"Guh!" I yell as I once again, miss the target completely. I suck extremely bad at every sport, and archery isn't much better. The only difference is that it's almost impossible to trip while doing it, so that's basically the only reason why I joined the team. Why our school even has an archery team is beyond me, because there is only one other team in North Western Ontario, making it difficult to have any tournaments.
Not that I'm complaining or anything.
There's not much to do for a sixteen year old nobody in Thunder Bay Ontario, as there is only one mall, and it's snowing 3/4 of the year. Me, being someone who hates being cold, and it's lingering feeling within my bones, is not exactly happiest here. The only thing that I actually enjoy, is having my house backed up right into a lush green forest. I usually go out there when I need an escape from the cascading hullabaloo that surrounds my parents almost all the time, and the trees block most of the snow and wind so it's usually very dry and a few degrees warmer.
My dad is an extremely successful spinal surgeon, and he's barely ever home, as he usually gets shipped off to some big fancy expensive hospital somewhere in the states. This wouldn't be too bad if he didn't pretend like we're all some big happy family. As he earns a ton of money, this leaves millions of unused dollars to my mother.
She is one big piece of work. Not once have I ever seen her clean one thing in our house. The maids are always running around doing everything for her, in fact I'm pretty sure she doesn't even wipe her own ass after going to the bathroom. Useless, absolutely useless my mother is. The one thing I will give her props for is that she can throw one mean party. Never once has someone complained about anything wrong, and they usually keep the entire block up until three in the morning so I assume that's what a successful party should do. I never attend them, I just go to my only girl friend Alysha's house to sleepover.
Having my parents not care about me my entire life has made me pretty independent. Most people would be glad to not have their parents watching over them their entire lives, and let them do what they want. But when your mother hasn't laid a finger on you except to show the guests, and your dad doesn't even remember your own birthday, you end up setting limits for yourself.
I've only had one boyfriend in my entire life, but that was only because I felt bad for him. His name was Allen, and he had the biggest crush on me since like second grade. Don't ask why because I don't exactly have one of the most sparkly personalities. I usually keep to myself and try not to be noticed. I've learned my manners, so I'm not outwardly rude, but I don't usually open up to many people. I actually ended up really liking Allen, but he was more like a brother to me and after he got to know me, we sort of just dropped the whole boyfriend girlfriend thing and became friends. He's the only person I ever tell about my private life, and it's nice to have someone to talk to about my parents and their terrible efforts at being adults.
"Hey Gen! Are you going to shoot another one or just stand there looking into space for the next 20 minutes!?" I hear my coach yell across the gym. I immediately grasp another arrow, and line up my aim. I slowly pull the string back, and this time, I really concentrate on making that arrow go straight. I tighten my grip and slightly feel the ow start to heat up. This makes me let go of the string and sends the arrow flying out of my grasp. I drop the bow quickly and look at my hands, trying to see if there's any burns and all at once a cheer erupts from behind me.
Confused, I glance up, and find that my arrow is lodged neatly and perfectly right in the center. I crack a smile and forget about the burning I felt in my hands, and my coach and team mates congratulate me.
"I knew you had it in you Gen!" He tells me, and pats me on the back. After everyone leaves, I go to retrieve my arrow, and gasp as I see tiny wisps of smoke rising into the air.
The smoke was gently rolling off the back of the arrow, right where it was in my grasp.
