Chapter
Nine
Training
“Up and at ‘em Joey!.” John knocked
on the door. “You start training today!”
I woke up, but I
was in a strange room that wasn’t mine. Then I remember the act of pure
stupidity I committed last night. I had put it all on the line in order to get
revenge. Though I was scared stiff I didn’t care I wasn’t going to give up.
Michael would like that to much anyway.
I got up and went in to the main
room. I wasn’t as drabby and run down as I had originally thought. I walked in
and seen microwaved breakfast burritos and cereal. John was drinking coffee and
was wearing a tight white t-shirt with jeans. Claire was wearing a lime green
tank top and black sweat pants, her hair was tied back. Michael was nowhere to
be seen. The radio on the counter was playing “Standing out Side The Fire.” By
Garth Brooks. I just stood in the door way feeling out of place in my dirty
navy American eagle shirt and black jeans.
Leaned on the door frame which creaked and I jumped. John was looking
out the window, and said “ Are you just going to stand there or are you going
to eat your breakfast.”
I walked over and sat down. The
burrito was cold and chewy, but I was so hungry it was like little bites of
heaven. Michael walked in and I almost started laughing. Like john he was
wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, but his hair was sticking up in so several
different directions. There was no trace of the rude bad-boy better then
everyone front he had put up last night. He almost looked like one of my normal
friends back in Manhattan.
“Okay so I realized that we are
never going to get along as long as were strangers to you ,” John said. “So let get acquainted.” Michael just raised an eyebrow at him and
turned around to get some coffee. “I’m serious guys.” John turned to me “Okay
so I’m from Beckley. I moved up here at ten so my sister could attend WVU. She
was then killed by a vengeful spirit. I own this shack that we live in. So ya
um I guess that’s it. Claire?”
“I think I’ll
pass.” She said as she got up threw her trash away and walked out.
“Michael?”
Michael looked
uncomfortable. “uh….”
“Really, John,
that’s okay. I’ll get to learn about everyone in time.”
John just shrugged
and Michael breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, so Joey tell us about you.”
“Um… okay… well
I’m from Manhattan,” I started. “New York?” Michael asked. I nodded and
continued, “Uh… I lived there all my life. Until this summer. My parents were
going to vacation in Mexico but there plane crashed. We moved here and that’s
about it.” I was kinda uncomfortable. Sam came down the stairs and looked
around, “oh boy, what did I miss?” She walked over to the table and sat across
from me. “Johns in a caring and sharing mood,” Michael said sarcastically as he
stood up and walked outside.
“No, I just think
if Joeys going to be here we should know each know each other well.” “Oh like
‘hi I’m Samantha Sam for short. I’m 15 and I hunt monsters’ Kinda way. Or the
autobiography kinda way.” “Oh never mind.”
Thank God I finished my food and was able to
finally walk away. As I was about to do this I realize something, where was I
going to go? I couldn’t go to my room, cause well I didn’t really have a room
to go to. And the shower would be pointless without clean clothes. But standing
here was just too awkward. So I decided
to walk outside. I opened the door and the heat was incredible. I stopped short
because I seen Michael and Claire. They were holding hands while setting on the
hood of the car. She had her head on his shoulder and his head rested on hers.
Then they kissed and I turned around and walked back into the kitchen. “Are
Michael and Claire….together?” I
asked. “Off and on.” John said. Sam
rolled her eyes and walked away.
“What’s wrong with
her?”
“Her and Claire
were close. But she doesn’t like her dating Michael off and on. You know
playing with his feelings and stuff.” I nodded and pressed my lips together. “
So I know it might be a little big but I put a clean shirt on your bed. That
way you can wear something clean till we can go to your house and get you some
clean clothes.” I nodded, and went back to the room I had
stayed in last night. It was a simple and plain black t-shirt. I took off the
shirt I way wearing, and decided to ask if they had a shower. John told me they
did and I went to it.
It wasn’t anything special. In fact
had I not been looking for it I probably wouldn’t have known it was there. It
was a rusted shower head hanging from the wall. There was a drain in the floor
where the water drained out. The walls were an ugly red cracked tile with brown
aged grout. Got in the shower and closed
the pitiful excuse for a shower curtain. I found the soap and was surprised to
find that it was a liquid soap. I washed my hair and body. My thick raven hair
was heavy on my head, weighed down with water. The natural curls fell into my face
and I shooed them away.
I got out and dried off. I put on my
clothes minus the shirt. I looked in the broken medicine cabinet mirror. I had
small bags under my eyes, and I looked a little pale. Other than that I looked
pretty good. My naturally tan skin was still slightly damp. I reflected once again
on the difference in skin tone in my family.
I had left the clean shirt in the
room so I had to go and get it. I walked out and went down the hallway. I was
usually never self- conscious, but I felt a little nervous and embarrassed when
Sam came down the hallway and winked at me, “ you look pretty good there Joey.”
I felt the edge of my lip twitch into a smile. She smiled too and continued to
watch me walk away. Until this morning I didn’t think much about my appearance.
I guess I was average. I had muscle but not like a body builder. More like that
of a baseball player, which I played two year until this year. I stood there
looking at my reflection in the mirror for another moment and then shook my
head I still couldn’t see anything special about my looks. And usually neither
could anyone else.
I put on the thin, black, cotton
shirt. Surprisingly the shirt, though loose around the arms, fit pretty well. I
was thankful I wasn’t they scrawny ninth grader I had been when I lived in New
York. To be honest being around these people who could kick the crap out of my
with one hand and foot tied behind them. I felt I needed to compare, to measure
up to them, I wanted to impress them.
I walked out and Michael was back in side, “well
hello your highness,” he said as I came in. I didn’t know what he was talking
about so I just looked at him. “Sam has just went on and on about how amazing the bronze god in the room three
doors over from her was,” he said in a mock voice. Sam looked mortified and smacked him. Her face
had turned bright red. “Aw. Look he’s blushing.”
“Shut up Michael,” we both said at
the same time.
“Okay, let’s do some… training.”
John said. “Meet you all in the back lot in five minutes.
I followed him out taking in the
scene around me. Unlike last night, it didn’t look as spooky or trashy as I had
thought. I was actually a nice landscape. With green grass and bright flowers,
with trees that borders the entire areas. John stopped in front of a set of
dying apple trees and starts stretching. “You might want to warm up a little.” I
decided to do some of the exercises we did at baseball practice. I stretched and
did crunches. I even jogged around the yard a little. By the time I got back to
John, Sam and Michael was there, but no Claire.
I looked at the trees. Apples laid
on the ground. Each had a single round hole in it. Strange, I thought. I was getting ready to ask what that was about
when I heard a sharp buzz fly past my
left ear. The tree in front of me shook and an apple skewed with a blue arrow
with orange ‘feathers’. I flinched and was shocked. I whirled around to see
Michael laughing and Sam looked shocked and worried and relieved all at the
same time. John was smiling and was
holding a black compound bow. “Todays lesson…” he said, “Archery.”
No comments:
Post a Comment