September 1st
Monday
60 Days Before
Lila stared out her window, watching the sun peek out from the red and brown leaves on the trees. She fiddled with the black corduroy dress that sat on top of her long sleeve, burnt orange bodysuit. She wore short black boots, paired with white socks that show just above the boots. Her curly dark brown hair fell to her lower back. She played with her heart locket between her fingers, her mind running with what could happen in the next few months.
"Li, you're doing it again." She turned around to see her twin leaning against the doorframe. Sam was folding the sleeves of his flannel up, buttoning them a few inches below his elbows. "You're gonna make us late if you keep thinking."
"Well, one of us has to do the thinking around here. I'm making up for your slack," Lila commented, snapping out of her trance. She places her notebooks into her backpack, checking to make sure she had all her color coordinated school supplies.
Sam folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, I think sometimes."
"Yeah, about who you're gonna get with that particular week," she teased with a smile. Sam gave her a beseeching look, rolling his eyes as he pushes off her doorframe.
"Ouch," Sam said with a smirk. "This week it's gonna be James Simons."
"Oh god," Lila groaned. "You need to stop playing him. Every time you two break things off, our house mysteriously ends up covered in toilet paper."
Sam let out a laugh, nodding in admittance. "Hey, at least we didn't need to buy any more toilet paper for the month when that happened."
"You are the only one who used that," Lila denied as she pulled on a jacket. "Mom and I decided to splurge that week and get Charmin."
"Yeah, he used the cheap kind. Never really did the trick," Sam admitted sorrowfully, shaking his head. "All right, let's go eat something quick before heading out."
Lila nodded in agreement as she grabbed her heavy bag. She could tell her stomach was about to rumble, hungry to put anything in her stomach and she was in desperate need for coffee. She began to walk out the door with Sam before pausing. Sam noticed his sister no longer following him, and turned to her in question.
"Oh wait, forgot something," Lila murmured before turning back to her room. She ignored Sam telling her to hurry up as she rummaged through her desk draw. She eventually found what she was looking for, turning back to her twin. Sam stared at the black pen she offered him in question.
"You always forget a pen," Lila said, holding it up for him to see. Sam gave her grateful grin, snatching it from her hands and pushing it into his pocket.
The twins ran down the stairs, turning towards the kitchen, both bickering about what to have for breakfast. They both froze momentarily when they see their curly haired older sister pushing eggs around in a pan while flipping bacon. There were ingredients all over the counter, cracked egg shells coating the ground. She didn't spare the twins a look, seeming to be in a bit of a hurry.
"Scarlett? What are you doing here?" Sam asked with his head tilted, pausing at the bottoms of the stairs. Lila passed him, heading into the kitchen to help her sister.
Scarlett let out a bit of a scoff, continuing to push around eggs in a pan. "Nice to see you too, Sam."
"Mom had to go into work early, don't you remember?" Lila said in an obvious tone as she pulled plates and cups out from the cabinets.
"We can drive ourselves to school," Sam pointed out.
"Well, someone had to make sure you two ate and got out the door," Scarlett said as she continued to cook. "You both look really nice, by the way. Love the dress, Li."
Lila thanked her sister as she reached into the cabinet to get plates and cups. Sam sauntered over from the stairs, deciding to help. He noticed that the music playing in the background was none other than her boyfriend's. He bit back a smirk and a snide comment, knowing he shouldn't tease her considering she was currently cooking for them.
"Where's your lover boy?" Sam continued on, taking the plates from his sister to set up the table.
"Back at our apartment, he's getting ready for some interview today," Scarlett said absently as she turns the stove off. She walked over to the table with the pan, using the spatula to scoop the eggs onto their plates. "All right, eat up."
The siblings sat down, beginning to eat the food as she placed more and more on their plates. A few moments later, they were faced with a mountain of food consisting of eggs, toast, and bacon. She made a plate for herself with the leftover food, pouring coffee into a mug. By the time she sat down, Sam had already finished more than half his his plate.
"Thanks for making this, Scar," Sam said as he shoveled the food into his mouth. Lila scrunched her face up at his table manners, quietly munching on the piece of bacon in her hands.
"No problem, I had Jace and Ethan open today, so I don't have to go in for a bit," their older sister said with a smile. "Do you both have everything you need for the day? Can you think of anything you might need?"
Sam shrugged. "I think we've got everything. I even have a pen."
"How prepared of you, Sam. Oh, Lila, do you have your cleats and soccer stuff?" Scarlett checked, trying to rack her brain for everything she can think of as she began to eat.
Lila froze, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. Her eyes darted over to her twin, who was staring at her expectantly. Sam gestured loosely to their sister. "Tell her."
"Tell me what?" their older sister said, pausing mid-bite. She placed her toast down to her plate, her eyes skeptical.
"I..." Lila trailed off, playing with the eggs with her fork. Her next words were so quiet and under her breath that they nearly went unheard. "I might have quit the team."
"You what?" Scarlett asked in shock.
"I quit the team," she said, this time with more conviction to her voice.
Her sisters eyes were the widest she had ever seen them. "You... quit?"
Lila winced. "Yes?"
"I— Lila, you were the captain this year, you even talked about playing in college," Scarlett reminded her as if the facts had been forgotten by her sister. "You've played since you were five."
Lila sighed. "I know."
Scarlett shrugged helplessly. "Did you tell mom?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I figured she just told you," Lila admitted and didn't miss the look of hurt that flashes across her sisters face. Lila grimaced internally, internally admitting she probably should have told her sister herself. "It just wasn't really making me happy anymore, you know?"
Scarlett quickly recovered, offering her sister a supportive smile. "Absolutely, you deserve to enjoy your senior year."
After a few more minutes of eating, their plates were empty and their stomachs were filled. Scarlett picked up their plates, but Sam quickly stood up and took them from her hands. He gave her a pointed look, silently telling her that he wouldn't let her do the dishes. Scarlett smiled in thanks, as she and Lila began to put away various ingredients.
Scarlett turned towards them. "Did you both have enough to eat?"
"Well... I wouldn't have minded a—" Sam began with a smirk.
"I packed you both doughnuts in your lunches," Scarlett interrupted knowingly as she places the rest of the dishes in the sink. "It was supposed to be a surprise."
"I'll take a picture of the shock on my face to make up for it," Sam assured her.
"You don't have to do that," Scarlett quipped with a scrunch of her face.
"If we don't wanna be late, we need to leave now," Lila said as she checked the clock on the wall.
"Okay, you two," Scarlett said with a clap of her hands. "Drive slow, Sam—"
"Oy!" he protested.
"—and get to school in one piece, please. Call me if you need anything at all, and text both me and mom when you get to school," Scarlett finished as she hands them the last of their necessities.
"Sounds good, thanks Scar!" Lila exclaimed as she hurried out the door. Sam shouted something similar, spinning the keys around his fingers. Once she was sure Scarlett could no longer hear, Lila asked, "We're about to speed through the whole town, aren't we?"
Sam grinned. "Buckle up tight."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
The twin's best friend, Charlie Graham, was waiting for them in their usual parking spot at East Lincoln High School. The blonde-haired boy grinned when he saw them whipping into the lot, the car nearly tipping by how fast Sam was turning the wheel at the speed he was going. Lila could be seen hanging onto anything she could in the car to keep herself upright. They abruptly stopped as they pulled in, narrowly missing Charlie in the process.
When the twins began to get out from the car, Charlie chuckled as he said, "Naturally, you two are turning two wheels onto Main Street."
"Well, if someone wasn't terrified of left turns, we could've been here ten minutes ago," Lila commented as she pulled her backpack out from the car.
Sam placed his hand on his chest in feign offense. "My apologizes for choosing safety."
Lila let out a laugh, nodding slowly. "Yes, going twenty miles over the speed limit is the exactly how they define safety."
"No, I chose safety by making us get here on time," Sam corrected her, locking the car. "If I start the year by being late right off the bat, Miss. Davis will ring my neck like a rag."
Lila looked over to him blankly. "And if you got us into an accident, Mom would've done the same."
"What's gotten into you?" Charlie quipped as they began to walk into the school.
Sam waltzed up behind them, slinging his arms around their shoulders and placing himself between the two. This was a natural way for the trio to be seen together. Charlie on the left, Lila on the right, and Sam planted directly in the middle with his arms around them. Due to their close proximity, he stepped on the back of their feet with nearly every step they took. Charlie didn't mind the flat tiring much, but Lila would if she didn't get enough caffeine that particular morning.
The twins first met Charlie in kindergarten. During nap time, the three were too energetic to get any sleep. They were put in a classroom to play while the others slept in peace. Little did the teacher know she'd accidentally create a life long friendship. After they played a game Lila created that was a combination of playing house and tag, Charlie decided he wanted to see the twins more. And he would get his wish, seeing as they would hang out nearly everyday for the next twelve years.
Sam decided to take the liberty of answering Charlie's question for his sister. "She's nervous the soccer team is gonna shun her from their group."
"No, I'm not," Lila denied, flicking his arm off. Unfortunately, he was right, but she wouldn't admit that. "I bet they won't even care that I quit."
"You didn't leave them with nothing, at least," Charlie pointed out optimistically. "You left a book of tips for the new captain and wrote down all your strategies. I bet they'll be fine, Lila."
"Yeah," Sam scoffed out, keeping his arm around Charlie. "Cause I'm sure they were just hoping and praying their captain would ditch them a week before the season started."
"And you wonder why I'm not feeling the most chipper this morning," Lila grumbled as she walked faster, looking around for her friends from the team. She got a bit ahead of her brother and their friend when, needing a moment to breathe away from them.
"Lila!" a voice exclaimed, making Lila's heart feel a bit lighter. She turned around to see her friend from the team, Estelle, hurrying towards her. Her bindi glimmered in the sunlight, her doe eyes shining just as bright. She had half of her dark hair pulled into a clip, the rest falling down in soft waves.
"Hi," Lila greeted nervously. Her friend threw her arms around her, giving her a tight hug. Lila stumbled back slightly, surprised by the energetic greeting but happy that it happened. She felt herself smile, glad that at least one of her friends hasn't abandoned her.
"It's so good to see you, I've missed you at practice," her friend said sorrowfully. "How have you been?"
Lila nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm good! It's weird not being on the team anymore, but I'm good. More relaxed."
Lila was grateful that Estelle didn't comment on the fact that she was clearly not more relaxed. "I'm glad, you're not missing much anyway."
She knew her friend was lying, but was relieved to not hear about their season so far without her. Lila only smiled and continued on, "How are you? Did you have a good rest of your break?"
"Yeah!" Estelle said in her chipper voice. "Ready to get back into the school routine, though."
"How's... everyone else?" Lila asked hesitantly.
Estelle faltered slightly, her eyes hosting some worry. "They're good!"
"Estelle."
"They're maybe not so good."
Lila shifted nervously. "Do they hate me?"
"No, of course not," Estelle denied, her voice hesitant and more distant. "But I would maybe give them a bit of space."
Lila paused, her voice coming out sadder than she intended. "Space?"
Estelle shook her head, giving her friend a warm smile. "Screw them. If they can't understand why you quit, then they're not that good of friends anyway."
"Yeah, totally," Lila agreed with a smile, a feeling of relief coming over her.
"So..." Estelle began, a look of confusion flashing across her face, "why did you quit?"
Lila let out a laugh, realizing that she never actually told her friend any reason why she was quitting. This made her love Estelle even more. The girl has always been there for her, no matter what the situation was. The fact that her friend would defend her through thick and thin made her feel that much more relieved about her situation.
"Honestly, I just couldn't handle the pressure," Lila admitted in a small voice. "It was just too much."
She didn't want to go into detail, but it was in part because she was struggling to accept the fact that her father wouldn't be here to witness any of her senior year. He wouldn't be there in stands of her games or there to talk about certain plays with her after the fact. She didn't want to even try to picture having her senior night and to not hear his name being announced with her family. The past seasons had been brutal for her, and she couldn't stand it for another minute. The idea of him not being there for graduation or to see where she'd go to college was painful enough, she couldn't add this to it.
Lila could see that her friend wanted to pry on why she really quit the team, but she was grateful when the conversation went into a different direction. The two girls walk into school, chatting about their upcoming classes. They pass various groups of students who were gossiping about all types of topics, and Lila didn't mind eavesdropping once in a while to stay up to date on what was going on at the school.
When they were about to walk past a few girls on the soccer team, Lila only pretended not to notice them not-so-subtly turn to walk the other direction. Estelle tried to distract her with discussion about a class they shared together, but all Lila could do was focus on the look on her team's face when they saw her. It was a feeling she never thought she'd have.
Maybe Lila would feel a bit out of place to begin with, but all she could do was hope that was just for the day, and wouldn't last the year to come. She could only hope that Sam's first day was going a bit better than her own.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Hi!! I hope you guys enjoyed, please comment and vote!! Let me know what you think :) Ugh I have so much planned already I can't wait to get it all posted here!!!