CHAPTER ONE: THE PRODIGY'S FALL

CHAPTER ONE: THE PRODIGY'S FALL

SERAPHINA'S POV

"Yes, Dylan," I grinned, ignoring my friend's mocking face. 

"Babe, I told you. This is just for the championship." I rolled my eyes. 

Louise and I were walking to practice, and my boyfriend was whining about it as usual.

"Babe, we haven't had a proper date in a month," Dylan whined in my ear.

"I've told you, Dylan. After nationals, after the championship," I said. "I'm all yours. You know how important this is to me."

He sighed tiredly, knowing I had won this round. "All right, fine, have fun. You're at practice till 6 PM, right?"

"As always. Bye, baby." I hung up the call to my teammate's hiss.

"Bye, baby," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, just because you can't bag a man doesn't mean I have to suffer with you," I threw my bag on the couch, jumping over to settle down. She shook her head and turned around, settling down next to me.

"When the guy is Dylan Cross," Louise said as she dipped her hand into her bag and brought out our pads, "thanks, I'll pass."

"Shut up."

She grinned at me. "Crazy that he's whining during practice time."

Yes, it was crazy. If anyone should understand how important gaming was to me, it should be my boyfriend.

"He just misses how close we were," I said, defending him instead.

"Less talking, more pressing, girls," our coach, Marcus Cross yelled, coming out from a room.

"Hi, Coach," I greeted him. "We didn't know you were in."

He grunted, grabbing a drink. "I'm not. You guys have fun."

"Now, Marcus," Louise said with a malicious glint in her eye as he left the room, "I could get under him anytime he wants."

"Eww, Louise," I laugh. "He's like what? Ancient?"

"I think you mean Greek God status hot."

"I do not want to be having such thoughts about my coach. Can we focus on the game, please?" I said pulling up the latest Call of Duty Action series.

Soon after, a few of our teammates joined us in the house while I played against each and everyone of them.

"Fuck, Sera," Louise groaned. "Give someone else a chance to shine," she said as I shot another player in the head.

"Never," I laughed, feeling the adrenaline pump through my veins.

Gaming is my life.  At ten I got my first playstation from my mother's boyfriend. I was so ecstatic upon receiving the gift.

"Happy birthday, Seraphina," the man crouched down. I didn't know his name, and he was probably the sixth she had introduced to me. I stopped learning their names after the third one. "Here," he said, dragging out a big box from behind him. "I got you something."

I clutched my only Barbie tightly. "What is that?" I asked him. "It's called a PlayStation. You can connect to people from around the world and play games with them," he said. My mama stood behind him, smoking a joint. "I told you she wouldn't know what it was."

I stared at the big blue box that was almost as tall as I was. "Thank you," I said, unwrapping it. A PlayStation.

"Here, I'll set it up for you," he carried the box and assembled it, teaching me my very first game that day.

That was the best day of my childhood. He didn't last—my mother cheated on him a few weeks later. I still had my gift.

"Okay, girls, it's 5 PM," Marcus came into the room. "I need you here bright and early, especially you, Sera. Go rest, catch your breath, and have fun tonight."

A series of awws and protests filled the room, but I was grateful for the respite. At least I could spend the evening with Dylan.

I walked back to my dormitory, remembering how sad the day I got here was.

"I got the scholarship," I shout, looking at the screen of my laptop again. It was written boldly, I got in. I let out a loud whoop, grabbing my phone to call my mom. She would be working at her third job.

"Hello, Mom," I said. "Hello, are you Seraphina?" It wasn't my mother. "Yes, this is she."

"I am so sorry, there has been an accident."

That day, I both gained my passion and lost the only person I loved. My mama may have lived recklessly, but she tried her best for me. She worked all the time when she wasn't dating a loser.

It was sad she left before she could see me here now. After spending three years at Blackwood University, I finally rose in ranks to join the senior team. Now I was the star of ADC, the champion in college.

"One more step, Mom," I whispered, kissing her necklace I always had on for good luck.

As I turned around the corner to my dormitory, I spotted Dylan's car. "Aww, he came to see me," I said, opening the door to my room.

I lived alone with my bestie, Mika. She was a gamer like I was, and we both enjoyed the benefits of being amongst the highest gamers in the country. We barely had classes, and we shared a dorm together instead of four people as the school rules stipulated.

I walked inside the house, dropping my bags on the table. Mika had gone away for the week—she said she had a family emergency. Just as I turned into the corridor leading to our rooms, I heard voices coming from Mika's room. Was she back early, I wondered?

I placed a hand on the handle, ready to push it open before the voice became clearer to me.

"I mean, who does she think she is?" Dylan said, snorting. "I'm just with her because I need to be seen with the best, and unfortunately, she was ranked number one last year."

Dylan?

"Please, everyone loves Sera. 'Oh Sera, you won!' 'Oh Sera, we haven't seen a play as good as yours!'" Mika mocked.

What exactly was I hearing right now?

"You know the worst part? She can't play for shit. The only thing she's actually talented at is giving me blowjobs, which I'm sure she learned from her whore of a mother," Dylan spat out venomously.

I covered my mouth quickly, stifling the low scream that threatened to come out. They couldn't know I was here listening.

"Oh, baby," Mika moaned. "Do you promise you're going to leave her?"

"Yes, I'm done. She can fuck off," Dylan answered. "Plus, I'd rather be with you."

My boyfriend and my best friend?

Soon, moans filtered through the crack in the door. I stood there frozen, hearing my boyfriend have sex with Mika, the sounds of their flesh smacked against each other.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, ready to video whatever the fuck they were up to.

Dylan had Mika in doggy style, pounding behind her roughly. I walked into the room, my camera fixed on them both while they were lost in passion.

"Wow, Mika. I didn't know you were pretending to enjoy his small dick too," I snapped.

Mika let out a scream, jumping away from Dylan. "Oh, no you don't. Please, continue fucking my boyfriend. Entertain me, bitch."

Dylan raised his hands up. "It's not what you think, Sera."

I turned the camera to him. "And you, fuck you. I managed to suck your wrinkled-as-fuck, shriveled-up, dried penis, and you have the guts to call my mother a whore? Fuck you, Dylan."

Tears streamed down Mika's face. "Sera, please listen to me."

I put my hand up in her face. "No, I heard all you had to say. It was quite revealing."

I sucked in a breath I didn't realize I'd held back.

"I need to get out of here. Stupid fools." I slammed the door behind me and grabbed my bag.

Tears streamed down my face in torrents, and an ache in my chest grew stronger with each step away from them.

My boyfriend and my best friend.