SCHOOL CLUB SELECTIONS

I'm just going to skip writing about all the stuff that happened in school because I was just too busy to write. Let's just skip to the end of school.

Home Ec went pretty badly. I don't think Mrs Martinez liked me. From the moment I walked into the Home Ec kitchen, the only girl in gym attire, she had decided that I was trouble.

Today we were making toasted sandwiches because Mrs Martinez had interviews to conduct for the cooking club later, so we should work fast so she could end the class early. It all went downhill for me after that.

First she complained to the class that "SAMANTHA" embroidered on my apron was too small. I told her it was the largest possible size to fit all the letters in a row. She told me my name was too long.

Next, when I was slicing the bread, she used me as the negative example because I was slicing with a common cook's knife, not a bread knife.

"Don't you slice bread at home?" She asked me.

Actually, yes, I did... almost every Sunday, but with a machine because we sliced up to 20 loaves at a time.

But I keep quiet. It's not like I could explain why we needed 20 loaves of bread.

"Most of us eat store bought sliced bread." Jasmine tried to defend me.

"And yet you are using the right knife." Mrs Martinez pointed out.

After that, without naming names, but they were not me, and never more than twice the same persons, someone broke a bottle of mustard on the floor.

Someone else left the tap running, a few someones had burnt their bread while toasting them, and someone cut her own finger with the butter knife. Just a scratch, but the butter knife was an unexpected twist for me.

Someone got caught not washing the vegetables. Someone washed her tomatoes after slicing it.

Cooking class was quite eventful if you were the type who flipped over every single little thing, which Mrs Martinez turned out to be.

When we were done, Mrs Martinez made us clean up, then we were to show her our sandwiches arranged in our food container while she inspected our counter.

Our counter passed the cleanliness inspection, but barely. Zara had spilled water on the floor while cleaning up and left a puddle. But it was just water, and I wiped it up with paper towels.

"Oh my goodness, Samantha!" Mrs Martinez cried out, "Save the trees!"

I'm not sure what she meant by that.

And then about my sandwich, she commented, "I don't know how to eat your sandwich! It is so tall! Why did you have to put every meat inside?"

Because meat was yummy. But I didn't answer. The less I said, the quicker she would turn her attention elsewhere.

"Why does she hate you so much?" Zara asked me.

I shrugged. Who knew?

"Alright class, you are dismissed. I'm holding interviews for the cooking class. If you are interested, you are welcomed to stay back." Mrs Martinez announced.

Everyone stood up immediately to leave. I hesitated... Should I?

Mrs Martinez was talking to Pearl, "Oh my goodness, you poor girl. If you would like to join the cooking club, there's always a place for you."

And then she saw me, the only other girl still in the class, "Samantha, you're not thinking of joining, are you?"

"I'm just waiting for Pearl." I said.

I was struck out of OPTION 1: INTERVIEW FOR COOKING CLUB even before the last bell rang.

I wasn't terribly upset. Mostly, I'm just wondering how I'd survive the rest of her classes this year. I think if it were up to Mrs Martinez, I would have been struck out of Home Ec classes too.

I told Pearl that I couldn't go home with her today. She didn't seem too disappointed. She didn't even ask why. I guess she felt safe on her own now, so that was good.

Then I headed to the school hall, which was just across a linked bridge from the Home Ec class.

I was early for the archery club selections. There were some seniors there setting up. One of them told me to just wait on one side.

I watched them pull out the boards and safety nets. Then they laid out the bows in a row, and set up chairs between them as markers.

Someone was testing the slides on the projection. They were going to make us shoot for it.

"Yosh! All done!" Someone shouted.

A dark skinned girl suddenly appeared in front of me. Her hair was a lighter brown than her skin, her eyes were coffee brown. Werewolf, and very stealthy to have come so close to me without me even noticing. Despite her slight built and beautiful appearance, she was definitely warrior material.

"Hi, I'm Priya." Even her name was beautiful.

"I'm Sam." I told her.

She frowned a little at a sheet of paper in her hands, "Are you on the list?"

I recognized the list as the one I added my name on this morning, "Yeah, the last name."

"Samantha Kingsley?" Priya read it out loud.

"Yup." I said.

Priya made a check mark next to it, "Present!" She sang loudly.

We were still early, the dismissal bell hadn't rung yet.

"Have you ever used a bow and arrow before?" Priya asked me.

"No." I shook my head.

"Wanna try out first?" She asked me.

"Can I?" I asked, suddenly hopeful.

"Yeah, why not? You can try out now, listen to the briefing with the others, and leave after." She told me.

"That'll be great!" I told her, "I actually have some pack thing back home later."

Priya grinned at me and nodded, "Follow me!"

She led me to the row of uniformed bows on the floor and picked one up, "These are the club's standard bows the beginners all use. You don't need your own till you reach the intermediate levels."

"Priya! What are you doing?" A male wolf approached us with a clipboard, "And where is the sign up list?".

"Hi Captain!" Priya greeted cheerfully, "I'm letting her try out first."

She returned him the sheet of paper which he immediately put onto his clipboard.

"She hasn't even watched the safety briefing first." Captain said.

"She can watch it later. I'll guide her now." Priya said, "Anyway, she's got some family stuff going on, so it'll help her if we can let her try out first."

Captain paused for a moment, "Fine, I'll score."

And then to me he said, "But you only get three arrows like everyone else. And there is no redo. Not even after the briefing."

"Fair enough." I nodded.

He stepped back and Priya grabbed me and showed me where and how to stand and hold the bow.

Everything was strange and new, I looked at the target board she pointed out to me blankly.

"Okay, stand like this." She told me. Once I was roughly in position, she pushed the bow into my left hand.

"You're right handed right?" I nodded.

"Good." She said cheerfully.

She shifted my foot a bit, pushed out my arm further, and then loaded my bow for me from behind. Putting my right hand on the bowstring and showing me how to hold it, she pointed my bow in the right position.

"Turn your left elbow out a bit more." She told me, "a perfect shot is all in the positioning."

That was the key! The moment she told me this, I just felt that must be it. I focused on the stance she had put me in, memorizing it.

"Relax, and aim. Then pull the bow back, all the way, as far as you can, and let go." She instructed me.

I took a deep breath. I'd be lying if I said I was aiming. I wasn't even paying attention to the target. I was just focused on keeping the position she had put me in, keeping my left hand completely locked in the position Priya had put it, I drew back the bow as far as could, just as she said, and then I let go.

There was a satisfying sound the moment I let go. I closed my eyes.

"Yes!" Priya shouted.

I opened my eyes. There was an arrow, right on the red center.

"It's a bullseye!" Priya announced.

The other seniors came over to watch. Captain wrote something on the clipboard.

Archery was easier than I thought.

"Okay, now you have to shoot the second arrow by yourself. I'll guide you." Priya said.

She handed me an arrow. My left hand was still up in the position Priya had put me in. Everything happened so quickly, and the bow felt large and awkward in my hand, so I had just held it up there without lowering it at all.

I put the arrow on, taking care to hook it the way Priya had done. Priya watched to make sure it was right. "Turn your arm out a bit more." She told me, "No, your left arm. And straighten your elbow more."

I did as she said. "Okay, go."

And then I pulled on the bow. That part was fun for me. I remembered how nice it was not to hold back.

I paused now, in case Priya might say "Not so hard!"

But she didn't, so I drew my right arm as far back as it would go, and then I let go.

I wished I could spell out that sound it made when I let go. Or the sound it made when it hit the board. Oh, this time it hit just the edge of the largest blue ring.

"Wow, that's pretty good!" Priya said.

It was? I looked at her a little incredulously.

"For your first time, just hitting the board is fantastic." She assured me.

Then why even bother putting targets?

"One last arrow, all on your own now." Priya magically produced another arrow. The dismissal bell rang.

Okay, all on my own, I checked my position, carefully arranging myself to clone the first position Priya had put me in the first time.

By now my left hand was obviously not where Priya had put it for the first shot, so I had to point the bow and arrow at the target myself. I looked at the two arrows. The one on the blue outer ring was pretty low, so I could probably lift the bow higher. Even if I missed the bullseye, it would still fall into one of the rings above it.

I remembered Priya telling me to lift my left arm higher the first time, and how in both the first and second times, she made me turn my left arm further out. So I did those adjustments on myself. They felt unnatural, but I didn't know what I was doing and she did, so my best chance was to follow her instructions to the letter.

I forced my body to relax, pulled back my bow all the way back and then thought to try looking at the target when I shot the arrow. I could hear the sound of students entering the hall behind me. I let go.

And then another nice sound. I was never someone who saw myself as the bow and arrow type. I was more of the tackle you down with my shoulder type. And if ever given a choice of a weapon, I'd pick a dagger anytime. And if it had to be a projectile weapon, then a handgun, preferably one that would fit in my pocket. A bow and arrow always seemed kind of old fashion and cumbersome to carry around when running though a forest. (Yes, I do give these kind of things a lot of thought.)

But the sound of the arrow wasn't swoosh or woosh or whatever I had read or could imagine. It was a sound I couldn't describe. I think it was the sound of love.

Maybe that's why Cupid's weapon of choice was a bow and arrow.

My third arrow landed in the yellow ring.

"Wow!" Priya clapped. Some of the other seniors clapped too, "Are you sure this is your first time?"

I nodded, "I didn't even think to look at the target the first two times."

Priya burst into laughter, "Beginner's luck!"

Captain growled, "You dropped your concentration just before the loose, or it would have been another gold."

I nodded again. Unfortunately, I had no idea what he just said.

"Okay, looks like the other noobs are here." Captain said, "Let's start the briefing."