Rising Champions: Corey & Raven's QBCurse Quest

The sun had barely risen over the horizon when Corey rolled out of bed. His parents had already left for work, his dad as head football coach at Jefferson High and his mom as a nurse. He took a quick shower and then rushed to put on his clothes. The first day of school couldn't come fast enough; he wanted to start winning games as soon as possible.

"No one's gonna stop the Bulldogs," Corey muttered to himself, repeating the team motto.

He wolfed down some breakfast, kissed his mom goodbye, and then headed out the door. He hopped into his silver Charger with its chrome rims and drove across town toward Jefferson High.

As he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Griffin and Raven sitting on the grass next to their car, a beat up old thing that was older than they were.

"Hey guys," Corey said, hopping out of his car. "You excited for the first day?"

Griffin nodded but Raven scoffed and gave him a look that could curdle milk. She flicked her long black hair from her face and stared daggers at him. "Like you would know."

"What do you mean? I've been here for three years now." He turned to Griffin for support but Griffin looked away, pretending not to hear anything being said. "Well, what's your point?"

"My point is that you're an asshole." Her voice was cold and flat. "If you're going to be an asshole about things like football, then how are we supposed to be friends?" She shot him a look that made him feel like she had crawled inside his head and seen all of his darkest secrets and thoughts. "We're witches, not athletes or jocks."

Corey balked at those words, feeling like he had been punched in the gut. "What do you mean? We've always been friends." He turned to Griffin again but Griffin still didn't meet his gaze in time to see the pleading look in his eyes, begging him not to say anything that might make this situation worse than it already was. "How can you say that?"

Raven sighed, shaking her head sadly at him. "You're an athlete who thinks he knows everything about everyone else because you're so good at something." She paused for effect before continuing with more force in her tone. "You don't give a shit about anyone else because if they can't play sports or sing or whatever else you want them to do then why should you talk to them? You treat everyone else like garbage because you can do whatever you want without consequence."

"That's not true," Corey protested even though deep down he knew she was right about everything she had said about him. "I'm just focused on my goals." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously with one hand while trying not to let any of the shame he felt show on his face or in his body language. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by focusing on doing my best at sports..."

"Bullshit!" Raven snapped at him before turning away abruptly, getting up from where she sat and storming off toward the school building without another word.

Griffin watched her go before turning back toward Corey with a look of sympathy in his eyes that only made Corey feel worse than he already did.

"I guess I'll see you around," Griffin said softly before following after Raven.