Saturday, November 26, 2011
It was almost midnight, and Sunday was about to begin. All was quiet in the Pritchett-Tucker household. Lily had been asleep for so ti.
In Andrew's room, the light was dim.
His new room, although he had been there for months, was different from the one he had in his old house. It was much more spacious.
The bed occupied the center of the room, larger than the one he had had before. Against one wall was a bookcase filled with comics, novels, and so books on strategy and sports ntality that Andrew had accumulated over the years.
On another wall hung several football posters and so frad jerseys.
Near the window was his desk with his computer. A PC built piece by piece with Howard's help, the components were quite powerful for the year. But now the screen was off.
On the bed, under the covers, Andrew and Jade were lying down.
Jade was nestled against him, her back resting on his chest, while Andrew wrapped his arms around her naturally.
Jade's breathing was calm, her eyes closed, while Andrew rested his head lightly against hers.
"That was good..." Jade whispered, caressing Andrew's hand.
Andrew nodded and let out a small smile.
It had been their first ti. Not individually, but together. The experience had been much more intense than he could have imagined.
Although, rembering the song Jade had shown him on one of their first dates, the one that said that after sex you felt as if you had achieved a kind of sudden, almost spiritual clarity of mind, it was not surprising that she was good at this and intense.
"Yeah, it was one of my best experiences," Andrew said without thinking too much about it.
The room fell silent until Jade spoke again. This ti, her tone no longer had the good humor of before. Although her way of speaking was almost always sowhat monotonous, that cold calm so characteristic of her, Andrew could sense that sothing had changed.
"Experiences?" Jade asked, "It seems you've had many, is that so?"
Andrew wanted to click his tongue and curse under his breath.
'Great,' he thought. He had opened exactly the wrong door.
He began to search for a way to respond without digging his own grave any deeper.
But Jade was not one to let things go. Not getting an imdiate answer, she sat up a little. Then she turned her torso toward him. Her dark hair fell to one side and her light eyes locked onto Andrew's with a calm but very direct intensity.
"Answer the question, Andrew."
Andrew looked her in the eyes. For so reason, he found her cold, direct, almost dominant character strangely attractive.
Then his eyes automatically drifted down to Jade's bare breasts, which were barely covered by a few strands of loose hair.
But before Jade could make a snide comnt, Andrew looked back at her and replied, "Not many, but enough to be able to compare."
"Enough how many?" Jade asked, crossing her arms.
Andrew let out a small smile. "This is going to be a long interrogation, isn't it?"
Jade wasn't amused. She looked at him without changing her expression. "You had two ex-girlfriends and a fling. What else?"
"A fling?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.
It was normal for Jade to know about his two ex-girlfriends, who had lasted months and even over a year with Pippa. But Madison had been a brief fling.
"Madison," Jade said dryly, "The cheerleader who looks at you with sparkling eyes at every ga as if she hopes to relive that fling."
Andrew nodded slightly with a grimace. Then he frowned slightly, wondering how the hell Jade had found out about that. Her own investigation? Maybe she had pressured Haley at one of those etings to get information out of her? Or Howard?
Andrew raised his hands in surrender, "But with Madison, it wasn't serious. Even for a fling, it was super short. We only had sex once."
"Oh," Jade said, smiling with obvious acting, "That makes feel much better."
'Where's the clarity after sex?' Andrew thought, feeling like everything he said made him look worse.
"Anything else? A fling I don't know about, or a secret girlfriend in your past?" Jade continued.
Andrew shook his head. Literally, that was his love life so far. Although then a mory ca to mind.
"Well... there was sothing else," he admitted.
He briefly told her about Veronica. That fake relationship he had accepted for a while. He sumd it up quickly, without too many details, and made it clear that nothing had really happened between them. Just a quick kiss, and that was more out of obligation than anything else.
"So you agreed to go out with her because she declared her love for you in front of everyone and you didn't want to hurt her feelings," said Jade, raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly," replied Andrew, snapping his fingers, "But more than that, I didn't want to be responsible if she ended up slitting her wrists because I rejected her."
For a second there was silence.
Then, for the first ti in the entire conversation, Jade smiled. A small, crooked smile.
'Sothing good,' Andrew thought, realizing that his dark humor had worked.
But Jade quickly returned to the subject.
"What if a fan confesses her love to you and says she'll kill herself if you don't accept her?" she asked calmly. "Because in Veronica's case, it sounds like sothing you would accept."
Besides, Andrew was much better known now and had a fandom that was growing every day.
Andrew shook his head. "Of course not."
He shifted slightly on the pillow before continuing.
"Veronica's case was a unique situation. And there was another factor: so people thought I was gay."
Jade raised an eyebrow slightly. "Really?"
Andrew nodded, "Yeah. I never even had a first kiss in middle school or anything like that. And you know how people are at school... they start making up theories."
He shrugged.
"I have absolutely nothing against gay people, obviously. But it's also not nice to be pigeonholed as sothing you're not. So, in a way, the Veronica thing also helped to cut off those rumors."
Jade looked at him for a second, evaluating him. "You shouldn't care what people think of you," she said critically. "You don't seem like the type who cares about other people's opinions."
Andrew shrugged, unfazed. "I'm not perfect."
The simple answer seed to defuse any possible argunt. Jade watched him for a mont longer and then nodded slightly, as if acknowledging that, at least, he hadn't gotten defensive.
"So: two ex-girlfriends and one fling," Jade summarized.
Andrew nodded. "Not that many for four years of school, right?" he said before looking at her curiously. "How many did you have?"
"Just one boyfriend," Jade replied. "It lasted a year."
"What about flings?"
Jade shook her head, "Flings in the sense of getting far enough to have sex, like you did with Madison, none."
"I see," said Andrew, "But you lasted a year with your ex. That gave you plenty of experience, didn't it?"
Jade tilted her head slightly. "Sort of," she replied calmly. "But you had two ex-girlfriends that you were with for a total of two and a half years. That gives you more experience."
Andrew didn't deny it. He sat up a little and gently took Jade by the waist. With a controlled movent, he laid her down on the bed while he remained leaning over her.
"It's not a competition," Andrew said with a smile. "Besides, look at it this way, I could have had a lot more experiences. Especially flings."
Their faces were only inches apart.
Jade stared at him, "You know that doesn't help your situation much, right?
Andrew chuckled, "Just kidding."
He leaned over and kissed her.
Jade let out what looked like a small smile before returning his kiss, resting a hand on Andrew's cheek.
The kiss grew more intense until Jade forced herself to pull away. "I need coffee," she murmured.
Andrew pulled away and nodded. "Want to co with you?" he asked, but Jade shook her head.
"I know where it is. Do you want to?" she replied.
They had already made coffee when they watched the movie, so she knew where things were.
"Yes, thanks."
Andrew watched Jade get dressed, but frowned when he saw she wasn't putting on her pants.
"Are you going downstairs like that?" he asked.
"Yes, is there a problem?" asked Jade, who was already heading for the door.
Andrew scanned her. She was wearing a tight black tank top and underwear of the sa color.
"Isn't that a little risky?"
She knows his parents aren't ho, but they could co back at any mont, or Lily could wake up, although he doesn't think the little girl would care much.
Jade sighed, "My pants are too tight," she complained, not wanting to put them on only to take them off again.
Andrew got out of bed and went to the dresser. He opened one of the drawers and took out a black Oakland raiders NFL T-shirt.
He handed it to Jade.
She took it without saying anything and pulled it over her head. The shirt was huge on her, hanging loosely over her body, the hem reaching almost to her knees, as if it were a short dress rather than a T-shirt.
"Mm, this will do," Jade murmured, looking at how the shirt fit her before leaving the room.
A mont later, she was in the kitchen. As she made two coffees, she heard the sound of a key in the door, so muffled voices, and finally the door opening.
Jade didn't flinch. She didn't even turn her head. With a teaspoon, she finished stirring the two steaming coffees, picked up each cup carefully, and turned around.
She started walking toward the stairs to go back to the bedroom. But then she ran into them.
Caron and Mitchell had just co in, still talking to each other, until they saw her.
They both froze.
"Jade?" Cam said, surprised.
Mitchell's brow furrowed slightly.
"What are you doing here?" Mitch asked. The question was more curious than accusatory, although the tone sounded a bit drier than he intended.
Jade looked at them with her usual calm expression, almost unreadable.
"Isn't it obvious?" she replied, throwing the question back at them.
Mitchell and Caron looked at each other for a second, not quite sure what to say to a response like that.
The silence lasted only a mont.
"How was the romantic dinner?" Jade asked in a tone that didn't sound very interested.
Cam answered almost by reflex, "Good… very good."
"The pasta was excellent," Mitchell added automatically.
Jade nodded once, as if she had received exactly the information she needed. "I'm glad," she said calmly. "It would be a sha if all that effort to try to keep a relationship afloat ended badly."
Then she simply kept walking. Cam and Mitch watched her in silence as she went up the stairs, until she disappeared.
"Oh my God!" Cam exclaid in a low voice, but clearly alard. "Andrew brought a girl ho and didn't tell us!"
"Yes," Mitch said thoughtfully. "But it's Jade. At least we know her."
Andrew had been dating her for over a month, and their son was not exactly the type who took romantic relationships lightly. He would never bring just any girl ho.
Cam looked at him with wide eyes. He hadn't expected that reaction from Mitch, who usually took on the role of the strict parent.
"But Mitch! He was supposed to be taking care of Lily," he protested. "And instead he brings a girl over to spend the night together and you know, they definitely did it. Did you see Jade? Her hair a little ssy, her clothes…"
Mitchell raised a hand before he could continue. "Enough, Cam. I don't want the ntal image."
He sighed and added calmly, "Besides, I'm sure they took care of Lily. They made dinner, put her to bed… Andrew is almost eighteen and Jade already is. Let's not make a scandal out of this."
Then Mitch fell silent for a second, listening to his own words.
"Oh God," he murmured.
Cam looked at him. "What?"
"When did the roles reverse and I beca the good parent?" Mitch asked, genuinely confused.
But before Cam could answer, footsteps were heard on the stairs.
Both of them looked up.
Andrew was coming down, stretching, completely relaxed, as if nothing unusual was happening. He was wearing a white T-shirt, since Jade had kept the Raiders one because she liked it.
"Hey," Andrew greeted casually. "How was dinner?"
"How was dinner?" Cam repeated, incredulous. "Aren't you going to talk about your little friend you invited over?"
The tone tried to sound firm, as if he were about to start a lecture.
'Yeah, the roles have definitely reversed,' Mitch thought.
Andrew nodded calmly. "Jade told she ran into you. Sorry for not letting you know. I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
He knew his parents, especially Cam, would be dramatic and gossipy about it.
Mitch nodded silently. And he understood why he was no longer the strict parent in practice. With Andrew, there was no need for it. He trusted him, and he had rarely given him any reason not to.
With Lily, on the other hand, it was different. At her age there was always so new problem waiting.
"I see…" Cam said, still frowning. "But you were supposed to be taking care of your sister. And instead you bring a girl ho and well, you know."
Andrew looked at him, confused. "No, I don't know," he said.
Cam made an awkward gesture with his hand. "That… you did it…"
Andrew frowned imdiately, adopting a clearly offended expression.
"Did what?" he repeated. "While I was supposed to have the responsibility of taking care of my little sister?"
Cam quickly raised his hands. "I retract that, I'm sorry."
He knew far too well the almost protective affection Andrew had for Lily to keep pushing that accusation.
The three of them stayed silent for a mont. The atmosphere beca a bit tense.
Until Andrew couldn't help but smile. "Did that seriously work?"
Cam and Mitch looked at him, confused for a second until they understood. He had just been pretending.
Cam pointed a finger at him. "You're an emotional manipulator!"
Andrew laughed, raising his hands. "I was just kidding. And yes... we did it: love," he added in an exaggeratedly solemn tone.
Then he quickly raised a finger before either of them could start talking.
"But we used protection," he clarified, looking directly at Mitch, who was the one who usually insisted most on that issue. "And it was after Lily fell asleep."
Mitch nodded slowly, processing the information.
Andrew continued calmly, "First, the three of us cooked together, played for a while, and even watched a movie. Lily gets along pretty well with Jade, actually."
He paused briefly before adding with a half-smile, "I think Lily has a certain affinity for her."
Cam frowned, "Affinity?"
"Yes. Maybe in a few years she'll end up having a bit of a goth phase too," Andrew replied.
"Oh God..." Cam murmured in horror.
"Anyway, I'll take Jade ho in a little while," Andrew said, already closing the subject.
Both of them nodded.
"Just let us know next ti," Mitch said calmly. "It's not like we'd tell you that you can't invite her. After all, this is your house too."
He said it in an affectionate tone, though there was also a literal truth behind those words: part of the money Andrew had earned with his YouTube channel had ended up helping cover the down paynt when they bought the house.
Cam nodded as well, now much more relaxed. "Yes, I wouldn't mind either," he added. "I just like to be ntally prepared."
Andrew smiled slightly. "Thanks, I'll let you know next ti."
Then he turned around and started heading back up the stairs.
The days passed, and soon Friday, December 2 arrived. Mater Dei faced the San Diego section champion in the state semifinal.
And they won.
For the second year in a row, Mater Dei had reached the state final. On the other side of the bracket was the opponent many had expected from the very beginning of the playoffs, and the one seeking revenge for what had happened the year before:
De La Salle.
The ga was scheduled for Friday, December 9, once again at the Rose Bowl.
The anticipation was enormous.
It wasn't just a state final between two of the most prestigious programs in the country. It would also be Andrew's last high school ga. His final chance to lift another state title and close his school career by repeating the feat of the previous year.
ESPN's national broadcast had already been confird from the very beginning.
Projections were talking about breaking several records: television ratings, dia attention, and also stadium attendance. The year before, the Rose Bowl had gathered around 55,000 people for the final.
This ti, even more was expected.
It wasn't just a final.
It was the end of an era in high school football.
And after that ga, his college decision would finally arrive, sothing the entire football world was waiting for with impatience.
But before that, there was an unexpected stop on Saturday, December 3.
Andrew went with Steve, Leonard, Howard, Haley, Jade, Jay, and his family to watch a real college football ga: the Los Angeles rivalry between the UCLA Bruins football and the USC Trojans football.
The ga was played at the Los Angeles morial Coliseum, and the atmosphere was brutal.
More than 90,000 people filled the stadium.
A sea of red and blue, flags waving, college marching bands playing nonstop, and the constant roar of the crowd making the stands vibrate.
It was the final regular-season ga and, as always in that rivalry, the pride of the entire city was on the line.
The atmosphere was incredible. But Andrew wasn't there as a possible future USC player.
In fact, USC had never really been on his list of potential teams. He was there to watch UCLA, and also to experience the city's classic rivalry.
Kickoff was at seven in the evening. When the clock finally reached 10:15 PM, the scoreboard lit up with the final result.
Andrew, Steve, and Jay were standing, looking up at the giant screen.
Steve had his mouth slightly open. "Shit," he said simply.
The scoreboard showed:
USC Trojans 50 — UCLA Bruins 0
For a mont, no one spoke.
The stadium exploded in celebration on the red side while UCLA fans began leaving their seats with resigned, defeated expressions.
Phil put a hand on his forehead. "This can't be…" he murmured.
The number one team the family wanted Andrew to choose had just suffered one of the most humiliating beatings in its history, delivered by none other than its archrival.
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