Dinner went rather well, all things considered. It was Sunday night and so the whole family enjoyed the meal together--something rare these days considering how their different schedules, clubs, and activities all had them going different directions every evening. Sunday night meal however was reserved for a good meal along with a board game. Something that had been more exciting when they'd all been younger, but now was hit or miss depending upon everyone's moods.
Sam or "Dad" as Reg would call him, was a different man from the perspective of being his son now, compared to being his father-in-law. Reginald as the father-in-law had always been suspicious of Sam--with a niggling feeling at the back of his mind that he wasn't quite good enough for Angie or "Mom". That suspicion was vaguely there, but buried now beneath memories of Dad taking him and his brothers to baseball games, the local water park during summer, and helping him with his homework when he got stuck--no matter how tired or stressed out he got from work. Dad was definitely an excellent dad--maybe he wasn't as outwardly or vocally affectionate as he could be, but his actions spoke volumes.
While Dad was the quiet one in the family, "Mom" was definitely the talker.
"Reggie, you've hardly eaten your salad--not hungry?" asked "Mom". Inwardly Reg scowled at hearing the childish nickname he still allowed his family to call him by, but only them. And he was starting to grow tired of even just hearing it from them.
"Huh? Oh... sorry," said Reg as he took a few more bites of the leafy greens smothered in ranch dressing.
"Reggie's thinking of his girlfriend," teased Ben. Instinctively Reg kicked Ben's legs--without thinking about whether or not what Ben had said was true.
"Do you now? Is it someone we know?" asked Mom.
"We just keen---uh, like being together. We're not going ste--on dates or anything," said Reg, his mind struggling with what to say and slipping back and forth between what he might have said when 14 the first time around.
Mom gave him a concerned look--uh oh, had she noticed his slip ups? But it was Dad who spoke.
"You sound like you're tired, Reg, might want to hit the hay a little early tonight." Immediately Reg's opinion of Dad shot through the roof--Dad adapted to using the nickname he liked?! Boy did he feel like a million dollars.
And so, Reg turned in early not long after dinner, while the rest of the family played a board game. Reg awoke early, just before his alarm was due to go off, which allowed him to turn it off and keep little brother Ben asleep--something Reg knew instinctively was a good thing as Ben was anything but a morning lark, and the less griping Reg had to hear about getting up, the better. Reg dressed in clothes that he recalled David wearing a year or so ago when he'd been Reginald--which only served to remind Reg that being the middle brother came with hand-me-downs along with the shared bedroom.
Reg was down and ready for breakfast before David and Mom were due to be up. He was greated by a still groggy looking Dad who was buttering a piece of toast to go with his usual black coffee. Reg reached for a pop tart--something he would never have eaten as Reginald--and put two into the toaster before going to pour a glass of Orange Juice.
"Morning Dad," said Reg, feeling completely natural doing so.
Dad grunted as he took a bite of his toast before taking a long sip of his coffee.
"I was thinking Reg, it's been a while since we've been fishing--you up to head out to the lake after school tomorrow?" asked Dad.
"Sure. That'd be fun," said Reg as he grabbed the now heated Pop-Tarts from the toaster.
"And you can bring that girl you like being with if you like," he added.
Reg rolled his eyes. He couldn't even picture this girl that his family was so keen on learning about. For some reason when he tried to think of her, his memories got all blurry.
"I'll ask... see if she's interested," said Reg as stuffed his face with one strawberry pop-tart.
Another grunt from Dad was the extent of the remaining part of the conversation Reg knew, and so they finished breakfast in silence until David came down to the kitchen from after taking his morning shower.
"Ready to go little bro?" asked David as he reached over and messed with Reg's hair a bit, a sly grin on his face as Reg batted his hand away.
"Quit it," said Reg.
"Well, my ride will be leaving the driveway in five minutes. Get your ass in gear if you want a ride," said David as he grabbed his messenger bag and headed out the kitchen door. Reg downed his OJ and took his remaining pop-tart and followed quickly after David out the door.
David having a car worked out rather nicely for Reg--as it meant no longer having to take the bus. Sure it was a beat up old junker that David had been slowly working on and keeping alive by the skin of its teeth, but it was better than the bus. Once they were parked at the school, David went his own separate way to his locker while Reg headed in the direction his memories were telling him his locker was.
"Hey Reg!" called out someone as he found his locker. Reg turned to see a tall gangly giant of a boy with black hair, brown eyes, and light-brown complexion. His memories told him this was Aryk, his best friend since kindergarten, and someone the basketball coach was trying desperately to recruit for his team. Aryk was however less of an athlete and more of a geek who liked all things Sci-Fi. Not the really popular Sci-Fi stuff, like Star Wars, Stargate, and Star Trek--though all of those things were... fine. No, Aryk was more interested in the stuff by writers like Benny Russell, Octavia Butler, Rivers Solomon, Alaya Johnson, and Ursula Le Guin.
"Hey. Your weekend at your gran's go well?" asked Reg as he looked at his schedule--thankfully a copy of which was taped on the inside of his locker. Something that he'd done the first time he'd been 14 and thankfully still did this time around as well.
"If I have to eat any more of her gumbo I'll turn into a shrimp."
"If you don't like it, why not just not eat it?" asked Reg, genuinely.
"Cause I don't like food forced down my mouth like a cat taking pills."
"Fair," said Reg.
"Besides that, just the same old. I did finish off that Le Guin novel I'd been putting off."
Reg listened while Aryk went on about the plot of a book Reg had only vaguely remembered hearing as he pulled the books he needed until Lunch and stuffed them in his backpack.
"Come on, Aryk, give Reg a break from your nerdgasm," said a voice that pricked up Reg's ears the moment he heard it. He turned to see Elle, the girl whom he quite quickly realized his brother had been teasing him about last night. She was bit of a cynical realist who found Aryk and Reg's more positive and enthusiastic personalities a bit of a refresher from her own cynicism. For some reason every time Reg saw her, even if she was just wearing a t-shirt, ripped jeans, and a flannel shirt tied about her waist, his stomach did flips.
"Come on Elle, I was just getting to the best part of the story!" protested Aryk.
Elle pushed Reg's locker door shut and then slid up along side of Reg, causing his heart to beat that much faster by how close she was to him.
"Maybe in an hour or so," retorted Elle with a smirk.
"Hey good look--I mean you look good this morning... uh Elle," said Reg as he fumbled with his words a bit.
"Smooth words," teased Elle.