Erika groaned as someone shook her awake the next morning.
"Wake up you lazy whore," Laura said. Erika sighed heavily and rolled over and pulled the sheets over her head, she planned to get up. Eventually. And what was Laura doing up so early? She came in after she was talking to Lovino and told Erika that she'd be out with Lovino that evening, and then they stayed out. All evening. Until maybe midnight at least, because that was when Erika heard the front door slam.
"I'll get up eventually," Erika waved her off.
"But we have to leave soon," Laura whined.
Erika pulled the sheets from her head and squinted at Laura in question. "Where are we going?" Erika calmly asked, still obviously sleepy.
Laura sat down at the edge of Erika's bed. "We're going to Lovino's soccer scrimmage,"
Erika pulled the sheets back over her head, "I don't care. Go alone or call Elizabeta,"
Laura bit her lip, "I was going to go alone, until Antonio called and asked me to bring you. Something about a kiss I think it was," Laura wriggled her eyebrows.
Erika quickly pulled the sheets from her head and jumped out of bed, "Help me get ready," she ordered Laura. Laura laughed and went straight to work on picking Erika out an outfit.
"What time do we need to leave? Do I have time to shower?" Erika asked, running to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her hair.
"Well it's nine-forty five, the game starts at ten o'clock so no. I don't think you have time," Laura replied, pulling out some dark jeans and a sweater paired with a matching scarf. When Erika came rushing back into the room Laura handed her the clothes, and Erika stripped immediately and hastily pulled on the clothes. Not caring that she almost lost her balance trying to wriggle her way into her skinny jeans.
"Why didn't you wake me up sooner? What should I do with my hair?" Erika snapped out of panic.
"Sit on your bed, I'll French braid it to the side and tie it in a bun," Laura replied calmly. Erika sat on the edge of her bed while Laura did her hair exactly like she said she would. All that was left was to grab her coat and some gloves and head out the door.
"Who has a soccer scrimmage in the dead of winter?" Erika complained, walking up that cursed hill to get to the school where it was to take place on the field.
"People who are dedicated," Laura replied.
"Whatever," Erika rolled her eyes. "So what did you and Lovino do last night? You were out pretty late,"
Laura blushed in reply and buried her nose in her scarf and her gloved hands in her pocket.
"Oh my god! Are you guys together now?" Erika gushed.
Laura shook her head quickly, "No, nothing like that. We just kissed and stuff that's all," Laura turned even more red and buried her face further in her scarf.
"So pretty much you guys are messing around," Erika reasoned, nodding as if to tell Laura that if she didn't tell her what was going on, she'd assume the worst.
Laura took the bait, "No, no, no! We're not dating yet. It's like you have to ease into these things you know?"
Erika thought for a second. It was kind of like her and Antonio, so she understood perfectly. "Yeah, I do know. But how did this come about all of the sudden? You hated him twenty-four hours ago!"
Laura smiled meekly at Erika, still obviously embarrassed on the subject, "Well he liked me—"
"Duh," Erika interrupted.
"And I liked him. So he apologized for being so mean, and I asked him why he was always so mean to me, because I was worried that he hated me for some reason. And then he blushed and he told me that he didn't hate me, and that it was the opposite. So I asked him if he liked me, and he blushed even more and nodded. Then I told him I liked him too and we kissed. The end," Laura summarized for Erika.
Erika knitted her eyebrows and cocked her head. "It was that easy?"
"Yeah, it was," Laura smiled, obviously happy that the event happened.
"So let me get this straight. All of the drama could have been avoided if Lovino would have just had some balls?" Erika asked, mentally cursing herself for being a good friend to Antonio and not spilling the big secret to Laura when she could have. Laura looked like she was weighing her options before finally nodding.
"Wow," was all Erika could muster before the two made it to the soccer field at the edge of the school. The game had already started, and they were late. The two girls sat on the table of a picnic table on the soccer field and Laura scanned the players for Lovino. When Laura's eye finally rested on Lovino, he looked up and smiled at her. Laura waved giddily back.
"Wow, so you guys completely changed overnight," Erika observed, giving Laura an incredulous look. It was just that easy. All along. Lovino just had to confess his feelings and then bam, everything was good again.
"Yeah. We just weren't on the same page and now we are, that's all," Laura told her matter-of-factly.
"So are these guys good or am I just wasting my time?" Erika asked changing the subject. It was chilly outside, and she really didn't feel like staying outside to watch a team that's going to lose. And plus she was tired. Skyping with her parents late at night just wasn't working for her, she had to find a different time to do it.
"Well they're good. But the other team is better. So we'll have to see," Laura told her. Erika saw Antonio, and she waved at him. But next to Antonio was Roderick, and he appeared to be playing too. Erika looked around but didn't see Elizabeta anywhere, they were usually inseparable.
"Hey why isn't Elizabeta here? That's Roderick playing right?" Erika inquired.
"Oh Elizabeta is at her family's condo in the mountains skiing. I think Roderick is going to meet her there in a few days or something," Laura replied, never taking her eyes off of Lovino. They had only confessed their feelings for each other in the past twenty four hours and they were already acting like they had been together forever.
"That's nice," Erika added just so that Laura knew that she had her. The game had just barely started and the other team had already scored a goal. Erika groaned, it was going to be a long game if this continued.
Erika and Laura made small talk throughout the game and it was clear that their friend's team wasn't going to win, although they did hold their own pretty well, they were only two points behind the other team.
"Well we're done for," Laura finally said, looking bored with the game and not as excited as she once was.
"We were done for when that team stepped onto the field," Erika pointed out.
"At least the boys had fun," Laura tried. The game soon ended and much to Erika's disappointment Antonio never scored a goal. And even if he did score a goal, it probably wouldn't have counted, seeing as it wasn't even soccer season yet for them. After the game the trio of sweaty and smelly boys went to talk to the girls at their little picnic table. The first thing Lovino did when he reached Laura was plant a big kiss on her lips, Erika tried to hide her shock, but not very well.
Antonio laughed, "They completely changed overnight," he told Erika.
"It's a good change," Roderick pointed out.
"It definitely beats them yelling at each other," Erika agreed.
"Let's go out to lunch," Laura suggested to the group, but Erika knew that it was just a ploy to spend more time with Lovino. But of course, she wouldn't mind spending more time with Antonio either.
"Sure, let's just get out of the cold," Erika shivered as if on cue. The wind definitely was slicing, and the dampness of the day didn't help very much either. The group walked away from the school and into the town to their favorite little café. When they reached the café Erika and Laura ordered a pizza to share and the boys ordered their own individual meals.
Laura and Lovino were all over each other the whole time. Laura always had her arm around him, her head on his shoulder, her hand on the leg, pretty much anything she could do to touch Lovino was done. But of course, Lovino didn't help the awkward situation either; he was all over Laura as well.
"Is this what it feels like when Elizabeta and I are together around you all?" Roderick finally asked. He certainly felt like the third wheel, except for he was more like the fifth wheel in this case.
"No, it's more comfortable than this," Antonio replied nodding towards Laura and Lovino who appeared to be paying no attention.
"I just cannot believe they changed so fast," Roderick observed, turning his attention to his food rather than dare be interested in anything that was going on.
"I'm not sure how genuine it is," Erika admitted. "But at least they're having fun,"
Antonio smiled at her words, "That's the spirit,"
Maybe it was the spirit. Her time here was halfway over and what had she done with her time? Absolutely nothing.
It was time to accomplish something, and time that she fully let go of Gilbert. In order to let go of Gilbert she had to move on. And she knew exactly who to move on to.