andi mack but it’s a low budget indie coming of age film
Dear Diary,
One fact can change everything. My whole life had been turned upside down. They’ve rummaged through all of my drawers, torn it all apart.
I really don’t know what to do. I can’t talk to mom Celia or Bex. Maybe I should tell Buffy? But she’s busy with basketball seasons. The final tournament is this weekend, she needs to focus. Cyrus? Maybe. But he’s got that film festival submission coming up.
I guess I could talk to Jonah. I mean, if anyone is going to understand my family problems…
No. Jonah’s, he’s not that kind of guy.
It’s just I can’t deal with all of this. Who thought the best time to tell me that my sister is actually my mom was during finals week of my first year at SAVA? Cause they were totally, absolutely, painfully wrong!
Andi Mack slammed her journal closed. It just wasn’t fair! She was meant to be finding herself, becoming an adult but instead she was reevaluating her whole childhood. Andi’s room was brightly colored. She had crafts everywhere, and now, because of SAVA, she had art projects filling her space as well. One piece was sitting on her easel, taking up a large corner of her bedroom. It was her final project for her painting class. The assignment was to focus on perspective and light in a piece that holds some emotional meaning.
“Don’t just paint a flower or a movie star, I want something that is important to you. Personally.” Her teacher had told the class.
Andi walked over to the painting. She’d wanted to do a self portrait. Half of the canvas would be half of her face, but the other half remained empty. Andi had planned on filling the empty space with the things and people who mattered most in her life. Her parents, her sister, her friends, but now she wasn’t sure anymore.
There was a knock on her door. “Andi?” Bex’s voice questioned. “Can I come in?”
Andi groaned. No, no you cannot! She thought. She glanced around the room, eyes landing on her window. She had sneaked out of it before, Celia was strict and sometimes Andi just wanted to go on adventures with her friends late at night. Almost instantly, the young girl made a decision. She rushed towards her bed, threw some clothes, books, a water bottle, and some other knickknacks into her backpack. Then she opened her window, climbed onto the overhang of the roof, dropped her backpack on the ground. She turned to lower herself down and saw as her bedroom door opened and Bex walked in, starting an apology, but stopping when she realized Andi wasn’t there.
Andi’s feet hit the ground, she scoped up her backpack, and ran. She just ran. She didn’t know where to, but she knew it would be a while before she came back home.
–
10… she was breathing heavily… 9… feet were pounding on the floor, sneakers squeaking… 8… she felt sweat run down her face, her back, her neck… 7… not left, they’ll expect it… 6… fake right, fake left, go right… 5… break her ankles, pass to lea… 4… twist around number sixteen… 3… find the window underneath the basket… 2… catch the pass from lea, bring it up… 1… make the basket right as the buzzer begins to scream…
“Whoaaaa! Yayyy! Let’s go Shadyside!” Buffy Driscoll looked up, the noise from the crowd finally breaking through her focus. They’d won, but just barely. It had been double overtime and Buffy had barely made that buzzer beater. She smiled as her team rushed around her, screaming and jumping, but the grin was forced. Buffy wasn’t happy, no, the girl was worried.
“Way to go out there Driscoll!” Her coach called as she returned to the bench. “Shake their hands, get some water, and meet up in the locker room, we have a lot to talk about.” Buffy nodded along with her teammates.
As they dispersed, most of the girls rushed to the stands to see their families and friends before they had to have the post game meeting, but Buffy just sat on the team’s bench. Her mother wasn’t there, she was in a whole different country, serving. Andi had had some kind of important family meeting and couldn’t make it. Cyrus was working on his submission for the film festival, apparently this was the only time his lead could film.
Buffy took a swig from her water bottle. She tasted iron and reached up to touch her lip, her fingers coming back bloody. She must’ve split her lip during the game.
“You alright there, VIP?” Buffy’s neck snapped around and she came face to face with Marty Green.
“Damn Marty, I almost punched you.”
“What did I scare you?”
“No it’s just that face is so punchable.”
Marty laughed. “It was a good game Buffy.” Buffy grimaced.
“Not good enough.” Marty’s eyebrows furrowed.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t worry about it, party, I’ve got to do post game stuff, I’ll catch up with you later?” Marty nodded, but he still looked confused. Buffy ignored it and picked up her water bottle and warm-up. As she walked to the locker room two thoughts fought in her mind.
The first: This team isn’t good enough. I can’t keep winning games all by myself. If we don’t do well in the playoffs, Shadyside High’s Girls Basketball Team is over.
The second: Am I in love with Marty Green?
–
EXT. THE PARK - DAY
TYLER stands alone, leaning against a tree. He’s tossing a baseball in his hand. CARTER enters the shot from far behind. He notices Tyler. He begins to jog, then run, towards the other boy.
CARTER
Tyler!
TYLER moves to leave, but CARTER stops him.
CARTER
Please… don’t go, can we just talk?
TYLER
What is there to talk about? I don’t need your pity, Carter Grant.
CARTER
Does this feel like pity to you?
CARTER pushes TYLER back against the tree and kisses him deeply.
“Yo! Underdog!” T.J. Kippen was walking towards Cyrus. He slammed his laptop shut, immediately regretting how suspicious that must’ve made him look. He tried to shake it off.
“Teej!” He called back, standing up from the picnic table he’d been working at to hug the taller boy.
“Whatcha working on?” T.J.’s curiosity was genuine. But Cyrus couldn’t tell him.
“Just an essay for my English class.” T.J. laughed.
“I’m so glad SAVA focuses more on the arts than any of that stuff.” Cyrus smiled and the two boys began to walk through the park. A comfortable silence fell over them.
Well, comfortable for T.J. Cyrus was panicking. Ever since T.J. had agreed to play the lead in Cyrus’s sci-fi film the two had been hanging out a lot more. And not just for the movie. Cyrus was 60% sure that he and T.J. were actually going on dates. Which would be good, great even, if Cyrus was out to literally anyone. He hadn’t even told T.J. that he liked boys, the basketball player had just assumed. And now Cyrus was just trying to find a moment to ask T.J. if they were somehow boyfriends.
Or actually, Cyrus could never ask him that. It would be so embarrassing. And what if he was just reading into all of this and T.J. didn’t even like boys. What if T.J. got mad at him for asking? What if he quit the movie? No. No, Cyrus couldn’t do that.
So instead Cyrus was letting all of his gay feelings out in the form of a script the no one would ever be allowed to read.
