GETTING IT RIGHT: Wrinkle In Time Trilogy.

"Xander! Izzy! It's time to wake up!"

He was having the weirdest dream. He'd heard his mother's voice, but she'd been dead for thirteen years. Xander rolled over only to discover his bed was much smaller than he remembered, and he crashed onto the floor.

Mentally, he quickly assessed the extent of his injuries. At his age, Xander wouldn't be surprised if he'd broken something. His eyes blinked open, and he gasped. Had falling out of bed fixed his eyesight? He'd needed to get glasses when he turned sixty and was nearly blind at this point.

But that no longer seemed true-he could see just fine.

Xander sat up and found that while the fall had jarred him, he was okay. He felt better than he had in years. All his aches and pains seemed to be gone. Then he glanced around, and the room seemed familiar.

"What the fu-?" Xander asked himself, but caught himself before he swore.

This looked like the room he'd lived in as a teenager!

He glanced down at himself, and his arms and legs resembled a boy's.

'Did I really die and get sent back to do my life over?!'Xander thought.

He jumped up and rushed to his dresser, which had a mirror above it, and saw his teenage face staring back at him.

"I told you two to get up. It's your first day of school, and you don't want to miss the bus!"

Xander rushed to the bathroom because he knew he'd never get ready if Izzy got there first. He quickly did his business and brushed his teeth. Then he saw his hair and winced. That haircut meant he'd been sent back to middle school.

Before they moved, his mom had taken him to get a haircut. Little did he know when he got into the chair that the older man cutting his hair had just retired from a long-time position on a Marine base. His job had been to give each jarhead the same cut: high and tight. Because the barber only knew one way to cut hair, Xander became the beneficiary of a military special.

The haircut hadn't at first registered because, before he died, Xander wore a flattop. He remembered slamming a baseball cap over the atrocity. When his mom pulled up to take him home, she demanded to see it.

"Only if you promise not to laugh," Xander pleaded.

She'd looked at him impatiently.

"Just show me."

Xander pulled his cap off, and his mom burst into hysterical laughter. That led him to tell everyone at his new school that he'd lost a bet to his dad and that he didn't always look like a freak. It wasn't the best impression a new kid could make on their first day of school.

During his first life, he'd tried everything to get out of going. But the old soul he was now just shrugged. Xander knew he'd make friends, and the teasing would die down after the first week. Before, he'd been mortified, which caused him to be shy and lose confidence.

Speaking of the move, his dad, Wayne, was a contractor and had built them a new house in West Fork, Arkansas. They'd moved from Dallas, Texas, because his mom's parents weren't doing well. She'd convinced his dad to move there so she wouldn't have to put them into a home.

Xander had always wondered about the ruse of his grandparents not being well because Grandma and Grandpa Davidson didn't act sick when they arrived. The first time through, Xander never questioned it.

Later in life, he discovered the real reason for the move: his dad's wandering eye. He'd had an affair with his office manager. But what caused Xander's mom to force the move was his dad getting caught banging one of his clients' daughters on a job site-the client's seventeen-year-old daughter. When the client tossed around threats of a lawsuit and possible criminal charges, Xander's parents decided it was time to leave town.

His dad promised to be faithful. Needless to say, when Izzy left for college, his parents divorced.

Looking back, Xander wished they'd separated sooner because his dad was a mean SOB, the type who never lost an argument and made you look like scum for opposing him. Wayne also felt free to deliver a backhand if he thought you'd disrespected him.

Growing up, Xander had loved visiting his grandparents. They lived in West Fork, near Fayetteville, on the north edge of the Ozark Mountains, in the middle of a forest on seventy-five acres of land with a cold spring.

His dad had built their house on Xander's grandparents' land. Wayne had chosen a spot on a ridge that overlooked the town and designed the home to blend with the area's architecture. It had a Victorian-era flair with a modern interior.

Xander's sister banged on the bathroom door, breaking him out of his morning reverie. Isobel was two years younger, in sixth grade, her last year of grade school.

"Xander! Get out! I have to get ready," Izzy pleaded.

Xander opened the door and smiled at his sister. She'd died young of lung cancer. Izzy had run with a wilder crowd in high school and took up smoking. She'd been 34 when she finally succumbed, leaving a daughter whom Xander had taken in when Izzy's deadbeat husband disappeared. Three years later, the husband died in a car accident. He'd gotten behind the wheel drunk and killed a family of four.

Izzy had a sweet disposition but had never been a morning person. He hugged her.

"What the...!" Izzy complained.

"Can't a brother love his sister?" Xander asked.

Izzy gave him the stink eye.

"A weird one, maybe," she huffed, pushing him out of the way.

Xander chuckled as he strolled to his room to get dressed. He first stepped over to his closet to grab a casual button-up shirt and then stopped himself. Did he really want to get his ass kicked the first day? His haircut would put a big enough target on his back, on top of being the 'new' kid. Xander wouldn't stand a chance if he showed up looking like a seventy-year-old.

While his internal old man remained firm in his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude, there were some things you just didn't do. Instead, he opened his dresser drawer and pulled out a t-shirt with some anime characters on it, which he vaguely remembered. Xander put it back and found a plain red one instead. No need to be labeled a nerd, too. It would be best for him to try to fit in so he could make new friends. No one wanted to hang out with the new 'special' guy.

When he stopped to think about it, Xander found himself amused that he was trying to fit in. But life would have been easier the first time around if he'd done it, so that was what he would go with. His goal was to have a better life this time, and having friends would go a long way toward achieving it.

He caught Izzy coming out of the bathroom.

"How do I look?"

She blinked because he'd never asked her something like that before.

"No, seriously. It's my first day at a new school, and I have this messed-up haircut. I don't need to be the poster child for total losers," Xander explained.

"You'll probably survive your first day."

He would take that from Izzy.

"Thanks."

He tried to walk around her to go downstairs, but his sister put her hand on his chest to stop him.

"Why are you acting weird?"

The hug was probably a red flag. Xander said he loved her and ... well ... they didn't do that, if he remembered correctly.

"I've decided that our move will give me a chance to make some changes."

She considered that for a moment and nodded.

"Just quit the hugging," Izzy said and pushed him out of the way so she could go to her room.

As he walked downstairs, he figured everyone in his family would probably notice a difference in him. So his off-the-cuff remark about making changes should be the party line, which he shared with his mother as she served him breakfast.

"That's probably a good idea," his dad said, peering over the top of his newspaper. "When you get home, you can mow the yard. Doing something useful would be a welcome change."

'Yay, Dad! Way to benefit yourself with every utterance I make,' Xander thought.

"I'd be happy to," Xander said, shocking both his parents.

"Well, okay, then," was his dad's snappy comeback.

His dad, at all of five-seven and a hundred-forty pounds, walked around like a banty rooster, strutting around and bossing everyone in sight. He was also very fit because he wasn't afraid of physical labor, unlike most of the other contractors Xander had met. Part of that was due to his dad being cheap. If he didn't have to hire someone extra, then he would pocket the profits.

His mom almost towered over his dad at five feet eleven, which made them look funny when she wore heels. People could never understand how such an odd couple would be together. Thankfully, Xander had taken after his mother in terms of height. Size-wise, Izzy took after their dad and looked like a little pixie when she grew up.

Luckily, Xander and Izzy got their looks from their mother. Not that their father was ugly, but anyone could see Xander's mom was out of his dad's league. They were both blond-haired and blue-eyed.

Izzy showed up with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her everyday style. She'd also put on a red t-shirt. The little shit winked at him when he saw what she wore. It told him he'd gotten his look right.

Xander had forgotten the hell that was the school bus. As the last ones to get on, he and Izzy would have to sit next to the kids no one else wanted to, since the bus was almost completely full.

Another downside of being the last ones on was that they'd be the last ones off at night, since the bus followed the same loop in the morning and evening. Xander would either have to endure this hell for the next three years or find someone to give him a ride. He could probably get into a fight, and then his mom would have to drive him. The problem with that would be that his father would kick the shit out of him, so Xander saved that plan as a last resort.

He let Izzy get on first. When he climbed on, he saw three open seats. One was with a future neighbor, Brian Miller. Brian's younger brother, Tim, had become one of Xander's first friends in the past timeline.

Brian, three years older, had something wrong with him. He was a loner, but Xander vividly remembered a group of guys playing in the empty lot next to Tim and Brian's house. Brian opened the back door and pulled out his dick.

"Ever see a real dick before? If you want, I'll let you suck it."

When Izzy moved to sit next to Brian, Xander grabbed her arm and pointed to a seat further back. There was no need to expose his sister to the perv. He would have a quiet word with her later.

Xander also skipped the empty seat next to Brian, leaving the seat next to Karen Merritt as his only choice. What was the most politically correct thing to say about Karen? 'Fuck it.' Karen embodied her stereotypical name, the class snitch who would boldly point out people's faults if she felt justified. God help you if she decided you'd broken a rule.

She was also rotund, to the point that when Xander sat down next to her, part of his butt hung over the edge of the bench.

All that meant he'd just sat down next to undoubtedly the most hated person in school.

"Hey. I'm Xander."

Karen appeared confused because she wasn't accustomed to anyone talking to her unless it was necessary.

"Karen," she said, folding her arms over her chest.

Her body language screamed her discomfort at the attention. Xander's old self would've caught the hint and stared straight ahead, realizing his mistake. Instead, Xander turned and smiled at Karen.

"Good to meet you. You're officially the first person I've said hello to. I'm new."

"If you hang out with me, I might be the last person you say hello to," Karen said.

"Too bad for them, then. That is, unless you don't need any new friends."

"I don't even know you. For all I know, you could be a survivalist living off the grid."

"Nice one," Xander chuckled.

Karen's expression communicated her confusion.

"Would it be okay if I wait to get to know you before I decide if we can be friends?" Karen asked.

"Sure. Save me a seat tomorrow morning," Xander said.

They were pulling up to the school.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Karen said.

When they stopped, Xander got up and stepped back in the aisle to allow Karen a chance to get up and get off the bus. He remembered that, in the future, acts of chivalry would be frowned upon, but he was too old to change his ways. Plus, he figured all the other kids would push forward and make Karen get off the bus last. She gave him a tiny grin as she got up and waddled off the bus.

He'd done his good deed for the day, so it was time for karma to kick in and do him a turn.

After Xander got off the bus, he turned and waved goodbye to Izzy; he would see her on the trip home. Xander then made his way to his homeroom. He'd not received his books, so he skipped going to his locker. They would be handed out in each class.

When he entered the class, he found Karen standing in front.

"Please come to the front and check in to get your seat assignments," Karen announced.

The chart had everyone seated in alphabetical order, which put Xander toward the back of the class. Once Karen had everyone organized, their teacher made her appearance.

"Good morning. I'm Miss Howard. I'll be your homeroom teacher this year. My job is to ensure you're all here and to provide you with any announcements. Once the announcements are made, you can use the time to study. If you need help, please raise your hand, and I'll come to you.

"Once our time is done, you'll go to your first-period class," Miss Howard said.

Homeroom period lasted only fifteen minutes. The first time around, Xander had used it to do his homework, which he usually forgot. If he were honest, it had been because he was easily distracted, one reason his grades suffered. He would've done much better if he'd put in the work.

Xander knew middle school wouldn't make or break him in the grand scheme, but it set a pattern that had taken him years to break. He vowed to make some changes this time through. He chuckled to himself because that was why he'd gotten this do-over and didn't want to squander the opportunity.

This day, since no one had any schoolwork to catch up on, given it was the first day, discussions of what they'd done over the summer broke out around him. As the new kid, the others ignored him, giving Xander a chance to contemplate his situation.

How did he want his life to change this time?

In the last go-around, Xander's health issues made his final years a living hell, many of them caused by how he'd lived his life. He drank too much, smoked too much pot, and let himself go, to the point where, by the end of college, he was a good fifty pounds overweight. At the time of his death, Xander weighed well over 300 pounds and suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, which he assumed had killed him.

He remembered the pivotal moment in his senior year of high school. It was toward graduation, and he was on the track, running. He was doing speed training where he would walk the curves and sprint down the straightaway. He'd done three circuits around the track when a thought occurred.

'I am never going to run again.'

And he hadn't.

At the time, he was fit and had a girlfriend who embodied everything a teenage guy wanted. Then he went to college and started drinking and doing drugs, joined a fraternity, and never had a serious relationship with a woman.

The relationship part was all due to him, not that he lacked interest from women. But he'd seen the hell his dad put them all through, and the image of that being a model for marriage soured him on the institution. So, he became a confirmed bachelor.

As he looked back, the lone bright spot was Nevis, Izzy's daughter. She was only six when she came to live with him. When she was born, Izzy insisted on creating paperwork stating that if anything should happen to her, Xander would raise her daughter. Izzy didn't want her husband or his family to get their hands on the girl, and for good reason. She also wanted to ensure that neither of her parents would raise Nevis.

At the time, Xander had agreed because he never imagined he would have to become Nevis's father. Ultimately, she became the lone ray of sunshine in his life.

One change Xander hoped for was not to become a confirmed bachelor the second time through. He didn't want the mental scars of his parents' dramas to screw him up. When you've been beaten down by your father all your life, your self-image takes a pounding. Add to that being overweight and out of shape, and he'd convinced himself no woman would ever want him. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When he got older, Xander realized it was his fault for never finding someone. His mother came from Norwegian stock, so he wasn't unfortunate in the looks department. With that in mind, he vowed to turn that around, stay in shape, and not shut himself off from possibilities.

Something else he'd not done was apply himself academically, despite being an intelligent kid, which he proved later in life when he was entrusted with managing large numbers of people. The problem was that he could get by without studying because he was smart.

That bit Xander in the butt when he went to college. His typical A-B grades dropped to the C-D range. He managed to graduate but struggled to find a decent job. So he'd made the one smart move of his young life and returned to college. Xander still struggled, but he earned a computer science minor, which landed him a job at a top company.

Even though he rose within the corporate ranks, he fell behind because of his age. Younger people jumped over him. If Xander were his superior, he could see the logic. Their careers would be longer than his, so they were the better investment.

What set him apart from the others was his first degree, a triple major: Finance, Marketing, and Management, with a minor in Economics. Yes, he'd been on the five-year plan. Up against a bunch of computer nerds, he was the only one who understood business-aka their clients. He became the one the sales team came to when they presented what their company could do. He at least didn't talk over the heads or act put out at having to deal with a customer.

This eventually led him to branch off into consulting and running large-scale computer conversions, where they needed someone to speak to both sides of the business.

While that provided great benefits, prestige- and money-wise, it meant he quickly burned out. In addition, the responsibility of raising his niece meant Xander burned out by the age of fifty, so he quit.

The ringing bell brought him out of his inner musings. Xander hadn't nailed down what he planned to change, but he was now motivated. He figured that was a good first step in getting it right this time.

The day was a confusing mess because his memory of the past, which had become his present, didn't quite mesh. Xander forced himself to get out of his head and live this life without constantly trying to place long-forgotten faces; he would have plenty of time for that later. He still needed to do it because there were certain people he wanted to forget or avoid this time around.

Xander was relieved when the bus came at the end of the day. He got on and found his sister sitting next to her new BFF, so Xander sat across the aisle and asked Izzy about her day. From her excited response, it had been better than his.

Just then, he looked up and saw Pam Wilder. He'd forgotten their first encounter in the first go-around. Xander had always wished that it had gone differently, mainly because Pam was stunning. No one could deny that her features were carved by angels. Everywhere she went, eyes followed.

In his last time through, Pam had told him to 'move.' He'd slid in to allow her to sit next to him. She'd looked at him like something that needed to be scraped from the sole of her shoe and stomped off. He learned later that he'd sat in Pam's and her best friend Kelly's seat. They ALWAYS sat there.

It wasn't until senior year that Pam ever talked to him again.

"Move," Pam said.

"I'm sorry; is this your seat?" Xander asked politely. "I was just catching up with my sister on her first day. It's no problem; I can talk to her later when we get home," Xander said and stood up.

Pam had the grace to look embarrassed at her mean-girl act.

"Sorry. I've had a bad day, and that is where I normally sit."

"It's okay, I understand. I hate it when some random person messes with my day. It's no problem; I'll make a note of it and not encroach next time," Xander said.

"Thanks."

"May I ask, before I make another seating mistake, where it would be safe to sit?" Xander asked.

Pam looked at him sardonically.

"For just today, you can sit next to me. My best friend, Kelly, normally sits in that seat, but she isn't riding the bus today because her mom picked her up."

Once he sat down, Xander caught Izzy looking at him wide-eyed. He made a goofy face, which made her giggle and turn away.

Pam caught the whole interaction.

"Everyone has been speculating about you."

That caught Xander by surprise.

"Me?!"

"Yes, you. You're the new kid. The girls have been wondering if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Xander asked as his eyebrows raised.

"The word is you're from Dallas, and things are different in the big city. The rumor is that many good-looking guys play for the other team," Pam said.

"You can report that I prefer girls, and I don't have a girlfriend. Never have, if I'm being candid. Not too long ago, I thought girls were something to be avoided."

"And now?" Pam asked.

"I think I might be ready to find out what all the talk's about where girls are concerned," Xander said. "And you?"

"Me? What?" Pam asked.

"Are you into guys, or do you ... what did you call it? Play for the other team?"

Pam finally smiled at him.

"I can see that you're trouble. The girls here will never know what hit them when you start flirting," Pam said.

"They'll never know because I only plan to flirt with you," Xander said.

Pam's face instantly flushed, and she turned toward the window.

His old self would've quickly apologized and probably found another seat. The 'I don't give a fuck' version sat quietly and waited. He'd either messed this up or made Pam think of him as someone she might be interested in.

He remembered that the first time around, Pam had dated a senior boy when she was a freshman. Her parents caught them having sex, which was followed by a pregnancy scare. After that, she'd never dated anyone in high school because her parents locked her down, which was a shame.

Xander wasn't considering trying to get into Pam's pants yet because they were only thirteen. That didn't mean he was beyond wanting a middle-school girlfriend, and if he snagged Pam Wilder, his stock would skyrocket when they broke up.

Another thing Xander remembered was that Pam would come into money at some point. It had something to do with her grandparents leaving her a trust fund.

Until he'd moved to this area of Arkansas, Xander had no idea that so many people had money. However, it made sense when you considered that Walmart and Tyson Chicken-Arkansas's number two and three employers, sandwiched between the state and federal governments-were headquartered near West Fork.

The silence dragged on for what seemed like forever. Part of Xander's sales training had been that the first person to talk lost. His old self would've already blown this. Even so, he had to keep stopping himself and hold firm.

Finally, Pam turned around and looked at him.

"Was that just a big-city line?" Pam hesitantly asked.

"Even a big-city guy like me knows when he's met an angel. No mere human will ever compare," Xander said, smirking when Pam gasped. "Now, thatwas a big-city line. But I don't need to use them because I think we like each other, and I don't need to try to convince you of that."

"If I'm not careful, I'll be asking you to get off at my stop," Pam said.

"I'd love to 'get off' at your stop," Xander said and smiled. "But I think you need to go home and cogitate on this before we do something like that. Maybe we should take it slow, and I'll eat lunch with you tomorrow."

"I'll save you a seat, then," Pam said.

They'd pulled into a nice subdivision, and the bus slowed down in front of a large home.

"What will Kelly think?" Xander asked.

"Who?" Pam smirked. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Xander got up to let her out, then stood and watched her walk down the aisle. Pam glanced back as she got off the bus to ensure he'd enjoyed the show. That would go right into the spank bank. Being thirteen, it was a given that would happen shortly after he got home.

His first day back had been a good one.