"Hey," Andrew greeted as he approached the car.
Steve smiled and raised a hand in greeting.
There were already several suitcases and bags piled up on the curb, but they were still taking things out of the trunk of the car.
Haley, Claire, Rachel, and Monica all turned at the same time when they heard them.
"Hey," Rachel said, a little faster than she intended. A smile formed immediately on her face and, in the motion, she let go of a suitcase that fell straight onto the tip of Monica's foot.
'Ouch!' Monica thought, frowning as she held back the complaint. She exhaled discreetly and looked up at them.
"Hi…" Monica greeted with a calmer voice. Although there was an inevitable hint of shyness. She was in front of her favorite YouTuber.
It still felt a bit unreal. She had gone from a several-hour flight, to a new state, a new life, and on top of that she was Andrew's neighbor.
Although, in part, she had already normalized it more. It wasn't the first time she had seen him. She had spent a few afternoons with him, with Haley, and their group. That helped.
"You arrived just in time to help us," Haley said with a smile, her eyes hidden behind a pair of large sunglasses.
"To be your pack mules and carry everything up?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Exactly," Haley nodded. And before he could complain, she added, "What's the point of lifting so much weight every day if you can't handle a few light suitcases?"
"Give me that," Steve replied instantly, as if his pride had been touched. He took a suitcase from her hand without hesitation.
Haley smiled slightly as she handed it to him.
"How was the flight?" Andrew asked, picking up with one hand the suitcase Rachel had dropped.
"Excellent," Rachel replied.
She paused, as if realizing the word she had used, "I mean… good. It was nice."
Monica looked at her strangely.
It had been a very long flight. More than six hours. Uncomfortable, and tiring. Nothing that justified that enthusiastic tone.
But she knew perfectly well why she was acting like that.
"Alright, come on, come on! You have to see the apartment," Haley said, clapping her hands and cutting off any attempt at conversation.
They finally entered the building. Steve, Andrew, and Claire were the ones carrying most of the things, while Haley, clearly excited, led the way, pointing out details and commenting on everything as they moved along.
The elevator, spacious and modern, went up several floors until it stopped on a fairly high one.
"Welcome to your new home, roommates!" Haley announced excitedly, opening the door with a smile and gesturing for them to go in.
Rachel and Monica went in first.
"Wow, it's better than in the pictures!" Rachel said, setting down the only suitcase she had carried up and beginning to move around the place, unable to help herself.
The apartment already had life.
Haley had moved in a few days earlier, so it wasn't an empty space. There was furniture, a TV, sofas, and basic decoration, everything enough for it to feel lived in.
Nothing had been improvised.
For weeks, between video calls and messages, they had chosen everything together: furniture, colors, layout. Monica being very specific and strict with the arrangement of the furniture.
Of course, they paid half and half.
So much organization wasn't a coincidence. Rachel and Haley had already been building a kind of friendship for some time.
It had started at that second subscriber meet-and-greet of Andrew's a few years back. They had connected quite well, sharing a common interest in clothes.
After that, they stayed in touch for a while. Then, like what happened to Rachel with Andrew, it gradually faded.
Until Texas.
The All-American Bowl.
They ran into each other again there, and Rachel talked quite a bit with Haley, in addition to spending time with Andrew. They talked a lot about fashion, much more specifically than the first time.
By then, both of them had found out that each wanted to pursue that path. It was a pretty strong common ground that made them stay in touch through text messages: talking, comparing schools, ideas, and styles.
When Rachel made the decision to go to California to study… it was almost natural that she ended up telling Haley.
"Yeah, it's great," Monica said, stepping in more slowly and observing everything carefully. Her gaze moved across every corner with a certain automatic analysis, "Although there are a couple of things we could rearrange," she murmured almost to herself, already spotting small details out of place.
The apartment wasn't cheap.
$3,900 a month.
But the building, the location, and above all, the three bedrooms justified it. Split between the three of them, it came out to $1,300 per person.
It wasn't a small amount.
But it wasn't impossible either, given their situations.
In Monica's case, she had a clear advantage. Her parents would send her a thousand dollars a month, so she only needed to cover the remaining $300 of the rent, plus food and expenses. With a part-time job, it was more than viable. And she also had a small cushion, which gave her some room to not start working immediately.
Haley was in an even better position.
Jay had offered to pay her share of the rent. Not because anyone demanded it, but because, deep down, he understood he couldn't be completely unequal with his grandchildren.
He had been paying Andrew's rent for months, now a bit lower since Steve had joined and was paying half.
Although Jay wasn't exactly someone who liked making things easy for anyone, in Andrew's case he justified it because of the pressure he carried: an elite athlete, and the face of a college program.
With Haley it was different, but enough. He had seen the effort she put in to get into college, live on her own, and build something for herself.
And of course, there was also a matter of balance.
He loved them all equally.
Even so, Haley would have to work part-time to cover food and other expenses. Although, of course, Phil and Claire would be there if needed.
Rachel's case was the tightest.
Her father would pay for college. Nothing else.
Without dorms, that meant the rent, $1,300 a month, was entirely on her, plus food and daily expenses.
Her advantage was her savings.
She had worked for a year and managed to save about $10,000. After contributing her share for furniture and decoration along with Haley and Monica, she had around $8,500 left.
That covered about six months of rent and little more.
But not much more.
She needed to get a part-time job as soon as possible to sustain the rest: food, utilities, and daily life.
There was some margin, but not a very large one.
Even so, Rachel didn't seem particularly worried about it. Not about the job, nor about what came next.
"Come on, come on," Haley said, gesturing with her hand as she guided them through the apartment.
She led them down the hallway of the bedrooms and opened one of the doors.
The beds were already there. New. The mattress still wrapped in plastic.
Rachel took a step forward and just stood there looking, "It's… it's perfect!" she exclaimed, with a smile she couldn't hide. She spun slightly on herself, as if trying to take it all in at once, "My room… in Los Angeles!"
There was something almost childlike in her excitement. Not in a bad way, but in that mix of genuine emotion and newly discovered freedom. For the first time, it was hers. Her life.
Without her father breathing down her neck and telling her every step she had to take.
Andrew set Rachel's suitcases down inside the room without saying much and walked back out toward the living room.
Steve did the same with Monica's, leaving them against the wall.
In the living room, Claire was waiting for them, arms crossed, watching the movement with a mix of curiosity and evaluation.
"How did it go today?" she asked, looking at both of them.
Steve couldn't help it. He broke into a wide smile and gave a small jump.
"We're starters, Claire!"
Claire's eyes widened in surprise, and a smile immediately spread across her face.
"That's amazing! Congratulations!" she said, hugging them both without hesitation. "I'm proud of you both, guys!"
Steve returned the hug enthusiastically, "God knows I worked my ass off to earn that damn spot," he said.
He went quiet for a second, as if recalculating what he had just said, right as Claire pulled away.
"God?" Andrew repeated, raising an eyebrow.
It didn't sound ironic, and Steve wasn't exactly the religious type.
"I think Xavier and his Mormons are brainwashing me," Steve said, completely serious.
Andrew couldn't help but laugh.
Claire turned her gaze to him, "You don't seem very happy," she noted.
Compared to Steve, Andrew was far too calm. Almost as if it weren't news.
"I already knew the starting job was mine," Andrew said with a shrug.
There was no arrogance in his tone. It was simply a fact. The competition had been decided long before fall camp.
In fact, even Hundley, his strongest competitor, seemed to have given up since the Spring Game.
"Why all the fuss?" Haley asked, appearing from the hallway. She had been giving Monica and Rachel space to settle into their rooms.
…
Meanwhile, in one of the bedrooms, Rachel had already started unpacking her suitcase, pulling out clothes and laying them across the bed before putting everything into the closet.
Monica stood nearby with her arms crossed, watching her in silence.
Until she spoke.
"You're making it way too obvious."
Rachel turned her head, "What do you mean?"
"Your attitude around Andrew. If you keep this up, they'll realize you like him in a month or less," Monica replied.
"No, they won't," Rachel shot back immediately, a bit offended. But her tone lost firmness a second later. "Really?"
Monica nodded, "The moment you saw him, you smiled like you forgot how to act normal."
Rachel fell silent. It was true. She hadn't acted like that in Texas. Back then, it had been more natural. More equal.
But now it was different after what had happened in Texas. After that, she had made the decision to come to California, where, even if it wasn't the only reason, he had definitely played a part.
In that time, she had processed it, understood it better. So seeing him now made something shift.
And on top of that, ending up as Haley's roommate, his cousin, gave everything a strange feeling. As if things had aligned by some twist of fate.
"I don't know…" Rachel murmured. "It's just… I feel different when I see him now."
Monica sighed, leaning lightly against the wall, "I get it. And yeah, everything feels like a movie. But in real life, if you come on too strong from the start, a guy gets scared and pulls away," she said.
"You have to act normal," Monica continued. "Like when you connected with him in Texas. When you guys were playing those weird games…"
Rachel nodded slowly, "Normal… normal," she repeated, closing her eyes for a second and exhaling.
Then she opened them suddenly, "You don't think they suspect anything, right?" she asked, a slight tension in her voice.
Monica shook her head, "It was a short time, and they'll probably think you're just like this because of the move."
Rachel nodded, though still a bit uneasy, "Maybe you should… I don't know, act like you're in love with him," she suggested suddenly. "You know, like a goofy fangirl, to throw them off."
Monica frowned immediately, "I'm not doing that."
She had been a fan of Andrew for years. She was the one who had shown him to Rachel in the first place. But for her, it had never been romantic. It was admiration, excitement, almost obsessive, sure, but never like that.
And even less now that she knew about Rachel.
"Besides, his aunt is intense," Monica added, immediately recognizing that controlling personality type. "She gave me an FBI-level interrogation."
Haley and Claire had picked them up at the airport, and during the ride, Claire, without being direct or invasive, had asked a lot of questions. Especially to Monica.
Rachel couldn't help but laugh. She had noticed it perfectly.
"I think she's trying to figure out how an Andrew fan just happened to end up living with her daughter and in the same building as him," she said. "If there's something more behind it."
As if everything were part of some carefully orchestrated plan by an obsessed fan.
They both fell silent for a moment.
Rachel didn't finish unpacking everything. It wasn't the right moment. With people in the living room, it was better to leave it for later.
They stepped out of the bedroom and walked toward the living room.
As she got closer, Monica heard something that made her react instantly: "Starting spot… UCLA…"
Her fan mode switched on automatically, "Did they already announce the starters?" she asked, looking straight at Andrew. "Did you manage to do it?"
Andrew looked at her, slightly amused, "Yes, I did."
"Yes! Well done!" Monica said, nodding firmly. "I don't know exactly how it works, but you probably had it locked up for a while."
"Congratulations!" Rachel added enthusiastically, bringing her hands together for a moment.
Andrew smiled, appreciative, though slightly surprised.
From Monica, he understood it.
From Rachel, not so much.
The last time Rachel had congratulated him was when he won the All-American Bowl. It had been a simple, "Great game, by the way." Polite, sure, but nothing like this.
Rachel seemed to realize it almost immediately.
She toned it down a bit, adjusting her hair with an automatic gesture, as if trying to return to a more neutral point.
"Ahem, congratulations to you too, Steve," she said, shifting her gaze toward him.
Luckily, Haley stepped in before the moment stretched too long.
"Well, to officially welcome you to LA," she said, clapping her hands together, "and also to celebrate these idiots becoming starters…"
She looked at Andrew and Steve, who complained about the unnecessary insult, though without much conviction.
Haley continued as if nothing had happened, "I was thinking of throwing a get-together here. Invite Howard and Leonard, keep it low-key. What do you say?"
Rachel nodded right away, "That would be great. I haven't seen those two little geniuses in a long time."
Monica agreed as well, tilting her head with a slight smile.
The plan was set.
Andrew said his goodbyes for the moment, he had to tell the rest of the family about the starting. Even if it wasn't a big deal to him, it was still important news.
Steve did the same.
…
Around six-thirty, they were back at the girls' apartment.
Leonard and Howard had arrived as well.
Everyone was sitting on the couches around the coffee table, the TV on more as background noise than for any real interest. On the table, four open pizza boxes.
"This is the best pizza in all of LA," Haley declared, grabbing a slice.
"In all of California," Steve corrected confidently, practically drooling as he picked one up.
"Enjoy, ladies," Howard said with a charming smile, looking at Monica and Rachel, especially the former.
"Thanks for inviting us," Monica replied, taking a slice while evaluating the pizza with some attention.
"Yeah, Howard, thanks for inviting us," Leonard added with a slight teasing smile.
Andrew and Steve let out a quiet laugh as they ate.
Howard made a face.
A few minutes earlier, when they were deciding what to order, he had offered to pay as a welcome gesture for Monica and Rachel. But, as expected, the others had immediately piled on, questioning whether he was only going to pay for them and not for his "old and beloved friends."
And since he himself had bragged that paying for a few pizzas was nothing, he had no choice but to cover everything.
"Anyway…" he said, refocusing on Monica. "So, you're going to study cooking, right?"
Monica nodded slightly.
"Interesting," Howard continued, leaning forward a bit. "With your skills, I'm sure in no time you'll make a better pizza than this. Though that'll be bad news for Luigi."
Monica raised an eyebrow, "You've never seen me cook."
Howard didn't back down, "I know, but looking at those beautiful hands, I'm pretty sure anything you make will be amazing."
Leonard let out a quiet laugh, "That's cheesy."
"He's said worse, and more like a sexual harasser," Steve commented.
"How does he even have the nerve to say that?" Andrew muttered, more to himself than to the others, as he kept eating and watching the scene, which was more interesting than the TV.
"You'll have to get used to it," Haley cut in, looking at Monica. "He calms down eventually, especially when he realizes he has absolutely no chance with you."
"Hey," Howard protested, placing a hand on his chest, "that was unnecessary."
The conversation carried on, filled with jokes and back-and-forth remarks.
Andrew, however, stopped paying attention to Howard's flirting. His gaze shifted to Rachel. She was still staring at the pizza box without touching it.
"Are you waiting for the pizza to fly into your mouth?" Andrew asked.
Rachel blinked and looked at him, "No… I just… want a flatware," she replied, standing up. "Yeah, that."
She walked to the kitchen and came back shortly after with a plate, a knife, and a fork.
She sat down, placed the plate on her lap somewhat awkwardly, and set the slice on top.
Steve looked at her as if he had just witnessed heresy, "Pizza with utensils… that's a crime."
Haley raised an eyebrow, watching her with a half-smile, "What's wrong? Can't the princess touch pizza with her hands?"
Rachel opened her mouth, but said nothing.
Truth was, she didn't even know how to respond.
It wasn't that. Yes, she came from a well-off family. Yes, she had certain habits. But it wasn't like her family didn't eat pizza.
The real reason was sitting right next to her.
Andrew.
She wasn't about to eat pizza with her hands, cheese stretching, fingers getting messy, making a scene, not in front of him. Not on her first day in LA.
She had to maintain a certain image.
Even though, deep down, she knew it was ridiculous. After all, back in Texas they had done far more ridiculous things without any shame.
But this felt a little different. She didn't want him to see her as careless.
Before she could say anything, Andrew stepped in.
"Leave her alone. It's good that there's at least one person at this table with some decency."
"Hey!" Steve, Leonard, and Howard protested almost at the same time.
"I have decency," Haley said, offended.
Monica raised an amused eyebrow without saying anything.
Andrew shrugged, "If you feel attacked, there's probably a reason," he said.
The complaints quickly turned into an absurd debate about what "decency" actually meant. As for Rachel, she couldn't help but smile. She lowered her gaze to the plate, trying to hide it as she cut her first piece.
The night went on with jokes, back-and-forth comments, and more than one pointless argument. The pizza boxes slowly emptied, the TV stayed on without anyone really watching it, and the atmosphere grew more and more relaxed.
Once they finished eating, the conversation split into smaller groups.
Rachel glanced sideways at Andrew. She hesitated for a second, but decided to speak.
"So, when's your first game?"
Andrew stopped looking at his phone and answered, "Saturday, September first."
Rachel blinked, surprised, "That soon?"
"Yeah," Andrew nodded casually. "The season starts much faster than in high school."
Rachel adjusted herself slightly and asked another question, "Who are you playing against?"
"The Rice Owls," Monica replied, jumping into the conversation as if nothing. She couldn't help it, she had already memorized UCLA's schedule ever since it was announced.
Rachel frowned slightly and glanced at her, as if to say I'm the one talking to him. Then she focused back on Andrew.
"And are they good?"
"They're FBS, meaning the highest level of college football," Andrew explained, "but they're not an elite team. They play in Conference USA, which is outside the Power Five."
"So, mid-to-lower tier," Monica added, nodding.
"We're going to beat them," Steve said confidently. "Plus, we're playing at the Rose Bowl, our house."
"They're still a Division I team. We shouldn't underestimate them," Andrew said more cautiously.
Steve waved his hand dismissively, "They never show up in the AP Poll, not during the season, not in preseason. They're probably near the bottom of the FBS."
Rachel tilted her head, "AP Poll?"
"It's a weekly ranking of the top 25 college teams," Andrew explained. "Sports journalists vote on it. And before the season starts, they release a preseason one."
"Is it out already?" Rachel asked, now more interested.
"No," Andrew shook his head. "It actually comes out tomorrow."
"We're watching it live on ESPN," Steve said with a smile. "UCLA's getting back into the top 25, baby."
"Go Bruins!" Howard exclaimed, raising his arms as if on cue.
It had been years since UCLA had made it into that preseason ranking, so getting back in would be a clear sign the program was rising again. With one of the best recruiting classes in the country, expectations were high, and a top-25 spot was almost guaranteed. The only question was where they would land.
"Can we watch it with you? That would be amazing," Monica asked, not even trying to hide her excitement.
"Sure," Andrew replied with an easy gesture.
Steve nodded.
The next day, around four in the afternoon, the same group was gathered in Andrew and Steve's apartment.
The TV, much larger than the one in the other apartment, took up almost the entire living room wall. On the screen, SportsCenter was about to begin its first segment dedicated to the preseason rankings.
The reveal was about to start.
...
Author's Note: Serious question… does Howard have even the slightest chance with Monica, or is he doomed?
And I also read about Steve and Haley… do you see potential for them as a couple?
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