AndreH: Can you do me a favor?

ScissorLuv: I don't do favors

AndreH: Please?

AndreH: I'll buy you coffee.

ScissorLuv: You already buy me coffee.

AndreH: Coffee for a year

AndreH: Coffee for eternity

ScissorLuv: What is this massive favor?

AndreH: My grandma's urine spilled in Beck's car

ScissorLuv: No.

ScissorLuv: No, no, no, no, no

ScissorLuv: Harris

ScissorLuv: There is not enough coffee in the world.

AndreH: No, no

AndreH: I just want to know what the name of Beck's car wash place

AndreH: You know, how he only trusts that one place with his car

AndreH: It's really hippie, I think?

ScissorLuv: Yeah, I know he's an idiot about that

AndreH: I tried to find their website

ScissorLuv: They don't have one

ScissorLuv: Their employees tell me that the internet is a finite concept and our over reliance on it threatens our existence as infinite beings.

AndreH: Do you know where it is?

ScissorLuv: I can probably figure it out.

AndreH: Please?

ScissorLuv: Fine

ScissorLuv: Meet me at Melrose and Ocean in 20 minutes.

She's parked under a tree, lying on the hood of her car when he pulls up. He parks behind her, walking over, and leaning on the hood of her car.

"Hey."

"Hey... don't you have your own car?"

"My grandma's scared of it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. But she needed to go to the doctor, so I switched cars with Beck."

She glances over at his car, "But she's not with you?"

"She's scared of his car too. Apparently it's a cars-in-general fear. So, the doctor said I could just bring a cup of the, uh, liquid."

"I don't want to hear how you got it."

"I don't want to relive it. But I did, put it in the cup holder, and then when I took a sharp left..."

"Oh my god, Harris, you didn't cover that?"

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly," she hops off the hood and gets in the driver's seat of her car, "Follow me, I'll try to find it."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah."

They drive for twenty-five minutes and three u-turns before she pulls over again, motioning for him to pull up beside her.

"It's this street, like half a mile farther."

"You're not coming?"

"They'll recognize me."

"So?"

"I've been really clear about what I think of their hippie shit. They probably smoked a ton of celebratory weed when they heard Beck and I broke up."

He shrugs, not sure how to respond to the first time she's ever said Beck's name, let alone acknowledged they broke up, "Thanks, coffee tonight?"

"Yeah, want to do Starbucks on Maple at 8?"

"...You hate Starbucks."

"Not as much as I hate that place on Sunset. Come on, you can get some frippy, foamy thing."

"Sounds good."

She nods and rolls her window back up. He's not sure, but he thinks she's genuinely smiling as she drives off.

He finds her at lunch the next day in her usual janitor's closet. "You really don't have to eat in here."

"I'll be spending plenty of time at with our dear friends at play rehearsal."

He sits on a box and pulls out his lunch.

"Whoa, whoa, who said you could join me?"

"I had Robbie and Cat sing Beck a song about the, uh, incident, yesterday... so I'd rather lay low for a while. If you don't mind."

She shrugs, "Whatever."

They chew in silence for a few minutes, "You read the play?" she finally asks.

"Skimmed through it. What do you think?"

She rolls her eyes, "I'd like it a million times better if I wasn't playing Vega's wife."

"Yeah, I figured that. Otherwise?"

"It's fine, typical Sikowitz fare. I wish we were allowed to write our own stuff occasionally."

"Spring showcase - you write the words, I'll write the music?"

"I hate musicals."

"And you know how ridiculous that is..."

They launch into a debate about the merits of musical theatre and, far too soon, the bell rings.

"You're completely wrong, Harris," she says, shrugging her bag on to her shoulder.

"Yeah, well, so are you..." he picks up his backpack, "Maybe eat outside tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow."

She leaves before he can get out another word. He takes a second to make sure his book for math is in his bag and then heads out to find Beck standing at the soda machine.

"Hey," Beck calls, ruining his plan to just sneak away.

"Oh, hey."

"Why were you eating lunch in a closet?"

"I wasn't sure how mad you were about, the, uh, well, situation with your car. So, I ate with ... Jade."

"I'm not thrilled."

"I got it cleaned, went to that car wash you're obsessed with and everything."

"Oh... it would have been nice if they had mentioned that in the song," they walk together down the hall, "Jade's been eating in a closet?"

"Where'd you think she was eating."

"I didn't think about it... it's been like a month." They stop at Beck's locker and he starts turning the lock,

"You're not mad? You know, that I ate with her?"

Beck pauses and looks up, "No? Why would I be?"

"I dunno..."

Beck slams his locker, "I don't mind if you, like, hang out with her. I know she's your friend too ... sort-of."

"Yeah," Andre replies, feeling guilty about the whole thing, "I'm sorry I've been so distant about the whole thing... It's just been awkward." He doesn't add that this is because he's had a crush on her since last spring and she went to his house that night and how they haven't gone 24 hours without talking since she showed up after Hope's birthday, not that that's significant. Or that he's keeping track.

Beck shrugs, "Yeah, it has been. You've been better than Robbie and Rex, if that's any consolation."

"It's really not."

Rehearsals for the play are miraculously not the most awkward thing he's ever done. Sikowitz keeps them busy, constantly making Jade and Tori re-do their lines and scenes, leaving him and Beck to hang out backstage.

After the fifth and second-to-last rehearsal, Beck texts him to invite him over, saying he found his old N64 while cleaning out the garage. After a text from Jade, using the word fuck every other word and informing him she has to cancel coffee to go to Nozu with Tori, he agrees.

He can't really remember the last time he and Beck hung out one on one. He's been inviting Robbie to come along every time Beck's tried to set something up recently and before that, there was Jade. Sitting on the same orange couch, now moved out to the RV, and playing Smash Brothers makes him feel vaguely like being back in middle school.

He pauses the game as his phone buzzes with yet another expletive-filled text from Jade. He replies and looks up to find Beck staring at him, "Who do you keep texting?"

"...No one."

"Is it a girl?"

"...What?"

"You have that look on your face, man."

"It's no one, it's my ... grandma."

"She knows how to text?"

"Uh, yeah. You know, sometimes she thinks phones are the new robot overlords sometimes she... can text."

He has a feeling Beck isn't buying it, but he turns back to the game. As they keep playing, Andre can feel himself being pulled between them and the wonk starting to come over him, heart beating too fast, stumbling over his thoughts, trying to stop himself from bursting out that he likes Jade, like like likes her, and really wants to kiss her again or just like smell her hair and he's sorry, so sorry that he's the worst friend ever, and, and, and... If he's honest with himself, part of the reason he flipped out last spring was that Jade was Beck's and yeah, she's not technically anymore and Jade would probably flip that he's even like thinking of her as if she was someone's property or whatever, but she still sort-of is and oh god.

He's super thankful when his phone buzzes again, "I have to go."

"What's up?"

"It's my grandma," he skims the text, apparently Vega is the most fucking annoying person ever and she keeps slurping her fucking soup, "She, uh, thinks a tree is robbing our house."

"Want me to come help?"

"No, no, you know how she's scared of... everyone. Thanks for having me over."

"Yeah, we should do this again."

"Yeah, sure, we should do that... night."

He avoids Jade for the next few days and she finally corners him after the performance.

"What's up with you? Why aren't you responding to anything?"

He's been dreading this, but knows it's what he has to do. Yeah, she's really pretty and passionate and talented and just, yeah, but he was friends with Beck first, "I've been thinking... I don't think I can hang out with you alone anymore."

"Why not?"

"It's just..." he trails off, "I feel bad. Like we're hanging out behind Beck's back."

"So?"

"I dunno, he's just my friend and-"

She looks up from her phone, brows knitted together, "It's not like we're doing anything. What's your problem?"

"I..."

She rolls her eyes, "Whatever. Have fun. I hope you choke on your disgusting lattes."

He watches her stalk off and can't believe that he feels even worse.