I have a class with him and I don't think he's ever said one word to me before." Vik just looks at me with doubt, "I agree with them." I fight the urge to not overreact. My protective side for Phillip is pretty easily activated. Instead, I just roll my eyes and say, "Well, he's not like that once you get to know him." They just look at me, still not sure if they believe me. I guess it's going to take a little more convincing. "Look," I say, "I know he can seem like a jerk, but that's because he's just not super talkative with people he doesn't know. I don't think I would've seen this side of him if I hadn't helped him out Friday." I pause and look at their faces. They don't tell me much, but I can see they're listening and thinking, at least. "Just trust me, okay? He's a good guy." They look at each other again. Finally, Kasha just sorta shrugs and says, "If you say so. I wouldn't mind getting to know him better, maybe." Kyle nods, "I guess I'd be okay with that." Vik just nods and smiles a little bit, not saying anything. I just smile and say, "Good." I swear, being mediator for Phillip is going to be so exhausting! But I think if he just starts to get more comfortable with people, I won't have to worry about it so much. I know the guys will see it eventually. I mean, I have no idea what Phillip will be like with a group this time around, but I'm sure he'll fit back in ours whenever they let him in. After that, the rest of the lunch is pretty normal stuff. We just talk a lot about school stuff or new video games we've heard about. I look over again to Phillip. This time, he's actually sitting and talking to a couple new people. Huh. I think that's the first time I've seen him talking to someone--this time, I mean. One of the guys sitting with Phillip has his back to me, so I can't really see him. The other one is sitting to Phillip's right, though, so I can see him. He doesn't look too familiar, but it's not like I know everyone at school. He looks to be about as tall as Phillip, maybe a bit shorter. He's got blonde hair--not super blonde, but definitely a little brighter than Vik or Kasha's--and it's shaved short on the sides, while the top is only a couple inches long. He's probably one of the only guys in school that isn't loading his hair with gel or whatever. The only other thing I can notice about him is that he's wearing glasses--like, the kind with thick, black rims. I can see that as he and Phillip are talking, he's smiling and talking kinda excitedly about something. Phillip is smiling and nodding in the way that I'm used to seeing--that sort of half-smile he does. I can tell he's having fun, though. I'm just glad Phillip is making another friend. I guess I was wrong about needing to, like, hold his hand and help him make friends. That's good. Phillip was always better at that than I was. Soon enough, the lunch bell rings and we all go to our next classes. The rest of the day is pretty boring. I kinda get distracted during most of my classes thinking about the weekend with Phillip. I can't believe we finally got to spend time together again! Even crazier, that things went that fast that quickly. Okay, it might not seem too fast, but it's way faster than I was planning on going this time. I guess that's just how it is with us, though. Not that I'm complaining. I'm just not sure how Phillip's dealing with all of this. I mean, I know he's got a lot on his mind. I know I did the first time around--not that I have everything figured out now either. Argh! Look, I'm totally okay letting him figure stuff out, it's just a little frustrating. I know it's only been two days, but I want to spend more time with him. Man! Waiting this long was hard enough and now I have to wait for him get comfortable? Argh! Why can't I fast-forward?! Breathe, Matty. This isn't helpful at all. I know it's stupid of me to complain about it, because I know he's my friend. I know he cares about me and trusts me. I guess I'm just wishing we could pick up where we left off, you know? But there is still the problem of his memory. But he seems to be remembering little pieces of stuff, right? But is he even still the same Phillip? Of course he is, Matty! You know he's in there. He's told you enough about how these powers work for you to know it's him. He's just got, like...a wall up or something. Just give him some space and things will be alright. You'll see. Anyway, nothing really happens the rest of the day or the next day. Classes kind of go like normal. The big difference is Phillip is not as smiley with me as he usually is. I know it's not much at school, but it's still enough to make me worry about what's bothering him. But I keep my promise and decide to give him his space for a bit--no matter how much it kills me. Oh, and I also catch a few puzzled glances from Beto during gym. It's weird because I'm not even, like, doing anything. I'm just sitting around the twins and laughing or whatever and I catch him looking at me like I'm some kind of space alien or something. Between him and Phillip, I feel like I'm going to crazy if they don't tell me what about me is bothering them! Whatever...anyway, like I said, nothing really happens Tuesday besides that. Wednesday is where most of the crazy stuff happens this week. So, I'm on my way to Chorus and I see Edgar outside talking to Beto. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that those two were friends. Well, more than "just friends" last time, but I don't think that's true right now. Anyway, Edgar looks over at me and taps Beto on the shoulder, nodding my way. Beto turns and I can see him swallow a tiny bit. He and Edgar do a fist bump and Edgar heads into class, but Beto turns back to me and walks over. I'm not really sure what he wants, but I know he's not a bad dude (even though he's still hanging out with Rod and Diego) so I try to stay calm and see what he wants. "Hey," Beto says with a nod as he walks over. He's sort of putting on this whole, "tough guy" act--trying to square off his shoulders and look all big. It's kinda funny to watch, since I know he's not like a thug or whatever. It's also funny because he's, like, super skinny. But I don't want to make fun of him if I can help him. Besides, I don't even know what he wants yet, so I just say, "Hey." There's a bit of pause between us and I can see Beto trying to find whatever words he wanted to say to me. "Did you...need something?", I ask, trying to push the conversation along. Beto breathes in and his shoulders rise up nice and big as he does, slumping back down with his exhale. "I just thought you should know that Rod and Diego are pretty pissed at you." I raise an eyebrow. "Okay," I say, drawing it out a bit, "but aren't they always pissed at people?" Beto just rolls his eyes and says, "Yeah, kinda, but with you it's starting to get personal, especially after what you did Monday. Look, just," he pauses for a bit, looking around before he continues, "Just be careful, alright? If you keep standing up to them, they might start fighting back, y'know?" I'm not too worried about Rod and Diego, but I guess I need to at least think about being more careful. I don't want anyone to get hurt because they're trying to get even with me. But more importantly, he just said `them' and `they.' That's not how people usually talk about their friends, right? He even kinda sounded like he was talking about someone he didn't know, if that makes sense. I wonder... I look at Beto and say, "What do you mean, `they'? Aren't you with them? I'm pretty sure I've seen you hanging around them." Beto kinda freezes when he realizes I caught him. Then, he tries to square back all confident and stuff, but I can see he's backpedaling. "We know each other. We hang out a bit, so what's it matter?" I just smirk a little bit, "Because if you were friends with bullies like `them,'" I use those little finger quotes here and continue, "I doubt you'd want to warn one of their targets." Beto's confidence melts a bit. He exhales nervously and looks around. "Look," he says. He motions for me to follow him and heads to the nearby corner and turns when he gets there, heading down the hallway. I'm not sure if he's trying to jump me or whatever, but I follow. He's just a few feet down this mostly empty hallway. He looks down at me, still kinda nervous and he says, "Maybe...I'm telling you this because I respect you. You're pretty impressive, y'know?" My eyes go wide a bit as he says it. He thinks I'm impressive? Beto looks a little panicked as he waves his hands and says, "I mean, I don't mean it in a weird way or nothin', it's just...you're like half their size and they don't even scare you. So maybe, I figure," he trails off a bit before he says, "someone like you deserves a warning," he finishes quietly. Huh. Maybe I am getting through to Beto already. But how do I convince him to stop hanging out with them? "Thanks," I say. I pause for a while, looking Beto over. I can tell he's definitely feeling conflicted, because he looks nervous. I guess it's pretty nerve-wracking talking to someone who's supposed to be the enemy of your "friends" or whatever. But he's also not leaving. I thought he'd just warn me and dip out. Is there something else on his mind? He's kinda standing there, staring me down, but he starts to look around a bit, nervously. After a few moments, I speak up, "Y'know, I don't think you like being a thug." Beto's eyes bug out a bit here in shock, but he tries to puff up again and says, "What, you think I'm a pussy or somethin'? Why don't you say that to my face?" He moves in a bit closer, trying to scare me, I'm sure, but I'm not buying it. "Yeah, no," I say, rolling my eyes, "If you were trying any harder to act like a thug, your shoulders would probably get stuck that way." Beto deflates a bit, looking down. "Is it that obvious?" He asks. I shrug, "It is to me," I say. Beto looks up and says, "Well, Rod and Diego believe it." I just smile, "That's probably because you're showing them what they want to see," I say. He thinks about that for a second, "Huh...y'know, you're pretty smart." I laugh a little bit, "I guess so. So, why do you even hang out with those guys?" He shrugs and sighs, "Because it helps me stay on their good side, I guess." I just raise my eyebrow, "Do you like watching them bully people?" Beto shakes his head, and looks at me, "I don't. I try and talk them down when I can, but they never usually listen to me. Then they just call me a pussy." I look at him in disbelief, "And you're still friends with these guys?" He thinks for another second, then says, "No...I guess I never really was." The warning bell for class rings. We only have two minutes before class starts. Beto starts to shuffle off, but I grab him by the arm. He gives me a look I can't really figure out. "Let me just say this before you go," I start. "I think you're too nice a person to waste your time with assholes like them. If you don't like hanging out with bullies, why don't you try being friends with the ones getting picked on, for a change." He pauses for a second, then gives me a nod and walks off. I watch him go, he's a little hunched over, walking stiffly. I hope that means he's really thinking about this stuff. I mean, I know he can change, so I guess I'm not worried too much...but there's something different about being here for it this time. Anyway, I snap out of it and head to class. The rest of the day is pretty normal. The next few classes are boring and nothing really happens during gym. I mean, I catch Rod and Diego kinda giving me the stink-eye, but they don't really bother me or anyone else. I catch Phillip's eye a couple of times during class. He's acting weird, though. I mean, maybe he's still thinking things over, but the few times I make eye contact with him he either looks away or makes a face I can't figure out. More of the same, I guess. Doesn't mean I'm not bothered by it. Right, trying not to think about it too much. But things get interesting after lunch when Phillip catches me on my way out of the cafeteria. I see him kinda standing by the lunch room doors with his new friend I don't know--Phillip is facing my way and his friend has his back to me. Phillip looks up and sees me, then I see them nod to each other as Phillip says something, then the other guy walks off. He turns to look over his shoulder, giving me another look at him. His face has pretty soft features. Like he doesn't look like a statue or anything, if that makes sense. His cheeks are big, but I think I only notice that because of the small smile he's wearing at that moment. He's also got a round nose, soft eyes and eyebrows (like, not arched or whatever), and normal-looking ears. Like, nothing really sticks out as too obvious, but something about it all together makes it all make sense. Pretty attractive, actually. I wonder if Phillip noticed. Stop it, Matty. Now's not the time. Phillip looks back at me and says, "Hey." "Hey," I reply, smiling at him. He's not smiling though. And his face has this hard, serious expression I can't really figure out--again, more of the same, right? Phillip levels off and looks me in the eyes,"Hey, can we talk?" I stop dead in my tracks. I mean, I had basically slowed down to talk to Phillip already, but still. Whatever he wants to talk about sounds serious. I'm pretty sure I can hear that in his voice. I try my best to smile and respond, but I'm sure it's pretty obvious how nervous I am. "Sure," I say in what I hope sounds like a calm tone. "Like, right now or...," I trail off with my question, letting him fill in the blank. "No, no," he says, face softening a little, "Not right now. Um...after school?" He asks. I smile, "Sure, why don't you come over to my house?" Phillip thinks about it for a good moment or two and says, "Sure. That works. Once I check with my folks, I mean." "Great! See you then," I say, with another smile. Phillip gives me a little smile before he turns and starts heading to his next class. I watch him as he goes, trying not to worry about all this and failing. I haven't really seen him like this in a long time. Last time he was like this, though, was because of something he had done to me. It's a long story, but he had admitted to cheating on me--with Beto and Edgar, actually. Like I said, long story. Phillip used to be very...outgoing about that stuff. Anyway, Phillip and I had a brief break-up over it, but as heart broken as I was over it, I think it hurt Phillip even more. I said before that Phillip started living with his mistakes...it always felt like he was trying his hardest to live with that one. Seeing him just now, something in his eyes reminded me of that Phillip. But that can't be right. I mean, he hasn't done anything like that this time. Argh! Calm down. Whatever's bothering Phillip, it won't help if you overthink it. You'll find out, soon enough. Well, I say, "soon enough," but it feels like forever. Another time when I wish I could fast forward. Seriously, it's like torture waiting through my last few classes. I'm barely concentrating on the work because I'm trying my hardest not to get too paranoid. But eventually, the school bell rings. By the time I get outside, Phillip is waiting for me--leaning on one of the handrails by the stone stairs, looking down. "Hey," I say, waving at him as he looks up. He gives me a weak smile and a little wave back. I have to try my best not to show how worried I am. I think the smiling is starting to hurt. "So," I say, tapping my knuckles together nervously, "my house?" Phillip nods a few times, "Yeah. Mom says it's okay," he says. "She'll pick me up around dinner time, though." "That's fine," I say with a smile, "still plenty of time to hang out." Phillip gives me another half-smile, "Yeah," he says. There's a long pause, then he says, "Let's go." The walk back to my house is super quiet. Like, awkward quiet. I'm leading him there again and it's like I can feel his eyes staring a hole in me as he follows me. I don't know how to handle this kind of thing, honestly. Not awkward silences, I mean. I don't know how to keep hiding things from Phillip. From anybody, really. Not something this big. Phillip was always much better at keeping secrets. I mean, I know I need to keep this secret or people will think I'm crazy--Phillip said it happened to him a few times. But it feels like every odd look I get from people means they've figured me out or something. I know it's silly, because it's not like I'm that obvious about it. But like with Beto and Michael, people notice me in a way they didn't before. Just like I did last time with Phillip. Well, it's not gonna do me any good to go down that road. I have no idea what Phillip wants to talk to me about. I can't drive myself crazy worrying about it until we get there. We finally make it home. We say "Hi" to my mom and she gives Phillip a little hug, which makes him blush a bit. After we grab a snack we head to my room and just sorta play Black Ops for a little while, not really saying anything to each other. The only noise is the sound of the game. I look at Phillip, his face looking concerned. Or maybe he's just doing some heavy thinking. Suddenly, he pauses the game mid-match. I raise an eyebrow as he sets down his controller. "What's up?" I ask. He looks at me, "Can we have that talk now?" He asks. Oh boy. Here we go. "Sure," I say with a smile. "Why don't we sit on my bed?" I ask, getting up and moving over to the bed. "Y'know, so we can be comfortable." I sit down on the bed and lightly pat the spot next to me. "Yeah...okay," he says, face not really telling me anything. He gets up, walks over to the bed and plops down next to me. He takes a deep breath, and says, "I've had a lot on my mind this week. At first, I thought I just needed the time to...figure out how I felt about boys or whether or not I could trust you...trust any of this." He pauses and looks at me. I take a nervous gulp and say, "Like I said, I'm going to help-" "Please," he cuts me off, "just let me say all this first." I nod. "Sorry," I say, "go ahead." He nods and continues, "So, I've had these past few days to think. I thought about you and how you helped me. Of what we...did together and how good it felt. I thought for a very long time about how you made me feel and the things you said. And honestly? I think I could care about you in that way," He pauses and gives me a smile. "Maybe I already do." I smile back, still staying quiet. Another pause and I see his smile start to fade. He starts to look...confused, maybe. "But then," he says, looking at me with this face like he's trying to look for a zipper on my head or something, "there's all this stuff around you that doesn't make sense and I don't know how to deal with it. When we first met, you said you were psychic and I just thought you were joking or just being weird. But then you just kept saying stuff...it made it feel like you know me, even though we've never met. It's like you know what I want, but there's more to it than that." He pauses and I just raise my eyebrow. Where's he going with this? He goes on, "Because then Monday came around. When we played hotfoot in the gym, I started to watch you after a while. It's like you weren't missing a single shot, but also...like you knew what was going to happen in the game. Then, I watched you later just stop what you were doing and turn around and run to catch a basketball Diego had thrown at that kid. I didn't even know what was going on until I saw you move, but you seemed to know it was coming." Then he stares at me even more intensely than before, "So, I have to know. Are you really a psychic or is there more to it all? Because you know stuff, but I can't shake this feeling that you're hiding something bigger than all that." I swallow hard. I should be ready for this moment, shouldn't I? Isn't this what I wanted? Didn't I want to tell Phillip about myself? But there's no way he's ready for the whole truth. His memories still aren't back. Argh! What do I do? I take a deep breath. "Okay, so this is going to be hard to believe," I say, "but, do you know how when you save a video game or something and you go back to that save point when you mess stuff up or when you die?" He raises his eyebrow and slowly says, "Yeah." I exhale and continue, "Well, I have a," I swallow, "special ability that makes it so I can do stuff like that." I look him in the eyes, "I can rewind time." His face goes from expressionless to serious doubt. "You're serious?" He asks, eyebrow raising again. I nod, "I said that I was psychic because, as far as you can see, that's what it looks like. But I can rewind through my own life whenever I want." He laughs, "Right. You can rewind time," he says sarcastically. "Next you'll tell me you've got laser vision or that you can bend spoons with your mind or something." He shakes his head, then he runs his hand through his hair with a sigh and says, "First guy I trust and he turns out to be crazy." I just stare at him, "But you just said you thought there was more going that what you could see." He runs his hand through his hair and says, "Yeah, but there's a difference between `I know some things' and `I can travel through time like Doctor Who' or something. I don't know, you've got to be making fun of me or something. I don't believe you." "I can prove it," I say calmly. He raises his eyebrow, "How?" He asks. "Get some paper and a pencil or something," I say. He gets up and searches through his bag and digs out a notebook. He comes back and sits next to me, still looking he's trying to figure out what I'm getting at. "Okay," I say, "write down, like, three random numbers, some kind of memory that only you'd know, then sign it with your middle name, since you haven't told me what it is yet." He stares at me blankly, still trying to figure out what I'm up to, I'm sure. After a moment, he scribbles down his answers on the paper. He puts his pen down when he's finished, then looks at me. "Now what?" He asks. "Now you have to hand me the paper," I say. He looks at the paper in his hands, then folds it up and slowly hands it to me. I take the paper and unfold it. His handwriting is pretty neat and readable. It kinda looks like it isn't, like, there's something about the way he writes his letters that make it seem sloppy, but I can read it fine: "5, 42, 27. I got my guitar two years ago from my Uncle as a Christmas gift. It was his last Christmas with us before he died. Herbert." I take a few moments to remember the details. I made it harder on myself by adding in the numbers. That was dumb. Anyway, I crumple up the paper and throw it away. Then, I close my eyes and think back to just a few moments earlier. When I open my eyes, Phillip is in the middle of writing down his answers. He looks at me a moment later, again, and asks, "Now what?" "Now, just crumple up the paper and throw it away," I say. "Are you serious?" He asks. "Just do it," I reply. He hesitates, then crumples up the paper and tosses it over his shoulder. He holds his arms open a bit, "Well," he says, his face looking like he can't believe any of this, "now what?" "Your middle name is Herbert," I say. His eyes go wide as I keep going, "The numbers you wrote down were: 5, 42, and 27." He looks even more shocked than he did a second ago. "How--" he whispers. "And your guitar," I say, "You got that as a Christmas present from your Uncle two years ago, right? I'm sorry it was the last Christmas you got to spend with him." He bolts up from my bed and looks like he's about to really freak out. "How are you doing that?" He asks, shakily. "How?!" He practically shouts the question this time. It's funny. I remember acting the same way when he did this to me. "I told you: I can rewind time. I didn't read your mind; I read the paper, then I just went back to the moment before you showed me the paper. I know that stuff because you told me." He's still staring at me shocked. "Do you believe me now?" He swallows hard, "I guess it'd be pretty hard to fake that. So," he pauses and gestures at me as he tries to find the words, "you're basically psychic because you can travel back in time?" I nod, "Yes." He moves his hand to his head, like he's trying to figure out how it all works. "How...I mean, how does it work?" He asks. "How did you know you had it?" How on earth do I explain this? I'm not sure what the full truth will do to Phillip because of his seizures, but I don't want to lie to him either. Besides, if I want to try and help Phillip get his memories back, I need to be honest with him about some details. I think about it for a moment, "I knew I had them because a friend of mine told me about them...in my last life." He lowers his hand a bit, then sits back down next to me. His face looks like he can't believe it, but also like he does believe it. Argh! I don't know how to describe it. I keep going, "See, this friend had these same exact powers. He told me all about how they worked. How all he had to do was think back to the moment he wanted to go back to and he'd end up there. Except he'd be there with what he knew from his future. Like, that moment would go like it did last time, except he could react to it differently...maybe even change the stuff that followed because of it. He had that power for a long time. Long enough that he had lived several times over because of it. He said that every time he...died, time would just sort of...stop. Then he just thought about going back and he'd just rewind and start over with a brand new life." Phillip looks down, thinking for a moment. Then he looks back up at me, "So, when you say your `last life,' does that mean that," he pauses and slowly waves his hand at me, "you." "Yes. This is my second life," I say. He blanks, mouth opened in shock. I'm not really sure what I can say here without making Phillip have a seizure, but I decide to give a little more detail. "In my last life," I start, "the cancer eventually came back. Much more lethal that time. But, just like my friend said, right when I was about to die, time froze. I remember what he said then and just thought back to the beginning. And just like that," I snap my fingers, "I just felt myself being taken back. All the way back to the beginning. I could remember everything from before, even though I was just a baby." "Wow," he says quietly. He pauses for a moment, then says, "So, you've been living your life since with these powers?" "That's right," I say, "It's all pretty new to me, compared to how long my friend had them. But, they've made things a bit...different for me this time, that's for sure." He nods, "I'll bet." Then I see him think for a minute, "So...am I the only one who knows about this?" I nod with a small smile, "It's not exactly something I can just run around telling everybody. Besides, I'm usually pretty careful to not be too obvious about stuff. But you clearly had me pegged for being pretty different...I guess I was showing off a bit too much during gym class that day," I say with a small giggle. He finally smiles a bit, "I probably would do the same in your shoes." I just laugh a little bit more. If he only knew. He thinks for another moment or two, "But wait," he says. "So, you got these powers from your friend, right?" Here's where things get complicated. I have no idea what I should and shouldn't tell him. "Yes," I say slowly, "I mean, as far as I can tell." "So, he doesn't have these powers any more?" he asks. I pause, finally answering with, "No. He doesn't." "But is it fair to say that your friend is still around? If you just went back in time, he should still be here, right?" I narrow my eyes, not liking where he's going with this. "What are you getting at?" I ask. He looks at me, his eyes looking a little excited, like he's starting to figure things out. "You said before that I reminded you of a friend you used to have...and that things ended badly with him, so," he pauses for a long time. He finally looks back at me, "Does that mean I knew you before?" Oh, crap. How do I answer this? If I say yes, I'll look like I was trying to stalk him across my new life or something. Then again, it might help him fill in the gaps in his memories. But what if that makes him have a seizure? What if it kills him? Could it kill him? What do I do?! "Yes...and no," I say. He raises his eyebrow, "What do you mean?" He asks. Here goes nothing. "When I went back in time, I noticed a lot of little things that were different in life from my last time." I look at him to see that he's with me. "Like...what?" He asks. I keep going, "Some friends seemed like different people than last time. I think since my friend had the powers and they got transferred to me that," I pause, trying to think of a way to say it, "that it kinda changed reality...but that I only noticed it because I started over." He looks at me as he puts the pieces together, "So...what? You think you're like in a parallel universe or something?" He asks. So glad he gave me the perfect excuse. It seems reasonable enough. I don't want to lie to him, but the truth is a lot to explain in one go. I nod, "I think so. I mean, it's different enough because I'm the one rewinding time and not him. So, yes I did know you...but a different you." Another long pause. "Does that make sense?" I ask He thinks on that for a minute or two. "But...why me?" he asks, looking nowhere. "What do you mean?" I ask. He looks back up at me. "Why tell me all this? I assume it's the `other me' you're talking about--the one that things ended badly with that you mentioned before...but I don't understand what that has to do with me." I take a breath, "I said I wanted to make things right. And what I said was, `things didn't end the way I wanted them to.' I died and was flung into this universe, or whatever, before I was able to live my life the way I wanted to. You were part of that and so was my friend who could travel back in time. You were both important to me then. I wanted to do what I could to help this time around, no matter how different things were." I look down as I finish, "And that's all." I look back up at Phillip after a moment. I can see that he's thinking really hard about all of this. Maybe he doesn't know what to make of it. Honestly, I don't even know what to make of my story. It's probably going to make a huge mess later on, but I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to hurt Phillip. I mean, it is the truth, at least. I just can't come right out and tell him we used to love each other in our last life, though, can I? That he was the one I got the powers from? There are so many details he doesn't remember...I just don't want to push him away while I'm trying to help him. "Man," he finally says, "that's a lot to take in." I give a small laugh, "Ha, tell me about it." He falls back on the bed and spreads his arms out as he looks up at the ceiling. "You all right?" I ask, a bit concerned. He nods and smiles, "I just had no idea that you'd have a story quite like that." He looks over at me, not moving from his position, "I do believe you, though." "I'm glad," I say with a smile. "I know it sounds...impossible." He chuckles a bit, "Yeah, it kinda does. But," he smiles again, "I've been saying that about you since I met you." I blush a little and just laugh. Phillip's smile fades. He stares back up at the ceiling, "Somehow, though...this makes you feel less impossible." I stare at him, "What do you mean?" I ask. "It's like," he starts, "like you just pointed out a piece of the puzzle that fits next to you, or something. Somehow...it makes sense." My eyes go a bit wide as I keep staring at him. Does he mean what I think he means? I keep looking at him, waiting for him to go on, but he stays very quiet for a moment or two. Next thing I know, his eyes suddenly roll all the way back in his head. Oh shit! I hope this isn't another seizure! This is exactly what I was worried about. I brace myself for the convulsing that's bound to come...but it doesn't happen. Phillip just lightly tenses up (it even looks different from the last time he did this) as he raises his arm and moves his hand in front of his face. His eyes are still rolled back, so I'm not sure if he's out of it and trolling me or if this is some weird part of the seizure. Then, with his hand in front of his face, his lips start moving. They move really slowly, but no sound comes out--like he's trying to say something to me very clearly, but I just see his lips trying to form words. I can't make out what it is he's trying to say. I'm not even sure if he's trying to talk to me or if he's just saying something while he's in this "seizure state." I swallow so I can try and talk and I call his name. "Phillip?" I say, clearly sounding worried. Then his eyes go back to normal. He looks at his hand a little puzzled before he moves it away from his face. "Yeah?" He asks. "What's wro--", he stops mid sentence, just realizing something's wrong. "Wait. What just happened?" "I-I don't know," I stutter, "You just kinda blanked out for a second, moved your hand...and it looked like you were trying to say something." He sighs, puts his hands on his face and sits back up. "Are you okay? I thought you were about to have another seizure." "I did," he says tiredly, moving his hands away from his face. "But," I pause, trying to figure it out. "But it didn't' look like the same seizure you had last time." "I know," he says, "that's because it's an absence seizure." He looks at me. I guess he can see from my face that I'm lost, so he fills me in: "Basically, there are different types of seizures. The one you saw first was a tonic clonic--what most people think of when they think of seizures. An absence seizure is like a smaller version of that and is, usually, not as physically exhausting. Well, in my experience, anyway," he says with a hint of a smile. Then he looks down at the crotch of his jeans and says, "Well, at least I didn't wet myself this time." Then he looks back at me again with a smile, "So, definitely not as bad as last time." I just sigh with relief. "I'm just glad you're okay," I say. "Yeah," he says, "they happen every once in a while. I should still see my doctor about changing my dosage," he trails off. I see him think about something for a second. "Hey," he says. "What's up?" I ask. "Since you can rewind time, is it possible that you could go back and keep from getting stuck like this? Make it so I don't have epilepsy?" It's like looking at myself going through all of this again. I just smile and look at him sadly, "Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. There's a lot of stuff I can't fix about myself. I must've gone back dozens of times when I first got cancer again. I tried to get rid of it. I tried to get them to catch it early. I tried to tweak little things about my surgery." I shrug, "But every time," I continue, "the result would always be the same." He looks at me sadly, and puts his hand on top of mine. I smile again, "But hey, I'm still here, right? I've got a clean bill of health." For now, anyway. He smiles and says, "Right." Then I see another thought cross his mind. "But...if you could rewind time, couldn't you have warned me about the seizure last time and this time?" I shrug, "Maybe? The first time, I was a little freaked out. I couldn't really think straight." "Still," he sighs, "you could've spared me a little embarrassment." I put my hand on top of his, getting him to look at me. "Would it have been helpful if I had? Would it have stopped the seizure right then, do you think?" He thinks about it for a second, "I guess not," he admits. "If I had told you, you probably would've freaked that I knew you had seizures or something. You might have run away screaming or had an even bigger seizure, if I'd told you the truth right there," I say with a laugh. He chuckles a bit, "Yeah, you're probably right." "Besides," I say, moving my hand to his face, "I wanted you to understand that I was going to help you by being here for you, not by being some kind of crystal-ball kid." He smiles and I can feel my hand move with the smile. The next thing I know, he's moving his hand to my face. He rubs his thumb on my cheek for a moment. Then he leans in and starts to kiss me. No tongue or anything, but, man, is it intense. He breaks off the kiss after a few seconds, his face is flushed and he's smiling with a more controlled face than he made when I kissed him. "Not that I'm complaining," I say with a smile, "but, what was that for?" Phillip blushes a deeper shade and says, "While I was trying to figure out why you seemed so impossible to me, I figured out that I really liked what we did before." He pauses, then looks at me shyly, "So I figured I wouldn't mind doing it again...y'know, if you wanted to." I just smile and lean in to him, this time, putting my lips on his. I just kind of stay there as we both enjoy the sensation. Then I feel him slowly move a hand up my back, the fabric of my shirt pressing down as he moves. This is a little unexpected from him...but I'll see what he wants to do. Phillip sticks his tongue out a bit, just barely licking my lips. I open my mouth a bit for him, prompting him to stick in his tongue. This is our first French kiss this time. I'm no expert, but I try my best to help guide him. He fumbles a bit, here and there--hand still rubbing on my back--but eventually settles into a nice little dance with my tongue. At this point, we're both pretty inexperienced, but it's like we understand each other pretty well. We go at it for a bit, and Phillip takes even more initiative by slipping his hand under my shirt. I gasp a bit as I feel his fingers caress my back, breaking the kiss. He gasps a bit, too, as we catch our breath and go in for a little more. It's not a desperate kiss...it actually seems very gentle. Like we both know we're being bold, so we're taking the smallest and most delicate steps we can. Another few seconds and Phillip's hand moves from my back to my chest, fingers now running against the skin on my chest. The sensation gets me to grunt a little. I feel Phillip smile as he moves his hand so that his fingers are reaching around to my shoulder blade. His hand rests there--occasionally moving, occasionally rubbing his thumb on my nipple. Man oh man, I forgot how much I missed this. Next I feel his weight shift, gently trying to push me back. I take the hint and slowly fall back for him. Now we're both lying on my bed, still kissing, and Phillip moving his hand over my chest again. At this point, I'm tenting out like crazy. He breaks the kiss for a second, and looks at me with a smile, "You okay?" "Yeah," I gasp out. I compose myself a bit and continue, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little surprised." He raises his eyebrow a bit, still smiling. "Why's that?" He asks. I smile back, "Because last time we did this, you didn't seem this eager." He blushes. I keep going, "But I guess you've got more figured out than I thought you did." "Well," he says, moving his hand to the hem of my shirt, "I said that I did find boys attractive," he starts to push my shirt up, slowly. I relax a bit as he keeps going, "And, like I said, I've been thinking about you and my feelings for boys all week." HIs hand stops a bit as my shirt reaches my armpits. I sit up a bit and move my arms so he can take the shirt off. I lay back down on the bed. Phillip looks at me, swallowing a nervous lump, then he gently traces his fingers across my chest. "I admit, I'm still nervous about it all," he says. He pauses for a minute, then shifts just enough so that he can give me a nice, light kiss. No tongue, just a tender moment. He breaks the kiss and leans back, "But I feel like, with you, it just makes sense." I feel my eyes start to water, even as I'm smiling. Phillip looks at me, worry on his face. "What's wrong?" He asks. "I didn't say something wrong, did I?" I shake my head, "No. Don't mind me. I'm just happy," I say with a warm smile. He hesitates for a second, but smiles and leans into me for another kiss. It's just as good as the last one--tongues doing their soft soft dance, Phillip's hand rubbing along my chest. After a few moments, I feel his hand start to slowly go lower as he shifts out of the way a bit. It's a slow move down. I try to relish the feel of the movement. The soft and steady rhythm of the kiss. This may not be the speed I intended to go with Phillip, but I'm down for it. Finally, his hand drifts down past the waist of my pants, settling gently on the tent in my pants. I grunt a tiny bit and Phillip smiles into the kiss, again. He slowly starts to move his hand over the bulge that's there, working soft moans out of me. My head is swimming in the sensation and I don't think anything can make that feeling stop. Suddenly, I hear a phone ringing. I snap out of it, a little confused, trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. Is that my phone? Is that what my phone sounds like? Do I have a phone? I look at Phillip, who lets out a frustrated sigh. Right, of course it's his phone. He fishes his phone out of his pocket and moves back to sit on the bed. He takes a breath or two, then he answers the phone. "Hey, mom," he says. He sounds a little too enthusiastic, but he's probably just trying to hide his irritation. I sigh, knowing what this means. I sit back up and put my shirt back on while Phillip talks to his mom. "Uh huh. Okay, see you in a little bit. Bye," he says, then ends the call. He looks at me with a sheepish smile, "Mom says she's almost here. She figures about five or ten minutes." I roll my eyes, "Argh! Why couldn't you have ridden your bike today?" I ask. He laughs a little bit, "Sorry. I was running late this morning and didn't have time." I smile at him, "Well," I say, "it was pretty nice, even if it had to stop." He blushes, "I thought so, too." He looks at me for a second, and I can see another thought occur to him. "What's up?" I ask "You're gonna...keep your promise, right? Help me figure out the dreams and stuff?" "Yeah," I say slowly, "Why? Did you have another one?" He rolls his eyes a bit and shrugs, "Not that I can really remember. This week, it's just been a feeling like I've been forgetting stuff. Not sure what that means either, honestly." "Oh," I say. "Then, why do you ask?" He looks at me again, "I'm not sure, but if you're from another timeline or parallel world or whatever...maybe you might remember some stuff." I swallow a tiny bit, "Well, things are pretty different in this timeline compared to my last life, but...if I can remember anything, I promise I'll help." He gives me a smile and says, "Thanks." After that, we both move out to the living room and wait for his mom. We don't have to wait long, though. She really was close. We say our goodbyes and stuff and I wave to his mom in the car. She waves at me as they drive off. The rest of the evening goes on. I eat a small dinner with mom. I try to do my work, but the thought of that intense make-out with Phillip runs through my mind and I can't focus, so I quickly hop in the shower. Even as I jump in, my hard-on is crazy stiff--pointed up at my chin and ready to blow. I grab it and slowly start wanking, thoughts from the make-out session fueling me. I take my other hand and gently caress my balls. Soon enough thoughts from this life start bleeding into the memories from my last life. Every moment we shared. Every time he ever made me cum flashing through my mind. It doesn't take much more than a few of those memories, though, before I cum. I grunt a little bit, watching as my dick shoots its dry shots, feeling a bit of clear liquid ooze out before it gets washed away. I sigh, satisfied that I finally got to break that tension. I even rewind a a few times to make the feeling of the climax last as long as I can. Later, I'm laying in bed thinking about everything that happened that day. Phillip knows the truth now. Well, part of it, anyway. I want to tell him everything, but it feels like every time I try, he has some kind of seizure. It's like his brain is blocking that for some reason. And to make things even more complicated, now he wants me to tell him about my past life so he can figure out his dreams and such. It's like, I can't tell him because he might get hurt, but he's also trying to solve a mystery, even though he might end up solving the wrong one. Argh! What have I gotten myself into? I hope I haven't made a mistake. I just have to remember that I want him to remember who he was. To remember me. Maybe the key to all that is that he has to figure it out. Either way, he needs someone to help him figure things out and I'm not planning on abandoning him ever. I'll figure this out. No matter what. END CHAPTER 4 Okay, that took so long, you have NO idea! But seriously, that chapter was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed reading it. I had a lot I needed to get in there, so it took me a little while to really get it right. Now Phillip knows that Matty has rewind powers, but Matty hasn't told him everything. And Matty is also starting to use his powers and previous life experiences to start making friends. What happens next? Stay tuned to find out! Send me an email if you like the story (neveranywhere86@yahoo.com) or maybe even if you don't. I like to hear your feedback, so don't be shy.