Pride, Ego, Audacity

2. Ego

Kalen

"How did you know I hit the buzzer beater at my game yesterday? I never told you." I asked Kaden as we made our way to school.

"What do you mean? I didn't know." Kaden looked at me confused.

"What? Silvera said you were the one who told him." I stated.

"He did?" Kaden asked, still confused for a moment before realisation appeared to set in. "Oh, right, yeah, sure, I did."

"How'd you know?"

"Dev- I mean, I asked coach for the results of your game." Kaden explained.

"Hey babe." My girlfriend, Brooklyn, approached us as we walked into school.

"Hey." I pulled her towards me before leaning down to give her a kiss.

"That's my cue to get out of here. See you after school." Kaden rolled his eyes at us before walking towards his group of friends who were hanging around their usual spot, Devin being among them.

"Are you going to the party after school today?" Brooklyn asked as we walked towards her locker.

"What party?" I asked, trying to remember if anyone had mentioned a party in the past week.

"Devin's party. He's throwing a celebration because the soccer team won yesterday." Brooklyn explained.

"Of course he is. The dramatic fucker." I grumbled having already expected Devin to make a big deal over his win.

"Stop being so mean to him. They did beat a really good team." Brooklyn pointed out.

"I'm not being mean. He's just so dramatic about everything all of the time." I complained. Brooklyn glared cutely at me and I just pouted at her in return. She chuckled at me before turning to put her things in her locker.

"So are you going?"

"You know I never miss a party." I grinned, leaning against the row of lockers.

"Of course not." She agreed, knowing my love for parties all too well after our two years together. "I can't go because I have tutoring, but you go have fun. By the way, you should go, you have three minutes to get to your locker and to class. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yup." I confirmed. Brooklyn waved at me before making her way to class. Pulling out my phone to check my schedule, I quickly made my way down the hallway to my locker only to bump into someone running straight towards me. With my free hand, I quickly reached out to grab them, knowing my build was likely to knock over most people who bumped into me, let alone run into me like this person had.

"Thanks Kalen. Or are you Kaden? Wait no I just saw Kaden go to class with Devin." Charlotte fretted while I stood there laughing at her confusion. Charlotte was, unfortunately, Devin's girlfriend. It was not unfortunate because I liked her or anything. It was unfortunate because she was such a sweet person yet she was dating someone like Devin.

"You were right the first time. Sorry, I should've watched where I was going." I apologised.

"No, it's fine. I shouldn't have been running. Speaking of which, I'm going to be late for class. Bye Kalen!" Charlotte spoke quickly before speeding off to class.

I called out a bye to her before swiftly making my way to my locker then to class, getting there just before the bell. The teacher walked in behind me, looking at me disapprovingly. What a hypocrite.

"Over here." Izack called, waving me over to the empty seat next to him. I made my way over to the seat, stopping to give Kaden his jacket which he asked me to grab for him from his locker and pointedly ignoring Devin who sat on his other side.