The Music of What Happens

by Bill Konigsberg

I kinda want to strangle him a little. It’s straight supremacy. Instead I grab a yellow noodle, submerge it in water, put my mouth on one end, and blow. Water soaks Betts, who interrupts his float, grabs the noodle from me, and beats me over the head with it.

Max doesn’t stop, and when it’s his turn to slam the ball, he does it so close to my head that I wince. And I hate him for it. For being so insensitive to what it feels like to be knocked out. For not giving a shit that I am a hard-core failure at this and every other thing in my life.

So weird...so much hate?