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MD - Chapter 40: Postgame
🕑 Added 2025-01-19 16:05:52 +0000 UTCAndrew's team celebrated the victory like never before. The least happy one seemed to be Jason, as he got injured. Although it wasn’t serious, or so they told him, he couldn't show his disappointment openly. He smiled and celebrated, but if you looked closely, you could tell it wasn’t natural.
As for the other seniors close to Jason (especially on the offense), they completely forgot about the starting position dispute and were ecstatic over the team’s epic comeback.
The leader of the defense, Liam, was thrilled, and the rest of the defensive players felt the same. So was Coach David. His team’s epic comeback made him care little about the previous issues of leaving his nephew and his friends as starters.
Archie, Reggie, Steve, and Andrew’s other friends were overjoyed by the huge victory despite not playing a single minute. They knew this game would change things, with Andrew as the starter.
Not because they thought Andrew would demand the coach play his friends, like Jason did, but because now the coach would have to put the players with the best performance during practice—or so they hoped.
Andrew headed to the locker room with the rest of the team in a festive atmosphere.
After getting changed, they left the locker room to meet up with their families and friends who had come to watch the game.
"Hey, Andrew," called Reggie, walking up to Andrew, who was heading toward the exit of the locker room, hoping to find his family and his two friends, Leonard and Howard.
"What?" asked Andrew, expecting Reggie to tell him they were heading to Archie’s house as usual, sticking to the tradition they always followed after Friday night games.
This time, though, Andrew couldn’t join them because he had other plans.
“Liam’s throwing a party at his house. We’re invited. Everyone’s going—cheerleaders and even the most popular girls,” said Reggie, a grin forming on his face.
“Our first big high school party!” exclaimed Steve excitedly, joining the conversation.
“Don’t yell, idiot. You’re going to make us look like rookies,” muttered Archie, scolding Steve.
“Really? Is Jason going too?” asked Andrew. It seemed the tradition of gathering at Archie’s house every Friday after the game would be broken in high school, thanks to teenage parties.
“Yeah…” Reggie replied, not too thrilled about it, but he wasn’t about to miss the first big high school party.
“If we gain the confidence of Liam and the rest of the defense, we’ll have power in the team. Jason won’t be able to do whatever he wants anymore,” commented Kevin.
Liam, the defensive leader, was in his second-to-last year of high school, not the same year as Jason. From what Andrew had seen, Liam was a great defensive leader and player—much better than Jason and one of the best at Palisades High School (excluding Andrew himself).
“Mm, good luck with that,” Andrew said, and everyone gave him puzzled looks.
“You’re not coming?” Reggie asked.
“You have to come! You were the star tonight!” exclaimed Steve. They hadn’t played a single minute. How would they get everyone’s attention if Andrew wasn’t there? Without him, they were just guys who watched the game from the bench—except Kevin, but he wasn’t the star of the night.
“I have plans...” Andrew replied, briefly explaining that he was going to Pippa’s house, his friend from programming class. The guys already knew who she was since they’d seen Andrew talking to her during breaks or in the hallways.
“Oh...” they all said in unison, looking at him with slight smirks that made Andrew frown.
“And here I thought you were still upset about Veronica,” commented Steve.
“When have you seen me upset about Veronica?” muttered Andrew, a vein appearing on his forehead.
“Today, Veronica gave you plenty of looks once you stepped onto the field,” said Archie, who had been watching from the bench near both teams’ cheerleaders.
“Yeah, she must be regretting breaking up with you,” added Reggie with a faint smile.
“Who knows, if you go to Liam’s party, she might try something with you,” he added.
“I don't want anything to do with her. Let her keep playing at being popular,” Andrew said curtly with a grimace and no one else dared to comment when they saw his expression. Rare to see in him expressions of this kind.
Andrew agreed to date Veronica for a simple reason: to avoid humiliating her. She had confessed her feelings in front of everyone, in such a public display that Andrew felt he had no choice but to accept, as rejecting her would have embarrassed her deeply.
Was it the best decision? Maybe yes, maybe no. But at that moment, it seemed like the most empathetic thing to do.
Breaking up with her immediately after agreeing to date her would have been strange and would likely have sparked rumors that could hurt her even more. So, Andrew decided to give it a try and made an effort to be the perfect boyfriend, dedicating himself to making her feel special and taking care of her feelings.
However, the relationship proved to be a challenge for Andrew from the start. Although Veronica had some positive traits, like preparing nutritious lunches for him, she was largely self-centered and superficial. She would talk endlessly about herself, rarely giving him a chance to share anything about his own life or interests.
Andrew got the sense that, for Veronica, the relationship was more about maintaining her image as a popular girl than about genuine feelings.
Eventually, Andrew started following Haley's advice, who suggested he show less interest and stop trying so hard to please Veronica. This shift in attitude didn’t go unnoticed, and soon Veronica decided to end the relationship on her own, abruptly and without hesitation.
Perhaps Veronica stopped seeing any value in him. Andrew had not only stopped being the "perfect boyfriend," also his social standing at high school wasn’t remarkable either. He was a benchwarmer on the football team, and his popularity was beginning to fade.
To make matters worse, rumors about him started to spread. People said he had "nerdy" interests, like video games and movies that most teenagers didn’t consider cool.
Far from being bothered or trying to deny those rumors, Andrew ignored them entirely. He didn’t care what others thought.
The rumors even gained traction when he started spending more time with Leonard and Howard in public places, something he would no longer hide. Andrew had made a clear decision: to live on his own terms, without worrying about others’ opinions.
At the end of this whole charade the only one hurt was him. He wasted his valuable time trying to please a spoiled and shallow girl all to be dumped.
Although he actually preferred this, rather than having hurt a girl with genuine feelings.
They left the locker room, and Andrew met up with his family. Everyone celebrated enthusiastically when they saw him, especially his parents. Cam hugged him so tightly that he nearly choked him with his strength.
He also met up with Leonard and Howard, who had been brought by the latter’s mother. Debbie, a very large woman with no neck, chatted with Cam and Mitchell before leaving the two boys in their care, as they would be taking all three to Pippa’s house.
After that, Andrew told them to wait for him since he wanted to meet up with Pippa before heading straight to her house.
“Pippa? Who’s that?” Haley asked Leonard and Howard after Andrew left.
“Andrew’s programming friend…” Leonard replied, not understanding why Haley’s tone seemed angry.
“Andrew has a female friend? Never heard of her, and it seems like you haven’t either,” commented Alex from the side, clearly trying to stir things up.
“She invited us to her house. We’re going now,” Howard added with a slight smile, trying to show off a little that he had a social life.
“She invited Andrew, and he invited us,” Leonard corrected.
“Hey, why are you trying to make us look like losers?” Howard whispered to Leonard.
“She invited Andrew to her house? Why?” Haley asked, continuing her interrogation.
“She’s hosting a small gathering with her close friends,” Leonard replied.
“And Andrew is one of her close friends?” Haley asked again, this time getting a response from Howard, who noticed the irritation on her face and decided to take a little revenge for when Andrew made them bike until exhaustion only to find out Haley had a boyfriend.
“Yeah, he’s her close friend, though if you ask me, they became close pretty fast. Andrew goes to her house on weekends to work on a project together. They spend hours together, and they have great chemistry, so their relationship progressed quickly,” Howard said with a slightly mischievous smile.
“Chemistry?” Haley repeated in an overly calm tone, though it was obvious she wasn’t happy hearing this.
“Oh, Haley, don’t be like that. Isn’t it sweet? Andrew has a close female friend. It’s better than his fake relationship with Veronica,” Alex commented with a mocking grin.
Haley’s frown deepened at this. She knew what her sister was trying to do, but she couldn’t help being annoyed by this discovery.
“Mm… Is he not going to Liam’s party?” Haley asked, trying to calm herself. It wouldn’t be good to show jealousy in front of strangers, especially since she was Andrew’s cousin.
“Liam’s party?” Leonard and Howard asked, looking at each other in confusion. They had no idea who Liam was or what this party was about.
‘Oh, right… They probably weren’t invited,’ Haley thought, sighing internally. She had been invited due to her popularity, and Dylan would also be there since he seemed to be friends with some of the defensive players like Liam.
“A party after the game? You’re not going,” Claire said, joining the conversation after hearing the word “party.”
She knew how these Friday night post-game parties worked. She wouldn’t let her daughter go to a party filled with older guys where alcohol was likely involved. It was already enough that she allowed her to date a senior.
"Fine," Haley said, leaving Claire surprised. She had expected Haley to start yelling and asking why she couldn’t go if everyone else was.
Haley didn’t complain, as she had already decided to go to the gathering at Pippa’s house—inviting herself along.
...
Andrew, unaware of Haley’s sudden decision, finally found Pippa. It had been difficult to spot her among more than a hundred people in the parking lot.
When he saw her about ten meters away, he noticed her parents, Victor and Leanne (her mom), her brother Josh, and her group of friends: two guys and two girls.
Pippa was also scanning the crowd for him, and finally, their eyes met. She began walking briskly toward Andrew, and he did the same.
"Andrew, you were amazing!" Pippa exclaimed with excitement and an enthusiastic smile on her face. She had never been particularly interested in football, but this game had her thrilled from the moment Andrew stepped onto the field and began the epic comeback.
"Thanks! Now we’re at an even record, 1-1," Andrew said, happy to see Pippa’s enthusiasm.
To qualify for the playoffs, the team needed an overall record with more wins than losses compared to the other teams they faced.
Before Pippa could continue the conversation, her father and brother, both crazy football fans, arrived and began congratulating Andrew and bombarding him with questions about the game.
Pippa wanted to smack both of them on the head, but she held back. Luckily, her mother intervened, dragging Victor and Josh away. "We’ll wait for you in the car," she said with a faint smile.
Unfortunately for Pippa, she still couldn’t have a quiet conversation with Andrew because her friends arrived. She had no choice but to introduce them—just Zach and Connor since Cara and Lauren had already met Andrew.
“Tell him what you were thinking during the game,” Zach whispered with a grin to Connor, who quickly shut him up.
“Do you want me to end up in the hospital?” Connor muttered, recalling Andrew’s tackles. The rivals players had stayed down on the ground for several seconds until their teammates helped them up.
“Well, see you at my house,” Pippa said, realizing that having a quiet conversation here was impossible.
They said brief goodbyes. Andrew returned to his parents, where he learned from Haley that she would be going to Pippa’s house too.
'Well, one more person won’t make a difference...' Andrew thought, shrugging as he got into the back seat of the car with Leonard and Howard.
Claire made sure to follow the car and drive Haley. She much preferred this gathering of same-grade friends over a party full of older, popular students.
Comments
Alkole
Idk I feel like he is inviting too many people to a party that ain't his.....
Guido
Yes, after the conversation he had with Alex he realized that and the only one who is harmed is himself.
Lel0uchX
thx but I don't like that he puts everyone's interests before his own, he doesn't look like a teenager at all and was reborn when he was 16, he shouldn't be that mature, that's why I hope his relationship with Pip won't be a lifelong relationship, he's 15, he should have been through a lot of relationships and breakups. You can also add other worlds (teenagers): skins, shameless, sex ed, euphoria (sports/professional): suits, ballers, all americans
alex hampton
I’m pretty sure Hailey is gonna ruin this party or at least make it really awkward
