He’s been ahead of me my entire life.

Blaze turned on his stealth to evade the blow from one of Team 1’s fighters. Using the active ability on his Boost Boots, he exploded forth towards the exposed back of his opponent. Upon reaching his destination, Blaze yanked out a pair of twin daggers and lunged at his opponent.

I knew he played this game. I started playing because of him. I started playing so I could beat him.

Blaze drove his daggers home, knocking his opponent down to half health. Roaring with rage, the enemy whirled around, carving through the air with an enormous two-handed axe. In response, Blaze dropped to the dirt floor of the forest, hearing the whoosh of air as the axe passed above his head.

As soon as the axe passed, Blaze hopped to his feet, twirling his daggers in his hands. Adrenaline flowing through his veins, he drove the finishing blow towards his opponent.

“Watch out, Blaze!” shouted DJ.

Blaze glanced up to find an arrow shooting at his face.

I practiced so much.

DJ, in the form of Sune the Alchemist, darted in front of him, tearing a section of his robes off his body. Making a hand sign, DJ mutated the scrap of cloth into iron ore, one of the items he had stored in his Alchemy Inventory. The cloth took on a silver sheen as it was transformed, hardening into a large sheet of metal. The incoming arrow crashed into the makeshift shield and clattered to the ground.

So why is he still so far in front me?

*

“I’m sorry, you didn’t make the cut,” said the high school basketball coach, standing in front of the group of boys who didn’t make it past the fifth and final day of tryouts. “Keep practicing – there’s always next year!”

But…I don’t have a next year, thought Blaze, hands tightening into fists. I’m a senior.

*

“You hear that, there’s a freshman on the basketball team that doesn’t even practice!” whispered one of the kids in class.

“Who is it? Who is it?”

“It’s the super tall kid named DJ. He’s supposed to be here on an athletic scholarship!”

*

“I’ll play you for your spot on the team,” said Blaze, staring down DJ.

“Huh?” said DJ.

“I’ll play you one on one,” said Blaze, glaring up at DJ. “If I win, you give up your spot on the basketball team. If you win, I’ll give up on playing basketball!”

DJ stared at him, mouth agape. “If you enjoy it, why would you quit?”

Because I’ll know that even if I put in a hundred times – no, a thousand times the effort, I’ll never be a better player than someone born to play. Someone like you.

“Just ‘cuz,” said Blaze, shoving his hands in his pockets. “We’ll play up to 11, 1’s and 2’s. Win by 2.”

“…okay,” said DJ.

Eleven points later, Blaze collapsed to his hands and knees on the basketball court, sweat dripping from his nose to the floor. Gasping for air, he glanced up at DJ, who was standing there, spinning the ball in his hands.

“I win,” said Blaze. “Eleven to zero.”

“Yup,” said DJ. “Good game!”

Blaze tightened his jaw. Does a spot on the team mean so little to you? And how is a player on an athletic scholarship so bad?

Blaze watched as DJ executed several fancy dribble sequences, putting the ball behind his legs several times, behind his back, in-and-out dribbles…

But during the game, I stole the ball from him every time he had possession. He didn’t even get a shot off!

DJ dribbled the ball several feet behind the three-point line and launched up a shot. Swish. Nothing but net.

“You…you let me win,” said Blaze, hands trembling.

“No, I didn’t,” said DJ, grabbing his gym bad. “I -”

“Why did you let me win?” Blaze asked, staring DJ in the eye.

After seeing the look on Blaze’s face, DJ’s smile slowly dissipated.

“People have told me about you,” said DJ. “You’re the guy who gets in to practice an hourly early and leaves an hour late just to do extra drills. When I watched you at tryouts, I could see how much you loved the game.”

Blaze was silent.

“And to be honest with you, I don’t think I love basketball anymore,” said DJ. “These days I just play because my family forces me to. I’d rather spend my time working to become a pro gamer!”

Meeting Blaze’s eyes, DJ smiled.

“So at the end of the day, when you look at you and me and what each of us wants, you obviously deserve the spot on the team.”

Blaze could only watch as DJ packed his gym bag and walked out of the gym, giving Blaze a brief wave as he left.

*

“You hear that, the freshman I was talking about quit the team!” said one of the kids in class. “Anyone know why?”

“I hear he lost a game against you, Blaze!” said another kid.

“You know what he told me afterwards?” said Blaze. “The nerd says he wants to be a pro gamer!”

The kids sitting next to Blaze burst out into laughter.

“A pro gamer?”

“Is that even a legal profession?”

“What a nerd!”

“Congrats, Blaze!” said one of his fellow seniors on the basketball team. “Guess your hard work finally paid off!”

Blaze managed a smile.

My hard work measures up to nothing against his natural talent.

*

Blaze watched as DJ made another hand sign, slamming his palm against the armor of the enemy team’s fighter. A moment later, the fighter’s armor splintered into shards of ice, piercing the character’s body and reducing his health to 0 in an instant.

In the distance, the rest of Team One – the other fighter, the scout, the support, and the king – arrived.

“Break past them!” shouted Team One’s king.

The opposing team charged towards them, screaming their battle cries. Grabbing two tree branches from the ground, DJ charged at the enemy king. Blaze watched as DJ made a hand sign, converting the branches into iron. Spinning, DJ rammed the iron branch into the face of the opposing team’s fighter, who had come to intercept him.

Roaring with rage and desperation, the rest of the enemy team leaped at DJ, pulling out whatever weapons they owned. As the enemies leaped, DJ dropped to one knee, chaining several hand signs together. Right before the enemies landed on top of him, DJ slammed his palms against the ground.

An inferno of blue flame erupted from the ground, engulfing DJ and everything around him. Blaze covered his eyes, squinting from the brightness of the explosion, trying to make out what had happened.

“I’ve got the sword!” shouted Val in the comms.

In the midst of the flames, Blaze saw DJ clamber to his feet, having been protected by the fire-proof robes he had purchased in the equipment screen. A moment later, the word “victory” ran across the screen, slowing fading to black.

He’s so far ahead of me – will I ever catch up?