Fifteen Layers of Steele

Chapter 11

Arriving at the club meeting at 6PM after returning home to finish up my homework for the night, I didn't fully know what to expect. As I walked up to the entrance of the door, I found that it was definitely beyond my imagination. About fifty or so boys and girls were lined up outside of the medium sized, square building fighting over the space in front of the windows. Shrieking, giggling, and cuss words could be heard as they plastered their faces to the window in attempts to catch a glimpse of Christian practicing. Two body guards stayed watch at the front of the door, and the entrance was gated off.

God damn, I thought as I approached the front of the gated area. It's crazy how much attention he attracts. He even needs to hire body guards just so that he can attend a club. Celebrities really aren't given enough credit for the bullshit that they have to deal with. I know I'm not one to talk though. I wonder if the club members hate or love him for it. I suppose it's giving the club itself a lot of media attention, but at the price of putting up with all this.

Standing at the entrance, the hoard of people turned around and stared at me to see what I would do. The large man on the left safeguarding the front came forth.

Suddenly, I got overwhelmed by the fear of being touched by the people around me. Group activities like the archery club were already difficult enough for me to attend, which is why I usually avoided them, but Christian really pushed me to face my fears and start going. He said that forcing yourself into the feared situation is the fastest way to get over it. Although true, this special circumstance of large hordes of borderline psychotic fans that would probably do anything to protect or get near Christian didn't make it any easier.

"Hello there. Your name please?" the guard asked me as I was just about to turn around and bolt off in the other direction. Stone cold in his expression, the way this unwavering person spoke was very intimidating. He looked like the typical guard you would see in a movie— bald, very tall, large frame, and massive, bulging muscles.

Cowering in fear, I politely responded "Anastasia Steele. Christian Grey invited me to join today."

Picking up his receiver, he spoke into it "Mr. Grey— a woman claiming to be Anastasia Steele is at the front."

"Alright, I'll be out in a second," the static voice of Christian could be heard from the other end.

Waiting patiently, I felt extraordinarily uncomfortable as the guard continued to stand stiff and unmoving, not taking his eyes off of me for a second. On the side, just shy of a hundred people were also watching me, whispering about who I was. Holding my hands together behind my back, I tottered between my toes and the heels of my foot, nodding my head as my teeth squeezed against my bottom lip in my anxiousness.

About a minute later, Christian appeared from behind the door. Many squeals could be heard from the crowd as they called out his name and then burst into one loud scream fest. "Oh Anastasia!" he smiles brightly. "So glad you could make it! Come on inside!" Waving me over, I nodded my head at him and laughed nervously while I passed by the guards that were now moving out of my way, but still staring coldly. The crowd just quivering with joy only a second ago was now filled with solemn gasps upon witnessing my approval. I'm so doomed for this, I internally cried to myself.

The room was very wide and open, not much contained in it. Place markers to the left and a line of targets on the opposing side were pretty much the entirety of objects in the room. About ten other people could be seen, along with one instructor shouting instructions at a girl doing target practice. Everyone, including Christian, was wearing the traditional Japanese archer uniform. Judging by the outfit, I assume this is Kyudo, Japanese style archery.