Morning sunlight stabbed through the curtain gaps directly onto Ethan's face, warm and absolutely refusing to be ignored.
Ethan was sprawled across his bed like a starfish, deep in that perfect AC-cooled sleep zone.
Suddenly.
His bedroom door slammed open with a BANG.
"ETHAN! The sun is UP! Get your butt out of bed!"
His mom's voice exploded through the room, accompanied by her rapid footsteps as she headed out for work:
"Three PM! You're picking up your sister! Do NOT be late! You hear me? The Amtrak arrives on time!"
Ethan was jolted completely awake by this sonic assault, all traces of sleepiness vaporized instantly.
He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and mumbled back:
"Got it, Mom... I won't forget, chill! It's not even till this afternoon!"
"You BETTER not forget! You know what happens if you do! Now get up and function like a human being!"
Linda's voice faded away with the sound of the front door closing.
The room went quiet again, just the hum of the AC.
Ethan lay there staring at the ceiling, wide awake now.
His sister Emily was coming home.
Thinking about Emily made Ethan feel this complicated mix of warmth and that automatic fear that comes from years of sibling hierarchy.
Emily was four years older and had basically been the poster child for "perfect kid" their entire lives.
High school valedictorian at the top prep school in the city, total ice queen vibe, had guys falling all over her but never gave them the time of day.
Got her undergrad in Biology from one of the best East Coast schools, just graduated this year, and got accepted to a top-tier grad program with a full ride.
Gorgeous, brilliant, intimidating as hell.
To everyone else, she was this untouchable genius. But with family, especially with her little brother, her love came wrapped in extremely high expectations and zero tolerance for slacking.
She'd always believed Ethan had massive potential, so she'd been on his case since they were kids—supervising, pushing, basically being more strict than their actual parents.
In his past life, she'd "corrected" him constantly, but Ethan knew better than anyone that it came from a place of genuine love and sky-high expectations.
They'd also stay up late gaming together, debating whatever tech innovations he was obsessed with and the cutting-edge bio research she was into—they just got each other in a way nobody else really did.
"Emily's coming back..."
Ethan muttered, corners of his mouth lifting automatically.
In his previous life, his sister had absolutely crushed it in research, becoming a rising star in her field, and she'd always had his back unconditionally.
In this life, with his ability to change things early... maybe he could actually help her out somehow?
But wait.
It was only like 8 AM!
He had HOURS before 3 PM! What the hell was he supposed to do?
He sat up properly, immediately hit with that wall of boredom.
Scroll on his phone? Lame. Read? Yeah right, not happening.
"I'll call Jack!"
Ethan's eyes lit up. He grabbed his phone and dialed.
The phone rang like seven or eight times before Jack finally picked up, his voice thick with sleep and maximum irritation:
"...who... the hell... it's not even... daytime yet... waking people up... you're gonna get... struck by lightning..."
"Jack! Get UP! The sun's been up for hours, dude!"
"What the... ETHAN?! What TIME is it... are you INSANE..."
Jack's voice got slightly more coherent, but still deeply resentful.
"Stop sleeping! Get up, let's go! I'll buy you breakfast then we're playing soccer!"
The word "soccer" immediately changed Jack's entire tone:
"Soccer?"
Jack's voice perked up—the power of their shared Barcelona and Messi obsession:
"Okay, okay, give me like twenty minutes, I need to become a functioning human first, my brain's still offline!"
.....
Half an hour later.
Two guys with varying degrees of dark circles (Ethan from being woken up, Jack from being woken up) were demolishing breakfast burritos at a hole-in-the-wall spot near their neighborhood.
Jack took a massive bite and talked with his mouth full:
"Dude, seriously, what's wrong with you? Dragging me out at the crack of dawn to play soccer? Aren't you picking up Emily this afternoon? You scared she's gonna see you all sweaty and murder you?"
Jack had witnessed Emily's terrifying aura since they were kids. She made him straighten up like he was meeting the principal.
"Relax, we'll play, grab food, shower, then pick her up. Perfect timing."
Ethan waved it off casually:
"Besides, dude, YOUR tan... Emily's gonna think you just got back from some humanitarian mission in the desert."
"SCREW YOU!"
Jack hit a nerve and immediately exploded:
"This is HEALTHY! Sun-kissed! MASCULINE! Get it?"
His super-dark face tried to look cool, but the effect was comedy gold.
The two kept roasting each other while riding their bikes to the familiar outdoor public soccer field on the edge of town.
The field already had a decent crowd—summer vacation students and some early-morning fitness uncles.
Ethan and Jack claimed half the field, warmed up, and started passing drills.
"Yo! Ethan! Check out my BANGER!"
Jack wound up and absolutely blasted the ball toward the goal—except it sailed way wide and hit the chain-link fence like ten feet away.
Ethan watched the ball's tragic trajectory, completely speechless. He jogged to get it, shaking his head:
"Dude, your aim is so bad even the US national team would be embarrassed, and THEY suck."
Jack refused to admit defeat, totally shameless:
"That was a TACTICAL test shot! Checking the field boundaries! You wouldn't understand!"
They were having a blast when a group of sketchy-looking dudes rolled up.
Maybe seven or eight of them, clearly together, wearing tight tank tops, dyed hair in various colors, trying way too hard to look tough. They eyeballed Ethan and Jack with obvious hostility.
The leader—some guy with bleached blonde hair—had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He kicked their soccer ball with his toe, voice dripping with attitude:
"Yo! Kids! My boys and I are claiming this half! Beat it!"
Ethan's jaw tightened. Before he could respond, Jack's temper detonated.
He'd been holding in frustration all week about his tan, and this was the final straw:
"Who the hell are you? This field yours? Your name written on it? WE were here first! Why should WE leave?"
"Oh? Tough guy, huh?"
Blondie flicked his cigarette and stepped right up in Jack's face, practically spitting on him:
"I SAID we're claiming it. Got a problem? Wanna GO?"
The other punks closed in, cracking knuckles, looking for a fight.
Jack was NOT backing down, adrenaline pumping:
"Yeah, let's GO! You think I'm scared of you?!"
He shoved Blondie back.
"YO! He PUSHED me! Get this dude!"
Blondie stumbled back, face going red with rage. He swung a fist at Jack's face. The other guys rushed in, cursing, and everything went chaotic instantly.
Ethan's eyes went cold.
He didn't want trouble, but these assholes were LOOKING for a fight. Seeing Jack about to get swarmed, he moved.
All that enhanced physicality and reaction speed from his rebirth kicked in HARD.
Ethan moved FAST.
"Jack, back up!"
He barked out the command and inserted himself into the brawl in a flash.
There are 70 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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