“You alright, buddy?”
If I had a dollar for every time one of my fellow RCR Officers asked me that question… I’d be even richer than I already am.
But, I still find the energy to answer, “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Eric is my best mate in the military circle of friends that I have here at the Morozov Reserve Base. I’ve known him since our first year at secondary school. Ten or so years of friendship; that makes it pretty hard to lie to him. I know he knows I’m not alright, but he also knows that sometimes you just have to leave me to sulk.
But apparently today he isn’t settling for that.
“Really, Ben? You’re terrible at lying about stuff like this,” he says with a chuckle, sitting down across from me on his bed in our two-person boarding room.
I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, which is, “Yeah I know, but you’re bad a lying about everything.”
With a laugh, he replies, “True. But really, bro, what’s up with you lately? Is it the whole bombing thing? That still bothering you?”
I shake my head. It’s way more than that. But should I vent to him or just wait to talk to Anna?
I suppose I should learn to trust more people than just her and father…
“No… no it’s—it’s just… the mission wasn’t completed… and no one told us until now. It just makes me worry, Eric,” I admit.
He purses his lips, switching his gaze from me to the laptop on his bed. He opens it and sets it in his lap before finally saying something.
“They’ll find him, mate, and his bastardly friends, too,” he says in a reassuring voice. It does nothing to calm me down, though. Every night I go to sleep with my mind still racing with terrible thoughts—if I get any sleep at all. Ever since Anna was shot at; ever since the bombings I feel like we’re suddenly vulnerable. I feel like I have no control over anything anymore, including my own safety, along with father’s and Anna’s.
And then there’s the other thing bugging me. Should I tell her how I feel? I’ve tried, but I don’t think she’ll believe me; that I’m falling in love with her… and I’m so terrified she’ll never love me, and we’ll end up like my great-aunt and great-uncle—who finally admitted they never got along after fifty years of marriage (an arranged one).
I’m just terrified of us not working in general.
“How is she, by the way?” He asks suddenly. I know he truly cares, just like all my close friends. That’s probably because they’ve found that as long as she is okay then I’m okay—most of the time.
But as of right now she is not okay. I can tell just by her texts, not even hearing her voice. She’s not satisfied with what I’ve told her about the status of the rebels.
So, I answer, “Not so good.”
“I guessed that much,” he admits. “It must be terrible knowing there are people out to kill you, and even worse for someone like her, who’s not used to… well… all of that attention.”
I nod, “You would be correct in saying that. She acts composed, but as soon as she’s out of the spotlight she breaks down. And I can’t even count how many times she’s woken me up with her nightmare episodes.”
“You’re already sleeping with her, bro?” A small grin tugs at the corners of his lips.
I almost chuckle. Almost.
“Not like you and the guys think. She just likes to have someone there for when she wakes up from the nightmares.” I remember the way she held onto me the first time she woke from one. It really tore me up, seeing her like that. Now, I’ve gotten used to it but it’s still unnerving, especially when I wake up from one myself.
YOU ARE READING
Suddenly Princess
Teen FictionAnnaMaria Romanoff grows up with an adoptive family, thinking that her biological parents were working class citizens of the country of Chirnova, who died tragically in a car crash when she was just a year old. It's her senior year in high school no...
