Chapter VI

"Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time."

-Jim Rohn

It had been three weeks since Andrea had moved to Points Brooke. Nothing overly exciting was happening, except for maybe the fact that everyone was slowly accepting her more. She didn't get as many death glares. That is, unless they were from Carmilla and her followers. Even when she wasn't standing by Mitchel, Carmilla wanted to stab her with knife.

Andrea had become more self-assured as well. One time, when Carmilla was telling her to back off of Mitchel, Andrea had snapped back at her. She had told her that she'd never do that. Carmilla simply said she'd then have to take care of her, so Andrea told him that if it came to that, she'd stab her with a blunt, rusty knife. If she didn't die from the wound, she'd get tetanus.

It was now in the middle of November. She was rocking her red sweater with her black skinny jeans and black knee high boots. She wore a silver necklace with a key pendant hanging on it. Her hair was pulled into a French braid and she felt like she looked good.

Today, Fai had suggested they all hang out at one of their houses, so Andrea invited them all to hers. She had been harping Caleb and her parents since last night to get it presentable. She had forgiven her parents, though Caleb was still a bit sour, considering he had just gotten a girlfriend.

Andrea walked downstairs, the smell of her mother's famous pumpkin pie filling the house. She inhaled deeply before sighing happily. Caleb walked past her frozen spot on the stairs. "Come on, don't just stand there." He grumbled as he hurried downstairs.

Andrea smiled sweetly at him before walking the rest of the way. She looked around to see if there was anything that needed cleaning. Her father tutted. "Andrea, everything is good."

"Of course." Andrea said, scanning the room as she said it.

That's when there was a knock on the door. Andrea stiffened slightly, but relaxed. She walked over to the door and opened it to show Estal standing there. His blue eyes looked around the front room. "Hey, am I early?"

"A bit!" Caleb called form the other room.

Andrea's head snapped to his direction, but couldn't see him due to the walls blocking her view. She plastered a smile onto her face as she turned back to him. "Come on in!"

Estal walked into the house. He followed the smell of the pie and made his way into the kitchen. Andrea was about to follow him when the doorbell rang. When she opened it, Leyna and Michal stood there. "Hey!" Leyna said, smiling.

Andrea pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for coming."

"You're making this seem like a party for people who haven't seen each other in a while." Michal said, his mouth twisted into a smirk.

Andrea sighed sarcastically. "Fine then, guess you can't come in."

Michal's face fell. He must have taken it seriously. "W-wait! I was kidding!"

"So was Andrea." Leyna said as she lightly shoved him.

Michal stared at her blankly for a second. Then, he burst into laughter as he made his way inside. "So was I. You know, when I said I was kidding."

"Sure..." Andrea said as she smacked him lightly on the arm. Leyna laughed as she made her way inside.

"Estal is already inside the kitchen." Andrea said as Leyna and Michal made their way into the kitchen.

Andrea shut the door and walked into the kitchen. She sat at the island. Leyna and Michal were introducing themselves while Estal watched the pie longingly as it baked.

Her mother chuckled. "Don't worry, it'll be done soon."

Estal smiled at her. "Of course."

Someone knocked on the door. Andrea exhaled after jumping. Michal cracked up laughing when she jumped, which only got him a death glare. Andrea walked over to the door and opened it to see Fai, Zoe, Charlotte, and Troy standing there. Troy wagged his eyebrows when he saw her. "Nice outfit, Andrea! Smokin' hot!"

Andrea rolled her eyes as she invited them in. Zoe smiled at her, Fai crushed her in a hug, and Charlotte gave her a simple 'hello'. Andrea showed them into the kitchen and then introduced them to her parents. Troy stood by Estal as he watched the pie. Zoe sat down on the couch and began talking with Caleb and her father. Fai began talking to her mother about the pie and how she made it, while Charlotte joined Leyna and Michal's conversation.

The doorbell rang through the house once more, so Andrea went to go get it. She opened the door to see Aristide and Mitchel standing there. Aristide smiled at her. "Hey, we aren't too late, right?"

"You are the last ones, but you so happen to be the only ones who got here on time!" She hummed.

Mitchel laughed as he pulled her into a hug. "It's good to see you, squirt."

Andrea smiled at the nickname Mitchel sometimes called her. "It's good to see you too, Mitchel."

"Still thinking of a good nickname?"

"It's pretty tough, you know."

Mitchel smiled before he rubbed her back and let go. He made his way into the kitchen living room area, Aristide following him. Andrea smiled as she followed the pair.

****

It had been three hours since they arrived, and they were all sitting in the game room. Mitchel, Troy, Michal, and Aristide were playing Mario Kart. Troy was screaming profanities at Michal once a blue shell hit him, while Aristide was yelling at Mitchel to stop being so good.

Leyna was longing to pick up a controller, and even Andrea felt the pull. She wasn't good at most video games, but she was a master at Mario Kart. Fai and Charlotte hung back, talking about nail polish, or something along those lines. Zoe was watching the boys play the game, but she was dozing off. Estal was busy fiddling with the leaf of one of her mom's plants.

As the game went on, the doorbell rang. Everyone turned to Andrea, who was just as confused as them. She got up and walked over to the door. When she opened it, she saw Jacob standing there.

"J-Jacob?"

"The one and only." Jacob said as he straightened the snap back on his head.

Andrea chuckled as she pulled it off of him. "Come on inside, I guess."

When Jacob walked in, a few of the boys clenched their fists while the girls watched his every movement.

"Is something the matter?" Jacob asked as he plopped down into the beanbag Andrea had been sitting in.

"Nope." Troy muttered, popping his 'p'.

Andrea exhaled. The tension in the room was through the roof.

The boys unpaused their game and continued playing, but the remarks had vanished. Fai and Charlotte were whispering quietly to one another while Estal, Zoe, and Leyna watched Jacob. Andrea sat down next to Mitchel and watched them play.

About twenty minutes of silence later, Andrea began to get annoyed. She stood up and shut the Wii off, earning groans from the boys. "Alright, what is wrong with all of you?"

"What do you mean?" Michal asked, casting a sideways glance at Jacob.

"Do you really think I'm that dumb?"

"No one thinks you're dumb." Jacob purred.

"I have noticed the way you all act around each other. Why?"

"It's...complicated." Aristide said as he looked at the ground, unable to meet her gaze.

"Look," Jacob said, "I'll just leave, alright?"

Jacob walked to the front door and walked out. Andrea glared at her friends. "See what you did?" She called as she ran to the door, throwing it open. Jacob was on the porch.

"I forgot my hat." He murmured.

Andrea touched the hat on her head. "Sorry about them, they shouldn't have acted like-"

Andrea was quieted as Jacob pressed his lips to hers. For a second, she was shocked, but then she responded to him. She was still limp in his arms, but she attempted to participate in this kiss as much as she could. She tried what she had learned in romance books. Just move the lips against theirs, and it's a kiss.

When Jacob pulled away, he touched his hat. "You look good in that hat."

Andrea was still speechless. Jacob smiled. "You're good. How many?"

"That was my first." She said, breathless.

Jacob smiled. "Well, we should make your second, third, so on, right?"

Andrea smiled. "Of course."

And with that, Jacob pressed his lips to hers once more.

****

WHOO! First part is completed! What do you all think? Were you expecting this? Huh?

Anyways, I just typed three chapters in a day. I think I'll update on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Mondays, what do you think about that?

*Sigh* alright, that's it for now.

See you all in the second part!

-Paige