From The Somewhat Perilous Plot of the Patriotic Mosquitoes
Andrew was lying on the couch this morning. He was not feeling well at all since this morning. It appeared that the Patriotic Mosquitoes were still nowhere in sight. If they were spotted, then they would've been notified somehow. Right now, though, Andrew didn't care too much about what was going on. He was just trying to focus on getting over this stupid and annoying cold that he seemed to have. He wanted to be sprawled out on the couch while eating some delicious chicken noodle soup and drinking some delicious mint tea. He didn't mind that at all today. And, as a matter of fact, Levi wasn't too concerned about the Patriotic Mosquitoes either. He wanted to make good use of his time and go on a run. He hadn't done so in about a week, and he was pretty sad about that. The last time he had gone on a run was with Mackenzie Burbanks, his girlfriend, when they wanted to on the north side of Valparaiso. And, since then, Levi was also getting over a cold. He just simply did not feel like doing anything. He was pretty much all better now, but last week he was pretty miserable. Levi basically lived on chicken noodle soup and tea for at least two days if not more. He also used that time and listened to his most favorite rock bands while taking it easy. Because....why not? Andrew had actually gone on a run this morning as well. A lot earlier than Levi; he forced himself to get up at 6:30 in the morning to go on an hour long run. He had to try to get himself over this cold, so that could be a good way of getting rid of it. At least he'd thought so. However, when he came back from his run, he went back to sleep. And he fell asleep for four hours. No night meds or anything. It just happened, which was probably good, given the situation. Andrew woke up when he heard the door open. He did know who it was, though. "I just came back from running around the area," Levi said, panting. "You okay, man?" Andrew asked, slightly worried. He had gone on a run a little earlier, and now he was taking the time for a breather. "My chest hurts. I don't know why. And my heart is pounding." "Did you cool down at all?" "A little, and then I realized I needed to come back in," Levi replied. "Is your asthma acting up?" Andrew asked. "No. I don't think it is because I used my inhaler before I went on my run." "Well, funny thing is, I actually have asthma as well. You probably don't know that." "How long have you had it?" "Not too long ago. It's adult onset." Andrew has actually had asthma for a few years. He didn't notice it until one day when he was seventeen, and he was playing tennis extra hard. Andrew did have some trouble catching his breath, and then he realized that he knew what this could mean. One other person in his immediate family has asthma, and that is his little sister, Alyssa. However, due to how mild her condition is, she manages her asthma pretty well. Andrew has had asthma since he was seventeen years old, but he has a mild case as well. He has had maybe two actual asthma attacks after the incident during tennis practice. Levi, on the other hand, has not always managed his asthma very well and he has had a few more asthma attacks since Andrew. And, also, Levi has had asthma since the age of five. Even though Levi has moderate asthma, he has always ended up fine. Levi came back into the common area of Rockybado’s humble abode. He knew for sure that Andrew was really not comfortable. Andrew's face looked puffy, not so much to the point that he might have a sinus infection. But more or less due to the fact that what Andrew had was most likely a head cold. And perhaps a chest cold as well. If that really does exist, who knows. Levi sat down on the adjacent recliner and started texting Mackenzie, his girlfriend. Andrew was pretty sure he knew who Levi was texting. Or at least that was what he assumed. And that was most definitely the path of least resistance. Andrew wanted to make some conversation, but he didn't feel up to getting off the couch. He just lay there like a cat and rested his head on his pillow. He had a blanket over him, but he was not feeling cold now. It was most definitely a weird thing. One minute, Andrew was freezing and needed a blanket. The other minute, he was burning up and did not require a blanket. Levi felt the exact same way before they came here. And he thought that he might have picked it up from Mackenzie's side of the family. Two of her brothers, Jesse and Andrew, were supposedly on their proverbial death beds as well. In other words, the cold that must have been going around really hit them hard. "So how long have you and Mackenzie been together?" Andrew asked. "Nine years, as of October," Levi replied. "Oh wow!" "Yes, and it's been going strong ever since we've actually been together." "I'm almost there actually," Andrew remarked. "Are you with someone?" Levi felt compelled to ask. "Yes, I'm with Eliza Colbert. We were dating most of middle school and the first half of high school. Then, I dated someone else for about a year. She was nice and all, and we're still friends, but it just wasn't the same." "So, how did you and Eliza get back together?" "College. We just so happened to go to the same school." "I guess the same thing happened with David and Olivia." Fate just seemed to happen for Andrew and his girlfriend, Eliza Colbert. They had dated for a while in middle school and high school. However, it was somewhat hard for them because Andrew went to a public school two minutes away from his parents' house. And Eliza went to a private school in Merrillville. They were both involved in quite a lot of clubs and organizations. So, with this in mind, time was most definitely not on their side. And then, when they started college, they then found out that they were going to the same college. But, between the time that Andrew and Eliza had broken up for the first time and the time that they started dating again, Andrew was seeing someone else. They were somewhat friends but they were not super close. The result of this relationship was basically a blind date, with Andrew's friend, Matt Bartz, organizing this for him. "What was the name of the girl that you dated when you finished high school?" Levi asked with utmost curiosity. "Mallory Evans," Andrew said. "My sister might know her." "Really. How?" "She has a lot of friends in the Schererville area. In fact, her best friend, Audrey Bersigno, practically knows everyone from there," Levi remarked. "Interesting. I don't think I know an Audrey Bersigno," Andrew stated. "She's interesting." "How so?" "She likes to have a lot of friends. She's an extrovert, and I'm not, so it's hard to understand them sometimes." "I'm also an extrovert." "So is Olivia to some degree." Andrew finally felt like getting up off the couch and making himself some tea. In all honesty, Levi was kind of in the mood for tea as well. When Andrew was in the kitchen, he saw that there was strawberry lemonade tea, English breakfast tea, mint tea, and Johnny Morthland's Special Tea. What was in this tea exactly? Andrew didn't know. And Levi didn't know. They knew who Johnny Morthland is. But they were really curious about what the main ingredients in the tea were. They had to know! But they weren't in a hurry to know either. Andrew went on ahead and made himself some English breakfast tea, his favorite. However, with the thought of Johnny Morthland's Special Tea running through his compromised head, he took the box and stuffed it in his hoodie pocket. He wanted to learn more about what in the Sam Hill this tea might have been. But he didn't care to know now. And, for that matter, Levi didn't think it mattered too much right now. Levi also made himself some English breakfast tea, which didn't take too long to make. He was on his way back to the common area with Andrew, who saw that Levi was still wearing his ankle brace. Andrew had previously thought that Levi would only need his ankle brace when playing tennis or sleeping, or both. But he might have been wrong. Levi might need to wear his ankle brace a little more often now. "How's the ankle?" Andrew asked. "It's better, I think," Levi replied. "What did you do to it, man?" "I rolled it, and it sucks because it seems like I need my ankle brace on like all the time now." "I can only imagine how that can feel!" Andrew lightened up the mood. "Are you telling me?" Levi remarked. "I've done that before but I don't have horrendously weak ankles either." "Thanks, man." "I didn't mean it to be rude." "I know. I played into it. I do that all the time." Good to know. Andrew and Levi sat in the common area with cups of tea in their hand. They didn't say anything for a little while. Mostly because they were waiting for their tea to cool down a bit. And it wasn't a necessarily cool day. With this in mind, drinking hot tea might not have been the best idea ever. Then again, it might have been, especially for Andrew. Levi just wanted tea, and he also wanted to relax for a bit. He had just finished a pretty intense run, and his ankle was throbbing. Right now, he didn't want to do much with the case involving the Patriotic Mosquitoes. "How are you doing?" Levi asked as he was lying on his back on the couch. "My chest hurts a bit, but I'm not too bad. I just got over a cold so that's why I'm still sounding a bit stuffed up," Andrew replied. "That's good. Better than my dang ankle." "Yeah, you must have twisted it badly out there." "In sports, my mom jokes that I'm an accident waiting to happen," Levi commented. "How so?" Andrew asked. "A lot of running involved and, of course, I forgot my stupid ankle brace today." "Ah. Makes sense." "You gonna play tennis again for a while?" "Oh, I dunno. Hopefully I'll get over this cold soon enough." 'Tis supposedly the season for the cold. Bradley had a cold in June, and so did David. Brody was sick with the cold two weeks ago. Levi had it last week, thanks to two of his girlfriend's brothers. And now Andrew was affected. Honestly, it wasn't just Mackenzie's two brothers who got Levi sick with the cold. Levi's neighbor, Rhody Leyman, was also sick around the same time as Jesse and Andrew Burbanks. Rhody was invited to come on this adventure but he turned it down because of how hard the cold had hit him. At least it didn't hit him with a baseball bat. That would have been rather gruesome. "How's the Rhodes doing?" Andrew asked. "He's good. He got a job," Levi replied. "Oh! Doing what?" "He works for my dad's friend's company in marketing. My dad's buddy got him in." "Your dad's friend in their garage band?" Andrew asked. "Mhm," Levi replied. "That's the nice thing about networking." "What do you do?" "Marketing as well. It's cool that your dad's rock band buddy does some networking." "Yes, and I'm practically guaranteed a job with my dad when I finish school."
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