Continuing her journey to the History Society, Annie survived a few aggressive attempts at recruitment, including one attempted kidnapping. She escaped that by bawling out loud. Actually, it was just a little screaming since she had some trouble getting her tears to flow.
Okay, screaming like a little girl was a legitimate method of escape for a little girl. It did not necessarily make her an immature kid.
When she arrived at Class 10-B, Jill was there to welcome her to the History Society and give her a tour of the exhibits. The sophomore first presented their exhibit on the Reunification of Germany. There were notice boards with text and photos of the event. There was also a video documentary being screened. Then she showed Annie how history was researched by gathering information from various sources, such as from books and on the Internet.
"What's over there?" Annie asked as she gestured to where a large group of boys were gathered around a table.
"Our war buffs." Jill adjusted her spectacles. "On that table is the model recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg. Day three, I think. Many of our members, the boys, like to study military history. They learn about the battles themselves and also the uniforms and equipment of that time."
At the end of the tour, Jill took a newsletter from a stack of handouts and passed it to Annie.
"What's this?" Annie asked as she glanced at the paper.
"Voices," Jill answered, "I mean, it's a newsletter called Voices. We publish it in collaboration with the Literature and Drama Clubs."
Annie had heard of the existence of other newsletters in the school, other than Fernham Post, the one published by the Journalism Club. Busy with her studies, Annie had not the time to seek them out. This was the first time she had seen a copy of Voices. "Thanks, I'll read it." She slipped it into her schoolbag.
"What do you think?" Jill asked with a broad gesture to indicate the whole room.
"It's all pretty interesting," Annie replied noncommittally.
"So, will you join us?" Jill smiled hopefully.
"Well, I'd like to see what other clubs there are first," Annie said.
Jill nodded her understanding. She glanced out the door. "If you're interested, the Literature Club's just next door," she told Annie, "if you join them, we could still be working together on Voices."
"I'll take a look," Annie decided.
For a club whose name promised walls and walls of text, the Literature Club next door was certainly lively. There were colorful banners decorating the room, but what immediately grabbed Annie's attention were the posters of books. The posters were probably taken from book signings and launches but they did serve to add life and imagery that words alone could not.
So they had her attention. How would they promote their club once she was inside? Yup, as expected, newsletters and books. Walls of text.
As Annie was leafing through one of the past newsletters, she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Saki?" she heard someone call.
Annie turned around to see a boy with crew-cut black hair. If he had long hair, it would make his head look too large for his skinny body.
"I'm not Saki," Annie said.
"Oh, sorry." The boy pushed his spectacles up his nose and went away.
How could anyone mistake her for Saki? Sure they were about the same size and had the same hair color. However, while at school, Annie would have her hair tied in a ponytail while Saki had hers in a pair of pigtails. Besides, she was not even carrying that cloth bag with the label 'Hope Blossom'.
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