Adam stood in the stadium corridor. He could hear the raucous cheers of the crowd outside, chanting in unison. In the corridor, alongside his teammates, lingered a sense of tension. He looked at his wrist, eyes fixated on the golden bangle given to him by Rym. He thought about it for a moment; what he was here to do, what this was leading up to, and what he wanted to be. He grinned, as he looked back to his teammates, all of whom stood by the walls, psyching themselves up for their match. Everton made his way up to him.
"Antar, how are you feeling?"
Adam maintained his trademark grin. "I'm pumped!"
The team captain grinned. "We'll be watching you, striker. I'm eager to see just how two freshmen can make it on a varsity team."
That's right, there's two of us! He turned his head back and saw his teammate Ronaldo, who gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back. And he doesn't even have powers. He must be good.
Ronaldo held out a fist. "Let's show them we're just as good as they are, okay?"
Grinning, Adam bumped fists. "For sure!"
Adam looked back outside, where the Fox Bay band was beginning to play their opening number.
"How much do you think we're gonna win by today?" he asked, maintaining his grin.
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The boys had already secured their seats, keeping an eye out for their friend. Standing beside Juan was Jasmine, who had elected to wear her pom-poms and a cheerleader outfit for the occasion. Juan struggled to contain himself. Even Gabriel looked different - today he was wearing a bandanna adorned with the Algerian flag, in full support of Adam. Juan stood between his two friends, exasperatedly looking at the two of them.
"Yo, how come no one told me to wear anything special?" He pointed to Gabriel's bandanna. "And where'd you get that?"
Gabriel, maintaining his serious and deadpan expression, blushed. "Mimi gave it to me."
He turned to Jasmine. "And you," he pointed, "You never told me you were a cheerleader!"
Jasmine winked. "You never asked."
He pouted. "Wish I had something neat like you guys." He felt something tap his back and he turned around to meet the source.
It was Cherif.
The young Algerian smiled. "Juanito! This is for you!" He held out a beanie emblazoned with the Algerian flag.
Juan grabbed the beanie, changed out his own hat, and put the new one on. A perfect fit. He smiled, bent over and picked the young boy up. "Thanks, little guy! Where's your brother?"
Cherif pointed out in the direction he'd just come from. "There!" he announced, a big grin on his face. Sure enough, there was Sammy, holding something tall and wrapped up in his two hands. He waved.
Juan returned the wave with a small wave of his own. "All right, little homie, let's get you back over there, huh?"
"No!" the boy shouted. "I want to see Adam play! I want to be tall!"
Juan smiled. He lifted the boy and placed him on his shoulders. "How's that?"
Cherif giggled. "I'm tall now! Help me find Adam!"
Jasmine giggled softly to herself.
Juan looked at her. "What's so funny?"
She smiled. "It's just that, I can't help but think you'd make a good dad one day...Juanito."
YOU ARE READING
EXISTENCE
Action"Remember son, all you need to survive, to live, and to win, is yourself and your team. It's never just one or the other." Gabriel Domingo is the boss of a little trio of friends who have all been born with abnormal super powers, each one stemming f...
