Lights Out Lucy (Music City Rollers, 1)

"It's not a matter of if you get hurt but of how bad and when."

I can't say they didn't warn me. Right now, I realize: I probably should have listened. Because if there's anyone who has no business playing a sport that requires a helmet, pads, and a liability waiver, it's this girl. The same girl who once knocked herself out during a game of backyard baseball. I stepped up to the plate, pulled the bat back a little too far to swing, and clocked myself in the back of the skull. Boom. Lights Out Lucy.

That's how I got my roller derby name. So yeah. Maybe I should have known better.

But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? That's the whole reason I laced up a pair of skates to begin with. Well, that and this other little confession I need to make. Amid all the estrogen and girl power that fuels the world of women's roller derby, this insanity may have started because of a guy. Eyeroll, I know. Sadly, today on the oval track, it's about to come to a very bloody end. And all this slow-motion introspection might be part of my life flashing before my eyes. I'm going down hard and fast, with a set of Atomic Turquoise wheels aimed right at my face. Lights Out Lucy, indeed.