Chapter 322: Increasing visibility

Andrew was driving his BMW toward his uncles’ house, the Dunphys’.

Howard occupied the passenger seat, while Leonard rode comfortably in the back.

They weren’t the only ones heading there.

Steve was behind them in his own car, accompanied by Sam and Paige. Haley, meanwhile, was driving Monica and Rachel.

Music played at a low volume inside the BMW. Andrew drove calmly, with no need to hurry. After all, the Dunphys’ house wasn’t too far away.

For a few minutes, none of the three said much.

Until Howard suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh, right! Did you see the link I sent you?" he asked, turning toward Andrew.

Andrew shook his head without taking his eyes off the road, "No. What is it?"

"Give me your phone. It’s an article I have to read," Howard said, holding out his hand.

Andrew glanced at him from the corner of his eye, "Why don’t you use yours?"

In response, Howard pulled out his phone and pressed one of the side buttons.

The screen remained completely black.

"It’s dead," he explained, "I’ll charge it when we get there."

Andrew couldn’t help wondering how someone could leave the house with a dead phone.

Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he slipped the other into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and handed it over.

Howard took the phone and unlocked the screen.

The first thing that appeared before his eyes was Reddit.

He raised an eyebrow.

Andrew had left open a post by a user named PoruswildcatIV. From what Howard managed to read, the guy was complaining about several supposed acts of unsportsmanlike conduct Andrew had committed during the game against Arizona without receiving any penalties.

Howard quickly skimmed the text, "Are people seriously still crying about the Arizona game?"

Andrew briefly glanced at the screen and recognized the post. A crooked smile appeared on his face, "Yeah. The replies are pretty funny."

Howard muttered something under his breath and began scrolling down to read the comments.

Leonard looked away from the window and leaned forward from the back seat, "Are they defending Andrew or criticizing him?"

"Both," Howard replied as he scrolled through the screen, "Though I’d say most of them are supporting him and making fun of Arizona’s whining."

He stopped at one of the most upvoted comments.

u/BruinsBy90 · 2.1k points

Arizona talked too soon. The entire stadium insulted and booed him from the moment he stepped onto the field. Fischer committed a dangerous foul against him.

And now the real scandal is that Andrew spread his arms?

Please. Complain about your players, they’re the ones who backed down against him.

Howard let out a nasal laugh and kept reading.

↳ u/DesertNeutral · 880 points

Exactly. The game was on the verge of turning into a fight from the very first drive. If the referees had penalized every look, every word, and every gesture, the game couldn’t have been played.

It was obvious they decided to allow much more trash talk than usual from both teams.

A little farther down, another user offered a much less favorable opinion.

u/finnstrik88 · 1.3k points

If Barkley did the exact same thing, they’d call him arrogant, conceited, and a spoiled rich kid.

But because Pritchett has a pretty-boy face and millions of followers, suddenly everything becomes "competitiveness."

The comment had a reply directly beneath it.

↳ u/bradd21 · 1.1k points

Did Andrew receive star treatment? Probably.

So does Barkley. Newton got it in his day, Luck got it last year, and practically every important player in the country gets it.

It isn’t some conspiracy created exclusively to protect Pritchett. It’s an unwritten hierarchy that exists in every sport.

He continued scrolling until a username made him stop.

u/MonicaGR1993 · 2.8k points

Stop crying, baby boy!

Your team lost by more than fifty points and you’re looking for excuses because Andrew made a gesture with his arms.

Even if they had called all three penalties, the result would have been exactly the same. In fact, maybe they would’ve made him angry, caused him to keep playing throughout the entire fourth quarter, and the final score would’ve ended with UCLA putting up more than eighty points.

You should be grateful.

Howard read the comment a second time, ’MonicaGR?’ he thought.

His expression was caught somewhere between the amusement caused by that devastating reply and the suspicion that he knew exactly who had written it.

He looked through the side mirror, as though he could see through the car traveling behind them.

The chances that it was her were extremely high.

The post had accumulated hundreds of replies, and the discussion had gone on much longer than Howard had expected.

Some users were convinced that Andrew had received preferential treatment because he was the conference’s new star. They compared him to other famous quarterbacks and argued that any less popular player would have been penalized at least once.

Others acknowledged that a certain degree of star treatment existed, but they did not consider it particularly scandalous. According to them, referees usually gave important players more leeway.

There were also several neutral users who analyzed the three incidents one by one.

Most agreed that the gesture of spreading his arms in front of the student section was the only action that could realistically have resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

As for the other two, they believed the author of the post was looking for an infraction in every one of Andrew’s movements because he needed some explanation other than admitting that Arizona had been completely outplayed.

Others were much less diplomatic.

They recommended that the team stop looking for outside parties to blame and start engaging in some self-criticism.

And for a considerable portion of Reddit, none of those arguments mattered very much.

Arizona had lost by more than fifty points, and its players were the ones who had shown the least class, since they had committed unsportsmanlike penalties and even had one player ejected.

No flag could change that.

"Stop reading Reddit and show me what you were talking about," Andrew said, with slight impatience.

"Oh, right," Howard said. He left the post and searched for the link he had mentioned at the beginning.

When he found it, he cleared his throat in an unnecessarily dramatic manner.

"Ahem, ahem..."

"What are you doing?" Leonard asked.

"Preparing my journalist voice," Howard replied, straightening his back and holding the phone in front of him as though he were about to present the evening news.

"Listen carefully."

Then he began to read, using the deep, solemn voice of a news anchor.

📰 Does Taylor Swift Have a New Favorite Player? Singer Exchanges Signals on Twitter with UCLA Star Andrew Pritchett-Tucker

By E! Online

Wednesday, October 31

Taylor Swift appears to have found a moment to enjoy some football during one of the busiest weeks of her career.

The twenty-two-year-old singer, who has just released her new album, Red, commented Saturday night on one of the most widely shared images from the game between UCLA and Arizona.

The photograph showed Bruins quarterback Andrew Pritchett-Tucker walking away from a confrontation between players from both teams. Without his helmet and with the fight unfolding behind him, the eighteen-year-old athlete appeared to be calmly looking at the scoreboard inside Arizona Stadium.

"How does someone look this calm with all of that happening behind him?" Swift wrote, visibly impressed.

Pritchett-Tucker’s response did not come in the form of words. He favorited Taylor’s message.

The interaction did not end there.

Today, Wednesday, several fans noticed that Swift had begun following the UCLA player on Twitter. Pritchett-Tucker followed her back shortly afterward.

As expected, that was enough to spark the internet’s curiosity.

Some followers simply joked that Taylor had been impressed by the Bruins’ victory. Others began wondering whether the singer and the quarterback already knew each other outside of Twitter.

For now, there is no evidence that they have spent time together or even met in person.

However, both move within Los Angeles circles, so the possibility is not entirely far-fetched.

Pritchett-Tucker was already a well-known internet personality before beginning his college career. His YouTube channel ranked among the most followed in the world, and his recruitment received a level of national coverage unprecedented for a high school athlete in any sport.

Since arriving at UCLA, his profile has only continued to grow.

Is this simply a case of two young celebrities exchanging friendly messages, or is there something more?

For now, we will have to wait.

...

Howard finished reading and slowly lowered the phone.

The interior of the car fell silent.

Only the soft music coming from the speakers continued to be heard.

"Well," Howard said, looking first at Andrew and then at Leonard, "What do you think?"

Leonard remained thoughtful for a few seconds, "Taylor Swift..."

"Yes, Leonard. Taylor Swift. You know who she is, right? Or are you like Sam, but with popular music?" Howard said.

"I know who she is," Leonard replied, slightly offended.

He was not exactly an expert on pop music, but he did not live under a rock either.

Taylor was twenty-two years old and going through one of the most important moments of her career.

On October 22, she had released Red, her fourth studio album, and the record had immediately become a commercial phenomenon. It had sold more than a million copies during its first week in the United States, an extraordinary figure even for an artist who was already famous.

One of her new singles had also become her first number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

During those weeks, Taylor was everywhere.

Magazine covers, interviews, television shows, promotions, commercials, and practically daily photographs.

She was no longer simply a country singer with a large following. She was becoming one of the biggest music stars on the planet.

"She is very famous, and I had no idea she watched college football," Leonard admitted, "But what surprises me more is that they managed to manufacture an entire romance out of one favorite and two follows on Twitter."

He slowly shook his head.

Leonard had always found the way some entertainment media operated absurd. All it took was for two famous people to exchange a glance, attend the same party, or follow each other on social media for articles to appear wondering whether there was a secret relationship between them.

In this case, however, he had to admit that Andrew made things considerably easier.

His friend was not merely a sporting anomaly.

He was considered a generational talent, one of those players who appeared once every several decades or even longer. On top of that, he played in Los Angeles, probably the college market most capable of turning a quarterback into a celebrity outside of sports.

If Andrew had chosen a university in the SEC, Big Ten, or Big 12, he would have received enormous football attention.

But he was at UCLA.

Every game placed him only a few miles away from film studios, television networks, talent agencies, and some of the most famous people in the world.

Then there was his YouTube channel, the attention he had received since high school, and his friendships with celebrities like Justin Bieber.

Andrew was not simply the starting quarterback of a major program. He was an NCAA figure who also existed within popular culture.

"We’re talking about the most important young singer in the world right now!" Howard exclaimed, "And she watched your game!"

A slight grimace appeared on Andrew’s face as he kept his eyes on the road, "I only favorited her comment. Nothing else."

"You followed her back too," Howard replied.

"Because she followed me first. End of story. I’m not secretly talking to her, and I don’t plan to," Andrew said.

Howard watched him for a few seconds, searching for any sign of nervousness or hidden interest.

He found none.

Andrew continued driving with the same calmness as before.

"You’re so boring," Howard concluded.

He handed the phone back to him and sank into the seat again.

...

In the car following the BMW, Steve drove with one hand resting casually on the steering wheel and his other arm propped against the open window.

Beside him, Sam was still trying to process everything he had just heard about Andrew’s family’s Halloween traditions.

"How much worse were the previous pranks?"

"I think the baby one was the worst. They kept raising the stakes year after year," Steve said with a faint smile.

He had witnessed some of those pranks and had to admit they were always entertaining.

At least when he did not end up becoming collateral damage.

In the back seat, Paige remained silent.

She rested her head lightly against the window as she watched the houses and streetlights pass before her eyes. Steve and Sam’s conversation reached her like a distant murmur, failing to truly capture her attention.

Her mind was occupied with something else, ’I’m going to meet his family.’

The thought appeared suddenly.

Paige felt something strange in her chest, a heartbeat slightly different from the others, though she was too focused on her own thoughts to recognize it.

She meant Andrew’s family. It would not be the first time she had seen them.

She had attended several games at the Rose Bowl and had spotted them in the crowd more than once. But she had never been formally introduced to them or spoken with them, though that would change in only a few minutes.

Although she had spoken with Haley, so she had met someone from the family.

Paige knew the general structure of the family from everything Andrew and the others had told her.

She knew that he had been adopted by two men, Mitchell and Cameron, and that he had a younger sister named Lily.

Haley was the daughter of Andrew’s aunt and uncle, Claire and Phil Dunphy, the owners of the house they were heading to.

There were also Alex and Luke, Andrew’s two younger cousins and Haley’s siblings.

And then there was his grandfather, Jay, who was married to a much younger woman named Gloria. She had a son, Manny, who was younger than Andrew despite technically being his uncle.

After hearing today’s stories, along with other things she had heard at previous gatherings, she had formed a new impression of Claire.

Until that afternoon, Paige had imagined her as an organized, strict, and slightly intimidating mother.

Now she knew that the woman had pretended to throw a baby down the stairs just to win a competition against Andrew.

Paige looked away from the window.

Why was she thinking about all of this so much?

Why did the idea of meeting them give her that uncomfortable feeling?

’I’m not nervous,’ she assured herself as she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

There was no reason to be.

She had joined the group more than a month ago and had fit in surprisingly well. Much better than she herself would have expected.

She got along well with Steve. Howard was exhausting, but entertaining. Leonard was interesting to talk to.

And then there was Andrew.

With him, things were different. Not necessarily in an important way. Just different.

Paige could sense a certain closeness that did not exist with Howard or Leonard.

She and Andrew tended to compete over almost anything, exchange sarcastic remarks, and form temporary alliances whenever an opportunity arose to make fun of Steve. Sometimes it seemed as though they both understood what the other was thinking before either of them said it.

It was a comfortable dynamic.

Over the past few days, Paige had also found herself thinking more often about the inevitable trip to the movies to see Twilight.

Not because of the movie itself.

In truth, the movie was the least important part.

What occupied her mind was the fact that she would be going with Andrew.

They would not be completely alone, of course. Steve and Sam would be going with them as well. And since the whole thing had come from a bet they had lost, technically it could not be considered a date.

Even so, Paige could not help imagining it as a more intimate outing with Andrew.

After all, Steve and Sam were a couple.

Most likely, they would end up focused on each other, talking among themselves, sitting together, and acting as though Andrew and she were barely there.

’I’m not going down that road,’ Paige thought, shaking her head slightly to push those ideas away.

They were friends.

Nothing more.

And for Paige, friendship had never been simple.

Ever since she was a child, she had struggled to connect with other people. For much of her adolescence, she had not had anyone she could truly consider a real friend.

Sam had been the first exception.

They had met that summer, when both of them had moved to UCLA early to get a head start on classes. Sharing a dorm room had forced them to spend a great deal of time together.

Sam was intelligent, funny, and kind.

Over time, she had become the first close friend Paige could remember having in years.

She also liked the other girls in Sam’s group.

Chloe, Megan, and Harper were nice, but Paige had not managed to develop the same closeness with them. She could talk with them, study with them, or attend a gathering with them, but she did not consider them close friends.

Then, when Sam started dating Steve, they met his group, which included Andrew and the others.

Paige was the only one of the girls who had truly managed to become part of it, getting along well with Steve, Howard, Leonard, and Andrew.

Chloe and the others might appear from time to time, but they still felt like outside guests.

Paige, on the other hand, was already part of the group.

That night was fairly clear proof of it. She was going to spend Halloween at Andrew’s family’s house.

The idea still felt a little strange to her.

She was not used to someone inviting her to take part in a family celebration. However, knowing that the entire group would be there helped calm her down.

Besides, they would only stay for about two hours before moving on to the rest of the night’s plans.

’I’m not nervous,’ Paige thought again.

In the front seat, Sam watched her through the rearview mirror. A small smile appeared on her lips.

Finally, the three cars arrived at the Dunphys’ house and parked along the curb.

The doors began opening almost at the same time.

Andrew was the first to get out. Howard and Leonard followed him, while Steve, Sam, and Paige climbed out of the car behind them. Haley, Monica, and Rachel joined them a few seconds later.

The group began walking up the driveway.

The conversations blended together. With so many voices, it was difficult to follow any one conversation in full.

Andrew walked at the front.

Paige slowed her pace slightly as she looked at the house.

It was a typical two-story house in a residential Los Angeles neighborhood. A light-colored exterior, large windows, a small front yard, and a path leading to the main entrance.

At least, that was probably what it looked like during the rest of the year.

That night, it looked like a professional Halloween attraction.

Fake cobwebs covered the bushes, gravestones were scattered across the lawn, and several carved pumpkins were lined up beside the porch. A skeleton hung from one of the second-floor windows, while small orange and purple lights illuminated the front of the house.

There was even a hidden fog machine releasing a thin mist over the path.

Paige raised an eyebrow slightly, ’They take this very seriously,’ she thought.

Although, after everything she had heard, it did not surprise her.

Andrew reached the door and rang the bell.

They did not have to wait long.

The door opened almost immediately, and Phil appeared on the other side, already in costume.

When he saw Andrew, his face lit up.

"There he is, A-Train!" Phil exclaimed, opening his arms. "Next stop: the Oregon Ducks’ end zone."

"Hey, Uncle Phil," Andrew greeted him.

He did not even react to the nickname.

By that point, A-Train was just one more name in the extensive collection Phil had invented for him over the years.

Andrew began to step inside, and the rest of the group followed behind him, greeting Phil with familiarity.

"Hey, Sticky Steve!" Phil said, holding out his hand.

Steve accepted the handshake with a smile, "What’s up, Philly D?"

Phil smiled even wider.

Paige and Sam, who were waiting just behind Steve, exchanged a glance, ’Sticky Steve?’ they thought.

Phil had always appreciated the fact that Steve played along with his nicknames. Andrew, Haley, and the others usually ignored them, questioned them, or simply endured them.

Steve, on the other hand, responded with another equally absurd one.

That had created a particular kind of understanding between them.

Phil then turned his attention toward the two girls, "Oh, which one of them is...?" he began to ask.

"This is Sam," Steve said, pointing to the young woman standing beside him. "My girlfriend."

Phil’s expression changed immediately.

It was not the first time he had heard about her, but it was the first time Steve had formally introduced her.

"Sam!" Phil exclaimed with even more enthusiasm than before, "Finally."

"Hi," she greeted him with a slightly nervous smile.

Phil shook her hand with both of his.

"Phil Dunphy. But you can call me Phil. Or Philly D."

Sam let out a brief laugh, "I think Phil is fine."

Phil’s reaction was not very different from that of a father meeting his son’s girlfriend for the first time.

Steve had been Andrew’s friend since they were both six years old. He had spent much of his childhood going in and out of Mitchell and Cameron’s house, the Dunphys’ house, and even Jay’s.

He had eaten dinner with them, celebrated birthdays, spent entire weekends there, and taken part in enough family gatherings that he had stopped being merely Andrew’s friend a long time ago.

To the Pritchetts and the Dunphys, Steve was almost like a brother to Andrew.

That was why meeting Sam carried a certain weight, even though she did not seem to have fully realized it yet.

Steve then pointed to Paige, "And this is Paige. Sam’s friend."

Paige took a small step forward, "Hi."

"Hi, Paige," Phil replied with the same warmth. "Welcome to Dunphy House of Horrors VIII."

Once everyone had crossed the threshold, he closed the door behind them.

The inside of the house was even more decorated than the outside.

There were electric candles on the furniture, raven figures resting on the shelves, and cobwebs stretched between the walls. Several family photographs had been replaced by old portraits whose eyes seemed to follow anyone who walked past them.

From somewhere nearby came the low sound of chains being dragged.

The lighting had also been changed. The main lights were turned off, and most of the house was illuminated by reddish lamps, fake candles, and small spotlights placed among the decorations.

It did not look like a house that had simply been given a few decorations.

It looked like a set.

’They definitely take this way too seriously,’ Paige thought.

When she reached the living room, she could see the rest of the family.

Mitchell was standing near the couch. He was easy to recognize because of his reddish hair and neatly trimmed beard. Beside him stood Cameron, whose presence was considerably harder to ignore.

Claire, blonde and watchful, observed the group’s arrival.

Jay, Gloria, and Manny were there as well.

Luke crossed the living room with a bag of candy in his hand, while Alex remained seated in one of the armchairs, reading a small book and seemingly oblivious to the noise.

Everyone was wearing a costume.

’Maybe not dressing up really was a bad idea,’ Paige thought.

Until that moment, she had not been too concerned about it.

She had not refused to wear a costume in order to draw attention or prove that she was above the celebration. She simply had not had time to prepare anything she considered decent.

Buying a cheap costume at the last minute and showing up in a poorly cut piece of synthetic fabric seemed much worse to her than not wearing one at all.

Even so, surrounded by all those decorations and people in full costume, she began to feel slightly out of place.

’At least I’m not the only one,’ Paige thought, looking at Andrew.

She also noticed that Jay’s costume looked very cheap and as though he had put very little effort into it.

Steve began making the introductions.

With each introduction, Sam seemed to feel a little more awkward.

Not because anyone was unpleasant toward her.

Quite the opposite.

They welcomed her with too much familiarity.

Claire smiled at her as though she had been waiting for weeks to meet her. Cameron asked her questions about UCLA. Phil immediately tried to include her in some kind of inside joke, and Gloria hugged her before Sam could decide whether she should offer her hand.

It was beginning to feel like meeting her boyfriend’s family.

Except they were not Steve’s family.

Paige watched the dynamic with some curiosity until it was her turn to be introduced.

The introduction was fairly normal. Nothing awkward.

Even so, Paige noticed a few curious glances.

They were not obvious or particularly intense, but they were there.

After all, her presence was a little unusual.

Sam was Steve’s girlfriend, so it made sense for her to be there. Monica and Rachel were Haley’s roommates visiting from New York, so it also made sense for them to have been invited.

Leonard and Howard were Andrew’s best friends, so the same applied to them.

Paige was the newcomer and only Sam’s friend. The fact that she was there too meant that she got along well with the group.

Including Andrew.

That naturally sparked a certain amount of curiosity.

Not enough to activate the nosy, gossip-loving side some members of the family had when it came to Andrew’s romantic life. But enough for Claire and Gloria to watch her for a second longer, or for Cameron to exchange a brief glance with Mitchell.

Andrew, meanwhile, had dropped onto the couch.

Lily was sitting on his lap, entertaining herself by squeezing his cheeks and gently pulling at his face as though she were trying to see how far she could distort it.

Andrew endured the attack.

Without moving Lily away, he turned his attention toward Alex.

She was sitting in a nearby armchair, dressed in a fairly simple witch costume. She wore a loose black robe and a pointed hat tilted slightly to one side.

As usual, she had an open book in her hands.

Andrew watched her for a few seconds, "Do you always do that?" he asked.

Alex looked up from the page, "Do what?"

"Sit and read in the middle of a social gathering."

His tone came out harsher than necessary.

"And... does that bother you?" Alex replied.

"No. I just wonder if you do it on purpose," Andrew said with a shrug.

He could do something similar himself.

He could bring the playbook with him, review new plays, or study film and notes on the next opponent while everyone else talked around him.

There was always something related to football for him to learn.

But why would he do that during a gathering?

Before arriving, Andrew had already prepared himself to put all of that aside for a few hours. He was there to talk, socialize, and spend time with the others, not to keep studying.

The question came unexpectedly.

Alex looked at him in silence for a moment. There was a certain logic behind it.

But it was still an unprovoked attack, and Andrew was not usually like that with her.

"Wow," Alex said, partially closing the book. "Someone’s in a good mood."

Andrew did not respond.

Lily took advantage of the moment to pinch his nose between two fingers.

Alex watched the scene and then raised the book so he could see the cover, "For your information, I’m reading a horror novel. It’s Halloween."

Andrew narrowed his eyes slightly, "The Shining," he read.

"Exactly."

"I suppose it’s thematic, at least."

"Thank you for your approval," Alex said sarcastically.

Andrew muttered something unintelligible and looked away.

The doorbell rang.

Claire immediately raised her head, "The first kids!" she announced.

She took Phil by the hand and practically dragged him toward the entrance.

That year, the Dunphys’ Halloween experience was considerably simpler than it had been on previous occasions.

The house was still decorated with a professional level of detail. The children could peek inside, walk through part of the entrance, and enjoy the lights, sounds, and figures placed everywhere before receiving their candy.

But there was no longer an interactive walkthrough.

In other years, Claire and Phil had turned the house into a true horror attraction. The children entered in small groups and moved through different rooms while family members, dressed as monsters, killers, or supernatural creatures, appeared to scare them.

The problem was that some people took their roles too seriously.

Andrew in particular.

The last major Dunphy House of Horrors had been the fourth edition.

That edition had finally convinced Claire that perhaps they needed to tone things down a little.

Willa had shown up dressed as Pennywise, while Andrew had stalked the hallways dressed as Michael Myers.

They had made several children cry. Others had run out before finishing the walkthrough, even forgetting their candy.

Claire and Phil had spent much of the night apologizing to furious parents and assuring them that no one had intended to traumatize their children.

That had marked the end of the interactive haunted houses.

Now they limited themselves to impressive decorations, a few sound effects, and a generous amount of candy.

Much safer.

While Claire and Phil attended to the door, Jay sat down on the couch across from Andrew.

"How was practice today?" Jay asked.

"Fine," Andrew replied.

Nothing more.

Jay waited for a second, "And?"

Andrew looked at him, "And what?"

"Give me details."

The game against Oregon was approaching, and to Jay, this was not a casual question.

It was the most important game of the season so far. UCLA would be facing the number-two team in the country, and Andrew had to travel the next day to prepare.

Jay wanted to know how practice had gone, what the coaching staff had tried, how the offense felt, and whether Andrew had noticed anything in particular about Oregon’s defense.

Normally, he did not need to insist.

He and Andrew talked about those things before every game.

However, Andrew simply leaned back against the couch, "I don’t want to talk about football, you know?" he replied.

His tone was not aggressive. But it was drier than usual.

Claire and Phil were returning from the entrance at that moment and heard him.

Mitchell stopped talking to Cameron.

Gloria turned her head.

Even Manny and Luke, who had been speaking enthusiastically about something only a moment earlier, stopped to look at him.

For a moment, the living room fell silent.

Several glances were exchanged from one side of the room to the other.

Andrew not wanting to talk about football was extremely unusual.

It was not merely the thing to which he devoted most of his time.

It was his passion.

Like movies, comic books, or superheroes, it was one of those subjects he could talk about for hours without getting tired. Although, in truth, football stood above all of them.

And with Jay especially, he always talked about it a great deal.

That was why his response seemed to confirm something several of them had already begun to suspect.

The game against Oregon had to be affecting him more than he wanted to admit.

Leonard, Howard, Monica, Haley, and the rest of the group exchanged glances as well.

Only theirs carried a different meaning. They knew this was all part of the act.

Andrew was laying the groundwork for the prank on Claire and, judging by appearances, he was playing his role quite well.

Jay, however, did not seem willing to drop the subject so easily, "Come on," he insisted. "We always talk about how you’re preparing before games."

Andrew let out a slow breath, "I don’t feel like it today," he said.

Jay frowned slightly.

Before he could continue, Gloria intervened, "Jay, leave him alone."

He looked at her, "I only asked him a simple question."

"And he already answered you," Mitchell said. "He came straight from practice. Maybe he doesn’t want to keep talking about football."

"Exactly," Cameron added. "It’s Halloween. He can go a couple of hours without thinking about Saturday’s game."

Jay glanced at Andrew again.

For a moment, he appeared torn between insisting and letting it go.

Eventually, he shrugged.

Claire watched him from across the living room. Concern slowly began to settle into her expression.

Cam, in an attempt to ease the tension, quickly searched for another topic of conversation.

That was when he noticed Andrew’s clothes.

"Why aren’t you wearing a costume?" he asked. "Halloween is one of your favorite holidays."

"Practice. I didn’t have time," Andrew replied.

Alex, who by that point was paying more attention to the conversation than to her book, looked up, "Steve practiced too, and he’s still wearing a costume."

"Steve doesn’t have Chow breathing down his neck to make sure he memorizes Oregon’s entire defense," Andrew said.

The comment caused another brief silence.

Alex watched him for a moment, then nodded, "Good point..."

Andrew had, by far, the greatest responsibility and the heaviest workload of anyone on the offense. He did not do more physical work than the others, but he did carry the greatest combination of film study, tactical preparation, decision-making, leadership, and public pressure.

As the starting quarterback, Andrew had to understand not only his own role, but practically that of all eleven offensive players.

Steve, or any other receiver, could focus primarily on the cornerback assigned to cover him, the routes he had to run, and the adjustments against certain coverages. Andrew, on the other hand, had to study Oregon’s entire defense as a unit.

The pressure also fell primarily on Andrew compared to the rest of UCLA’s players.

He was the freshman prodigy, the most closely watched player in the country, and the main reason UCLA believed it could compete against a team like Oregon.

If they won, it would be his defining breakthrough, and he would probably become the Heisman favorite, separating himself even further from Klein.

If they lost, even if the defense allowed forty points, much of the conversation would still end up revolving around whether Andrew had done enough.

Normally, he made that pressure seem nonexistent.

He stepped onto the field calm and spoke with the confidence of someone who had never considered the possibility of failure.

But that night, he was making an effort to project the exact opposite.

Claire watched the atmosphere for a few seconds before stepping in, "Well, then go find one of the costumes we keep in the attic," she said. "We have enough to dress half the neighborhood."

Andrew looked at her without much enthusiasm, "It’s not necessary."

"Yes, it is," Claire replied. "You can’t spend Halloween without a costume. At least put on a mask, a cape, or some fangs. Something."

"Fine, whatever you want," Andrew agreed.

Carefully, he lifted Lily from his lap and set her down beside him on the couch.

Then he stood up.

Claire turned her attention toward Paige, who remained a few feet away with her arms crossed, watching the scene, "You can look for one too, if you’d like."

Paige blinked, "Yes, thank you..."

Andrew gave her a brief nod, indicating that she should follow him.

Paige hesitated for only a moment before walking after him. The two of them left the living room and headed toward the stairs.

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