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MD - Chapter 95: No punishment?
🕑 Added 2025-04-10 17:41:37 +0000 UTCIt had been a week since the end of San Diego Comic-Con, but to Andrew, it felt like much more time had passed.
A lot had happened: the tournament, the fake identity, the encounter with Arik, Derek, and other future stars, and of course, Willa Holland.
To Andrew’s surprise, Willa had fit into the group effortlessly.
At first, both Howard and Leonard seemed uncomfortably aware of her presence. It was understandable, not every day does a girl like her—gorgeous, confident, with the undeniable vibe of a young Hollywood actress—join a group of nerds to talk about comics and sci-fi theories.
But the days at Comic-Con were enough for that initial intimidation to turn into comfort. Willa was direct, yes, but also sarcastic, funny, and, above all, deeply geeky.
Howard wouldn’t admit it, but he no longer saw her as just a pretty girl—he now saw her as a valid contender in the kingdom of geek knowledge.
Leonard, for his part, tried to keep his composure, though it was obvious that talking to her excited him more than usual. Especially after they spent over an hour discussing the moral layers in Tolkien's literature and whether or not Tom Bombadil should’ve been in the movies.
Andrew observed all of this. He realized Willa didn’t have friends—or at least, not friends with whom she could share this kind of geeky stuff.
It was very similar to what had happened to him in his past life.
He understood that Willa had invited him to explore Comic-Con not because she had a romantic interest in him, at least, that’s what Andrew had concluded, but because she needed a companion. An equal. Someone to talk to about what she was passionate about outside of acting and Hollywood.
And that gave him relief.
Not because he was afraid of being unfaithful—Andrew was sure about his feelings for Pippa. But meeting Willa and discovering that, on top of everything, they shared so many geeky things, so many obsessions, so many references, it felt like the universe was mocking him.
As if it had placed in front of him the perfect nerd girl. Attractive. Straightforward. Geeky. And, to top it all off, she had been his crush in his past life.
But he liked Pippa. Despite their argument, he genuinely liked her.
They had a small fight, nothing serious, but enough to create some tension.
During the first few days of Pippa’s trip, the messages were cold. Sparse. She took a long time to respond. But as the days went by, the conversations started to improve, more jokes, longer talks, no long waiting times, etc.
The tension was still there, lingering, but it had eased compared to the early days.
As for the YouTube video, Andrew had already uploaded it. He titled it:
“500,000 Subscriber Special – I infiltrated a football tournament with a fake identity and dominated”
It only took a few hours for the video to go viral and break all of Andrew’s previous records in terms of views, comments, and more.
But before that, of course, there was a necessary conversation.
He told Cam and Mitchell the truth. About why he had gone to San Diego so early that first day.
Cam stayed silent at first, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Mitchell pursed his lips like he was mentally preparing a disciplinary speech... but nothing happened.
Well, almost nothing.
“I can’t believe you did all of that without telling us,” Cam said first, not angry… just with an air of fake disappointment.
“Do you realize we missed the game? We could’ve been there watching you destroy that two-meter-tall monster!” Cam added, eyes wide as if that was the truly upsetting part of the whole situation.
“What...?” Andrew muttered under his breath, confused by his father’s emotional priorities.
Mitchell, who had already seen Andrew’s edited video after everything was explained, simply nodded with his arms crossed.
“You could’ve been more honest… but it was incredible how you steamrolled that defender. His name is Arik, right?” Mitchell asked for confirmation.
“Yeah. Arik Armstead. Pleasant Grove High School, Division 1. One of the most sought-after defenders in the country. He’s over two meters tall and weighs about as much as an industrial washing machine,” said Cam, nodding with a serious expression.
Mitchell stayed quiet for a moment, processing the information with an almost exaggerated expression of pride. Then he turned to Andrew with a small, satisfied smile.
“Do you realize what you did? We should’ve been in those stands. With a sign or something. You took down a Division 1 guy, one of the top high school football talents. Just imagine the look on the other parents’ faces, or his friends who came to watch,” Mitchell said, clenching his fist and furrowing his brow, as if he were more upset about missing the chance to see his son wipe the floor with the other players.
“I… I’m sorry. I’ll invite you next time,” said Andrew with a strange expression. He hadn’t expected to be scolded for not inviting them to the tournament where he used a fake identity.
“You better! We could’ve brought Lily with some kind of mask—she would’ve looked adorable,” said Cam.
“So… I’m not getting punished?” Andrew asked, noticing that Mitch and Cam were already chatting about the video he had filmed at the tournament.
“No. Not this time,” Mitchell replied, crossing his arms. “Except for that one awful night when you decided to drunkenly roam around Los Angeles, you haven’t caused any serious trouble, and I don’t think this really qualifies either.”
“Besides, the tournament organizer, Brady, gave you permission to upload the video, and he didn’t even get mad after finding out you faked your identity. Which, let me remind you, would technically be a misdemeanor if you were an adult. But since you’re a minor and a football prodigy…”
“…everyone forgives you,” Cam finished with a proud smile.
Mitchell nodded and stepped closer to Andrew. “And more importantly: you talked to Brady for a whole hour. An hour. Do you know how many kids your age would kill for five minutes with a college coach? That connection could be worth gold,” he said as he placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder.
“Though with your level, once you graduate high school, top universities will be fighting over you,” said Cam, and Mitchell nodded in agreement.
Andrew nodded too, and after a few more words, he headed back to his room. 'That went better than expected' he thought as he closed the door behind him.
…
A few days later.
Director Brian De Palma’s mansion wasn’t what Andrew had pictured when Willa casually said, “Wanna come play D&D at my place?”
He hadn’t imagined it would be such a huge and absurdly elegant house.
Howard and Leonard were completely beside themselves, especially after finding out who Willa’s stepfather was.
“He directed Carrie? The original Stephen King one? The one from 1976?” Leonard repeated for the third time, looking around as if he expected Sissy Spacek to walk out of a hallway.
“And Mission: Impossible. The first one! With Tom Cruise. That’s cinema history!” said Howard, his eyes sparkling.
Willa, meanwhile, was sitting on a huge velvet armchair, flipping through her character sheet with a slight smile. Her outfit didn’t suggest in the slightest that she was about to start a long D&D session.
Andrew sat beside her, reviewing his character sheet with a focused look. His character was a cleric with fire powers.
“Alright. Who wants to do the campaign intro?” Willa asked, looking up.
“Me!” shouted Howard, raising his sheet like it was a certificate.
And just like that, the session began.
They had been playing for over three hours. During the final combat, Andrew’s character had a bad dice roll and died.
“Your character… has died,” said Howard, the Dungeon Master, with a solemn yet theatrical tone.
“We can bring him back!” Leonard jumped in, already scanning his character sheet. “I’ve got a potion. Or we can find a cleric in the nearest town. It’s not over!”
“No. It’s okay. I think it was a good ending for him,” Andrew said quietly, shaking his head as he leaned back on the couch with a sigh.
Willa watched him with curiosity. He’d been unusually quiet that night—quieter than usual.
“Are you leaving?” Willa asked as she saw him get up and gather his things.
“Yeah. I’m tired,” Andrew replied vaguely, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
Willa nodded. She didn’t say anything else, though there was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes.
“Are you coming tomorrow? I mean… we could play something else. Or watch a movie. We’re still on vacation,” Willa asked.
“I don’t think I can...” Andrew replied, without going into detail.
“Alright. Door’s open. Bye,” Willa said in a neutral tone.
“Bye guys, enjoy the rest of the session,” Andrew said as he left. Leonard and Howard waved in response.
A few seconds after Andrew had left the house, Willa couldn’t hold back her curiosity anymore. She looked over at Leonard and Howard and asked:
“What’s up with him? He was quieter and more low-energy than usual.”
“His girlfriend gets back from Europe tomorrow. They’ve been kind of on bad terms since before her trip, I think that might be why,” Howard replied after a few seconds.
Willa nodded without saying anything, hiding any emotional reaction well. She didn’t bring up the topic again and returned her focus to the game.
…
After getting home, Andrew went to bed not long after—but he couldn’t fall asleep.
Pippa was coming back tomorrow.
He had been thinking about that moment all week. He imagined her face as she walked out of the airport doors. He couldn’t wait to see her.
However, he knew there was still that lingering issue with Regina.
Even though Pippa didn’t want to admit it, Andrew was sure that’s what the problem was, why she got upset before leaving.
He had invited Pippa the first time so she could see for herself. And she did. She saw there was nothing strange going on and didn’t come back again because—in her words—“running isn’t really her thing.”
Andrew accepted that. He didn’t push it.
But she... she seemed to have expected something else.
The idea of cutting ties with Regina didn’t seem like a good solution to Andrew. Regina was his friend. Ending a friendship over jealousy that hadn’t even been expressed felt like a coward’s move.
And then what? Every time a girl got close, would he have to push them away?
'There has to be another solution...' Andrew thought, trying to think harder, but finding nothing.
And then, as if a ridiculous idea slowly morphed into something logical, he made a decision.
He would ask his family for advice. Yep. All of them.
His parents: Cam and Mitchell.
Jay and Gloria.
Manny.
Phil, Claire, Alex, Haley…
Andrew closed his eyes and sighed.
“Oh God… This could go terribly wrong,” he muttered to himself.
Still, he knew that somewhere in the chaos, he might just find an answer that could help him fix this problem.
And with that thought, he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.
