Page 4 of Hits Different

I haven’t slowed down, Volchok is still coming towards me, and I’ve forgotten about the defender on my heels. The steel goalposts come hurtling into view. I try to skid to a halt but it’s too late; the three of us collide into ice cold steel with a sickening crunch.

I feel the sharp jab of an elbow in my back, a studded boot headed towards my face, then everything goes black.

Parker

Brandon doesn’t move. He’s lying face down with his arm tangled beneath him. I’m screaming for someone to notice, to help him, but I’m completely drowned out by the boos raining down on the pitch. It’s like that nightmare when you need to scream and no sound comes out, except all I’m doing is screaming but nobody’s listening.

The final whistle blows.

Brandon’s teammates slowly realise that something isn’t right. A bloodied Volchok pulls himself unsteadily to his feet. There’s some pushing between opposing colours. Officials jump in to keep the teams apart. A call goes out on the loudspeaker for a medic. Brandon is stretchered from the pitch.

The scoreboard updates 3-2.

And for a football ground filled with three thousand people, it’s suddenly very fucking quiet.

Office of the Vice Chancellor

Student Disciplinary Committee

Dear Mr Di Rossi,

As a result of your failure to attend today’s disciplinary hearing, I am writing to inform you that you are suspended from all academic activities with immediate effect. The panel reviewed the submitted evidence, including witness statements from Mr Elliot Darwin and Mr Cody Barlow, and determined that:

i) You committed an unprovoked assault on two students at a social gathering, resulting in serious injury, for which you have demonstrated no remorse.

ii) You violated the school’s code of conduct for aggressive and/or violent behaviour.

iii) You violated the terms of your academic probation (see attached).

A final hearing to determine your future at this school will take place in three weeks. You have the right to appeal your suspension by writing to my office within 10 calendar days using the enclosed forms.

I have attached some literature relating to the Student Assistance Programme, which includes a helpline and services that you can access for mental health support.

Yours sincerely,

Prof. C. Drescher

Head of Student Services

Chapter 2

Most Likely To

Parker

“Okay, Spirit Squad”, Lainey smiles as she leans into the microphone, “We’re here today with avery specialguest. He’s two months out from his very first mixed martial arts fight—eek—and he’s sitting down with me for an exclusive interview. Parker Di Rossi, welcome toMost Likely To”.

From across the bar, my boss Vanessa pauses her paperwork just long enough to roll her eyes. She hired me at Rosebud, the city’s hottest bar, about a year ago, and we’ve been casually hooking up, in a this-time-is-the-last-time kind of way, ever since.

“Thanks for having me”. Truthfully, Lainey and I barely exchanged one word to each other in high school. She was best friends with my then-girlfriend, and I’m pretty sure she hated me. But with my first ever fight coming up and no manager, I’ve gotta hustle for press any way that I can. “Pleasure to be here”.

If you can call Lainey’s podcast, which seems to involve interviewing kids from our old high school about nothing in particular, ‘doing press’.

“We met when you transferred into our high school in sixth grade”, Lainey consults her notes, “What was it like to move schools at that age?”

“I got a buddy assigned to me on my first day”, I trip over the ‘b’ and almost say Brandon, but that feels wrong. I don’t have the right to say his name anymore. “He introduced me to people. Helped me settle in”.

“That was Brandon Carter, right?”

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