The Damned Tennis Racket

Summertime Sadness

I grabbed my phone and dialed Lane's number. It rang a couple of times, and then she picked up. "Hi, this is Lane speaking." Thank god she picked up; I needed to tell her about that stupid tennis camp. I know she'd say the right words in this kind of situation I'm in.

"Hey" I said, it kind of sounded so dead and monotonous.

"Ha! Gotcha, this is her voicemail. Got you so good." She erupted into fits of laughter. Yeah, you tricked me slut. Damn. I threw my phone on my bed and rolled on the sheets of my queen sized pink bed. My room is pretty bizarre if you ask me. Too pink for my liking, after all its hand - picked by my mom. Ultra pink walls, floral curtains, my very sparkly name on top of my bed that lights every night, and lots of shades of pink and other pastels.

I rolled from right to left thinking about the tennis camp. Aha! I should call Max, my gay best friend. We kind of clicked after we got paired in one of our writing lessons during kindergarten. After that, we were inseparable, like ever. 

"Hi babe!" Max shrieked. What a nice decision to call Max.

"Hey Maxy, care to enlighten your bestie?" 

"I'm pretty sure something happened between you and your mom, again." Duh, it was pretty obvious of course. 

"She's sending me to an idiotic tennis camp! A tennis camp. It's summer. Summer's supposedly fun. Going to beaches, hanging out with you and Lane, partying, movie marathons, slumber parties, camping. All of those are gone because of that stupid camp!" I yelled, it was a yell of pain. I continued to whimper and express vain regrets for what cannot be recovered or undone.

Max, well Max being Max, kept on saying, "Yeah, let it all out!", "That's good, crying is good. It makes you feel better.", "I'm here don't worry." He even asked if it’s okay for him to come over but I declined his offer, I told him that I needed some time to be alone. I ended the call and decided to listen to some music.

I plugged my earphones to my Iphone and scanned my playlist looking for some sad and depressing songs. Evanescence, yeah, this band is extremely awesome, one of my all - time favorite band. They never get old.

I stared at the ceiling and since my eyelids felt heavy I decided to sleep this sadness away.

The next day, I heard a vague knock on my door causing me to wake up. Today is Sunday, I have all day to sleep, and no one's supposed to wake me up this early. I kicked my blankets and stretched my arms. 

"Daniella, honey." She knocked. Time to face my mother. I opened the door and looked up to see my mom scowling at me. I raised my newly waxed right brow. What?

"Elle, your face is swollen, bright red nose and eyes-" Is it really that evident? "Oh my gosh, don't tell me you've caught a Conjunctivitis?" I sighed. Sometimes my mom is so--

What the hell is Conjunctivitis? I was dumbfounded, at loss for words. I thought she knew. Well, never mind. 

"Honey, if it gets worse tell me okay? We'll go to the hospital right away." Her face filled with worry. I nodded. "Elle, we're going shopping. Get dressed, be ready in an hour." She quickly changed her demeanor and walked away.

After taking a long shower, I decided to wear my unused ripped jeans paired with a floral printed cropped top and a pair of Vans. I applied a light make up and tied my hair in a messy bun. I went downstairs and saw my mom getting ready. She was looking at me up and down saying what I'm wearing right now is way too shabby and dilapidated. I decided to ignore her not wanting to start a fight again.

My mom and I were strolling in the mall looking for something, which I had no idea what is it. I was on my phone texting Lane, and I told her what happened. She got downhearted at first, saying everything that we planned was put into waste. I told her to continue the plans without me. 

"We're here Ellie." I looked at the shop and realized that it was a tennis shop. Way to go mom.

I entered the shop unenthusiastically and looked around. I found varieties of tennis racquets, men and women’s apparel, tennis shoes, and other tennis equipments.”Get what you need honey. I’ll be right back.” And with that, she left.

The first thing that I need is a tennis racquet; I walked towards the section that features the racquets. I don’t know anything about picking the appropriate racquet for a mere beginner like me. I decided to select a racquet that suits my taste. I grasped the sky blue racquet with white streaks but –

“Hey-“I grabbed the racquet like my life depended on it. I looked up and saw a man, not older than me. I personally think he's hot. Prominent cheekbones, strong jawline, perfect tan skin, long straight nose and his eyes. I looked at him intently and got engrossed with his green orbs. His eyes are so beautiful. Copper colored hair and green eyes. Copper colored hair and green eyes. Copper colored hair and gre-

I'm lost in his eyes. His eyes that held so much intensity.

“Like what you see?” Cocky. The Copper colored hair and green eyed human mocked me. His grin got bigger revealing his perfect set of white teeth and tightened his hold at the racquet.

“Dude, I've seen better.” Lie. I smirked at him. I’m not going to let him win. I reached for the racquet again and got a hold of it, we were like playing tug of war, a struggle for supremacy and control, him at the head and me at the handle of the racquet. But he was too strong and physically powerful; his biceps were flexing revealing his toned muscles.

The tug of war continued for a couple of minutes and ended since my mom saw me fighting over a racquet with a guy. She said that what I did was unladylike and disgraceful, that I should just give it up and look for another one and blah. I asked a random female employee if there was another one like it, but she stated that it was a limited edition and only a few people could get a hold of it. Damn lucky bitch.

And poor, unlucky, Daniella ended up with a hot pink racquet.