THE NEXT MONDAY
Casey sighed as she dressed out for PE. She hated PE. The teachers were painfully ignorant and the students utterly retarded. "You ready?" Riley called. She had already dressed out and was not-so-patiently waiting for Casey.
"I guess." Casey answered. The two left the locker room as two guys with towels over their heads and video camera in hand rushed past and into the girl's locker room. There were screams of surprise and strings of cursing. Casey and Riley didn't even stop to look. "I wonder what new and exciting skill we get to learn in PE today!" Casey exclaimed with mock enthusiasm. Riley shrugged. It was too early to talk. It was too early to even be awake.
The two walked into the large gym as the tardy bell rang. "Alright maggots!" The PE teacher Mrs. Patilla shouted. "Fall in and sound off!" The students reluctantly took their place in the alphabetical line and shouted out their last names. "Today is a very special day in your insignificant Maggot lives. Today, you maggots get to become pupae. Today, you learn the fine skill of archery." Casey and Riley gave each other gleeful glances from opposite ends of the line. "First, this is the bow." Mrs. Patilla held up a crappy excuse for a long bow. "And this is your arrow. You stick the arrow on the string-"
"Isn't that called knocking the bow?" A tall, skinny, blonde-wanna-be named Mary Klein asked. Patilla turned around.
"Yes, Little Miss Klein. It is." Mrs. Patilla was turning red with anger. "As I was saying, you 'knock' the bow and pull back till your thumb is at you mouth with elbow up and release. Got it maggots?"
"Mrs. Patilla, I believe you forgot to mention that you should hold the bow at a slight angle and put all four fingers beneath the arrow, not like the movies where you hold the arrow."
"Yes, Miss Klein, thank you again." Casey noticed the vein on Patilla's neck begin to throb and pulsate. "Now brake off into your individual divisions and commence firing."
"Mrs. Klein, shouldn't you instruct the rest of the children in the safety protocol?" Patilla's eye began to twitch.
"Of course, Miss Klein. Do not fire the arrow at another person. Do not skip rope with the bow. Do not swordfight with the arrow. Do not impale each other with the arrows. Do not use the bows as clubs. Is that understood?" There were murmurings of consent. "Very well, commence firing!"
Casey and Riley paired up. "Oo! That Mary Klein needs to get her ass kicked." Riley growled as she knocked the bow and then shot it. She hit the bulls-eye and then handed the bow to Casey.
"Don't let her get to you. The only reason she doesn't get beat down after school is because her Daddy is the Principle." Casey took a shot and her arrow wedged itself right beside Riley's.
"Hunter! Ross! Front and center!" Patilla barked. Casey and Riley slowly walked over. "Did you two fire those arrows?" They nodded. "I don't believe you." Patilla thrust a bow and arrow into Riley's hands. "Do it again!" Riley sighed and knocked the arrow. Then, across the room, Riley heard Mary Klein's voice.
"Oh yes, I've been doing this since I could walk. My private teacher, Jaque, said I'm a natural." Casey saw the annoyance flit in Riley's eyes and Casey gave her a warning glance. "I mean, anyone can hit a bulls-eye, but what really matters is the style." This irked Casey. She nudged Riley and gave her a consenting nod. Riley pulled the arrow back and aimed. But when Riley released, the arrow shot high, bounced off the roof and found it's target in Mary Klein's butt. There was a piercing scream.
"Hunter!" Mrs. Patilla yelled. "You are staying right here." Then, Patilla ran over to Mary. Riley shrugged.
"I don't know what went wrong." She said innocently. Casey patted her shoulder.
"It's okay, everyone misfires once in a while."
When Riley's parents found out about the fiasco at school, they grounded her; suspending her soccer practices, archery lessons and horseback lessons for a week. None the less, Riley was out with Casey at the stable two days later. The sky was getting dark and it looked like a monsoon was coming. Riley was out riding with Casey, trying to help her round up the wild mares that roamed freely across the land. "I wish I had had a camera." Casey stated. "That look on Mary's Barbie face was priceless!" Riley was too busy trying to stay on as the two horses loped across the field. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed through the sky. "We better hurry." Casey stated and then nudged her paint horse, Frisco, into a gallop. Riley cursed as her horse, Pumpkin, did the same, but it was covered up by the howling wind and thunder.
Casey sighed as she dressed out for PE. She hated PE. The teachers were painfully ignorant and the students utterly retarded. "You ready?" Riley called. She had already dressed out and was not-so-patiently waiting for Casey.
"I guess." Casey answered. The two left the locker room as two guys with towels over their heads and video camera in hand rushed past and into the girl's locker room. There were screams of surprise and strings of cursing. Casey and Riley didn't even stop to look. "I wonder what new and exciting skill we get to learn in PE today!" Casey exclaimed with mock enthusiasm. Riley shrugged. It was too early to talk. It was too early to even be awake.
The two walked into the large gym as the tardy bell rang. "Alright maggots!" The PE teacher Mrs. Patilla shouted. "Fall in and sound off!" The students reluctantly took their place in the alphabetical line and shouted out their last names. "Today is a very special day in your insignificant Maggot lives. Today, you maggots get to become pupae. Today, you learn the fine skill of archery." Casey and Riley gave each other gleeful glances from opposite ends of the line. "First, this is the bow." Mrs. Patilla held up a crappy excuse for a long bow. "And this is your arrow. You stick the arrow on the string-"
"Isn't that called knocking the bow?" A tall, skinny, blonde-wanna-be named Mary Klein asked. Patilla turned around.
"Yes, Little Miss Klein. It is." Mrs. Patilla was turning red with anger. "As I was saying, you 'knock' the bow and pull back till your thumb is at you mouth with elbow up and release. Got it maggots?"
"Mrs. Patilla, I believe you forgot to mention that you should hold the bow at a slight angle and put all four fingers beneath the arrow, not like the movies where you hold the arrow."
"Yes, Miss Klein, thank you again." Casey noticed the vein on Patilla's neck begin to throb and pulsate. "Now brake off into your individual divisions and commence firing."
"Mrs. Klein, shouldn't you instruct the rest of the children in the safety protocol?" Patilla's eye began to twitch.
"Of course, Miss Klein. Do not fire the arrow at another person. Do not skip rope with the bow. Do not swordfight with the arrow. Do not impale each other with the arrows. Do not use the bows as clubs. Is that understood?" There were murmurings of consent. "Very well, commence firing!"
Casey and Riley paired up. "Oo! That Mary Klein needs to get her ass kicked." Riley growled as she knocked the bow and then shot it. She hit the bulls-eye and then handed the bow to Casey.
"Don't let her get to you. The only reason she doesn't get beat down after school is because her Daddy is the Principle." Casey took a shot and her arrow wedged itself right beside Riley's.
"Hunter! Ross! Front and center!" Patilla barked. Casey and Riley slowly walked over. "Did you two fire those arrows?" They nodded. "I don't believe you." Patilla thrust a bow and arrow into Riley's hands. "Do it again!" Riley sighed and knocked the arrow. Then, across the room, Riley heard Mary Klein's voice.
"Oh yes, I've been doing this since I could walk. My private teacher, Jaque, said I'm a natural." Casey saw the annoyance flit in Riley's eyes and Casey gave her a warning glance. "I mean, anyone can hit a bulls-eye, but what really matters is the style." This irked Casey. She nudged Riley and gave her a consenting nod. Riley pulled the arrow back and aimed. But when Riley released, the arrow shot high, bounced off the roof and found it's target in Mary Klein's butt. There was a piercing scream.
"Hunter!" Mrs. Patilla yelled. "You are staying right here." Then, Patilla ran over to Mary. Riley shrugged.
"I don't know what went wrong." She said innocently. Casey patted her shoulder.
"It's okay, everyone misfires once in a while."
When Riley's parents found out about the fiasco at school, they grounded her; suspending her soccer practices, archery lessons and horseback lessons for a week. None the less, Riley was out with Casey at the stable two days later. The sky was getting dark and it looked like a monsoon was coming. Riley was out riding with Casey, trying to help her round up the wild mares that roamed freely across the land. "I wish I had had a camera." Casey stated. "That look on Mary's Barbie face was priceless!" Riley was too busy trying to stay on as the two horses loped across the field. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed through the sky. "We better hurry." Casey stated and then nudged her paint horse, Frisco, into a gallop. Riley cursed as her horse, Pumpkin, did the same, but it was covered up by the howling wind and thunder.