From the moment Marcus laid eyes on Li, the first day of his senior year when the new freshman from China walked in through the doors of his school, Marcus knew that they would be in competition with each other. After all, it was rare enough when he was the only boy in the school who was nearly seven feet tall, but now, Li threatened to steal the spotlight from him, an inch taller and three years younger to boot. As the year proceeded, Marcus prayed that Li would decide against trying out for the basketball team, at least until after Marcus had graduated.
Marcus's prayers went unanswered.
The tryouts had always been merely a formality for Marcus. He was probably the best basketball player in the state, and no one in the school had ever come anywhere close to him in either height or skill. And while this year Li had surpassed him in one of those categories, Marcus still was a much better basketball player than the tall Asian boy, and when the two went head-to-head, Marcus clearly outclassed Li, though the freshman held his own.
After the tryouts had finished, the boys headed to the locker room to shower and change. Marcus found Li sitting on a bench, a towel wrapped around his neck. Taking a deep breath, he decided to be welcoming and get to know this new boy who could soon be his rival. "Hey, man," he said, sticking out his hand. "My name's Marcus."
Li hesitated for a moment, but then shook Marcus's hand in return. "Li," he said simply, his voice soft and quiet. Marcus wondered to himself how good the kid's English was. After all, he did just move here from another country.
"You sure did pretty well for a freshman," he said, sitting next to him and beginning to take off his shoes. "How long have you been playing?"
Li stared down at the floor as he answered. "Six months," he said.
"Six months?!" Marcus was in shock. First of all, he couldn't imagine a kid that tall not being pressured or forced into playing basketball at a very early age. But more importantly, if he'd only been playing for a few months, that meant he had a lot of room to improve. Not to mention that he probably still had a year or two of growing left in him. Pretty soon, Marcus thought, he could be a superstar.
"Wow!" Marcus said, trying to force a smile. "Well, I know we'll be on the team together this year. Here's to a good year!"
"Yes." Deciding he wasn't going to get any more than that, Marcus nodded and stood back up, heading towards the showers. As he did so, though, he heard Li's voice calling out behind him. "You played well too, Marcus." His smile growing bigger, Marcus turned around and nodded in thanks.
"He may end up stealing the spotlight from me," Marcus said to himself as he stripped down and stepped into the shower, "but there was just something about him that I can't help but like."
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