EXPLODE

seven

"Put some headphones on!" My instructor yells, right as I begin to take the safety off the gun and aim.

I set the gun down to put the headphones on, and immediately get yelled at again for not turning the safety back off. Whatever I did was wrong so far.

Constantly, I could hear Liam chuckling in the background until the instructor finally yells, "why don't you take over if you think this is funny?"

"Okay." He responds with a simple shrug to his shoulders. He walks over to me, readjusting the headphones, and the room becomes considerably quieter.

"Better?" He asks. I nod, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion as I try to make out what he's saying. He hands me a pair of clear glasses and slips them on, and I'm reminded of when I was younger having to wear a large, clunky pair of glasses.

"Okay, now I want you to take a stance where you're facing directly at your target," he turns me towards the target, which stands a good hundred feet away, and I can't help but wonder how I'm going to hit it. "Now separate your feet, line the gun straight in the middle of them, close one eye, and once you've found your target, shoot."

I follow his instructions, keeping my feet apart, taking a deep breath, and finding my target with once eye closed.

"Safety off now." I turn the safety off and realign my gun. I close one eye, staring down that little red dot in the center of target. I wrap my fingers around the trigger, take a deep breath, and pull.

The aftershock almost knocks me backwards, but Liam catches me, and looks victoriously at the target; I was only a line away from the hitting the red.

"Beginner's luck." The instructor murmurs, walking over and examining the target. "Safety on!"

I follow his instructions, Liam patting my back in satisfaction.

"In the real world, you're not going to have the time to do all that and you're supposed to shoot with both eyes open. Not to forget the target will be moving," the instructor reminds me. "Now try again."

I repeat the steps I was taught, pulling the safety off, and with a little more confidence, shoot at the target. It barely makes it within the middle section of the yellow lining.

"See? Beginner's luck," the instructor informs me.

"Yes, but she still hit the target, and she hit it close enough to the center that the target would have fallen," Liam defends.

"Boy, I'm not sure defending this rebel and talking lip to your superiors is in the job description," the instructor, whose name I have yet to learn, exclaims. Liam nods.

"I apologize."

"What now?" I ask, infuriated at the fact my instructor had called me a 'rebel.'

"You have a meeting with the Queen at three. Until next week, Dawn," the instructor informs me.

He talked to me with such venom and disdain, that I decided to use my power against him. "You can call me 'your highness' now, instructor."

"My name is Dean," he sneers, "your highness."

Liam quickly escorts me out of the building, holding back a laugh at my outburst.

"You know my job is to protect you and keep you in line, right?" He asks. I begin to think I'm in trouble, but then he smiles. "But in this case, I think he deserved it."

"Thanks for your help back there." I tell him. I was constantly thanking him, and what could I offer in return? My guard, and my newfound friend, was simply a servant to my new found power. I wanted him to have more. "Is there anyway I can repay you?"