Andre Gets Crushed

Our Little Secret

Andre and Tori decided to ride to school together. It might've been fun; usually they jam to their favorite songs, or Tori has to endure Andre's teasing about her not yet having a driver's license. But today, there was an awkward silence between the two. One was filled with dread and the other was concerned and nervous for her friend. Neither knew what to say. An eternity seemed to pass when they were finally in front of Hollywood Arts. Tori squeezed Andre's shoulder as one last sign of support.

***
Andre ran his fingers down the piano keys on his locker. This typically relaxed his nerves, but he knew today would be anything but typical. As if things couldn't get any weirder than a kid with a cheeky puppet that does karaoke and a redhead who liked to bounce around on antigravity shoes. Andre laughed softly to as he reminisced about those events. It felt good to laugh and chill out a little; then he saw Beck heading his way. It was a miracle that Beck didn't notice how stiff he went.

"Yo Andre," Beck went for a fist bump. Andre flinched a little as if thinking he would take a swing at him.

"Hey, man, you alright?" Beck sounded genuinely concerned. Andre thought that Beck must not know what happened if he was still being kind to him.

Duh, Andre thought. How could he know? He has no idea I betrayed him. Andre thought the knife of guilt would pierce his chest.

"Dude?" Beck's voice brought Andre back to reality.

"Huh? Oh yeah- I um. I just didn't get much sleep last night. I drank hot chocolate pretty late." Andre stammered. At this Beck chuckled.

"Next time just drink some fish pee," a small sardonic smile formed on Beck's face. "Having trouble with your project? Or should I say partner?" He was killing Andre and he couldn't even tell.

"Nah nah. She's not a problem. We j-just- well...."

"Andre," Jade appeared beside Beck out of the blue. "I need to talk to you. About our... project." Jade was so focused on him that she unintentionally ignored Beck. Andre would've preferred to be rescued by Sinjin at the moment.

"Right now?" Andre attempted escape.

"Yes, right now," Jade urged. Beck was very confused. No one else noticed. Jade promptly latched onto Andre's wrist and dragged him off toward the janitor's closet.

"Catch you guys later then," Beck called after them.

Thanks to Jade, the door seemed to bang shut louder than usually, and it echoed in Andre's ears. He had no idea what to say. He deliberately looked in every direction but hers to avoid her eyes. He could feel her gawking directly at him. Finally he spoke.

"Listen, Jade. About last night. I didn't mean- I shouldn't have... Aw man, look, I-I'm sorry. I just-" Jade cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, catching him completely off guard. He stood there frozen with his arms slightly raised, too shocked to kiss her back. Then he placed his own hands on the small of her back and leaned into her. He enjoyed it. He loved it. He didn't know why but he just did. And he did not want to let go. But they had to talk. Andre gently disconnected his lips from Jade's.

"I'm not sorry at all," Jade referenced Andre's earlier apology.

"I'm.... very confused," Andre said at last.

"To be honest, so am I," Jade sighed. "I've always liked you, Andre. But it wasn't until we kissed that I realized I liked you, you know, like that."

"Really?" Andre was surprised. Jade sheepishly nodded as a response. He never thought of her as shy before. He decided it was his turn to tell her the truth; he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"Well, I guess I should tell you a few things about myself then." Andre took a breath and began his own story. He told Jade everything, from him falling in love with her after hearing her sing, to him going nuts over guilt and craving Belgium hot chocolate, and finally singing his song to her anonymously.

"That song was for me?" Jade's eyes sparkled as she spoke. "I thought it was beautiful."

"Yeah, but," Andre began as he searched for what to say, "I made it anonymous for a reason. You were with Beck."

"I'm not now," Jade stated matter-of-factly.

"I know, but you're still his ex. You can't date your best friend's ex. That's breaking bro code. I'd feel like I'm betraying him."

"Bro code? Really?" Jade retorted. "Look, I'm not some piece of property that someone can claim. And on top of that, Beck broke up with me." She had to swallow a lot of pride to admit that.

"I like you a lot, Andre. And you know you feel the same way." Andre didn't speak. If the open book that was his face had a title, it would be Dubious.

"Alright, how about this," Jade bargained. "This can be the official start of us, but we just start small. Like don't tell anyone just yet. It'll be our little secret."

"Okay," Andre sighed, unable to refuse her. "Cool." Jade grinned from ear to ear and hugged him. He couldn't help but smile and squeeze her just as tight.