Legend Awaits

I go Clayton Academy in the wonderful town of Laconia, New Hampshire. It is Catholic high school where the students have to sleep on campus during the week even though most of us live in the neighboring houses.. On weekends students can go home if they want. I always go home on weekends. I live with my grandpa. My parents died in a car accident three months after I was born. My grandma died years before I was born. Its okay; I miss them, but I know they are in a better place.

The school is okay. It has your preps, Goths(yes, even in a catholic school), jocks, nerds, pot heads(again, yes, in a catholic school), and the I-don’t-care-kids. I’m a nerd/athlete. I can’t call myself a jock because I’m smart. The school is pretty easy going. You get to pick your own classes as long as you do take the requisites. It has a lot of clubs. It is pretty much like a college, and that was what the school was aiming for. The school is meant to prepare us for college by being a mini college. We still have a lot of rules to follow though. That is the only thing that sucks.

*****

“Hey, Carlyn! Over here!” Zo called. Zoë Franklin is my best friend; she has been since second grade. My friends were sitting at a different table. I ambled over there and plopped down.

“Hey, how are yours day going? “ I asked. A normal topic for a group.

“Fine. A new girl was in my third period class. She’s from Egypt and very, very smart. Oh, there she is now.” Shane pointed to the new girl. “Hey, Em!” He was waving his hand frantically to get her attention. She waved shyly back. He motioned for her to come sit by us, which she did. “Hey, Em. How has your day been?”

The girl did not look Egyptian. She had dark, long brown hair, bright green eyes, and very fair skin. “It has been good. Thank you.” When she talked, she had this certain air about her voice. Something that wasn’t quite modern day. She smiled at all of us. “Hello, I’m Em Luc.”

“Hey, Em,” we all said, but I added, “You don’t look Egyptian.”

She laughed softly. “I’m not Egyptian, as you can tell, but I lived in Egypt since I was four. I’m originally from Britain. My mom is English and my father is French. They are both archaeologists, so they moved to Egypt to, well, advance in their field.”

“What are they looking for?”

“Well, the usual. Pyramids, King Tut, any remains of what might be in Egypt. Also, and this will sound silly, they are looking for any remains of Emnomnia. Can you believe that?”

We all dropped our forks and stared at her incredulously. I was the first to speak, and a little to loudly, “No way!”

“You know the story of her?”

“Know it? I love it. We all do,” I announced. “My grandpa has told me stories about her for all my life. Those were my bedtime stories.”

“Oh,” was all she said, with a small smile tugging at her lips. She started to eat some of the lasagna, which she seemed to enjoyed. She would wipe her lips politely at the corners at times. Everyone else was talking joyously.

“What are the rest of your classes, Em?” Ivana asked. “Oh, I’m Ivana. I just realized none of us introduced ourselves.”

“Oh, its, ok. I have art and gym,” she answered. “You have a beautiful name. Do you know what it means?” Ivana shook her head no. “It means God is good.”

“I guess the rest of us should introduce ourselves,” I started, “I’m Carlyn.”

“I’m Zoë,” she waved.

“Again, I’m Ivana.”

“Shane,” he looked at her sincerely. I think someone is developing a crush on the new girl. She said her hello’s to all of us.

“You have gym last?” She nodded. “So do I. I hope you’re in shape. That is the track team P.E. period. Did you join the track team?”

“No, that was just the only class that wasn’t filled. I should be fine though; I love to run.”

“Good.” We finished our lunches in silence. I would have a chance to talk to her in gym.

When the bell had ranged, it scared all of us. We hadn’t been expecting it. We all said our goodbyes and hurried to our classes. I walked slowly to my sixth period class, trigonometry. Yuck! I knew it was going to pass deathly slow, and it didn’t disappoint; well technically it did. I doodled most of the time. I have an A in the class, so I think I should be given at least one day off. The bell saved me from allowing my head to drop onto the desk. I was happy to go to gym; I needed to stretch my legs out. Oh, I get to see Em.

I saw her in the locker room, awkwardly changing into her gym clothes. It was obvious she wasn’t used to changing in front of girls. I walked over her to and said hey, which caused her to jump. She flushed, putting a hand over her heart.

“Geez, you gave me a fright,” she said lowly.

“I gave you a fright? Okay, I’m guessing your mom taught you to speak,” I mused.

She laughed, “Yeah.”

“Why did your parents decide to move from Egypt to the this oh so lively town?” I asked, truly interested.

“Oh, they didn’t. They are still in Egypt. I decided to come here on my own.”

“Why?”

“I like to travel, and I thought it would be a truly wonderful experience.”

“Laconia? A wonderful experience? Even the old people think it’s dull here.”

She laughed. She was about to say something when the whistle was blown. All the girls ran out the locker room, Em following behind me. We went out underneath the bleachers to stretch while Coach Anderson told us our schedule for today: a mile warm-up, six four hundreds for sprinters, two miles for the rest of us, a mile sprint for everyone, then a two lap cool down. That was the schedule for the runners. The field people had their own coach to tell them what to do. I looked over to Em to see shock on her face, but I was disappointed. She seemed perfectly okay with the schedule she was just given. I guess coach gave her a special work-out.

“Luc! You can do just the mile warm-up,” Coach Anderson yelled.

Em’s feeble voice spoke, “I can do any of it,” which got a few laughs. Coach just looked at her skeptically.

“You think? Did you do track from where you were from?” he asked.

“No, but I would run all the time.”

“How far and how fast?”

“Five miles and I don’t know.”

“Hmph, whatever you want. If you get tired, you can just sit out.” As soon as coach turned his back, she headed for the track.

“Em,” I hissed, “you might want to stretch a bit more then that, actually a lot more. You stretched for like one minute.”

“I’ll be fine,” she winked, and she set off. She seemed to be going too fast to start. I finished stretching with the group, which took five minutes exactly, and Em was already back from her mile warm-up. She didn’t even look out of breath. Em just beamed. Coach and everyone, including me, just started at her.

“You did four laps?” I asked.

“Yes,” she and Coach Anderson answered together. Coach looked stunned.

“How long can you keep that pace?”

“For as long as I want,” she answered sheepishly.

“Can you go any faster than that?” He seemed to be pushing his luck.

“My fastest mile was four o two,” she answered. Everyone’s jaw dropped.

“Honestly? Could you do that today?” he asked.

“Probably,” she shrugged. She didn’t see the big deal obviously. If she could run that fast, she would be a minute behind the world’s fastest man. That blew my mind. Everyone else went to do the mile warm-up while Em and coach talked. I couldn’t believe it. I was the fastest girl on the team, until now. Wow.

I had to do the two mile run today. I usually mix up the long runs and sprints. I’m really good at both. Coach made sure Em didn’t do anything until it was time to do the mile sprint. Everyone was tired for the mile sprint, which was the point. Em took the spot at the beginning. She knew where to place herself. I bet she did run track. The whistle blew, and she was off. She was far in lead, even the boy runners couldn’t keep up with her. WOW!

I got in at six ten. I was tired. I walked over to the water container and got a glass. I spotted Em and Coach talking again. I walked over to them. Coach was asking Em to join the team, but she was declining. I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t take the offer. He kept saying “three forty-five, though.”

“I’m aware of my time,” she said calmly. Her time was three forty-five! That’s impossible. She did lap me like twice I think. Damn!

“Please think about it. The season doesn’t start for another two weeks,” Coach begged.

She finally relented. “I’ll think about it. I don’t think anything will change my mind though.” She walked off, smiling at me when she passed me. She must be on something.