Daydream Believer

lii. bowling club and new friends

lii. bowling club and new friends

Mom wanted me to join a club or a sport. "Noah started playing lacrosse, and I know Aaron plays soccer," she said. "You should do something too."

I shook my head. "I'm fine Mom," I said.

"I really think you should," Mom said. She stared at me coldly, which meant I probably didn't have a choice. After looking around a bit, I found out that the bowling alley had a bowling club. Bowling was technically a sport, right? I didn't have to run, so I figured I might be okay at it.

So that was how I ended up at the bowling alley after school on a Thursday afternoon.

I hated it already. There were lots of other kids, but I didn't know any of them. Most of them were middle schoolers and high schoolers that had been bowling for years. I hid in a corner and hoped nobody would notice me. Thankfully, nobody did.

Once a few more people showed up, the people running the club made us all sit in a circle and say our names, our age, what school we went to, and something interesting we did over the summer. I stayed quiet, hoping that I wouldn't have to talk to these strangers.

"I'll go first," the man running the club said. "My name is Mr. Doyle, I work here at the bowling alley, and I watched a lot of TV this summer. Anyone want to go next?"

The girl next to me raised her hand. She had short, brown hair and grey eyes. She was a little taller than me. Then again, everyone was taller than me. "My name is Michelle Pearson, I'm ten and a half years old, I go to Park Street Elementary School, and I went bungee jumping this summer."

"That's very interesting, Michelle," Mr. Doyle said. "How about you?" He pointed at me. I scooted backwards a little, but I figured there was no use. I took a deep breath and said, "My name is McKenna Gregory, I'm eleven years old, I go to Odiosis Elementary School, and..." I really didn't do anything interesting that summer. "I went camping," I finished. That happened two summers ago. Close enough.

"Very nice McKenna," Mr. Doyle said. Everyone else introduced themselves, and then we were assigned our lanes to bowl in. Michelle and I were in the same lane. Almost immediately, she started talking to me.

"So you go to Odiosis?" she said. "What's that like?"

"Aren't we supposed to be bowling?" I asked.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't talk." She smiled. "Have you ever bowled before?"

"Not like this," I said.

"So you're a newbie," Michelle said. I nodded. "You'll get the hang of it. It's really just for fun anyways. That's Rule Number One. Have fun."

"What are the other rules?" I asked.

"Rule Number Two. Talk to people. We're all friends here." I had a feeling that rule would be hard to follow without breaking Rule Number One. "And Rule Number Three. Never walk out onto the lane."

"How long have you been on the team?" I asked, out of sheer curiosity.

"Three years," Michelle said. "I joined because my sister joined. She's over there." Michelle pointed to her sister, who was talking and laughing with all of the other high schoolers. She looked like an older version of Michelle. "Do you have any siblings?"

I nodded. "I have a brother."

"I have three brothers and two sisters," Michelle said. "I'm the youngest. It's nice sometimes, but it's usually a total pain."

I used my usual strategy to make it seem like I was listening: nod and smile. Michelle kept blabbering on about her brothers and sisters. I didn't care. We were about to start bowling. Michelle did seem nice though. Maybe I had made a new friend at last.