Page 6 of Hits Different

“Like community college”, Lainey nods sagely.

“Like being groomed into joining a gang”, I hold her gaze, and whatever angle she was pushing evaporates out of her. “Or going to prison”.

“You aren’t the only athlete from our school looking to make it big this year. Beth Albarelli picked up bronze in swimming, and Freddie Dyer and Brandon Carter are both expected to make MLS debuts when they graduate. Do you guys check in with each other? Share tips, offer advice. Like with Brandon, for example?”

I shake my head.

“Really?” Lainey says, surprised. “Nothing?”

My chest begins to tingle. “Parker?” Lainey presses.

“Brandon’s…one of a kind”, I find myself saying. “Someone that I…”

I’m vaguely aware that I’m talking, but the last time I saw him is playing through my mind like a broken movie reel. His face, illuminated by the flash of an exploding firework. My hands, clenched into a fist, wiping the blood from my mouth.

“Wow”, Lainey stares at me, “That was…insightful. That relationship is obviously significant to you”.

Wait, what the hell did I just say?

Just then, all the lights cut out. “Sorry folks”, Vanessa calls through the darkness. “Power cut. Interview’s over for today”.

****

“Parker, this letter is datedfive daysago”.

“It was slid under my door this morning”. Lainey’s gone, and so has the fake power-cut Vanessa engineered to get rid of her. We’re in her office, with the door locked. “I guess the Disciplinary Committee don’t believe in email”.

“Do you think they hid it from you?” Vanessa’s the only one who knows what’s been going on with my fraternity. Darwin is President, and Barlow is his right-hand man. There’s no way they’re not involved. “You missed the best part”.

A copy of this letter has been sent to your parents and/or legal guardian.

She raises her eyebrow, lighting a cigarette at the same time. “Do they know anything about your suspension?” I don’t reply. “Of course they don’t”. A beat, then. “I didn’t know you were close with Brandon Carter”.

“I haven’t seen him in forever”. My fingers itch to refresh the sports newsfeed on my phone. There have been tons of headlines about his accident but no real details.

I lay awake replaying it all night. Which is stupid.

Brandon and I barely know each other anymore.

Vanessa sits up, curling one leg under the other. “It’s not a big deal, I just keep checking to see if anything’s been posted online, but”, I toss my phone lightly onto the couch. “Nothing. I don’t even know if I have his number anymore”.

Even as the lie falls out of my mouth, I’m making excuses for it. People change their numbers all the time. Besides, it’s not like he’s called me either. Not once in three years.

“Do you know which hospital he’s at?”

“Roberta Mercy. He’s probably on his way back home now”. Halfway across the damn country.

“I have some connections. Let me see what I can find out”. She fires off a text, then rolls lazily towards me. “In return for my assistance...” she begins, suggestively.

“Ye-es?” I match her tone, pulling her into my lap. She straddles me, draping her arms comfortably around my bare shoulders.

“I have questions. Three, to be exact. Since your past seems to be a closely guarded secret. Number one”, she continues, before I can object. “What’s Brandon Carter like in person?”

In spite of myself, an image of us joking around together unlocks itself from my internal vault. We were polar opposites. By rights, we never should have been friends. Then maybe things wouldn’t have got so messed up.

“He was popular. Funny. Cocky. He had a sensitive side too, if you knew where to look”. I blink, transporting myself to the backrow of homeroom. He always sat closest to the window. “I think he found some of the press attention difficult to deal with”.

“A sensitive dude-bro with a sense of humour. I can hear the ears of a million Young Adult authors pricking up from here. Did he have a girlfriend?”

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