Ethan slouched onto the couch, his hoodie pulled low over his face. His controller rested on his lap, but he didn’t press start. Instead, he sighed loudly, making sure everyone in the room knew how miserable he felt.
Maya, his cousin, set down her soda. “You okay?” she asked.
Silence.
“You’ve been sulking since we started setting up,” added Jordan, Ethan’s best friend. He spun the second controller in his hands. “If you don’t want to play, just say so.”
Still nothing. Ethan turned slightly so they couldn’t see his face.
It wasn’t that Ethan didn’t want to play. He loved gaming with them on Friday nights. But earlier, when Maya beat him in their warm-up round, she had teased, “Better luck next time.” She hadn’t meant anything by it—everyone joked around—but Ethan had felt his stomach twist. He hated losing, and he hated feeling like people were laughing at him even more. So he’d shut down.
The air in the room grew heavier the longer he stayed quiet. Maya shifted awkwardly, and Jordan finally tossed the controller onto the coffee table. “Forget it,” he muttered. “It’s no fun when you do this.”
That stung. Ethan wanted to defend himself, but instead, he crossed his arms and stared at the floor. The night stretched on with no games, no laughter, just three kids in the same room, doing anything but being together.
By Saturday morning, Ethan’s mood hadn’t lifted. He wandered into the kitchen where Maya was eating cereal. She didn’t look up. That silence hit harder than any teasing ever had.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” she answered flatly.
He swallowed. “I wasn’t mad at you yesterday. Not really. I just I hate losing. And when you laughed—”
“I wasn’t laughing at you,” Maya interrupted. “I was just excited. But when you shut down, it made everyone else feel bad. Jordan even left early.”
Ethan blinked. He hadn’t realized Jordan had left because of him. He thought his sulking only affected himself.
Maya pushed her cereal away. “You don’t have to win all the time. But if you’re gonna sit there and pout, no one’s gonna want to hang out.”
Ethan felt his face burn. She was right. He thought sulking made him look tough or at least kept people from teasing him further. But really, it just made him hard to be around.
That afternoon, Jordan texted: Game rematch today?
Ethan stared at the screen for a long moment before typing back: Yeah. And sorry about yesterday. I’ll chill this time.
When Jordan and Maya showed up, Ethan greeted them at the door with controllers ready. They played for hours. Ethan lost more than he won, but instead of sulking, he laughed it off, teasing himself before anyone else could. The game was fun again—not because he had won, but because he’d stopped dragging everyone else into his bad mood.
As the night wound down, Ethan caught himself smiling. He still hated losing. But he hated losing friends more.
“Losing Streak” by Nina D. Smith. Published by Bright Bunny Books © 2025. Retelling of “The Sulky Boy” from The Parkhurst Boys and Other Stories of School Life by Talbot Baines Reed, originally published in 1914.
“Losing Streak” is best suited for grades 6–8 because the characters, themes of friendship, and emotional struggles reflect the social challenges middle schoolers commonly face.
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Ethan chose to stay silent instead of explaining how he felt? How did that choice affect his friends?
- What could Maya or Jordan have done differently to help ease the tension during game night
- Have you ever been in a situation where someone’s mood changed the whole group’s experience? How did you handle it?
Bright Bunny Books 