The Cherry Blossom Tree

Cherry Chapter Five

And she wasn’t carrying her dolphin.  I sighed wearily even as I pulled a ten out of my back pocket.  I didn’t play these stupid games on principle.  They were generated simply to fool the masses into parting with their hard earned money.  The pins looked deceptively light and the balls deceptively heavy.  Still, if it made my mother smile I’d put my misgivings aside for one night.

“I’ll have a go,” I said, handing the boy my money.  I set up at Mom’s station and tossed the ball up and down in my hand.

I mentally calculated the distance between me and the pins, and the angle at which I’d need to hit them for them all to come down.  It was simple mathematics, the only unsure part of the equation being whether or not I had the strength to throw it as hard as I needed to.

Come to think of it, when was the last time I’d exercised properly or lifted anything heavier than a book?  Great, this could be a total disaster, and right after I’d gone and so confidently handed over my money.  I may very well be about to look like a total loser.  I hoped not.

Aiming like a total girl by pointing at the pins with my free hand and closing one eye, I tightened my grip on the ball.  I hauled back with all my might and threw it.  To my absolute shock it sailed towards the pins and made contact exactly where I’d been aiming.  All ten pins exploded in different directions as they fell to the floor.  I stood frozen in disbelief, even as the teenage boy handed Mom her prized dolphin.

I would have remained that way had a voice not interrupted my how-the-hell-did-this-happen moment.  It was a voice I instantly recognised, despite only having heard it once before in my life.

“Well, at least now I know never to try and show off at one of these games in front of you.”

I spun on my heel, even as a furious blush rose to my cheeks.  Of course Gryphon Scott was here to witness the biggest fluke of the century.  I mean, I may have been aiming and calculating and full of pseudo confidence, but really I had no idea what I was doing, and the ball could have just as easily missed everything altogether.  

“I especially liked your aiming technique,” he said, and though he was teasing me there was an impressed half smile curving his mouth.

I had no idea what to say.  Social situations I was prepared for didn’t tend to pan out well for me.  Needless to say, situations that came at me out of the blue nearly always ended in complete disaster.  It was probably why I hadn’t been able to keep many friends back home.  They could only tolerate so much of my quirkiness.

“Kaitlynn, why don’t you breathe,” Annabel said beside me, filling the awkward silence in which I should have spit out some kind of witty retort but didn’t.  “And while you’re at it, introduce me to this gorgeous boy you somehow seem to know without leaving the house yet today.”

Finding my tongue, I gestured between them.  “Uh, sure.  Annabel, meet Gorgeous Boy - er, I mean Gryphon.  His name is Gryphon!”

Oh, this was it.  The beginning of the end.  In fact, there hadn’t even really been a beginning.  No doubt Gryphon was realizing that my runaway mouth earlier today wasn’t an isolated incident but a common recurrence.