THWACK! Twelve-year-old Christina DaRel hit the tennis ball hard. Her best friend Melony Summers shrieked as it sailed past her. Christina put her hands on her hips, smirking.
"Mel, when will stop running away from the ball and actually hit it?!" she cried. Melony clutched her tennis racket and gave her friend an exasperated smile.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Christina picked up another tennis ball and bounced it with her racket,
"Well, I do know that a wall is better at tennis than you!" The two girls laughed; Christina often named things that were better than Melony at tennis. On the other hand, there were few things better than Christina when I came to tennis. She had already won three championship titles and was gearing up for a fourth.
Melony tensed again as Christina prepared to serve. "You ready?" she asked. Melony shook her head. Christina laughed and served the ball with an affirmative smack!
Instead of screaming ad diving out of the way, Melony gathered her small reserve of courage and stayed put, placing her arm where she thought the ball would end up. Shakily, she drew her arm back and swung forward. SLAM! Melony's arm recoiled instantly as the ball struck it, sending painful shockwaves through it.
Christina was by her side in an instant, crying, "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Melony nodded, using her thick blonde curls to hide the tears of pain springing to her eyes.
"C'mon," her friend said softly. "We have to get some ice on that. It's swelling already."
Inside Christina's large, mansion-like house, Mrs. DaRel iced Melony's arm. "How much does it hurt?" she asked, eyes filled with concern.
Sometimes Christina felt that her mother favored Melony over her, by the way she would look at her and talk and laugh with her…sometimes Christina felt rejected by her own mother. Maybe Mrs. DaRel liked Melony better because they had that same shiny, shoulder-length blonde hair. Christina herself had long pitch-black hair. Or maybe it was the fact that Melony and Mrs. DaRel shared twin, sky-blue pools for eyes, leaving Christina alone with her plain brown ones.
"It could even be I'm overreacting and jealous of Melony," Christina thought, watching the others.
"I'm so sorry!" she told Melony after a minute. "Are you feeling alright?" Her friend nodded. "Maybe I should go home and have my mom take me to the doctor," she said. "It's throbbing." Christina felt awful.
After Melony left, Mrs. DaRel got back on the phone, leaving her daughter on her own again. The young girl went back to the tennis court. Feeling guilt and hurt, Christina hit a ball into the fence. Hard. Then another…and two more after that.
Finally she slumped against the fence, swallowing hot tears. Christina stared hard at one of the tennis balls on the other side of the court, trying to hold in her emotions when the ball suddenly lifted up off the ground.