"VIOLETA ROSE KELCE!" Mom shouted from downstairs. Travis looked at me with a smirk on his face.
"What did you do?" I asked Travis. He just shrugged.
"GET DOWN HERE!" Mom continued. I huffed and walked downstairs. Travis and I had a fun game where we would blame the other whenever we did something. Ps not fun.
"Mom, before you say anything, I swear I didn't do it," I pleaded. She usually knew which one of us did what but when it came to Travis and I it was more of a best guess than actually knowing.
"So you didn't get a detention?" Mom asked me. Jason laughed and I shot him a glare that shut him up.
"Technically, I did. It was an accident, boys are annoying and don't like being out played," I responded matter of factly.
"You're grounded," mom stated. I just nodded and headed back to my room.
I am the youngest child of Donna and Ed Kelce. Though Travis and I are Irish twins, born within a year of each other, so I have never truly admitted to being the youngest. Growing up with two older brothers has taught me one thing: how to fight dirty. It was the only way to win. Like my brothers, I am highly athletic. I have played pretty much every sport that exists and always roughhoused with Jason and Travis. Generally speaking, Travis and I were constantly fighting but when we agreed on something, it was game over for anyone who disagreed with us.
In high school, Jason was on the football team but Travis and I were both triathletes. Travis played basketball, football, and soccer. I played lacrosse, basketball, and ran cross country. If I had to pick one thing that I enjoyed more than playing sports it was music. The music teacher at our school said that I had a gift for recognizing notes and the best flow to put them in.
After Jason left for college, we talked on the phone almost daily. We were close and I knew that I wanted to join him at the University of Cincinnati when I graduated but what mattered more was getting a scholarship. I wanted to be able to make my own way because my family still saw me as the baby of the family. Well at least my parents did and I was determined to be successful in what I choose to do.
I knocked on the door and took a deep breath. "Come on in, Violeta," the guidance counselor announced from behind the closed door. I opened the door and sat down in one of the chairs. "What did you need to speak to me about?"
"University of Cincinnati," I said suddenly unable to form sentences.
"You want to know which sport of yours will get you in on scholarship, right?" The guidance counselor asked and I was taken back. "Your brother came in and asked the same thing." I laughed, Travis and I were the same in way too many ways.
"So you got any recommendations?" I asked her settling in.
"I would say whatever your favorite is," I was bout to interrupt when she spoke again, "you have a favorite, Violeta. The one where you could win in any circumstance, where you let go of the world around you, and where you don't put walls between yourself and the world. The one that makes you feel at home. That is the one you will be successful in."
I stood up and turned to walk out. "What did you choose?" The counselor asked.
I took a deep breath and turned around. I smiled and said, "lacrosse. But you already knew that." And I walked out. That day, I quit basketball and cross country.