I did it. I got an internship. Betting on myself paid off.
A flash of grief shoots through me. I wish my dad could see me right now. If he were here, he would find a way to turn this into a hilarious lesson about why I should have started listening to his advice years ago. He’d wrap me up in a big hug, letting his full-bodied laugh shake the room. He always said the wisdom of a father is the best kind, and I definitely believe he was right about that.
“Does this mean…” Kenneth trails off, looking up at me.
“I can graduate on time.”
Every low I felt over the last week comes back with a vengeance in the form of wild giggles and pure excitement when Kenneth starts spinning us again. I’d bet the sound of our joy can be heard from the highway as we celebrate together.
“Wewon, Eddie,” he says, hoisting me up higher.
My head is still spinning as I try to catch my breath, moving hair away from his eyes. “We won what?”
His body vibrates excitedly. “It’s 13-13. You tied it. We’re tied for junior year.”
“No!” I scream, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. His hold on me tightens, but I keep fighting. “I see what you’re doing, Kenneth, and no. Actually, hell no! You won fair and square.Yougot the internship that we agreed on. I’m not going to let you—”
“Let me,” he cuts in. “Please. I may have gotten the one we agreed on, but you’re being offered the perfect internship, and you didn’t even have to apply for it! How can you not call that a win?”
He’s not wrong, but still. “I can’t—”
“But I can,” he breathes, and the earnest tone of his voice makes me finally close my mouth and listen. “I used to think our game was themost important thing in the world. I lived for the thrill of competition and constantly working to outdo each other. Eddie, you will always be my favorite rival, but fighting to win will never be enough for me again. The chase and the rivalry kept this interesting, but I want so much more. To be your cheerleader and your biggest fan. Winning isn’t everything anymore.”
I’m glad I’m still in the air because there’s no way my wobbly legs would keep me upright.
Winning isn’t everything anymore.
I repeat the phrase a few times in my head. Not because I’m trying to convince myself of this fact. I’ve felt the same way for a while. The mind-aching need to beat Kenneth at our game weakened as the months went by, and I fell for him a little more every day.
“Does that mean we should end it?” I ask. “The Brain Bowl, I mean.”
He shakes his head. “I’ve been thinking, I know next year will be different with me working every day, but I’m not ready to let it go.”
Hope leaks into my words. “Really?”
“Yeah. I can’t guarantee that we will be able to play twenty-plus games, but I want to finish college the way it started. With you, Ed. How does that sound?”
I grin. “I don’t care if we only play three games the entire year. I just want to play with you.”
“Good, but if we continue, it has to stay how it was this past semester. Mutual support and encouragement. We treated it like something fun, to be enjoyed, rather than an endless battle. This is the first time we worked together, celebrating each other’s wins, and comforting each other after the losses. My main goal isn’t to beat you anymore. Is yours?”
“No. I want to keep growing and be able to do it with you. What are we going to do after graduation though? The Brain Bowl will be over.”
Kenneth chews on his bottom lip, pausing to think. “Next May, we get a fresh start, but I want to play and experience every thing with you for the rest of our lives. Finding new things to compete at. Weekly tennis matches, bowling, board games, seeing who can puzzle the fastest.”
“That last one is definitely not fair,” I breathe, resting my forehead against his. “For the rest of our lives, huh?”
“Is that too forward? Actually, I don’t care. Me and you, Eddie.”
“Forever sounds good to me, baby,” I whisper. And it does. It’s all I want.
But if we’re going to continue the Brain Bowl, I need to know what this means for junior year. “So…” I say. “A tie?”
Kenneth nods. “I know the possibility of finishing the year in a tie used to feel like the end of the world, but right now, I can’t imagine this year ending any other way. So, I’m calling junior year a tie, and I don’t want to hear another word about it. It’s 1-1-1, Eddie.”
We both secured an internship that’s somehow perfect for us. Kenneth with Dr. McGregor, where he will research MS, and me with Dr. Martin, building a safe place for kids living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the town I love. It may not have been the one I wanted originally, but it’s exactly what I was looking for all this time.
Today, a tie doesn’t feel like the worst thing in the world.
