CAMP MARS

Chapter 7

Walking around the camp, I eventually found Hannah at the archery station standing next to Mark as they watched fellow campers shoot arrows at haystacks with targets. Walking up beside her, I watched with interest as I nudge her on the arm and say, "What's happening here?"

"Oh, nothing much, the archery co... Katie!!! You're still here!" Hannah shouted with excitement as she squeezed the life out of me. "I thought you were leaving?"

"I'll... tell you about that later. Long story short, someone wouldn't let me leave." I say, quickly noticing a pair of people were walking up to the bow and arrow. "What's going on here, again?"

"Oh, the archery coach is holding a small competition; winner or winners get to go into town with a hundred dollar gift card to any store of their choosing. How cool is that?" Mark answered, stepping forward as the line started moving.

"Very cool. Is it to late to sign up?" I ask, looking at the archery coach.

"Go ask." Hannah suggested as I made my way over towards the archery coach.

Once I made it through the crowd, I managed to talk to the archery coach, and luckily, he said this was a one round competition. Although I got to enter, I had to go it alone and last, which is really fine by me. Watching the other campers, I took mental notes and such, determining the best strategy to take when it was my turn.

"Next up, and finally, Miss Katie C from Hammond, Indiana." the archery coach says as I walk up to this big red line. He then showed me how to use the bow and arrow for about a minute before patting me on the back and saying, "Good luck."

"Thank you." I say nicely as I began focusing on the target.

Raising the bow, I took a deep breath before bringing the arrow up to eye level, keeping the target firmly in my mind before firing the arrow.

"Bullseye!" the archery coach shouted as everyone clapped. "Twenty points!"

Drawing another arrow, I did the same as before and got another bullseye. And then another and another. Damn, who knew I would be great at archery? Lining up my next shot, I heard a familiar voice that brought annoyance to my ears as I dared not look back at the ratched Kimberly.

"Boo! Loser! Loser!" Kimberly said, laughing along with her idiot friends.

So angry, I wanted to turn around and stab her little heart out, but then I remember prison is very real thing, so I choked the rage down and decided it was best just to ignore her. However, I did have new target picture in my mind – in the form of Kimberly's massive head!

Pulling the string back on the bow, I focused on the imaginary Kimberly before firing, hitting her right in the heart (bullseye). I then did it again and again until I was out of arrows, stunning everyone in the process. Ultimately, guess who the winner was and received the hundred dollar gift card? It was me – I won with two hundred points (!!!).

"Here is your winner: Katie C!" the archery coach announced as he raises my hand. "With an impressive score of two hundred."

Everyone around clapped as I smiled proudly, but my small moment of victory came to an end when Kimberly and her stupid friends began complaining. They even marched right up to me and took the bow from me.

"I want a turn! And I'll show everyone who really can get the highest score around here." Kimberly said as her friends cheered her on.

"Um, Ma'am. There's only ten arrows, the highest you can get is two hundred." the archery coach explained as I shook my head.

"Idiot." I whisper off to the side as Kimberly grew very angry.

"Oh, yeah! Let's just see!" Kimberly said, pushing me out of the way as she lined up the bow and arrow.