Friday, August 29, 2008
"Andrew, pause the ga. We need to talk before we leave," said Caron, walking into Andrew's room with Mitchell.
The walls of the room were painted in matte black, absorbing the light and creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a cave.
On one wall, a collection of posters featuring his favorite Marvel and DC heroes was displayed—Spider-Man swinging between skyscrapers and Batman serving justice as he punched a criminal missing a couple of teeth.
Next to it, a shelf was packed with Star Wars action figures and morabilia, including two lightsabers and spaceship models.
Another wall featured football jerseys from his favorite teams and professional football helts. On the floor, a rug shaped like a football field stretched out.
Opposite his bed stood a 32-inch TV, with an Xbox 360 running beneath it. In a corner near the window was a desk with a PC, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and headphones—all state-of-the-art.
The perks of being an only child, his parents rarely said no to the gifts Andrew requested.
Andrew was sitting at the corner of his bed, jostyck in hand and headphones over his ears, playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
"Die, you bastards!" Andrew muttered as he fired away indiscriminately. He hadn't heard Caron due to the headphones and the constant noise of gunfire, explosions, and soldiers shouting.
"Aren't those gas a bit too violent?" Mitchell whispered to Caron, who shrugged.
"Andrew," Caron called again, stepping closer to his son.
"Oh, Dad. What is it?" Andrew asked, noticing Caron out of the corner of his eye. He took off his headphones but kept playing, his gaze fixed on the screen.
"Pause it, please," Caron repeated.
"I can't. It's online," Andrew replied, his fingers rapidly pressing buttons.
'Is this his rebellious phase?' Mitchell wondered, frowning slightly as he stepped forward. Without hesitation, he pressed a button on the Xbox, and the console powered off.
"Hey! Why did you do that?!" Andrew shouted, jumping up from his seat as the war-torn landscapes disappeared, replaced by a black screen.
"You need to listen when we're talking to you," Mitchell said firmly, though he felt a twinge of guilt at the disappointed look on Andrew's face.
"I'm surprised you even know which button to press on the Xbox," Andrew said with a sigh, sitting back on his bed.
"Do you think I'm so kind of caveman? I'm not Cam," Mitchell replied with a small smile, and Andrew laughed, rembering the ti Cam had tried to turn off his Xbox but couldn't figure out which button to press. The Xbox had a large, round, shiny silver button—it wasn't exactly hard to spot.
"That only happened once! Who would think that flat silver thing was a button?" Caron said with a frown.
"Back to the topic. We're leaving early tomorrow morning. I expect you to be responsible and not throw any parties or anything. We'll be back Sunday if there are no delays," Caron added.
"Yeah, I know. No parties. I'll stay here, training, playing video gas, and watching a ga or two," Andrew replied, playing with a football, passing it from hand to hand.
Caron and Mitchell exchanged a look, concern evident on their faces. Andrew didn't notice, his eyes fixed on the football as he thought about his next phase as a football player—high school.
[Comntary from Mitchell and Caron]
"Tomorrow, we leave first thing in the morning. Our destination is Vietnam. We're adopting a baby," Caron said, his voice full of excitent, squeezing Mitchell's hand tightly. Mitchell winced slightly in pain.
For a long ti, they had been considering adopting a baby. Raising Andrew had been a perfect and easy experience for both of them, and they felt ready for the challenge of raising a baby from scratch. They also couldn't deny how much they wanted the experience of raising a child from the very beginning.
"Easy... easy..." Mitchell said, managing to free his hand from Cam's grip. "Andy will be alone for the first ti. We're not worried. He's very responsible, and it's just two days and one night," he added.
"Too responsible..." Caron repeated, exchanging a knowing look with Mitchell before turning back to the cara after a mont.
"Andrew is... unusual by the standards of kids his age. Instead of causing typical trouble like sneaking out to et friends or a girlfriend, after finishing his football training, he just locks himself in his room," Mitchell said, his expression slightly baffled.
He didn't know whether to feel good or bad about it. On one hand, his son didn't bring the typical problems of a teenager. On the other hand, what irked him, so to speak, was that his son was the most popular kid in Middle School, being both the captain of the football team and a leader to all his peers.
Cam felt the sa way. It was odd that the most popular kid would spend his weekends locked up throughout his entire Middle School years. Andrew only went out for two things: football practice and family visits (his aunt and uncle, Claire and Phil, and his grandfather Jay).
Once he had fulfilled his commitnts to training and family, Andrew preferred to spend his ti in his "cave," surrounded by video gas and comic books.
"Haley is very different from him," Cam comnted after a few monts. His niece was the textbook definition of popular: irresponsible, rebellious, and carefree.
"Yeah, even though Andrew has lots of friends, he only sees them at school and football practice," Mitchell said, scratching his beard.
Archie, Reggie, Kevin, and Steve were his main friends, but he rarely saw them after school or football practice ended.
"His two great obsessions are football and everything related to comics, video gas, sci-fi movies, and pop culture in general. A strange combination," Caron said.
"Which is why this is the perfect opportunity for you, Andy. Throw a party. You've got the house to yourself. Sothing low-key with your classmates," Mitchell said, interlocking his fingers as if this had been his plan all along.
"Have so fun, in moderation. Maybe you'll even et a girl. We'd be very happy to et her," Caron added.
"That's true... Andy has never had a girlfriend so far. That's also weird. What popular kid, especially the starting quarterback, doesn't have a cheerleader or soone like that as a girlfriend?" Mitchell asked. He had always wanted to be popular during his school years and couldn't stand seeing his son waste all the power he had at his fingertips.
"Maybe he's gay?" Caron suggested, looking at Mitchell, who also turned to look at him. The room fell silent for a mont before both burst out laughing.
"Impossible..." Mitchell said as he recovered from the laughter. "We know how to spot soone in the closet, especially after living with him for ten years."
"Yeah. Obviously, it wouldn't matter to us whether he's straight or gay, but I'm pretty sure it's the forr. I've seen the way he looks at that Star Wars actress. What's her na?" Caron said, looking thoughtful.
"Pad... Padle?"
"Yeah, I think it's Padle-sothing," Mitchell nodded. "The actress is Natalie Portman, if I'm not mistaken. He made us watch the movie a dozen tis, and he always gets nervous when she shows up. I think she's about his age or maybe a bit older," he added with a slight smile.
[End of Comntary]
"You can invite your friends and a few classmates. Have a little fun before school ends and High School begins," Mitchell said, looking at Andrew, who was playing with the football. He even slept with that ball—it was the first one they had given him.
"Huh? Didn't you say no parties?" Andrew asked, confused, stopping his ball ga to look at his parents.
"Well... we ant no large-scale parties. If it's sothing small, I'm sure you'll be responsible. As long as the parents pick up their kids early, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson can supervise. They already gave us the go-ahead," Mitchell explained.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are two kind elderly people who live upstairs in the house. The house is divided into two floors, each with its number, 212 and 213. They are separated inside, but it was once a single house.
'Have they set everything up for Mr. and Mrs. Thompson to supervise us?' Andrew thought, with a strange expression. Everything seed to indicate that his parents wanted him to have a mini-party before starting High School.
Andrew could see the anticipation on his parents' faces and eventually agreed to the mini-party with his classmates. He could understand a little where their concerns were coming from.
Most of the sumr he had spent training and locked up in his room playing video gas or reading comics. He rarely went out with his friends and didn't have a girlfriend.
"Great!" Caron said happily. Then they told him it was too late to play video gas and that it was ti to go to bed. They said their goodbyes and headed toward the door of Andrew's room.
"Where's the dal and the MVP trophy?" Caron asked, stopping by the door and looking at one of the shelves in Andrew's room.
Previously, there had been the gold dal and the best player trophy from the district tournant in Middle School that Andrew won last year. His last year in Middle School.
As expected, Andrew won two district tournants in his three years of Middle School. He was the champion, leading the team in 7th and 8th grade. In 6th grade, he didn't manage to win the championship, as he didn't beco a starter until halfway through the season, and it was already too late to make a coback.
Despite his talent and hard work, it's hard to make a spot on the starting team when you're just entering Middle School. There's always so resistance.
Plus, Andrew didn't care much about winning championships in these district tournants from 6th to 8th grade. He focused more on his skills and individual training. His rivals still didn't pose a challenge for him.
"Oh, I put that in the workshop in a box. I needed space for my Darth Vader figure," Andrew replied with a smile, looking at the imposing figure of the strongest Sith Lord.
"You threw it in the workshop to put this figure?" Cam repeated, unable to believe what he was hearing. Though, he wasn't sure why he was so surprised.
There wasn't even a trophy or dal Andrew had won in the room. They were all in the dining room (placed there by Mitchell and Caron) or in the workshop, in dusty boxes.
"The important thing is this," Andrew said, holding up a photo in a black fra that was on his nightstand.
Andrew showed the photo to his parents.
In the photo, Andrew and the rest of the team were smiling, celebrating the title. They were all sweaty and dirty after finishing the ga, but their faces were full of happiness.
"Andrew..." Mitchell and Caron said, moved by their son's response.
Andrew just smiled, which to Mitchell and Caron looked like the smile of an angel. What really mattered was having fun with your friends and immortalizing those monts.
'Anyway, those dals aren't worth much. If I sell them, maybe I can buy a not-so-good figure,' Andrew thought as he got into bed, unaware that his parents were looking at him like an angel who only cared about the power of friendship.
Mitchell and Caron left the room, turning off the light and closing the door. Andrew fell asleep in less than five minutes. The most important thing is having a perfect sleep routine: to rest well, recover optimally, and have energy the next day.
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