Creative Writing Collection

Bad Dating Advice

 "Just go up to her and say, 'Hey, I have emotions for you. Do you have emotions for me?'"

       Kaleb looked over his shoulder to Mo with a small frown. "What?"

       The older man shrugged, a smile to his lips.

       They laid against the sandy ground of desert earth, on a hill where they could look down, hidden away by sand colored clothing and paint. The planes above couldn't find anything alive to then kill, and continued along to land at base. The runway was in clear view. The miniature airport buzzed pathetically.

       "I mean, it is just a thought," Mo finally said. "There's clearly something between you and Anika."

       "She is not even with us — there can't possibly be anything between us."

       "I meant an emotional connection, Kaleb."

       "Oh..." He lowered his head to look into the scope, seeing who was getting down from the plane. Nothing yet.

       "Maybe you could ask her if she'd like to watch the sunsets with you." Persistent Mo. He bit his lip to keep from grinning, eyes flicking from Kaleb to the plane — back and forth.

       "Why would I do that?"

       "Because you enjoy spending your time with her."

       Now there was a small tint of color to the young soldier's cheeks. "It may be true, but I cannot be out of base after dark."

       "I could arrange-"

       "No, you won't." Another glance into the scope. Nothing. Not even the doors had opened.

       "She makes your chest tighten when you look at her, doesn't she? You become, unsure of yourself when you talk, afraid that she will dislike you at the smallest of things."

       There was silence between the two, but they shifted into sturdier positions when the doors of the airplane finally opened. It didn't just hold a piolet and a few bombs, but someone else. The president of the Reviving States, Felix Yobondy. Adjusting the crosshairs of the scope, unfocusing to refocus, Kaleb was sure to keep an eye on the man he hated so much. Then pulled the trigger.

       Together, he and Mo slid down a few inches from the hill for coverage, on their backs instead of on their stomachs.

       "... you could also ask her to come outside during breaks to watch the sky like this," Mo offered, resting his hands behind his head, smiling widely to Kaleb, who groaned as quietly as he could with an added heavy sigh.

       "Shut up."

       He didn't just say it so that they wouldn't be caught, but because he didn't want to talk about his relationship with Anika anymore. Neither of them had feelings for each other, or so Kaleb would say, but deep inside he wanted what Mo and Tatiana had.