The Virtuous

Chapter Eleven: The Vawerth

The next night I was walking to the football game with London and a few of her friends from the dorm beside us. Their boyfriends tagged along while London stuck close to me for the off chance we might see Tara. I knew London was still taking it hard and it was obvious she wasn't eating or even working on her art pieces like she normally did. The door to our spare room, which she used as her studio, hadn't been budged even an inch. And by the collection of dirty dishes that continued to grow in the sink, it was obvious they all belonged to me.

I could tell this whole break-up was eating her from the inside out.

"So you think Levi's gonna be showing off for us tonight?" I grinned, trying to start conversation with her as she roped her arm through mine, like normal gal-pals do.

She shrugged, only half there. The other half of her was somewhere else; probably with Tara's memories.

"Hello? London!" Her other friend, I think her name was Aubrey, hollered in London's ear and caught her attention.

"Huh? Wha-" London jumped, clearly startled.

I shook my head grinning and continued towards the seats Levi had arranged for us to have that night. He'd somehow scored us decent tickets considering the team was running undefeated and this was a game against one of our rivals. London quickly sat down and shuddered against the cold wind. I zipped up my leather jacket and felt the cold flood through me as well, but suddenly I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It felt like I was getting butterflies but not in a good way. Something wasn't right.

I looked around me skeptically, trying to see if I could find any shady characters around but there was nothing.

I bit my lip and leaned back in my seat, pushing it aside but remaining aware.

I watched as Levi waved to us from where he stood on the sideline, preparing for the game. I waved back and London gave a cheer for him alongside the blonde who'd come with us.

The game began and I remained interested in watching Levi play.

He played football like I played the piano, with such precision and certainty. I wasn't much for sports but watching him play was actually pretty engaging. I wondered for a fleeting moment if what Duncan had said was true. Could it be possible that Levi really did have a crush on me? I could remember plenty of times he'd went out of his way just to grab me coffee. Or other times where he'd offer to stay up late with me just so I could cram for a big test. I'd reciprocated that though; I couldn't count how many football games I'd gone to so I could support him and I'd even invited him to come down to my dad's last Christmas with me and Tara when he found out his parents didn't have the money to fly him home to Tennessee.

Suddenly a frightening thought appeared; was Levi under the impression that I might have feelings for him too? I felt a blush spread across my cheeks. I hoped that wasn't true; I wasn't sure how I'd be able to face him normally if that were the case.

Suddenly I felt as though someone had punched me in my stomach.

I coughed from the force and realized it was that dreadful feeling again.

Something horrible was about to happen.

I quickly jumped out of my seat but London gave me a funny look.

"Where are you going? There's a tie right now!"

"Coffee break, be right back." I lied and bounded up the stairs to make my way through the regular stadium. I started down towards the bathrooms and felt the feeling slowly grow inside me. I wondered if maybe it was like a radar. To test it, I stepped a few feet back and felt the feeling simmer down some but it refused to completely dissolve.