Mermaids, Trigonometry, and Everything In Between

The 12th Thing

An arrow, released at lightning speed, narrowly missed my head.

"Out of the way, frosh!" shouted an elf from a ways off, and I snapped out of the exhausted daze that Trig put me in.

So this was Archery?

The Coach rounded up everyone in the class, a large mix of students from all grade levels, and sent us to the equipment room.

"Here's the instructions," The old man, a stout guy with mottled green skin and tusks, had said, "Get your bow, quiver with arrows, and your protection equipment, and meet back here. We'll test your knowledge of archery and place you in groups accordingly, which include Group A, elites, Group B, intermediate, and Group C, beginner."

Sure. Compared to trig, this must be pretty easy. The only problem was my expertise lied in ocean trades, not weaponry.

I followed the crowd like a sheep until we reached a shack that must've been the equipment room. It was filled to the brim with practice bows of all size, and other small pieces. I made a careful note to what others were doing. What they picked up, I picked up. I couldn't even tell if the bow I'd chosen was my size.

Back at the range, the Coach pointed us each to a spot a few meters behind a row of targets.

"Mathers, you're up," the Coach said, standing behind an elf in the first line. With one deft movement, he pulled back the arrow and let it fly...straight into the center of the target.

"Woah," I said under my breath.

"Group A, as expected." He said nonchalantly. There was a glimmer of pride in the elf's eyes as the Coach stepped up to the next student.

"Shoot." He said.

The next student fumbled with the bow, but manage to pull back the arrow. It shot forward, somewhat weakly, and fell a few feet from the target.

"Group C." He stated, unhesitantly.

He moved down the line, and most of the people ended up in either Group B or C. My heart started to pump faster as the Coach neared me. All of a sudden, I was next.

I realized I would probably end up in group C. There was no way I was intermediate at something I'd never done before.

The Coach looked down at his clipboard, "Tidalis. Shoot."

"Oh," I said, and accidentally dropped the bow. I could feel eyes on me. Someone to my right snickered. Great start, I thought.

I awkwardly picked up the bow in my hands. How exactly did the other guys do this? Dang, I should've paid more attention. I held the bow with my right hand, with string on the far end. In my left, I felt around for an arrow, putting the feather end on the string and pushing back on it until it touched the wooden bend of the bow.

There was more laughter.

"I'm going to stop you right there, Tidalis." The Coach said, maybe a little pitifully, as he looked down at his clipboard again, "You're a mermaid, right?"

I nodded glumly.

"I think it'd be best, at least for a few weeks, if instead of joining a group, you assisted one of our elite members in training. That way, you'll get the hang of the basics. Why don't I partner you with..." he paused, looking down the row. The ones who had been chosen for Group A slunk back into the line. That was a great sign, "...How about Aran?"

"Seriously, Coach?" A stoic looking face looked over at me, about halfway through the line. I'd seen her earlier, she was another centaur. And she had deadly good aim from what I could see.

"Seriously, Aran. It'll be good for you both." Coach nodded at us.

Even though he moved down the line, I still felt eyes on me and heard soft murmuring. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it almost sounded like they were saying, "What a mermaid."

Figured. Mermaids were good at singing and art, not archery. I wondered if there were classes in my schedule that better suited me. Not that I was particularly good at singing or art.

At the end of the line, we split. I awkwardly found my way to the centuar, Aran. She wasn't waiting for me, and her long horse legs made it difficult for me to catch up.

I quietly stared at her long, bouncing ponytail of straight black hair as we made our way to her training field. Here, the targets were much farther from the stands.

She began to set up, methodically and expertly. She never said a word.

"So, what do I do?" I broke the silence in an awkward voice.

Still nothing, It was as if she forgot I was here. Before I knew it, she had drawn back her bow and...

Wham!

It was already perfectly in the bullseye. There was no doubt about it, this girl was good.

"You hold the bow in your left hand, if you're right handed that is. With the string towards you, holding the bend away from you like this."

She deftly pulled back the arrow, and I raced to pick up my bow and mimic her.

She let that one fly as well.

"Thanks for the tip," I said.

She still didn't face me, "Savor it, freshman, you're not getting another one."

"So..." I said, "You aren't going to teach me archery?"

"Not like you think. Coach made you my assistant, so assist. Get me the arrows from the target."

I nodded slowly. The target was a ways off, so I started heading now. I was a bit closer when an arrow sliced the ground between my feet. I jumped up and dashed away from it.

Aran had sent it my way, on purpose, "Get moving, frosh, I don't have all day!"

My flats were soaked from racing through the muddy field. Why me? Why couldn't high school be a time of happy little daisies and puppies? Would it kill everyone to be friendly and peaceful?

I reached the target severely out of breath. The two arrows in the target were barely a centimeter away from each other within the small black circle in the center. I reached out to pull them out, but I had to put some force into it--they were well and truly lodged.

Wham!

Another arrow came flying, and I had barely a second to snatch my hand back.

I looked at the horse figure in the distance.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I yelled to her.

"What?" She called back.

"I said, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" I practically screamed.

"Keep your eyes sharp!" Her voice projected back. I pouted, reaching for the arrows again. This time, I had my eye out for her.

Shaking my head, I murmured to myself, "This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"