Daydream Believer

lxxiv. bowling and the art of staying undefeated

lxxiv. bowling and the art of staying undefeated

Bowling had just started up again. I still didn't have a ton of friends in bowling, but I had Michelle. That was all you needed really: one true friend that would always be there for you.

In our two years of bowling together, we had never lost a single game. That fact was due to both skill and luck. Michelle had the skill and I seemed to have the luck. I never considered myself to be a good bowler, but I was getting better.

"Hey McKenna," Michelle said. "Ready to win?"

I smiled. "Don't get too confident," I said. "That's how we lose."

"You say that as if we know what it's like to lose," Michelle said. "We're undefeated, remember?"

"Of course," I said, though I wasn't certain we would maintain that if Michelle kept this up. Some days it felt like she wasn't even trying. She was just that sure that we would win.

"Are we ready though? We're playing my sister again. It's her last year here and she really wants that trophy."

"I'm ready."

I found my lucky ball and headed over to the lane. Michelle's sister and her friend were already there.

"You go first," I said nervously to Michelle. Michelle nodded and took her turn. 7. She bowled again and knocked down two more pins.

Michelle's sister stepped up to the lane and bowled a strike. "YES!" she shouted.

"We're still going to win," Michelle said.

The game continued like that. Finally, it was our last turn. We were tied: 121-121. I stepped up and tried to aim at the front pin. I managed to knock down all but one of them. Good. I could still get a spare. I aimed at the one pin I missed and swung.

Nope. It missed.

Our opponents easily bowled another strike. It was over. We were no longer undefeated. We would be going home with a silver trophy instead of a gold one.

Before this, we didn't know what it felt like to lose. It hurt. A lot.