Come to the range. It’ll be fun. Matt didn’t realize how much guns scared her. She mentioned it, but didn’t want to seem like a buzzkill by continuing her protests.

The range was incredibly loud. Movies didn’t convey how noisy gunfire was. That’s what the mufflers were for. But that was almost worse. Once she put the ear protectors on the world got eerily silent. What if someone shot her and she couldn’t hear it?

“Relax. You don’t want to be a tense while holding a weapon.” Tony, Matt’s friend, was standing right next her. She just about came out of her skin; she hadn’t heard him approach. “Matt says you’ve never shot a rifle before. That true?” Allison nodded warily. Everyone kept telling her what an awesome experience this was going to be. That’s not what she needed. “Nervous is good,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Not too nervous. A little nervous, that’s having a healthy respect for the weapon. That’s smart when you don’t know what you’re doing.” Oddly reassured, she nodded again.

“Hey Tony. Will you take my girl out for a spin? I tell her she’ll be fine but she’s not convinced.” Allison bit her tongue. One of her least favorite things about Matt was his habit of ditching her in social situations. It constantly put her in awkward situations. Especially when they were his friends and not hers.

“I’m a licensed firearms instructor, if that makes you more comfortable Allison.” That was embarrassing. Tony had picked up on her discomfort where Matt hadn’t. He gave her shoulder a brief squeeze and then let go. Her face flamed.

“See baby? You’ll be fine.” With those words of wisdom Matt left her to go hang out with his other work friends.

She sighed, wishing she’d never agreed to this outing. “I guess that leaves us, huh? Do they often dump the newbies on you? That’s frustrating I bet. You came here to shoot and yet here we are.” Allison knew she was babbling. Pure nerves and a dose of humiliation.

“I got my instructor’s license because I like teaching.” He seemed sincere, but so would any halfway polite person. “Why don’t we start by looking at the rifle and going over the parts? No shooting until you feel comfortable.” Tony smiled. “I wouldn’t want to put a gun in your hand right now anyway. You’re liable to shoot Matt in the face.”

Startled, she laughed, releasing the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Ok then. Teach me. And I will only shoot at the targets. No people.”

“Good woman. You’ve already got the basics of gun safety – no shooting at people you don’t want to shoot at.” He steered her towards a table that had some kind of semi-automatic weapon in a case. “Do you know what type of rifle this is?” Allison shook her head. “Good.” At her surprised look, he added, “A blank slate is good. You have no bad habits I have to un-teach. This is an AR-15…”

"June 14 – Gun"