Emma—October 2006
Emma squinted in the weak, October sunlight. Ten other students stood on the lawn, shotguns loaded and laying across their forearms. She was the only girl.Housemaster Morris smiled. "Lovely to see such a turn out for the league this year!" She walked across the stretch of lawn in front of them. "You'll have three goes to hit as many targets as possible. We have five spots available." She gave a special nod to a student on the other end of the line, and Emma snuck a look. It was Beck Howards.
"Although, in all fairness, there are most likely four spots available," Morris said.Students around her snickered. The majority were Saunderites, and Emma shrugged off a chill.
Morris turned to her. "Miss Stapleton—" she smiled. "Would you do us the honor?"
Nine sets of eyes turned in her direction. One in particular burned. Emma inhaled and stepped forward. She pulled on her ear protection. She cocked the weapon, flicked the safety, and took aim. "Pull," she called. Pure instinct flowed through her arms and up through her chest. The smell of polished wood filled her nose as countless summers past, her father at her back, ran through her mind. It felt so easy. The shot was perfect.
Murmuring began behind her.
"Pull," she called again, and again and again, focus never swaying. She wiped sweat from her brow after the final target met its end. She flicked on the safety and turned to Housemaster Morris and smiled. Morris's mouth hung open.
With her smile in place, Emma found Howards's eyes and didn't look away.
YOU ARE READING
The Enemy
RomantizmOnce upon a time, a madman tried to murder Emma Stapleton on a perfectly normal school day. And, the unlikeliest of classmates came to her rescue: her nemesis. Ten years later, her nemesis is dead, her school sweetheart divorced her, and she's no cl...
