Match Me

Chapter Three: The Levi Awards

Chapter Three: The Levi Awards

"Leev, we should get to the ceremony." Harley says and tries to push his friend towards the large oak door on the other side of the room. Levi continues to stare at me, causing murmurs from everyone around us, especially the younger kids like Isaac and his friends, but Levi pays them no mention, and continues to watch me with his light jade eyes.

He blinks, and the silent connection falters, and I shake my head to clear my thoughts. What was that? I can hear Isaac and his friends gossiping like teenage girls, pointing and laughing in our direction.

"What are you doing here?" Levi asks, as if my very presence digusts him. Jeez, lose the attitude dude.

"I-I.." I stammer, trying to collect my thoughts after having a stare-down with him. A blush creeps up my cheeks as I realize I probably sound like an idiot. No not even probably, I do sound like an idiot. "Brother.. My brother." I make several random hand gestures, vaguely pointing to Isaac's direction, and I blush even harder. Why is he causing this sort of reaction from me?

"I see." He replies, and the conversation dies as Harley coughs. I forgot that he was even here... Damn! I missed my chance to hear how the date went, especially since my phone--

"Let's go." Levi commands, and Harley obliges, leaving me standing there like an idiot, my cheeks as red as bullseyes. Issac takes a break from laughing and talking with his friends to approach me, a bright smile on his face. As he crosses the room, several coaches and parents stop to talk to him, and he stands and talks to them politely, and after a few minutes, Isaac finally crosses the room over to me.

I dig around in my sweat pocket's for my phone, when I realize Levi still has it. So I examine the creamy gold color of the wallpaper and try to look busy until he snaps me to attention.

"Em? Are you alright?" He asks, with a smile on his face, although he's probably contemplating a hundred different ways to embarrass me rather than comfort me and help me recover from my perplexed state.

"Yeah, what gave you the idea that I wasn't?" I snap, something I'm prone to doing when I'm embarrassed. If you treat them like shit, they usually just leave you alone and don't bother to question why your face is bright red. Okay, maybe it's not the best strategy out there, but it works well enough for me.

"I dunno, talking to Levi Jetts makes anyone nervous." He replies, and I raise an eyebrow at him. He avoids eye contact, his chocolate brown eyes scanning over the mounds of people in the large front room, pretending to take interest in who's here, although he already knows. "I mean, he's a soccer god."

Wow, the one person my brother chooses to fully respect is an even bigger douchebag than he is. Flipping fantastic. And it's most likely only because he excels at soccer; even though I hate to admit it, he's probably the best player in our school.

"He's just a guy who plays a sport." I reply, scoffing as my brother gasps. "I write books, so? No one acknowledges that, but if Levi plays soccer, well, he's a genuis all of the sudden?" Maybe I'm slightly jealous that my brother seems to like Levi more than me, judging by the admiration in his eyes as he talks.

"Anyone can write Ember, but playing takes actual talent." He replies, his expression stony. Okay, so maybe I started this, but he's questioning my talent? And no doubt about it, writing takes just as much work as soccer does. Probably more.

"Don't you dare--" I begin, pursing my lips as a speaker blares above us.

"All participants of the Lake Worth Regional Championships please report to the dining area for the awards ceremony. All participants of the Lake Worth Regionals please report to the dining area immediately." The overhead speaker blares, and people swarm the oak doors that Levi and Harley had disappeared through, pushing and shoving their way in.