Lucky Break

Lucky Break — page 3 — WHO AM I I’ll let that sink in for a moment What straight-up psycho wrote this question question How many seventeen-year-olds can answer it Not me After all I’m not just one thing all the time If there’s anything true about me it’s that I’m existing in a constant state of chaos Hello I’m in high school For example I’m a student athlete trying to maintain my straight-A average while I train nonstop to be the best rugby player this school has ever seen I’m also a carboholic carboholic I’ve got this super important champion ship-qualifying game after school no biggie and sometimes I need mac and cheese like my life depends on it My life might actually actually depend on winning this game so I ate a container that I brought from home in the few minutes I had between classes My jam packed schedule doesn’t allow for a proper lunch break so I eat when I can This afternoon afternoon when my well-meaning guidance counselor Ms Bean handed me the form 2 Brooke Carter

Lucky Break — page 4 — with her pointy fake nails she encouraged me to fill it out and include as many personal personal details as possible Fine here goes VERY IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT ME 1 I am the daughter of a single mother who is completely awesome by the way 2 I am biracial my mom is pasty white Irish and my dad was a black man from Trinidad thank you very much 3 I have a strong academic record I take all advanced-placement courses 4 I am Blue Mountain High’s top athlete and not just top female athlete ahem 5 In case you didn’t catch the past tense in item 2 I have a dead dad oh yeah it’s completely tragic 6 I like to make lists it calms me down Okay the fifth and sixth points might be overkill The scholarship people don’t really need to know my sad story do they They definitely don’t need to know about my 3 Lucky Break

Lucky Break — page 5 — borderline ocd Did I say borderline I meant crippling Ha Okay focus My name is Lucy Graves and I am a rugby player Who am I Well right now I’m an emotional wreck because if I don’t get my team to the finals and if I don’t win then I won’t secure my status as the best fly-half Blue Mountain High has ever seen and I won’t get an athletic scholarship and I won’t go to college to play rugby and I won’t get the education that my mom can’t afford and I won’t see the world and I won’t get a good job and I won’t ever become anything important and I might as well curl up and die right now because as the great Mariah Carey would say my future is bleak bleak bleak My name is Lucy Graves and I am a rugby player God why can’t I get past this thought Stop thinking about it Lucy I shift my focus to watching video replays on my phone of last season’s games against our main rivals the Riverside Grizzlies They’re the ones we’re playing today and I am not looking forward to it 4 Brooke Carter

Lucky Break — page 6 — As I listen to the sound of rugby through my earbuds it transports me back to the last game we played against the Grizzlies Mud squelching players yelling to each other whistles blowing The ball hurtles toward me as I run through the pouring rain I reach for it with fingers numbed by cold and feel its textured surface make contact contact There’s no time to hesitate I plant my posts deep in the slippery field to secure my footing in the mud before hugging the ball close and taking off down the pitch Blood whooshes in my ears My body burns hot Push past the pain in your knees Lucy Push past the pain in your lungs The con stant pain in your neck The opposing team thunders toward me as I weave through their huge defensive players Their props and locks aim to take me down hard throwing their bodies at me with abandon as I run past My teammates shout to one another along the length of the field waiting to catch the ball if I toss it back to them They keep just behind me so we don’t drive the play offside I’m almost there 5 Lucky Break

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