Andi walked in with a smile on her face as if she had just climbed to the top of the sky and was floating in the clouds; the butterflies continued to flutter in her stomach and her cheeks were rosier than a cherry tomato.
Billy Batson had proven himself to be everything Jonah Beck wasn't; he was caring, chivalrous, sweet, made her laugh and worried about her well-being, besides he was somewhat shy and that made him even cuter.
Andi hadn't felt this way about anyone except Jonah but it only got worse when he was dating Amber and later made it clear to Andi that he was against labels, which confirmed that the guy wasn't ready for a relationship.
The second guy she felt an attraction to was Walker; who was the caricature boy at Cyrus's Bar-Mitzvah, they both spent time together, took photos and even danced; Even when they said goodbye, Walker gave Andi a souvenir in exchange for her returning the drawing, but it was never something serious.
and Now...there was Billy Batson, the new kid from Philadelphia, who surprisingly looked exactly like Jonah; one would think that it was a joke in bad taste and that Jonah could be in two places at once or even play with Andi's feelings; however, Billy proved to be a great guy and accidentally proved to be the one for Andi.
"That kiss was nice" Bex said speaking behind Andi, who turned around to find her mom wearing the blue sweatshirt with Cyrus's smiley face on it, pants and socks and her hair hanging down over her shoulders, giving her a softer look "so...would you like to tell me about your date with Billy?"
"Jeez mom, you scared me" Andi put her hand to her chest.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Bex apologized. "It's just that I couldn't help but watch you guys through the window and it was the most adorable thing I've ever seen."
"Wait, did you see Billy kissing me?" Andi was confused and flicked a strand of her hair behind her ear before responding nervously. "um...it was just a harmless peck on the cheek"
"Well, that harmless peck made you blush more than a tomato sweetie," Bex said with a smirk. "Thing that had never happened to you with any boy, not even with Jonah and I like him"
"Billy is...different Bex" Andi said, flopping down on the couch in front of her mom and sighed. "He may be Jonah's identical twin but...he has a certain charm; he is sweet and cute and it makes me smile and when our hands touched and he kissed my cheek, I swear thousands of butterflies fluttered non-stop in my stomach."
"ooh, someone already has a crush on cute Billy Batson" Bex said in a sing-song voice..
"Of course not" Andi tried to act casual and then looked at her mom with wide eyes. "Is that so obvious?"
"It's clear that Billy makes you happy and I haven't met him yet but I'm sure he's a great guy" Bex assured her with a smile.
"Well, you practically saw him at the clothing store today," Andi reminded her. "when you greeted him thinking it was Jonah"
"How was I supposed to know that Jonah Beck, your past love interest, is the twin of your current love interest?" Bex asked. "Give me some credit."
"I didn't really know Jonah had a twin," Andi confessed. "When Billy came up to me that day, asked if I was okay and put his hand on my shoulder, I could have sworn it was Jonah until he told me his name and I noticed that he was different because of his personality"
"I know I saw him at the store this afternoon but I'd really like to meet him," Bex said. "And give him my approval to date you, preferably Bowie too so it's more formal."
"Mom, Billy and I are not dating yet," Andi told her. "We're starting to get to know each other and yes he's super cute and I really like him but..."
"Life is full of surprises, Andiman," Bex told her daughter. "When love knocks on your door, don't let it go, especially when it comes to Billy"
"I still have things to work out in my life," Andi told her mother. "Jonah is after me and makes it more complicated, Walker and I had a good time together at Cyrus's Bar-Mitzvah but he hasn't called me back, the only thing that he left me was a souvenir and Billy, I really want to see him again."
Why don't you start with a call?" Bex suggested.
"A call?" Andi asked and saw that an unknown phone was calling her. "Could it be him?"
"There's only one way to find out," Bex told her.
"I'll go to my room" Andi replied, jumping to her feet and going to her room to answer the call.
She hit the green phone icon and answered.
"Hello?" Andy asked.
"Hey Andi" Billy appeared in the camera on the other side, he was in his room wearing a red sweatshirt, he smiled sweetly. "It's Billy, I hope you don't mind if I call you, Mary gave me your phone number"
"Billy!" Andi exclaims happily. "hi, considering we just said our goodbyes a few minutes ago. How did you get home so fast?
"It's not that far, I'm four blocks from your house" said Billy with a smirk.
Really?" Andy smiled. "wow, we're practically neighbors"
"Almost," Billy agreed. "Listen Andi, the reason I called you was to make sure you got home safely"
"In theory you walked me to the door so... I did get there okay" Andi commented. "I'm already in my room and...Bex saw us when you kissed my cheek"
"She did?" asked Billy. "oh man" he blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't mean to, I was just...trying to say goodnight" he gave her a nervous smile. "I don't know what's wrong with me"
"It's okay, you're cute when you get nervous," Andi said, smiling at him. "The truth is...I had a great time today"
"Me too," agreed Billy. "Well, I'd better let you sleep, Victor and Rosa are calling me for dinner and my siblings are already waiting for me in the dining room. I'll see you tomorrow at school"
"Yeah sure, see you tomorrow" Andi nodded with a smile. "sweet dreams"
"If you feel like leaving, I'm not gonna make you stay, but soon you will find me, you can run you can hide but you can't escape my love" Billy sang softly, Andi was surprised at Billy's singing voice, it's the first time she heard him sing and he has the most beautiful voice ever, it was charming. "Sweet dreams beautiful" he said in a flirty tone and ended the call. What the heck just happened?
After ending the video call with Billy, Andi returned to the room with Bex, who was waiting for her with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"Well?" Bex asked. "How did it go?"
"Surprisingly pretty good," Andi answered with a blush. "I've never had a guy flirt with me before"
"And what about that cute caricature guy that you met at Cyrus's Bar-Mitzvah?" Bex wanted to know. "What was his name? Walter?"
"Walker," Andi replied. "and yes he's nice and we had a great time together but... I don't know if saying he wanted to see me again counts as flirting"
"What are you talking about?" Bex asked. "it's clear that the boy is interested in you"
"I don't know, I'd be lying if I don't feel good with Walker, but the truth is that he hasn't come back to look for me and today I was with Billy..." Andi sighed. "he was amazing, and he flirted with me twice, called me beautiful, kissed my cheek and sang to me"
"Hold on a second little lady, Did Billy dedicate a song to you?" Bex was surprised. "Wow...learn from your twin Jonah" she whispered to herself.
"What?" Andi was confused.
"Nothing sweetie," Bex said. "Anyway, what was the song that Romeo dedicated to you, dear Juliet? Maybe we can look it up"
"I don't know the name of the artist, I was just saying that I couldn't escape his love" Andi replied, Bex hummed the song and nodded.
"I know what it is" Bex said and looked at the smart speaker. "Alexa, play "Escape" by Enrique Iglesias"
"Of course Bex" Alexa answered. "is now playing Escape by Enrique Iglesias, on Amazon Music"
In a matter of seconds, Escape by Enrique Iglesias began to play through the speakers, Bex immediately took her daughter's hands and both danced happily throughout the room, having a great time together.
The next morning, Andi was walking to school with a big smile on her face for the incredible day she spent with Billy where they both got to know each other better and shared interests. The girl was walking while daydreaming when she didn't realize that a voice called her.
"Yo Andi!" Mary greeted her walking behind her.
"Mary, hi" Andi said, turning around and finding the pretty girl with long brown hair who was Billy's foster older sister. "How is everything?"
"Well, I hope it's not a problem," Mary said, walking next to her. "I'm starving and I was thinking about going to have some breakfast before going to school, maybe... Do you want to come with me and we can have breakfast together?"
Sure, I know a place," Andi said as they both walked towards the Spoon. "By the way, thanks for giving Billy my phone, I had a great time with him."
"Anytime, my brother had a huge smile on his face when he got home," said Mary. "He had never smiled like that since he accepted us as his true family. And I want to thank you Andi for making Billy so happy"
"He's sweet and kind, and he's also a ray of sunshine," said Andi, smiling. "I think he makes me happy"
And I think he likes you too" said Mary, smiling.
"Stop it" Andi said blushing. "Okay I admit it, his dimples are adorable"
"He didn't stop talking about you the whole dinner," Mary points out. "And he thanked me for giving him your number, I hope you don't mind"
"Not at all" Andi said and they both stopped in front of the cafeteria. "We're here, Mary...this is The Spoon"
"Nice place" Mary said and then she watched carefully as Jonah was at The Spoon and approaching the counter. "Isn't that Jonah?"
"Yeah, that's him," Andi said and looked at her friend. "How could you tell the difference?"
"Simple, Billy has a backpack with a tiger on it and Jonah doesn't" Mary said and they both watched Jonah talking to a blonde girl dressed as a waitress. "Who is she?"
"Amber," Andi explained. "His ex-girlfriend, they dated when Jonah and I met. That's why she became an obstacle"
"Oh, she's the famous Amber," Mary said suspiciously.
"As you can tell, she's very pretty," Andi said. "Amber is the classic stereotype of the blonde girl with blue eyes, who is cool and popular"
"You are so much prettier and cooler than Amber," Mary said. "Billy wouldn't be with you if he didn't believe it"
Billy and I are not boyfriend and girlfriend," Andi said.
"Yet" Mary assured her. "But it won't be long for that to happen"
"We're just getting to know each other," Andi reminded her.
"Sure, that means a first date, walking you home, flirting with you, dedicating a song to you, asking for your number and giving you a kiss" Mary chided. "If that counts as getting to know each other... I think my brother is trying to court you."
"Mary, this isn't the 19th century where I'm courted by a boy and chaperoned for walks," Andi told her.
"No, the courtship is different because this is the twenty-first century girlfriend" replied Mary and her smile faded from her face when she saw Jonah approach Amber, take her by the waist and kiss her on the lips. "Oh my God"
Andi stopped smiling and also saw the same thing as Mary, her eyes filled with tears and her heart broke into a thousand pieces.
"That jerk!" Mary was furious. "How could he do this?"
"I'm not hungry anymore," Andi said, starting to cry. "Mary please get me out of here"
"Come on Kiddo" Mary wrapped her arms around her friend. "let's go"
Mary and Andi turned and walked away from the diner, not realizing that Jonah had been watching them, but not before Amber pushed him away from her with a strong shove.
"What's wrong with you? Why did you kiss me?" Amber was outraged. "You and I are nothing anymore Jonah. I remind you that you broke up with me"
"I'm sorry I...just trying to make Andi jealous" Jonah said. "Lately she's been avoiding me and...I want her back"
"I don't know what you've done to her but if she doesn't want to be with you anymore it's for something" Amber told him upset. "but using me to get closer to her is wrong, you're making things worse"
I'm sorry, I don't know what else to do," Jonah wailed. "She just refuses to talk to me."
"I think it's best if you don't come here for a while" Amber told him.
"What?" Jonah was in shock.
"I need space Jonah," Amber told him. "It was painful that you broke up with me and then you used me as bait to make Andi jealous; at least not now. Try to understand it" she took her note and her pen to continue pacing. "excuse me, I have to serve customers"
Jonah blew out a sad sigh, before slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking out of the cafeteria toward school, determined to explain things to Andi and get her to give him another chance.
To comfort Andi, Mary bought her a giant chocolate muffin and cinnamon apple tea for breakfast, they both entered school together, but by then Andi was calmer.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that" Mary said as they both walked down the halls. "Jonah Beck was an idiot"
"Forget it" Andi said. "I don't want to think about it anymore, thanks for breakfast"
"I couldn't let you starve to death" Mary told her making Andi laugh. "you are welcome"
"Andi!" Buffy and Cyrus ran up to her, they saw that she was talking to a very pretty teenager with brown hair.
"Hey guys" Andi greeted them like it was nothing.
"Where have you been?" Cyrus told her. "You had us worried, we haven't seen you since the last class"
"I'm fine," Andi replied, skipping over the unpleasant moment she witnessed when Jonah kissed Amber. "Yesterday I went to The Spoon and...I was with Billy"
"The new guy?" Cyrus said and then smiled. "I'm glad you decided to change your mind"
"He's amazing" Andi smiled and remembered that she had company. "Oh by the way, this is Mary Bromfield," she added, introducing her friend. "she's a senior and she's Billy's older sister; Mary...this are my best friends: Cyrus Goodman and Buffy Driscoll"
"Hello Mary," Buffy greeted, shaking her hand. "Are you Billy Batson's sister?" She asked strangely. "you don't look like him"
"Oh, it's because he's not my biological brother," Mary explained. "We live in a foster home and we are all foster siblings" immediately after, she smiled shyly. "I'm so sorry, where are my manners? Nice to meet you Buffy and Cyrus, Andi has told me a lot about you."
"She did?" Cyrus said, surprised.
"Of course," smiled Mary. "Buffy's on the basketball team and she's nicknamed 'The Slayer' and you recently had your Bar-Mitzvah a few weeks ago, plus...you want to be a movie director if I'm not mistaken.
"That's correct," Cyrus said smiling. "I hope the web series turns out better this time" he looked at the ground sadly. "the script I showed Bex and her boss didn't work out, they thought it was awful"
"It's okay, practice makes perfect" Buffy told Cyurs placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yep. Even scientists tend to fail in their experiments" Mary pointed out and Andi nodded agreeing.
"You know what? I think Mary should join The Good Hair Crew" Cyrus said with an optimistic smile.
"It would be pretty cool" Buffy agrees. "Even Cyurs made personal T-shirts with the name on it"
"Really?" Mary says with a surprised smile, the four of them walking down the hallway and talking casually.
"Yeah, but only if you want to" Andi responded.
"Sure, why not?" Mary says, smiling. "It would be fun. I'm in"
"We just need to do the initiation ritual to make it official" Cyrus commented with a smirk.
"Initiation ritual?" Mary asked somewhat worried.
"Relax Mary, it's not what you think; it's actually quite funny" Buffy continued.
"Guys, I don't think we need to scare Mary yet" Andi told her friends. "we'd better do the initiation when she's ready"
"It's a deal" Cyrus said shaking hands with Mary.
From afar, Jonah spots Andi talking to Cyurs, Mary and Buffy, so he decides to confront Andi once and for all and demand an explanation as to why she was avoiding him.
"Andi" Jonah says, walking towards her and looking at her with sad eyes. "Can we talk please?"
"Guys I'm sorry I have to go" Andi said seeing Jonah approaching her and turned to walk away.
"Andi wait!" Jonah ran after her. "You can't avoid me forever; stop running from me!" Andi decided to ignore him and continued running. "Andi stop!"
"Leave me alone Jonah" Andi says angrily. "I don't want to talk to you. Stay away from me!"
"No! Why are you shutting me out?!" Jonah started to feel frustrated, the two teenagers stopped at the cafeteria as Jonah grabbed Andi by the arm to stop her. "Why are you avoiding me? You haven't talked to me since Cyrus's party? ever since I told you I don't like labels you refuse to just talk to me; May I know what I did to you?!"
You're not interested in me but you'd rather be with Amber after how mean she was to you?" Andi said indignantly. "You're a hypocrite, you know that? You say you don't want anything serious and when I see you you're making out with your ex-girlfriend"
"Did you see that?" Jonah asked in shock.
"Just...walk away" Andi told him, pulling away from him. "For good this time"
"Is that what you really want?" Jonah said hurt. "I thought you wanted us to be together."
Not anymore" Andi said. "I hope you're happy with Amber, you both deserve each other"
"Andi, I want to be with you" Jonah told her, taking her hands in his. "Please don't do this"
"Leave me alone" Andi told him pulling away and walking away again.
"Why do you always reject me?!" Jonah yelled at her back and walking behind her; neither of them realized they were drawing an audience. "I can't keep doing this anymore Andi"
"You were very clear when you said you didn't want to be with me" Andi told him. "So respect my decision, I don't want to be with you anymore; your kiss with Amber this morning proves otherwise. You're looking for a way to hurt me and I'm sick of it"
"I was wrong, okay?!" Jonah yelled at her. "Do you want me to tell you that the kiss with Amber was a mistake? Because it was a mistake! Andi please listen to me" Andi's eyes filled with tears.
"No! I don't want to listen to you anymore Jonah Beck. It's over!" Andi yelled at him.
"You're breaking up with me?!" Jonah asked sadly.
"I never broke up with you when we never dated in the first place" Andi told him.
"Then this will make you change your mind," Jonah told her determinedly and took Andi into his arms.
"Wait, what do you think you're doing? No!" Andi screamed, but Jonah crushed his mouth against hers in a passionate kiss, and Andi tried to push him away but he circled her like a snake around its prey.
Andi thought about kissing him back, but after remembering that he hurt her by breaking her heart, she pushed him away with all her might, slapping him hard across the face.
Jonah touched his cheek and looked at Andi in shock.
"I never want to see you again" Andi told him and ran off in tears.
"What did you do to her, Jonah?!" Buffy told Jonah furiously.
"Sorry, I have to go," Jonah said and went to the nursery for a compress for his sore cheek.
The whole school was in shock over the scene straight out of a soap opera, Andi Mack had slapped Jonah Beck. Andi Mack had slapped Jonah Beck! no one could believe it, he forcefully kissed her and she slapped him after pushing him away. Even Pedro, Mary and Freddy had witnessed it and their mouths were open like fish.
"Hey guys," Billy said, walking up to them. "I just got out of biology class, did I miss something?"
"Dude, Andi just slapped your twin across the face" Freddy told him.
"What?" Billy was in shock. "When did that happen?"
"Ten minutes ago," said Pedro. "But she pushed him away and ran away"
"Poor Andi, she looked devastated" said Mary. "I'll go see if she's okay" she turned to go after her friend but Billy stopped her by the arm.
"No, I'll go" Billy told his sister. "thanks anyway, but I know how to make her feel better"
"Okay, we got it Romeo" said Freddy joking.
"Very funny" Billy said to his brother rolling his eyes and he went after Andi, she had entered the empty auditorium, sitting in one of the seats and crying. "Andi, are you alright?"
I'll be fine" Andi said, wiping away her tears. "please go"
"I'm not going to leave you alone," Billy said, walking down the stairs of the auditorium and walking through the seats to sit next to Andi. "I know you're not okay, you can fool anyone but not me"
"Please tell me you're Billy" Andi squeezed her eyes shut and then opened her eyes. "I swear if you're Jonah..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial of pepper spray. "I'm not afraid to use this"
"Don't shoot, I swear I'm Billy" Billy told her, raising his hands in surrender and then looking at her intently.. "It's me Andi, you have to believe me. Just look at my backpack" he took the backpack off his shoulder and showed her the drawing in front of him. "See? It has a tiger on it, and I have something else" he took out his phone and dialed a number. "answer"
"Hello?" Andi answered and looked at Billy. "It's you" she sighed in relief.
"I told you so" Billy hung up and put his phone back in his backpack. "I know I look just like him and I don't understand why, but I promise I won't hurt you"
"At least you have good intentions," Andi said. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to see me cry"
"It's fine," Billy said. "Do you want to...talk about it?"
"Which part? The part where Jonah refuses to leave me alone? The part where he kisses Amber to rub my face in or the part where he forcefully kisses me? Because I really don't want to talk about it."
"I think you already did," Billy told the girl. "If you want to vent your frustration, I'm willing to listen and I won't judge, I promise"
"I've never felt so humiliated in my life." Andi felt more tears spilling down her cheeks. "It was humiliating, Billy; I've had enough"
"Come here" Billy opened his arms and Andi collapsed on his chest crying, he didn't say anything and just held her. "It's okay sweet girl, I won't let him or anyone else to hurt you again. I'm going to protect you" he gives her a sweet smile and wipes her tears. "No more tears, okay? you're too beautiful to cry"
"Why are you so nice to me?" Andi looks at Billy tearfully.
Because you're amazing Andi Mack" Billy told her. "You're a sweet, beautiful, very smart, wonderful girl and I really like you; I really enjoyed spending time with you yesterday and getting to know you better. And if it's okay, I want to spend more time with you"
"You like me?" Andi was surprised. "of course, well...we are friends"
I guess I didn't explain myself well" Billy said, looking at Andi and stroking her hair. "Andi, I like you as a boyfriend to his girlfriend. I don't like you just as a friend"
"I really like you too, Billy Batson," Andi told him. "but I prefer if we go slowly, I don't want to rush this"
"Relax, there's no rush" Billy told her. "We can continue spending time together and when you're ready and I'm ready, we can become a couple"
I like that idea" Andi said with a nod and a small smile. "Billy, would you like to come to eat with my grandparents and me today? I can show you my shack"
"Sure," Billy said, smiling. "sounds awesome, you can show me the things you do with crafts"
"They're not much of a deal," Andi said with a shrug.
"If they come from you, they're pretty cool," Billy told her. "we can go together after school"
"Classes" Andi said and they both heard the bell ring. "I forgot I have to go to English class, I'll see you later"
"And I have math class," Billy said, getting up from his seat and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"Thanks for listening to me," Andi told him. "I definitely feel better now"
"You're welcome, it's a gift" Billy said, showing her his dimples.
"Why do you have to be so cute?" Andi told him and walked out of the auditorium, leaving Billy in shock and deep in thought, but smiling.
Songs in the chapter:
Escape by Enrique Iglesias (during the scene where Andi and Bex are dancing happily in the living room)
*Unreleased songs: Escape by Enrique Iglesias sung by Billy (Asher Angel) to Andi (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) during the video call.