Lysis

Phase VI : Release

A grunt of pain tore itself free from Elena’s lips as she went down hard in the grass. Her ankle throbbed and there were grass and dirt stains all up her knees. Still, she was grinning. The soccer ball that she had dived to block caught on her wrist on her way down, soaring away from the net and bouncing a few times before it rolled lazily to the edge of Ben’s front yard.

Ben ignored it and jogged over to Elena, a worried frown on his face. “Are you alright? You threw your whole weight into that dive.”

She pushed herself up with both hands and frowned right back at him. “What are you doing?” Elena gestured to the ball. “We’re still playing!”

But Ben just shook his head. “You got hurt.” He pointed to her ankle. “Can you even stand on that?”

“Yes! Of course I can,” Elena huffed. She moved to stand, but as soon as she put weight on her injured foot, pain shot up her leg. She couldn’t hide her grimace fast enough, and Ben noticed. Of course he did.

“C’mon, let me help you inside,” he tried to coax her, reaching out to set a hand on Elena’s shoulder.

She batted his hand away in frustration. “No! I can still play,” Elena argued.

“No, you can’t! Why are you fighting me about this?” Ben asked.

“You’re the one who’s turning it into a fight, I just want to play soccer!” To her mortification, tears were building in Elena’s eyes. Her face burned with heat, and she knew that her cheeks had to be splotchy and red. “J-Just leave me alone, already. You’re an idiot.”

“Elena…” Ben’s expression softened some, but his worry remained. “Why are you really upset?”

It wasn’t fair that she could insult him and he would still worry about her. Elena sniffled. Her ankle throbbed, her knees ached, and she felt worthless and small.

“I’ll never get any better if I don’t practice,” Elena murmured, “and if I don’t get any better, then coach’ll never let me onto the soccer team.”

Ben stared incredulously. “That’s what this is about?” He asked, and his tone just made her bristle all over again.

“You don’t get it!” Elena snapped. “You don’t have to try hard, you get to be on the team just for being a boy! You have no idea what it’s like. Everything you want is just given to you — have you ever had to work hard for anything at all?” She sank back into the grass, leaning miserably against Ben’s plastic soccer goal. Elena curled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself, burying her face in her grass-stained knees. “Just leave me alone,” she mumbled as she began to cry in earnest, her tears catching in her hair.

“I… I didn’t mean…” Ben struggled for the words. He knelt down at her level and reached out a hand to set on her arm. “Elena, I didn’t—”

“Go away! Why can’t you just take a hint?” Elena shouted, smacking his arm away.

She retreated back into herself, refusing to look at him. After a moment, Ben shifted, and Elena heard his footsteps retreating. She bit her lip, stubbornly refusing the urge to cry harder now that he had left. He’d done what she told him to do — Elena didn’t get to be upset over that.

…But when she was younger, Mama wouldn’t listen when Elena threw a fit. Mama would hug her no matter how hard she was crying, pressing kisses into her hair and murmuring kind words until Elena’s tears inevitably subsided.

Mama wasn’t around anymore, though. Elena knew that she had to get used to it.

Footsteps approached. Surprised, Elena raised her head. Ben had gone into his house, and he came right back out holding something wrapped in a towel. She attempted to wipe some of the tears off of her face as Ben silently knelt down at her side. He pressed the object he was holding against her ankle, and Elena realized that it was an ice pack.