It's Magic Chapter 1: Prologue: Déjà Vu, a home improvement fanfic

It's Magic Prologue

"Déjà Vu"

Randy's POV

(Hurt My Baby by John Hiatt)

No need to be explicit
Anyone can see
Injury was permanent
The wound was really deep
Doesn't talk about it much
I listen when she does
And when she's in that distant place
I know it's just because

Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt my girl
Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt somebody in this mean ol' world

She's developed all these nervous ticks
To prove she's still alive
Does ninety down to zero
Back in over drive
Her sleep is just a nightmare state
She really gets no rest
Till someone has come forward
Till one of us confess

Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt my girl
Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt somebody in this mean ol' world

The song ends as the car pulls into the school parking lot. It's probably the best song off of John Hiatt's album Same Old Man, but I haven't hardly been able to listen to it over the past year or so. Not after the kind of marriage troubles I've been having with Amanda. I think that's why Jonathan is so anxious to go on this school trip to New York City.

We get out of the car as it begins to snow, and move to the trunk to get out Randy's duffel bag filled to the brim with clothes, hygiene products, ten tons of hair products, CDs, and all the other necessities of life for a sixteen year old boy. Was I like that when I was sixteen?

'You're sure this is what you want to do?' I ask. Jonathan rolls his eyes. Now I know how mom felt twenty one years ago when I was his age.

'No, maybe I should have them airmail the house to New York' Jonathan jokes. I smile. Yes, he's definitely inherited the smartass gene from me.

Once we finish the two man job of putting the travel bag on the bus, we still have a few minutes to kill.

'This all seems so familiar…' I comment as we stand there.

'What, you mean that story you made up in high school that you have sitting on the coffee table?' Jonathan asks.

'Yeah' I reply.

'The one where you lost a foot and grandpa had to go down to Missouri and rescue you? Where did you ever get the idea for that anyway?' he asks, continuing as I nod.

'Well, contrary to what you may think, none of that ever happened. I guess I just went a little crazy for that particular assignment. Hey, it was worth it, I got a 105 percent out of 100, as well as the highest grade in the class because of it' I explain.

'I wish I was that creative' Jonathan says in amazement.

'You actually remember that story? I haven't seen you read it in about nine years' I say.

'I read it sometimes, just whenever you're off on assignment for the EPA' Jonathan says.

'Well, I better get on the bus while there's still some seats left' he says after a minute. I nod in agreement.

'I'll miss you' I say.

'Oh come on, you aren't going to start acting like grandma, are you?' Jonathan asks.

'No, but I will miss you whether I'm acting like your grandmother or not' I say. There's an awkward silence after that, then finally Jonathan boards the bus, gets half way up the steps, stops, and waves at me. I wave back.

I head back to my small, fuel efficient, hybrid, ethanol powered car, and get in to escape the mixture of the soft snowflakes and the icy cold stab of the sleet that's now begun as well.

After the buses begin pulling out, about fifteen minutes or so, I'm the only one left on the parking lot. All the other cars belong to chaperones. After the last bus leaves, I just sit there in the car, lost in thought.

I don't want to go back home. I don't want to go anywhere else.

It's not like Amanda and I have any overly serious problems. No affairs or anything to that degree. It's just like after sixteen years of marriage; we've grown apart, or lost some love along the way.

I've always felt bad about what happened between Lauren and me. There was some other guy, Rodney Peck, who was competing for her love, and she couldn't make up her mind about who she wanted to be with, so I decided for her. The irony of it all, in the end, she didn't wind up with either of us. Rodney dumped her about seven months into the relationship, and then she came back to me, asking me to forgive her, and give her another chance. Of course I couldn't do this, since I had already met Amanda by then, but we decided to stay friends. Last I heard, Rodney was doing 25 to life in Jackson State for killing his family. A true asshole, through and through.

Someone rapping on my window snaps me out of my thoughts.

'Hey buddy, are you gonna sit here all day?' asks a security guard who must've come from inside the school.

'Oh, no, I'm sorry. I just have some personal matters I was thinking about' I say.

'Well if you need to think about something, go to Starbucks and do it, not here in the parking lot' comments the guard, walking away.

I go to put the key in the ignition, then realize it's already there and the car is started, though I don't remember doing either. I put the car in drive, and leave Lakeside High's parking lot.

I don't head home, however. I head to the café that Lauren owns and operates for a cup of coffee and some advice.

A/N: So here's the sequel to Meet Me in St. Louie.

I know not a whole lot happened, but this is a prologue, after all.

I will warn you, this may be a sequel to MMiSL, but it will have a bit of a different flavor to it, which I think is good. It'll keep things from getting too repetitive or similar to the original.

Please R&R so you can let me know what you think of this.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

-Yours truly, Randy Taylor