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YOU DON'T OWN ME - LESLEY GORE "You don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys."
:･✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧
2006.
A FRUSTRATED GROAN bubbles deep in the back of Willow Barlowe's throat. She moves from her squatted and ready position to stand fully up. She forcefully chucks her yellow tennis racket towards the ground and paces with her hands covering her face.
"I can't fucking do this." She stresses making eye contact with the man standing on the other side of the court. Her cheeks flush a red color by the anger brewing inside of her.
The perfectionist inside of her was making an appearance.
The girl's usual passion and immense love for tennis was slowly beginning to fade away. It now felt more of a chore than a sport she was meant to adore.
Trenton Barlowe, Willow's father, had one last step to making it pro, he had one last match. A wrong step and a huge injury. That's all it took for his career to be ruined for him. So what'd he do? How'd he cope with such a loss? Inevitably, he started a life and started a family.
When life seemed perfect, when everything was starting to come together and get better. It all came crumbling down once again.
His wife, which he praised and loved endlessly, died as she was giving birth to their baby daughter.
Willow Barlowe was a miracle.
Born two months prematurely and not breathing, just when he thought he had nothing left to lose, Trenton was faced with the tragedy of losing the one last thing he had to live for. It was an hour later when the nurses came back with the baby and small comforting smiles.
Trenton promised himself that day that he would do anything to protect his baby girl.
"Calm down, breathe." He soothed with a huff, "We're only practicing." It was an obvious decision for him to start training her in tennis as soon as she could walk and carry a racket. And now it's clear she's one of the best out there. It may be a given perk that your father, the one and only Trenton Barlowe, is your coach.
"My match is tomorrow. I shouldn't be playing like this." She dragged her hands down her face and tilted her head back with a deep frustrated exhale through her nose.
