Running with the Soccer Ball (#justwriteit #sports)

The Girl

Lio's face became serious. 'Hunter, don't mess with me like that, bro..' 'I swear on the life of Maxi, dude!' Hunter exclaimed.

Maxi was his pet cat that he loved with all his heart. Lio didn't really know what to do! Should he ask her out; what if she changed her mind?

  I think I should still wait. Lio tried to quickly change the topic, but was ever so rudely interrupted. 'Lio, Hunter! Mrs. Sterling has been looking for you!' Said April

  Oh never mind, I wasn't rudely interrupted. It was a sweet interruption. He instantly stood up and followed April to Mrs. Sterling's classroom.

He sat down and began staring at April. Am I creepy? He questioned himself. Yeah, definitely. But Lio couldn't care less. April looked amazing. Hunter had just run in, 10 minutes after Lio. He, too, now had a black eye and bruised lip. Lio was boiling with anger.

Okay if those two imbeciles got him, ok. But his best friend; that was too far. He got out of his seat, but was quickly stopped by April. 'Hey Lio. There's something I wanted to ask you.'

Lio's heart was beating a million miles a minute. 'Yeah, yeah of course. Anything for you April.' Too much? Definitely.

She twirled her hair through her long, painted fingers, and stared at him right in the eye. 'Can you help me with this paper?' She asked him in her sweetest voice. Lio nodded quickly and basically did the paper for her.

'Thank you!' She sang, and left to talk to her friends. Oh my god, she talked to me! Lio squirmed. Hunter walked towards him shaking his head in disapproval. But of course, Lio didn't care. He was lovesick.

'Have a great summer, Freedom Point, see you next year!' The principal announced. Then, it was time to board the bus.

Before he got on the bus though, he was grabbed on the shoulder by April. She kissed him on the cheek, and ran home after saying, 'See ya, Lio'  This boy was now lightheaded- from the bus ride to the end if the summer.

He counted the days until he would see April once again.

***
The summer was boring. Really boring. Lio went to the pool several times, but besides that, he went to the beach for just one day.

There, he saw a blonde haired, blue-eyed life  guard, who wouldn't stop yelling at him for the silliest things. 'Hey you! Walk slower! No, faster!' And that was pretty much his whole day while he was there.

In the morning of July 17th, Lio got up at 10:00 A.M to the sound of a truck and chatter/ yelling. 'Aurorangeline E. Adams! Come take this box into the kitchen!'

It came from a mid- 30-year-old woman with a brown pixie hair cut. She was wearing a red hoodie and grey sweats with dirty sneakers.

There were a couple of flies lingering around her, as if they were begging her for food.

As for the girl she was yelling for, Aurorangeline, Lio only got a quick glimpse of. It wasn't enough for him to describe her.

Lio climbed back to bed, but was quickly woken up by a triple knock. 'Elliott! Get up!!' His mother screamed. He rolled his eyes and grunted at the sound of his official name.

His mom never listened to him, or respected what he wanted. He shook his head and ran down the stairs to see that woman with the pixie haircut talking to his mom. Slowly, he walked over to the scene.

'Hello! What's your name?' The woman asked. She had a very raspy voice, and looked wide awake. But before he could answer, his mom interrupted him.

'His name is Elliott.' She said with a smile. The woman stuck out her hand. 'Nice to meet you Elliott' Lio cringed at the mention of his real name. 'I go by Lio.' He said.

His mom left angrily muttering 'unbelievable'. 'Well then. Nice to meet you, Lio. I'm Meredith Adams. My family and I just moved here from Kansas, and wow Pennsylvania is so different from Kansas!' She exclaimed.

'How about you guys come over tonight for dinner?' She questioned. And his answer was so incredibly thought-out; 'Um... I don't know... MOM!?' And his mom came, taking her time. 'What, Elliott!?'

'Ms. Adams would like to know if we could go over for dinner' Lio's mom sighed. 'We would be delighted.' 'Great! see you tonight, Gloria and Lio.' Meredith pointed to them each as if trying to memorize their names. 'Oh, and also, Lio do you have any siblings?'

'No.'

'oh, okay. I have four kids, I'm sure you'd get along with them.- well, at least the boys'

Lio nodded, only half-listening. But wait. Only the boys? What did that mean? Lio could get along with anybody.

'Well mom, I'm going to the playground.' Lio announced.

'Be back by 2'

Lio looked at the clock. It was 1:10. He changed quickly, then ran out the door with a soccer ball in one hand, and Gatorade in the other.

There, he saw a girl. Weird. Girls never come here. He shrugged it off, and ran towards the soccer field, practicing dribbling along the way.

He had just realized that the girl was in the field as well, and was practicing making goals.

This girl was wearing a dark blue shirt with green basketball shorts, black converse, and a baseball cap that was dark red.

She had a very dark but small black mole on the upper left corner of her lips. Her dark brown hair was tied into a ponytail that stuck out of the dark red baseball cap.

Deciding to show off, Lio did a rainbow. He picked up the ball by his feet, threw it to one side, and shouldered it off, making a nice clean goal. The girl was clearly not impressed.

Lio continued dribbling, trying to see what the girl would do. She pushed her foot under the ball and made a header into the goal.

Nice. Lio thought. But he had learned that trick years ago.

He chuckled at the thought. 'What's so funny?' The girl said. She wasn't being sassy. She was juggling the ball, only half listening to what Lio would say. 'Its nothing' He said as quickly as possible, trying not to talk to her.

She stared at him for a quick second, then continued practicing. After ten minutes of silence between the two, Lio broke the silence.

'Want to play one-on-one?'

She had a determined look on her face. 'Okay' She said with a shrug.

Lio picked up his ball and met with her in the center of the field.

'Ladies first.' He said with a bow.

'Okay, Okay, you can start' she said with a glare.

Jeez. Who spit in her cereal this morning...

Not wanting to argue, he started with the ball...but it wasn't in his possession for long. 'Wha-' But before he could finish, the girl was down the field, making circles around him.

He caught up to her and took the ball, but she megged him, and made 2 goals in only 1 minute.

Dang!

Lio had to stop to catch his breath for a second, but she couldn't help but snicker. He gave her a glare and her facial expression changed drastically.

'One more?' She asked with a smirk.

'Definitely.' He replied. He refused to start with the ball. And that time,he did't even get to touch the ball!

What on EARTH?! Lio had played many times with all kinds of guys, but never a girl. And the one time he does, he gets beaten! TWICE! It was 1:55, and Lio remembered his promise to Gloria, his mom.

'I have to go' He muttered and left.

The girl kept practicing, and once Lio got home he realized something pretty important;

He never got the girl's name.

***