Ken Age- 18, Ben Age-14
"You're doing great, Ben!"
Ben kicked the soccer ball back to Ken. "Yeah, I'm pretty great. Go again. And don't go soft on me, kick it as hard as you can."
Ken was not going to kick it as hard as he could. He wasn't going to baby his cousin, but Ken was four years older than him, and Ken probably wouldn't survive the guilt of giving his cousin a concussion or something.
When Ben had come to him and told him that he didn't want to do baseball in high school, he wanted to do soccer and, oh, he also wanted to be goalie, Ken had panicked a bit. Not outwardly, he hadn't wanted to freak Ben out, but he'd run to draw up a battle plan as soon as Ben had left. This was kind of a crazy change; it wouldn't be easy.
The two sports didn't have a lot in common, Ken hadn't been sure how well the skills would transfer. And Ben hadn't really played soccer before, just the occasional game with friends, the other kids trying out would have been playing for most of their lives. And, of course, Ben wanted to be goalie. The most unique and limited position on the team. There were only two goalies, the main and the backup. At least the kickers (which did have different names and positions apparently: defender, midfielder, and forward) had more spots available. Ken hadn't known much about soccer. He played baseball and some basketball. He'd had to speedrun learning soccer to be able to help Ben practice. Ben would need to be the undeniably best pick to make the team. Ken believed Ben could do it if he really tried and worked for it. His cousin seemed really set on this, so Ken was going to help him however he could.
Ken punted the ball at the goal as far from Ben as he could manage and, again, Ben successfully stopped the ball. Ben was actually a really good goalie, Ken thought his chance at making the team was high. His hand eye coordination was good, and he didn't flinch away from the ball. Most people's instinctual reaction to a semi hard object careening towards them was to avoid it, but Ben always went for it right from the start. He had a natural talent. And natural talent plus hard work equaled success.
They kept at it for about another hour and then the cloudy skies finally started to drip. They quickly packed up and got to Ken's car before the rain started to speed up.
"Well that worked out nicely," Ken commented brightly as he pulled out of the parking space. "Clouds took care of most of the heat, and we still got a good amount of practice in. Y'wanna get some ice cream on the way home?" Of course the answer would be yes. No one said no to that question.
"Sure," Ben agreed, resting his head on his hand and gazed out the window at the passing Bellwood streets. There was a long minute of silence, then Ben glanced at him, bravado dropping, and asked, "So what do you think my chances are of making the team?"
"High I'd say," Ken encouraged. "Just do your best. You've been doing really well."
Ben grinned, but quickly hid it. "Thanks for helping me with this, Ken. Especially this week. I know you're busy getting ready for college."
"Aww, I'm basically all prepped at this point," Ken assured. "I want to spend as much time with you guys as I can before I leave."
"I'm really going to miss you," Ben sighed.
Ken's heart panged. "I'm going to miss you too. But I'll visit as much as I can, and I'll call and write and all that stuff." There were things he was looking forward to about college, but he was super anxious about being away from the family. It was keeping him up at night.
"Couldn't you just skip college?" Ben grumbled. "You're already smart."
Ken chuckled. "There are certain types of jobs you need a degree for, Ben. Especially if you have no connections in the industry. Networking is a big of a part of college as the education."
"Grandpa Max knows people, he could probably hook you up," Ben argued.
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Plumbers are great and all, but I don't think they'd have the connections I'd need. I mean, they meet a lot of people, but people aren't generally very close to their plumber."
Ben pouted and mumbled something under his breath. Then he announced, "I don't want to go to college."
Ken shrugged. "Trade school is always a great option. Or you might end up going down a more entrepreneurial route. Just depends on what you want to do."
Groaning, Ben slouched in his seat. "I don't know what I want to do now."
"That's fine," Ken told him. "Tons of kids your age don't. A lot of kids my age still aren't 100% sure. You've still got years to figure it out."
"I guess," Ben sighed.
They pulled into the ice cream parlor. The rain had lightened up some during the drive, but it was still fairly steady. Ken had umbrellas but Ben just opened the door and dashed into the building. Shrugging, Ken also left the umbrellas behind and made a run for it.
Summer was almost over. Things were going to be different after this. But that was just growing up. Things didn't have to be so different; he could keep everything he truly cared about. And for now, he'd enjoy what he had left of this summer.