Liam's eyes caught sight of Manny, who was standing a little distance away—alone but completely unbothered, exuding confidence. Liam noticed Manny occasionally sending a glance or two toward him, which piqued his curiosity and desire to meet Manny.
In the show, Manny was, in many ways, one of Liam's top three favorite characters, especially young Manny.
Liam sighed and walked over to Manny.
"Hey, why are you standing alone?"
Manny blinked. "Just… thinking.
About life.
And poetry. And how middle school is basically a metaphor for purgatory."
Liam paused in surprise.
That's right—this is who Manny is, Liam chuckled to himself, even though he knew Manny he was still blindsided.
"That's… bleak. But accurate," Liam replied.
Manny gave a half-smile and kept quiet for a bit. The silence lingered, disrupted by loud laughter and screams in the back, teachers shouting instructions, vehicles pulling in and leaving, and doors slamming. A pleasant breeze drifted through.
Liam said nothing—he, too, enjoyed the moment.
It all feels so real… he thought as he glanced around.
"Hailey said I was too weird to hang out with her. Again." Liam gave Manny a side-eye.
"Don't take it personally. Hailey thinks anyone who doesn't flat-iron their soul and fit in is weird," Liam joked, making Manny chuckle.
"You're different from her," Manny noted quietly.
"Well, I like to think I have taste," Liam said with a smirk.
A mini van pulled up, and Claire honked once.
"Well, it seems my ride has arrived. Talk to you later, Manny," Liam said as he bumped Manny's shoulder.
"Ah yes—goodbye," Manny said with a smile. Liam nodded and headed toward the minivan.
Inside the minivan, Claire glanced at Luke, who was sitting in the front with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
"Luke, honey, what's the matter?" Claire asked with a small sigh as she drove.
"I didn't wanna go to school today," Luke mumbled.
"Honey, why?"
Humph.
Luke made a sound as he looked away. Claire sighed and kept driving.
"Liam, honey, I got a call today that you were late to your first-period class," Claire said, causing Liam to chuckle awkwardly.
"I met a new friend, and as we were talking I lost track of time," Liam replied, covering for the fact he genuinely did not want to go to those boring classes. His internal conflict was what made him late when the bell rang. In the end, he just decided to attend anyway.
"Oh, okay—well, try not to be late again," Claire said. She then looked at Alex and asked how her quiz went, to which Alex confidently replied, "I crushed my competition."
"Hailey, what about you? Anything new?" Claire asked.
"No, there is nothing new," Hailey replied noncommittally, still playing with her phone. Luke in the front smirked.
"Hey, Mom, I heard Hailey has a boyfriend," Luke said, causing Hailey's eyes to peel away from her phone in shock.
"WHAT?!" Claire exclaimed.
"Yeah—I heard his name is Dy…" Luke was about to continue when Hailey quickly clamped her hand over his mouth.
"Mmmm!" Luke struggled to speak, but Hailey held firm.
"Hailey, I can't believe this," Claire said.
"How could you be dating boys? You're 15!" Claire stressed.
"No, this is unacceptable—how old is he?" Claire pressed.
"Mom, Luke is lying," Hailey said, trying to salvage the situation. But Luke bit Hailey's hand, forcing her to release his mouth.
"His name is Dylan, and he's 18," Luke shouted.
"How do you even know all of that?!" Hailey angrily demanded.
"That's it—I want to meet this Dylan. Tell him to come over tomorrow," Claire declared.
"But, Mom…" Hailey tried pleading.
"No—absolutely not. I must meet this young man first," Claire stated, leaving no room for discussion.
Luke laughed to himself as he watched Hailey.
"Ugh, you guys are so annoying!" She shouted as she sat back on her seat with her arms crossed.
Liam and Alex in the back exchanged glances, thoroughly enjoying the chaos.
Pulling into the driveway, everybody exited the van and headed inside the house.
An hour flew by while Liam sat on the couch, scanning the news to find out whether there were other worlds mashed into this as well, when he heard the front door open.
"Hello, family—I'm home!" a loud shout resounded.
"DAD!" Luke ran down from upstairs and rushed to hug Phil.
"Hey, Dad," Liam waved.
Feeling a twist in his stomach.
He was not used to this at all.
In his previous life, he didn't have any parents or siblings, so this was all a little weird.
"Hey Liam! how was school?" Phil asked with a smile.
"It was good," Liam replied, smiling back.
"That's awesome, buddy," Phil said happily.
Claire, arms crossed, approached Phil.
"Guess what your daughter Hailey is doing," she asked.
"What is it?" Phil asked curiously, his tired smile fading.
At that moment, Luke released his hug and slowly backed into the hall.
"She's dating a boy three years older than her," Claire said with a frown.
Phil's smile slowly disappeared. "Oh…"
"Yes—I've asked him to come tomorrow so we can meet this Dylan," Claire said.
"Hmm. I see," Phil said, face blank and a little lost.
Time flew by, and it was the next day—the weekend Dylan was supposed to come over.
Liam was awakened by Claire shouting for them to come down, but he didn't move.
He just lay there, staring up at the upper bunk.
The warm blanket wrapped around him, the soft mattress beneath him, the smell of pancakes filling the air—a childhood.
This all feels way too real, he thought as he stood up.
"Even if this turns out to be fake, I wouldn't mind… maybe I can live a whole life I'd never have the chance to enjoy in the real world…" Liam thought, feeling a little depressed.
"I'm almost 95% sure this is all an illusion, maybe I'm in a coma, or just on a very strong salvia trip" he thought as he tapped the window.
Looking outside, he saw the house across the road, the backyard beyond, the street that strencthed far.
He glanced at his fingers touching the cold glass in silence.
But there's still 5% of my brain that thinks:
"Maybe this is all real—maybe I was reincarnated into another world," Liam murmured, though he did not want to believe it as he did not want to be disappointed in the end when it turns out this was not real.