Falling on the Court

Chapter Two Point Five

[Four Years Ago]

Twelve Years Old

"Mom!" Levi whined. "Soren tried throwing the lawn mower at me!"

"No, I didn't!" Soren yelled, hastily trying to shove the lawn mower back into the shed. "I don't know what you're talking about. What lawn mower do you see?!"

"Dear lord," Levi's mom muttered. "When I said you could play in the backyard, I didn't mean you could raid the shed!" She yelled. "I meant you could play volleyball and not get into any trouble!"

"Sorry." Soren flushed, embarrassed.

"Oh, no, I meant Levi, not you, Soren dear," Levi's mom smiled at Levi's best friend. "Levi should've known to stay away from the shed. It's not your fault."

"Wha- mom, that's not fair!" Levi whined. "I didn't even do anything! I was trying to retrieve the volleyball from the weird grass patch in our backyard when he just appeared with the lawn mower!"

"Don't be so immature, Levi," His mom scolded. "Soren, do you want something to drink?"

Soren immediately perked up. "Can I?"

"Of course!" Levi's mom exclaimed, looking slightly offended. "Come inside, both of you." She then left, heading towards the kitchen.

"Your mom still likes me more than you," Soren whispered to Levi, who huffed.

"Your dad likes me more than you."

"...yeah." Soren agreed with slight hesitation, something that went unnoticed by Levi.

Levi's mom then re-entered the living room, passing both of them some sort of carbonated drink.

"Thanks, mom," Levi took a small sip of his drink gratefully. He and Soren then set their drinks on the coffee table, Soren having drank considerably more than Levi, and went upstairs to Levi's room.

"Don't get your sweaty ass near my bed," Levi glared at Soren, who gave him a guilty smile. "If you want to lie down, there's plenty of floor."

"I'm not going to lie down on the floor." Soren pouted, taking an uninvited seat on Levi's chair. "That's unnecessarily uncomfortable and you would not do that to me because you love me."

"I hate you." Levi grumbled. He grabbed his crappy laptop, opening it up while Soren watched him with eagle eyes.

"Are you working on your document of reasons why you should be allowed to get a cat?" He asked, trying to look over Levi's shoulder.

"Shut up, Soren. You helped me write a quarter of it so if I get rejected it's going to be your fault."

"But it's only a quarter!" Soren argued. "I'll take a quarter of the blame if you get rejected, but not all of the blame!"

"Your ideas were so shit," Levi pointed out. "'I deserve a cat because I am a good child.' In what world is that reasoning going to buy my mom over?"

"Just put 'I should get a cat because Soren wants me to get a cat.' Your mom loves me more than you, she'll agree if I wanted you to get one."

"Can you stop with how much my mom loves you?" Levi snorted, snickering. "Like, I get it, okay? You say that every time you come over."

"Well, I do want you to get a cat," Soren said. "It can be our new baby."

"Who the hell was our old baby?" Levi gave Soren a weird look.

"Berry, obviously." Soren glared at Levi. "Did you forget about her?"

"Berry was a piece of shit," Levi sniffed. "I'm glad that the ankle-biting chihuahua is dead."

"Hey, she may be a piece of shit, but she was my piece of shit. That sounds really bad out of context."

"You and I both know how much you hated her." Levi collapsed onto his bed, setting his laptop aside. "What time is it?"

"Um," Soren glanced at the clock. "Almost five. Oh shit- it's almost five!" He jumped out of his seat, hastily opening the door to Levi's room and sprinting down the stairs.

"Where the hell are you going?" Levi called out, refusing to go down the stairs.

"Home, dipshit!" Levi's mom snapped a quick 'language!' at the two of them before smiling at Soren, wishing him and his parents well, and closing the door behind him as he left.

"The two of you could at least try to be quieter when you're around each other." She sighed.