MD - Chapter 274: PossessivenessMarch 25
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The day of the party Cam had prepared with so much effort had finally arrived. A Tuesday. Not exactly a typical day for something like this.
But the context helped. Christmas had been three days ago, and New Year's was still ahead. Most people were still on winter break, which meant full party mode: kids, teenagers, college students, even many adults had time off or were working at a more relaxed pace.
The house was already completely set. Decorations, drinks, and the initial snacks. Everything in place. The start time was 6:30 PM.
In theory, it would end at 11. Though, given the type of event, it would probably go on a bit longer.
It wasn't a typical teenage party. It didn't start late, nor was it meant to last until dawn. It would be more controlled, at least in theory.
Thirty minutes before the official start time, Andrew was already in the living room with Steve, Leonard, Howard, and Haley.
"I have to say…" Howard began, holding a glass of juice and looking around at the completely transformed space, "your parents really outdid themselves with this."
Haley looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Did you think it was going to look terrible?"
"Of course not," Howard replied. "It's just that… I don't know, I imagined something more…"
"More gay?" Andrew finished.
Howard snapped his fingers. "Exactly."
"What does that even mean? What makes one party more gay than another? It's just a party," Haley said, looking between them.
Howard and Andrew exchanged a glance. Just as they were about to answer, Alex walked in from the living room, having heard the last part.
"That sounds like prejudice," Alex said bluntly. "Just because the person organizing the party is gay."
Leonard watched the exchange, amused. "Will they manage to defend themselves or just dig a deeper hole?" he muttered to Steve, who chuckled quietly.
Howard didn't back down. "Girls, girls, girls," he said, shaking his head with a faint smile, as if the answer were obvious.
That only made Haley and Alex frown even more.
"You answering or am I?" Howard added, looking at Andrew.
"Let me go first," Andrew said, turning to his cousins.
"First of all, I'm not prejudiced. I've lived more than ten years with gay parents. Their entire friends circle too. If anyone here can talk about this without it sounding bad, it's me."
"That's true!" Steve jumped in immediately. "He's the only one who can joke about it without getting in trouble."
Andrew glanced at him with a slight smile. "Exactly, though it's not like I'm about to start making fun of anything."
He looked back at Haley and Alex. "What Howard is trying to say is that he expected something much more over-the-top. More elaborate. Why do you think they hired Pepper? He's a party planner, and he takes it extremely seriously. I've heard him criticize tablecloths at other events like it was a crime."
He paused briefly before adding, "If he heard you say all parties are the same, he'd be pretty offended."
Haley made a face, acknowledging the point.
To her, a party was something much simpler: someone's house, loud music, alcohol, and that's it. There wasn't much science behind it. But with people like Pepper, it was different. Every detail mattered, the colors, the layout, the tables, even the tablecloths. Everything had intention.
And, to be fair to Howard, this could've been much flashier. But they had gone for something more understated.
Alex crossed her arms, though she didn't argue. "Okay… fair point," she admitted reluctantly.
Then she shook her head slightly. "Still, I can't believe someone takes party planning that seriously."
"See? I'm not prejudiced," Howard said, somewhat offended. "In fact, I'm the one respecting Pepper's work the most here."
"And besides, with a name like Sherman Saltzman, a.k.a. Pepper, and he has an assistant named Ronaldo, you expect something way more flamboyant," he added, spreading his arms.
Haley raised a hand, cutting him off. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. You win."
Leonard widened his eyes slightly, a bit surprised they had managed to win an argument against two girls. He turned his head to look at Steve, but he was gone.
'Where did he go…?' he thought.
"Wow, this is a long list," Steve's voice was heard then. He had disappeared for a moment and now came back holding the notebook with the guest list.
"Yeah," Andrew replied with a slight grimace. "There's everything: kids, preteens, teenagers, adults…"
"Want to bet how many kids are going to ask you for a photo or an autograph?" Howard asked with a half-smile.
But before anyone could answer, Steve frowned as he looked through the list. "Is Pippa coming?"
Instantly, everyone looked at Andrew. He gave a small nod.
"Seriously? Your ex is coming when the girl you're seeing now, who isn't official, I know, is a goth?" Howard said.
"Not a great combination," Leonard added.
Andrew shrugged. "Josh is Luke's friend. His family lives in the neighborhood. It would be weird not to invite them."
Josh, Pippa's stepbrother, had become friends with Luke. Same age, same school. The initial connection had been Andrew, but their friendship continued on its own even after Andrew and Pippa broke up.
It was a neighborhood party. Leaving his family out would've been unnecessary. Besides, things with Pippa had ended on good terms when he helped her rescue Barne (the dog). There wasn't any real tension between them anymore.
"Good luck with that, and Willa's coming too. You're screwed," Steve said, taking a sip from his glass.
The others nodded.
Andrew frowned slightly. "So what? It's not like Jade is super possessive and is going to make a scene just because the two of them are there. Besides, I'm not even that close to Willa anymore, she's just a friend."
Everyone knew what had happened with Willa and supported Andrew, of course. But that didn't mean they cut her out of the group. She was still a friend, they just saw her much less.
"She's not possessive?" Howard said, incredulous. "Lift your collar."
Andrew made a face, but did it anyway. There was a faint, purplish mark, barely noticeable if you weren't paying attention, but clear enough to them. A hickey.
Howard pointed at it immediately. "Uh-huh. That's usually interpreted as marking territory," he added with a half-smile.
"I've read those can cause blood clots," Leonard commented, adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah," Alex nodded. "It's rare, but it can happen. You shouldn't let her do that to you."
"I know," Andrew said. "I didn't expect her to do it. It caught me off guard."
"That's not the point," Howard cut in. "The point is she's possessive. Or at least already showing signs."
He leaned forward slightly. "What about all that stuff you told us? The arguments over small things?"
"Exactly," Alex added in her analytical tone. "And let me tell you, that's very different from Pippa's jealousy."
Andrew didn't argue. It was true.
Over the past few days, with all the media attention, the state final, saying goodbye to Mater Dei, Decision Day… Jade had reacted badly to several things. The clearest one: a group photo with the cheerleaders after the state final.
Him in the middle, surrounded by them, all smiling in their uniforms. From the outside, it might look questionable. But in practice, it had been just that, a photo. Something they asked for after his last game at the school.
They were girls who trained and had been supporting the team all season.
Why would he refuse a simple picture?
It had taken less than two minutes. Nothing else happened.
And it wasn't the only one. There were also photos with girls from the band, with students, with people who just wanted a memory. It was part of everything that came with his exposure.
Obviously, what bothered Jade was the girls.
Andrew wasn't going to start turning people down just to avoid an argument.
That's where the difference with Pippa was. She had never reacted like that. Even when Andrew already had attention at Palisades, on a smaller scale, she handled it differently. She was never bothered by photos or other girls coming up to ask for an autograph or something.
She understood that came with who Andrew was. More than once, she was the one offering to take the picture.
Her jealousy, when it appeared, was different. More personal. More tied to insecurities about someone specific, not every superficial interaction.
Andrew, at this point, had also changed in some ways. Before, he was more rigid about his idea of independence, about not giving in on anything. Now he understood certain limits better. He knew that in a serious relationship, some things had to adjust. That it didn't make sense to maintain certain closeness if it caused unnecessary conflict.
Like what happened with Willa and Pippa. If he could go back, he would change that.
But with Jade, it went further. It wasn't about close friendships or ambiguous situations. These were photos. Public moments, inevitable in his position.
If that already caused arguments, mood swings, silence, or cold responses, like Steve said, he was screwed.
"That's what you get for wanting a goth girlfriend. Deal with the consequences," Haley said, crossing her arms. "And anyway, I don't get what guys see in goth girls."
She herself admitted she could get jealous, but not to that level. In fact, it would bother her more if he acted cold or dismissive toward someone who just wanted a picture.
Howard and Steve looked at her as if she had said something unforgivable.
"And how are you treating Jade now?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes.
Haley looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Before Andrew chose a college, you treated her with suspicious kindness," Steve replied. "Now that he's staying at UCLA, I'm curious how you treat her."
Haley shook her head immediately. "That has nothing to do with it. I was never nice because of that. I treat her the same."
"You treat her the same as always because you're scared of her," Alex commented from the side.
Haley scoffed. "Shut up."
They kept talking, the mood relaxed, until the first people started arriving, and not gradually.
Right at 6:30. As if someone had given an invisible signal. Within minutes, the house began to fill up.
…
At another house, several minutes away, another group was getting ready to leave: Jade, Tori, Cat, André, Trina, Robbie, and Sinjin.
In the living room, Robbie, André, and Sinjin had been ready for a while, sitting and waiting.
Jade was there too, but on a single couch, arms crossed, wearing a cold expression that made no one particularly eager to even look at her, they knew her personality.
Robbie, with his puppet in hand, leaned slightly toward André and whispered, "Aren't the girls ready yet? I'm scared."
He glanced sideways at Jade.
André sighed. "I don't know, I'll go check."
But Robbie grabbed his arm immediately. "Don't leave me alone."
André looked at him. "You're not alone."
He pointed at Sinjin, who was sitting beside him.
Sinjin looked up, distracted. "I can really go?"
He had been a last-minute addition. In fact, he wasn't even sure the host knew he was showing up.
André nodded, patting him on the shoulder. "Yeah, man. Jade said it's fine. Don't worry, I don't think they'll turn you away."
Sinjin nodded slightly and, almost instinctively, glanced at Jade. It hadn't seemed like an enthusiastic decision. Quite the opposite. More like she had allowed it on purpose, to create some discomfort or push things a bit further with Andrew.
At that moment, footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Tori appeared, already ready. "Sorry, guys. I can't get my sister and Cat to hurry."
She exhaled and dropped down next to André.
He patted her on the back. "It's fine. At least you tried. Your sister uses a ton of makeup."
Jade, meanwhile, checked her phone. 6:48 PM. She locked it and looked up. "It's late," she said, standing up. "I'm leaving."
Tori reacted immediately, standing as well. "Wait, we need your car, we don't all fit in mine. Besides, didn't you want to arrive late?"
Jade, who was already heading toward the door, stopped and slowly turned around, staring at her.
Tori almost automatically took a step back and raised her hands. "Just saying…"
"My plan is to arrive late," Jade replied calmly. "But not that late. Otherwise it's too obvious."
She paused briefly before murmuring to herself, though everyone heard it:
"And I can't take that long either. I need to keep an eye on any girl getting too comfortable with Andrew."
Tori and André exchanged a quick glance, almost automatic, like: okay, that was pretty toxic.
Tori turned her attention back to Jade, this time with a more measured, careful tone. "Don't you think that… if things didn't work out with Beck, maybe it had something to do with that kind of authoritarian, territorial attitude you have?"
Jade frowned slightly, locking eyes with her.
Beside her, André leaned toward Tori and whispered, "Why do you always say things like that?"
"She wants to die," Rex, Robbie's puppet, replied.
"No, I just want to help as a friend," Tori said, trying to hold her ground under Jade's stare.
"No. You want to die," Rex repeated.
"I didn't ask for your advice, friend," Jade said, emphasizing the last word with clear irony. "I know how to handle my own business."
Tori raised her hands immediately, trying to cut the tension before it escalated further.
"Okay, I get it. If you want, you can go in your car with Robbie and Sinjin, they're already ready. André, Cat, Trina, and I will follow."
That way, everyone would fit without a problem.
Jade stayed silent for a few seconds, considering it, then finally nodded.
Robbie and Sinjin looked at Tori like she had just sold them to the devil, but before they could say anything, Jade spoke again.
"Let's move."
"Yes!" the two replied in unison, getting up almost like soldiers and following her without hesitation.
Within seconds, they were already out of the house.
"Whew, that was intense," André said, letting out a small smile.
Tori looked at him, slightly offended. "Intense for you? I was the one risking my life back there."
André chuckled under his breath and then added, "I don't know how she ended up with the most sought-after guy in football. They're an explosive couple, and I mean that literally."
Andrew Pritchett-Tucker's exposure kept growing. And everything pointed to it continuing that way. If he lived up to expectations in college, the path seemed pretty clear: a big career, the NFL, money, and even more fame.
André found it hard to reconcile someone like that being with Jade. She was intense, jealous, and didn't give an inch.
Tori, beside him, nodded. "Yeah, it's crazy."
When she first heard about it, she thought it was a joke. The most famous high school quarterback, the one who was everywhere, dating Jade?
Even though they went to an arts school, they knew who Andrew was.
It didn't make sense. But then Jade herself confirmed it, and even had a profile picture of the two of them together. Which, to Tori, felt less like a romantic gesture and more like Jade marking her territory.
"Do you think they'll last?" André asked.
Tori dropped back onto the couch, staring ahead for a few seconds before answering. "I don't know. It depends a lot on what he's like."
She paused briefly.
"From what little Jade's said, they've already had a few fights. And they're just getting started."
It didn't surprise her that much.
Something similar had happened with Beck, Jade's ex-boyfriend, though in a different way. From the outside, it was easy to point at Jade: jealous, possessive, and explosive. And yeah, all of that was there. But Tori didn't put all the blame on Jade.
Beck had his share too. He enjoyed his popularity, liked the attention, and rarely set clear boundaries. He let other girls get close without shutting it down. He didn't do anything directly wrong, but he also didn't do what was necessary to make Jade feel secure.
In the end, that fed everything else.
André listened in silence.
"If Andrew is the same in that regard," Tori continued with her assessment, "then yeah, the relationship is going to be complicated…"
There was also a difference in exposure that played a key role. Andrew wasn't just popular within his school, he was a much bigger figure. Probably known across the entire country for his football status and his channel with over six million subscribers. That amplified everything.
Now, if he was different, if he knew how to set boundaries with the girls who approached him, then at least there was room for the relationship to work. It wouldn't be easy, but there would be a stronger foundation.
The problem was that signs had already appeared that didn't depend so much on him. Jade had reacted badly to fairly simple situations, like photos with fans. In those cases, even if he did everything right, conflict could still arise.
André shook his head slightly, processing it all. "Complicated situation…" he muttered.
Then, as if suddenly changing channels, he smiled. "But hey, at least we'll meet him tonight. I've got to thank him for these abs."
He lifted his shirt slightly, showing the result with pride.
Tori nodded, evaluating. "Nice abs, honestly."
"Thanks," André replied, pulling his shirt back down. "The secret is lowering your body fat percentage. No need to kill yourself with crunches or magic routines."
He smirked. "So yeah thanks, Andrew."
Most of what he'd seen on YouTube before were endless ab routines, sets, reps, or miracle exercises. But almost no one talked about what actually mattered: nutrition. In the end, the abs were already there; what hid them was fat. First you had to reduce that layer, and then train them like any other muscle.
Tori nodded. "His routines are really well explained. Very scientific, he seems ahead of everyone else. And he's our age."
André let out a short laugh. "Yeah, it's ridiculous. While he's teaching you that, he's training, playing, and winning titles in front of thousands of people."
Tori shook her head slightly, still with that mix of curiosity and surprise. "Well, we'll meet him today. I'm a little nervous…"
"Just don't ask him for a picture or Jade will kill you," André joked, and they both laughed.
Right at that moment, a cheerful voice burst in from the hallway.
"We're ready!" Cat sang in her usual enthusiastic tone.
She appeared alongside Trina, who followed behind, visibly excited but also glancing at the time in a hurry.
"Come on, come on! We're late," Trina said, gesturing for them to move.
Tori muttered under her breath as she stood up, "And now they're rushing us…"
In a hurry and with a bit of nervous energy, they all started heading out of the house.
...
A/N: What do you guys think about Jade and Andrew? Do you see them having a future? Could Jade be endgame? Just curious...