Pride, Ego, Audacity

1. Pride

Kalen

"Josh, I'm open!" I yelled from the corner. Josh turned from the defender he had been trying to get past and threw the ball towards me. I caught it before swiftly taking a shot. The buzzer sounded just as the ball left my hands and everyone held their breath for a brief moment as the ball arched towards the rim.

As the ball fell into the hoop with a satisfying swish, cheers erupted from my teammates while the opposing team slumped down to the floor. I felt a little pity for them. They were a good team and had topped us for most of the game until the final quarter. We had only won by one point thanks to my clutch 3-pointer.

"Good game." I said as I shook hands with their captain.

"You're a good shooter man." He complimented.

"Thanks bro. Your defence is no joke, though. Tripped me up a couple times." I enthused. He smiled before walking away to talk with other players on the field. I immediately made my way to my coach. He rolled his eyes as he saw me approach, knowing exactly what I was about to ask.

"Did th-" I started.

"Yes, six to two." Coach answered before I could finish my question.

"Damn it." I muttered. "How many by Silvera?" I asked, hoping the answer would be zero.

"Four." Coach told me, ruining my hopes.

Devin Silvera was definitely going to make his four goals a big deal tomorrow. The guy had a knack for being overly dramatic about literally anything. He had chosen the perfect sport for himself by playing soccer. Just a slight graze by another player and he would be on the floor in seconds, rolling around in pain like someone had kicked him in the balls. He wouldn't survive a minute playing basketball and I was glad of that. If I had someone like Devin on the team, I would probably lose my mind. I hate the guy, his presence pisses me off to no end.

"By the look on your face, I'm gonna assume Devin's team won." Izack, my best mate, chuckled.

"Unfortunately." I grumbled.

"And by that tone, I'm gonna assume Devin scored at least three goals." Izack continued.

"Piss off. Go shower, you stink." I scowled.

"Damn, just cause your boyfriend won doesn't mean you need to insult my personal hygiene." He teased. I glared at him.

"Okay, okay, going." He backed away, holding his hands up in mock surrender.

That afternoon when I got home, I confronted my twin brother Kaden, who was also on the soccer team.

"Can't you score some more goals? Why is freakin Silvera scoring like everything." I asked in annoyance.

"Because he's good?" Kaden answered in an 'isn't it obvious' tone, while scrolling through his phone. "Besides, I scored the other two goals."

"Whatever, what's for dinner?" I questioned, diverting topics as was usual with our conversations.

"Whatever you want it to be. Mum's still at work. I already ate with the team."

"Alright I'm heading out to eat then." I informed. Kaden just nodded before waving his hands to shoo me away, eyes still glued to his phone.

I decided to go eat at the restaurant my family usually frequents, but when I arrived I saw a line of about four people out the front. Deciding that the wait probably wouldn't be that long, I joined the back of the line only to regret my decision when I saw who was standing in front of me.

"Devin Silvera." I frowned in annoyance. He turned around at my voice.

"Kaden Simmons." He smirked, knowing full well that I was Kalen. Kaden is his best friend so I knew he could tell who is who between us.