Back home, Bob stopped me before opening the door. "If they ask, we just went for a haircut, nothing else. If your mom finds out we went shopping and didn't take her, she'll murder me," he said with a serious look, holding my shoulders and speaking close to my face. When I nodded, he let me go and slowly opened the door to peek inside the house. "Quick, PJ, go to your room, make sure your mom doesn't see the bags at all costs," he urged me as we entered the house.
"Halt right there!" suddenly yelled from the living room. "What is it that you don't want me to see, Bob?" Mom had appeared out of nowhere, directly in front of us. "Oh, PJ, what a nice haircut, you finally got rid of that awful hair," she said, getting closer to inspect it. While a few steps toward us, her gaze fixed on the bags in my hand. "That is..." she seemed impressed, "Bob! You went shopping without me!" she exclaimed, and with a sigh, Bob walked over to the couch and sat down.
I slipped away from the commotion, grateful because as Bob was receiving his wife's attention in the form of angry shouts, mom completely ignored my presence.
Carefully and trying to ignore Bob's silent cries for help. I made my way to my room where Gabe was practicing with one of the guitars.
Considering the short time Gabe has had the guitars, he played the strings with remarkable ease, at least to my inexperienced eyes. "That sounds good," I said, startling the kid.
"PJ! When did you get here?" he quickly put the guitar aside, seeming embarrassed that I caught him playing it. I approached him, took the guitar in my hands, and handed it back to him.
"Come on, keep going. I gave you those guitars because I want to see you play them," I said with a smile.
With embarrassment on his face, Gabe took the guitar, settled back on the bed, and began playing the strings, one by one, completing a circle.
Happy, I started putting my new clothes away in my wardrobe, still listening to the sound of the strings. "How long have you been doing that?" I asked Gabe, trying not to break his concentration.
"Since the end of breakfast," he replied.
It had been over three hours since he started.
"Well, it sounds pretty good" I may have exaggerated a bit, he was still new after all.
Gabe pulled his face back, frowning. "No, it doesn't" he said, but couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Think what you want," I said, putting away my new clothes.
With the last pair of pants stored away, I noticed a football on the floor of the wardrobe, picking it up I couldn't resist throwing it weakly at Gabe's head to get his attention. When he turned with intrigue on his face, I smiled maliciously. "That's enough guitar for today. You'll hurt your fingers" I said jokingly. "Now take that ball and follow me. Let's play."
I left our room on the way to the front yard, passing by Teddy's door, where I heard two voices talking. "So the boy I like doesn't have to speak first?" I heard Missy say.
"Not necessarily. For example, in Colorado, there was this guy, Spencer, tall, very handsome, but he didn't talk to me, so I spoke first," Teddy replied.
"And what happened then? Was he your boyfriend?" Missy asked.
"Yes, he was my boyfriend," Teddy lied.
Laughing quietly at the girls' conversation. I moved away from their door arriving at the living room.
Mom and Bob were sitting on the couch, Mom sobbing on Bob's shoulder. When he saw me, he silently asked for help, pointing to Mom and then to the remote control, which was far from them on the couch.
Ignoring Bob, I left the house and went to our front yard.
The neighborhood was awake, people walking their dogs, neighbors mowing the lawn, a few women jogging. It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day.
I was admiring everything when suddenly, a hit on my head made me lose my balance.
Turning around, I saw the football ball on the ground, the one I had thrown at Gabe a moment ago.
"Revenge!" Gabe laughed from the doorstep.
We played catch with the ball for a while until, from the Cooper's house, Mrs. Cooper greeted us from her doorstep, dressed like the quintessential 90s Texan housewife, with Sheldon holding a green book over his face in front of her.
"Good morning, PJ, Gabe. It's a beautiful day to play ball, isn't it?" Mrs. Cooper said as she waved at us.
"Yes, Mrs. Cooper, good morning to you too, Sheldon," I replied cheerfully, returning the ball to Gabe, who also greeted with a wave.
"Good morning," Sheldon said without taking his eyes off the green book.
Seeing her son's behavior, Mrs. Cooper snatched the book from Sheldon's hands and pulled him a few steps toward us. "Sheldon, why don't you join them?" she asked, but her tone clearly left no room for debate. "PJ, would you mind looking after him a bit?" she added a moment later, completely changing her tone and demeanor, with a kind smile, placing her hands on Sheldon's shoulders.
"Of course Mrs. Cooper" I smiled at the mother and son as the child approached. "Sheldon, catch!" I said, throwing the ball back to him. "Or ignore it and let it fall," I added when I saw Sheldon not moving a muscle to catch it. "Sorry, did I throw it too hard? Give it back, and this time I'll throw it more gently," I raised my hand expecting for the ball.
"Oh, no" the child immediately denied it. "It's dirty, I won't touch it," Sheldon said as if it were obvious.
Of course, noticing her son's behavior. "I'll leave him with you," Mrs. Cooper quickly said, heading back to her house, ignoring the looks of disbelief Gabe and I were exchanging.
"Well, you can stay here and chat with us," I said as I approached to pick up the ball. "What did you do today?" I threw the ball back to Gabe.
"I went to church with my mother. And since we're going to have a talk, I might as well ask you if you've ever had bad thoughts," he asked, for the first time seeming like a regular kid.
"Well, Sheldon, it's normal to have bad thoughts, but the important thing is not to be guided by them" I replied while continuing to play with the ball. "I imagine the pastor considered bad thoughts as a sin and good thoughts as a grace from God, or something like that, right?"
"Exactly. That's what Pastor Jeff said, but I don't think I've ever had a bad thought, and I doubt my good thoughts are God's doing," he said.
"Well, don't tell your mom I said this, but I agree with you on that one" I shrugged, holding the ball in my hand. "You might not remember having bad thoughts because your own morality doesn't perceive them as such. However, the good thoughts are not necessarily God's doing, or at least that's what I think," I added.
"My own morality?" he seemed intrigued.
"Yes, morality is a philosophical discipline that studies human behavior. It generally examines the social norms that define what is right or wrong. Your morality is defined by your environment. Like I said, your morality might be different from mine or Gabe's here," I explained as I threw the ball once again to my brother.
"I see. So, according to your theory, some of my thoughts might be perceived as good by me but as bad by other people," the boy said.
"Yes, but it's not my theory. I don't know who invented it, and I'm not sure if you can consider it a theory to begin with. But basically, that's it," I said, feeling a little bit embarrassed now.
"You were right yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any significant damage in your brain," Sheldon said with a surprised expression. "You seem smart enough to have a conversation."
"Haha, the child genius thinks you're not a chimpanzee, PJ," Gabe said, laughing, as he threw the ball back, "congratulations."
Retrieving the ball, and ignoring Gabe's mockery. "Yes, thanks for noticing that I'm not an idiot" I replied.
Apparently completely ignoring the sarcasm in my voice. "You're welcome," Sheldon said with pride.
"Hey, Sheldon!" suddenly someone shouted from the Cooper's yard.
A chubby kid , holding a chicken in his hands, approached us smiling carelessly.
Keeping his attention on the hen at all times. "Hello, Billy Sparks, Matilda Sparks," Sheldon said in a monotone tone.
"I heard you're going to high school tomorrow," the chubby boy said.
From the cadence of his voice, I could imagine that he wasn't the smartest in his class.
"Yeah, so you better find someone else to torment on the playground," Sheldon said, surprising me.
This chubby kid, who seemed unable to distinguish b from d was a bully.
"Torment? What does that mean?" the chubby boy asked, looking intrigued.
With an exasperated sigh, Sheldon denied it, rolling his eyes. "It means to maliciously harass."
"Her ass? Haha, that's funny," the chubby boy laughed loudly, and Gabe laughing too lost sight of the ball, unable to catch it, got hit in the face, which made me laugh too.
Apparently tired of the interaction. "Well, this was nice" Sheldon said condescendingly. "We were having an interesting conversation before you arrived, so you can leave now."
Seemingly annoyed at being dismissed, the chubby boy said, "Hey, doofus," and brought the chicken close to Sheldon's face. In fear, Sheldon screamed loudly and hid behind the nearest thing he found, which happened to be my body.
Behind me, Sheldon, still hiding, screamed again, making me realize that apart from his seemingly arrogant and superior demeanor, he was still just a little kid.
"All right, that's enough Matilda Spark. I think you should go," I told the chubby boy.
"My name isn't Matilda; that's my chicken's name," the chubby boy replied.
"Yes, I know. It was just a joke. You can go now. You're scaring Sheldon," I responded to the boy.
"That's the point of bringing Matilda to doofus. It's funny. Look," he tried to come closer, but an object flew and hit him in the face, causing him to step back. "Ow, what was that?" he said, holding his nose with one hand and holding the chicken under his other arm.
Smiling apologetically. "Sorry, I aimed wrong," Gabe said, feigning remorse.
The chubby boy moved his hand away from his face and upon seeing a bit of blood, ran back crying and shouting. "Mom!" he exclaimed.
Seeing that his bully had run away, Sheldon came out from behind his hiding place, my body. "Thanks PJ, for trying to make him leave."
"Hey, it was my throw that made him go," Gabe protested, offended. "You should thank me too."
"But you said it was an accident," Sheldon replied curiously.
"Yeah, duh. It was a lie. I did it on purpose. It's funny to see how you got scared. But even I have limits," Gabe said with a smile.
"There you have a perfect example, Sheldon. What Gabe did might seem bad to other people, but for the three of us, it's clearly a good deed. That's morality," I told the kid. "Although next time, Gabe, I don't want you to hit someone. Try to handle things differently," I said as I threw the ball back to him.
"Yeah, whatever," Gabe said with fake irritation in his voice, though his face showed the opposite, with a big smile.
"Shelly, what happened? I heard you scream," Mrs. Cooper asked, appearing to have rushed here, if her agitation was real.
"Oh, Mom, it's nothing. Billy Spark scared me with his chicken, but PJ and Gabe made him leave," Sheldon said, omitting the part where Gabe hit him with the ball.
"Is that so?" a very relieved Mrs. Cooper said. "Well, thank you very much, boys," she thanked us.
"You're welcome, Mrs. Cooper," we replied in unison.
"Come on, Shelly, say goodbye to PJ and Gabe. It's time for lunch," the smiling Mrs. Cooper said as she went back inside her house.
"I didn't tell my mom because I think she'd be one of those people who think what Gabe did is bad," Sheldon whispered to me.
"Alright, thanks, Sheldon," I whispered back.
"Goodbye, Gabe. Goodbye, PJ. Have a good day" Sheldon said with a slight bow. "See you at school tomorrow, PJ," he added as he walked away, stopping suddenly "oh, I remembered something PJ. Have your testicles dropped yet?" he asked, and this time, I was the one surprised.
Missing the ball and getting hit in the face, I started coughing with my own saliva.
After Sheldon left to have lunch. Gabe and I continued playing until I got exhausted, which unfortunately didn't take long.
PJ was, or rather, I was in very bad shape.
In my previous life, I wasn't the most athletic person, but my work as a paramedic made me gain some necessary fitness. I needed to exercise before it was too late.
The day passed without anything significant happening. Gabe went out to ride his bike, Teddy continued to stay locked in her room despite Missy having returned home, and I started studying PJ's books and notebooks again. They were battered, with missing pages with the ones that were there had different strange drawings next to song lyrics.
Fortunately, all the knowledge was still there.
The next day.
After returning from a short run around the neighborhood, which was part of my new routine to improve my fitness, and after taking a shower. I headed to the kitchen, where I could hear a lot of noise, there I greeted Teddy and Gabe, who were having breakfast at the kitchen table watching in complete silence, terrified, as Mom hurriedly prepared sandwiches, at the same time as she furiously stuffed fruit into paper bags, one for each of us.
"Darn it, Bob couldn't haveyou scheduled that meeting later?" she asked, talking to herself. "Now I have to rush to drop off Gabe, then Teddy, and finally PJ. They're going to be late on their first day of school," she muttered with annoyance as she vigorously spread mayonnaise on one of the bread slices.
"Good morning, Mom. Do you need any help?" I asked, moving closer to the kitchen counter to grab an apple.
Looking as if she were about to explode when she turned to look at me, Mom changed her expression almost immediately. "Yes, please" she said, relieved "I need you to turn off the sprinklers while I finish preparing your siblings' lunches."
Heading to the front yard, I saw Mr. Cooper and Georgie leaving their house, heading toward Mr. Cooper's van.
Quickly closing the sprinkler valve, I ran towards them and called out, "Good morning" I said, getting the attention of the neighbors. "Since you're going to school, could you give me a ride too? Dad had to attend a meeting with a client, and Mom can't take us all on time" I added, smiling stiffly.
"Good morning PJ. Sure, go get your things, we'll wait for you." Mr. Cooper replied, opening the van door and getting in with Georgie.
Thanking them, I rushed back inside the house. "Mom, Mr. Cooper can give me a ride to school. You can relax now," I told her as I grabbed one of the paper bags, my backpack, and a small suitcase containing my cleats for the tryout.
"Oh, thank him for me, PJ," she said, relieved. As I passed by her, she stopped me by the arm and kissed my forehead. "Good luck on your first day of school," she smiled sweetly at me, giving me a hug, which I returned.
After bidding farewell to Mom and the kids, I left the house, heading towards the Coopers who were waiting for me next to their van.
Inside Mr. Cooper's van on the way to school...
"Are you okay?" I asked, as I noticed Georgie seemed upset.
"No, stupid bow-tie," he muttered under his breath, clearly annoyed.
"Bow-tie?" I asked.
"Yeah, my stupid brother lost it, and mom blamed me when I didn't take anything," the frustrated teenager replied with a sigh.
"Hey! Don't call your brother that" Mr. Cooper warned him. "If your mom got upset, it's because she's worried about Sheldon" he added a moment later, much calmer, "it wasn't your fault, yes. But you can't blame your mom. It seems like you hate the idea of your brother being in the same school as you."
"How could I not. You know what he's like. They're going to make fun of him, and worse, of me" Georgie said, even more annoyed.
"Yes it may happen" Mr. Cooper said nervously, it was obvious that there was no doubt in his mind that it would happen, "I know, but it's your duty as the older brother to protect him, Georgie" he added seriously.
Georgie looked like he was about to complain, but Mr. Cooper continued.
"Let's hope your brother can behave a bit in school, and if not... well, you really don't have to hang out with him. Just make sure he doesn't get hurt," he added more in the form of order as he parked in the school parking lot, "Are we clear?"
"Yes sir," Georgie said, immediately afterwards storming out of the van towards the school.
Quite uncomfortable about what had happened. "Thanks for driving me, Mr. Cooper," I said, rigidly as I prepared to leave, but he stopped me by holding my shoulder.
"PJ, I know it's not your responsibility, and I shouldn't ask you, but I would appreciate it if you checked on Sheldon from time to time" Mr. Cooper said, showing some concern. "Georgie's upset with everyone, and I don't want him to do something stupid because of it."
Nodding. "Of course, Mr. Cooper. Don't worry about it" I said quickly, "I think I get along pretty well with Sheldon despite his... eccentricities" I assured him, "so I'll keep an eye on him."
Laughing nervously. "Great, thanks," said the man, nodding gratefully, "well, have a good first day son."
"I hope so" I said jokingly, it wasn't entirely a joke. "See you at the tryouts," I added as I got out of the van.
I didn't remember how nervous one could be on the first day of school.
The entrance of the school was divided into many different groups. I could see the popular kids with the cheerleaders, the punks dressed in all black, with extravagant hairstyles, piercings, and makeup. There were skaters chatting while doing small tricks, a pregnant girl, and other people who didn't fit into any specific category but even so, they were in groups.
As I walked inside the school, I felt some glances on my back and murmurs behind me. Being in a small town, it was natural that people would wonder who I was. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still felt the pressure.
In one of the hallways, I ran into Georgie, who was talking to three other people. When I got close, he noticed me smiling and waving immediately. "David, Alan, Brock, this is PJ Duncan, my neighbor" he said, urging me to come closer. "He'll be trying out with us" he explained, holding my shoulder, "David, Brock and I have been friends since middle school Alan is also new in town, so we've only known each other for a couple of weeks."
"It's good to know I won't be the only one getting stares then" I said, smiling at the most serious of the three teenagers in front of me.
Forcing a small smile. "Yeah" he murmured.
Getting to know the three of them a little better, we started walking towards the classroom and the conversation, which initially focused on football and high school, quickly shifted to they were discussing the most common topic among teenagers their age, girls, breasts, and butts.
At some point in the conversation, they included me. "Hey PJ, what kind of girl do you like, big butts or big breasts?"
"Well, I've never really thought about it, but I guess it doesn't matter to me, honestly." As soon as I said that, they fell silent, looking at each other until Brock spoke up.
"Yeah, you're right! It doesn't matter whether they have a big butt or big breasts; both are great."
He then asked for a high-five, and I happily obliged.
I didn't mean that, but I didn't mind correcting him either.
When we arrived at the classroom, I sat next to Brock at one of the two-seater tables. They continued discussing other topics now that we were surrounded by more people in a smaller space, from comics to music and last week's game. Occasionally, they asked for my opinion in a discussion, "Who do you think would win, Spiderman or Rambo?" or "Which robot do you think is cooler, Terminator or Robocop?" They kept going until David pointed at the door. "Isn't that your little brother, Georgie?" he asked.
Standing at the door, looking like a little adult with a tucked-in dress shirt and a briefcase in his hand, Sheldon scanned the room. When he spotted his brother and me sitting at the back of the classroom, he waved at us and approached, "Good morning, PJ. Have you noticed that many classmates break the code of conduct? Do you think their morality prevents them from following the rules?" he asked, intrigued.
"No, Sheldon, I think this time they're just people who want to dress how they like," I replied to the boy, who furrowed his brow in confusion upon hearing the answer.
"But you told me that-"
"Go sit down, Sheldon, don't talk to us during class," Georgie said, exasperated.
"But I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to PJ," Sheldon said, causing his three old friends to mock him.
"Yeah Georgie, he was talking to PJ, not you," Brock said mockingly.
"Don't interrupt his conversation, you disrespectful little guy," Alan added to the joke, trying to imitate Sheldon's way of speaking.
"You see, even your friends understand," Sheldon said petulantly.
Georgie seemed about to explode, so I intervened, "Come on, Sheldon, go find a seat, class is about to start. If you're not seated when the bell rings, you'll be breaking a rule," I said in a playful scolding tone.
Surprised, Sheldon quickly picked up his briefcase and briskly walked to the front of the classroom, where a girl with glasses occupied a desk. A second later, the bell rang, causing Sheldon to jump in his seat and turn to me, giving a thumbs up with a satisfied smile.
"Thanks for that," Georgie said, smiling.
"Don't mention it," I replied, smiling back.
...
Author's thoughts
I am not a believer, but I don't like being disrespectful. Everything written in this chapter is without the intention of offending any religious person or religion. The main character doesn't believe in God and is not afraid to say it. I hope I haven't offended anyone, and if I have, I apologize.
Again, I am not American, so I don't know how high school works or how football works. While writing this chapter, I did some research on the positions of the players, but I'm not sure if the lineup I created is correct, nor do I know if freshmen can play on the school team. It's all based on the idea from the first chapter of Young Sheldon.
David, Alan, and Broke are characters from some high school football movies (I have to watch them) (The movies are Remember the titans and Facing the Giants) to better understand their personalities because in this first arc, I plan to make them recurring characters in the story.
Now, in other news, 15k words finally achieved!!! Many thanks to all who have been reading this story even before it could be on the rankings. Now that we've reached 15k words, I hope more readers will come, and with them, more power stones (MORE MORE MORE!!!).
For the first and last time, I want to thank the people who gave stones before reaching the ranking (if we reach it, I fervently hope we do).
Thanks to: shuppandi, Dan_Stone, lazyyass, sirraven, ChoasD, Bilal_Irshad_4549, Jimmy_Reyna, Renzreadsalot, Amanda_Botelho_Fre, crazy_knigth, PlumTrees, I_just_read_123, Noobbea, ronysa, and DAFR.
Special thanks to Victor_Venegas, Luicfer_2807, and daniel_lucas for leaving a 5-star review even though I'm not so sure I´m worthy receiving them yet.
I would also like to thank BBN97, DaoistyxNV2e, and Godkinhdhfrhdgg for commenting on the chapters. I really appreciate the feedback and supportive comments.
You have no idea how happy I am that you like my story.
That's all, if you find any errors, please comment so I can correct them. See you later.
PS: The Discord is almost ready; I've been studying to make it as aesthetic as possible :D.
...
July 15, 2026.
Edited.