Annika the Fifth

Chapter Ten

For the rest of the day, Noah waved and said hi to me. At recess, Addie was more glum than before. When school ended I hung around the classroom, hoping Addie wouldn't notice. I felt bad but maybe if I explained myself...

"Hey, Annika," Addie said, walking towards me with Saige behind her, "Come on,"

I hesitated and looked at my feet before looking at her again. "What's the matter?" Saige asked

"Well...you see..." I said slowly, "I have to go to fencing practice,"

Saige and Addie both looked confused before they came to some sort of conclusion. "Hey!" Addie said, sounding hurt, "And right after I told you Noah liked fencing,"

"He was practically forcing me to come," I sighed

"Forcing you?" Saige asked skeptically.

Forcing wouldn't really be the right word. More like bugging me. But instead, I just nodded at what she said.

"I don't know but I don't even like fencing," I told them, "I just--"

"Then why are you going?" Addie asked

"Because I plan on not going again!" I exclaimed.

I didn't mean to raise my voice but it was frustrating. These sorts of things never happened in the village. Okay, that was because I stayed away from those girls my age and older since they liked to gossip. But I hated all this excess trouble. I already had things to worry about, like my brother. He's been my number one focus and now all these other things are showing up. Saige and Addie stared at me. Addie just looked hurt and disappointed.

"You can come too," I said quickly, "It'll be fun. I don't want to be alone with some immature boys,"

Just then, I heard Noah who was peeking his head inside the classroom. "Come on, Anna," he called, "I'll show you where the gym is!"

I sighed, did he really have to yell that?

Addie shook her head at me. "It's fine. He wanted you to come, not me,"

Then she walked away, followed by Saige who gave me a disappointed head shake. I felt sick and I didn't want to go to this fencing thing. Why did I have to say yes? I don't even like Noah, he was annoying and immature. I turned around and walked out of the classroom.

In contrast to how I was feeling, Noah was very happy I went along with his idea. "You're not going to regret this, Annalise," he said cheerfully.

Annalise? Yeah, I think it's time to start correcting him.

"It's Annika," I huffed.

He looked at me, "Right..."

He took me to the gym where a few other boys were standing around a large mat. Everyone was talking and seemed to know each other. I instantly felt like turning back but Noah was pulling me along. Noah then pulled me over to this large man with a big brown bushy beard. He looked really intimidating. "Mr. Ralf," Noah said, "This is Anne, she's interested in fencing,"

First of all, no I am not. You basically dragged me into this. And secondly, he seriously called me the wrong name while introducing me to someone. I swear he does this on purpose.

"It's Annika," I corrected.

To my surprise, Mr. Ralf smiled at me and didn't seem to question a girl who wanted to do fencing. "Nice to meet you, Annika," he said, "It's not everyday girls want to do fencing,"

Suddenly, we heard a voice at the gym door. "Yoo-hoo!"

I groaned, I didn't need to look up to see who it was. Maya was walking towards us and immediately wrapped her arms around Noah. I'm sure Addie told her I was here then she got all defensive. Now I know for sure not to come back. "Maya?" Noah said, able to get her peeled off him, "What are you doing here?"