The group of Yuan Shao’s students are just finishing up their lunch in the cafeteria. Wen Chou is eating only three plates this time around. Yan Liang is wiping her mouth with her napkin after every bite. Qu Yi has almost finished hers but leaves a few stray noodles along her plate. Both Lu sisters are eating synchronized, which holds the attention of Qu Yi.

  Suddenly a loud buzz is heard, signaling someone is about to speak over the intercom across the school grounds. “Afternoon everyone. Due to unforeseen circumstances, classes at the main building will be cancelled for the rest of the day.” A loud shriek is let out behind me from the Devil Child, Yuan Shu. This causes some students in the cafeteria to chuckle as others begin gossiping amongst themselves.

  I let out an audible sigh over the intercom. “I will extend the due date of your packet by an additional school day, so make sure to have them done by next Monday.” This causes more students in the cafeteria to either let out a sigh of relief or cheer. “We thank you for being so adapting and understanding.” I think I let go of the intercom button, as I vent to myself “*Bleep,* Ji. I need a break.” A brief pause, “Wait, red light is still on?” Silence, which is soon followed by a very long sigh. “Well, I’m going to be written up for this one." The intercom buzzes again letting everyone know the announcement is over. Audible laughter is let out through the cafeteria as the talking only amplifies.

  Yan Liang frowns, looking to the intercom. “I hope Mr. Lei will be all right.”

  Lu Kuang jumps up. “Yay! No more packet work for today!” She pumps her fist to the sky.

  Lu Xiang claps still in her seat. “Hooray! Free time!”

  Qu Yi looks to the both of them. “What do you two do in your free time?”

  Lu Xiang and Lu Kuang act simultaneously, standing up and pulling out a portable video game console, cheering in unison. “Videogames with sis!”

  This raises Qu Yi’s interest. While she wouldn’t call herself a gamer, she did play the odd file of a game she enjoys back at home, “The Old Books IV, Heck.”

  Wen Chou stretches, finishing her food. “Well if you didn’t have anything planned, Newbie,” she turns to Qu Yi, “I think now would be a good time to show you the ropes of baseball!”

  “You can’t exercise right after eating. You’ll get cramps,” Yan Liang responds looking to Wen Chou with an eyebrow raised.

  “Well, you can relearn the rules of baseball without doing the exercising part! Right, Newbie?” She smiles to Qu Yi, waiting for a response.

  Qu Yi’s about to speak up until Yan Liang does first. “Well, what would Qu Yi want to do? Currently all the time she’s been here she’s been busy or sleeping.”

  Qu Yi puts her hand on her chin thinking, before speaking up. “W-Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to learn about baseball since Wen Chou wants to show me so much,” Wen Chou’s face brightens in response, “but, after the cramp period, I wouldn’t mind seeing the school’s archery range.”

  “Oh yeah!” Wen Chou speaks up. “You said you were good at archery! I’d love to see you doing it!”

  Yan Liang nods. “I also would like to see you in a place you feel comfortable in.”

  “Hrmm,” Lu Kuang sits back down, leaning her chin on the table. “Sounds like hard work.”

  Lu Xiang, duplicating her sister’s movements adds, “Yeah, I tired myself out from doing that packet, so, I just want to do videogames with sis.”

  Qu Yi looks to them, “Well, it’s fine. We’ll see each other tomorrow, right?”

  Both sisters sit up and nod, Lu Kuang being the first to talk, “Yeah! You can help us with our packet!”

  “Packet!” Lu Xiang adds.

  Qu Yi smiles to the two. “Um, sure. I can do that.”

  Both the sisters pull out their phones. “We should exchange numbers though!” Lu Kuang smiles.

  Lu Xiang nods, “That way we can text tonight when we’re supposed to be sleeping.”

  Qu Yi smiles, although she is deterred at their reasoning. “Um, I don’t know about the text when sleeping, but I would love to share numbers with you and text later.”

  Both Lu Kuang and Lu Xiang cheer in unison as each of them raise their right and left fist in the air respectively, “Yay!”

  After a few moments, the classmates exchange numbers, return their plates, and wave each other off. The twins head to the dorms as the three roommates head towards the school.

  “All the different fields are behind the school,” Wen Chou explains to Qu Yi as they walk.

  After passing many other students enjoying their own half days of school, the field rears into view. Qu Yi’s mouth goes agape in awe of the sight. It is a giant field, bigger than any she’d seen at a school before. A large track shaped like an oval is a norm that Qu Yi is used to from her old school, but instead of having an American football field in the middle, it has all the other activities one expects from track and field. Across from the track lay three baseball fields, each diamond utilizing the same structure of backstop, including some batting cages with them. Across from that lay two soccer fields. There are many sheds and buildings hiding other less visible sports from her view as well.

  “This is, a lot.” Qu Yi mutters in disbelief.

  Wen Chou smiles, seeing Qu Yi taking it all in. “Don’t worry. We’ll pick up our uniforms by the locker room in the back of the school. We should have a spare for you. Then I can teach you about baseball until you’re ready for archery!”

  “Uniforms?” She looks down at her own outfit.

  Yan Liang jumps into the conversation. “Well, each class has a uniform for physical activities. Otherwise we’d be working out in uniforms that would be restrictive.” She smiles.

  “Oh, right,” Qu Yi blushes. It makes sense in hindsight that they wouldn’t exercise in skirts. She thinks to herself, “Wait, why do cheerleaders do it during assemblies?” Qu Yi shakes her head to get the thought out. Now’s not the time to worry about that. She turns to Wen Chou, putting her trust in her. “Um, all right. Lead the way.”

  The group heads around the back of the school, Qu Yi taking notice of plenty of girls in orange running around the track and field. Yan Liang catches her roommate’s glance and speaks up, “Those girls are in Gongsun Zan’s class. They’re heavily known for their track and field expertise.”

  Qu Yi mutters to herself, “So that’s the class that Yan Gang is in?”

  Wen Chou nods. “Seems that way, I don’t know what her deal is with you, or our class in general, but hopefully she stops being aggressive towards us.”

  An annoyed Yan Liang slides next to Wen Chou. “You’re one to talk about being aggressive.”

  Wen Chou scratches the back of her head in embarrassment. “Ehehe.”

  The group continues their path until they get to a large block of the school that juts out. “Here’s the indoor gym.” Wen Chou smiles to Qu Yi, signaling to a pair of double doors. “The locker room is in this part right here.” She signals to a single door off to the side.

  Qu Yi nods. She is about to ask about the boy’s locker room, but she catches herself in time. As the group is about to enter, Qu Yi freezes up. Her thoughts going straight to her locker room experiences at her old school. “T-There’s not going to be anyone who’s going to harass me in there, right? T-They aren’t going to steal my clothes and flush them down the toilet?”

  Wen Chou raises an eyebrow at Qu Yi, before punching her fist in her palm intimidatingly and responds, “If anyone tries anything like that they’ll be thrown against the wall.”

  Yan Liang frowns at Wen Chou. “No need to start with that.” Her face shifts as she sends a comforting smile to Qu Yi, speaking softly to her. “I know you may be scared, but don’t worry, most people in this school are really kind and nice.” She then turns to Wen Chou, with her tone going back to normal. “If someone isn’t though, yes, let’s go with the wall thing.”

  Qu Yi couldn’t help but snicker slightly. Seems even someone as good as goodie two shoes Yan Liang won’t mind getting aggressive if a bullying threat is against her. The group, once again, begins walking in, though Qu Yi can’t help but cover her eyes.

  Wen Chou turns and raises an eyebrow. “Um, Newbie, you okay?”

  “I don’t want to see naked people,” she mutters blushing. While sometimes yes, she would catch that in the boy’s locker room at her old school, it feels wrong for her to catch that here, as someone who is a boy on the inside.

  Yan Liang gasps in horror. “Co-ed schools sound terrifying!”

  Wen Chou chuckles, looking at Yan Liang. “Nah, that’s just public schools.” Wen Chou walks back to Qu Yi and puts her arm around her shoulders. “Look, at this school we have plenty of changing stalls, so you don’t have to worry about any of that. Maybe at worst you’ll see someone’s underwear.”

  “You mean yours?” Yan Liang adds.

  “Yeah exact-“ Wen Chou turns to Yan Liang with an annoyed expression on her face. “Just because I change in the room that way doesn’t mean I do it here.”

  Qu Yi can’t help but laugh. “W-Well, all right, I trust you.” She removes her hands from her eyes, looking at the locker room. It is much fancier than any locker room she’s been in, both at her school and at her local swimming pool. Wide open halls are set up full of rows of lockers. Each row is split in half and has a roof that slants downward. The roof of the lockers have some large colored tape with names on the top. Qu Yi catches a few of the larger ones, “Sun Ce” with a banner in red, “Cao Cao” a banner in blue, “Dong Zhuo” a banner in purple, and so on. On the far side of the room lay multiple small stalls. On the opposite corner lays what appears to be a standard school bathroom, albeit slightly larger, much sleeker and designed nicer than what she is used to.

  Wen Chou leads Qu Yi to the section of the lockers marked with the yellow banner. “Yuan Shao” is written on it in cursive. “What one has the spare uniforms, Yan Liang?” Wen Chou asks as she is searching for a locker on one end of the banner.

  Yan Liang opens a locker on the opposite end of the banner. “This one.”

  “Oh right.” Wen Chou smiles while scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

  Yan Liang begins looking through the uniforms. “All right, so you’re about a size or two smaller than my size…” She peeks her head out to Qu Yi. She kneels down to a box on the bottom. We also have sports bras. You want one, right?”

  Qu Yi instantly blushes and covers her chest instinctively. “N-No thanks!”

  Yan Liang raises a confused eyebrow at Qu Yi. “Are you sure? Posture is important in archery, isn’t it?”

  Qu Yi looks down defeated. “Yes…”

  Yan Liang’s eyebrows rise higher with more skepticism; however, Wen Chou looks at Qu Yi’s body language and heads over to Yan Liang whispering something that Qu Yi can’t hear.

  “Maybe she’s sensitive about the size?” She points to where Qu Yi’s arm is covering.

  Yan Liang chuckles. “Qu Yi, we’re not so immature to laugh about size here. Don’t worry about that stuff with us. I hate to take a line from Wen Chou’s book, but we’re all girls here.”

  Wen Chou looks at Yan Liang as her name was heard, but then grows a confused expression on her face. “Hate?” She repeats.

  Qu Yi cocks her head slightly in confusion. “S-Size?”

  Yan Liang blinks awkwardly a few times, trying to understand the confusion. “Wait, where did I lose you? Aren’t you embarrassed about me figuring out your size?”

  Qu Yi returns Yan Liang’s blinks of confusion. “Size of what?”

  The two stare at each other trying to figure out what conversation the other was having. This is becoming painful for me to narrate. Qu Yi was a teenage boy, right? You’re telling me he never noticed… You know what, never mind. Thank Yu Ji, Wen Chou can’t stand the mess of awkwardness either.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Wen Chou walks in front of Yan Liang. “Look, the sports bras are one size fits all. If you were sensitive about that, you don’t even need to tell us your size.” She takes the bra out of Yan Liang’s hands and gives it to Qu Yi with her uniform. “With this you can change without much issue.”

  Qu Yi looks down at what she was given. “Uh, yeah… I think I can manage.” Still confused about what size is referring to, the innocent soul.

  “I hope so or else I’m going to walk in on you and make sure you can do it.” She laughs as she opens her locker and grabs her uniform, heading off to the changing stalls.

  “Hey! You need to quit doing that also!” Yan Liang shouts in pursuit of Wen Chou. She lets out a tired sigh, “I swear, that girl.” She turns and smiles to Qu Yi, “Um, so this is one of the lockers that’s unclaimed.” She opens a small, empty locker with a key that is with the spare uniforms. “You can put your clothes in there after you change.”

  Qu Yi takes notice of the locker number and adds the key to her key ring with her room key. She peeks to where the changing stalls are located.

  “Anyway,” Yan Liang’s voice lowers to a whisper, “I’m going to quickly use the restroom. Just meet by our lockers when you’re done, all right?”

  Qu Yi nods. “Shouldn’t be too hard,” she thinks to herself. “They’re all in the same room as me, so it’s not like yesterday when I had to try to change alone.” After Yan Liang quickly runs to the bathroom stalls, Qu Yi heads toward the changing stalls.

  As Qu Yi passes a row of lockers, a girl jumps in front of her, “Rival!”

  Qu Yi jumps in surprise, letting out an embarrassingly high “Eep!” However, she sees that it is only Yan Gang. “Gah, y-you scared me Yan Gang.” She notices Yan Gang wearing a different uniform. Instead of her regular orange blazer, white shirt and skirt, she wears an orange tank top with an orange and yellow short sleeved jacket over it. She has orange running shorts with a yellow stripe trim at the end of them. She also wears orange running shoes with light green soles. Her orange eyes and her side ponytail remain as usual, however.

  Yan Gang sighs, “Qu Yi, you’re supposed to call me rival! We are rivals now!” She folds her arms pouting a little as she turns to the side.

  “Wait, what are we rivals in?” Qu Yi asks with a confused eyebrow.

  Yan Gang turns back to respond, but she ends up looking to the side as she tries to think of the answer to that herself. She didn’t think that far ahead, “Um, in…” She looks Qu Yi up and down, “Um, in… height! Yeah!” She stands next to Qu Yi. “As you can see, I’m a few centimeters taller, so I win!”

  Qu Yi looks at Yan Gang in confusion. “Okay, I suppose you win?” She walks around Yan Gang, heading towards the changing stalls, thinking to herself about how if she had her old body, she would currently be taller than her. Of course, worrying about something like that is childish to her.

  “H-Hey!” Yan Gang speaks up, running to quickly block the way for Qu Yi again. “That’s not how rivalries are supposed to work! You’re supposed to have some witty comeback! Something like ‘Grrr, I haven’t hit my growth spurt yet! I will win in this!’ See, now you try.” Yan Gang smiles, waiting expectedly for Qu Yi to respond.

  Qu Yi stares a few moments at Yan Gang silently before she sighs. “Um, well, I don’t care if you’re taller than me though?” She does actually care that she is referred to as small a lot, but she doesn’t want to think too much about growing in this body over her regular one.

  Yan Gang jumps back. “Wah?! Then what do you care about that we can compete in?”

  Qu Yi frowns, scratching her cheek with her right index finger. “I’m not exactly a competitive person…”

  “What about grades?” Yan Gang asks, worry audible in her voice. “We can compete in grades, right? What grades did you get at your old school?”

  “Normally A’s.”

  Yan Gang averts her eyes, avoiding eye contact. “Okaaay, let’s not be rivals in that then,” making it very clear she has already lost.

  “How about, you brainstorm a bit, then you can text me later about it?” Qu Yi smiles to Yan Gang as she passes her again.

  As Qu Yi begins passing her by, Yan Gang begins to panic. “Oh! I know! You can be my rival in… in… high school girliness?”

  Qu Yi turns around; a very annoyed expression paints her face. That is certainly something she doesn’t want to win. “Um, I’m going to go change now.”

  Yan Gang lets out a defeated sigh. “I’ll text you a list later, okay?”

  Qu Yi chuckles. “I look forward to it.” Despite being a bit eccentric, Qu Yi does appreciate the conversations with Yan Gang. She feels like they are already forming a special type of friendship, just not one like she’s ever seen before.

  After entering the stall, Qu Yi notices a mirror in it, showing off her reflection. “Ugh,” she mutters. “Here we go again.” She places the uniform on a small bench in the stall. The workout uniform consists of yellow tights with a large white stripe on each end, a tight shirt that that has short sleeves with a white vertical stripe on each side. It also has a white bow with a yellow sailor collar. Qu Yi doesn’t understand the use of the collar, but probably has something to do with “nobility” of the Yuan family and all that.

  She quickly undresses from her school uniform, making sure to avoid looking down and at her reflection at all times, making the simple act much more complicated. After some struggling with the sports bra, she gets it on. She does take note that it feels snug around her upper body, something she isn’t used to with any other clothes she’s previously worn. Qu Yi actually invites the feeling of snugness bestowed onto her by the clothes. The thought of having something equivalent as a boy would be nice- What is she thinking?! She suddenly shakes her head trying to get the thought out of her mind. She is still a boy, at least in mind! She doesn’t want to admit something that is for girls could help her. She finishes putting on the uniform. A familiar feeling of wearing pants washes over her. Something that didn’t floof and fluff with every step is nice to wear, especially something with a bifurcation in the fabric.

  Qu Yi takes a peek at the reflection in the mirror. While the color stands out, it is something she feels way less awkward wearing. It feels like something she could wear on a lazy Saturday back at home, minus the collar and ribbon of course. She does a quick spin before chuckling to herself. Maybe she should do archery more just to have an excuse to wear this more often?

  She opens the door to the stall, her uniform neatly folded to be put away. She takes her turn into her row of lockers and sees Wen Chou waiting for her sitting on the bench in between both locker rows.

  “Hey, Newbie. Looks like that fits you in both ways.” She lets out a goofy smile.

  Qu Yi opens her locker with her key. “Both ways?” She looks to Wen Chou confused.

  “Yeah, looks like it fits you in size and I think you should exercise more to wear it more! Perhaps you should practice baseball with me a lot!”

  The comment causes Qu Yi to smile as she finishes putting her uniform away. “Maybe, I really don’t think I would be that great, but I’d love to try it since you want to teach.”

  “It’ll be easy! After all, you have such a great player helping you. You’ll get it in a snap.” She pulls out a booklet titled “Baseball for Idiots” from her locker. “Don’t let the name fool you,” she grins. “That’s just their brand name.” Her statements don’t contradict each other.

  Wen Chou begins going over some of the more basic rules with Qu Yi listening in, nodding, trying to absorb everything she can. Yan Liang soon joins the two in her own exercise uniform. She has her hair tied in a low ponytail. “You two seem to be getting along.” She shares a smile with both of them.

  Wen Chou stands up confidently. “Soon Qu Yi will be a master of baseball!”

  Qu Yi looks up. “Y-You may want to curb your expectations.”

  Wen Chou places her arm around Qu Yi’s shoulders. “You’re just being modest! Let’s head to the archery range and then I can teach you more while we wait for the cramp period to wear off! Then you can feel good enough to show us.”

  Qu Yi blushes and twiddles her fingers. “Y-Yeah. Sure…” Thinking about it with the way her body has changed recently, she begins to worry more. What if the new proportions cause her balance to be off? What if her hair keeps bothering her? So many ifs and buts begin to rise in her mind. Until Wen Chou leads her out of the locker room.

  “C’mon, Newbie! Let’s go so we can discuss more about baseball!”

  The group hurries over. The archery range is very close to the outdoor entrance of the locker room, so it doesn’t take much time. The range is more taken care of then the local one Qu Yi attended. None of the wood around the building is splintered. It is smooth and lacquered, as if it is brand new. Out in a fenced off field are targets, ones that look brand new. They aren’t riddled with holes like the ones at the range. Normally she would need to bring her own just so she could see the rings. Qu Yi slows as she familiarizes herself with the building, a sense of warmth rushes over her. She feels… safe, familiar feelings of hanging out at her local range after school most days. The aura of the setup feels the same to her. Her muscles relax. Perhaps it is the pants-like clothing, but even her new body begins to become unnoticeable to her here.

  Wen Chou smiles as they sit on the bench, under one of the overhead roofs. “So, each team has nine players in play at a time. You can sub out players, but once they sub out, they can’t return to the game. For this reason, it’s better to have them be good at multiple positions so they can sub positions if they need a break instead of not being able to join back when needed.” Wen Chou goes on, actually sounding intelligent. I guess all you need to do is talk about something she’s obsessed with to get it out of her.

  The group talks in their own little world in the same spot for an hour. Wen Chou explaining something to Qu Yi, Qu Yi asking questions, and both Wen Chou and Yan Liang answering them. It becomes a relaxing experience for Qu Yi, talking about something with those who really care about both her and the subject. Soon enough, Wen Chou and Yan Liang had covered most of the rules.

  “Anything you have questions about?” Wen Chou asks as she stretches her arms upward.

  “I think it makes sense,” Qu Yi responds. “I guess I did play it a bit when I was younger, but I didn’t remember any of the rules. Maybe I was too young to know anything other than hitting a ball on a stand.” She smiles.

  Yan Liang chuckles. “I think that’s how lots of kids are.” She holds her hand with her index finger up, explaining to Qu Yi, “They only care about hitting the ball rather than defense and the rest of the fielding, when that stuff might be even more important in actual baseball. When I was younger, I liked throwing the ball though.” She stops. “At least, I think I did?”

  “That’s probably why you became a pitcher,” Wen Chou adds laughing, “People don’t expect your fastballs when they look at you.”

  Yan Liang blushes at the compliment, then her expression changes to embarrassment. “Wait, but then I become not cute after I pitch?!”

  Qu Yi shrugs. “Don’t worry, I think you’re pretty cute still.”

  Both Wen Chou and Yan Liang look to Qu Yi, surprised. Normally Qu Yi seems shyer about looks, but she seems to have let that out without any sort of embarrassment or stuttering. The two smile to each other than back to Qu Yi.

  “Aw, thank you!” Yan Liang smiles and gives Qu Yi a side hug.

  Qu Yi’s awkwardness strikes back suddenly. “A-Ah” she blushes.

  “That’s it! Group hug!” Wen Chou shouts and hugs the two of them, lifting them up off the ground.

  Yan Liang begins laughing. “Chou!”

  Qu Yi can’t help but laugh herself. “T-Thanks?” She blinks. “Is, um, this normal? Friends hugging each other?”

  Wen Chou sets the two down. “Um, well I don’t know why it wouldn’t be normal? It’s a nice way to show your appreciation towards someone!”

  Yan Liang nods and smiles/ “If it isn’t normal, that’s okay. I feel like hugs are important.” She looks concerned to Qu Yi. “D-Did I step over a line?”

  Qu Yi smiles. “N-No. It felt… good,” she mutters the last word out quietly.

  Wen Chou stretches, wanting to take advantage of the newfound comfort Qu Yi seems to be feeling. “Anyway, Newbie, I’d like to see your archery skills.” She takes a seat on the bench.

  “Yeah!” Yan Liang adds as she claps in excitement. “You seemed really calm once we got here. I want to see too!”

  Qu Yi blushes. “U-Uh. Right. Just a heads up, I-I haven’t actually shot with friends watching before, sorry ahead of time if I make a mistake.”

  Yan Liang smile., “Don’t worry! The first time I pitched in front of a crowd, I hit the batter.” She looks to the side. “I think she was okay?” she adds quietly.

  Wen Chou nods. “When I first batted, I got strikeouts with people watching. That’s normal. Don’t worry, Newbie!” She gives two thumbs up to Qu Yi.

  A wave of comfort passes through Qu Yi, feeling goosebumps appear on her body. What is this feeling? Something she isn’t used to, that’s for sure, but she sure does like it. She slowly looks at a rack of the school bows. trying to gauge one for her current size. She needs a bow smaller than normal. Thankfully she finds a black one with green trim on it. No scope, but Qu Yi is used to that. She could never afford one. The recurve bow seems to fit her well. She gives the string a stretch, making sure it feels fine. At this point, it becomes second nature to her. She doesn’t even need to think about anything that has happened to her. She is in her own meditation. Both Yan Liang and Wen Chou notice the change in Qu Yi’s posture. Her face has a calm serious look that the two haven’t seen before.

  Qu Yi grabs five arrows. She sees five different targets out in the distance, each with a different yard sign next to it. She stops at the first one.

  “Let’s make sure everything feels fine,” she thinks to herself. She notches the arrow and pulls the string back. The first sign has “10 yards” labeled on it. “A practice shot.” She holds onto the bow tightly. At this point her mind is silenced. The world is quiet around her. The shouts from the nearby track and field can’t pierce her concentration. The only sound she hears is the sound of the string releasing.

  Twang, thunk.

  The arrow makes contact just outside of the inner circle of the target. Both Yan Liang and Wen Chou pay close attention. They are about to clap, but both see Qu Yi is still in focus.

  “Slightly off. Readjust.” The words delve through Qu Yi’s mind. Although the body was in the correct posture, there is some rebalancing she must overcome with her current body. However, the reason why, the embarrassment of it, none of that crosses her mind, only that she must adapt for whatever reason. She walks to the next target. “20 yards.” A swift motion of notching the arrow and pulling it back. She readjusts her aim just as she would have done back home.

  Twang, thunk.

  In the inner circle this time, closer to the bullseye, her goal. “Take into account the wind.” The words repeat through her mind constantly. She goes to the next target. “30 yards.” In one smooth motion, she notches the arrow and pulls back. She stares at the target. She waits for the small gust of wind to calm. When it slows...

  Twang… Thunk.

  Too much adjusting. She heads to the next target. “40 yards.” She preps herself. “Account for the increase in distance,” repeats through her mind, when she is ready.

  Twang… Thunk.

  Right where she wants, the bullseye. She walks to the last target. “50 yards.” The only one that matters to her. Her mind goes through the motions, before- wait, something’s off. Self-doubt finds its way into her mind. Why would she feel that? It’s not like anyone is watching her. In her own mind she is back at her local archery range. She tries to push through the feelings, ignoring them, shoving the thoughts out of her mind. They only return in greater numbers. The pressure grows. She is being squished. Something is squeezing her! Her breathing delays as it begins to struggle. “I have to finish.” She thinks to herself, “But, why?” In her mind everything from the last two days flashes instantly. Wen Chou and Yan Liang, Yuan Shao, Yan Gang, her own reflection staring back at her in the locker room. “Everything… is wrong.”

  Twang, tsh.

  The arrow shoots into the ground, not even close to the target. Time stops for Qu Yi as her mind works ten times faster each millisecond. She failed. She freezes up, “They’re going to call me a fraud, aren’t they?” Her mind is rushed with thoughts she can’t control, thoughts she can’t handle. She’s afraid to turn around to her two new “friends.” They’ll abandon her like the others. Her mind begins to attack her with insults. Insults repeated from those at her old school. “Quit wasting our time.” “No one is going to like you, best get used to it now.” “If your mom is lucky, you’d go the way of your dad. She wouldn’t have to put up with a failure anymore.” Qu Yi falls to her knees, the thoughts attacking each of her senses. Everything feels diluted. Tears well in her eyes.

  “Don’t let them see. Don’t let them see. Please, don’t let them see. Don’t look at me like this. Please. Stop looking at me. Please. I want to go home. I want my mom. Please. I don’t want this. I want my dad. Please, quit looking at me. Don’t stare at me. Stop looking at me. Please. Please. Please.”

  Suddenly the pressure of being squished, not the familiar pressure that attacked her earlier. This one is of warmth. She hears mumbled words, but can’t make them out.

  “H… Hey! N..bie! Q…! Qu Yi!”

  “Oh g...! Hel.! We n..d help!”

  Her vision is fading. She falls on her back, her head lands on something, something soft. She sees two silhouettes over her.

  “W… …ppend? R….? Q..i?!” Another silhouette looms, speaking the mumbling gibberish she can’t make out. All her senses attack her, her tears streaming down her face.

  “Please don’t look at me. Please. Please. I don’t want you to look at me. Don’t look. Please stop looking.” Control of her body is lost. Tense, bend, tense, contort, tense, release, tense, bend, tense, contort, tense, release, tense...

  “… .ang! Get mis... Lei!”

  “But… .. Yi?”

  “USE ..UR FAS. .e.S! ...RY!”

  Qu Yi’s vision and hearing finally fail her as her consciousness fades.