Throwing him a look, Andi shook her head. She loved her friend, but sometimes he came up with the craziest stories. Although none of his stories could come close to what she was going to tell him when she finally shared her news.
The rest of the school day dragged by. Between trying to keep her secret and the three pop quizzes her teachers sprang on them, Andi was convinced she was never going to make it through the afternoon. But finally, the bell rang.
She grabbed her backpack and books, then sprinted out the front doors and toward the playing field. There was one other thing she hadn’t told her friends yet: she was going to play on the Ultimate Frisbee team…with Jonah Beck.
The rest of the team was already gathered when Andi arrived, but Jonah spotted her instantly. His face broke into a huge smile, and he raced over. “You came!” he said.
“I’m still not sure about this,” Andi said, glancing at the field, where players were running drills. Cones were set up all over the place, and everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing. She was going to make a fool of herself if she went through with joining. But then she looked back at Jonah. To her surprise, he was holding up a T-shirt with a number thirteen on the back, and over the number was written ANDIMAN. “How’d you come up with that?” she asked, pointing to the name.
Jonah shrugged. “Isn’t that what everyone calls you?” he asked.
While his question was innocent, it hit Andi straight in the gut. Because it wasn’t true. Not everyone called her that. “Just one person,” she said. Just my sister…or my mother…she added silently.
Unaware of what Andi was thinking or feeling, Jonah gave her another huge smile. “Well, now it’s two,” he said. “Get out there, Andiman. This disk isn’t going to catch itself.”
Laughing, Andi ran out onto the field. Maybe she wasn’t exactly a sports girl, but after her birthday, she wasn’t really sure who she was anymore. And as the practice sped by and she found herself enjoying playing, she realized there was something kind of freeing in that. So when the practice ended, she didn’t go right home like she had promised her mother—or rather, her grandmother. Instead, she took the training wheels off the scooter and hit the road. It was time she started being true to herself—whoever that was.
“Well, that’s new,” Celia said as Andi turned into the driveway a short while later.
Andi jumped off the scooter, took off her helmet, and shook her bangs out of her face. Before her birthday, she had been terrified of Celia’s reaction. But that had been the old Andi. “I got an electric scooter. Do you like it?” the new Andi asked, smiling and walking over to where Celia was watering her plants.
“No, I don’t,” Celia answered.
Andi kept smiling. “It’s super safe. It only goes like twelve miles an hour.”
“Still no,” Celia said.
At that point in the conversation, the old Andi would have backed down. But if she had learned anything from the day before, it was that honesty was better than lies. So instead, she shrugged. “Well, I wish you didn’t feel that way,” she said sincerely. “But I’m keeping it.”
A look of concern crossed Celia’s face as Andi brushed past her and continued up the walk to the front door. Celia had known there would be fallout from what Bex had revealed. But a suddenly rebellious Andi? That was not good. “Andi,” Celia called, causing her to stop and look back. “I know you feel your world has been turned upside down. But I’m still in your life. Everything works just like it always has. Nothing has changed.”
Andi raised an eyebrow. “Sure, nothing’s changed,” she said, then added, “Grandma.” Zinger thrown, she turned and walked up the stairs, then disappeared through the front door.
Celia watched her go. “‘Grandma’?” she repeated under her breath. Oh, Bex was going to get it. She had a whole lot more to answer for than telling Andi the truth. She had to answer for turning Celia into a grandmother overnight!
Up in her room, Andi sat on her bed, trying to focus on the homework in front of her. Unfortunately, the numbers on the page were blurring together and all she could think about was Jonah. And her mom/sister/grandmother drama. And Jonah again. It was hard not to think about him—or his dimples.
Hearing a knock on the door, she looked up. Bex was hovering in the hallway, holding her brown keepsake box. Andi hadn’t seen her since their conversation the night before, and she wasn’t sure what Bex was going to say now.
“Remember when you said you wanted to make me something special?” Bex asked, surprising Andi. “Is that offer still good?”
“Sure,” Andi said, tapping her pencil against her notebook. “But I’m kind of busy.” The truth was she would have loved any excuse not to do her homework, but she didn’t want to just say yes. She felt like she should make Bex wait.
Taking the “sure” as an invitation, Bex walked into the room. She sat down next to Andi on the bed, putting the brown box between them. She had traded her thicker choker for one made of a thin brown rope with a single bead dangling from it. Andi focused on the bead, happy to avoid making eye contact. “I wanted to be able to wear this again,” Bex said, taking out a hospital bracelet.
Gingerly, Andi took it and looked down at the small white piece of plastic. Mack, Rebecca was written across it. Bex reached back into the box, pulled out a second bracelet, and handed that one to Andi, as well. Her name and date of birth were printed across that one, and the ID number was the same as the one that had been Bex’s.
“Can I see that picture again? Of us?” Andi asked, the hardness around her heart softening. Seeing her baby bracelet and knowing that Bex had kept it all that time made it all seem more real, more genuine. She might have accused Bex of abandoning her, but Bex had clearly never forgotten her. Feeling Bex’s eyes on her, Andi looked up and gave her a tentative smile. Then she looked back at the box. Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a second. You have pictures of all of your boyfriends in here?”
“Pretty much,” Bex said.
“I wonder which one is my dad…” Andi said, beginning to search through the pictures.
Bex didn’t give her a chance to search for long. Grabbing the box, she slammed the lid shut and began to back away from the bed. “Hey, who wants pizza?” she asked, trying—and failing—to distract Andi.
“You said you would tell me everything when I’m ready,” Andi pointed out.
“I know I did. It’s just that you’re not…” Bex stopped herself. She wasn’t going to lie to Andi anymore. Not even about something like this. “I’m not ready,” she finished.
Andi nodded. “Just let me know when you are,” she said. Smiling, Bex turned and left the room, taking the box with her. Andi waited until Bex was out of sight before lifting the baby bracelet up. Turning it over in her hands, she marveled at how small it was. So much had happened in the thirteen years since it had been wrapped around her wrist.
Slowly, a smile crept over her face. She still had a lot of questions. And she still wanted answers. But she was beginning to think that maybe this wasn’t a bad thing after all. Maybe this was the beginning of a wonderful new adventure. Maybe this was one of those moments Bex had described—a moment she would tell people all about…someday.
Andi Mack had spent the first thirteen years of her existence believing her life was pretty normal. Overprotective but loving mom? Check. Kind and laid-back dad? Check. Cool older sister? Check. She lived in a nice house in a beautiful town and had two best friends who were awesome, caring, and fun. She went to a good school and got decent grades, had a kicking shack in her backyard where she got to create all sorts of crazy crafts, and was, for the most part, usually happy. She even had a crush on the cutest boy at Jefferson Middle School. Also completely normal.
And then she discovered that her family had been lying to her—her entire life. Turns out the overprotective but loving mom and kind dad she had always thought of as her parents were actually her grandparents. And her sister? Well, it turned out her sister, Bex, was actuall
y her mother. And the biggest kicker? She found out all of this on her thirteenth birthday after an epic fight with Bex and a totally amazing day with her crush, Jonah Beck.
Over the next few weeks, she had time to come to grips with her new reality—sort of—and was even beginning to feel kind of okay about it all. Kind of. There were still some things to work out, like what to call the person she’d thought was her mother. Was she Celia now? Or Grammy? Or something else entirely? And what was she supposed to tell people when everyone finally found out? Her family lived in a small town. It was only a matter of time before someone put it all together. But there was one big thing that had been hanging over her since she had found out the truth, and it bothered Andi more than she let on. While she now knew who her mother was, she still had no idea who her dad was—not yet, anyway. Every time she tried to bring it up, Bex would change the subject, or order pizza. Granted, Andi loved a good pizza, but even she was growing tired of the cheesy, bready goodness. She just wanted the truth. Wasn’t that the least her sister—mother—could do after lying to her for thirteen years?
Wandering into the living room, which Bex was currently using as her bedroom, Andi found her folding clothes. Having just been told by her grandmother—which still felt funny to say—that she couldn’t have sweets before dinner, her eyes landed on a box of sugary toaster pastries that was randomly lying on the pull-out. Reaching out to grab one, she was surprised when Bex snatched the box away. Andi’s eyes narrowed. Since when had Bex been on the whole “don’t eat this” thing, too?
In one smooth move, Andi pulled the box out of Bex’s grasp. Holding the open end over her other hand, she shook it. To her surprise, a photograph, not a Toaster Tart, fell onto her palm. Her eyes grew wide as she looked down at the picture of a guy. “Is this my father?” she asked, looking up at Bex.
“No,” Bex said. The short answer was unusual for Bex, and it only made Andi more suspicious.
Narrowing her eyes, she held out the picture. “Then who is it?”
“Nobody,” Bex answered.
Andi shook her head. Usually, her long dark bangs would have fallen in her face, but that morning she had pulled them back with a new barrette she had made. She thought the silver geometric shape looked nice with her blue bunny sweater. It also helped not to have to constantly, in moments like this, be pushing the hair out of her eyes. “You don’t put nobody in a Toaster Tart box,” she said. “You told me that you took my dad’s picture out, and then I find this picture. Nobody…is somebody.” Ignoring the look on Bex’s face, which screamed drop it, Andi pressed on. “Who. Is. It?” she asked again.
Bex just shook her head. Tugging at the bottom of her plaid button-down, she stood quietly for a moment. Then, before Andi could stop her, she reached out and grabbed the photograph. Walking over to the wastebasket, she ripped the picture into shreds, dropping the small pieces into the bin as she went. “See? Nobody,” she said. Pulling her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, she swiped open the screen. “Who wants pizza?”
Andi watched as Bex began to dial. Her mouth pulled back in a crooked, knowing smile. Bex could rip up pictures and say it was “nobody” all she wanted, pretending it was all nothing. But the pizza and the overdramatic actions? They screamed that it was the exact opposite. This was very much something. “I know for a fact that he is somebody,” she said, stopping Bex mid-dial, “because you bring up pizza every time you don’t want to answer my questions. But it’s not going to work this time.” Then her stomach rumbled. Figuring out her new life was not only exhausting, but it made her hungry, too. Sighing, she shrugged. “Except now I’m hungry.”
“Half plain, half pepperoni?” Bex asked, seeing her chance and taking it.
“Extra cheese,” Andi clarified. Then, lifting her chin, she narrowed her eyes. Bex might have won this round, but Andi wasn’t going to let her off the hook for good. She was going to get answers. She was going to find out who her father was one way or another. Even if it meant eating pizza every day for the next year.
Sitting at the counter of The Spoon, Shadyside’s best—and only—diner, Buffy played absently with her food. She wasn’t really that hungry, but she had told Cyrus she would meet him there, and as usual, he was running late. Since she had never been good at doing nothing, she had gone ahead and ordered food. At least eating gave her something to do.
Hearing a commotion, she turned and saw Cyrus weaving his way around the tables of the crowded diner. Reaching the counter, he stopped, playing up his dramatic entrance to the fullest. “Guess what just happened?” he asked.
Buffy eyed her friend. He was breathing heavily, and his face was flushed. Actually, it seemed like only one side of his face was red. She cocked her head and waited for the explanation she was sure to get.
“I ran into a glass door!” Cyrus said, sounding oddly pleased by the news.
“Again?” Buffy asked.
Cyrus nodded. “A different one!” he said, as though that made the fact that he had a habit of running into doors completely reasonable and not at all concerning. “Much more painful!” he added.
“Then why are you so happy?” Buffy asked. He was smiling broadly and didn’t seem to be in any kind of pain.
As Cyrus started to answer, Andi walked in and joined them, seating herself at the counter. Looking back and forth between her two best friends, she tried to figure out what was going on. Cyrus was saying something about adrenaline, and Buffy was giving him one of her signature eye rolls. Then Cyrus put his hand to his face and began to moan. Throwing himself across the counter, he let his moans grow louder. Looking over at Buffy, Andi raised an eyebrow.
“He ran into a glass door,” Buffy explained.
“Oh,” Andi said, nodding. That sounded about right. Swiveling on her stool, Andi listened to her friend’s moans and tried not to laugh. Cyrus was an amazing best friend. He was kind and sweet and always willing to listen to her talk about boys and help with her crafts. But he could be a bit over the top. Like now, for example. As she swiveled around, Andi realized she and Buffy weren’t the only ones paying attention to Cyrus’s whining. Everyone in the restaurant—which was full of students at this hour—was looking at them. “People are staring at you,” Andi said under her breath.
“Actually, they’re staring at you,” Buffy corrected.
Andi’s eyes grew wide as she realized her friend was right. Frantically, she began to check herself all over. The bottoms of her feet. Her shoulders. The straps on her suspenders. The front of her black-and-red striped top. Had she spilled something? Was there something in her hair? “Is it toilet paper? Wardrobe malfunction?” she asked, looking to her friends for help. Then she lifted her chin so Buffy could check her nose for cliffhangers.
“You’re clean,” Buffy said.
While Andi had been freaking out, Cyrus had grown oddly quiet. His moans had stopped, and his cheeks—both of them this time—reddened. Gulping, he looked at his friends. “Um…” he began nervously. “I don’t know if this is related, but I might have possibly mentioned to my mom about Bex being your mom.”
“Cyrus!” Andi and Buffy said at the same time. “It was a secret!” Buffy admonished.
Andi’s heart thudded in her chest. She had known this moment would come sooner or later. It was inevitable. But she had sort of hoped it would come on her own terms. Not because her best friend went and spilled the secret—her secret—to his mom. Andi felt the weight of everyone’s eyes on her back, and she wanted to melt through the stool and down into the floor of The Spoon.
“I thought I was helping you,” Cyrus said, the explanation sounding weak.
“Why would you think that?” Andi asked, agitated. She had been nervous about sharing the secret with Buffy and Cyrus in the first place. But then she had realized that if she didn’t tell them, she was no better than her own family. So she had gathered the courage and given them the news. They had both been wonderful about it—although rightly curious and a bit intrigued—a
nd promised to help her keep it quiet until she was ready. She wasn’t quite sure how Cyrus telling his mother accomplished that.
Cyrus quickly tried to justify his actions. “Look, it was hard for you just to tell us. You shouldn’t have to go through that over and over.” Andi frowned at him. He did make a good point. But still…
“But your mom is the biggest gossip,” Buffy pointed out, saying out loud what Andi had been thinking. “She probably told everyone.”
Cyrus nodded, suddenly looking pleased. “She definitely told everyone,” he agreed. “Sent out an email blast, and boom, it’s done. The hard part is over.”
Andi sighed. She wished she could believe Cyrus about the hard part being over. But if she knew anything about being a middle schooler, it was that kids were brutal. They latched on to gossip like a burr. “I just replaced the girl who tried to run herself up the flagpole as the school freak.”
“I’m sorry,” Cyrus said softly, looking down at the counter. He truly had been trying to help. Trying to lighten the mood—which had grown decidedly darker in the past few moments—he lifted a hand to his face. “Boy, is my face half-red,” he joked. “Get it? ’Cause I ran into the…” His voice trailed off as he was met with blank stares from Buffy and Andi. “Never mind.”
And then, just when Andi thought things couldn’t get any more awkward or embarrassing, Jonah Beck walked into The Spoon. She bit back a groan. Now would have been a really good time for a hole in the floor to appear.
“What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?” Andi knew she sounded crazy, but at that moment, she didn’t particularly care. Jonah Beck, the cutest boy in Jefferson Middle School, whom she had a serious crush on and who’d only recently learned her name, was walking toward her. All eyes were on him as he weaved through the tables and stopped at the counter. He gave Andi a smile. Andi tried not to swoon as his dimples flashed. His bright blue eyes were staring at her intensely. She shifted on her stool.
Tomorrow Starts Today Page 4
