"I can't believe it!" Becca sounded stunned. She was standing on their bathroom scale in a tank top and boyshorts, er, whatever those were called in this world. Perhaps he was imagining things, but his twin already looked a little less pudgy.
"Believe it, sis," Rich told her proudly. The scale didn't lie. She'd lost five pounds in a week.
"But how?"
"Losing weight isn't rocket science," he explained. "Just simple things, like eating real food made out of real ingredients instead of processed slop, eliminating snacking, and walking a bit, it all adds up. But don't expect to keep losing at this rate. You're in what we call the 'newbie gains' era, and probably half the weight you lost was water weight. Junk food makes you bloated. How do you feel?"
"Great, actually." Rebecca sounded surprised. "I don't feel hungry like I'm starving or anything. The walk to Chili's still kind of sucks, though," she admitted.
"We can add a few simple things: pushups, situps, bodysquats, and plenty of stretching. Your body needs to gradually acclimate to increased physical activity. All that plus walking will be good for a month or two. Then we can talk about hitting the gym properly."
Rich left her to get dressed and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. It was Monday morning, and spring break was finally over. Today, he'd be accompanying Rebecca to PLUH, or Plano Liberty Union High.
"Excited for your first day?" Dad asked. He was already sitting at the table and reading a real newspaper. Remember those?
"Definitely," Rich agreed as he laid out all the ingredients he needed to mix up the pancake batter.
They didn't say much. In fact, Dad said nothing at all. Mom's death still loomed over everything. At least he was eating.
"You really must've been taking care of Karen," he said suddenly, making Rich pause mid-stir.
"Something like that." He cracked an egg to keep his hands busy.
"She was doing better...at the end. Better at work, better in every way. That's why we decided to try getting back together, see if we could work it out. You were helping, I know you were. Thank you," he said softly.
That was the most words he'd heard his father say at once since Rich came to the reverse world. Something warm spread inside him. This man was really soft and kind, just like his original mom. "I try."
Dad stood up from the table, his paper forgotten. "I know you do. Don't think I haven't noticed, son. This house is running like clockwork, and you've got your sister going outside and coming out of her shell, even got jobs! You're holding this family together right now. I love you so much, you know that, right? Even when you decided to live with your mother when we separated. I'm glad she...had someone like you looking after her."
They hugged and held each other, only separating once the skillet was hot enough to start making pancakes. When Rebecca came down to breakfast, they never spoke of any of it.
***
After riding on the school bus, Richard and Rebecca arrived at PLUH. It was huge! More like a college than a high school. He was somewhat worried about getting lost.
"You'll be taking all the same classes I am, so you can just follow me everywhere," Becca said, sounding somewhat happy to be taking the lead for once. She handed him a copy of her schedule.
"Let's see here." He scanned the paper. "Chemistry, precal, advanced English, Spanish 3..." Rich had taken all of that back in his first life, but it'd been a long time. "Lead on, sis!"
Navigating the press of the crowd, Rich found it necessary to grab his sister's arm so they wouldn't get separated. She blushed.
"What are you doing?" she asked tightly.
"Holding on," he replied simply. Honestly, this school was wild; it had to be 4A or 5A. The narrow hallways were packed. Then he noticed people were staring. Was he hot by this world's standards? He'd been popular in high school in his first life, but nothing like this. Everyone's eyes were on him.
"Rich, you really need to understand how this looks," Becca whispered urgently.
He blinked. "How what looks?"
Rebecca sighed in exasperation before explaining it to him like he was a child. "You," he pointed, "are a hot boy, and I," he redirected the finger to himself, "am a loser. People are already talking. Can't you hear?"
It was just noise to him, but thinking about it seriously, Rich could understand why she was embarrassed. "I don't care, and you AREN'T A LOSER!" he said loud enough for the whole hallway to hear. Eventually, they made it to first-period chemistry with all their limbs and dignity intact, well, mostly.
"Mrs. Wilson is a real hard ass," Becca warned him. "Be good."
Rich smiled. He was always good. Only, Mrs. Wilson never showed up.
The door swung open and the fashionable woman Rich remembered from the park strode in dramatically. "Good morning, class!" she greeted brightly.
The whole class groaned. "Oh no," muttered a boy towards the back.
"Oh, yes!" the woman replied eagerly. "I'm afraid Mrs. Wilson is quite indisposed, so you all are now mine to torment." She paused for a split second. "Teach. I meant teach...probably. Chemistry, of course, is just physics for dummies, so I'm sure I'll have no trouble! Can't say the same for you!" She laughed evilly. "Today, I thought we might discuss wave-particle duality. Reality is paradoxical, no? Why, you might almost think it was magic..."
She had a faint Eastern European accent that Rich couldn't quite place.
Becca leaned over and whispered when she turned around to write out some equations on the blackboard. "That's our neighbor, Mrs. Fekete; she's crazy."
"I resent that, Miss Rice." She just kept writing, only turning around once she was done. "Crazy is such an unimaginative word. Personally, I prefer eccentric!" Rich and the teacher locked eyes. "Ah, and this must be the other Rice twin. My husband Brad told me all about your little adventure in the park." She bowed and took his hand in hers, kissing it like they were at a ball. "Reka Fekete, PhD, at your service."
Rich tried to pull away, but she held onto his hand. "And what a pretty ring! What strange resonances! You must allow me to test it in my lab!"
Oh fuck...she knows!
"I...I..." he tried to think up an excuse.
"Please, Mrs. Fekete, it's my brother's first day! Can't you go easy on him?"
Mirth danced in the teacher's eyes, but she let him go all the same. "Oh, very well. Maybe you can babysit for me sometime, Mr. Rice. I have two children of my own, you know, and Brad loves to go dancing!"
What followed was an awkward, yet informative lesson on the properties of light. Mrs. Fekete was unlike any teacher he'd ever had. Enthusiasm wasn't quite the right word; more like aggression. She treated the class like a punching bag, and facts were her fists.
"I can't guarantee this material won't be covered in your final examination," Mrs. Fekete let the class out with that threat dangling over them.
"Don't take her too seriously," Becca said encouragingly while they gathered up their things. "Her bark is worse than her bite. The Feketes are actually really cool neighbors. Just wait until Christmas! Their lights are the best in the city!"
"I thank you for the vote of confidence, Miss Rice," the teacher said neutrally, catching them just before they escaped. "You will both be in my AP physics class next year, won't you?"
Silent pressure hit them like a physical force.
"Wouldn't dream of missing it!" Rich said agreeably. With his ascent, the pressure switched off like a faucet. How did she do that?
"Very well, and welcome back, Mr. Rice."
"Phew." Becca was finally breathing easily once they were clear. "Mrs. Fekete is intense, the hardest teacher in the school, in my opinion."
"Did you say she had a PhD?" Rich asked as they walked to precal. "Why isn't she teaching college?"
"Eh, I heard there was a quote/unquote 'difference of opinion' at her old job." His sister actually made the finger quotes. "No idea what that means. The Feketes have always been unconventional. They didn't move in until our parents separated, and you went with Mom. Their kids are crazy smart, like winning math olympiads and stuff, or whatever competition they do for elementary school level. It's like talking to a computer, seriously. Oh, and don't look now, but all the other boys are crazy jealous of you. They think Mrs. Fekete is dreamy. It's the accent, probably."
Maybe, Rich conceded. Hell, she kind of looked like his ex-wife. No matter. The age thing meant he had no plans to date for a while, would be too weird.
At lunch, Julie Cohen waved them over. "Want to eat with us?" she asked suspiciously politely. Today, she was wearing a purple letterman jacket with "PLUH" on it, looking like a total jock.
Rich looked at his sister for permission. "I don't see why not," she said, but he could tell she was wary. He unpacked their lunches and handed one to Becca.
"Holy crap, is that homemade bread on those sandwiches?" Julie asked.
"How can you tell?" questioned a black girl, probably one of Julie's friends.
"My dad used to bake. Once you've seen the real thing, you can just tell."
"Want a bite?" Rich offered, holding up his sandwich. If she was trying to be friendly, he could at least keep the same energy.
Julie's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, can I?" she begged.
Rich just handed it to her, and she took a big bite.
"Mmmm," she moaned like she was having an orgasm. The other girls at the table looked at her funny. "What? It's amazing. Everything Rich does is amazing. That was homemade mayo, right?"
Richard nodded. "Made it with a stick blender, avocado oil."
"Father of god, you're perfect," Julie said breathily, handing him back a sandwich with a big bite taken out of it. "Can you imagine? A tall, muscular mollygirl that can cook? Where have you been all my life?"
"Fuck, Julie, how can you just hit on my brother right in front of me?" Becca spoke up testily.
"Speak when you're spoken to, loser!" an extremely muscular redhead to Julie's right snarled.
"Shut the fuck up!" Julie snapped at her friend. "Richard is loyal! He'll never date me if we're mean to his sister. You want to stay on the team or not?"
The redhead visibly shrank back. "Sorry, Captain."
Julie smirked in triumph. "That's what I thought. So, Rich, what do you want to talk about?" she asked kindly.
Well, if she was offering...
"Who do you think was really behind 9/11?"
***
The rest of the day went by without incident. Some of his classes would require a little catching up, but that was fine. Best of all? No Stinger!
Wait, why no Stinger? Rich wondered. Stinger had found a way to interrupt everything else he did in one way or another. Could it be they were also high school students?
"Holy crap, I'm pretty sure I killed some of them!" Richard remarked in horror. It made too much sense! They were super active during spring break, but now they had class! Future Hero was going to have to learn some god damn restraint!