The Racquet Accident

Prologue: The Monster.

The Racquet Accident

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Started: Sunday, August 14, 2022

Prologue: "The Monster."

TWO YEARS AGO 

"BABE. C'MON."

No. I wanted to groan out loud while fanning myself with my hand, but I kept the word bottled. In fact, I took a swig of the sweet, bottled drink in my hand instead of relaying that response. But the 5% alcoholic drink wasn't doing much for me. 

This was the second time my boyfriend, Benny, has yelled those words at me in a span of five minutes. It was the hundredth time he had said that to me all day. And it was always spoken in the same way: with impatience.

"Beer pong outside. Let's play, yeah?" That wasn't really a question I was meant to answer. Benny's red hair was pushed back with a purple bandana, one of our school's colours. His fair skin was flushed and currently dotted with blue and red flashing lights. 

No.

We stood in the middle of a house that was neither of ours. The crowd around us was shifting; people vibrantly moved without a care of the world. I glanced over to where a few girls I recognized were dancing their way towards the kitchen. I'd rather do that than watch another game of beer pong. Yet even at this moment, I knew I needed a break. We'd been moving around since 7 AM.

That was how Homecoming worked at Herringway University. It started with drinking in someone's house and then on Parkdale Lane with alcoholic drinks filled in water bottles. Parkdale Lane was a street that was comprised of day parties today--darties; people coming in and out of houses and lingering on the road. The morning was followed by a football game that no one paid attention to and continued with more drinking. In the afternoon, a concert occurred with a lineup that always made me question how much money HU had.

While the concert excited me, the aftermath that started joyfully was put to a halt when I found myself throwing up in a bush. Ugh.

My hand came up to my sweaty face, grimacing as the heat only seemed to worsen in the living room. The music around seemed to only get louder as bodies moved, danced, and shouted, thumping loudly. This wasn't a bad thing but when you'd been doing it the entire day, you wanted a moment of silence.

I was thinking of peace for far too long because Benny's hand was already wrapped around my wrist. He pulled me over to the kitchen, past the girls that were snickering around the island table and towards the backdoor where his friends were playing a game outside in the cool late September air.

Fall was barely gracing itself upon the town of Jasper Bay, Canada. Jasper Bay was located in the southwestern part of the province of Ontario. The weather here was a completely different contrast to the rainy showers that were likely falling upon my hometown, Stottsville, British Columbia right now. On the other side of the country.

Benny's friends surrounded a table. The group of men, most of whom played on the varsity hockey team, were patting each other on the back. Cheering as if they had recently won a championship game. The sound wasn't unfamiliar. It's one I'd heard all day long. 

The longer I stood at the threshold, the more I wanted to yank my wrist out of Benny's grasp and run down the street. Bolt. Instead, my toes curled within my sneakers as if I was attempting to dig myself into the ground. As if trying to hold in all the irritation I had from the non-stop action and the commanding and the pulling.

Two seconds. I need two seconds alone. Seconds away from the sticky atmosphere at my back and the yelling in front of me. A moment of peace.

Or else I was going to—