POV: Reuben
Date: September 4, 2012 (First Day of School)
Location: Los Angeles, CA - Reuben's home & Pacific Palisades High School
Ages: Reuben (14), Alex (16), Luke (14), Haley (18)
Reuben Rand woke up fourteen years old.
The alarm read 6:47 AM, September 4, 2012, and for a long moment he just stared at the ceiling with its glow-in-the-dark stars, cataloging impossible facts: his hands were smaller, his voice would crack when he spoke, and he had thirty-two years of memories in a fourteen-year-old body.
He died yesterday. Or eighteen years from now, depending on how you counted time. A stupid accident—slipped in the bathroom, head met tile, lights out at thirty-two. One second he'd been alive, ordinary, unremarkable. The next, he was waking up here.
Second chance.
The thought crystallized with perfect clarity. He had lived this life once, made his choices, ended up average. Not bad, not great. Just... fine. A decent job, a few friends, a house he'd bought but never really made a home. No wife, no kids, nothing particularly meaningful to show for three decades of existence.
And then a wet floor and bad luck, and it was over.
Except now it wasn't.
Reuben sat up, testing the reality of it. Smaller hands, yes. Teenage awkwardness in his limbs, yes. But his mind was intact—every memory, every lesson learned, every mistake cataloged and understood.
He knew what was coming. All of it. And he could do better.
I'm not wasting this.
The determination settled into his bones as he got out of bed and looked around his childhood room. Same desk his dad had built. Same bookshelf. Same laptop that was cutting-edge in 2012 but ancient by 2030 standards.
Different opportunities.
His mother's voice called up the stairs: "Reuben! Breakfast!"
His mother. Alive. Healthy. She wouldn't be diagnosed with breast cancer until 2025, wouldn't die until 2027. In his previous life, he had been blindsided—never thought to push for early screening, never imagined she could be at risk.
This time, he knew better. He had thirteen years to get her into preventative care, to catch it early when it was treatable. She didn't have to die.
Reuben dressed quickly—button-down and jeans, the same outfit he had worn the first time through freshman year—and headed downstairs.
Sarah Rand stood at the stove making pancakes, dark hair pulled back, completely oblivious to the fact that her son had already lived to thirty-two and died. David sat reading the newspaper—actual paper, because it was 2012—with his coffee.
They looked so young. Mid-forties instead of the sixties he remembered before his mom got sick. Healthy. Here.
"Ready for high school?" his mom asked, smiling.
"Yeah." Reuben sat down, committing the moment to memory. "I am."
They made small talk over breakfast—teachers, classes, whether he'd found his supplies—and Reuben answered on autopilot while his mind ran through his priorities:
Immediate goals:
Do well academically (foundation for everything else)
Start Bitcoin investment plan (November, $144 for 12 coins at $12 each)
Build better relationships (don't coast through friendships like before)
Get into Academic Decathlon (Closeness to Alex, intellectual challenge)
Long-term goals:
Save Mom (early cancer screening, preventative care)
Build real wealth (Bitcoin timing, then smart investments)
Create something meaningful (better career than middle-management)
Fix what went wrong in my relationship with Alex
That last one was complicated.
In his previous life, things with Alex had been... messy. He asked her to prom sophomore year—she turned a sprinkler on him at her house, embarrassed and defensive about dating her brother's younger friend. But she said yes anyway. They had gone together. And for about six months after that, they had something real.
Secret, because she was scared of judgment. Complicated, because they were young and stupid. Real, because the chemistry had been undeniable.
Then he pushed to go public, she panicked, it had ended badly. He tried again in college a few times—desperate, clumsy attempts that she rightfully rejected. Eventually he moved on, dated other people, convinced himself it had just been a high school thing.
But he'd never quite shaken the feeling that they could have been something if he had handled it better. If he had been more mature, more patient, more willing to let her set the pace.
This time, he could do it right.
Not because she was his obsession or his whole world—he had learned that lesson. But because he knew they had potential, and he was mature enough now to navigate it properly. Strategic patience instead of desperate pushing. Building trust instead of demanding vulnerability.
She was one of his goals. An important one. But not the only one.
"Earth to Reuben." His dad was looking at him with amusement. "You've been staring at your pancakes for two minutes."
"Sorry. Just thinking."
"First day nerves are normal," his mom said. "You'll do great."
Reuben smiled. "I know."
And he did know. He had already done this once. This time would just be better.
Pacific Palisades High School looked exactly the same—Spanish architecture, palm trees, the faint smell of ocean salt mixing with teenage anxiety. Reuben locked his bike and surveyed the familiar chaos of first-day-of-school energy.
He knew this place. Knew which vending machine would eat his money in October. Knew which teachers were strict and which were pushovers. Knew where the shortcuts were between buildings.
Strategic advantage.
Students streamed toward the entrance in clusters and pairs. Reuben spotted a few faces he recognized from his previous timeline—kids who had been in his classes, people he had known casually but never really connected with.
Different this time. Better friendships, more genuine connections, actually being present instead of coasting.
Then he saw her.
Haley Dunphy first—impossible to miss with her long blonde hair and the way she commanded attention without trying. She disappeared through the entrance surrounded by friends.
And then Alex.
She walked alone, dark hair in a ponytail, books clutched to her chest, brown eyes scanning her surroundings with careful wariness. Sixteen years old, brilliant, guarded, already building the walls that would take years to break through.
Reuben watched her disappear into the building and felt something settle in his chest. Not desperate longing—he had grown past that. Just recognition. Interest. Determination.
We had something once. I messed it up. This time I know what I'm doing.
But approaching her now would be wrong. She didn't know him yet. Wouldn't trust some random freshman who acted too familiar. He needed to be patient, strategic. Earn her attention the right way.
Join Academic Decathlon. Prove he was smart enough to be worth her time. Build a foundation first.
"Yo, you just gonna stand there all day?"
Reuben turned to find a tall, lanky kid with an easy smile and slightly vacant eyes that hid more intelligence than people assumed.
Luke Dunphy.
They had been friends in the previous timeline. Good friends—hung out regularly, studied together sometimes, played video games at Luke's house. Not best friends exactly, but solid. Reliable.
This time could be better.
END CHAPTER 1 (1)
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