The final bell echoed through the school. Luke held tight to the straps of his backpack, rushing through the shifting crowd. He didn't notice the two voices calling out to him until they were already on either side of him.
"Yo, Luke!" someone shouted, "Where are you headed?"
He stopped, turning, as Josh and Amir caught up. Both were winded as they had sprinted to catch him.
"Tournament," Luke said, short and simple.
"Of course," Josh said, half-laughing, half-groaning. "You're always in some tournament, man."
Amir nodded. "It's like impossible to hang out with you anymore."
Luke gave a tight smile. "Yeah. Sorry."
He meant it. But he didn't know how to explain the weight pressing down on him every time he tried to slow down. There were rankings to maintain. Eyes on him. A name to prove. He was seventeen and already being scouted by esports teams. That kind of attention didn't wait.
"You're still playing Soul Vengeance?" Amir asked.
Luke nodded. "Major's next month. This one's local so I'm just warming up."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Warming up by doing a bracket sweep. Real nice."
Luke felt the old ache rising, the guilt, the loneliness. He missed this. Missed them. But he didn't know how to hold both in his hands, friendship and competition. So he had already let one go.
"I should go," he said, checking his watch. His stomach dropped. Ten minutes. "I'm cutting it close."
They nodded, giving him a fist bump each.
"Go win, champ," Josh said with a grin. "Try to remember us when you make it."
Luke gave a quiet laugh, then turned and ran.
The city blurred past as his shoes pounded on the pavement, dodging slow pedestrians, and weaving around cars. He cut across the street as the light blinked yellow. The tournament venue was five blocks away. He could make it.
He didn't see the box truck.
The screech of tires. The sharp gasp of someone across the street. The sky, tilting. Then black.