• “Listen love, it’s not you, it’s me. I just can’t be tied down. It ain’t my thing.” Mathew shrugged.
    God this is awful. The b***h had to wake up before I was even fully dressed. He stretched, not even fully awake himself, very aware of the girl’s eyes on his naked chest and unbuttoned pants.
    “But I don’t understand why you have to leave,” the red head whined, “It’s not like I’m trying to tie you down. I’m just trying to make you wait until morning.”
    Damn she looks good. His eyes roamed over her dyed red hair, her chest that she was not-so-desperately trying to cover with the blanket, the expanse of her naked thigh… Mathew’s eyes flicked back up to her face. He saw a smile on her face that shouldn’t have been there. She must’ve seen the heat in his eyes while his gaze wandered her body. She is not supposed to be smiling and I am supposed to be gone. His eyes turned hard.
    ‘No you’re not trying to tie me down yet,” s**t what was her name? Stacey? Tracey? Julia? Forget it… “love, but you will. And being with one person… well that’s just not my style. Listen I gave you my number, you can call me ok? And maybe we can do this again sometime,” he grabbed his shirt from the floor and flashed a smile.
    The red head let the blanket drop so it pooled over her lap, leaving her entire chest bare and crossed her arms under her breasts. Oh boy. Smart girl. Not smart enough. His gaze once again traced down her body and when he looked back at her face, a slow smile spreading across his own, that damned smile was still on hers. Mathew zipped his pants and watched her smile fade a little bit and buttoned them and watched her smile fade a bit more. When he was sliding into his shirt, a button up of course, she reached forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him back into the bed. He let her and held himself up above her watching the smile spread back across her features. He pressed his face into her neck and nibbled up the expanse of it until just below her ear.
    “So call me later ok?” he whispered and stood so she lay, in shock, on the bed. Grinning, Mathew left the hotel room swearing to himself that he would never come back.
    Five hours later, after his first class of the day, his phone started ringing. He slid the green answer call bar across the screen and held the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he made coffee back at his condo.
    “Pizza Hut, this is Jackson speaking what can I do ya for?” he said in a southern drawl.
    “Pizza Hut?” the red-head’s voice was quiet over the phone.
    “Yes ma’am, Pizza Hut, what’s your order?”
    “That Mathew I’ll-“ she hung up.
    He grinned as he let the phone slide down his arm into his hand, then shoving it into the pocket of his slacks. His untied tie hung around his neck, his button up shirt was unbuttoned over a white t-shirt and he wore dress shoes: his everyday apparel that hooked every girl around his pinky finger. The phone rang again.
    “Pizza Hut, this is Jackson speaking. What can I do ya for?” he faked the southern drawl again.
    “Matt, it’s Jo. Cut the act,” his little brother’s voice cut through the phone.
    “Little Joey! How the hell are you, bro? Listen I’ve got coffee to drink and a class in twenty minutes, but I’ll call you over break. Maybe you can come down and ski with me?”
    “That’s the thing; Mom and Dad want you down here for break.”
    Silence hung in the air. “Matt?”
    “Huh? Yeah. Sure, I’ll come down the last weekend,” Matt poured himself coffee from a still brewing pot.
    “No, they want you here for the whole break. They say it’s important.”
    “I’m not coming back to California, Joey. Not for three weeks,” he said exasperatedly.
    “Dad says you don’t have a choice. C’mon, Matty,” his childish nickname. Mad Matty. Great. “It’ll be fun. You barely visit anymore. Jen’s gonna be out of town so…”
    “Hey I don’t care what Jen does. I’ll come down for the first two weeks if that’ll make them happy, but the last week I’m coming back up here to do homework, okay? I’ll talk to you later Joey,” with that Matt hung up on his younger brother.
    - - - - -

    What the hell am I doing? Matt held his face in his hands. The air plane rocked with turbulence. The flight from NYC to San Fran was much too long for him, especially when there was no reason to be going home. Home was a waste of time without…No. It was a waste of time with her too. The whole thing is a waste of time. He glared at his reflection in the window as the plane touched down. He grabbed his duffel bag, the only thing he had packed, from the overhead compartment and stood. In front of him a toddler being held by his father screamed like he was dying. Matt rolled his eyes. Thank God, I was never like that and I will never have that problem. No kids for me, no-sir-ee.
    He entered the line for Starbucks, right outside of his plane. “Grande espresso macchiato.” He handed the clerk a twenty and mumbled to keep the change before moving to the place where customers received their drinks. He had been waiting a minute when he began to tap his foot. Then look at his watch. Then scowl towards where a group of people were being picked up. Then he checked his iPhone. No message.
    “Grande espresso macchiato?” A voice to his left called. Matt turned, grabbed the drink and walked to a chair. Sitting, he took the lid off his drink and blew on it gently. He took a sip and nearly burned his tongue off. Cursing he blew on the drink again, this time for longer. Suddenly someone tapped his shoulder. Matt jumped, sloshing hot coffee down his sweater and jeans. He spun to see his brother standing behind him, grinning sheepishly.
    “Dammit, Joey! I told you when you were ten, not to sneak up behind me! Do I still have to remind you of that?” he held his coffee away from himself as his brother laughed at him.
    “Calm down, Matt. Sorry I'm late traffic was hell,” Matt’s little brother ran a hand through his own chin length hair. Jo seemed taller than Matt. But that’s impossible. When Jo’s doctor had told Jo he’d finally stopped growing, Matt was still taller than him. Now however they were the same height, if Matt wasn't the tiniest bit shorter.
    “Yeah, I bet,” he grumbled.
    Matt picked up his bag and slid the strap over his shoulder. “Well? Let’s go.”
    Jo grinned at his big brother and began walking towards the exit. Matt followed. They walked in relative silence to the car. Why did I agree to come back home? I hate this place. Full of freaks and… This is why I went to New York. How much farther, without becoming international, can you get from San Fran? You can’t! Unless you go to Hawaii or Alaska, but there’s nothing in Alaska, just a bunch of moose and Native Americans. Hawaii’s got all fat girls except during spring and summer break. New York has all the wannabe actresses, models, and Broadway stars, my kind of city. And it’s far away from San Fran! If I wanted to come back home I’d have-
    “Matty!” Jo’s voice through Matt’s internal monologue.
    “What?” his own voice sounded harsh, even to his standards.
    “You were zoning out, bro. Anyways, look at my car! Ain’t she a beaut?” his brother grinned ecstatically at a convertible VW Bug.
    “What has my little brother become a hippie within a… however long I’ve been gone?” he waved away the less than exact amount of time he’d been MIA for family time.
    “Dude they’re cool down here. Chicks dig ‘em,” his brother shrugged and hopped over his door to sit in the driver’s seat.
    Matt rolled his eyes and tossed his bag into the back seat then walked around to the passenger side and opened the door, sitting down. Jo buckled his seat belt and glanced at his older brother before deciding whether Matt followed suit was his own prerogative. Matt glared at his reflection in the rearview mirror. Ten minutes into the fifteen minute drive, Matt leaned over and started pressing buttons on the radio. He searched through the radio stations three times in case one became more interesting and eventually just switched the radio off.
    “So… how’s the big NYC treating you, Matt?”
    “It’s whatever. Hot chicks, cool cars,” looked around at the car he was sitting in and wrinkled his nose, “and good coffee that doesn’t get spilt down your front,” he smirked at his little brother.
    “Whatever, you’re the one that spilt. You need to be less paranoid. And maybe a bit nicer. Ya know maybe that’s why Jen…” Jo glanced sheepishly at his brother and then back to the ride.
    “Maybe that’s why Jen what, Joey? Maybe that’s why Jen left me? Is that what you were going to say?” his voice was loud, dangerous. It was the same voice he had used on the first guy Jen had dated after him. That was right before he had broken the guy’s nose. “No, Joey. Jen left me because she was a whore and a slut and couldn’t handle sticking with just me,” he folded his arms across his chest and looked out the side of the car.
    They spent the rest of the car ride in silence. When they reached home Matt got out, slammed the car door and reached over the back for his bag. Jo jumped over the car door and jogged towards the front door.
    “Mom! Dad! We’re home! Matt came home t- oof!” Jo’s sentence was cut short as something furry tackled him. Matt stood a few feet back, trying to avoid the slobbering, furry mess that was attacking his brother.
    “Get off me, Woof! Good Lord, dog! I was gone for half an hour. I don’t need this kind of welcome after half an hour in the car with my brother,” at the word brother the dog looked up. He backed off Jo and sniffed the air towards Matt.
    Matt stood still, not moving towards the dog. He didn’t even acknowledge its existence. “You named the dog Woof?” his voice was cold.
    Why Woof? My dog was Woof. Can’t Jo be the least bit original? He scowled at the dog who whimpered in response.
    “Nah. His Name’s Sir Woofington. It’s just too long so we shortened it too Woof,” Jo ruffled the dog’s fur at his neck. Matt scoffed and stormed into the house. Where he was quickly attacked by his mother.
    “Hey, Mom,” he said over her head. He dropped his bag to the side and wrapped his mother in his arms.
    As he rubbed her back, the way she had when he had come home from school upset over some trivial childish thing, she made small sobbing noises into his shirt. “Hey now, that’s enough of that. I haven’t been gone for that long. And I call every weekend. And visit on Mothers Day and your birthday and Christmas and the weekend before my birthday,” he said softly, a light smile playing on his lips.
    “I know. It’s just, whenever I hang up, I wonder if you’re eating enough, if you’re keeping up with your studies well enough, if you’re having fun, if you’re healthy, and then I go remembering all those times when you were little and you needed my help, and now you don’t need my help anymore. and then when you walked in the door just now, you looked so much like you did when you left it’s just…” she sobbed into his shoulder, the last of her speech drowning into tears and choking noises.
    Jo walked in behind them and tried to edge his way past their mother but she reached out an arm for him and, shrugging at Matt, he stepped into their mother’s embrace as Matt stepped out. Matt moved past them, leaving his duffel bag at the entrance, and walked to living room couch where his father sat, his hand on the remote, his eyes on the foot ball game. As his team made a touchdown he jumped off the couch, both fists in the air, saying “Yes, yes, YES!”
    “We’re winning then? Matt plopped onto the couch at the other end, relaxing into its cushions.
    “Nah, but we’re giving ‘em a run for their money,” his dad turned to face Matt, grinning, “Welcome home, son.”
    “It’s good to be home, Dad,” it was the same conversation they had every time he came home.
    “You ready to come take over my business yet?”
    “College says I still need a few more classes,” Matt grabbed a chip from the bowl on the coffee table and dipped it in the homemade salsa his mother always made for Sunday football.
    “Well you’re smarter than any of those college graduates that we hire at my company,” his father was the owner of a very esteemed business that hired a new batch of college graduates every summer and by winter more than three quarters of them quit. Couldn’t handle the job.
    “I bet, but I’m not gonna be the college graduate you hire, I’m gonna be the college graduate that owns the business.”
    “And then I can retire. Thank God for that,” Matt’s father smiled.
    The two settled into comfortable silence.
    - - - - -

    At dinner that night, Matt sat at the end of the table, across from his dad. His mother sat to his right, his brother to his left. They ate dinner in silence. Every so often someone would try to start a conversation.
    “You didn’t have to show off and shave for dinner, Matty,” his mother smiled at him, passing the mac and cheese.
    “I didn’t…” he started and brought a hand to his cheek. Smooth. Huh… that’s odd. He shrugged. “Sorry Mom, I wasn’t trying to show off. I just thought you would like it, I look nicer like this” he grinned.
    “So Joey, did ya make the foot ball team?” Matt tried.
    “Nah, didn’t try out. Football’s not really my thing. Thinking about trying soccer or baseball.”
    “Soccer? Isn’t that the British football?” Matt looked at his brother, shoveling more mac and cheese onto his plate.
    “Yeah,” Jo shrugged.
    Matt nodded and ate his food in silence. He saw his mom nudge his father and jerk her head towards Matt. He pretended not to notice and didn’t say anything.
    “So Matt,” his father cleared his throat, “you have a new girlfriend you’re hiding from us?”
    “Nope. I’m focusing on school now. I’m trying to graduate a year early so I can take over for you sooner. School gets boring when you know more about what the teachers are talking about than they do,” he winked at his father who smiled broadly back.
    “But Mathew, you haven’t had a girlfriend since Jen and…” his mother trailed off.
    “No. I haven’t had a serious girlfriend,” Matt said shortly, his smile replaced by a fake one.
    What the hell does she know? I’m fine how I am. Jen was weighing me down. Always complaining about who I talked to when she wasn’t there, about how I never spent time with her, about how I never let her have fun. Who gives a rat’s a** about Jen and girlfriends in general? I’m happy how I am right now. He pushed his plate away from him, his third helpings half finished, and stood. “I’m tired Mom, jet lag and all. May I be excused?”
    Without waiting for the nod he pushed his chair back and then left, pausing to grab his duffel bag from the front room. Walking into his room he realized he hadn’t had to duck to feel comfortable walking through the door way. They must have raised the top of it a few inches, he thought absentmindedly. He shrugged and kicked off his shoes before tugging his shirt over his head and crawling under the covers. Nothing had changed since he was a teenager. The pin ups of girls in bikinis still hung on his walls, the picture of him and Jen at prom was tucked into his mirror; he bet that even all his old clothes were in his drawers. Smiling he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
    - - - - -

    Matt woke up the next day and felt… small. He looked down and his feet weren’t touching the end of the bed. They were about a foot from it. That’s not right… I haven’t been that short since I was sixteen… He pushed back his blanket and discovered his pants hanging past his feet, his shirt was oversized and baggy and his socks had fallen off. Something is very wrong… He felt panic flood into his barely awake mind.
    “Mom!” he called. His voice cracked. Oh s**t! He cleared his throat and called again. “Mom!” Better. No voice cracking for me. Dammit I am too old for this. His mom burst into his room, running.
    “What’s the matter darling? Is there a fire? Can you move your legs? Oh! Your… your legs…” she fainted.
    “Veronica? Veronica wazzamatta?” Matt’s dad wandered into the room, half asleep even though it was ten in the morning. Then he saw Matt. “What the- In the name of holy baby Jesus who are you?”
    “Dad it’s me! I don’t know what happened! I woke up and I was…” he made a sweeping gesture taking in his body. His eyes glanced towards the picture of him and Jen. That must be what I look like now…
    - - - - -

    A few hours and one visit to the Emergency room later, Matt was talking to his doctor.
    “Tell me Matt, have you ever seen the movie The Curios Case of Benjamin Button?”
    “Yeah, I took my girlfriend to see it in theaters. Why? It’s got nothing to do with this.”
    “But it does. It seems that that is what’s happening to you.”
    “But I was young before, not old. You know! You were my doctor!”
    “Now, now, there’s no reason to get upset. You were young, and then you were older. It seems that now you’re getting younger again. Unlike Mr. Button who started at the oldest you can get and got younger, you will probably not disappear. Don’t interrupt, Mathew. You will probably get to be a toddler and then begin growing up again. I don’t know if it will repeat itself again when you get to be the exact age you were when the reverse aging process started, but no matter what happens, you get a second chance. Doesn’t everybody have regrets?”
    Images flashed through Matt’s head. Football in high school, Jen, Woof being put to sleep. He shook his head. “None that can be fixed now.”
    “Well then, you’ll have to find some way to start a new life.”
    “But I like my life right now,” Matt’s voice was young, whining.
    The doctor gave a sympathetic smile and shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do, Matt.” With that he left the room.
    Jo, eager to break the silence, gave a false laugh “Well, look at it this way Matty: you always complained about having to change my diapers. Now I have to change yours, big brother,” he gave a sad smile.
    Matt just stared at the floor. How could this have happened?