Narrative

Cassandra Danahy Mrs. Dabrush 5/21/12 Section 1

Cairo, Egypt high school is very lucky to have such an athletic yet intelligent young man In their hands. Abasi Mubarak is Cairo's star athlete, he mostly excels in hockey which is his passion. Falling behind Abasi in athleticism is Gyasi Neferet, Abasi's best friend. They've been together ever since first grade, which is when both of them decided to play the sport. Even though the boys respect and support each other, there is a bit of a rivalry between them considering they both are taking the initiative to attempt to become captain of Cairo's high school hockey team. “ Hey Gyasi, did you sign up for try outs yet?” Abasi shouted from across the hallway. “ No, my dad still needs to turn in my registration fee” Gyasi replied in a sorrowful tone. Money was tight in Cairo currently. Abasi had to raise the money by selling his valuables just to cover the fee. He thought it was worth it since he had a big chance on beating the other 99 students and becoming captain.

Gyasi and Abasi decided they would train together at the gym considering they have the same amount of athleticism and can motivate each other to do the best they can. “Hey dude, can you hold my feet while I do some sit-ups? Abasi asked politely. “No way, I'm not giving you the advantage of becoming the captain. I'm in it to win it.” Gyasi bragged. Gyasi gained this attitude because he overheard the coaches bragging about how Abasi has a lot of potential and how he will get high scores at try outs. Gyasi flamed with jealousy and was determined to beat Abasi no matter what. “So am I, but I thought you were my friend. We had plans on trying out for the team together. And now your just going to ditch me?” Abasi asked in disappointment. “What ever it takes,I hope you understand. Just remember this, nice guys finish last. If I were to be nice and help you train for the try outs, that would make me the nice guy. And nice guys lose, so I’m not taking any chances.” Gyasi explained while exiting the gym. Abasi was left pondering on how he just lost his best friend of many years over something so idiotic. He felt as though he had to do something about it. But he didn’t know what to do.

The next day, Abasi spotted Gyasi and his father walking into the main office with Mr. Mowry the head of Cairo’s athletic program. He had a feeling this would be about the try outs, so he figured he needed to know what was going on. Gyasi’s father was very good at persuasion, so Abasi had to make sure he wasn’t “brown nosing” his way into having Gyasi becoming the captain of the hockey team. Abasi sat next to the heating duct next to the office so he could listen to the conversation. “Mr. Neferet, How can I help you.” asked Mr. Mowry in confusion. “I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate the work you do for this high school’s hockey team. You have done so much for my son over the years. He has turn into an amazing hockey player before my very eyes. It would be wonderful if he could become the captain of Cairo’s team. With all your dedication on making him a great skater, i think the chances could be high.” Mr. Neferet bragged. “Well thank you! It’s parents like you that make me feel accomplished” Mr. Mowry laughed “But on the other hand, I don’t give students positions on the team over being complimented. Gyasi is going to have to shine at try outs if he would like to become captain. And that could be a struggle, because Abasi is going to be a tough competitor. There are a lot of colleges that are already recruiting him to play with them. Gyasi is also a great athlete, so he may have a chance too though.” After over hearing this conversation, Abasi became more relieved knowing that Gyasi’s dad can’t get him on the team through bribery. When walking out of the office, Gyasi looked highly disappointed. When he spotted Abasi down the hall, he gave him a dirty look and continued down the hall way with his father.

Abasi had his next class with Gyasi. As he walked in the door, he noticed Gyasi talking to a rather large group of girls. “You guys could come to my try outs and watch me crush Abasi. You may have heard that he is very athletic, but that’s just a rumor, he is a very clumsy and non-athletic person.” Gyasi laughed. “Why is there a picture of Abasi in the office with the caption saying Cairo’s #1 Athlete then?” one of the girls asked in suspicion. Before Gyasi could explain himself, Abasi interrupted and yelled at him for trash talking him. “Are you really gonna stoop down to that level and tell these girls completely false information. That’s just sad” Abasi laughed. Gyasi’s face turned completely red, and he walked out of the room. Even though Abasi was just standing up for himself, he still felt a little guilty considering him and Gyasi were such great friends before this try out became such a big deal to everyone.

The next day at try outs, Abasi spotted Gyasi walking his way. Abasi began to walk away then Gyasi called him back. “Abasi I need to talk to you. I wanted to apologize for everything. I’m sorry that I’ve such a terrible friend to you. It’s just, I’ve been jealous of your hockey skills ever since we were 8 years old and i noticed that you were becoming a better player than me. When I heard that you were trying to become captain, I knew i had to compete with you so I could prove to myself that I was a great player too. I didn’t mean to hurt you in the process, I guess that was just my jealousy speaking. I’ve decided to give up on becoming captain, because i realized thats your thing, not mine. I hope you can forgive me, because we have been friends for such a long time, and i don’t want that to come to an end.” Gyasi explained nervously. “I’m glad to hear you say this. I had the feeling in my gut that we would never be friends again. I’m sorry you felt jealous of me, i considered us as equal, i never noticed your jealousy towards me. And yes i can forgive you, I just want to be your friend i don’t care if I get to be captain or not.” Abasi replied in relief. The boys headed down to the locker room and continued with their try outs. Even though there were over 140 students trying out, Abasi, Gyasi, and 2 other students were the top people that stood out to the evaluators. Abasi and Gyasi were both very anxious and felt as though waiting until friday to hear the results of the tryouts was like waiting 10 years.

On Friday morning at 8:30 AM, the results were posted on the bulletin board outside of the gym. Abasi and Gyasi made sure they would be the first students to view the list. Before looking the boys promised to each other that no matter what happens, the boys would remain friends and avoid jealousy. “I can’t look. Gyasi, you look first and tell me what happens” Abasi said with fear. “Abasi! You’re Captain! Congrats dude!” Gyasi said with excitement. Abasi turned to look at the list and noticed something else. “Gyasi, your assistant captain! I didn’t even know that the team had assistant captains!” Mr. Mowry interrupted the boys conversation “ The evaluators decided that both of you deserved to become captains of this team. And since they couldn’t decide which one of you, they made it so Cairo now assigns both Captains and Assistant Captains. Congratulations boys!” Mr. Mowry explained with excitement. The boys were overjoyed and celebrated by playing a friendly game of street hockey in Gyasi’s drive way. Now that Gyasi’s Jealousy of Abasi has faded away, The boys have become even closer than before. The boys also realized they should never let anything as stupid as a sport get in the way of their friendship.

The End