When Mitchell and Andrew left the house, they were both surprised to see not one, but two cars parked in front of their house.
One of the vehicles was his grandfather Jay's truck, who stepped out to greet Andrew and Mitchell. In the back seats was Manny, with his backpack and a slightly drowsy expression.
"Hey, Dad, what are you doing here?" Mitchell asked, eyeing Jay cautiously. If there was one thing he knew, it was that his father wasn't here just to chat with him.
"Hey, Mitch. Andrew," Jay greeted with a slight nod.
"I was taking Manny to school and rembered that you're starting school today too. First day of high school, a big day," Jay said, looking at Andrew.
"So what?" Mitchell asked before Andrew could speak.
"I could take Andrew. His school is near Manny's, and you have to get to work. Unlike you, I manage my own schedule since I'm the boss," Jay replied, and Mitchell's expression was far from pleased for several reasons.
'Oh no, causing misunderstandings again,' Andrew thought. His grandfather wasn't the best at expressing himself.
"I'll go with my dad, Grandpa. He has ti to take ," Andrew said, jumping into the conversation. Jay looked slightly disappointed, though he hid it well.
"But you can follow us. You'll be our escort. It'll make for a grand entrance," he added with a smile.
"Fine, let's go!" Jay said with more enthusiasm. At least he wouldn't be left out of Andrew's first day of high school.
Andrew then approached the second vehicle, an impressive 4x4 truck. The windows were down, and he recognized everyone inside: his football teammates—Reggie, Archie, Steve, Kevin—and Kevin's older brother, who was driving.
Reggie stuck his head out of the window. "Co on, Andrew! We'll follow you; we can't be late!" he exclaid, excited about the new Chapter of life starting today.
"Better to be late. That makes us cooler," Steve said as he munched on so croissants, making a ss.
"Hey, Steve, I told you not to eat in the car!" Kevin's brother complained, turning around and snatching the croissant from Steve.
"Looks like you'll have two escorts for your first day of school," Mitchell said.
"Yeah..." Andrew replied with a strange expression, watching the commotion that had started in the truck, with Steve yelling and trying to get his croissant back.
"Let's go," he added as he headed to the car.
Mitchell's car was followed by Jay and the 4x4 truck carrying Andrew's friends. After a few minutes, they arrived at school just in ti.
Many students were at the entrance, accompanied by their parents. Most of them just wanted to get rid of their parents as quickly as possible, not wanting to endure embarrassing conversations.
As for Andrew, he didn't mind. He said goodbye to Mitchell with a hug and to Jay with a firm handshake.
Then he walked in, followed by his friends, for so reason positioned right in the middle—like the leader of a gang.
"I can't wait for the day to end so we can get to practice," Reggie said with a smile.
He was already eager to earn a spot on the team and see how things worked in high school. It shouldn't be hard; they'd secure their positions quickly, especially with Andrew leading them.
As for the tryouts to join the team, those were already taken care of. They had all done them over the sumr.
Throughout July, they participated in the football team tryouts. The coach evaluated them and chose the new team mbers for the year. Now, they just had to earn starting positions against the seniors students.
"We haven't even had our first class yet..." Kevin said, shaking his head.
"It's not all about football. If you want to play at the college level, you need to keep good grades," Andrew comnted seriously.
To go pro, certain academic requirents had to be t. At the very least, you needed a minimum GPA of 2.3 on a 4.0 scale (about a C average).
Andrew wasn't a great student in his past life. He struggled to maintain a C average because he never had enough ti.
However, now he placed more importance on his studies, so his grades were higher compared to before. Plus, he had already learned most of the material, though he wasn't a genius like Leonard, Howard, or his cousin Alex.
"I know, Captain. Don't worry, we've got four years," Reggie said with a relaxed smile. He was the worst of the group when it ca to grades, but he didn't care much about it.
In the first period, Andrew had math. Unfortunately for him, he shared the class with Veronica, aning he had to keep up the act of being her boyfriend. Luckily, Haley and Steve were also there, with Steve always making dumb comnts.
Haley didn't know about his mature decision to accept Veronica's confession to avoid humiliating her in front of everyone.
Claire had told him not to tell Haley for so reason he didn't understand. As for Alex, she also kept the secret. She didn't care much and knew her sister was annoyed that Andrew had a girlfriend, so it worked in her favor to have Haley stay upset.
Veronica brought up the topic of their "date" after practice, but Andrew managed to dodge the subject without giving an answer. He knew, though, that the school day was long, and he'd have to address it eventually.
The following periods continued until 11:50 AM: English, science, and history. Unfortunately, he didn't share any of them with Leonard or Howard. He'd have to try talking to them during lunch if possible.
In history class, Andrew didn't have any of his friends or acquaintances with him—no Haley, Veronica, or any friends from the football team. So, when the class ended, he walked alone toward the cafeteria.
'It's nice not getting so many stares,' Andrew thought.
In middle school, he had been extrely popular, and wherever he went, he'd get stares and whispers. Here, he wasn't as well-known, although he didn't go completely unnoticed either.
Dylan, a senior, recognized him from an interview and had even watched so of his middle school gas, so he wasn't entirely unknown to the other students.
As he turned a corner at a blind spot, he bumped into soone, causing them to fall to the ground and scatter a pile of books they had been carrying.
The person who had collided with Andrew felt like they had run into a brick wall. Andrew hadn't even moved an inch; it would take much more force to push or trip him.
"Ouch... Is your skin made of tal or sothing?" muttered a girl, rubbing her forehead with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Oh, sorry. Are you okay?" Andrew asked, crouching down to pick up the books. He hadn't heard the girl's murmur.
The girl stopped rubbing her forehead and looked up at the person she'd bumped into. "Andrew Pritchett?" she asked.
"Do we know each other?" Andrew asked, examining the girl more carefully: pale skin, short brown hair with lighter tips, and striking blue eyes.
He couldn't recognize her.
"No, no... of course not. Sorry for bumping into you," the girl said hurriedly as she stood up and snatched the books from Andrew's hands. Within monts, she disappeared from his sight.
'Well... that was weird,' Andrew thought, and without giving it further importance, he resud his walk to the cafeteria.
When he arrived, he saw his friends calling him over from a table. They had saved a seat for him, so he went over and sat down. Haley, Veronica, and two of their friends were also there.
"Why did it take you so long?" Haley asked, sipping her drink.
"The history teacher talks really slowly," Andrew replied, dropping into the chair. He glanced at the long line in the cafeteria and sighed. He needed food that t his nutritional requirents, but he knew he wouldn't find it there.
Cafeteria food wasn't the best option. Public school lunches weren't exactly high-quality als. His als were usually prepared by Cam, but not this ti since Cam had been too busy with Lily, last night's dinner, and other things.
Andrew hadn't been able to cook for himself either, having been busy all day Sunday.
"What's with your face?" Steve asked, happily munching on his cafeteria sandwich.
"You've known Andrew for years, and you seriously ask that, you idiot?" Haley said, shooting Steve an irritated look.
"What? What did I do now?" Steve protested, confused and slightly offended.
"The thing is, Steve," Veronica chid in with an indulgent smile, "Andrew has standards. Unlike you, he can't just eat any greasy thing and call it food. Eating an oily cafeteria sandwich is practically sacrilege for him."
Andrew sighed and rolled his eyes, though part of him appreciated the defense. 'I'm not that picky...' he thought, even though he did prefer bringing his own ho-cooked als.
"Hey, I like the food here!" Archie said proudly, defending the cafeteria's honor.
"Now that's the spirit!" Steve said, talking with his mouth full of food. Haley shot him a disgusted look.
"Yeah, well, your arteries might have a different opinion," Kevin quipped, laughing, echoing a phrase Andrew had often used.
"Well, I figured the food here wouldn't be good enough for you, so I brought you this," Veronica said, pulling an elegant glass container from her bag.
The container was filled with perfectly cooked chicken, rice, stead vegetables, and a small packet of homade dressing. She placed it in front of Andrew with a proud smile.
Everyone at the table fell silent for a mont, staring at Veronica, until Reggie broke the calm.
"Did you... did you buy that sowhere?" he asked, sounding both surprised and confused.
"No, my cook prepared it this morning," Veronica replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Cook?" Kevin repeated, raising an eyebrow. "You have a cook?"
"Of course. What's so strange about that?" Veronica asked, glancing around with genuine confusion.
"The fact that we're at a public school," Archie said, laughing.
"What are you doing here, rich girl? You should've gone to Ridge School," Steve said with a laugh.
Veronica frowned at his comnt. Her parents had suggested transferring her to that prestigious private school since they could afford the tuition and her grades were good, but she didn't want to leave her friends.
"And what are you doing here, Steve? I thought you'd lost all your brain cells in the last ga. It's a miracle you even passed your grade," Veronica shot back, frowning.
'Hey...' Steve thought. He had only been joking.
"Thanks, Veronica," Andrew said with a smile. This had saved him. It had protein, carbs, and vegetables—everything he needed.
"You're welco," Veronica said happily, pleased to see Andrew's smile. "By the way, are we going out today after your training?" she asked.
Andrew knew he couldn't dodge the question anymore after receiving such a valuable al.
"How about Saturday? Training lasts over two hours, so I'll finish late and all sweaty. On Saturday, we'll have the whole day," Andrew suggested, and Veronica happily agreed.
"More than two hours of training?" Haley asked, incredulous that they had to train for so long.
"You've known Andrew for years, and you seriously ask that, idiot?" Steve said with a smile, seizing the perfect opportunity for payback.
Haley elbowed him square in the side, making Steve let out a groan and shrink into his seat.
"Hey! Violence!" Steve protested, rubbing his side.
Lunch continued as the group chatted enthusiastically and joked with one another.
At a solitary table in the corner of the cafeteria, Andrew noticed Leonard and Howard. They caught his glance, but Andrew quickly looked away and refocused on his food.
He wanted to talk to them about comics, movies, video gas, YouTube, and more—but he couldn't bring himself to approach them in such a public space.
It wasn't a rejection of Leonard and Howard. The problem was the situation he had created for himself. For years, he had kept those interests a secret—not because there was anything wrong with them, but because they simply didn't fit the kind of friendship he had built with his football teammates and others.
How would he explain now that he loved Star Wars, could recite entire lines from The Lord of the Rings, or spent whole nights playing video gas?
'It's happening again, just like in my previous life,' Andrew thought, feeling a pang of regret in his chest.
At that mont, a boy approached the table and called out to him.
"You're Andrew Pritchett, right?"
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