Andrew Part 16

[sl97aq]

Once Andrew and Carrie reached Margaret's house, they saw the News van parked in the driveway.
"What is that News Van doing here?" Andrew asked Carrie.
"I called them," Carrie replied. "i thought it would be good exposure for you."
"I wish you had told me first," Andrew said. "I'm not ready."
"Well, it will be good for you to adapt to unexpected situations," Carrie suggested. "Now get out there and give them a good show."
"Aren't you coming?" Andrew asked, as he got out of the car.
"You're the one they want to see," Carrie reminded him. "If you don't mind, I'll just take the car home bakc to your house."
"Okay," agreed Andrew, bending over to give her a kiss. "I'll ask Margeret if she'll give me a ride home."
"Good idea, " agreed Carrie, as Andrew closed the door. "See you later."
Andrew waved as Carrie headed home. Then he turned around and headed to the front door. He knocked and waited for Margert to open it.
"Hello Andrew, good to see you," Margeret said, opening the door. "Come in."
"Okay," siad Andrew, stepping into the house. Margaret led him to the living room. "Oh hi Mr. Cooper, what are you doing here?" Andrew asked.
"You're a smart guy," Mr. Cooper said, signalling his camera man to start filming. "You tell me."
"if I were to guess, I'd say my girlfriend called you while I moved the tree off the road." Andrew replied.
"Exactly," Rob agreed. "I'm afraid we didn't get any footage of that. It would be a great help if you could repeat it for us."
"I would be glad to," grinned Andrew. "Follow me please." He led the way out-side, and over to the trail that led to the forest. "How about a live tree this time?" he asked. "would that be okay?"
"Pick one that's nearly dead, but still standing," Margaret advised.
"Very well," agreed Andrew. "I'll find a suitable one." He walked down the trail for a moment before he finally found one that met his needs. "I've foudn one," he said, pointing to a hundred foot tall tree near the lake shore. "Get ready."
"We're ready," Mr. Cooper said. "Give us a good show, Andrew."
Andrew grinned and began leaning against the tree. The tree began to creak and crack, but it resisted Andrew's efforts. He pushed harder, gritting his teeth in fury, and the trunk finally snapped, causing the tree to fall into the lake with a huge splash. Andrew turned around, grinning.
"How was that?" he asked. "Was that good enough?"
"That was amazing!" Mr. Cooper exclaimed, coming over to shake Andrew's hand. "How much can you bench press?"
"A bench," joked Andrww, "with 10 team players on it."
"That's more than 2000 pounds!" shouted Mr Cooper in shock, as they took the trail back to Margert's cottage.
"That's nothing," bragged Andrew. "I once lifted a Mercedes van that weighed 6000 pounds just one month ago."
"Can you show us?" Rob asked, scribbling furiously on his notepad.
"I'll conjure up a scale, " Margaret suggested, "and then I'll drive my car onto it."
She said a few words, and a huge flat scale appeared on the grass. Then Margaret drove her car from the garage onto the scale, and got out. She said a few more words, and her car morphed into a red Mercedes van.
"6100 pounds," she read off the scale readout. "This should be a new maximum lift for you Andrew. Go ahead and try it."
Andrew walked up to the van, from the side of the scale, and bent down, sucking in a huge breath. Then he slowly let the breath out, lifting the side of the van as he did so. Sucking in another huge breath, he got underneath the van, and heaved upwards, managing to balance the van on his huge shoulders.
"Okay, turn the van towards us; slowly so we can see your face," Mr. Cooper said finally, almost speechless with shock.
With a face that was red from the strain, Andrew complied, slowly turning step by step. The photographer quickly snapped several pictures while Andrew grimaced and began to tremble from the strain.
"Don't drop it!" Mr. Cooper yelled. "Look out!"
Andrew sucked in one last huge breath, and heaved upwards with a furious yell. The van flew off his shoulders, a few feet up in the air, and Andrew jumped out from under it. Then he held out both his hands and jumped back underneath the van again. The huge weight crashed onto his hands, forcing Andrew into a squatting position. He slowly eased the van's left side down to the ground, got out from underneath it, and eased the right side down too. Then he got off the scale, breathing heavily.
"How was that?" Andrew asked, between breaths. "Was thatt good enough?"
"That- thatt was simply amazing," Rob managed finally. "We certainly know who to call if we ever get a flat tire on one of our news vans."
"That's very flattering," Andrew said. "It also ties into my girlfriend's suggestion: to start some community service to help my University Application."
"This footage will certainly do that," Rob agreed. "Have you come up with a name for your community service program yet?'
"Carrie came up with one," Andrew replied. "But I'm a bit reluctant to use it."
"What did she come up with?" Rob asked, ready to write the name down.
"AWAP," Andrew replied. "It's an acronym, and it stands for Andrew's Winter Assistance Program."
"Catchy name," Rob said, writing the name on his pad. "Well, that's about all, Andrew. We'll get this footage to the Newsroom and air it on the 11 pm news."
"Good idea," agreed Andrew. "The sooner I can show the University of Miami that I do community service as well, the better my application will look."
"It was a pleasure interviewing you again, "Rob said, shaking his hand.
"The pleasure was mine also," Andrew added. "See you later."
Rob and the camera man got into their van, and Andrew waved as they headed down the driveway, out of sight.