2

Marcus arrived early the next morning. Ethan had expected him not to be punctual; most transfers took time to learn the ropes, to figure out schedules. But Marcus? Always precise. Always a step ahead.

Ethan watched from across the empty gym as Marcus strode past the locker rows, eyes scanning. Calm, deliberate, confident—the same aura that had annoyed Ethan the day before.

Ethan grinned under his breath. Today, he was ready.

He had planned carefully. Subtle. Sneaky. Small, perfectly harmless… but irritating enough to get Marcus’s attention.

A bottle of orange sports drink sat on the top shelf of the lockers. Ethan waited until Marcus opened his, just a fraction of a second before he could react, and tipped it carefully.

The liquid cascaded down Marcus’s pristine white practice shirt. Cold. Sticky. Bright orange.

Marcus froze. For a beat, the world seemed to pause.

Ethan leaned casually against the wall, arms crossed, smirking. “Damn. That’s rough.”

Marcus looked down, then back up. His green eyes met Ethan’s, unblinking. Calm. Almost amused, like he was analyzing Ethan rather than getting angry.

“You did this?” Marcus asked.

Ethan shrugged, pretending to be casual. “Prove it.”

A pause. Then Marcus nodded slowly, shutting the locker. Too calmly. It made Ethan’s chest tighten.

“Okay,” Marcus muttered under his breath. “Game on.”

Ethan wondered what kind of revenge, Marcus had planned but he couldn't be bothered by it anyway at least the guy knew Ethan didn't play around.

Practice started, and Marcus didn’t even acknowledge him. No words. No glares. Just… silence. Which somehow made Ethan more irritable. The lack of reaction felt personal.

Halfway through drills, Coach sent them to grab equipment from the storage room. Ethan arrived first. He flicked on the light and started collecting cones, bouncing the ball off the wall absentmindedly.

The door slammed behind him.

He spun. Locked.

“Marcus?” Ethan called, tapping the handle. Nothing.

From the other side came a calm, familiar voice: “You should’ve proved it.”

Ethan laughed, incredulous. “You locked me in a storage room?”

“You’ll survive,” Marcus said.

Ethan leaned his head back against the door, grinning despite himself, he had to admit it was well played. “You’re insane.”

“Probably,” Marcus replied.

Footsteps receded. Ethan rapped on the door once. “Marcus. You’re going to regret this.”

A pause. Then Marcus’s voice, soft but deliberate: “Good.”

And that was it.

When Ethan emerged, dripping a little from sweat and residual orange, the team had arrived. A few snickers floated around, but no one said anything. Everyone could feel it—this tension between Ethan and Marcus.

Ethan caught himself imagining all the ways he could retaliate. Trip him purposely? Knock him out and throw him into a lake with rocks anchored to his feet? Slip a laxative into his water bottle? He had ideas already forming, each one more ridiculous than the last. But the point was the planning. The anticipation. That’s what made it fun.

Marcus, on the other hand, didn’t react at all. Calm, collected. Smug, maybe. Ethan hated it. It pissed him off in a slow deliberate way but was Ethan a bit crazy looking forward to it?

School that day didn’t help. Ethan couldn’t concentrate in class. Every group project or partner assignment had him imagining Marcus, wondering what that little shit was up to and how exactly to get back at him, especially how to get rid of that little smirk and shitty nonchalance. The thought made him grind his teeth.

During lunch, he caught sight of Marcus in the cafeteria, surrounded by other players. Laughing easily. Charming without trying. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect everything. Ethan shoved his tray down, muttering under his breath. It’s not fair. He’s annoying. I hate him. I—

He shook his head, trying to shake off the thought.

Back in the gym after school, Ethan made his next move. Subtle, almost theatrical. He waited until Marcus’s bag was unattended, then slid it down the bleachers to the far end of the court, dragging it through the faint dust and scuff marks. Not enough to ruin anything. Just… irritating.

Marcus noticed immediately. He retrieved the bag without a word, dusted his bag to the best of his ability and turned to look at Ethan who pretended to be busy. Ethan smiled internally, he didn't need to stress himself to get on his nerves. But he soon noticed that Marcus was walking towards him.

“You’re getting predictable,” Marcus said quietly as he passed him.

“Still proving nothing, I see,” Ethan replied, smirking.

Marcus dropped the bag at his feet.

Neither moved. The air thickened.

“You think this is about the team,” Marcus said softly, almost a whisper.

Ethan tilted his head. “Isn’t it?”

“No. This is just you not liking that you’re not the best anymore.”

That hit harder than it should have. Ethan’s chest tightened, but he kept his voice light. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Marcus held his gaze. Unflinching. “I don’t have to.”

For a second, something unspoken flickered between them. Not a fight. Not a truce. Something… worse. Something neither had a name for yet.

Then Coach’s whistle blew, and it broke.

That evening, Ethan decided to look up Marcus on I*******m.

He tried different username combos before he finally found THE Marcus Hale account. He had 7k followers on I*******m which surprised Ethan and he wondered how popular Marcus was.

Marcus didn't have many pictures on his I*******m, his last post dated to 4 years ago when he was a scrawny little kid but he looked like a nice kid, the post has 50k likes and Ethan scrolled through the comments which were mostly people telling him to model and a surprising amount of grown adults telling him to DM them.

Ethan cringed and realized why he didn't post again. Out of habit, Ethan liked the post.

He froze. For a second, panic bubbled up.

He quickly unliked the post and put his tiny account of 700 followers in private, he hoped to God that Marcus didn't realise it was him.

Ethan tried to sleep but it felt like fate played a game on him because he phone buzzed and he saw a message request from Marcus.

'I almost thought that your obsession with me ended at the court'

Ethan wanted to reply maliciously but for his own piece of mind he blocked him. Seeing his childhood almost softened his heart but he remembered how much of a shit the present Marcus was.

Then, against his better judgment, he grinned. Not annoyed. Not angry. Not even entirely logical. Just… interested.

“Okay,” he muttered under his breath.

War had officially started.

And it was only just beginning.