Dark as the Night

38

Leila was relieved the council had managed to cover all the necessary topics quickly for once. Usually there was some measure of back-and-forth between the councilors, but today they had actually agreed on almost everything. As the local Healer, she was required to be a councilor herself and attend the weekly meetings. Once a month she had to explain all expenses the medical center had incurred, as well as request funding for the next month's expenses.

This had not been that meeting. This week had mostly been about the planting season, and the master schedule for the requisite farm time. Fortunately, unlike some past years, there were no major changes that needed to be made for it, so even that part had gone smoothly. The only bump in the flow had been the matter of what to do with one Odessa Lund, but even that had been solved rather quickly and without any disagreements.

Leila entered the med center and heard youthful laughter coming from down the hall. She listened for a second and smiled. Odessa and... Tai? It looked like today was going to be an easy day. She took off her jacket and walked down the hall on the left, to one of the examination rooms. There she found the two friends dusting the room top to bottom. It smelled pleasantly of lemon.

"You know, Tai," she greeted him smugly, "Now that I have an assistant, you don't need to volunteer here as much as you did before Odessa joined us."

Tai snorted and turned from the cabinet he was dusting. He leaned back against it, resting his hands on the counter behind him. "What part of you begging me to come help out counts as volunteering? You're just lucky that I'm nicer than your husband and brother," he smirked back.

"So is Odessa, I see," she replied slyly.

The girl in question stopped rubbing down the bed frame she was polishing and stood up with a grin. "He actually did volunteer this time. Welcome back! How was the meeting?"

Leila smiled again. "Really good, for once. A good chunk of it was a review of your case."

"Ooh, what did you decide?" Odessa asked as she sat down on the bed.

Leila took a breath and began rambling. "You will be attending school when it starts back up in June. You'll be a senior, but since your mathematics skills are not up to par for that grade, you will be tutoring 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, all this month in Algebra and Geometry. As long as you can get caught up, you'll be able to take calculus with the rest of your class. This is not an abnormal situation, since new students join the camp semi-frequently.

"Furthermore, you have been approved to begin training in archery for defense and hunting for survival. They did want to keep you with foraging for survival, but agreed that it's not a bad thing to have more than one skill. Unfortunately, all our trainers are currently not able to accept new students this month due to the requisite farm time on top of their own jobs." She looked at Tai. "Except one."

"Me?" Tai asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Leila took in his posture, so like James, and laughed inwardly. She mimicked his stance.

"Yep. Since your carpentry business is slow at the moment and you're not in school, you are the only licensed archery trainer available right now. The council decided that you should be the one to handle Odessa's training. You will, of course, receive compensation for it, and as it will only be for 4 hours a day, you will still be expected to fulfill your farm requirement."

Odessa turned to Tai, surprise evident in her wide eyes. "I didn't know you were an archery trainer."

He replied, "I'm an associate trainer, which means I'm licensed but I don't actually do it because I have another job. Unless the council needs me to, obviously."

He glanced at Leila and went back to his previous position, aware that she was teasing him and hoping Odessa didn't notice. He continued nonchalantly, "This is good, though! Since you'll be on our hunting team, my teaching you will help you blend with our methods."

Odessa beamed at him then looked back at Leila, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Nice! When do we start?"

"Tomorrow," Leila answered. "Since you are looking at 7 hours combined of D&S training and tutoring, you are not required to do any farm time this month, and your work hours are going to be cut back to 15 a week instead of 20. At the end of the month, Tai will give a report on your progress and if you're on track, the council will set a date for your evaluation – most likely before the Midsummer Gala."

Odessa quirked her head to the side. "Midsummer Gala?"

"It's the camp's annual summer solstice party," Tai explained. "There's no school that day, and we have a huge picnic in the park followed by a bonfire and dance in the Barn Hall."

"Barn...hall?" Odessa asked.

"When they built the new barn farther away from the main part of camp, they turned the old one into a big meeting hall," he answered. "It's where we hold weddings and parties and the solstice celebrations. We have a Yule Ball there for the winter solstice."

Leila added, "The solstices and equinoxes are the only holidays the camp officially celebrates. Anyone can celebrate whatever holidays they wish however they wish, but those four days are the only ones the camp as a whole gets a day off of school and work. The equinoxes have big feasts and bonfires but no dancing. It's just a non-religious way for us all to celebrate the seasons because we all have a hand in providing for ourselves and each other."

Then she smiled coyly and said, "They're also considered romantic days. It's tradition for lovers to give each other gifts those days and it's common for teens to admit their crushes. Couples spend the holidays together and more than one proposal has happened at a solstice or equinox feast.

"The Yule Ball is formal so it's especially romantic, but the Midsummer Gala is like a big country party with games, live music and dancing. Still, you'll see a lot of couples cuddling at the bonfire."

**********
Which would you prefer to attend? A Yule Ball or a Midsummer Gala?

Since @ray_queen made me think of Cole Sprouse, I needed to get a visual reminder of what Tai is supposed to look like so I've included another character photo of Alex Meraz in this chapter! Although now I'm starting to question my casting... who do you think would make a good Tai??

Finally, I'm also writing a novella for the Open Novella contest, so that's kind of hindering all the writing I need to do for this book.  I'm trying to alternate.  If sci-fi retellings of classic horror stories are your thing, then check out "Monster" (https://www.wattpad.com/story/129530141-monster).

-Evie