A Runs Drama

  Levi Anderson was a mess. I knew this because he had been my neighbor for eighteen. Many knew him as Levi Anderson, childhood pretty boy and cross country national star, I knew him as the guy that broke my twin sister's heart. Now, considering that he was a mess, their relationship had been a disaster. Lia fell hard and by association, their breakup had been harder. She was my best friend so I’m not going to lie if I had a little bit of unresolved hatred with the boy as well. Typical childhood sweethearts up until he had gone off to college and ghosted her. Anderson stopped showing up to our volleyball and soccer games. It hadn’t been until he had missed our eighteenth birthday that Lia ended it for good. After that night she had sworn off boys for life. My sister had been kidding herself, but I was willing to agree for the sake of making her feel better. For a while, everything had been better. We had gone off to make state champions and had even been scouted to the same university. Life couldn’t have looked brighter for us until the Corona Virus hit the United States like there was no tomorrow. Everything had been put on hold, and before Lia knew it Levi Anderson had been back in town, only he didn’t return alone and that right there had been my downfall. It was a beautiful Thursday morning when I woke up to Lia’s loud voice, “get up loser, we’re going running.” Dying inside I groaned. We had developed a strict routine so we wouldn’t fall behind physically when our season started in the summer. It seemed logical at the time, not realizing how comfortable my bed could be. Sighing I got up and got ready. As soon as I had reached downstairs Lia had been pushing me out the door, “finally Tori, come on let's go!” Seven miles later, we had both been exhausted. “ Come on where almost there Lia. Push just a little harder and we’ll beat last time’s run,” I said as I tried to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. A loud squeak made me jump. Almost tripping on my aching feet, I looked at Lia’s frozen figure. Confused I looked at Lia, “ what's the wrong L, I didn’t push you too hard this time did I?” This isn’t the first time our run has made Lia sick, so being a caring sister I walked back to her making sure to check for any possible injuries.Lia had been looking in the direction of our house, dazed she pointed and muttered the name of a boy who broke her heart, “ Levi Anderson.” Squinting I looked at our next-door neighbor's house. There he was in all his glory. Anderson stood at 6’2 with a fit build. He had Sandy blond hair and blue eyes. His university t-shirt was displayed proudly, and if you took away the fact that he was a good for nothing player who played with girls' emotions, you would almost think he was handsome. He had been unloading a truck of his belongings, probably home until the virus was over. Lia ran her hand through her long ponytail, “ Oh come on, how can a person look that good,” she said exasperated. “ It’s not fair Tori, how am I supposed to walk past that and not think-,” that's where I stopped her. Putting my hands on her shoulders I used my stern voice, the voice I used as a captain for both volleyball and soccer, “ Listen here love, and listen well. You are not about to even think for a second that you were not good enough, I won't stand for it.” Lia looked at me nodding. “ We are going to run to our lawn and pass out on the grass like we usually do. You are strong, fearless, and unapologetic.” She had started to nod with confidence repeating the last three words,” strong, fearless, and unapologetic” she repeated once again before putting on a brave face and starting to jog in place. “Alright let’s go and show him what he's missing,” I said as we both started to jog again. I let her take the lead, wanting to see Anderson’s reaction. Lia continued to look forward, ignoring Anderson coming out of his house for a second trip. I saw as he stared unashamedly at Lia, it was a look that spelled trouble. Anderson had stopped mid-step to gawk, similarly to how Lia had stopped jogging. His reaction turned into a slow sweet smile, I couldn't describe it other than love-struck. I closed my eyes and exhaled loudly. Sweet Mary please for my sake and sanity, I implore the heavens to keep Lia out of trouble, but boy it was bound to happen. We both threw ourselves onto our green grass, gasping for air. “ That felt good,” Lia said, grabbing a bottle of water we had left in the shade before going out. I hummed in harmony drinking the water slowly. From the corner of my eye, I could tell that Levi had still not moved. I took out Lia’s ponytail to showcase her hair. Lia looked at me confused only to smile when I did the same and started to pour water with the water bottle. I winked at her encouraging her to follow my lead. Getting the reaction I expected I heard Levi call out to us, “ Hey twins, long time no see.” He had only been looking at Lia as water ran down her face and arms. Rolling my eyes I knew he didn’t stand a chance. “ Oh hey,” I started with fake enthusiasm. “ Levi stepped into the greenness of his parent's lawn. “ How’s it been, ladies?” He said, making small conversation. I decided to answer solely because I knew that Lia was probably panicking. “ Well enough,” I said with a casual tone. “ What about you Lia?” Now, this is where Levi messed up. Lia saw this as an opportunity as she looked at him directly in his eyes and said, “ just living my best Anderson.” My neck had been sore from how fast I had looked at her. Lia never used his last name when she addressed him. She had only ever used Babe, when they had been together, or the first letter of his middle name when they had been younger. I was the only one that had called him that. He had been taken back and looked down onto the grass. He looked hurt and that almost made me wince. Another boy came up behind him, breaking the awkward silence. A dark-haired boy came out of the house, his deep voice prominent in the air,“ What’s the hold-up bro?” The second we made eye contact I knew I needed to stay away. He smiled slickly as if we were old friends that shared secrets no one else knew. “ If I knew she was your neighbor we should have quarantined sooner man.” I looked at Lia with wide eyes. “Okay well this was nice, but I think we’re going to head on in and uh quarantine,” Lia said looking between the new boy and me. I looked at Levi’s friend again only to find he hadn’t taken his eyes off of me. Fleeing inside we looked at each other, “ Well aren’t we lucky,” Lia said as we both began to laugh.