Draven's Story: Memory 2
Haha! Mixing it up a little bit by going out of order, huh? Well, the truth is that I was going to write Ramiro's second memory and ended up writing Draven's instead oops. Well, I hope you enjoy!
The courts of Alden Academy were a frenzy of squeaking sneakers across polished floors and shuttles rocketing through the air after a swing of an arm and a resounding bang. An old coach watched a group of students wisely from the back of a court while a younger, more energetic, one yelled instructions at two of the veteran players. In the middle of the chaos was court 5, where a friendly exhibition match was being played.
On the side closest to the center of the gym was a hybrid. A mixture of a fox and rabbit by the looks of it. His long brown hair was tied back in a bun and his clothes fit loosely around his slim body. Across the net was Draven. The raven watched the shuttle closely, intending to clear to get his opponent to move around the court.
Ping!
His swing was off and the shuttle cascaded off the metal part of the racket, turning lazily in the air right above...
Smash!
"And that makes the score 21-3, 21-5! Good game, Draven." Ramiro walked up to the net and held his hand underneath. Instead of shaking it, Draven flicked his eyes sideways to look at the clock on the wall. Spinning on his heel, the raven walked back to the benches lining the wall of the gym. After picking up his backpack, he started to make his way up the stairs.
"Draven?" Ramiro questioned, bounding up the stairs to catch up with him. After a hand grazed his shoulder and Draven stopped. The thwack of shuttle against racket droned on in the background. What filled the noise between them was Draven's heavy breathing.
"There's still 45 minutes of practice left." The raven didn't answer. He looked back at his friend and couldn't stop a frown from spreading across his face. He wasn't tired at all. No sweat, no panting, nothing. Draven slapped his hand away
"Leave me alone."
Draven ran.
And Ramiro followed.
Taking a left after the second flight of stairs, then a right at the end of the hallway, the pair found themselves in front of the boys locker room. Both of the boys' chests rose and fell quickly. Draven smirked. Now he was trying.
"What's wrong?" Ramiro asked, still standing behind the younger teen. He had his arm awkwardly stretched out between them as if conflicted on how to comfort the raven. Eventually, the hybrid dropped his arm to his side and grabbed it with his other hand. "If you want me to leave I will, it's ju-"
"It's not your fault." Draven sighed and opened the door. Ramiro lightened up once he saw that the raven was holding it open for him and the two went inside. Immediately, Draven found the bench closest to his locker in the back of a little alcove. He took the chance to look around.The blue walls reminded him of the calm he felt in his therapist's office.
1....2....3....4....
The deep breaths were almost instinctual. He just had to calm down and
Crack
"Draven!"
It didn't matter. The breaths meant to calm him only allowed anger to flow through his lungs. It became a part of his system. Anger pulsated in his bloodstream and was pushed to every inch of his body. From the sweat-drenched tips of his black hair to the awkwardly chipped toenails he never learned to cut, everything worked in unison to help fulfill the rage which consumed him.
The raven lifted his leg and brought it down on his racket.
Crack
He picked a piece of the racket and threw it at the wall.
Crack
Then, a large force wrapped itself around him, embracing him.
"Stop it... please," Ramiro said, caressing his head. Draven pushed against his friend, jabbing elbows into his stomach and thrashing about but the hybrid was too strong for him. It took a minute, but the raven stubbornly succumbed to Ramiro's wishes with a pout. Soon, his eyes welled up with tears. "There we go. What's wrong?~"
"I don't know. I..." Draven trailed off, his tears silently plopping against the bench. "I'm trying so hard," he said. He had stopped trying to move entirely at this point. He didn't want to admit it, but with Ramiro's strong arms around him, he was able to feel a different version of calmness. It was a chaotic one as every so often the rage he breathed threatened to return. But, it was as if Ramiro countered that with his own comforting embrace.
"I don't know. I feel like I want to say something like 'I hate you!' but I know neither of us would believe that. I've just been trying so hard to be good at this. I'm trying harder than most of the other kids on the team. Hardly anyone takes this seriously but here I am! Always early to practice, helping set up the nets, taking the drills seriously, getting coach's help whenever I need it. All to get good at this and... I'm still one of the worst players on the team. I don't understand. It frustrates me and I don't know why. I'm always frustrated that I'm not good at anything. This isn't just a badminton thing. No matter what I do, what hobbies I have, I'm terrible at all of them. All of them. It doesn't matter how hard I try or how hard I push myself, the result is always the same. It ends with me frustrated at how fucking worthless I am. I'm not smart, people constantly tell me that I'm only here due to my parents' influence, I'm not good at sports or anything in the arts, everything is so hard for me and I don't understand why."
Draven stamped his foot on the ground as hard as he could, barely missing Ramiro.
"I just can't. I can't. I can't. I don't understand."
"Draven?"
"What?! What do you want from me?"
Draven turned to look at Ramiro, tears streaming down his face. The teen inhaled sharply over and over again, waiting for the other's response. Which, to Draven's surprise, came in the form of a kiss on the forehead.
"All I want from you is happiness."
"What?" Draven looked at his friend incredulously but Ramiro only chuckled.
"Is this a weird time to admit that I like you?" he asked, giving the raven a warm smile.
"Yes? I think so?" Draven looked away, not sure how to respond. The silence between them would have spread if Ramiro didn't speak up.
"Draven, trust me when I say that I know how you feel. It may not seem like it to you but I've faced my own share of troubles when figuring out what I want to do. This will sound cheesy but you just have to have fun. I play badminton because every time I step on the court I can't wait to play."
"I do these things because they're fun! You don't understand." Draven started crying again and tried to move his arms but Ramiro kept hugging him.
"Are you having fun now?"
...
"Exactly."