There was something wrong here - as we ran towards the mall I suddenly remembered that it was still oh-dark-thirty - the mall would not be open before 8 or 9. But then I realized there were a lot of cars out, and people on the street. I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket - noting the screen saver was a candid shot of the gawky ginger kid - and saw that it was just a little before 9 PM. Was it 9 PM the night before? Or 9 PM the next night? In any case, Runt must have done something to change time. Wow. In some ways that was more scary than any of the other changes I had seen him make.
The mall was busy, with another hour before closing. When we got inside, Lee headed for the food court and I followed. Lee, my older brother. This was getting stranger by the minute - or more natural. I remember my past, but now there was another history in my head, one where I grew up as a Chinese boy, went to Middle School, and had a brother. Speaking of whom - Lee made a beeline for the Burger Palace and took his time ordering fries and a soda from a blonde-haired hunk who looked to be about 16. The kid looked like a jock, not overly muscled, but lean and trim like a baseball player or swimmer. Nice blue eyes, even teeth, a really nice smile. It was obvious he was enjoying the chat with Lee. That reminded me. I had my own interest to check out.
Sure enough, the ginger was in the demo area of the Apple store, playing Asphalt 6, the racing game. I was momentarily surprised to recognize the game form the limited glimpse of the screen, but then 'knew' all about it and many other games. Chen was apparently a gaming nerd. My redhead was apparently one too, for he was beating the crap out of the other two players, both older teens. I had only watched him from a distance before, but as the player standing next to him put down his controller in disgust and left, I grabbed it and stepped in to take his place.
I 'remembered' that the ginger was new to my school, and we had English together. His name was Sam O'Conner, and he had recently moved here from some place in England. There were some rumors that he was gay, but since he had only been here a few weeks, no one knew for sure. Luckily, the school kids were pretty much OK with me being gay - sure, there were a few jerks like anywhere, but it was never worse than some insults and a few guys avoiding me. I hoped Sam would not be one of the latter.
Sam looked me over as the new game started, but then focused on the race. The other two players were older than us, but it turned out I was just as good as Sam. He'd lead for a lap, then I would take over. It was more fun than I thought, and I actually got lost in the gaming until we shot across the finish line side-by-side. The screen flashed 'Tie Winners!"
I turned to grin at Sam. "Great race!" He smiled back, looking very shy. "Uh, yeah. I guess. You play a lot?" His British accent was a real turn-on, even if it was not pronounced.
This was my first time for real, but my memories now indicated I had it at home. "Yeah, I have it on my computer."
He wrinkled his face into a frown. "My mom won't let me play video games at home. It really sucks."
I took a chance. "You wanna come over and play in my room?"
I could see the interest in his eyes, and I did not think it was just the game invite. But then there was a flicker of something else. Fear? I could tell he wanted to say yes, but something was scaring him. "You know we're classmates, right. You and I have English together."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're Chen Mayinjing. Up front on the right." Then he flushed suddenly and looked at his feet.
A quick check of 'memories' confirmed my assigned seat in English. It also indicated he had been paying as much attention to me as I had to him. I nodded, then grinned. "And you're Sam O'Conner, fifth seat third row.
He looked up at that, even more flushed than before if possible. His cheeks looked to be the same red as his hair. But he had a cautious grin starting. "I heard some guys in gym class talking about you."
"Whatever they said was probably true. I heard some stuff about you, too."
His grin widened a little more. "Yeah. Probably true."
All of this was getting me aroused, and there was a lot of me despite my age. But it was also getting very real. Being Chen felt almost normal to me, way more than I thought it should. This was different than being a younger redhead. It felt like I was becoming a different person! Maybe I was. But Runt wouldn't send me off to a different life, would he? I didn't want to lose everything he'd given me after just a few hours. I tried to remember what had been said. Lee had said he'd become pure Chinese, well hung, and five years younger if he could see me do the same thing first. Did my agreement count as a wish? Maybe I was now Lee's younger brother, a normal kid. That didn't seem like a bad thing. Maybe part of my mind was already locked into being Chen, because I was more interested in Sam than my whole future!
"So." I decided we had danced around enough and reached out to give his butt cheek a quick squeeze that made his eyes pop open. "You wanna come play in my room?"