Army Strong

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Step up, Cadet," their hall general said to Lauren, causing Camila to roll her eyes. What point was he trying to prove? He knew that Lauren never forbids any rule that would need her to be patted down during morning inspection.

Lauren obliged immediately, her face not showing any difference though she was clearly being treated differently; she even turned around and put her hands on the wall, without him having to ask her to do so. She let him pat her down and when he got down from checking her ankles, she politely asked, "Permission to turn, Sir?"

The general nodded whilst saying, "Yes, all clear." Not wasting time, he moved on to the next few people; Camila was a bit angry at what just happened, she hoped that Lauren could easily gain trust and respect back from the generals because she didn't deserve to lose it in the first place. Camila knew that earning the amount of trust and respect Lauren had from the generals must have took her forever to gain, it took herself months to finally pass the morning inspection with a simple glance up and down followed by a nod; some days she tried to sneak a bow in her ponytail just to piss him off which obviously prolonged that time a tad more.

When they were finally dismissed, Lauren and Camila started to walk to breakfast. Camila's thoughts obviously still on what just happened, "Is he always going to do that now?"

"What? Actually inspect me?" Lauren shrugged, she didn't seem too bothered by it, "He probably was just informed about me being demoted and thought that maybe I now pose a threat. He'll eventually see that I'm not suddenly acting out, though, so I'm not too worried about it."

Camila nodded softly, not totally convinced, "I just can't help but feel like this is my fault."

"Oh, shh," Lauren playfully replied, both now entering the cafeteria for breakfast, "If I don't care about it, then you shouldn't either babe."

Lauren was right; Camila hated when Lauren was right. Couldn't she let Camila have just one moment of self hate? Camila sighed in defeat, though she immediately noticed the small outcomes of Lauren now being only a Captain, she hoped that eventually the generals would go back to look at Lauren the same way again. That's what Lauren was confident in so Camila started to feed off that confidence in order to change her attitude towards the situation.

When they finally got to the table, they realized that they should have been prepared for how awkward it would be. This was the first time the whole group was sitting back together. Troy, who's still trying to not only rebuild his relationship with Ally but also with the girls, was nervous to jump into conversation. Norman's wasn't as talkative, Camila knew why, she had overheard her and Lauren's conversation. Normani was mad at how willingly Lauren gave up her Major badge; Camila wasn't offended that Normani didn't want Lauren to step in for her, because she obviously feels very similarly. But Lauren's reply to Normani made Camila melt immediately.

"I love her, Mani, more than I've loved anyone or anything," Lauren confidently stated, looking into Normani's eyes to show her sincerity, "He could have demoted me to no rank, as just an average Cadet, and I wouldn't of cared. I would choose Camila over a silly little rank, anyday."

Normani bit her lip, taken back by Lauren words. Lauren had worked hard for her rank, Lauren worked hard to be the best future soldier she could be which is why it was hard for Normani to grasp that Lauren would be so unfazed with giving up her rank. Normani knew how much Lauren loved being at this academy, the military has become her passion, but now, Lauren is claiming to have found someone she loves more. "So, Camila's really special, eh?"

Lauren nodded, "Really special, Mani. I don't know how I'm going to leave her, but I already enlisted. I don't wanna leave her but you know I always imagined what it would be like to come home after just being in a battlefield. I imagined a beautiful girl to come home to that would easily take my mind off the horrors of war and violence that I got myself into, a girl that made me feel like I had an actual home to come to, that made me feel like fighting to stay alive in the battlefield was worth." Lauren felt her tears slowly starting to form, she never thought she would actually have someone like that, "I found her, Mani," she pointed to the closed door of her room, not knowing Camila's ear was pressed against it on the other side, "That's her."