Prince of Hazel and Oak. John Lenahan

she took a full baseball swing to my head that made me hit the ground with a roll.

      ‘Hey,’ I shouted as I jumped back to my feet, ‘you promised not to hit me in the head.’

      ‘If you’re just going to hang your face out there, I can’t resist taking a pop at it.’

      ‘Good one, Essa,’ the Banshee shouted.

      The crowd was getting pretty worked up and from the sounds of it, I wasn’t the hometown team. It’s dangerous when emotions creep into a practice fight and at that moment I wanted to kill the girl of my dreams. From the look in her eyes my love wanted to do the same thing. I should have called it off right then and there – instead I modified my attack. While protecting my face, I succeeded in backing Essa into her cheering section. Just as she was about to run out of room – she did it. I knew she would. I knew she couldn’t resist showing off for her pupils. She launched herself straight up and over my head and attempted to grind her banta into my shoulder as she pole-vaulted over me – but I was ready for it. When she was directly over my head, I dropped to the ground. Her stick made contact with nothing but air. The self-satisfied smile on her face vanished as she realised she didn’t have enough leverage to complete her somersault. She instantly went from a graceful gymnast to a flailing circus clown and landed hard on her back.