Andi's Story

Andi was perfect. Her parents called her Andrea, but she hated that. She had always wanted a boy’s name because she knew she was pretty enough to pull it off, so she told everyone to call her Andi when she was in Kindergarten. The name stuck, and no one even knew what her full name was. She had three older brothers so she never had a problem fitting in with “the guys.” She chugged beers with them, watched sports, and rooted for the Ducks whenever their games were on TV. But she knew how to dress up when the time came. A girl’s girl knows that to fit in, you have to drink mojitos and martinis with the ladies. Going to clubs was what she did best. All the guys wanted her, but she never let them get anything she wasn’t willing to give. Her girl friends always hated the way she strutted across the dance floor holding some boy’s hand, only to come back twenty minutes later to say things like, “He was such a scumbag. Let’s go.”

She always went home alone and listened to her music for hours before she went to sleep. When she woke up in the morning she would go for a jog and eat some pancakes. Her apartment was small, but it was definitely big enough for her friends to come over and party, which is all she ever really wanted to do anyways. Her dog, Oggie, wasn’t the type of Jack Russell Terrier who enjoyed company, so he would cower in the corner all night wondering if she would ever come to her senses and calm the partying down. There was a Laker game on that afternoon, so after she showered, Andi sat down on her old couch with sweatpants and a big tee shirt on. She grabbed the popcorn she usually reserves for movie night with the girls and put it in the microwave. She took it out and, after bouncing down on the couch with a cold Corona right next to her, began yelling at the television with popcorn spewing out of her mouth. If her girl friends could see her now they would probably be laughing at her, but she didn’t care; she never did.

Almost immediately, the boys all walked in together holding coolers full of meat and buns and condiments. Cory and Alex walked down the stairs to the apartment common area to cook up some burgers while Hayden went into the kitchen with the vegetables.

Andi sat on the couch and recalled how Hayden and her had been friends since the second Andi had stepped into that Kindergarten class and sat next to him and said, “Hi, I’m Andi!” They did everything together; they played soccer and baseball and every other sport you can possibly think of. They rode their bikes and skateboards together every day. When they ended up going to different high schools, they still saw each other at least three times a week. Everyone always asked them if they were dating and they just laughed at them and walked away. Or sometimes they wouldn’t say anything, and would just give each other a kiss and walk away holding hands. It was only for show though. Although it was unspoken, they had never considered being anything more than friends. It would have been impossible for them to be closer than they already were and neither of them would exchange that for the world.

Hayden had met Alex and Cory in college, so his relationship with them was still new and a little awkward because Hayden was more of a hipster than the other two. His favorite outfit consisted of his brown jeans that sagged perfectly just a few inches below the top of his boxers. They went perfectly with his ripped up red Vans. The way his pants fell over the backs of his shoes was perfect, and he made sure of it. The front part was folded inward a little bit, while the back dropped just right, so that only the white rubber on his shoes showed from the back. He usually wore his white v-neck and black belt with this outfit to top it off just right. He had short light brown hair that rarely grew past his ears, but when it did, it was curly and messy. His frame was slender, but he had enough muscle to be toned. He was only about 5’7” and was just the right size to pull off his style. Andi had always loved the way he looked, but she used to tell him he should wear flannel shirts because they would look perfect on him. He never did, though – even when she bought one for him for his birthday – because he hated feeling claustrophobic in his clothes.

Alex and Cory were exactly the same except that Alex was shyer and was sometimes treated like Cory’s little bitch. Ever since they were roommates freshman year, they both dressed almost identical all the time, with simple jeans that sagged a little bit, but they wore chucks that were too big for them, so when they walked, their feet came out of them a tiny bit. Cory only bought shirts that fit his chest perfectly; they were never too loose, and God help him if they were ever too tight on him. His hair was a dirty blonde color, and he liked to keep it just a little bit shaggy so he could flip it around a little. Alex dressed similarly, but would usually wear plain shirts, sometimes v-necks in different colors, but they were a little baggier than Cory’s. He also liked wearing hats. His favorite was his Red Sox hat that was navy blue with a big red B on it. His almost buzzed brown hair stuck out just a little from under the hat and so did his ears. His face and build were also bigger than Cory and Hayden; his head was more round and his body was basically all muscle. He was 6’2” and looked like he could have played football in high school, but he was a baseball boy. Cory liked to push him around sometimes even though Alex had about two inches on him and would fight back when he felt insulted. Cory found it entertaining that such a big kid would take his shit and laughed every time Alex said anything stupid. Their relationship was generally pretty awkward unless they both had a little bit of alcohol in their system.

So Andi sat on the couch ordering her friends around, still watching the game and yelling to the guys who was winning. “Hurry up! Oh shit, come on, Kobe! Are you serious?!” She screamed at the television and kept shoving popcorn in her mouth until she couldn’t fit any more. The commercials came on after the first few minutes of the game, so she walked outside to help with the food.

“Is there anything I can do, guys?”

Alex looked at her. “Naw, go back inside, Andi, we got it.”

“It’s a commercial break and I’m starving.”

“So you want to eat, so you came out here to get a taste of something, is that it?”

“Is that so bad? Come on, I just want a corner of a patty.”

“The patties are round, numbnuts. There are no corners.”

“Oh, shut up. Fine, I’ll go back inside. By the way, the Celtics are winning by seven. This game is going to be over before you guys even get in there.”

“Okay, we’re going as fast as we can, girl. Get the fuck out of here. Byeeeee!” said Cory as he smiled his sissy smile and waved her back into the living room.

She plopped herself down again on the couch and kept eating her popcorn, but now it was just like putting styrofoam into her mouth. She sighed as the game came back on. She took a swig of beer, got up, and went into the kitchen where Hayden was cutting up the tomatoes and lettuce and pickles. “Dude, do you need any help in here? I hate sitting in the living room by myself like an idiot,” she said.

“No, I’m good in here. I hate cutting shit, though.” He chopped everything like a little kid; with his hands gingerly touching the tomato like it was breakable. He looked up at Andi and gave her a confused look.

Andi took the knife from him and said, “I’ll cut this stuff. Go sit down. Here, take my beer.” He took the beer from her and set it down on the counter. “No, I’ll just help you. If you don’t wanna be a loser, what makes you think that I would want to?”

“Oh, calm down and grab another knife,” she said. He took a knife out of the holder and grabbed another tomato. They chopped in silence while the game played on the TV in the background. Andi craned her neck to see what the score was. “Twenty-three to seventeen, Celtics!” She yelled to the boys outside. “Ow, Jesus Christ. And you’re telling me to calm down? You just blew my eardrums,” Hayden muttered to himself.

Andi had chopped about five tomatoes, and Hayden was still on his first. She elbowed him out of the way and finished cutting his. “Check on the burgers outside, then come back and we’ll work on the pickles.”

Rolling his eyes, Hayden walked outside to check everything out. Alex and Cory were standing next to the barbeque, with Alex holding the plate and Cory putting the finished burgers on it with a spatula. “Can you melt some cheese on top of mine? Andi’s probably gonna want cheese too,” Hayden told them. “Yeah, I do!” Andi said from the kitchen window.

“Ah come on, guys. Just when I’m finishing?” Cory asked. “I don’t even have the cheese down here. Go get it and I’ll put it on these last two. Hurry up.”

Hayden sauntered back up the stairs. “Hurry, bro!” Cory yelled from behind him. He jogged up the remaining steps and turned into the kitchen. “You want cheese on your burger, right?” he said to Andi. “Yeah, dude. Slap some fake cheddar on that shit,” Andi said as she smiled at him. “The pickles are done, let’s eat already.”

So Hayden picked up the cheese and three beers as he headed back outside. He popped one of them open, took a sip, and tossed Alex and Cory their own ice cold Coronas. “Andi and I are gonna turn the living room into the prime game-watching room, so get your asses up there.” Cory flashed him an annoyed look and said, “Yeah, we’re working on it.” Hayden walked back up the stairs and started getting all the plates and condiments and putting everything on the coffee table.

“Andi! Are you kidding me? Your popcorn is all over the couch,” he said from the other room.

“Oops, yeah, that was my bad. Hey, I’m gonna go change into some jeans or something. I’ll be out in a sec,” Andi said as she walked into her room. Throwing on some jeans, a tank top, and slippers, she walked out after about thirty seconds.

“How do you even do that? Every other girl on the face of the planet would have taken like seven years doing their makeup, and yet you still look awesome when you come out with just jeans and shit on. You’re hot as hell.” Hayden looked her up and down and shook his head.

“I don’t know, dude. I guess it’s just natural. I hate all those girls who spend hours on themselves. I don’t even want to imagine what they look like without makeup on,” Andi said as she smiled at him. “And, I am not hot, just really good-looking.”

“Whatever. Get your ass over here and throw your damn popcorn away.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s my apartment and I can do what I want with it.”

“You’re a neat freak; don’t even pretend you’re not.”

“I know, fuck you, I am throwing it away. Happy?”

“No, but I know you are.”

Andi ignored him. “Ughh, what is taking those idiots so long?” she said as she turned around and walked to the top of the stairs. “Seriously, guys? The game is honestly at half-time right now and I am starving.”

“Dude. We know. We’re done, grab some burgers and help out,” Alex said. Andi was surprised that he even knew how to give any sort of orders. It must have been the half of the beer he had consumed. She laughed and walked into the house holding a plate of burgers. She set them down on the coffee table and walked into the kitchen.

“Hayden, where are the buns?”

“In the brown bag on the counter.”

“Got ‘em. Let’s eat.” Andi walked into the living room with the buns and tossed them onto the table. Alex and Cory came up the stairs with the rest of the burgers, Cory holding the spatula like it had tons of germs on it. “You guys are like fucking snails today. It’s 91-78 Celtics and we haven’t even sat down yet,” Andi moaned.

The boys ignored her and began distributing plates and buns. They ate in silence until Kevin Garnett clearly fouled Derek Fisher but the referees didn’t call it. They all screamed with their mouths full of delicious burgers, “Oh, fuck you! Ughhhh.” Immediately after yelling, they all looked at each other and laughed.