CHAPTER 12: Sign In.

It was a busy day in JM Memorial High. The students zealously engaged and crowded the hallway, joining queues to sign into a social club.

Mae pushed through and was almost swallowed up in the surging crowd. She squeezed herself into the tightly packed mass of students, the smell of sweaty armpits stung her nostrils.

Mae was standing in front of the club list pinned to the notice board in the hallway. She writes on her palm the ones that she thinks are suitable for her. She perceived a familiar fragrance, packed with the aroma of goodies and flowers. The evocative scent caused her heart to beat faster. With dreamy eyes, she held onto her chest, thinking of the time spent with Liang in her bedroom. Then she exhaled a long deep breath through her mouth.

"Move your big head aside if you are done looking at the list" Someone from the crowd yelled and Mae snapped back to reality.

Her heart skipped a beat when she turned slightly and saw Liang Fang standing beside her.

"Oh.. Uh.." Before she could think of the right word to say to him, he walked away and stopped at the Archery queue.

She followed hastily and joined the queue, standing behind him.

She swings her legs to and fro, standing on her toes and then on her heels with her hands clasped behind her as she hummed.

She tapped on his shoulder and he turned back to look at her. Then she waved with a wide smile. He glanced down at her shoes and turned to face front.

Mae curled in her big toe back in her worn-out shoe. She chewed on her nails as the queue moved. She signed into archery club right after Liang and walked excitedly behind him.

After they were given fitted uniforms and the rules of archery had been explained, some of the students were already practicing how to shoot an arrow in the open field. Liang approached the instructor to collect a bow and arrow to commence practice;

He looked disdainful at the plastic arrow in his hand, fitted with a large sucker cup on the end. He flexed the arrow and pressed the sucker cup. "What is this you are giving me sir?" he said to the archery instructor.

"It's a sucker arrow Liiiiang" The instructor responded with an intrigued eyebrow, strenuously pronouncing his name with the tip of his tongue protruding to touch his upper teeth.

"Is this child's play? This is so fake. How can anyone use this?" Liang complained.

Mae was approaching the instructor when he pinned the sucker arrow to her forehead. "See, this is how to use it but with a bow of course" The instructor let out a sarcastic grin.

With a contemptuous look on his face, Prince Liang walked out of the scene to the open field where others were practicing.

Mae got her equipment from the inspector and hurriedly followed behind Liang.

The instructor held up a megaphone "Walk and don't run. I repeat, walk and don't run!" Then he puts it down, and opened his lunch box, bringing out some soft drinks and a hamburger. He munched on his meal as he watched the students practice.

Mae poked Liang on his scapular as he draws his sucker arrow in the bowstring. With reflex, he turned to aim at her, closing one eye and leaving the other open.

Mae tilted her head to look vividly at him, narrowing her eyes. "I... think.... Have I seen you somewhere before?" she became inquisitive as the flashback of the dude in a mask pointing an arrow at her in the mysterious cave occurred to her mind.

"Those eyes..." she mumbled.

He released the arrow and it plunged on her forehead.

"Ouch!" she dragged the arrow sticking on her forehead and rub the area. "What did you do that for?" she frowned, pouting her lips.

Prince Liang was gonna laugh but he stopped mid way for he couldn't remember how to start a laugh. With a mere expression on his face he asked;

"When are we going to handle a real arrow?"

"Haha, what do you need a real arrow for? Do you want to start a world war? Hahaha. Unless you are asking about the Olympics. Virtually everyone uses arrows made of ultra-lightweight carbon for shooting" Mae responded.

"War on Earth? The Olympics?" he mumbled. "What is the... Never mind" he said.

Mae held up her bow and arrow, struggling to fix the arrow on the string. She released the arrow for flight and it landed one step ahead of where she was standing.

Her cheeks turned red as she rubbed the back of her neck looking down at her shoes, fidgeting. "hehe, not so lucky. Trust me, I got this one".

She did a bit of stretching and cracking her bones in the process.

"Whoo! I got it this time" she said to herself, jumping and jogging for a second, then took in and released a deep breath.

She brought out another arrow, aiming carefully at the archery target with one eye closed as if she knew what she was doing. She did a lot of mathematical analysis and lastly released the arrow for flight.

"Urgh!" she threw tantrums when the arrow landed just in front of her feet.

Prince Liang shook his head. Brought out a sucker arrow from his quiver bag. He took some steps further away from the archery target and drew back the bowstring, aiming right at the middle of the archery target.

A girl walked right in front of the archery target. Liang released his arrow and it passed through her gigantic channel O plain earring dangling on her ear and the arrow hits the center of the archery target AKA 'The bullseye'.

"H-how did you..." Mae was perplexed. "Tchew! Show off! I can do better if I put my mind to it" she taunted.

Some groups of students stared at them chit-chatting and assumed the rumor to be true. A girl got jealous and shot an arrow at Mae's back. Liang turned to look at the girl laughing with her friend and when they noticed his gaze, they held up their index finger across their lips. "Shhhh...."

"Aw! I think there is something at my back. Can you see anything?" Mae asked Liang stretching difficultly to reach her hand on her back.

Liang shook his head in response. He looked the piece of paper hanging on her cloth with the sucker arrow pinned to it. It was written boldly "Give me your best shot. I am bulletproof"

"Are you sure there is nothing there? Please check again... Ouch!"

A guy had fired an arrow at her. Before she could turn to look at him, another student shot an arrow at her.

Soon it was raining sucker arrows. "Ouch! Ouch Ouch!" The students started shooting at her and she had no choice but to run out of the field.

She bumped into Chen on her way out.

"Hey, I have been looking everywhere for you." he held her hand examining the sucker arrows sticking to her body. "Are you okay?" He asked, dragging one plunged on her face.

She pushed him out of the way and continued running. Chen followed after her screaming "Mae, wait up. Mae... I'm sorry".

He caught up with her and held her tightly. She struggled to untangle his arms wrapped around her body. "Let go of me" she throws fist at him, struggling and kicking in the air then she burst into tears.

"I'm sorry okay? I really am" He released his arms gradually and shoved his hand in his pocket, bringing out her phone.

"Hey... I wanted to give you this yesterday but you ran off and I guess you couldn't hear me calling. Here is your phone. I am sorry, okay? I didn't mean for what happened yesterday." Chen grasped her hand and put the phone in it. Going down on one knee apologizing.

A girl walked pass them with her friend giggling and blushing as they whispered to each other.

"Hey! It's nothing like that. It is not a proposal" Chen yelled from a distance.

Mae wiped the tears in her eyes with the back of her palm and held her phone firmly. "Get up" she said inaudible, dragging out the sucker arrows sticking on her.

"What? I did not hear you. Is that a yes?" he asked with his lips quirked up.

The same girls walked passed them again and giggled, whispering to each other.

"For the last time, it is not a proposal!!" Chen yelled.

"Just get up okay? And stop causing a scene" Mae said sniffing in.

Chen got up excitedly and hugged her tightly "Thank you, Thank you very much" Then he pecked her on the cheek.

"Ew.. Don't do that" she playfully slapped his chest.

"Why? Is it because of your boyfriend?" he teased.

She blushed, fidgeting her feet on the ground "You see... He is not my boyfriend okay? You better stop the rumor unless you want to die" Mae faked a slap in the air, holding back her hand as she tries hard to hide her smile.

"Okay... If you say so. But whenever you need dating advice, you can always call love doctor Chen." He said playfully.

"Haha, Nice one." Mae laughed.

"See... I'm glad you are happy right now. We should hang out often. I'm fun to chat with by the way." he winked at her.

"Um... About that... I don't think it's possible for a cool kid to hang out with a loser like me in a high-status school such as JM Memorial High" Mae said in a low tone, looking down as she twirls her fingers together.

"Hey C'mon! Who makes the rule? You do! You just have to chin up, and walk with confidence. I wanted to ask why you always run off like Cinderella. Isn't that why it is possible for the other students to pick on you? They are no different from you, Mae."

"Heheh Cinderella..." Mae giggled. "You think I am a princess?" she raised her head to look Chen in the eyes for the first time.

She had a sudden spark that tells her he's her best friend. No one has ever complimented her sweetly before.

"No, no. I don't mean you are a princess. I'm saying you should stop running away from your problems. Got it?" Chen clarified.

"Oh! Whatever". Mae waved off her hand and walked away.

"Hey, C'mon. Now you are doing it again" Chen went after her.

"Get away from me okay? One minute ago I just wrote you on my BFF list and now I am ruling you out. Leave-me-the-fuck-alone!" Mae emphasized with hand gestures and proceeded to move on.

"Fine! Suit yourself!" Chen stamped his feet on the ground and stomped in the other direction.

Mae murmured, gritting her teeth but somehow wanted Chen to chase after her. She stopped and turned to look back, seeing him walking away angrily. She had a chill in her bone and then wrapped her hands around her body as she continued walking, searching to see if she'd belong to any other club.

"And one, two! One two! No, no.. no.. no... no. Start all over again!"

Mae heard the voice of the cheerleading supervisor from a distance and decided to take a peek at the cheerleading club, watching them practice from the entrance.

"Nah, such a difficult routine. Is it so hard to discover your talent, Mae!!" she uttered a profanity at herself. Then her eyes met with Jade and she hurriedly fled the scene.

She roamed around the block searching desperately for a social club to join as she looks at her palm, ruling out the ones she had written down.

Mae came to a stop when she saw Chen skillfully playing basketball. He bounced the ball on the rectangular court, dribbling the other players then he shoots the ball into the hoop and his team players jubilantly carried him up, shouting in unison.

"Hey you! Why are you loitering? Hey!" The coach blew his whistle and Mae took off.

Chen let out a mischievous smile when he saw that Mae had captured his moment.

Mae ran and stumbled into the swordsmanship club. She raised her head to see a girl pointing a fencing sword at her.

The blades were tapered to a blunted tip, with a button for safety. She was wearing a mask and jacket on her white uniform that shielded her face and chest.

The girl took off her mask, revealing her long red hair. "I challenge you" she said to Mae.

"What?" Mae looked around the room confused. All the students were also dressed in white attires, sitting on the floor in circles.

"I- I'm sorry. It was a mistake" she said, dusting herself off the ground.

"Be my opponent!" The girl said boldly, putting back her mask on and everyone cheered.

"Get into your uniform now!!!" The instructor yelled at Mae.

Mae hurriedly got changed in her sword fencing attire. She came back to the room walking with her head down as she twirl her hands in her cloth. Her toe hit the back of her other leg and she staggered, regaining her balance.

The students laughed.

"Here" The girl tossed another sword to her, striking a pose afterward.

The instructor blew the whistle and the girl attacked Mae at full force, letting out a loud wail "Die!!!!!"

Mae threw her sword on the ground, bent down and covered her ears, closing her eyes tightly waiting to be slaughtered.

The girl stopped and tilted her head to one side, looking puzzled at Mae. The other students busted into laughter.

The instructor angrily blew the whistle. "You are supposed to defend with your sword. What do you think you are doing, young lady?" She scolded.

"Trying not to die ma'am" Mae replied in a low tone looking down at her shoes and curling her fingers in her dress.

"Stand erect now and pick up your sword. Your worst enemy is fear. It's either you strike or defend. Get up now!" She yelled, blowing on her whistle with her veins becoming visible on her neck.

Mae's hands trembled as she picked up her sword on the ground. Holding it vertically with her limbs shaking.

Her bladder all of a sudden felt full and she was sweating profusely in the cold room. All she could do was pray for mercy in her thought.

She wiped out sweat from her forehead with the back of her palm and held the sword firmly with her left hand as she stood with her legs apart and knees bent.

"Iyahhhhhhh'

The girl steadily approached her with speed and strikes with her sword. Mae shut her eyelid tightly and moved her arm slightly, blocking the strike horizontally.

Her sword fell on the ground but she was pleased to see the outcome.

The instructor whistled again "Pick up your sword and strike" she said to Mae.

Mae gulped and bent to pick her sword on the ground.

The instructor blows the whistle "attack!!!"

Mae stood firmly on her ground, holding her sword with both hands. She looked through the numerous holes in the mask, patiently waiting for the girl to approach her.

"Strike, defend. Strike, defend. You got this Mae. I am not afraid. I am not afraid" Mae recited in her head.

The red hair girl jumped up, cutting down her sword and Mae blocked above her head, swinging her sword at the girl, and tried to cut across her body.

Surprised, the girl leapt backwards, slapping Mae's blade aside. She cuts and thrust at Mae relentlessly, driving her around the ring, never letting her gain her balance.

Mae parried her opponent's attack with her sword, redirecting the redhead's attack by pushing her sword out of the way with her own sword. She launched her own attack in one swift move.

Mae counter cuts her opponent, significantly weakening redhead's arms.

Redhead drifts backward panting "Where did you learn that move?"

"Heheh, I knew from my instincts" Mae responded, holding up her sword to create an opening for her opponent to attack.

"Iyaaahhhhh" Redhead rushed in with full force and Mae blocked against the strike, kicking her on the groin.

Redhead fell on the ground. She leaned armless, panting and looking Mae in the eye as Mae stood in front of her, panting with her sword pointing at the girl's neck.

Mae left the others jaw-dropping. There were all flabbergasted she could defeat the champion of sword fencing. It was at that moment she realized she was born for this.