Mateo is everything that makes Anthony grind his teeth with both envy and desire. Taller, broader, and naturally gifted at everything he does, Mateo has always been the golden boy-and, for some reason, Anthony couldn't stand it. He hated that Mateo always seemed to be the center of attention, the perfect athlete, the one everyone wanted to be. And yet, despite the rivalry, there was something in the way Mateo looked at him during practice that twisted his stomach. A challenge. A spark. It made Anthony want to rip into him with everything he had, just to see what would happen when they collided. Their middle school rivalry was the stuff of legends. The constant one-upping. The snide comments. The underhanded jabs when they were forced to work together in PE. The way they never could be on the same team without fighting like cats in a bag. Every moment they shared was a battle-until that one day when both of their coaches saw potential and forced them to play on the same volleyball team. Why volleyball?
The game itself was the perfect arena for their war. Volleyball was a game of power, control, and strategy-a game where mistakes were unforgivable and tension could snap with a single move. For Mateo, it was an outlet for his natural competitiveness. He loved the rush, the skill, the precision of the game. But for Anthony? It was more than just an outlet; it was the only way to prove he could stand toe-to-toe with Mateo and win. Volleyball wasn't just a game-it was his battlefield, his chance to show that maybe, just maybe, he could break the golden boy's perfect streak.