Modern Family: New Life-Chapter 86: Scene of jealousy

July 21, 2009

Several months had passed. The school year had ended in mid-June, and Andrew was currently on vacation.

Palisades High School, with Andrew as the quarterback and undisputed leader, crushed all its rivals in the fifth division of Los Angeles high school football. Game after game, the team not only won but obliterated their opponents with overwhelming score differences.

Andrew broke records, from most passing yards in a single season to most touchdowns in a single game, proving that his talent was far above the level at which he was competing.

However, to the surprise of his sports YouTube channel followers and sports fans alike, Andrew didn't transfer to another school. Instead, he sent a bold message to the CIF, stating bluntly that it would be boring and absurd to play another year in the same division just to humiliate the same teams.

The video sparked major controversy. Some called him arrogant, saying a student shouldn't challenge the CIF like that. Others, however, agreed with him, noting that the gap in level was overwhelming.

After weeks of heated debate and speculation in sports forums, the CIF released an official statement. Among pages of explanations and technicalities, one line stood out from the rest:

"Palisades High School has been officially promoted to Division IV for the upcoming season..."

This brought relief to Andrew, as his only other option would have been to switch schools in order to compete at a more "challenging" level.

Even so, his confidence remained sky-high. He didn't believe that winning the Division IV state championship would be a difficult challenge. At most, they wouldn't win by such large margins as before, but they would still win clearly.

It wasn't empty arrogance. Andrew had been a prodigy in his previous life, an elite quarterback in Texas, the state where football is practically a religion. At sixteen, he had already won a Division I state championship, leading a team full of talent.

Now, in this new life, with fifteen years of age and an extra decade of experience under his belt, his skill was even greater.

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to get CIF to promote Palisades again next year, but he would try. To do that, he needed to demolish every future rival, and that meant playing at 100% or more.

He was lost in these thoughts when suddenly, Pippa's soft voice pulled him out of his daydream.

"What did you think of the movie?" Pippa asked, looking at Andrew.

They were lying on Pippa's bed, the laptop resting a short distance away on the mattress.

"Huh? It's over already?" Andrew mumbled, clearly confused.

Pippa stared at him, a flicker of frustration crossing her face. Her usually warm eyes now held a spark of irritation.

"Seriously, Andrew? You've been distracted all day, and now you don't even know what's going on in the movie. Is spending the day with me that boring?" she asked.

The tension in the air was palpable. Andrew knew he'd messed up, but he hadn't expected Pippa to be this upset. Then a thought hit him, maybe there was a reason she'd been more easily annoyed than usual lately.

"It's not that... Sorry. I was just thinking about football and next season," Andrew said, scratching his head.

"That's still months away," Pippa said, her tone irritated. "You already finished today's training, and I'm going on vacation tomorrow, we won't see each other for two weeks. Can you please focus on what we're doing here?"

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"Oh, don't make such a big deal out of it. It's not that serious. I just spaced out for a few minutes. I already apologized, what more do you want?" Andrew sighed. He didn't understand why she was taking things so personally.

Pippa, however, grew even more upset. The small spark had ignited something bigger.

"Do you really not see it? This isn't just about the movie. Remember a few hours ago when we were eating ice cream and you didn't hear a word I said? Or yesterday, when we were walking through the park, and you were glued to your phone instead of paying attention to me?"

Andrew fell silent for a moment. It was true that those examples made him look like the bad guy, but it wasn't like that all the time, and it was only for short moments.

It's not like Andrew spent the whole day ignoring Pippa or didn't enjoy spending time with her anymore. Even she got lost in her own thoughts sometimes, whether it was because of her studies or her hobbies, and he didn't make a big deal out of it when that happened.

He sighed and raised his hands in surrender. It wasn't worth arguing over something like this.

"Alright, alright, I won't do it again..." Andrew said, trying to calm things down. "I was just thinking a bit about the games because it's been a while since I played. I miss being on the field, that's all."

"Oh, sure, sure... football. Always football. You know what I think? You should start watching movies with your precious football since it's always on your mind," Pippa snapped, clearly not ready to let the argument go.

"You're so grumpy today. This is about Regina, isn't it?" Andrew said, looking at her.

"What does Regina have to do with this?" Pippa asked, her face showing clear irritation.

"You know... because of the argument from a month ago..." Andrew replied cautiously.

A month ago, they'd had their first real fight as a couple. The cause? Regina George.

Despite her age, Pippa had always been intelligent and emotionally mature. She wasn't the type to throw jealous tantrums or act like a controlling girlfriend. So when she found out that Regina was joining Andrew on his runs a few days a week, she kept her feelings to herself. There was no reason to be upset, it was just exercise.

But when she fought with Lauren about Leonard's infidelity, Lauren had blurted out that there was nothing "normal" about Andrew and Regina's little running sessions, just to hurt her, maybe. Still, Pippa tried to brush it off.

When summer break started, Pippa assumed Regina would stop running with Andrew, or at least cut back. After all, it was vacation. But then, by pure chance, she found out that not only were they still running together, they were doing it more often.

Even Gloria had started joining them and was getting along great with Regina. Regina was winning over Gloria!

Pippa couldn't believe it. Gloria, with her love for fashion and her over-the-top personality, was a perfect match for someone like Regina.

That's when she couldn't take it anymore.

She didn't understand why Andrew had to keep training with her during the holidays. Couldn't he run alone? Or with his teammates? And to make matters worse, Regina was two years older.

Why was she clinging to a guy from a lower grade? Pippa wasn't dumb. She knew Regina's reputation, and she seriously doubted Regina was spending so much time with Andrew just to be "friends."

So she brought it up. And they had their first fight.

Andrew insisted that Regina was just a friend, that they simply ran together and it was no big deal. To him, there was no reason to make a fuss about it.

But Pippa wasn't satisfied with that answer. So Andrew suggested that she join them on their runs so she could see with her own eyes that they were just friends.

She agreed. For two weeks, she ran with them. She discovered there was nothing romantic between Andrew and Regina, just good chemistry, but purely in a friendly way.

At school, Regina was known for having a tough and intimidating personality. And while she still had that bossy attitude, she was far more approachable than she let on at school.

Pippa endured the two weeks, even though running wasn't her thing.

She quit quickly.

Even though her logic told her nothing was going on, the jealousy didn't go away. Because deep down, the solution she had hoped for from Andrew was something else.

"This has nothing to do with that," Pippa said as she got up from the bed, clearly indignant.

Andrew watched in silence as she walked over to her desk and started pulling out books and notebooks, as if studying during vacation was suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world. Though in her case, it kind of was, she never neglected her studies, just like Alex.

"Seriously? You're gonna study now?" Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Pippa replied, without looking at him.

Andrew rolled his eyes and flopped back on the bed.

"Come on, Pippa, you can't tell me this has nothing to do with it when you're clearly still mad about that," he said.

"I'm not mad about that," Pippa replied. Her pride wouldn't let her admit that she was still upset about it, and that the only solution that would truly satisfy her was for Andrew to stop running with Regina.

Andrew got up and walked over to her.

"If you're not mad, then look at me."

"I have things to do. If you want to leave, go. Do whatever you want. I'm sure it's more fun than being here," Pippa said, her eyes fixed on her notes.

"Look... just tell me the truth. Are you still mad about Regina?" Andrew asked.

"No." Pippa answered after a few seconds.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Andrew couldn't tell from Pippa's expression whether she was lying or not. So he dropped the subject of Regina, maybe bringing it up again would only make things worse.

"So... is this because I got distracted for a few minutes today? If that's it, I already apologized. What more do you want?" he said gently. He didn't want to argue anymore.

"Nothing. We're fine," Pippa replied in a monotone, flipping the page of her notebook.

Andrew stayed quiet, watching her. After a while, he let out a soft sigh. With no other option, he walked over to the bed, grabbed his jacket, gave it a little shake, and slipped it on. He glanced at Pippa, but she was still in her own world, flipping through her notes with a blank expression.

He walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek. Pippa didn't react. She kept going as if nothing had happened.

"See you. Have a good trip to the UK," Andrew said before turning and heading for the door.

Pippa's maternal side of the family lived in the UK, and every vacation they'd spend around two weeks there visiting her grandparents.

It wasn't the warmest goodbye, considering they wouldn't be seeing each other for a while, but Andrew wasn't going to push it. He had already apologized sincerely for zoning out earlier, even if to him, it hadn't been a big deal. To Pippa, though, it seemed like an unforgivable offense.

And as for Regina... Andrew wasn't even sure if that was still a problem or not.

Pippa wasn't the type to openly express her frustration, and even though she claimed everything was fine, her indifferent attitude told a different story.

Still, Andrew wasn't going to beg for forgiveness over something he didn't even fully understand.

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