"What happened back there?" Chase asked Marcus, pretending to not be aware of the Pubertaway.
"Oh, um, just my brother checkin' in," Marcus lied, "You know how big brothers are."
"I see. Anyway, I'm Chase and this is my buddy Nick!" Chase wrapped his arm around Nick, the two appearing as if they had known each other for years.
"Nice to, um, meet you. I'm Marcus." The boy was timid and anxious in front of his new peers.
"Say, that was a good throw back there, Marcus? Do you play?" Chase asked.
"Yep. I'm the star quarterback of my hi-" Marcus paused mid sentence upon realizing his situation. He was no longer a high schooler, and it'd be another five years before he could go back. He was forced to lie quickly. "Um, my peewee league football team."
"No way! I play too! Well, my throw isn't as good as yours, but my coach says it's getting better," Chase said, "Nick doesn't play though. His mom won't let him."
Nick nodded in agreement. His build was small even for a 10-year-old, so he didn't blame his mother. Despite this, Marcus was grateful that he met someone his new age that has something in common with him. The former teen figured that he'd might as well make a new friend.
Chase and Nick continued their game of throwing the football around, with Marcus joining in. Despite his lost years, Marcus was able to retain his miscle memory. He knew better than to get too carried away, but each throw and pass made him feel like he was on the field with his team. He won the playoffs for his team the previous year, which made him wonder if he could have similar success with the Peewee league. This helped to keep his mind off of his dilemma. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he'd enjoy being a kid again, and relive the past 8 years of growing up.
"Marcus, dude, I gotta say it. How do ya play so well with these clothes?" Chase said, pointing at Marcus' overalls.
"My brother and his friends picked them out," Marcus said, visibly ashamed at what he was wearing, "It's okay if you think they're ugly."
"Well, it looked like they've been giving you trouble," Nick said, "Your brother sounds like a total jerk. His friends too."
"Yeah, they were fighting about something right after we came outside to play," Chase said, "Something about something breaking."
"Oh, that. Just some project they gotta do for school," Marcus lied, "They blamed each other for breaking it, and it's due Monday."
"But, your brother said something about a Pubertaway..." Nick said before Marcus interrupted.
"That's just something he got as a gag gift. He never used it or anything."
"It's okay, Marcus. You don't need to lie. Nick and I know about the Pubertaway," Chase said before realizing something, "Wait. Marcus? As in Marcus Matthews? Mason High School?"
Marcus paused following Chase's question, his mouth agape as the boy recognized him. Marcus recognized Chase as well.
"Chase Lowell? The linebacker? That's you?"
Marcus and Chase were on the same football team. The two were acquainted through mutual friends, but never really got to know each other. They were surprised to see each other as 10-year-olds, products of the Pubertaway.
"Wait, so your brother. He's-" Chase said before Marcus interrupted.
"My little brother. Well, not really anymore. My parents left him to watch me, but he and his friends kept picking on me and bullying me. He took my phone and that container from the Pubertaway, which was the thing that broke. I was to never tell mom or dad about how he or his friends treated me, and he blackmailed me with the threat of him getting rid of my maturity. But now, that's gone, so I dunno if I'm gonna go back to high school on Monday. Even worse, the team's gonna lose the first match of playoffs this year without me."
"Dude, that sucks," Chase said, "But why would you wanna use it? You're the star quarterback! I've met freshmen who said they wanna be like you!"
"Well, that kind of life has been stressing me out lately. If it wasn't football, it was college admissions. If not that, it was staying in shape, or keeping my girlfriend happy. I wanted to unwind and I thought that being a kid for the weekend would help."
"Marcus, you're not the only one that's stressing. My grades aren't that good, and I'm on the verge of getting benched, which means no football scholarships for me. On top of that, I've got 3 sisters at home I gotta look after, so I had the same idea as you. On the bright side, the girls started pulling their weight since the Pubertaway made me younger."
"Well, what about Nick? I thought you lived 10 blocks away?"
"Nick's the only one between us that's actually 10. His mom and my mom are friends, so they kinda encouraged me to hang out with him. I was unsure, but as you can see," Chase wrapped his arm around Nick before continuing, "We're as close as we could get to brothers."
"Does that explain why you weren't in class yesterday? I thought you had the flu," Marcus inquired.
"Mom made that up. Nick's school had a PA day yesterday, so we hung out all day. And just for the record, I made myself younger with the Pubertaway quite a few times. Feels like second nature after a while."
"Well, I bet it sounds like fun, but my brother's gonna try to see if I can get older again," Marcus said before he was about to say goodbye to his regressed classmate.
"Hey Marcus, why don'tcha come over to Nick's house?" Chase asked, "It'll be lots more fun than being stuck with your brother all day."
"I appreciate it, Chase. Maybe it'll help me get used to this," Marcus said while pointing at his undeveloped body.
"Now that I think about it, you can sleep over at my house tonight. We can even brainstorm ideas for how to get your years back. That is, if you don't wanna join Nick in grade four."
"Okay! I gotta tell my mom first!" Marcus said excitedly. The boys ran inside Nick's house to use the home phone as both Marcus and Chase do not have cell phones post-regression.
Meanwhile, Oliver paced in the house anxiously. The teen panicked as he tried to think of an excuse for Marcus. Benji waited by the window while Dennis checked on his phone for more research on the Pubertaway maturity. Just their luck, Oliver's phone went off.
"Shit, it's mom!" Oliver shouted, "Guess it's goodbye guys. So grounded here!"
Oliver answered the phone, worried that Marcus told on him. Luckily, that was not the case.
"Hi, Oliver. How are you and your brother getting along?"
"Fine, mom. Marcus is well behaved, even for a kid."
"That's good to hear. What's even better is that I heard Marcus made some new friends."
"Yep. There were some boys playing outside, and I got him to join them. Better than just watching TV all day."
"Good point. Anyway, Marcus is sleeping over with one of his new friends tonight, so if you want to hang out with Dennis and Benji, go ahead."
Oliver was relieved that he is not only exempt from babysitting for the day, but that he would have more time to fix Marcus' problem.