Downfall of the nation's hero

Prologue

The fight is over. I have been left alone to process it all, at least that's what I told my friends I was about to do. The stands of the stadium are long empty and the lights are almost all switched off, leaving me in a place full of shadows. Confetti on the ground and the netless hoops on both sides of the court serve as a reminder of the celebrations that took place an hour ago at the same spot. I'm sitting at the half-court line, right in the middle of it all. The heavy metal circle on my neck keeps weighing the mood down. I would do anything to get rid of the souvenir making sure I never forget our loss, I'd trade the silver medal for the bronze one in a heartbeat. That's how badly the loss hurts. That's the pain of playing team sports, if you're second, you lose your final game of the tournament. And no one likes losing, especially not me, the golden child of Lithuania's national team - Audra Matonis.

"I knew I would find you here!" A familiar voice exclaims behind me.

I roll my eyes at the positive tone my brother used to address me. This isn't the right time for optimism, at least not now when I lost us the gold-medal game at the Olympics against the country he's repping on his chest. Unlike him, I chose to represent the country of our origin, our parents' home - Lithuania. Adomas, on the other hand, decided to wear blue, white, and red, representing the USA. Traitor.

"You didn't know shit, Ado, I bet the rest of the team told you." I don't even look at him. Not because I'm angry, but because I don't want him to see me cry. He'd never stop teasing me about it.

He sighs and sits next to me, grabbing the medal hanging on my neck, without asking. He stares at it for a moment and then lets it fall back to my chest.

"So like, you're an olympic medalist," he puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him, "that's what you've always dreamed about. Why the sad face then? I didn't even come close, Auds, while you're the nation's hero at fifteen years old. I don't get it."

Of course, he doesn't. I mean, how could he? He does track, so for him finishing second is a win. Also, he's never been under so much pressure as I was. He doesn't know what it's like to be under the constant radar of the media as a teenager, he never lived in a spotlight, only in my shadow. It must have been hard in a different way to have your five years younger sister take the sports world by storm when you've been trying to do so for much longer. But still, it's not like my family was ever against the press invading my privacy at such a young age. In fact, my mother has been scheduling reporters to attend my games ever since I was ten. That was around the time they discovered I had an enormous talent for shooting from behind the arc, as I started drawing comparisons to Steph Curry, Sabrina Ionescu, or Caitlin Clark. I never liked it, I just wanted to be Audra Matonis.

"Get your ass away from her, Adomas." Another familiar voice enters the scene.

My brother imitates her with sarcastic gestures but obeys her order.

"Do you want us to wait for you?" He asks when he gets back to his feet. "Or should I tell Mom and Dad to go?"

I love my parents, I really do, but they're the last people on Earth I want to see right now. Besides, I have to do a press conference in about an hour or so. And judging by the amount of attention I got during the last two weeks, it's gonna be a long one, especially after my fucked up performance tonight.

"Go," I tell him, "It's gonna take forever before I get out of here."

He nods and disappears into the bowels of the stadium, leaving me alone with Sophie Leroux, who happens to be one of my closest friends. She's also my teammate from Andover High School. I am a freshman and she is a senior so we only got to play one year together before she graduates, but this Canadian will forever have a special place in my heart.