Andrew, Willa, Howard, Leonard, Haley, and Alex spent most of the night moving together as a small group within the party. They greeted adults, family friends, and neighbors, and although most of them were older, there were also some young people, kids Luke and Manny's age, and a few closer to Andrew's. They weren't the only teenagers there, but adults were clearly the majority.
Unlike typical teenage parties, which could stretch until four or five in the morning, Claire had been clear from the start: everything ended at two sharp. That structure gave the night a more family-friendly and controlled atmosphere.
Andrew lost count of how many greetings and handshakes he had to give. Phil introduced him to several of his coworkers with barely disguised pride; Claire showed him off to her friends and neighbors as if he were a trophy; and Jay did the same with his old friends, though Andrew already knew several of them, like Vincent and his wife Darlene.
Vincent was Jay's best friend.
Almost every guest had seen the regional broadcast of the Mater Dei versus Crespi game, and many had been following Andrew's rise long before that, especially parents with kids who had been, or still were, at Palisades. He found himself answering the same questions over and over: stats, impressions, upcoming games...
He hadn't expected a party like this to be so exhausting. It wasn't even one of those chaotic gatherings with deafening music and drunk teens everywhere.
But between all the greetings, congratulations, and trying not to appear uninterested, Andrew already felt drained, and only an hour had passed.
On top of that, there was something else: he had to stay alert, his senses sharpened. At some point in the night, it would happen, the trigger, Claire's prank. And when it did, he'd need to be ready to execute his own plan.
"You really are famous, man," Howard said in the backyard, holding a plastic cup of juice. Claire had been firm: no alcohol for them.
"Yeah," Leonard nodded beside him. "How many photos and handshakes so far?" he added, looking at Andrew in mild disbelief, realizing just how big his fame had become.
"And I thought I was the Hollywood actress," Willa said with a faint smile. She said it without envy or jealousy, she knew Andrew's fame now far surpassed her own.
"Jimmy Clausen, Matt Barkley? Pff, rookies compared to you," scoffed Haley, waving her hand dismissively. Her cousin was the best, no argument.
"She's right," said Leonard, adjusting his glasses. Unlike Haley, he wasn't speaking from emotion but logic. "Those two, and other famous high school football players, never reached your level of exposure. Or your on-field numbers."
Leonard wasn't exaggerating.
By October 2010, Andrew wasn't just a high school quarterback, he was a cultural phenomenon. His stats placed him far above any historical prospect. He wasn't only surpassing Jimmy Clausen or Matt Barkley, his closest contemporaries; even looking further back, no high school player had ever combined such extraordinary numbers with that level of fame.
Two of his games had already been broadcast nationally on ESPN, both breaking audience records and becoming the most-watched high school football games in history. And these weren't state or regional finals, but simple regular-season matchups. The expectation was clear: if Mater Dei reached the semifinals or finals and ESPN decided to air them, the ratings could reach numbers never before seen in the category.
While Clausen or Barkley had been major sports stars in their time, Andrew was something beyond that. His impact extended to both the internet and television. With over 3 million subscribers on YouTube, he had the number-one channel in the world on the platform; with 2 million followers on Twitter, he was competing in numbers with global teen idols like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, or even rising adult stars.
In terms of teenage fame, Andrew was already in the same conversation as Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, Zac Efron, Selena Gomez, or Taylor Lautner, icons of music and film at the time. The difference was that all of them belonged to the machinery of traditional entertainment, while Andrew had built himself from sports and social media.
It was a triple combination:
1. Online media presence: ranking among the world's top on YouTube and one of the most-followed accounts on Twitter.
2. Historic athletic career: with stats already considered among the best in high school history, and the potential to become the greatest high school football player ever.
3. National TV exposure: breaking audience records on ESPN and capturing the attention of the entire country.
"I never thought starting that YouTube channel would make things blow up this much," Andrew said with a slight grimace.
When he first created it, the goal wasn't to become an influencer, let alone reach the fame of a young Hollywood actor or a singer like Bieber.
He just wanted a place to upload his highlights with better editing, nothing more. But since he enjoyed filming and editing, he began to give it more shape, videos with backstories, showing training sessions, preparation routines, game previews, all with context and narrative.
Later, he started sharing workout routines, discipline tips, and diet plans. Gradually, his channel stopped being a simple highlight archive and became a space that inspired others. In this way, Andrew went from being just a guy uploading football clips to becoming a role model and idol for hundreds of thousands.
On the other hand, he knew that with his athletic level in this life, combined with the experience from his previous one, he was bound to reach the top, to dominate high school football like never before. But his YouTube channel was what made everything explode.
Without it, his fame would still have been enormous, yes, at the level of Jimmy Clausen or beyond, but never at this global scale.
"Twitter blew up because you replied nicely to Justin Bieber," Howard said with a laugh, waving his phone.
The war on the social network was chaotic.
On one side, fans of both Bieber and Andrew celebrated the unexpected crossover, thrilled by the good vibes between them.
On the other hand, Bieber's more intense fangirls were imagining impossible scenarios between the two of them, as if a simple exchange of tweets were the beginning of something more.
There were also the toxic Bieber fans, who reacted defensively: "Who's Andrew and why is Justin talking about him? He's probably just an opportunist."
And on the opposite side, Andrew's more radical fans saw Bieber as the embodiment of everything they despised. Some were disappointed that Andrew had been friendly toward him, others accepted it begrudgingly, but nothing more.
The result: a single tweet had sparked thousands of replies, memes, and debates.
Andrew smiled faintly at Howard's comment, that had been the idea.
"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Willa asked with a smile, leaning toward him.
Andrew crossed his arms, his expression serious at first, but then he couldn't help smiling slightly. "Yeah… is it that obvious?"
"Not to everyone, but to me it is. I know you like to watch the world burn," Willa replied, laughing and giving him a light tap on the shoulder.
Haley, who had been observing the exchange, narrowed her eyes at her friend. Willa caught it from the corner of her eye and shot her a quick look that said, enough with your conspiracy theories.
"Wait, you really did it just to make Twitter go wild?" Howard chimed in. "I thought you did it to look like the nice guy, open-minded, respectful… you know, for your image. Like when you greeted that deaf kid or stopped your teammates from dancing at the end of the game today."
Andrew raised an eyebrow, amused by the interpretation.
"He doesn't do those things for image," Alex said, joining in as one of the group. She was wearing a simple costume, though not as bad as Jay's. "He does it because he wants to."
Alex had entered protective cousin mode.
Howard raised his hands. "I know, I know. But I thought that tweet was kind of a show of support for Bieber, against the wave of male haters he gets."
"Yeah, a bit of that too," Andrew nodded. "I find the discussions amusing, the radicals from my channel against his toxic fans, it's like a circus. But also the first part. I don't think my tweet will change Justin's life or anything, but maybe it'll get at least a portion of the male audience, or at least my followers, who are a bit more rational, to see him differently, to drop that prejudice they have just because everyone else does. Because, let's be honest, the hate he gets is ridiculous."
The group fell silent for a moment. Howard was the first to break it. He stepped closer, resting his free hand on Andrew's shoulder, and said with heartfelt emotion, "You're a great guy… I can't believe you're my friend."
Andrew glanced at him sideways, one eyebrow raised in amusement. "Does that juice have alcohol in it?"
Howard ignored the jab and continued with almost childlike excitement. "Also, thanks to you, since I'm your official cameraman, I can finally buy my first car! I've been saving up, and I made it. It's time to pick one, and I want you two to help me," he said, looking at Andrew and Leonard as if they were expert advisors.
"It would be an honor," said Leonard with a smile.
"Same here," Andrew agreed.
Willa, Haley, and Alex congratulated him on the milestone.
But Willa couldn't help but ask, "Are you really going to spend all your savings on a car?"
"Yeah. I've saved plenty these months, but I've treated myself too. I'm not some maniac who hoards every penny. So spending it now on a car is perfect," Howard replied.
The group kept talking, debating which car would suit Howard best. Between jokes and serious advice from Andrew and Leonard, the topic lasted quite a while.
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