Modern Family: New Life

"Did you go into an empty classroom with Regina George?" Pippa asked casually.

Lauren, who had been arguing with Leonard, fell silent. All eyes at the table turned to Andrew, who almost choked on his drink at the sudden question.

"Cough… Did you see me go into the classroom?" Andrew asked, taking a sip from his water bottle.

"That's why you took so long in the bathroom! You weren't taking a shit!" Howard broke the silence, his mouth hanging open in shock upon hearing the news.

Howard had had thousands of fantasies about Regina George! In his ranking of the hottest girls in school, she was number one.

"You assumed I was taking a shit?" Andrew murmured, looking at Howard, who seemed the most affected by this revelation.

"So you're not denying it?" Pippa said, eyeing Andrew, who for some reason felt a slight shiver down his spine.

"I went into an empty classroom with Regina George," Andrew confirmed.

A flurry of sounds erupted at the table—gasps of surprise, exclamations, and even a faint whisper of "No way!" from Lauren. Andrew blinked, confused by their exaggerated reactions.

"Mm, Cara saw you and told me," Pippa commented, now more relieved.

She saw Andrew's calm expression and confirmed it easily, so Pippa knew nothing had happened between them. The reason must be something else, and that piqued her curiosity.

Andrew looked at Cara, who had remained silent until now but was now noticeably nervous. When she felt Andrew's gaze, she quickly looked away and started whistling—badly, as if she didn't really know how.

Andrew frowned, not because he was upset, but because Cara's behavior puzzled him. "Why are you acting like I'm intimidating you? I'm not mad or anything…"

"Of course not! It's just… it's not every day we see you alone in a classroom with Regina George," Cara said quickly, as if trying to justify herself.

"Then, what were you doing in an empty classroom with her?" Pippa asked, her curiosity evident.

It was clear that this was the question everyone wanted to ask. The group's eyes locked onto Andrew again, who took a long sip of water to buy time.

"I can only tell one person," Andrew said calmly and pointed at Pippa. "You."

Andrew would tell Pippa—he wouldn't let some stupid misunderstanding cause a fight over Regina George.

A smile formed on Pippa's face, knowing she'd be the only one to hear the gossip.

The rest of the group exploded in outrage.

"Why only her?!" Howard demanded, his eyes wide, as if Andrew had just betrayed some sacred bro code.

"Yeah, why Pippa and not the rest of us?" Cara added, crossing her arms in offense. She was the biggest gossip of them all—she had to know what Andrew and Regina talked about. She could sense something big.

She no longer doubted Andrew's loyalty—it was obvious something else had happened.

"Only Pippa...? You've got to be kidding me," Lauren muttered, clearly intrigued.

Andrew raised a hand, signaling for silence. "Let me explain, okay? It's nothing personal… well, actually, it is personal, but not in the way you're all thinking."

The others waited for him to continue.

"Howard," Andrew began, turning to him, "I can't tell you because, if we're being honest, you'd become unbearable. If you knew what happened, you'd be asking for every little detail, probably even throwing in absurd questions. Sorry, but no."

Howard opened his mouth to protest but then shut it, realizing Andrew was right.

"Zach," Andrew continued, looking at the boy who was sipping his soda, "even though I trust that you wouldn't do it on purpose, I know you'd forget this is supposed to stay a secret. In any casual conversation, something like 'Oh, Regina and Andrew in that classroom' would slip out of your mouth before you even realized it."

Zach shrugged, accepting the point with resignation.

"Cara," Andrew said, locking eyes with her, "we all know you love telling stories… even the ones you shouldn't. If I tell you, the whole school will find out eventually."

Cara grimaced, clearly wanting to deny the accusation, but she couldn't stop a guilty smile from forming.

"Lauren, I get the feeling Regina isn't your favorite person in the world… So if I tell you, you might end up using it against her," Andrew said.

Lauren shrugged—she hated that bitch, and if she could do anything to ruin Regina's reputation, she absolutely would. So yeah, Andrew had a point.

Finally, Andrew turned to Leonard. "And you, Leonard… I really do trust you. But I also know that if everyone pressured you enough, you'd end up caving," he explained.

Leonard nodded slowly, acknowledging that Andrew wasn't wrong. He was too much of a people-pleaser, and social pressure always got to him.

"But then… why Pippa?" Cara asked, frowning, voicing the question everyone else had in mind.

"Yeah! What does Pippa have that we don't?" Howard added, crossing his arms like he was personally offended.

Andrew sighed, looking at them all with a mix of patience and exasperation. "First, she knows how to keep a secret. Two, she won't cave under pressure from any of you. Three, she's not absent-minded like Zach. Four, she's not a pervert like Howard."

"Hey, that's uncalled for!" Howard exclaimed, looking offended, but no one at the table backed him up.

"And lastly, she doesn't hate Regina like Lauren does," Andrew finished.

"Well," Pippa said, standing up with a smile, "looks like I have a private conversation to attend to."

Andrew stood up as well, leaving the rest of the group behind, still murmuring and speculating among themselves.

As they walked away, Howard shouted, "If you could at least describe her scent, I'd be satisfied!"

"Go get close to her yourself!" Andrew shot back, shaking his head with a resigned smile before heading toward the exit with Pippa, who couldn't help but laugh at how weird Howard was.

Almost everyone in the cafeteria turned to look at Andrew as he walked away with Pippa, as well as at Cara, Howard, and the rest of their table. Everyone was wondering what the starting quarterback was talking about.

"What do you think they're talking about?" asked Steve, one of Andrew's friends and a current wide receiver on the football team. He was sitting at the athletes' table—the one Andrew used to sit at.

This had left the guys on the team a bit confused. Andrew, who had always been the natural leader of the group, had started alternating between the two tables. Sometimes he sat with his teammates, and other times with Leonard and Howard.

Bringing everyone together at one table wasn't an option since Leonard and Howard didn't feel comfortable around the athletes, so Andrew had to switch between them. He usually chose to eat with Leonard and Howard in the cafeteria.

As his friendship with Pippa grew stronger, his usual cafeteria group became Cara, Lauren, Zach, Pippa, Leonard, and Howard.

What Andrew appreciated most about Pippa was that she didn't mind going wherever he went. She didn't care if he sat with the football guys or with Leonard and Howard—Pippa just wanted to be with him. That flexibility was one less problem for Andrew.

"He always eats with them now," Reggie commented in a displeased tone.

"That's not true—it's fifty-fifty. The day before yesterday, he had lunch with us," Kevin said, noticing the disapproving looks some of the guys at the table weren't even trying to hide.

"But today is game day! The final game. He's our leader—he should be eating with us, not talking to those nerds," Reggie complained, and several in the group nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he should be here!" Steve added, taking a big bite of his muffin.

"Wow… relax. Why are you all jealous? Andrew already has a girlfriend—it's Pippa," Kevin said with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood and downplay the situation.

He was the only one who truly understood what was going on. It didn't bother him that Andrew had lunch with another group one day and with them the next. He knew Andrew couldn't be in two places at once, and merging the tables wasn't the best idea. After all, the dynamic of each group was different.

"I'm not jealous!" Reggie said indignantly, giving the table a small thump. "I just think he shouldn't be getting distracted on game day—he should be with us," he added.

"Distracted by having lunch with his girlfriend and other friends?" Kevin murmured, shaking his head at how illogical Reggie was being.

Kevin took a moment before responding. Deep down, he knew Reggie was just jealous. After all, Andrew had been his lifelong friend, and they had always been together—but things had changed. Even so, Andrew still spent time with them.

"You know what, Reggie?" Kevin said, staring straight at his friend. "If it really bothers you that much, why don't you go and tell Andrew to his face?"

"Andrew? To his face?" Reggie stammered, his annoyed expression fading.

"Yes," said Kevin.

"I'll think about it," Reggie muttered, crossing his arms, though his tone sounded more like an excuse.

Just as Kevin was about to say something else, their conversation was interrupted by Liam, the leader of the defense.

"Hey, Kevin. Make sure Andrew is at the restaurant before the game. You know, the tradition," Liam said, completely ignoring the previous discussion.

Ever since Andrew became the starting quarterback, Liam had developed absolute respect for him. The entire team had improved—it wasn't just Andrew shining. Now, it truly felt like they were playing as a team, both offensively and defensively.

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry about it. Tradition is tradition, right?" Kevin replied.

The pre-game tradition was to meet up at The Williamsburg Diner for a light meal and to talk football before their Friday night games. Besides being a sort of ritual, it was a way to stay focused and united as a team.

Andrew had started this tradition back in middle school, and now in high school, several seniors like Liam had joined in and never missed it.

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