The party turned out to be much more entertaining than Andrew had expected. In an atmosphere like that, the music, laughter, and collective euphoria could energize anyone, even after a long, exhausting day. Besides, the joy of winning the title was still in the air.

Between jokes and bursts of laughter, he chatted with Nick, Victor, and the rest of his teammates. Later, he ran into Kevin and several defensive players, who were already speculating about their next opponent in the sectional playoffs.

They had a week off. There would be no game the following Friday since it was time for the official announcements and bracket releases.

The bracket is the elimination chart of the playoff tournament, in this case, the Southern Section playoffs.

As Trinity League champions, Mater Dei was seeded at the top of the bracket. That meant two clear advantages:

1. Facing in the first round a team that had finished third or fourth in its league, still within Division I.

2. Playing at home.

The possible rival leagues were the Moore League, Sunset League, and Serra League. Andrew remembered that in the latter played Notre Dame, the school where he had almost ended up, and where Steve played.

From his last conversation with Steve, Andrew knew that Notre Dame was second in their league, so the chances of meeting them early on weren't very high.

The debate sparked quickly: some, like Thomas, spoke with seriousness and caution; others, however, took it lightly, convinced that the first playoff game would be easy, a mere formality.

"Seriously? Against a third or fourth seed?" said Victor, incredulous at how serious Thomas and Kevin were being. "Come on, we're champions of the toughest league in the country. Servite, Bosco, Orange... any of them would be first in those minor leagues."

Of course, when Victor said "minor leagues," he didn't mean it literally. The Moore, Sunset, or Serra leagues were far from weak. In fact, their champions were often elite programs: Long Beach Poly, Los Alamitos, Edison, Notre Dame, all schools with tradition, talent, and players who even made it to the NFL.

What Victor meant was that the third- or fourth-place teams from those leagues didn't compare to facing Servite, Bosco, or Orange Lutheran week after week in the Trinity. In perspective, that first playoff matchup did look much more manageable.

Many nodded in agreement. On top of that, they would be playing at home, with Andrew locked in and in full GOAT mode. Even the most cautious ones didn't really believe that game could be lost.

Andrew, however, wasn't the type to get overconfident. He knew that in football, any lapse in focus could cost dearly. But he wasn't the kind to keep repeating the "don't get cocky" speech either, to the point of sounding paranoid or like a buzzkill. That night, he wasn't going to be the wise, serious leader. They were at a party, and he was too tired of saying the same thing all the time.

"Hey! Did you guys hear!?"

Everyone turned their heads toward a kid who had only been on the team for a few months. He was a freshman, a backup wide receiver, still in the learning phase.

"What is it?" Andrew asked, curious.

The guy, recognizing his voice, looked up from his phone and got nervous, he suddenly had the entire group of starters looking at him, including Andrew. His news had actually been meant for the friend rookie next to him. He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself.

"Uh… Bosco lost to Orange. Twenty-seven to seventeen. They finished fourth. Orange ended up third."

Most of them widened their eyes in surprise, others had already heard the rumor. Andrew raised his eyebrows, he had no idea. Between lifting the trophy, the interview, the family dinner, and coming to the party, he hadn't had time to check how the standings had closed, other than knowing they were champions and Servite had finished second.

"They couldn't recover," Nick said, shaking his head.

"Normal…" added Sedric in a grave tone. "It's not easy when the opposing quarterback drops seven touchdowns on you in your own house, and the whole country sees it."

"The most-watched high school game in history," another one chimed in with a short laugh. "Great for us, but for them? A nightmare."

If Bosco had at least lost to Mater Dei by a closer margin, it might have been remembered as an honorable defeat. Being part of the most-watched game in the history of high school football could've even been a point of pride.

But it wasn't. Instead of falling with dignity, they were demolished on their own field, under the eyes of more than a million viewers on ESPN. That wound, that stain, was something that would probably haunt them for a long time.

"A shame," Andrew said, shaking his head. "Bosco was having a good season."

They had started 2–0, then lost a nail-biter to Servite. Against Mater Dei, though, there were no excuses, they'd gone down by more than twenty points. Still, Andrew believed Bosco had the talent to beat Orange.

"And here's their executioner, feeling sorry for them," said Victor with a grin, drawing laughter from the group.

Andrew smiled faintly. "Well, one of the most important things is mentality, being able to get back up after a stumble. But I guess this one was too big."

"Says the guy who's never lost, right?" Sedric teased, raising his plastic cup with an arched brow.

Andrew fell silent for a few seconds. His real answer was different: he had lost, but in his first life. He had learned from those defeats, even tasted them. They were few, but they had left their mark.

Here, however, he had never been beaten on the field. Except for that friendly back at Palisades, where he didn't even play, he just sat on the bench. Did that count as a loss?

Probably not.

For Andrew, losing in high school would almost feel like an insult to himself. In his past life, when he'd died at sixteen, he'd already been among the elite in Texas, a five-star QB who led his team to league, regional, and state championships in his junior year. And now, in this new life, he carried eleven years of training experience since he was five, in a superior body, with better physical and technical tools.

No one else knew it, but to him it was simple: he couldn't allow himself to lose. Not against high school guys.

It was a silent pact with himself, a relentless standard that pushed him to stay at the very top, always, no excuses.

"Well… my point is that you have to work on your mindset, so when defeat comes, it doesn't break you," Andrew finally said.

The group kept talking football. They wondered how much viewership the Servite game had drawn, if it had surpassed Bosco's, and whether it had become the most-watched high school game ever. Some even speculated if ESPN would broadcast their playoff games nationwide again.

Eventually, they decided to step out of the football bubble and drop the topic. The music demanded something else.

They started having fun with party games: beer pong, though Andrew opted for a soda version, which only led to more teasing at his expense. Meanwhile, he noticed Leonard and Howard, who had already met up with the two girls.

Howard seemed to be making progress with Alison, while Leonard, who had originally agreed to help out, looked like he was genuinely enjoying the company of the parasite friend, as Howard had dubbed her.

Luckily for Leonard, he actually liked her, so things seemed to be going well for him too.

Andrew also spotted Haley, though finding her among so many people wasn't easy. But he did, eventually. She was chatting with a guy wearing a cap.

'Seriously? A cap indoors?' he thought, amused.

He watched her for a moment, just to see if she was keeping her promise not to drink, and she was.

Surrounded by his football teammates, Andrew didn't have to worry about people crowding him for photos or autographs. His teammates were a natural shield, and besides, in the dim lighting and pounding music, no one was exactly in the mood to ask for selfies or signatures. And being classmates, there was an unspoken level of respect.

At one point, without even realizing it, Andrew found himself alone.

Victor and Nick had vanished on a tactical mission of their own, imitating Howard and Leonard's strategy.

Nick keeping the friend busy so Victor could get closer to the girl he liked.

As for Sedric, Andrew spotted him chatting animatedly with some classmates. Andrew had no plans to join them, he didn't have the energy to force a conversation with strangers.

His offensive line: those five giants weighing over two hundred pounds each who always protected him, were nowhere to be seen either.

'How the hell did I lose sight of five human mountains?' he thought in disbelief.

And Thomas? he wondered, standing there under the spinning disco ball's reflection as the music pounded like the DJ was performing the set of his life. Just a few meters away, the dance floor was packed with dozens of kids moving to the beat.

He decided to go look for him, more out of instinct than need, and take the opportunity to explore the house. He remembered a little game he used to play with Pippa whenever they went to parties together: wandering through a stranger's house and trying to find someone in the crowd.

It was silly, but fun… at least, it had been with her. He wasn't sure if it would feel the same doing it alone, but standing around like a statue wasn't much of an option either.

Andrew began his search for Thomas. The house was big, probably the largest he'd ever been to for a party. Maybe comparable in size to his grandfather Jay's place.

The music's volume was so intense it reached every corner, the bass made the floor itself tremble beneath his feet.

'Don't the neighbors complain?' he thought for a moment, then shook his head internally. Why was he worrying about the neighbors?

No sign of Thomas. He pulled his phone from his pocket, barely an hour had passed since he'd arrived.

"Damn…" Andrew muttered. It felt like much longer.

The find-someone game turned out to be boring when played alone. It had been different with Pippa.

He remembered those nights: with the deafening music in the background, they couldn't talk normally, so since conversation was impossible, they'd invented that game, walking through the house, exploring, searching for a specific person to see who could spot them first, watching what they were doing. They'd shout into each other's ears, make signals when they thought they saw them, push and laugh through the crowd...

A stab of nostalgia tightened in his chest. Almost two weeks since the breakup, and he still missed her, especially in moments like this, when the emptiness felt louder.

'What's she doing right now?' Andrew thought, as the echo of the music surrounded him and, for a moment, the party felt far too noisy for how lonely he felt.

Andrew pushed those thoughts aside and kept walking, this time with a clear goal: to find a table with non-alcoholic drinks.

Luckily, he found one in a corner of the dining room. Even better: Thomas was there, pouring two plastic cups, one with soda, the other with beer.

'Perfect, double mission accomplished,' Andrew thought. He'd found Thomas, and the drinks table too.

He approached with a faint smile. "Thomas."

The boy looked up and nodded in greeting, his face as serious as ever.

Andrew took a cup and filled it with soda. Noticing Thomas holding two drinks, he couldn't help but ask, "You with someone?"

"Yeah. My girlfriend," Thomas replied matter-of-factly.

Andrew raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You have a girlfriend?"

Thomas nodded again, completely unfazed. "She got here a little while ago. She's from Mater Dei too."

"I see," Andrew nodded awkwardly. He didn't talk much with his teammates outside the field or practice. They spent so many hours together in training and games that they rarely hung out beyond football.

'Great… Thomas with his girlfriend. That means I'm still alone,' Andrew cursed inwardly.

Thomas looked at him with that serious expression of his, the kind that could seem intimidating but usually hid good intentions. "You want to come with us?"

Andrew immediately shook his head, forcing a polite smile. "It's fine, thanks. I'm gonna meet up with some friends."

He was lying, of course. The last thing he wanted was to be the awkward third wheel next to the gentle giant and his girlfriend.

Thomas nodded, and just as he was about to leave, he added in his deep voice, "By the way, Madison's been throwing some hints your way. Not too obvious, but you know what I mean."

Andrew gave him a weird look. The most literal guy on the team trying to talk to me about picking up hints?

Of course he'd noticed. When he arrived, she'd been the one to greet him at the door, and she'd joined in on their group conversations.

Even though Madison's attention was entirely focused on him, Andrew had been playing dumb, laughing, chatting with everyone like nothing was going on. But now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her in a while.

"Yeah, I know," Andrew finally admitted.

Thomas stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "A good way to get over a relationship is to meet new people. I'm not saying it's the best solution, but it helps ease that sad emptiness, that melancholy. I know because I've been there. When I decided to open up and meet new girls, I met my current girlfriend. We've been together for almost two and a half years now."

Andrew looked at him, genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected a life talk from Thomas, let alone relationship advice.

"You're a good guy, huh, Thomas?" Andrew said, patting his arm, moved by the gesture. It was rare, but clearly the quiet giant spoke up when he felt a friend needed it.

"I'll think about it. But, by the way, you know I broke up with my girlfriend over Facebook, right?" Andrew added.

Thomas nodded. "The whole school knows." he said, as if it were obvious.

Madison, the team, the entire damn school had found out thanks to that cursed relationship status. Just removing the option automatically broadcasted it to the world. It was like making a public announcement you never intended to make.

They exchanged a few more words before Thomas, holding both cups, turned and disappeared into the crowd to return to his girlfriend.

Andrew watched him for a few seconds, still processing everything he'd just heard.

It was definitely the most he'd ever heard Thomas speak in one sitting, and in the middle of a loud party, no less. Thankfully, in that part of the house, the sound was muffled enough to actually have a normal conversation without yelling like a lunatic.

'New mission: find Madison?' Andrew thought doubtfully. Maybe. But there was another, more urgent mission first.

He decided to head to the bathroom. Having explored the house earlier, he remembered the way and reached one of the hallway bathrooms without trouble. The problem: a long, slow-moving line. Andrew sighed and joined the queue.

He had barely been waiting a few seconds when he heard his name.

He turned his head and saw Katie, the owner of the house, holding a cup of beer.

"Are you waiting in line for the bathroom?" she asked, surprised.

"No, it's actually my favorite hobby. I stand in lines for fun," Andrew replied with mock seriousness.

Katie burst out laughing, amused.

"You're funny…" she said, giving him a playful tap on the shoulder with her free hand.

'Just basic sarcasm,' Andrew thought.

"Come on, you don't have to wait here. Follow me, there's a bathroom upstairs," Katie added, speaking to him like he was some kind of VIP.

Andrew accepted immediately. He wasn't about to refuse those perks.

He followed her up the stairs to a clearly off-limits section of the house, where the bedrooms and a more private bathroom were. As they climbed, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Katie pulled out her phone and started typing quickly. Andrew raised an eyebrow, curious, but said nothing.

When they reached the top, Katie pointed to a door. "Here you go. When you're done, just head back the same way."

"Thanks, Katie," Andrew said as he stepped inside.

She smiled, turned around, and walked back down the hall. As she descended the stairs, she shook her head and sighed, murmuring to herself, "You're lucky to be my friend, Madison…"

Because if she weren't, she wouldn't have told her. She would've kept it to herself, the star quarterback, the most sought-after guy of the night.

A few minutes later, Andrew came out of the bathroom. The moment he looked up, he saw her: Madison, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes locked on the bathroom door.

He wasn't really surprised. It was too obvious, Katie had tipped her off that he'd be there.

'Mission Madison completed without lifting a finger,' Andrew thought.

Madison didn't say anything at first. She just stood there, watching him, as if waiting for him to make the first move.

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