The next morning was one of those continued rituals.
“Desiree, you have practice in an hour!” my mom calls to me. I moan but sit up, shutting off the loud and very annoying alarm clock. I slip my feet into slippers and fix my nightshirt. I walk down the stairs like a zombie, unable to comprehend what I was doing.
“Good morning, sweetie.” My mom says.
I just grunt.
I walk into the kitchen and get my box of cereal, putting it into a bowl I had always gotten out. I put the box away, getting the milk and a spoon before taking it out to the living room. My mom just looks at me like I’m a freak, like usual.
I turn the television on and watch mindlessly, refusing to pay attention. After I finish breakfast, I stand and take the bowl out before going back up the stairs. I take out jeans and this t-shirt, exactly like I usually wear. I take the bows case out of the room with me and into the bathroom.
I brush through my blonde hair and straighten it before running through it with a comb again. My toothbrush runs over my teeth continuously and monotonously. Needless to say, I was bored.
I finish in the bathroom and go downstairs, taking my case with me. I set it on the table and begin the tedious job of tying my shoes. It’s always been a perfectionist type of thing for me. I don’t know why…I think it’s because my mom made me do it over and over again before I went to kindergarten so I wouldn’t have to ask for help. See the monster she’s turned me into?
I see the loop on the left is a lot larger then the one on the left so I untie it and start over.
I always look at people’s feet too, especially when walking down the street or the hallway. If something is wrong with it, it’s impossible for me not to want to fix it.
I finish and see that it’s perfect this time. I bring my other foot up and start tying that one when my mother comes in.
“You are such a perfectionist, Desy.” When my mom doesn’t want to say my full name or something like “sweetie” or “honey”, she calls me Desy. I never understood why.
“Have you seen my homework? My room? Anything I have ever done in life? Mom, perfectionist isn’t something I’m going to put on my résumé. Trust me. It would be a complete and utter lie.” I tell her, standing and getting the empty backpack I had put at the bottom of the stairs yesterday.
“Sure…sure…you have no idea.” She says. I roll my eyes.
“I know who I am, mom.” I enlighten her.
“Just c’mon, I need to get you to practice.”
“Yep, yep…”
***
“Okay, so, as you can see, we’re at a stable…” Coach starts off. Michael raises his hand, with no Jocelyn to be seen.
“Yeah, why are we here?” Michael asks. Coach sighs.
“I’m getting to that. The owners here are letting us practice moving targets. Now, since it would be a very bad idea to strap the targets onto the horses and have you shoot at them with your abilities, we’re strapping you onto the horse to shoot at stationary targets.” He says. I hear moans erupt around me although I can’t wait.
“Now, everyone come get a helmet and choose your horse.” He says, nodding for us to come over.
Now, being a frequent rider since I was nine, I didn’t see any reason to wear a helmet, so I sneak into the stable so Coach didn’t see me. I go to my old faithful, Aphrodite, and grab a saddle, mounting it onto her.
Aphrodite was beautiful, like a true Grecian. She had the prettiest yellow coat. Her mane and tail were the deepest black and surprisingly enough, she has the brightest green eyes. When my dad comes home, which isn’t very often, he takes my mom and I to these stables.
It looks like Aphrodite remembers me.
She moves her hooves restlessly, unable to wait much longer. I brush her neck gently and finish tightening the belt over her stomach. Putting my shoe into the stirrup, I raise myself over her. I take the rein, which was already tightened on her, and take her out through open stable door and then out into the field.
I was the first one out.
The boys inside were getting taught how to put the saddle on the smaller, pony-sized horses by the stable hands.
I jump off, pulling Aphrodite by the reins, as I grab my case with my bow and arrow. I open it, taking the sheath out and slinging it onto my shoulders like a messenger bag. Careful not to break anything, I take the bow out and hold it firmly in my left hand as I stand, pulling the rein around my mare’s head, before mounting with one hand.
I position myself so it’s easiest to shoot. My feet are outside the stirrups so I can move freely.
“Hey, Aphrodite, can you go into a walk?” I ask before clicking my tongue and moving the rein quickly once. Starting to walk, she moves slowly. I move her down close to the targets posted on the tree to the entrance of the never-ending woods that surround our town.
I get close and have her walk slowly so I can warm-up. Pulling an arrow from my sheath and lining the bow aimer with the next target, I swing my leg around so I was sitting sideways on the horse. I shot the arrow.
Oh god, this better not miss. I tell myself, seeing the arrow bend in the strong wind that forced the arrow to the side.
It hit the target before I started smiling and swinging my leg around again. “Aphrodite, trot.” I say, before clicking again and moving the rein again. She speeds up, and I pull her farther away from the targets.
I swing my leg around again and aim, while Aphrodite is trotting. I hit the target as we come up on it. I smile and pat her neck.
“Nice job, girl.” I whisper.
“Desiree, why aren’t you wearing a helmet?” Coach inquired quite loudly. I sigh.
“I’ve done this before.” I tell him. I can hear him sigh from forty feet away.
“Whatever you say, Wild.” I smile.
He only calls me Wild when he’s proud or he forgets I’m a girl.
Either way, I was cool with it.
“Aphrodite, canter.” I tell her the speed before clicking and swinging the rein again. As she runs, I pull her up so I’m even farther from the targets. I swing, shoot it, and swing back in one swift move.
“Boys, get out here, on your horses, and watch Wild shoot.” I hear Coach call before coming back out. Then I hear a bunch of misled horses finding their way out of the stable.
He called me Wild again.
He’s certainly proud.
I need to make it count. I can’t look like some type of fool when the guys come out here. Dear god, please make sure I don’t mess up. I tell myself silently.
I may not be a believer, but it’s not a bad idea to beg, right?
I decide to continue riding at a canter at this length away from the targets for a bit before moving farther and into a gallop. I look over and see all of my teammates out of the stable, watching with smug looks.
Like they think I can’t do it. You can’t do it, Desiree. You know you can’t with all those people standing there to watch you and just you.
And now I’ve offended myself. I have got to make this.
I turn Aphrodite around and bend to whisper in her ear. “Now it’s time to impress.” She nodded like she understood before continuing on.
I wait until we were as close to the line of shot as possible before my swing, shoot, swing routine.
It hits.
I smile as I see the boys’ mouths drop. Okay, now you’ve got them in your grasp. You REALLY can’t mess up now…Try too impress, Desy, try to impress…
I turn shoot three arrows at a time, each of the all landing on a different target. I turn again, and I can see the passion in Aphrodite’s eyes.
She loved it.
She thrived off of the disbelief. Just like me. Of course, her mind wasn’t yelling at her to stop while she was ahead.
She continues to push harder and faster as I further the tricks I do. Every time I do one, more people come out to watch. And the more you doubt yourself. I take three arrows out of my sheath and put two in my mouth. This time, I swing, shoot, shoot, shoot, swing, taking out three different targets with the three arrows.
I move my hand so I can grab another arrow when I realize I have used my entire sheath. I sigh and bend to Aphrodite.
“We need to go and get the arrows out of the targets.” I tell her. I can see the sudden disappointment in not playing anymore. I pat her neck.
“We’ll continue as soon as I get my arrows back.” I tell her. Suddenly, she’s galloping down the hill needed to go down to get to the targets. I bend and hold onto the reins tightly.
Once we are finally down there, I pull back, slowing Aphrodite down. She reluctantly moves smoothly into a walk. I laugh and grab the arrows as she walks by the targets, emptying them into my sheath. Moving her reins so she’d turn, I finish taking my arrows back and click my tongue three times.
“Canter, Aphrodite.”
She moves full run ahead, and I laugh, rolling my eyes. My other teammates are still watching me as we round the stable and I fall back into my swing, shoot, swing routine.
Aphrodite is loving it. Don’t give up now, Desiree; the crowd is watching your every move.
Really, did I really just have to say that to myself?
Cheers continue as I run through different tricks I had picked up from the times I’ve been here with my family. Attention seems to be the energy that pushes Aphrodite and I to start trying new things. She begins a new running style that is more for show instead of speed, though she is going extremely fast for a canter. My hair is waving all over, yet it’s no distraction. Yes it is, you know it is. Blow it out of your face…oh, you just missed that target.
I slouch after I move my hair when I inform myself that I missed.
“Wild, get her into a gallop and move ten feet forward.” Coach yells to me. I look to Aphrodite.
“You hear him?”
Obviously, she did. She goes about thirty miles per hour faster as she makes a sharp right turn. Luckily, I saw it coming and forced my shoes into the stirrups to keep myself in place. Moving to get myself situated, we come up to the first target. I focus and shoot the arrow, hitting the direct middle of the target.
I cheer for myself this time. Mostly because there was no way I was supposed to hit that.
Aphrodite is going too fast for me to shoot again in that time period so we round the stable again before going back into the straight line that we were in before. I put my hand on the saddle so I can push off and turn to shoot in a perfect, straight arch position.
And it works. Surprise…
I shoot and hit a dead bulls eye and there is complete and utter silence from the stables. Aphrodite and I round the stable again and run down to get my arrows out of the targets. We come up in a smug trot when we see that half of the people standing there are speechless and the other half are cheering and whistling and clapping. Celebrating. For us.
It was so cool.
Coach comes running up to us and pats Aphrodite’s neck as I dismount her. He looks so happy.
“Wild, that was…that was…that was wild!” he exclaims, looking at me brightly. I shrug like it’s absolutely no big deal. Though it really was.
“You know, one of the many things I’m good at.” I say sarcastically. He rolls his head.
“Sure. Michael, you’re up!” he calls and swings his finger in the direction of the targets. Michael moves his horse so slowly that it’s painful to watch. He finally gets it in a starting position so her can pull it into a canter and shoot.
We can hear his sigh from where we’re standing.
He pushes the horse forward, and the stallion he was handling goes barreling down the strip of land. Michael turns, shoots the arrow, and falls to hold on around the horse’s neck. The horse stops and returns to line.
I never realized how well trained they were.
“Watson, you’re up!” Coach yelled to Stephen after the arrow didn’t make the target. He smiled at me and moved his horse forward like a pro.
Challenge, huh? I’ll give you a challenge. He put his horse, which also looked like a stallion, into a full gallop before shooting the arrow and hitting it. I narrow my eyes at him…he’s not usually this good.
Trotting up next to us, Stephen gave me a confident smile. I roll my eyes and watch Lee try. That was funny.
“I win.” I whisper, turning and looking at him. He purses his lips and thinks for a second.
Then, he shakes his head.
“Nah, I think I win.”
“You wish.”
“What do you say to a little competition after everyone goes?” He asks, smiling at me. I look at him.
“You’re on.”
“Awesome.” He says, turning his attention back to Blake, who was taking his try at the starting position. He takes a second then pushes his horse into a gallop.
He doesn’t even shoot the dang arrow already positioned in a ready stance.
I have to stifle a laugh when he comes walking by. Jason takes the position and tries but fails miserably.
Okay, I know I’m not one to be talking, but why are they on the team anyway?
Finally, Jake, Jason’s twin, takes the stage and makes it barely, the arrow landing on the very outer circle. Jake sighed in a small relief.
“Well, that was certainly eye-opening. Watson, Wild, you’re competing in the moving target competition, okay?” he asks, looking at the clipboard he always carries around. We smile to each other.
“Can do, sir.” I call.
“Course.” Stephen shrugs.
Coach looked up and smiled at us. “Cool. Okay, everyone, practice a bit more and then you’ll be allowed to leave. Thirty minutes. Let’s go.” He yells to us and he takes our horses to the starting position. Stephen gets right beside me.
“Well, with the upcoming competition…we get to see who the judges think is best.” He says innocently. I look at him and raise my eyebrow at him in a slightly flirty gesture. Don’t try with him…you don’t like him…remember Aiden last night? I look away quickly, forcing myself to stop thinking.
“Oh, you know who is going to win.” I say, then cut off, leaving the rest for the mind.
“Who do you think?”
“Well…what do you think?” I ask, this switch turning on inside me that makes me want to look appealing. What did I just tell you? I sit up a bit straighter and flip my hair out of my face as I turn to look at him. Don’t hurt yourself or anything…
“Quite honestly…you.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, looking away and pushing Aphrodite up as the next guy runs. He nods.
“You are really talented, Desiree.”
“Call me Wild or Desy, whichever is more comfortable for you.” I shrug, trying to forget the “talented” part.
“Fine…I like Desy better.”
“My mom’s the only one that calls me that.” I note, watching Michael miss again.
“Well then, I guess you can add me to the list.” He says. Silence fills the air and is quickly replaced by an awkwardness after a few seconds.
“How long have you been archer-ing?” I try to fill the void. He shrugs.
“Like nine years or something like that…maybe eleven.”
“How old are you, Stephen?”
“Seventeen, why?”
“So I can do the math.” I tell him, subtracting the years by the age.
Luckily, that’s something I don’t need paper for.
“You started when you were six at the latest?” I ask out loud, checking my math silently, making numbers on the saddle.
“That sounds about right. How about you?” His voice was calming.
“I was nine.”
“You’re sixteen, right?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, that’s pretty good. Did you just say you want to start taking lessons?” He seemed genuinely interested.
“No. One day, I was playing out in the woods behind my house and I was messing with these two sticks. It took me four days until I could find the right string with the right elasticity to fling the stick into the tree and have it stick into the bark. Another three days to sharpen twelve loose sticks. Another five of messing around with my contraption. Then my dad thought it would be a good idea to tell me that I had invented something already made, and he brought me one along with lessons. I’ve been fascinated ever since.” I act like it’s no big deal, but the stories always there when I practiced, perched on the tip of my tongue. Sometimes, I even tell it to myself. It gets me to feel more powerful with the bow. To make it a weapon in my hands.
Which comes in handy often.
“Wow, that’s pretty awesome.” He says. I can feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my face. When I turn to look, he turns away.
“What made you want to start this sport?”
“Well, I don’t know. My dad used to play it and he showed it to me and I fell in love with it. My mom thought it was dangerous for a six-year-old to be playing with sharp arrows, but I only hurt myself once.” He laughs as I smile at him.
“Certainly interesting.” I say. It was my turn and I run through the motion before getting back in line. Swing, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, swing. I miss two, but Aphrodite is going, like, seventy miles an hour. He goes and meets by my side again.
“Well, what else? How’s your life?” he asks, playing with the reins.
I ignore his question.
“How did you get so good at riding?” I ask. He smiles slightly and looks forward, as if remembering.
“My mom loved this horse, Lady, here when she was a kid. Kept coming back to visit her. After she had me, she brought me here too and let me pet them. After I was eight or something, she allowed me to ride. I took to it pretty quickly. Like it’s in my blood.”
“I know how it feels. Archery is the same way with me. I was meant to do it.”
“If you’re meant to do something, you learn about it early on in life. Archers meant to be great are born. Great Archers are made by the erosion of practice. Horseback riders are born. Great Horseback riders work their tail off to get to be great. Writers are born. Authors are made when they work for years to edit their own work.” We sit and watch our next turn approach.
“Okay, all ya can go!” Coach appears from out of the stables.
Everyone immediately disperses so they can put their horse back in the stables except Stephen and I.
“Watson, Wild, get going!” Coach calls.
“We’re staying after.” Stephen yells across the field. Coach looks at us for a few moments, smirks at us, and disappears back into the stables.
“That was awkward…” I whisper. We sit there in silence, staring into the woods, for what seemed like an eternity. People have left and before we know it, everyone’s gone.
“Guys, I’m leaving. You okay here?” Coach asks a few minutes after the last person has left the stables.
“We’re cool here, Coach.” I tell him, He nods and goes to his car. Starting it up, he backs up and Stephen and I watch him quietly as he drives out along the bumpy rock drive. We turn and look at each other.
“Now what?” I ask, my lip turning up to a smile. He looks to a flat field.
“Let’s go ride.” He whispers. I nod and follow him as he trots to the fence surrounding the large square field.
“Can you open it?” I ask as he bends and plays with the knot on the rope keeping the door closed. After a few minutes he sighs and pulls himself to a sitting position, shaking his head.
“No.”
“Then we’re going to have to jump it.” I say, pulling Aphrodite back.
“You know how to jump a horse?” he asks with disbelief leaking slowly into his voice and onto his face. I smile.
“No, do you?”
“No.”
“Well…it’s never a bad time to learn, eh?” I laugh and bend to talk to Aphrodite. “Please tell me you can jump the fence.” I say. All of a sudden, she’s off, barreling towards the fence at full speed. “Oh dear god!” I yell as she jumps. I close my eyes and tighten my grasp around the rein.
Then I fell the impact of hitting the ground vibrates through her body.
And then, we’re both unharmed.
It takes me a second to realize neither of us are hurt, but when I do, I start giggling. Stephen’s looking at us in utter amazement.
“C’mon, Stephen. Don’t be a chicken. Tell you’re stallion to just to jump the dang fence. They know how.” I tell him, still laughing. He looks down to his horse quietly, and then bends to his ear like I did.
“Jump the fence, Xavier.” He whispers.
Xavier, eh? Aphrodite and Xavier?
That sounds so weird.
They fly over the fence gracefully and land, continuing in a canter around the field. I move Aphrodite so we can follow them. I push her into a gallop and quickly pass Stephen and Xavier.
Turning the corner, my body tilts to the right, and I remembering that I had forgot to put my feet back in the stirrups. I force them in quickly and position myself again. I turn and see Stephen do the same things. I smile at him and continue to the other side of the fence. Once Aphrodite and I get there, I tell her to jump it again as I pull an arrow out of my sheath and pull my bow up quickly.
Getting her back in the straight-line position, we go back into the routine just seven times faster. I shoot the arrow and then take the reins back in my hands, having her stop once we get to the next fence.
The arrow misses terribly.
Stephen follows in my suit and shoots once he’s over the fence. It hits the farther edge of the target. My mouth falls open, and I look at him.
“How did you do that?” I yell, starting to smile, as he stops near me. He shrugs, forcing the cocky smile off his face. I hit him gently in the arm.
“Oh, you know, I have sharper eyesight when I’m focused like I was.”
“I need to start practicing if I’m going beat you in Competition.” I laugh. He shakes his head, trying to hide his slight blush.
“I’m almost positive you could beat me.”
“Let’s try again.” I tell him, moving up and pulling my bow to aim.
“Gallop, Aphrodite!” I tell her, and she runs forward, her run back to the speed run we started with when I was warming up. I shoot.
“Stupid thing!” I yell when it doesn’t hit. I stop Aphrodite, running my hand through my hair and watch Stephen do another run through. He hits the target. Again.
Aphrodite moves her hooves restlessly. I nod and, as Stephen comes up, I gallop past him and try to shoot again.
Once again, it misses. This time, it hit the target, but it flings itself into the woods. I sigh in experastion and wait at the other side for Stephen to have his run. He hits the target again, all three recent shoots in a bundle on the same target.
I groan as he comes up.
“Try it again, Desy.” He says, rubbing my arm. I sigh but make Aphrodite start running. I shoot and it misses, hitting the bark above the target. Muttering curses under my breath, I wasn’t seeing Aphrodite’s flaming eyes.
She knew I was getting angry.
Which made her angrier and more frustrated with me for missing.
Stephen doesn’t even try to shoot, he just races over to me. “Don’t worry, you’re just not focusing with such a handsome man around.” Stephen says smugly. I laugh a syllable, and Aphrodite breathes out, turning her head towards the road. Stephen smiles.
“Try it once more. If you miss it, we can go ride some more.” He says. I nod and get our position perfect.
“Last time, Aphrodite. Make it a good run.” I whisper. She nods in an overdramatic way and starts forward. I shoot and miss it miserably. I roll my eyes and look back at Stephen who is pursing his lips in thought.
Then, Aphrodite stops and breathes out in frustration.
Now, I’m perched on the edge of the hill on a mad horse.
Crap.
Aphrodite throws herself up and bucks, throwing me off of her. I scream and start rolling down the hill. I’m going pretty fast too.
I make it down the hill just with a couple bruises, but I was going pretty fast and picked up speed as I fell down the hill. I continue into the woods. Rolling through the woods, my legs hit trees hard and my body flew over rocks. Dirt covered my arms and body. I think I’m finally done rolling when I feel my body tittering over an edge and my head throbbing.
I try to pull myself up and away from the hole, but as I try, I immediately fall in and fall steadily through a really, really dark tunnel.
As I fall, I remembered that I had forgotten my helmet and the most important rule while riding Aphrodite is to be safe and wear your gear. She was one of the few mares that bucked.
The last thing I heard was Stephen’s voice carrying into the forest, calling my name.
“Desiree!”
“Desiree, you have practice in an hour!” my mom calls to me. I moan but sit up, shutting off the loud and very annoying alarm clock. I slip my feet into slippers and fix my nightshirt. I walk down the stairs like a zombie, unable to comprehend what I was doing.
“Good morning, sweetie.” My mom says.
I just grunt.
I walk into the kitchen and get my box of cereal, putting it into a bowl I had always gotten out. I put the box away, getting the milk and a spoon before taking it out to the living room. My mom just looks at me like I’m a freak, like usual.
I turn the television on and watch mindlessly, refusing to pay attention. After I finish breakfast, I stand and take the bowl out before going back up the stairs. I take out jeans and this t-shirt, exactly like I usually wear. I take the bows case out of the room with me and into the bathroom.
I brush through my blonde hair and straighten it before running through it with a comb again. My toothbrush runs over my teeth continuously and monotonously. Needless to say, I was bored.
I finish in the bathroom and go downstairs, taking my case with me. I set it on the table and begin the tedious job of tying my shoes. It’s always been a perfectionist type of thing for me. I don’t know why…I think it’s because my mom made me do it over and over again before I went to kindergarten so I wouldn’t have to ask for help. See the monster she’s turned me into?
I see the loop on the left is a lot larger then the one on the left so I untie it and start over.
I always look at people’s feet too, especially when walking down the street or the hallway. If something is wrong with it, it’s impossible for me not to want to fix it.
I finish and see that it’s perfect this time. I bring my other foot up and start tying that one when my mother comes in.
“You are such a perfectionist, Desy.” When my mom doesn’t want to say my full name or something like “sweetie” or “honey”, she calls me Desy. I never understood why.
“Have you seen my homework? My room? Anything I have ever done in life? Mom, perfectionist isn’t something I’m going to put on my résumé. Trust me. It would be a complete and utter lie.” I tell her, standing and getting the empty backpack I had put at the bottom of the stairs yesterday.
“Sure…sure…you have no idea.” She says. I roll my eyes.
“I know who I am, mom.” I enlighten her.
“Just c’mon, I need to get you to practice.”
“Yep, yep…”
***
“Okay, so, as you can see, we’re at a stable…” Coach starts off. Michael raises his hand, with no Jocelyn to be seen.
“Yeah, why are we here?” Michael asks. Coach sighs.
“I’m getting to that. The owners here are letting us practice moving targets. Now, since it would be a very bad idea to strap the targets onto the horses and have you shoot at them with your abilities, we’re strapping you onto the horse to shoot at stationary targets.” He says. I hear moans erupt around me although I can’t wait.
“Now, everyone come get a helmet and choose your horse.” He says, nodding for us to come over.
Now, being a frequent rider since I was nine, I didn’t see any reason to wear a helmet, so I sneak into the stable so Coach didn’t see me. I go to my old faithful, Aphrodite, and grab a saddle, mounting it onto her.
Aphrodite was beautiful, like a true Grecian. She had the prettiest yellow coat. Her mane and tail were the deepest black and surprisingly enough, she has the brightest green eyes. When my dad comes home, which isn’t very often, he takes my mom and I to these stables.
It looks like Aphrodite remembers me.
She moves her hooves restlessly, unable to wait much longer. I brush her neck gently and finish tightening the belt over her stomach. Putting my shoe into the stirrup, I raise myself over her. I take the rein, which was already tightened on her, and take her out through open stable door and then out into the field.
I was the first one out.
The boys inside were getting taught how to put the saddle on the smaller, pony-sized horses by the stable hands.
I jump off, pulling Aphrodite by the reins, as I grab my case with my bow and arrow. I open it, taking the sheath out and slinging it onto my shoulders like a messenger bag. Careful not to break anything, I take the bow out and hold it firmly in my left hand as I stand, pulling the rein around my mare’s head, before mounting with one hand.
I position myself so it’s easiest to shoot. My feet are outside the stirrups so I can move freely.
“Hey, Aphrodite, can you go into a walk?” I ask before clicking my tongue and moving the rein quickly once. Starting to walk, she moves slowly. I move her down close to the targets posted on the tree to the entrance of the never-ending woods that surround our town.
I get close and have her walk slowly so I can warm-up. Pulling an arrow from my sheath and lining the bow aimer with the next target, I swing my leg around so I was sitting sideways on the horse. I shot the arrow.
Oh god, this better not miss. I tell myself, seeing the arrow bend in the strong wind that forced the arrow to the side.
It hit the target before I started smiling and swinging my leg around again. “Aphrodite, trot.” I say, before clicking again and moving the rein again. She speeds up, and I pull her farther away from the targets.
I swing my leg around again and aim, while Aphrodite is trotting. I hit the target as we come up on it. I smile and pat her neck.
“Nice job, girl.” I whisper.
“Desiree, why aren’t you wearing a helmet?” Coach inquired quite loudly. I sigh.
“I’ve done this before.” I tell him. I can hear him sigh from forty feet away.
“Whatever you say, Wild.” I smile.
He only calls me Wild when he’s proud or he forgets I’m a girl.
Either way, I was cool with it.
“Aphrodite, canter.” I tell her the speed before clicking and swinging the rein again. As she runs, I pull her up so I’m even farther from the targets. I swing, shoot it, and swing back in one swift move.
“Boys, get out here, on your horses, and watch Wild shoot.” I hear Coach call before coming back out. Then I hear a bunch of misled horses finding their way out of the stable.
He called me Wild again.
He’s certainly proud.
I need to make it count. I can’t look like some type of fool when the guys come out here. Dear god, please make sure I don’t mess up. I tell myself silently.
I may not be a believer, but it’s not a bad idea to beg, right?
I decide to continue riding at a canter at this length away from the targets for a bit before moving farther and into a gallop. I look over and see all of my teammates out of the stable, watching with smug looks.
Like they think I can’t do it. You can’t do it, Desiree. You know you can’t with all those people standing there to watch you and just you.
And now I’ve offended myself. I have got to make this.
I turn Aphrodite around and bend to whisper in her ear. “Now it’s time to impress.” She nodded like she understood before continuing on.
I wait until we were as close to the line of shot as possible before my swing, shoot, swing routine.
It hits.
I smile as I see the boys’ mouths drop. Okay, now you’ve got them in your grasp. You REALLY can’t mess up now…Try too impress, Desy, try to impress…
I turn shoot three arrows at a time, each of the all landing on a different target. I turn again, and I can see the passion in Aphrodite’s eyes.
She loved it.
She thrived off of the disbelief. Just like me. Of course, her mind wasn’t yelling at her to stop while she was ahead.
She continues to push harder and faster as I further the tricks I do. Every time I do one, more people come out to watch. And the more you doubt yourself. I take three arrows out of my sheath and put two in my mouth. This time, I swing, shoot, shoot, shoot, swing, taking out three different targets with the three arrows.
I move my hand so I can grab another arrow when I realize I have used my entire sheath. I sigh and bend to Aphrodite.
“We need to go and get the arrows out of the targets.” I tell her. I can see the sudden disappointment in not playing anymore. I pat her neck.
“We’ll continue as soon as I get my arrows back.” I tell her. Suddenly, she’s galloping down the hill needed to go down to get to the targets. I bend and hold onto the reins tightly.
Once we are finally down there, I pull back, slowing Aphrodite down. She reluctantly moves smoothly into a walk. I laugh and grab the arrows as she walks by the targets, emptying them into my sheath. Moving her reins so she’d turn, I finish taking my arrows back and click my tongue three times.
“Canter, Aphrodite.”
She moves full run ahead, and I laugh, rolling my eyes. My other teammates are still watching me as we round the stable and I fall back into my swing, shoot, swing routine.
Aphrodite is loving it. Don’t give up now, Desiree; the crowd is watching your every move.
Really, did I really just have to say that to myself?
Cheers continue as I run through different tricks I had picked up from the times I’ve been here with my family. Attention seems to be the energy that pushes Aphrodite and I to start trying new things. She begins a new running style that is more for show instead of speed, though she is going extremely fast for a canter. My hair is waving all over, yet it’s no distraction. Yes it is, you know it is. Blow it out of your face…oh, you just missed that target.
I slouch after I move my hair when I inform myself that I missed.
“Wild, get her into a gallop and move ten feet forward.” Coach yells to me. I look to Aphrodite.
“You hear him?”
Obviously, she did. She goes about thirty miles per hour faster as she makes a sharp right turn. Luckily, I saw it coming and forced my shoes into the stirrups to keep myself in place. Moving to get myself situated, we come up to the first target. I focus and shoot the arrow, hitting the direct middle of the target.
I cheer for myself this time. Mostly because there was no way I was supposed to hit that.
Aphrodite is going too fast for me to shoot again in that time period so we round the stable again before going back into the straight line that we were in before. I put my hand on the saddle so I can push off and turn to shoot in a perfect, straight arch position.
And it works. Surprise…
I shoot and hit a dead bulls eye and there is complete and utter silence from the stables. Aphrodite and I round the stable again and run down to get my arrows out of the targets. We come up in a smug trot when we see that half of the people standing there are speechless and the other half are cheering and whistling and clapping. Celebrating. For us.
It was so cool.
Coach comes running up to us and pats Aphrodite’s neck as I dismount her. He looks so happy.
“Wild, that was…that was…that was wild!” he exclaims, looking at me brightly. I shrug like it’s absolutely no big deal. Though it really was.
“You know, one of the many things I’m good at.” I say sarcastically. He rolls his head.
“Sure. Michael, you’re up!” he calls and swings his finger in the direction of the targets. Michael moves his horse so slowly that it’s painful to watch. He finally gets it in a starting position so her can pull it into a canter and shoot.
We can hear his sigh from where we’re standing.
He pushes the horse forward, and the stallion he was handling goes barreling down the strip of land. Michael turns, shoots the arrow, and falls to hold on around the horse’s neck. The horse stops and returns to line.
I never realized how well trained they were.
“Watson, you’re up!” Coach yelled to Stephen after the arrow didn’t make the target. He smiled at me and moved his horse forward like a pro.
Challenge, huh? I’ll give you a challenge. He put his horse, which also looked like a stallion, into a full gallop before shooting the arrow and hitting it. I narrow my eyes at him…he’s not usually this good.
Trotting up next to us, Stephen gave me a confident smile. I roll my eyes and watch Lee try. That was funny.
“I win.” I whisper, turning and looking at him. He purses his lips and thinks for a second.
Then, he shakes his head.
“Nah, I think I win.”
“You wish.”
“What do you say to a little competition after everyone goes?” He asks, smiling at me. I look at him.
“You’re on.”
“Awesome.” He says, turning his attention back to Blake, who was taking his try at the starting position. He takes a second then pushes his horse into a gallop.
He doesn’t even shoot the dang arrow already positioned in a ready stance.
I have to stifle a laugh when he comes walking by. Jason takes the position and tries but fails miserably.
Okay, I know I’m not one to be talking, but why are they on the team anyway?
Finally, Jake, Jason’s twin, takes the stage and makes it barely, the arrow landing on the very outer circle. Jake sighed in a small relief.
“Well, that was certainly eye-opening. Watson, Wild, you’re competing in the moving target competition, okay?” he asks, looking at the clipboard he always carries around. We smile to each other.
“Can do, sir.” I call.
“Course.” Stephen shrugs.
Coach looked up and smiled at us. “Cool. Okay, everyone, practice a bit more and then you’ll be allowed to leave. Thirty minutes. Let’s go.” He yells to us and he takes our horses to the starting position. Stephen gets right beside me.
“Well, with the upcoming competition…we get to see who the judges think is best.” He says innocently. I look at him and raise my eyebrow at him in a slightly flirty gesture. Don’t try with him…you don’t like him…remember Aiden last night? I look away quickly, forcing myself to stop thinking.
“Oh, you know who is going to win.” I say, then cut off, leaving the rest for the mind.
“Who do you think?”
“Well…what do you think?” I ask, this switch turning on inside me that makes me want to look appealing. What did I just tell you? I sit up a bit straighter and flip my hair out of my face as I turn to look at him. Don’t hurt yourself or anything…
“Quite honestly…you.”
“Oh, really?” I ask, looking away and pushing Aphrodite up as the next guy runs. He nods.
“You are really talented, Desiree.”
“Call me Wild or Desy, whichever is more comfortable for you.” I shrug, trying to forget the “talented” part.
“Fine…I like Desy better.”
“My mom’s the only one that calls me that.” I note, watching Michael miss again.
“Well then, I guess you can add me to the list.” He says. Silence fills the air and is quickly replaced by an awkwardness after a few seconds.
“How long have you been archer-ing?” I try to fill the void. He shrugs.
“Like nine years or something like that…maybe eleven.”
“How old are you, Stephen?”
“Seventeen, why?”
“So I can do the math.” I tell him, subtracting the years by the age.
Luckily, that’s something I don’t need paper for.
“You started when you were six at the latest?” I ask out loud, checking my math silently, making numbers on the saddle.
“That sounds about right. How about you?” His voice was calming.
“I was nine.”
“You’re sixteen, right?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, that’s pretty good. Did you just say you want to start taking lessons?” He seemed genuinely interested.
“No. One day, I was playing out in the woods behind my house and I was messing with these two sticks. It took me four days until I could find the right string with the right elasticity to fling the stick into the tree and have it stick into the bark. Another three days to sharpen twelve loose sticks. Another five of messing around with my contraption. Then my dad thought it would be a good idea to tell me that I had invented something already made, and he brought me one along with lessons. I’ve been fascinated ever since.” I act like it’s no big deal, but the stories always there when I practiced, perched on the tip of my tongue. Sometimes, I even tell it to myself. It gets me to feel more powerful with the bow. To make it a weapon in my hands.
Which comes in handy often.
“Wow, that’s pretty awesome.” He says. I can feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my face. When I turn to look, he turns away.
“What made you want to start this sport?”
“Well, I don’t know. My dad used to play it and he showed it to me and I fell in love with it. My mom thought it was dangerous for a six-year-old to be playing with sharp arrows, but I only hurt myself once.” He laughs as I smile at him.
“Certainly interesting.” I say. It was my turn and I run through the motion before getting back in line. Swing, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, swing. I miss two, but Aphrodite is going, like, seventy miles an hour. He goes and meets by my side again.
“Well, what else? How’s your life?” he asks, playing with the reins.
I ignore his question.
“How did you get so good at riding?” I ask. He smiles slightly and looks forward, as if remembering.
“My mom loved this horse, Lady, here when she was a kid. Kept coming back to visit her. After she had me, she brought me here too and let me pet them. After I was eight or something, she allowed me to ride. I took to it pretty quickly. Like it’s in my blood.”
“I know how it feels. Archery is the same way with me. I was meant to do it.”
“If you’re meant to do something, you learn about it early on in life. Archers meant to be great are born. Great Archers are made by the erosion of practice. Horseback riders are born. Great Horseback riders work their tail off to get to be great. Writers are born. Authors are made when they work for years to edit their own work.” We sit and watch our next turn approach.
“Okay, all ya can go!” Coach appears from out of the stables.
Everyone immediately disperses so they can put their horse back in the stables except Stephen and I.
“Watson, Wild, get going!” Coach calls.
“We’re staying after.” Stephen yells across the field. Coach looks at us for a few moments, smirks at us, and disappears back into the stables.
“That was awkward…” I whisper. We sit there in silence, staring into the woods, for what seemed like an eternity. People have left and before we know it, everyone’s gone.
“Guys, I’m leaving. You okay here?” Coach asks a few minutes after the last person has left the stables.
“We’re cool here, Coach.” I tell him, He nods and goes to his car. Starting it up, he backs up and Stephen and I watch him quietly as he drives out along the bumpy rock drive. We turn and look at each other.
“Now what?” I ask, my lip turning up to a smile. He looks to a flat field.
“Let’s go ride.” He whispers. I nod and follow him as he trots to the fence surrounding the large square field.
“Can you open it?” I ask as he bends and plays with the knot on the rope keeping the door closed. After a few minutes he sighs and pulls himself to a sitting position, shaking his head.
“No.”
“Then we’re going to have to jump it.” I say, pulling Aphrodite back.
“You know how to jump a horse?” he asks with disbelief leaking slowly into his voice and onto his face. I smile.
“No, do you?”
“No.”
“Well…it’s never a bad time to learn, eh?” I laugh and bend to talk to Aphrodite. “Please tell me you can jump the fence.” I say. All of a sudden, she’s off, barreling towards the fence at full speed. “Oh dear god!” I yell as she jumps. I close my eyes and tighten my grasp around the rein.
Then I fell the impact of hitting the ground vibrates through her body.
And then, we’re both unharmed.
It takes me a second to realize neither of us are hurt, but when I do, I start giggling. Stephen’s looking at us in utter amazement.
“C’mon, Stephen. Don’t be a chicken. Tell you’re stallion to just to jump the dang fence. They know how.” I tell him, still laughing. He looks down to his horse quietly, and then bends to his ear like I did.
“Jump the fence, Xavier.” He whispers.
Xavier, eh? Aphrodite and Xavier?
That sounds so weird.
They fly over the fence gracefully and land, continuing in a canter around the field. I move Aphrodite so we can follow them. I push her into a gallop and quickly pass Stephen and Xavier.
Turning the corner, my body tilts to the right, and I remembering that I had forgot to put my feet back in the stirrups. I force them in quickly and position myself again. I turn and see Stephen do the same things. I smile at him and continue to the other side of the fence. Once Aphrodite and I get there, I tell her to jump it again as I pull an arrow out of my sheath and pull my bow up quickly.
Getting her back in the straight-line position, we go back into the routine just seven times faster. I shoot the arrow and then take the reins back in my hands, having her stop once we get to the next fence.
The arrow misses terribly.
Stephen follows in my suit and shoots once he’s over the fence. It hits the farther edge of the target. My mouth falls open, and I look at him.
“How did you do that?” I yell, starting to smile, as he stops near me. He shrugs, forcing the cocky smile off his face. I hit him gently in the arm.
“Oh, you know, I have sharper eyesight when I’m focused like I was.”
“I need to start practicing if I’m going beat you in Competition.” I laugh. He shakes his head, trying to hide his slight blush.
“I’m almost positive you could beat me.”
“Let’s try again.” I tell him, moving up and pulling my bow to aim.
“Gallop, Aphrodite!” I tell her, and she runs forward, her run back to the speed run we started with when I was warming up. I shoot.
“Stupid thing!” I yell when it doesn’t hit. I stop Aphrodite, running my hand through my hair and watch Stephen do another run through. He hits the target. Again.
Aphrodite moves her hooves restlessly. I nod and, as Stephen comes up, I gallop past him and try to shoot again.
Once again, it misses. This time, it hit the target, but it flings itself into the woods. I sigh in experastion and wait at the other side for Stephen to have his run. He hits the target again, all three recent shoots in a bundle on the same target.
I groan as he comes up.
“Try it again, Desy.” He says, rubbing my arm. I sigh but make Aphrodite start running. I shoot and it misses, hitting the bark above the target. Muttering curses under my breath, I wasn’t seeing Aphrodite’s flaming eyes.
She knew I was getting angry.
Which made her angrier and more frustrated with me for missing.
Stephen doesn’t even try to shoot, he just races over to me. “Don’t worry, you’re just not focusing with such a handsome man around.” Stephen says smugly. I laugh a syllable, and Aphrodite breathes out, turning her head towards the road. Stephen smiles.
“Try it once more. If you miss it, we can go ride some more.” He says. I nod and get our position perfect.
“Last time, Aphrodite. Make it a good run.” I whisper. She nods in an overdramatic way and starts forward. I shoot and miss it miserably. I roll my eyes and look back at Stephen who is pursing his lips in thought.
Then, Aphrodite stops and breathes out in frustration.
Now, I’m perched on the edge of the hill on a mad horse.
Crap.
Aphrodite throws herself up and bucks, throwing me off of her. I scream and start rolling down the hill. I’m going pretty fast too.
I make it down the hill just with a couple bruises, but I was going pretty fast and picked up speed as I fell down the hill. I continue into the woods. Rolling through the woods, my legs hit trees hard and my body flew over rocks. Dirt covered my arms and body. I think I’m finally done rolling when I feel my body tittering over an edge and my head throbbing.
I try to pull myself up and away from the hole, but as I try, I immediately fall in and fall steadily through a really, really dark tunnel.
As I fall, I remembered that I had forgotten my helmet and the most important rule while riding Aphrodite is to be safe and wear your gear. She was one of the few mares that bucked.
The last thing I heard was Stephen’s voice carrying into the forest, calling my name.
“Desiree!”
