"…a date?" Derrick and Angela repeated in unison, staring at their daughter in astonishment.
"Why the big surprise?" Jade asked, irritated, her patience already thin.
"It's nothing…" Angela said quickly, trying not to make it a bigger deal than it was.
"It's just that you don't usually go on dates," she added.
Their daughter was beautiful, with a presence that was impossible to ignore. But she also had a strong personality, a sharp tongue, and very little tolerance for stupidity. She'd dated, like any seventeen-year-old girl, but not much. Jade didn't accept just anyone.
The only boyfriend she'd ever had had lasted barely three months. By teenage standards, that could even be considered a decent run. But it hadn't been a typical breakup.
Jade had simply decided she was no longer willing to put up with teenage drama. She got tired of it and ended things. She wasn't someone who jumped from person to person. She didn't have the patience to keep playing the same game over and over again, that was why her parents were so surprised.
"So you're trying something new?" Derrick asked, teasingly. "Exploring your options? I mean, considering everything you say about guys."
Jade frowned at him.
Derrick, still sitting on the couch, subtly slid closer to Angela, as if looking for protection.
"No," Jade replied flatly. "Although, considering how stupid most of the men I know are…"
She paused for a second, staring straight at him. As if deliberately including him in that group.
"…I should probably consider it," she finished.
"You're real nice to your old man," Derrick said with a small smile.
Angela decided to step in before the conversation escalated. She smiled, genuinely happy to see her daughter going out.
"Well," she said, changing the subject, "so who's the lucky guy?"
Jade hesitated just a moment before saying, "You know him."
Derrick smiled and brought a hand to his chin. "Oh… a guessing game?"
Jade looked at him with a completely neutral expression. "Yes. A guessing game," she confirmed.
Her tone was the same as always, dry and slightly irritated. But Angela, who knew her daughter better than anyone, noticed something different. A tiny, almost imperceptible glimmer of amusement? Why?
Derrick shifted on the couch. "Alright, Ryan?" he tried. "The guy who's been in your class since ninth grade and is in the debate club."
"No," Jade replied. "Way too talkative for someone who has nothing interesting to say."
"Ethan? The one on the swim team?" Derrick tried again.
"Not even close," Jade shot back. "He thinks swimming alone makes him interesting."
Angela covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"Marcus?" Derrick insisted. "The one who came over once with your group of friends."
Jade looked at him as if the very idea were an insult. "That idiot who says 'bro' every five seconds? He only came here because my friends have no standards."
Derrick tried a couple more names, but missed every single one.
"I give up. Who is it?"
"I thought you were going to guess," Jade replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "You know him very well."
Angela noticed that barely hidden amusement again. Something didn't add up. When her daughter dated someone, she didn't like sharing details, let alone playing guessing games.
"I have no idea," Derrick said. "If I knew him that well, I'd at least remember his name."
Jade didn't answer. She simply turned her head toward the television.
Derrick and Angela followed her gaze.
On the screen, the ESPN documentary was still paused. In the foreground was Andrew, helmet in hand, his forehead damp with sweat, walking across the field toward the locker room after the game.
Jade spoke, her tone lightly mocking. "Oh, look…" she said. "And you said you didn't know him, when you're watching a documentary about him."
There was silence.
Derrick stared at the screen. His eyes widened. He stood up from the couch almost in one motion, never taking his eyes off it.
He pointed at the TV. "Him?!" he asked, incredulous.
Then he turned abruptly to his daughter, still pointing. "With you?!"
"What?! This isn't a joke?!" he went on, words tumbling out fast.
Jade smiled slightly, satisfied with the reaction she'd gotten.
Angela looked at her and understood why her daughter had played the guessing game. Even so, she had to admit it, she was surprised too. Her daughter dating the boy many called the greatest high school quarterback of all time. The guy colleges were fighting over just to get him to take an official visit, like nothing ever seen before.
"Yes," Jade said, dropping the games. "Why would I lie? I already went out with him once. On Saturday."
Derrick remained frozen. "But… on Saturday you said you were going out with your friends," he stammered.
Jade rolled her eyes. "That was a lie, Dad," she replied. "Saying 'I'm going out with my friends' avoids pointless conversations like this."
Derrick opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, but nothing came out.
"He'll be here in five minutes. You can see him from the window," Jade said, as if to make it clear she wasn't lying.
She paused briefly, then added in a commanding tone, "But you're not going to greet him."
Derrick's shock shifted into something else, into a kind of indignation and anger.
"No," Derrick said suddenly. "Absolutely not."
"No, what?" Jade asked.
"You're not going out with Andrew Pritchett-Tucker!" Derrick blurted out, raising his voice more than he should have.
Jade looked at him, genuinely confused by her own emotional standards. She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? Do you have a problem with Andrew?"
"Of course not," Derrick said immediately. "The problem is you," he added, clearly stressing the last word.
"Wow," Jade replied. "Thanks for the clarification."
"Don't get me wrong. The main issue is the context and the timing," Derrick continued, pacing back and forth.
"UCLA's future is literally at stake," he said. "We're in the middle of the most important high school recruiting cycle I've seen in my career, probably in history. Do you know what happens if this goes wrong?"
Jade crossed her arms. "No."
"What if he decides not to go to UCLA because he dated a recruiter's daughter?" Derrick fired back. "What if things get awkward? Weird? Teenage-level awkward?"
The problem was the timing. Derrick didn't mind his daughter dating Andrew, in fact, under other circumstances, he'd be thrilled. And if it worked out, even better.
"Derrick," Angela cut in calmly before Jade could say something like that's not my problem. "Do you really think Andrew would give up UCLA just because of a few bad dates with a recruiter's daughter?"
"We're talking about one of the five colleges he chose for an official visit, the ones he's genuinely considering for his future," she added logically.
Derrick, who was about to keep talking, fell silent.
He thought about Andrew.
He knew him, probably better than most recruiters. He'd watched his games, his interviews, and his YouTube videos, where you could get to know him a bit more deeply. He wasn't the kind of impulsive teenager who would make a decision like that over something trivial. His mindset was focused elsewhere.
Derrick was sure that, for Andrew, his future came before almost everything else. A relationship that didn't work out wouldn't outweigh his career.
"You're right," Derrick finally murmured.
Angela smiled faintly, as if to say I always am.
"Also," Jade added, as casually as if she were talking about the weather, "I have tickets for Mater Dei's quarterfinal game at Santa Ana Stadium."
Derrick snapped his head up. "Y-you have tickets to Mater Dei vs. Los Alamitos?"
Jade nodded. "Andrew invited me. He got me three tickets in the center section, so I can go with whoever I want," she said. "And I thought of you two."
The change was immediate.
"That's awesome!" Derrick exclaimed, now completely enthusiastic.
He'd gone from disbelief, to indignation, and from there to happiness in less than five minutes.
Mater Dei was facing Los Alamitos High School in the section quarterfinals. This wasn't a small or improvised program. They had history, they were competitive, and between 1995 and 2008 they'd won two section titles.
The problem, or rather, the difference, was that they didn't dominate every year. Los Alamitos was a cyclical program: very high peaks followed by average or outright bad seasons.
Mater Dei, on the other hand, even before Andrew, had never stopped competing. Although they'd gone years without winning a section championship, they were always near the top: winning or sharing their league, going deep in the playoffs, quarterfinals or semifinals almost guaranteed, and consistently producing elite talent.
But that season, Los Alamitos was at one of its peaks. They were undefeated, league champions, and playing at a very high level. For a quarterfinal matchup, it was ideal.
And as had become customary, the game would be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Nothing like the previous year's matchup against Lakewood, a slightly weaker opponent that only received regional coverage.
"Three tickets in the center section?" Angela repeated, surprised. "That must have been expensive."
And she was right.
Under normal conditions, a high school quarterfinal game has modest prices: between $8 and $10 for adults, and $5 for students or children.
But Mater Dei with Andrew was no longer playing under normal conditions.
The games were broadcast nationally, with extremely high ratings for high school football. The hype had been building since the previous season, when records were broken and neutral-site stadiums were filled with 20,000, 30,000, and even 50,000 people. Every game had become an event.
The problem was the stadium.
Mater Dei's stadium only held 10,000 people, small, even by elite-school standards.
Demand exploded. Prices went up, and resale became common, even though the school tried to control it. Ticket prices ended up like this:
General admission: $25
Good seats: $40
Center section (premium): $55
Three center-section tickets were $165. Where had their daughter gotten that kind of money? And the hardest part wasn't paying for them, it was getting them.
"Yes, they're expensive," Jade said. "But they were a gift."
Angela frowned. "They need to be paid for," she said immediately.
She didn't like her daughter accepting gifts like that. And it seemed strange that Jade had done so, she'd always been proud about those things.
"Actually, the school gave them to him," Jade clarified. "He didn't pay anything. He said that if they're going to make that much money largely thanks to him, the least they can do is give him a few free tickets."
That was the only reason Jade accepted.
"That's great! A game at Santa Ana Stadium!" Derrick said, not caring in the slightest how his daughter had gotten the tickets.
That changed everything.
Even for him, as a recruiter, there was no preferential treatment when it came to getting tickets, especially not center-section ones. Having that proximity could open a much more natural line of communication with Andrew, without formal calls or professional excuses. All thanks to his daughter.
He looked at her and grabbed her by the shoulders with a huge smile.
"Don't you dare hug me," Jade warned.
"Get tickets to the semifinal and the final!" Derrick exclaimed, euphoric. "UCLA will recognize your contributions! They'll put up a plaque, or a statue… or something like that if Andrew ends up choosing us."
Angela shook her head, bringing a hand to her forehead.
"Easy, Lenny," Jade said irritably, slipping out of her father's grip.
Derrick let her go, but he was still keyed up. He knew he had to take advantage of that closeness. He didn't know how long it would last, but while it did…
"I thought you didn't like athletes," Angela commented. "You always say they have too much ego and don't know how to hold a conversation."
"And I still think that," Jade replied. "At least most of them. But not Andrew."
"Oh," Angela said, intrigued.
"Despite being the best at his sport, he doesn't talk like a walking advertisement for himself," Jade continued. "He knows how to listen. And he talks about things that aren't football. That already puts him above average, not just among athletes, but among most guys."
Angela smiled openly.
Jade noticed immediately. She clicked her tongue, annoyed with herself, aware that she'd said too much.
Derrick, on the other hand, was no longer fully listening. His mind had started racing, thinking about Friday's game, the opportunities, and how to handle everything carefully.
For once, fate seemed to be playing in UCLA's favor.
At that moment, Jade's phone buzzed.
She pulled it from her pocket and read the message silently for a few seconds. Angela watched her closely and noticed something strange: a brief, barely perceptible smile. It wasn't the ironic smile or the mocking smirk that usually accompanied her sharp remarks. It was different.
Jade put the phone away and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"He's here," she said. "I'll be back for dinner."
She gave no further explanation. She said goodbye with a quick gesture and left the living room toward the front door.
Derrick waited exactly two seconds. Then he stood up and tiptoed to the window. He pulled the curtain aside slightly and peeked out toward the front yard.
There he was.
The yellow Camaro parked in front of the house, and leaning against the side of the car, waiting, Andrew.
Derrick swallowed.
"It's him, its real…" he murmured. "She wasn't lying."
He watched his daughter step outside, meet Andrew, and exchange a few words that seemed to flow easily, though he didn't pay much attention to that.
"Andrew is literally standing in front of my house," he whispered.
How would his colleagues at UCLA, his boss, the head coach, and the rest, react if they found out?
Suddenly, Angela grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back. "Are you going to stop acting like a stalker?"
Derrick straightened up, cleared his throat, and adjusted his clothes. "I was just checking," he replied.
"Yeah, sure," Angela said as she closed the curtain.
Though before closing it completely, she also took a quick look and confirmed the obvious.
"Let's hope luck is on his side," Angela murmured.
Derrick looked at her. "For what?"
"To survive our daughter's personality on a full date," Angela replied with a half-smile, and Derrick nodded immediately. That seemed harder for Andrew than scoring five touchdowns.
"Although, if Jade said they already went out once, I suppose he can handle it," Angela added, and both of them went back to what they were doing, though every so often, they couldn't help but wonder how that date was going.
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