Love is Dangerous

13

I lay in bed on my stomach, staring out the window built perfectly in the middle of the room. The perfect sheets that I never want to wrinkle. The perfect clothes that are poised to perfection. Everything is so perfect. Their life is so perfect. I don't belong here.

My dad and mom were only married because my mom's parents made them. She started drinking then, and hasn't stopped. After the legal papers were signed, my dad got my mom pregnant with me. She wanted to have an abortion, but chose not to because of Aunt Tasha's influence. She continued to drink while I was in her stomach and she started smoking. I was born and my dad left after six months. Little old me was sitting in a crib, always happy. One day, when I was 5, my dad came back. He beat me and hurt me so much that we had to go to Aunt Tasha, since she's a nurse. The whole time, Marissa was holding my hand, getting me through it all. After we left, I started gymnastics. It helped my mom not take care of me and it helped get my mind off of things. The truth is, my family is broken into pieces that can't be repaired. Even a perfect family can't glue my pieces together.

But I stayed. I slept in my too perfect bed with my too perfect cousin. I woke up to perfectly fluffy eggs and perfectly crisp bacon. I went to a perfectly perfect gym with perfect coaches and perfect equipment. Everything was perfect. Of course something was going to go wrong. I should've seen it coming.

At gym, we were working on beam. Marissa and I share a beam so I'm on one side and she's on the other. I was working on my front walkover while she worked on cartwheels. While Coach Kelly was spotting Marissa, I decide to work on my split leap. I landed it a few times and Coach Kelly walked over to me. I get in my position and she holds my waist. I lean forward and go into a split handstand. With her hands still on my waist, she carefully sets me down and my foot touches the beam. I slowly lean up and finish. She claps and asks if I'm ready to try it by myself. I hesitate, but I nod. I go to my end of the beam and go into the start of it. I grasp the beam and kick my foot up. I slowly bring my foot over and I feel it touch the beam. I smile and try to continue, but I slip.

Being airborne really makes you put your life into perspective. It all slowed down and the ticking slowed too. I straightened out, expecting to feel the mat under me. But instead I feel a crack and I'm knocked into a world of unconsciousness.