Andy Squared (12 page)

“It doesn't make him not gay.”

“It doesn't mean anything.”

“And you'd know this because?”

“Screw this.” Andrew turned for the door and nearly tripped over a pair of jeans. It only made his irritation rise.

“Where are you going?”

“Home. I'm not sitting here listening to you trash him. Like it or not, Charlie, he's my friend. Get over it and grow up. You're acting like you're five years old. Just because Sarah won't give you the time of day doesn't mean you can go around saying shit about the guy she likes.”

Charlie leapt off the bed in a flash and grabbed Andrew's arms. He shoved him backward. “Well, why do you think he keeps saying no to her? She's the hottest girl in school. She's throwing herself at him and he says no? That's got to mean something!”

“It means he's not interested. What's so wrong with that? I wouldn't date her either!”

“She's your sister's best friend! Of course you wouldn't date her.”

“There are a lot of girls I wouldn't date in school either.”

“Yeah, but there are a lot that you
have
dated. Key difference.”

Andrew pushed him back to give himself some space. “I don't understand what your problem is, Charlie.”

“He hasn't dated
anyone
. Think about it.”

“Maybe he has someone back in Texas,” Andrew lied.

“Why didn't he mention her?”

“I don't know, and I really don't care. What business is it of yours? You're not even a real friend to Ryder. Why would he mention his girlfriend to you?”

“Did he mention her to you?”

Andrew saw red. “Man, I can see why Sarah wouldn't want to date you. You're nothing but a selfish jerk.”

Charlie had Andrew's arms in a tight grip and shoved him into the wall. “Take it back.”

“No. Back off, Charlie.” Andrew's voice was low and dangerous, his eyes narrowed, and Charlie just shoved him into the wall again. Something inside Andrew snapped and he gave him a shove right back. Startled, Charlie caught his foot on the same pair of jeans Andrew had tripped over, and he went sprawling, dragging Andrew down with him. They scuffled on the floor, each fighting to gain the upper hand and pin the other to their advantage. Charlie twisted them and ended up on top. Just as he was about to pull his fist back, his mother threw the door open.

“What is going on in here?” she gasped when she saw the two of them on the floor. “Charlie! What has gotten into you? Get off him.”

“He started it,” Charlie spat as he stood.

“Are you all right, Andrew?”

“I'm fine, Mrs. Wilson. I was just leaving.” He stood and shrugged his shirt straight, reaching up to smooth his hair and rub the backs of his knuckles over a spot he knew would be bruised in just a few hours. He gave Charlie a wide berth as he passed through the door and shot him one last glare. He was almost out the door when he heard mother and son arguing. The sounds disappeared as soon as he stepped out the front door and shut it behind him.

*

“You're back early,” Andrew's father said from the kitchen table. He glanced up at him as he walked in and frowned. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Why do you ask?”

“Because you said you were going to Charlie's and come back an hour later, give or take. Whenever you hang out with him you're gone all day. Did you lie about going to Charlie's?”

“Of course not. I just didn't feel like being there.”

“Uh-huh,” his father said, setting down a sheaf of papers. “Did you two have a fight?”

Andrew hesitated before pulling out a chair and sprawling in it. “Am I that obvious?”

“The bruise makes it pretty obvious.” Dad crossed his arms and sat back. “So what happened?”

“Charlie's just a jerk.”

“Is this about Ryder?”

How would he know this had to do with Ryder? Did people see more than he thought? He stopped his train of thoughts, horrified.

What if he knows?

Andrew swallowed. “Charlie doesn't like him very much. He's being ridiculous.”

“Why?” his father asked.

“I don't know. Because Sarah likes Ryder and Charlie likes Sarah? But Ryder's turned her down like, four times. So I don't know what he's so worried about.”

“I agree with you on that, it is a bit ridiculous.” Dad paused, holding his inhale a moment. As he exhaled, he said, “But I can see where he's coming from, too.”

Andrew looked up at his father, surprised. “What? How can you agree with him?”

“Don't jump to conclusions, Andy! I said I think I see where he's coming from, not that I agree with him or think he's right. I've noticed you've been hanging around Ryder more, that's all.”

“Why shouldn't I? We're friends. He's a better friend than Charlie's been lately.”

“I'm not saying you shouldn't. I'm just saying, maybe Charlie feels a little neglected.” Dad paused.

Andrew brooded.

“You do a lot with Ryder and don't invite him, and you have been friends with Charlie longer.”

“Well, we don't invite him because Charlie wouldn't want to go.”

“You sure about that?”

“Well, no, not really. But he said no every time we asked before,” Andrew admitted. “So we just stopped asking.”

“So, the next time you do something, ask him. It can't hurt to ask. And if he keeps saying no, well then, it's his fault. You'll have made an effort to include him.”

Andrew expelled a frustrated sigh. “Thanks, Dad.”

His father smiled. “You're welcome. Oh, and Ryder called right after you left. I told him you went to Charlie's already and probably wouldn't be back until later tonight.”

“I'll call him in a bit.”

Andrew headed upstairs to his room and found Andrea sitting at her desk looking over the letters. Four of them were in front of her, and he had a feeling he knew what they were. With a sigh he sank onto his bed.

“I think we should call UConn, once and for all. We both get a scholarship and they're a Division One school. It's perfect.”

“UConn? Connecticut.”

Andrea snorted and turned to look at him. “Uh, duh, of course it's Connecticut, idiot. The Huskies, remember? Basketball? They're huge? They have a great soccer team, too, which you should already know.”

Andrew reached down and grabbed a magazine from his floor, ready to flip through it, but it was one that Sarah had left behind. “I don't know, though. I kind of wanted to stay close to home.”

“Connecticut is close to home. It's only a few hours away. We can come home on weekends if you really wanted to, but we'd get to live on campus. They have a great program, Andrew.”

“I was thinking more local,” he admitted, finally looking at her. “Local like…maybe Utica or something.”

Andrea snorted. “I'd much rather play for UConn. Besides, we haven't gotten offers from Utica.”

He didn't care about scholarship offers. Or soccer. “We don't…have to go to the same school,” Andrew replied softly.
She's going to blow up. Any second now
, he thought, slowly counting to himself.

Andrea merely brushed his comment to the side. “Of course we have to. We've agreed to it. We're going to take UConn by storm! The Morris twins. Unstoppable.” She grinned at him. “So how do you want to tell Mom and Dad?”

“Andrea, can you just listen? I don't know if I want to go there.”

She waved a hand and turned back to her papers, pulling out a pen. “I wonder if anyone else from the team got offers from UConn. It would be cool to room with one of them. But maybe it would be better to room with someone else and get a new experience.”

She refused to listen. Scholarship or not, Andrew didn't want to go there. He wanted to stay close to home. He thought about filling out the paperwork for the other college and sending it in without telling her, but that would cause World War III. Andrew sighed and watched Andrea furiously filling in the blanks, signing her soul away to UConn. And, if she had her way, his soul, too.

“If you're worried about filling out the application right, I'll do it for you,” she said, distractedly. “Just write your own essay, okay? It's not that hard.”

“I don't think that's legal, Andrea.”

“It's fine. We have similar handwriting.”

“Andrea. You're not listening to me. I don't want to go to UConn.”

His sister slowly turned toward him. “You don't know what's best for your future, Andrew. Hello, full scholarships. We'll get to play on the teams. It's a great school with a great soccer program.”

Andrew pushed himself off the bed and paced around the small floor space. “I don't want to play soccer forever, Andy. It's just a game. I'll get an academic scholarship for Utica College. I'd like to go there. They have some great academic programs.”

“You would rather be a moose than a husky?”

“Yes,” Andrew said, steeling himself.

Andrea's eyes narrowed. “You'd settle for a Division Three school when you were offered to play for Division One? I can't believe you.”

“Believe it, Andrea. I don't even know if I want to play.”

“That's ridiculous. You'll change your mind. We're going to UConn,” she said, her tone sharpening.

Andrew hardened his own words. “You might be, but I'm not.”

Andrea turned back to the desk, ignoring Andrew no matter what he said. “We're going to UConn.”

Andrew didn't bother replying. It just didn't matter.

The first day back to school after Thanksgiving break always seemed to drag on. The half-year courses were ramping up for finals in a few weeks, and the full-year courses were getting ready for midterms. Teachers were generally stressed about preparing for the exams and were bogged down with work. Students had projects that were coming up or due and were rushing to get them finished. But a bit of festive air still lingered as students talked about the holiday that just passed, or the holiday coming up.

In history that morning, before the bell rang, Sarah sat chatting with Andrew and Ryder about what she had done the day after Thanksgiving. She explained all the amazing deals she had gotten from her shopping trip on Black Friday and bragged about being almost done with shopping for presents.

“I had a little more money this year than I did last, so I bought some things for my friends,” she hinted, smiling sweetly at them.

“Who do those friends include?” Andrew asked, cautious. He hated when someone bought him a gift and he didn't get that person anything in return. It made him feel cheap.

“Oh, you know, Andrea, you, Charlie, Ryder.”

“Sarah, you really shouldn't have.”

“But I found the perfect thing for you, Andy! You'll love it. Trust me!”

Andrew groaned and shook his head while Ryder grinned.

“What are you getting your parents, Ryder?”

“I don't know. There's not much they'd really want, and they're over in Germany, so it'll be difficult to ship it if it's too big.”

“Couldn't you buy it online and just have it shipped from the website? It would probably save you money.”

Ryder shrugged. “I could look into it I guess. I'll see if there are any new books my mom wants. Those would be pretty hard to buy over there, and shipping online shouldn't be too expensive. I don't know about my dad, though. He's always been tough to shop for.”

Sarah was about to pass her question on to Andrew when Mrs. Appleby walked in and motioned for them to take their seats. While she explained the new group project, Andrew's thoughts wandered. Should he get something for Ryder for Christmas? Of course he should. They were dating. How long had they been dating? He counted back on his fingers, eyes widening briefly. It had been nearly three weeks.

Just three weeks? It feels like months.

Andrew pulled out his notebook and a pen. He'd never dated anyone around a holiday, thus freeing him from obligations of buying gifts for a girlfriend, but he didn't think that would be the case this year.

He was still going strong with Ryder, and not sick of him at all. He was having a good time, and he thought Ryder was, too. But what would Ryder want for Christmas? It would only be a month into their relationship, so Andrew didn't want to get anything too big. But it couldn't be too small or stupid, either. It had to be something meaningful, something Ryder would really like.

I can't believe I'm dating a guy.

He couldn't quite believe it was working far better than it had dating Cynthia and Danielle, or any of the other girls. Why hadn't he seen it before?

He didn't notice when class ended and continued to stare at his notes until he felt a hand drop down on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ryder gazing down at him. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“They're not worth that much,” he said, smiling and closing his notebook. He stood and brushed against Ryder. It amazed him how that small contact could send a thrill straight down his spine. Even a small touch from his girlfriends had made him cringe unless he had been the one to initiate it. And even then, he'd had to sort of…tune out.

“I'll see you at lunch?” asked Ryder, heading for the door. Andrew nodded and watched him go before gathering up his books. Karina had been waiting for him at the door and followed him out. Sarah remained at the door, waiting for Andrew. When Ryder rounded the corner, she sighed softly.

“He's so cute…it's a shame.”

“What? What's a shame? That he keeps turning you down?” he teased, putting it as lightly as he could so she wouldn't be hurt or offended.

“You haven't heard? And you two are such good friends,” she said, walking toward her next class. Andrew followed her, a thread of worry beginning to wind through his stomach. He dodged the students that filed through the hallway and lingered at their lockers to keep up with her.