The sound of the whistle resonated through the air, and Ethan Emmerson dropped to his knees.

It didn't surprise him that the Eagles lost, it surprised him that it was up to him for most part.

The people on the bleachers watched as their team made its way to the bench, called there by Coach Langdon. "Boys, you lost."

Yeah, no shit. I think we can tell, said Ethan to himself, but didn't dream of saying it out loud. Instead, he just nodded and lowered his gaze. He was prepared to accept defeat, even if it tasted bitter.

"But you can learn from your mistakes and do better next time. I know you can because I see you play almost every day and today definitely wasn't your best," he added, looking directly at Ethan.

Ethan knew better than to snap back with a snarky comment, but he was sure making some in his head.

Fraser nudged Ethan's side. "What's up?"

"Nothing, why?" That was a lie. Every game they played with the Lions, he became nervous because he was so afraid of losing. But because of his stress, he played worse than usual and the game normally resulted in the Eagles losing.

"You're not playing like you usually do, and I'm guessing you didn't hurt yourself. So something has to be wrong, or you would play like you usually do."

Ethan just laughed a little at Fraser's remark. It was strange that the others didn't notice him biting his nails nervously before every Eagles vs. Lions game, but he was sure that they wouldn't stay blind for much longer.

"I'm fine, really." He paused for a second, realizing that he didn't sound very convincing. "Just tired, that's all," he quickly added, then turned towards the bleachers, seeing his best friend standing at the bottom.

"There's a party at my house later, in case you want to come over," added Fraser, picking up his duffel bag. "Just show up whenever."

"Sure, I'll come over," answered Ethan before walking away.

Joshua stood at the bottom next to the bleachers, a smile perked on his face. "I predicted this."

"You always say we're gonna lose, so the fact that you got it right this once isn't proof of you being some sort of prophet."

Joshua laughed. "I never said I'm a prophet, I'm just saying I have some sort of sixth sense because I guessed that you would lose. And guessed so correctly."

Ethan shook his head and laughed. His best friend always knew how to cheer him up after a loss like that or a particularly bad day. "Your prediction is gonna be wrong the next time around, because I'm winning. The Eagles are winning."

"The next normal game, or the next game against the Lions?" asked Joshua, crossing his hands on his chest. "Because I think that you can definitely win the first one, but I am definitely not so sure for the second one."

What Joshua said was the truth. They had games almost every week and the Eagles won almost every single one of them, but it was a completely different story when it came to the Lions.

It just seemed impossible for Ethan to win those games, or even play half-decently.

"Ava was looking for you, by the way. And then while you were on the field, she was looking at you," said Joshua, chuckling lightly at the end. "I think it's best you go see her before she bullies me into forcing you to do it."

"I don't know, Joshua. I know what she wants."

"I know that, Ethan, I just don't want to be caught in the middle of your relationship drama any longer. Even if that relationship is long over."

Ethan was glad that Joshua added the little clarification at the end. He broke up with Ava long ago and he wanted to just forget that they ever dated. Unfortunately, the girl made it awfully difficult to do so.

"I'll talk to her later. Or sometime soon. I'm gonna go get changed now," he said, turning on his heels and leaving to the locker room.

The rest of the team was still talking to Coach Langdon or to their friends, but after such a terrible loss, Ethan sure as hell wasn't ready to have fun with them.

He locked the locker room door behind him, and just sat down on the bench.

What the actual hell, he said to himself. I don't remember us ever playing as badly as we did today.

He started to bounce his leg nervously before being interrupted by a knock on the door. He stood up and quickly unlocked it. "Sorry I locked it," he said, expecting to find one of his teammates on the other side. "What the hell are you doing here, Hamilton?"

Lucas Hamilton just stood in the doorway with a big smirk on his face. "Well, I just thought I'd come by and tell you how sorry I am that you lost. I know that you had such big hopes for this game."

"Leave me alone," spat Ethan. "I don't want to deal with you right now. Or ever for that matter."

"Well, I think that's most likely impossible since we play each other every few weeks. Our teams, I mean."

Ethan laughed. "Yeah, thanks for the clarification, I wasn't able to tell if you were talking about anything else." He paused for a moment before continuing, "So, can you tell me why you're actually here?"

"I told you, I wanted to come by and tell you that I'm sorry for your loss."

"You're making it sound as if my family member died, asshole. It was a goddamn game, so just get out of here."

Lucas laughed a little as he pressed his shoulder against the doorframe. "You know, you really have to stop getting so upset about everything, Ethan."

"Get out of here, Lucas," muttered Emmerson under his breath, but it was obvious that he was getting angry. Sure, it wasn't the loss of a family member, but he could still get pretty upset about losing a game as badly as he did that day.

However, Hamilton didn't move. On the contrary, the smirk on his face just widened and Ethan found it harder and harder to stop himself from slapping it.

Lucas crossed his hands on his chest. "Or what, you'll try to push me out of here?"

Ethan stopped for a moment. He didn't want a fight to break out, but a part of him realized that there probably wasn't any other way to get Lucas out of there. He wanted to get changed as soon as possible and then go to that party. 

"Lucas, I'm serious. Can you just leave?" The volume of Ethan's voice was beginning to rise higher and higher, but Hamilton still didn't move. "You don't want to start a fight."

Lucas chuckled lightly. "And what if I do? What if the only thing I want to do is start a fight right now?"

Ethan tried to calm himself down, tried to tell himself that it was better if he didn't get mad, but even as he thought those words, he knew how the situation would end.

The thing that added the most to his anger was the way Lucas smiled at him. Ethan knew how much the boy was enjoying the situation, how much he liked being able to annoy him, and he hated it.

"Then you would get a fight," answered Ethan, and even though he was extremely angry, a small smile appeared on his lips. Maybe he was finalyl confident that he was entering a competition with Lucas Hamilton that he could easily win.

Lucas smiled, but a spark of hesitation flashed through his eyes. "Are you sure you want to start this, Emmerson? I doubt that you can come out of this undamaged."

"Don't worry, Hamilton, I can tell you that I've gotten enough hits in my life to learn how to handle them. Plus, I think that I'd rather see your pretty face be not-so-pretty anymore, even if I'll be in pain for a day or two more."

Hamilton rolled up his sleeves, a smile on his face. He was nervous, obviously, but equally as determined to win the fight as his oponnent. 

"Have you ever thought about being nice?" asked Ethan, taling a step forward, before continuing, "Because I know that you're doing all of this for attention. All of this just so you could then come home and-"

Before Ethan could say anything else he felt Lucas's fist clash with his stomach, taking a few steps back before regaining his footing.

"Don't you dare talk about my family," said Hamilton, starting to walk towards Ethan. "I'll show you what you get for that."

But now, Ethan seemed ready for whatever Lucas would throw his way. He dodged the first punch and almost did the same for the second one, but he at least minimized the damage done. He thought about rying to be the bigger person, to not strike back, but he decided against it. He wasn't the first one to swing, but he would make sure to be the last one.

He took a step forward and lunged at Lucas from the right, punching him in the ribs, strong enough for him to have definitely felt it, but not strong enough to break anything. Lucas let out a loud groan as he put his hand on his side, letting his defense down.

Ethan profited from the opportunity to make sure that his defense was better and then take a few steps back. He took a deep breath and examined the situation. Lucas looked hurt, but even angrier than before. 

He tried to strike again, but before he could, there was a loud knock on the door. "Stop it boys."

Both Lucas and Ethan froze in their footsteps and turned to the door. Coach Langdon stood there and was staring at them.

Ethan immediately took two steps back, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Coach, this isn't what you think."

Lucas nodded along, sitting down on one of the benches, still holding his side. "It was just a friendly thing."

"Well, I don't know about you boys, but I sure don't think this is the definition of friendship. A healthy one at least." He put his hands in his pockets, then continued, "A recruiter from an excellent college talked to me the other day, and he came to see two of your previous games Ethan, along with this ones."

He really had to see the one where I played badly, didn't he? thought Ethan, his lips thinning. "What did he say?"

"He was impressed by your gameplay, but he doesn't know what his final opinion about you is. He knows that both you and Mr. Hamilton are going to play for good schools, clashing against each other even at college, and so if you can't get your act together and keep trying to beat each other up, both on the field and off it, nobody will want you."

He didn't know why, but Ethan was a bit taken aback by how direct his coach was. He wasn't sure why he was surprised as Coach Langdon was never one who took care about being polite, but he was.

"Sorry," was all he could muster up and Lucas did the same.

Coach smiled at them. "No problem, but remember that this is your career and education on the line. I can save you this time and say that it was a one-time thing, that the two of you had a little misunderstanding before the game and decided to bring it onto the field. But if the scout decides to return and you guys are still acting the same way, then there's no new excuses. The same goes for any other potential scout."

Emmerson nodded. "Thanks, Coach. And I was just finishing up here before leaving. And Lucas just came to congratulate me on the game."

"Whatever you say," laughed Coach before turning around and leaving. Just before his voice was out of reach, the two could hear him say, "Teenagers."

Ethan turned toward Lucas. He sure as hell wasn't ready to give up his entire life because of the boy, but he sure as hell wasn't ready to just forgive him for everything. Or anything for that matter.

"Go away," he said, his voice still radiating anger. "And if you think you can cost me the admission to good schools, you're wrong."