At the Adamson/Turner/Thade residence…

“I’m glad that you could come over, Yuen,” Ro’Niah said as he greeted Kristen at the door while the rest of the family was preparing for dinner. “And I’m glad that you could be willing to share with us some insights about what’s going on with this town.”

The leggy Korean-American teenager nodded as she hung up her coat in the hallway closet. “It’s more so than ever since I know that Hedare could be lulled into that hellhole called GVA. And what I need to tell you needs to remain between us all. The Freemans and the Castros already know this story, so they can keep things on the low.”

The duo made their way to the lavish dining room where everyone else was already seated and prepared to serve themselves oven-fried chicken, seasoned rice, and green beans with coffee cake for dessert. After everyone helped themselves, it was time for the moment. “So, Kristen,” Kimani began, “you said that you and Mrs. Yuen witnessed what had happened to your brother and father.”

Kristen nodded. “It was two years ago when I was in ninth grade,” she said, pausing to sip on some iced tea. “We were the newest family in town and I had already met LaVanna and her family, all of us hitting it off right away. Jose hadn’t arrived yet, but all eyes were on my family and I since we were originally from New York. Anyway, it was the start of summer vacation when we met the Quitman clan…”

**************

Two years ago...

Gentle reader, Kristen Yuen and her family were known to be one of the modest middle-class families from the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area that believed in earning their right to live the good life by hard work, discipline, and dedication to their values. And once she learned that her accountant father was given a job opportunity in Glenview Valley, she knew that it was time for the family to expand their roots to newer places.

Like most kids who were set to move to an unfamiliar town where they would have to start over, she had her reservations. She could’ve easily complained that she wasn’t ready to leave her circle of friends, acted like a rebel, or literally begged her parents to stay in Texas with relatives. But she kept her resolve and went with the changes, knowing that it was time to take her social status from the Lone-Star State to the Clam-Chowder State.

But the moment she arrived in the picturesque town of Glenview Valley and met with Chanel Freeman, there was a feeling that nothing was what it seemed in the town that was full of cosmopolitan glamour. “Be careful when it comes to the guys around this town, Yuen,” Chanel had warned her over ice cream. “You may have noticed that the guys looked as if they belonged in the gym and have never aged a day over forty.”

“Freeman, I’m sure that these guys may have some fitness secrets up their sleeve that I wished even my dad and older brother Chance would kill to have,” Kristen defended. “My brother’s only interested in video games and comic books, not sports. Same for Dad when it comes to tax documents and crime documentaries. I’m sure that my family’s going to be ignored and we’ll be left to ourselves.”

“You wanna bet? Yuen, your brother’s going to GVA and be caught up with some of the guys,” Chanel insisted waving her chocolate-covered spoon in the air. “And their Triton Mystique Initiative would make sure of that. Before you even know it, you and your mother won’t be able to recognize them.”

Kristen placed a hand on Chanel’s, giving the blonde an assuring stare and a calming grin. “Chanel Freeman, if there’s anything I know about my dad and Chance, they’ll be wanting no part of this,” she explained. “So I’m sure that they’ll be none the worse than what they are when we all came here.”

She had sounded so sure of herself, believing that her two slightly-overweight men in her life- a brother who loved to teach her how to cook Korean food and gave her piggyback rides when she was four years old while her dad read to her dark tales of the Orient at bedtime and made sure to teach her family’s native tongue that she could pass for the homeland that her late grandparents emigrated from- would remain unchanged.

She believed that so much that she was unaware that the first of the changes were beginning to unfold all around her.

**************

It had started on the second week of the first semester of school.

Her family was invited to the Quitmans for a dinner party that she and her mother decided against going (“We’re having a girls-night in,” her mother said confidently, “and Chanel and her cousin are joining us so we won’t be alone.”) while her father and Chance were attending. She knew that Chance needed to make new friends and it seemed all right that her brother was taken under the wings of some seniors from GVA. Of course, she wasn’t prepared to see her brother dressing in designer clothes, but was assured that it was because of a run-in with some spilled paint that caused him and his father to get new clothes.

And then came the decision to start eating healthier, as a family in general. That meant less take-out meals and more time eating clean. Sure, the weight came off easily for Chance and his dad (who had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes), so it was all right.

But it was when the father-son started hanging out with the younger Quitman teenagers a little too often that started the doubts in Kristen’s head. “It’s like I don’t even know who they are anymore,” she had lamented to Chanel during lunch. “Mom’s worried that Dad’s getting too chummy with Mr. Quitman and his brothers, so much so that there’s rumors of a forbidden love affair.”

Chanel cursed to herself. “It’s part of this Triton Mystique, Yuen,” she said morosely. “You and your mom need to tell your brother and dad that you all need to head back to Texas where you belong.”

“No way! Dad said that our old house is sold off to some couple and his position at his old job is taken,” Kristen said worriedly. “And not only that, our other relatives are now back in Busan and Seoul. He said that there’s nothing left in Dallas anymore and that our home is here in Glenview Valley.”

“Shit,” Chanel hissed. “Then there’s really no hope for your dad or brother thanks to the Quitmans. Those guys have them hook, line, and sinker.” And if I have a hunch, the final changes will have you trapped in this town completely.”

That caught the legggy Korean-American’s attention. “What do you mean by that?”

And gentle reader, the next twenty minutes were spent with the blonde socialite telling Kristen what was about to
unfold as her life was starting to unravel. And during that time, the same was done by Mrs. Bennett to a heartbroken Mrs. Jillian Yuen as the housekeeper was warning the middle-aged homemaker what was about to happen.

But by then, it was already too late.

***********

“Mom, we have to talk some sense into Dad and Chance,” Kristen had told her mother after a long day of classes as the latter was picking up her daughter from school. “This town…is full of something strange and-“

“I agree, daughter, but your father and Chance won’t listen to either of us,” her mother replied tiredly as she pulled away from the school while the radio blared talk-radio. “That housekeeper said the same thing that her granddaughter might have told you: we could be too late to turn back the tide.”

“But what if we stop them and-“

Her cellphone pinged with a text message from her brother. “Kristen, get home as fast as you can,” she read out loud. “Dad and I have a surprise for you.”

She looked at her mother, who only nodded and put the gas pedal to the maximum as they headed to their home. And the moment that they crossed the threshhold of the front door and walked to the living room…was when they would be greeted by a scandalous sight.

The pudgy and sedative frames of both Chance and Daniel Yuen were replaced with similarly-masculine, athletic, and youthful ones…

As Mr. Yuen looked as if he aged backwards, him now being near close to his oldest son’s age range…

And both of them were wearing green swim briefs that hugged and contoured their groins and buttocks perfectly.

“Oh, God,” Kirsten whimpered, her mother passing out immediately from shock. “Dad? Chance?”

Her father chuckled unabashedly. “All part of the Triton Mystique, Kristen,” he crooned smoothly, eyes flashing sea-green. “This town is full of magic and wonder. Feel the air and be alive.”

Six months later, both men had left the family home as Mrs. Yuen was now divorced and her husband had left her…for their own son. And the once-happy family…was now broken.

Kristen Yuen soon found an alliance with Chanel Freeman and made  sure that every new kid would stay away from the ethereally-youthful male population of Glenview Valley.

*************

PRESENT-DAY (ADAMSON-TURNER RESIDENCE)

“Damn,” Felicia breathed, placing a hand on her left cheek. “I’m so sorry that you went through losing your dad and brother to those guys. How’s your mom taking all of this?”

“She’s joining with the adult remnants in warning others like Hedare to stay away from them," Kristen replied. “She now has to work two jobs to keep food on the table, but we still live comfortably thanks to my father sending her money. We don’t like to take handouts, but we don’t have much of a choice.”

“We need to worry about Ja’Marco,” Ro’Niah said, giving everyone else a pointed stare. “If what you say is true, Yuen, then we got to do our damnedest to get him out of here.”

“It might be for nothing since he’s related to one of THE oldest families, if not the most powerful,” Kristen commented ruefully. “And you already know that Melinda Hedare would do everything in her power to keep him in this town. She truly is a she-devil incarnate.”

“You don’t have to tell us that,” La’Vanna said sourly, frowning at the mention of the woman. “But we have to do something to let everyone know that we’re not playing around.”

Kimani looked at her phone. “I just got a message from Ja’Marco,” she said, briefly looking down. “And we might want to get a game plan going right now. Looks like he’s being sent to the dorms at GVA thanks to his momma. He’s moving there tomorrow, move-in day for the guys at GVA.”

“WHAT?!” Ro’Niah screeched, taking his cousin’s phone and rereading the text message.

“Shit,” Kristen said, giving the large family a worried glance. “I was afraid of that. That’s when he’ll be surrounded by those athletic guys 24/7. I beg you all, please get Ja’Marco out of this town as soon as possible before it’s too late and you lose him completely the same way I did with my dad and brother.”

"We're not going to lose him, Yuen," Ro'Niah said vehemently as he handed Kimani's phone back to his cousin. "There's no way in God's green earth are we letting that witch named Melinda Hedare sink her claws into my best friend. This means war, boys and girls! The game is on and poppin' now!"

"What can we do, Ro?" Felicia asked worriedly. "You know that you can't go to GVA since you'll be at South Vicente High with the others and Melinda will make sure that Ja'Marco is kept far away from us, even making sure that we're in jail if we try anything."

"We know that, Felicia," Mrs. Adamson commented.

"So what now?" Kristen asked. "How can we get Ja'Marco out of this town if the Quitmans and those GVA pretty boys will be playing watchdog?"

"We have until October 13th, Ja'Marco's birthday, to get a game plan going," Ro'Niah stated. "We gotta do a full-scale investigation on this town and the dark secrets. Yuen, you and your friends are to talk with me and the others later this week. And whatever you do, stay far away from the Quitmans and Ja'Marco's stuck up family at all costs!"

That would be easier said than done, gentle readers, given that the games were in play with Melinda leading the way for a divine victory.

I know that's right, folks. The question is, however, is whether or not anyone and everyone will remain the same afterwards.

Coming up,  it's move-in day for Ja'Marco as Mrs. Lancaster gifts him a letter and a mysterious book before Reichen and the guys show him around campus at GVA and Francis and his brothers plan for the first transformations. Don't go anywhere!

Media: "Cats in the Cradle" by Harry Chaplin. Dedicating this out to DannBritts.

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