Chapter 1: A New Beginning
Texas. 1989.
Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.
Inside a two-story colonial-style house in the suburbs of Medford.
Owen Carter lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. It had been three days since he woke up in this world, and even after piecing together his new memories, he still felt like a man standing on the deck of a ship that wouldn't stop rocking.
"Kids, dinner's ready! Come on down!"
A warm voice floated up from the kitchen.
"Coming, Mom!"
Two girls answered almost in unison. A second later, Owen's bedroom door swung open without so much as a knock, and a seventeen-year-old girl with a ponytail and a Guns N' Roses t-shirt leaned against the doorframe.
"Owen! Food's on the table. You look like someone just ran over your dog. Don't tell me a girl turned you down — because at twelve, buddy, that's honestly kind of impressive." She grinned.
"Elizabeth."
The younger girl appeared behind her, arms crossed, delivering the name like a warning shot.
"Okay, okay, relax." Elizabeth threw her hands up, peeled herself off the doorframe, grabbed Owen by the wrist, and hauled him downstairs.
In the living room, Jack Samson sat on the couch with a can of Coke, watching the tail end of the evening news. He glanced up as the three came down the stairs and smiled the easy smile of a man who genuinely liked his life.
"There they are. Come sit down."
"Dad!" the girls said together.
"Hey, Uncle Jack."
Owen settled into his usual chair at the dining table. From the kitchen came his aunt, carrying a casserole dish with oven mitts shaped like lobsters.
"Lisa made pot roast tonight," she announced, setting it down in front of him first. "Extra gravy, just how you like it, sweetheart."
"Mom." Elizabeth stared at the dish, then at her mother, then back at the dish. "Honestly, if I showed a stranger a photo of this family, they'd assume me and Bianca were the foster kids."
"Elizabeth." Jack said it mildly, though the look he gave her said that's enough.
"Thank you, Aunt Lisa." Owen meant it. The warmth in his chest was real — maybe the only thing that felt fully real right now.
Three days of absorbing this body's memories had painted a clear picture. His name was Owen Carter, twelve years old, born in Ohio, parents killed in a car accident two years ago. No living relatives. His mother's college roommate, Lisa Samson, had taken him in without hesitation and raised him exactly like one of her own — arguably better, given the extra pot roast.
Lisa Samson was a part-time romance novelist and full-time homemaker with a laugh that could fill a room. She had a soft spot for underdogs and old movies and made the best banana bread in Medford, Texas, according to everyone who had ever eaten it.
Jack Samson was a dentist — solid, dependable, quietly proud. He coached little league on weekends and had never once missed a school play. He was the kind of man who still held doors open and meant it. He treated Owen like a son without ever making a production of it.
Elizabeth Samson was seventeen, a junior, and the kind of student who considered a C+ a personal victory. When Lisa occasionally expressed concern about her grades, Elizabeth would lean back in her chair and say, "Mom. I know exactly what I want. I want a nice house, a good husband like Dad, and a dog. Name one thing wrong with that plan." Jack would nod. Lisa would sigh. Elizabeth would take another bite of her dinner.
Bianca Samson was sixteen, a sophomore, honor roll every semester without exception. She was methodical and precise and had already decided she was going to be a doctor — a real one, not a dentist, though she was diplomatic enough never to say that out loud within earshot of her father.
"So." Jack set his fork down and looked around the table. This was the nightly ritual — the Samson check-in. "How was everybody's day?"
"Elizabeth?"
"Uneventful." She didn't look up from her plate.
Jack and Lisa exchanged the look parents develop after years of practice — equal parts amusement and resignation. Then they turned to their younger daughter.
"Bianca, honey?"
"Pretty normal," Bianca said. "But there was this kid at school today. He's nine years old and he's already in ninth grade — same year as his brother. He sits in the front row and spends the whole class correcting the teacher. Not rudely, just... very calmly. Very thoroughly. Apparently it got to the point where the principal had to get involved."
"Sounds like a prodigy," Lisa said, immediately intrigued. "You should try to get to know him. Someone like that could be—"
Elizabeth snorted into her mashed potatoes. When everyone looked at her, she swallowed and held up a hand. "Sorry. It's just — Mom, I know this kid. And the reason I'm laughing is that he has zero friends. His own brother barely talks to him in the hallway. So he checked out a book from the library — an actual library book — called something like How to Win Friends and Influence People, and now he walks up to kids at school and tries to make friends using the steps in the book. Out loud. In order." She shook her head, grinning. "It is something."
"What's his name?"
Owen hadn't meant to say it out loud. The question just fell out of him.
Elizabeth blinked. "Oh. Owen." Her voice softened slightly — the closest Elizabeth got to gentle. "Look, I get it. You're still the new kid and it's been rough. But trust me, this isn't the friend you want. He's on another planet. Even the teachers are intimidated by him. You'd have nothing to talk about."
"I hear you," Owen said. "I really do. What's his name?"
Before Elizabeth could answer, Bianca said it cleanly and without drama:
"Sheldon Lee Cooper."
Owen sat back.
Sheldon Lee Cooper. East Texas. 1989.
The pieces clicked together with the quiet certainty of a combination lock turning over.
Young Sheldon. This is the Young Sheldon universe — which means the Big Bang Theory universe. And I'm sitting twelve miles from the most legendarily insufferable and brilliant person in television history.
A small smile pulled at the corner of Owen's mouth.
"Bianca," he said, "any chance you could take me to see him tomorrow?"
She looked at him for a moment like he'd asked something odd. Then she shrugged.
"Sure."
Chapter Rewards
500 Power Stones = 1 New Chapter
10 Reviews = 1 New Chapter
Thanks for reading!
30+ advanced chapters available on P1treon: DarkFoxx