Chương 115: WE ALL STAYED BACK

It turned out I wasn't the only one who had to stay back after school. Liam was down for a class rep meeting with the student council. They were going to discuss student events for the rest of the year. Jasmine was a bundle of nerves; the cheerleaders were going to announce the results of the tryouts. Of course, they had to have everyone who tried out attend the meeting where they would announce the name of each girl who made it and cheer.

After that, they would have fittings for their uniforms and a celebration while the losers went home sad. No, they can't just stick the results up on the notice board. They needed the drama. Henry's debate club meeting was today. Of course, he made it in. He didn't quite get along with the debate captain, though. Then again, Henry didn't get along with anyone who didn't immediately submit to him. Marcus was holding auditions for his band. He didn't have high hopes.

The most promising musician wanted to form a jazz band. Marcus had been sighing all day about it being completely different from a rock band. Even Pearl was staying back. In the end, she joined the library club, and she had librarian duties today. I wished I had thought to join the library club. But I had crossed it out since it had listed club days to be on "weekdays." I hadn't thought that it meant members could choose any day of the week to be rostered.

But Pearl said the library club was lame, and she only joined because the teacher was the very same one who was in charge of the school's official event hosts. Jasmine said Pearl was a suck-up and begged me not to let her become the next school host because she wouldn't be able to take watching Pearl speak on stage at every school event. How could I control who the teacher picked? Jasmine seemed too confident in my abilities.

And I was very sure now that there was bad blood between the two girls, but I didn't know how to broach it. It looked sticky and prickly at the same time. Anyway, for some reason or another, the whole gang had to stay back today. We called good luck to one another as we headed off to our after-school activities. By the time I got to the hall for my first archery lesson, I was so excited, my hair had broken out of my hair clip again. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Priya came up to me politely.

"May I help you?"

"Hi, Priya... Urm, it's me, Sam," I told her. I picked up the hair clip from the floor.

"Sam? As in Samantha Kingsley? Oh my goddess! You're the warlock princess?" Priya's eyes were wide like saucers.

"Yeah, I mean no, I just kind of had my first shift last weekend," I mumbled.

"Oh my goddess!" Priya exclaimed. The other club members were starting to look over. Priya brought me around, introducing me to the other club members as the "legendary warlock princess." In her excitement, she failed to introduce anyone to me. I didn't think you could create a legend in a day, but according to Priya, the whole school was talking about it.

"That still doesn't make it a legend. At most a rumor," I told Priya. Priya grinned at me.

"I like you. Don't worry about the rumors. I've got you covered."

"By covered, you mean you're spreading it even more, right?" I asked. Priya laughed.

"Hoohoohoo, but don't worry, I will only spread good rumors about my favorite club junior." I worried, and my hair broke free of the hair clip again.

"Is your hair clip broken? You can't shoot with that!" Priya exclaimed.

"Plus our teacher in charge is super strict, and he'll kick you out for sure." Priya looked worried, which worried me in turn.

"What should I do?" I asked. I really didn't want to be kicked out for a broken hair clip. Of course, I blamed my out-of-control hair, but it's something I'm going to have to live with.

"Quickly, there's still time! Run down to the school bookstore and buy some hair ties!" Priya ordered. I rushed down to the small school bookstore, taking two stairs at a time. I had never thought a bookstore would sell hair accessories. It even sold hair combs and small mirrors, and a surprising assortment of hair ties and clips. I bought a pair of black hair ties for a dollar. They had a black ribbon tied in a small bow on each of them, but more importantly, they looked thick and sturdy.

Then I ran back up to the hall. I was pretty relieved to find that I had made it back before the teacher arrived. Most of the club members were in the hall now, standing around on the side. The seniors had set up the range for us today, but we would be learning to take it down and store everything properly in the equipment room later. The captain was distributing the beginner's kit.

He walked around to where the beginners were milling, stopping to talk to them, pass them the kit, or, if they forgot to bring the money, he wrote their name down on his clipboard. He also spoke a bit with each new member. I watched the exchange of words and smiles, the initial shared laughter, and the palpable relief on the newcomers' faces. We had a good captain. Oh yeah, I totally forgot to ask my dad for the $10 this morning, with all the Betas popping by at breakfast... But it's okay.

At least it was the beginning of the week, so I still had the bulk of my weekly allowance on me. When the captain came over to us, I paid the money while Priya busied herself with my hair.

"Stop mothering her, Priya!" the captain grumbled.

"But Captain! She's a warlock princess!" Priya beamed back.

"There's no such thing as warlock princesses," the captain grumbled. I brightened at that. He was the first one who said it, and it just surprised me that hearing it made me feel rather comforted. There were still sane people around me. The captain looked a little taken aback by my obvious delight at the truth, and then he sighed.

"Sorry, I can't control my vice captain. You'd just have to put up with her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Priya demanded. The captain just sighed and walked off. Priya huffed.

"He thinks he's so cool and all that!" I laughed at that. I think I was lucky to get into the archery club, if only to meet Priya.

"All done." Priya looked proud of her handiwork.

"Double French Braids!" I wondered how girls learned the names of all these hairstyles. I realized she had parted my hair in two, braided the top part closest to my head, then fastened the hair tie so that most of my hair looked more like really long pigtails.

"I got tired braiding so much," Priya explained sheepishly.

"Anyway, it turned out really cute." I shrugged. It's up, and I'm not going to get in trouble with the teacher. That's good enough.

"Thanks."

"Always happy to help my junior!" Priya did seem genuinely happy. She was a good person, and I admired her carefree cheer. I think I could try to be more positive like that. It would be nice to be a brighter person.