The Hockey Player (Matt Sturniolo)

Meeting

Aurora

Dreams weren't real. I needed my brain to turn off, not irritating, itchy sand stuck in every crack of my body or dried skin from salty sea water.

I was past all this...and it went away. Gone, but never forgotten. Two years with nothing, why now?

Nothing here answered my question. Nothing in the sand or the sea fixed my walls of self preservation. I squinted under the blinding sun, the pain wasn't enough to quell the buzz of overstimulation in my brain.

College, Aurora.

That was the broom that swept this bullshit away.  But until then, I was stuck. Stuck in my life, stuck in my brain. I tucked some of my hair behind my ears and looked up for a seagull check.

"You've gotta be kidding"

"Deal with it" A female laugh filled your ears. Her hands grabbed my waist and pushed me away from the car. "It'll be fun"

To her credit, Raine never brought my nightmare up. But her eyes screamed 'we'll talk about it later' Two years of walls crumbled when I woke up, covered in sweat and my heart pounding

Last time it took 15 months for it to be removed from my brain and I was determined not to go down that road of recovery again.

I needed a distraction, just not this one.

The Beach..ugh

This was Raine's punishment, sorry, should I say solution. Seagulls flying over our heads threading to shit on us? No thanks. Don't get me started on jelly fish and sharks.

"Stop thinking about jellyfish and sharks" Raine took her bag out of the backseat. "Or boys. It's written all over your face"

"No" I scowled. "No way. I'll stay in the car"

I didn't hate being outside. Being in quiet, beautiful nature? Sign me up. Losing myself in a book? Even better.

"Raine" I whined, but she locked the car and ignored me. "I hate the beach"

She strolled along the sand. "How could you not love reading here?"

I could feel myself already sweating. How was that possible? What was she plotting?

"Stop overthinking" she said, looking over her shoulder. "This is a distraction, trust me"

I trust her. Why would she think that I didn't?

My ankles wobbled as I kicked sand into the cuffs of my pants. I stumbled and almost face planted.

Twice.

I squinted ahead and saw families building sandcastles near the sea, footballs were being kicked and groups of girls were eyeing up some of the boys.

I couldn't engage in any of it. Maybe that was Raine's point.

"Do I have to state the obvious?"

"You mean how you haven't shaved or waxed?" Raine smirked and dropped her bag. "I almost took you to the salon for some fixing, but that would be wasted effort"