The final bell echoed through the school courtyard, mixing with the scatter of footsteps and half-finished conversations. Luke adjusted the straps on his backpack, eyes fixed forward, cutting a line 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, blinking as Josh and Amir caught up. Both were winded, like they'd 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. "Nationals next month. This one's local—just warming up."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Warming up by annihilating everyone else. Real nice."
Luke smiled again, but it didn't reach his eyes. He 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 compete. 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 not to break too many dreams."
Luke gave a quiet laugh, then turned and ran.
The city blurred past as his sneakers pounded the pavement, dodging slow pedestrians, 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.