Chương 196: THIRTEEN ARROWS

I left the hall with my class when Madam Principal dismissed us.

"Sam!" Priya called when I stepped out. I realized the archery club was gathering at the empty landing outside the hall, not so much because I recognized any one of them in particular, but because many of them were carrying cases for their bows and arrows. I slipped out of my class with a quick nod to join them. My friends almost didn't miss me at all, so focused was everyone on getting to the student foyer to secure their ticket at the special discount, or a glimpse of the band members up close.

"Horio! River! Keanu!" Alvin called. In this way, Captain and Priya picked out the rest of the club members. Once the hall was emptied, we re-entered to put down our stuff. Then Captain spoke, "All right, we're all here. Go change into your gear. Then do you see all these chairs? We're going to have to clear them to set up our target boards. Everybody move quick! Let's not waste practice time. Get everything up before the coaches arrive! Move it!" We all got on our feet.

I pulled out my archery bag from my backpack and headed to the nearest girls' washroom. I overheard a guy complaining loudly to his friends, "Why do we have to clear all the chairs? I signed up to shoot arrows, not do manual labor!" I entered the girls' washroom and changed quickly, ignoring any similar complaints. Then I got back to the hall. It was empty. Captain and Priya were just done talking to some student council members and about to leave to change too.

The student council members started to stack the chairs, so I helped too.

"Are you sure you can carry that many?" one of the guys asked about my tall stack. I looked at it.

"Shouldn't be a problem." But I decided not to stack them any higher in case it attracted any more attention. I looked around and, seeing the student council members line the chairs along the side of the hall, I reached for the bottom chair in my stack to bring it over.

"I got it." I looked up in surprise when my stack of chairs was hijacked and tilted over. It was Matt.

"Hi, Matthew. What are you doing here?" one of the student council members asked.

"Just thought to check on things," Matt said as he dragged the stack of chairs over.

"Maybe have the girls just stack the chairs and the guys move the stacks to the side." He put down the stack along the wall. By now, more archery members had returned to the hall.

"Hey!" Matt called out when he recognized one of the seniors.

"Where's your Captain?"

"Changing," the senior answered.

"Is he mad?" Matt asked, casting an eye on the chaos of chairs.

"Nah," the senior answered.

"But you know our Captain. Even if he were mad, you wouldn't know it." Matt shrugged.

"Yeah, but I gotta go. Tell him I came by to apologize."

"Will do!"

"Thanks!" Matt said. He turned to me.

"Sam, Harv was looking for you." I cast a furtive look around before realizing that no one would recognize Harvey's name and I wouldn't get any additional attention for being related to the kick-ass band that just performed here. And then I realized I was being stared at anyway. Why? I looked at Matt. Matt just gave me a friendly smile in parting.

"Just try to answer your text." Oh. Was Harvey texting me?

"Bye, guys! I gotta go, but good work!" Matt walked out of the hall, saying bye to the left and right as he left. The senior who spoke to me earlier came by again as I made the next stack of chairs.

"Not so high! Not everyone is as strong as Matthew, you know." Who? Oh, right, Matt.

"Sorry, my bad." I stopped stacking so he could take it.

"So what's your relationship with Matthew?" he asked. He looked at me carefully, and I had the urge to hit his face with the chair I was holding. Instead, I turned to start a new stack.

"Just friends," I said.

"Really? You know he always goes for the pretty ones," the senior told me. What? What exactly are we discussing here? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Randell, stop flirting and start moving!" It was Captain.

"I'm not. I was just warning her about Matthew. He came by just now, asked if you were mad and said he was sorry. Then he stopped to flirt with her. He even helped her move chairs. You know he never does manual labor." Captain looked at me.

"Ah no, Matt—I mean Matthew—wasn't flirting. He was passing a message from my beta—ah, brother—I mean cousin. I mean, you know Harvey, right?" I felt so relieved when I remembered Captain and Harvey had been introduced.

"Harvey wants me to check my texts." Captain's face froze at my fumbled explanation and then suddenly, "Pfffttt..." He was laughing. That was unexpected.

"Sam, go check your phone, then get back to stacking the chairs." He sighed, seeming resigned but still bemused. Why? Did he just notice my incredible lack of lying skills?

"Yes, Captain." I quickly turned to go. Just as I did, there was a commotion at the other side of the hall as a stack of chairs fell and clattered across the floor. I heard River's familiar voice.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry!" And then Captain muttered, "Here comes the other troublemaker." What? Wait... If River was the other troublemaker, who was the first one? Me? Did he just label me a troublemaker... together with River? No way. River was in a league of his own! I pulled my phone out of my bag. It was dead. No battery. Oh well. I unsealed my impenetrable mind (I like to keep my mind vampire-proof at school) and mind-linked Harvey.

"Hi, Harvey! I heard you were trying to text me?" Harvey seemed preoccupied.

"Princess, please check your phone."

"It's out of battery," I told him.

"If you come down to the student foyer, I can lend you my power bank. Sorry, I can't bring it to you. It's chaotic here." I imagined the hundreds of new fans they must have just made.

"Heh heh heh." I laughed. Very few things would be able to cause my Beta to lose his cool, but I imagine the girls in my class alone could severely damage that cool exterior.

"Princess?"

"It's okay, I can't come down. I have club. If it's nothing urgent, I'll charge and check my phone when I get home."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yarde, Coach Emerson, and Coach Roberts!" Captain greeted.

"Oh, I gotta go. Coach is here." I resealed my mind and ran over to the students assembling. We had only cleared half the hall. The student council members continued on the other half. Mr. Yarde was glaring at the chairs.

"What's going on?"

"The student foyer is in chaos, and most of the student council members were needed downstairs. So they are short of manpower, and we need to help clear the chairs," Captain explained.

"Then what are you doing? Why are all of you just standing here?" Mr. Yarde yelled.

"We have gathered to greet you and the coaches and see if you have further instructions," Captain explained again.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Yarde. Good afternoon, Coach Emerson and Coach Roberts," the more senior club members dutifully greeted in unison. Us freshmen just mumbled along.

"Yes. Well, yes." Mr. Yarde nodded. Then he caught sight of me.

"You! What's with the hair and eyes?" Eh? I thought we already went through this?

"That's Samantha," Coach Roberts answered.

"Remember, Mr. Yarde?" Just then Dean popped his head into the hall. It was only for a split second, but immediately a group of girls screamed.

"It's Dean!" They've even learned his name. He came in and politely bowed.

"Sorry to interrupt." He held up Harvey's black power bank. Oh no. I did not need this. I tried very hard to pretend I didn't know him. Oh right, mind-link. {Dean, just go back downstairs. Do not recognize me! I don't want the power bank.} Dean was walking toward us, but he stopped.

"Sorry, I left something on the stage," Dean managed to say. He pocketed the power bank and went up on the stage. Then he came back again empty-handed.

"Sorry, my mistake. It's not there." And then he left.

"He's cool," one of the girls said.

"Even cooler than Liam," another answered.

"I wish our school had boys like that," Priya said.

"Why do we only have this lot?" She looked at Captain pointedly. Captain did not deign that with a reply. Hahahaha. Our coaches looked amused. Mr. Yarde wore a constipated expression. It was as if he was very angry about so many things at one time that he could not process it all at once.

"Nothing but rabble," Mr. Yarde said finally.

"These rock punks! Undisciplined and unruly! There is nothing admirable in them. They're the worst kind of students!" That's kind of harsh—and completely untrue too. But I didn't want to argue with Mr. Yarde right now, especially since he had just forgotten about my existence.

"Well, now you lot will have to clear their mess! Quickly, get the chairs out of the way and the place set up. The school isn't paying the coaches to stand around and do nothing." Mr. Yarde must have a gift for putting his foot in his mouth to be able to do it so consistently. He left the hall, and we went back to clearing the chairs. Then we set up the shooting range. The seniors taught us how today so by next week we could set up and take them down by ourselves.

Then the seniors left with the bows and arrows to the field. They would have to set up the outdoor range next. Coach Roberts made us warm up with stretches and then just a few laps around the hall. We were short on time. Then she read out the names of those who were permitted to shoot. The others would practice on the pretend bow.

There were very few names read out, so we all got our own bow and arrow, and we were allowed to shoot ten arrows, although we were told to do it slowly, focusing on our stance and posture—and never to step past the line into the range to retrieve the arrows. After revising the bow hold and how to nock the arrow, Coach Roberts left it to us with these parting words, "Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed." Coach Roberts liked to say zen things too. I shot all ten arrows uneventfully.

Happily, all except one hit the target board, and most of them hit at least the largest circle. I had one on the ground and two outside the circle. Which meant that if I had a large vampire or wolf stand perfectly still around ten paces in front of me, who would wait patiently for me to nock my bow and get into position, I had a 90 percent chance of hitting him. Not bad, if I can get very large and cooperative prey.

"Samantha, you need to focus one step at a time. See, you are thinking about the release when you should be focused on your anchoring. Be patient, take your time, and give the necessary attention to your present step before considering the future ones," Coach Roberts said after I finished the last of my arrows. Now she tells me. I had thought I was shooting slowly, but apparently, I had just finished first. Coach Roberts gave me three arrows. Only three.

"Take your time. They are your last three for today," she said. Only three. T. T I think I could do this forever. No, I can't. My aim had deteriorated over time. But I really liked this. The sound of the arrow when it flew. That was my favorite part. The sound of it hitting the target board was nice too. I wished I could record the sound of an arrow flying and use it as my ringtone. But it's one of those things that you have to be there to feel. Like the euphoria of a live concert.

Or the way the flavors of Killion's cooking are like a party in your mouth. Some things you need to be there to know.