The next day, Friday, at lunch Juliet, who had come to school late the day before because of a dentist appointment, found Andy in the cafeteria. He was eating his lunch with two of his friends. His friends were engaged in conversation, hands going just as fast as their mouths.
"Hey," Juliet said, lightly resting her hand on Andy's shoulder. Andy jumped and gently pushed her hand off his shoulder, "you dropped this in the hall yesterday." She held out the notebook and he took it from her.
"Thank you. You. You. You." He mumbled. Then he yawned and covered his mouth with his sweater covered hand.
"Oh my gosh. You're so fucking cute!" Juliet gushed. Simultaneously she and Andy blushed red. "Sorry." And then she ran off.
"Who was that?" Jake asked, watching Juliet hurry out of the cafeteria.
"I think her name is Juliet." Jinxx said, picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. Andy was still red in the face as he picked at the dish of chicken and rice pilaf his mom had given him for lunch. He didn't like the rice. He thought she knew that. He didn't want to eat it. He couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. She'd called him cute. The bell rang, bringing him out of his thoughts. He shoved his uneaten lunch back into his lunch bag and stood up. He left the cafeteria.
"Hey, freak. Where are you going?" Justin asked. Andy shook his head in response. "That's not an answer." Justin grabbed Andy's arm as he tried to walk past. Andy hit him in the chest.
"Lemme go. Lemme go." He mumbled and tried to pull his arm out of Justin's grip.
"You hit me. That was a bad idea, freak." Andy's eyes were glassy with tears.
"Please. Please. Please. Please." Andy murmured. "Please."
"Please, please, please. What are you five? Grow up. You hit me, you pay the consequences." Andy went limp in Justin's grasp.
"Let him go Justin." Ronnie snapped.
"Get lost, Radke." Justin said.
"You and I both know I can take you. Now let him go."
"No." Ronnie rolled his eyes and brought his fist back. Before Ronnie's fist could connect with Justin's jaw Justin pulled Andy in front of him. Ronnie hit Andy. Justin let go of him and he crumpled to the floor.
"You fucker." Ronnie spat. He lunged at Justin and punched him hard. "Leave him alone or it'll be worse next time. C'mon kid. Let's go see the nurse." Ronnie grabbed Andy's arm and pulled him to his feet. Andy ripped his arm out Ronnie's grip and gingerly touched his bruising jaw. Tears were falling now. Ronnie didn't know what to do. "Please." Andy nodded and followed Ronnie down the hall. The bell rang and Andy flinched.
"And you say you don't like me." The nurse said when the two of them walked in.
"Not now, Jenna. Andy needs an ice pack. And I kinda do too." Jenna shook her head and stood up.
"Sit down. I'll be right back." Andy sat down  on bench inside the door and pulled his knees up to his chest. He crossed his arms on his knees and rested his head on them.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't mean to." Andy shrugged. "I'm Ronnie."
"Andy." A few minutes later Jenna came back with two ice packs.
"I could only find one towel so fight amongst yourselves. Not literally." She said as she handed the ice packs to Ronnie. Ronnie handed the one wrapped in a towel to Andy who pressed it against the slowly forming bruise on his jaw. He was still crying, but not as hard. "Do either of you want painkillers?" 
"No." Ronnie said. Andy shook his head.
"Then you boys should get to class." She offered them each a hall pass. Andy stood and offered Jenna the ice pack. "You don't have to give it back yet. You can keep it till later." He nodded, sat the ice pack on her desk and took the pass before leaving.

———

"Chris. . ." Amy sighed. They were standing in the kitchen looking out the window. Andy was sitting in the backyard, on a blanket, drawing. Harley sat by his feet.
"We can't keep putting it off."
"I know." She sighed. Chris rubbed her shoulder. "Alright. Let's tell him."
"Go sit. I'll get him." She nodded and sat down at the table. Chris opened the backdoor.
"Hey, kiddo. Can you come in for a minute?" Andy sighed and closed his notebook. He joined his parents at the table. Chris got wide eyed when he saw the bruise on Andy's jaw, but didn't say anything about it. Amy looked ready to cry. Chris took a deep breath.
"There's no easy way to say this." He rubbed his eyes.
"I-I-" Amy took a deep breath. "I have cancer." Andy stared at them in silence, taking in what she said. "And it's very ad-advanced. I start treatments on Monday." She wiped under her eyes and Chris wrapped his arm around her. Andy was quiet. For the first time in his life he wished that they had kept the secret from him. He didn't know what to say or do.

———

"Hey, I missed you last night." Juliet said as she walked into the kitchen and saw her mom.
"I had to work a double shift. I didn't get back till almost three." Juliet nodded. "How does Chinese sound? I'm still beat from yesterday and I don't imagine you want to cook."
"Chinese sounds great. Is Ange home?"
"Not yet."
"Huh. Well, I have some homework and I wanna get it down before supper. Don't forget my pepper chicken, please."
"Sure."  At six their supper arrived. Juliet was listening to music with her headphones on and didn't hear her mom calling her. Angie came upstairs and nearly gave Juliet a heart attack when she opened the bedroom door. Juliet pulled her headphones off.
"You scared the hell out of me." Juliet said.
"Supper's here."
"Oh." She paused her music and followed her sister down the stairs. The three of them sat at the table and ate straight from the cartons. "So, d'you remember that boy I told you about?"
"Mhm."
"The one you literally never stop talking about? Nope, don't know 'im." Angie said before trying to eat a forkful of noodles that she ended up dropping on the floor. Juliet ignored her sister.
"Apparently he's on the spectrum. Y'know, autistic. He's literally the cutest thing, though. He's got the bluest eyes." Juliet sighed happily as thoughts of Andy filled her head. "His name is Andy. Have I told you that yet? I can't remember."
"I don't think you did." Their mom said at the same time Angie said, "Unfortunately."
"So do you know anything about this boy other than the color of his eyes and the fact he's on the spectrum?" Their mom asked.
"He likes Alkaline Trio and he likes to doodle. His history notebook had more doodles than notes. And he likes Batman." Their mom nodded and offered them each an egg roll.
"I'm going shopping tomorrow so if you can think of anything I need to add to my list now would be a good time to tell me."
"Blueberries." Juliet said.
"Mouthwash." Angie added.
"Sure."
"Oh! I almost forgot. They're starting auditions for the school play and I think I'm gonna do it."
"Yeah?" Juliet nodded, "I didn't know you were into that stuff."
"I'm not really. But I thought it might be fun to try something outside of my comfort zone. Plus Kate is trying out and Alice is hoping to do hair or makeup or something."
"What's the play?" Angie asked.
"Uh, I think it's Much Ado About Nothing. By Shakespeare."
"Oh. I know that one." Their mom said. Angie and their mom kept talking, but Juliet got lost in thoughts of Andy and the school play.

Would y'all be interested in a spin off about Remington, Emerson and Sebastian? I think it would mostly focus on Remington and Monica(because they're adorable). Idk. It's just an idea I'm throwing around. Give me your thoughts.

Avery L.