The Re-enactment Group

• I •

I sit in the passenger side of the car as my father drives down the road. The back seat is covered in cloth and chainmail. To any normal human my age or any age this is probably weird but to me it's a normal every Saturday.

Only my closer friends at school know I do this because there is a risk I could be bullied. Besides I trust my friends. I'm 17 now so most of my exams are over and I don't need to worry about dipping my time traveling Saturdays to revise.

I'm part of a historical reenactment group and I love it. We specialise in the Arthurian legends and his stories. I have two characters that I play on different days because I begged to be a swordsman but they wanted me as a lady of the court. The first one is Lady Melora who is the daughter of King Arthur of Camalot. She is a daring woman who often messes with swordsmanship. She is often referred to throughout history of the legends but her true parentage is still unclear.

My second character is Tomos Bradwyl, a knight of kings Arthur. At first he started out as a commoner but was enlisted after saving the kings life from a group of bandits. He was a made up character just to add someone for the public to react with.

To enter our group you have to be 16 which means I am the youngest. As a child I used to watch adults spending the whole day as these characters from thousands of years ago . So as soon as I could I joined up. I absolutely love it.

There are other teenagers my age there , well only one really. Nathan is 18 and my best friend in the group. We mess around alot and since we have both been trained with swords , we often end up having our own mini battles. I smile at the thought of seeing Nathan again and I get excited.

Nathan's entire family are part of the group aswell. His mother and father are the blacksmiths of our village and actually do make blades in their spare time. His little sister Harper is only 11 but loves spending Saturdays learning how to cook the old fashioned way. I'm sure she'll become a world famous chef when she's older. Nathan plays a knight of King Arthur aswell which makes practice so much easier. 

My mother doesn't really enjoy taking part in the reenactments but she is always supporting me but my father is one of the Knights of King Claudas. He is the king of a different village and we often battle eachother.

Soon enough I am pulled out of my thoughts by the sign welcoming us to the same field as always. I see the old tree and the people who gather around it , clashing swords and dodging swings to the head. Instantly my stomach flips at the happiness I feel.

My eyes scan the crowd looking for that one person. That really tall , 6 foot teenager with amazing brown shoulder length hair and beautiful eyes. Nathan.

Then I spot him talking with Harper . I rush over and notice that Harper has seen me. I push a finger to my lips and warn her not to say anything. She understands and continues her conversation without missing a beat. I creep closer to the boy and stop right behind him. He bends over further to hear whatever Harper has just mumbled.  I see my chance and jump on his back ,arms wrapping around his neck.

He almost loses balance but manages to stand up without falling over. His hands grab my legs and he starts jogging around a little. We laugh together at his antics . Then surprisingly he grabs me and throws me onto the floor. I see the look of mischief in his chocolate eyes and I know what is happening.

" No. Don't . Nathan!" I say before he pins me down and starts tickling me. I roll around on the grass trying to break free.

"Harper please ! Help me!" I squeked in a high pitched voice. She stops laughing and stands up. I start thanking her for helping me but she sits on my legs.

"Hold her down Harp!" Nathan says in his deep voice and soon there are 2 pairs of hands tickling me.  I lie on the floor laughing like an idiot as the brother and sister duo attack me.

After what felt like forever but was probably only 3 minutes of my high-pitched squeels and laughter, the 2 climb off the floor. I rest my head on the grass and pout at the handsome boy staring down at me. He responds by pouting back at me.

"This isn't funny N!" I play sulk.

"Awe princess. I'm sorry" he pouts and I know he's lying because he used the nickname he knows I don't like.

" Nathan you know I don't like that name so you're not sorry dick."

He gasps in response. " A lady of your stature should not be using such words. "

" Well a good man such as yourself , should know better than leaving a lady lying on the floor." I joke back.

" Madame forgive me. I forgot my place."  He smiles and gives me his hand to lift me up.

" Clearly. Hmmph." I respond grasping his large hand in mine and allowing him to pull me up. I keep a straight face as he does so and it remains for a moment after he does too.

Then my lips start curling into a smile and he smiles at me. Nathan opens his arms and I fall into his chest and we stand there hugging eachother.

" I missed you Jess"
" It's only been a week"
" I know but it's too long. What am I supposed to do without my best friend?" My chest aches when he calls me that and I ignore it and smile.