Teaching Academy - Boot Camp (ON HOLD)

Chapter 4 - We'll Help You Stand Tall on Your Feet

                 

Song on Sean's iPod – Family First – Whitney Houston

The view from the top of the ridge we were on was breathtaking and well worth the long uphill journey. My muscles were sore, but stretching would keep them from building up too much lactic acid. As if thinking the same thing, Nathan gathered everyone together and led us through some stretches. The view as the guys twisted and bent was not one to be missed.

After that we were off to set up tents, find firewood and kindling, and collect water from the lake noted on the map. We had water sanitization tablets with us, but they were to be used in an emergency only. The Academy was going to have us working together as team if it killed us. Nathan, our resident survival expert, quickly dictated how camp should be set up; from the location of the tents, to placement of the fire pit, to what gear could be left outside nothing was left to chance. Truthfully, I was thankful to have him around.

Marc and I quickly moved to set up our tent so that we could get to our assigned lunch duty. We had done much of the prep work back at the cabin, but there were still some last minute things to take care of. Silas and Axel were off to look for any edible fish in the nearby lake.  Nathan was leading a group out into the forested area to look for berries, nuts, and other edible foliage. Blake and Owen were on wood and fire duty and Raven and the holy hotness twins were going to follow Axel and Silas to the lake and collect water.

It what seemed like minutes, everyone was done with their tent set-up and moving on to their assigned task. Anyone not given a specific task was to go with Nathan. Marc and I dug out the pots and pans that we had brought with us. Boiling water would be first on the agenda as soon as the fire was ready. I gathered some rocks and started to place them in a circle at the area designated by Nathan for the fire. Marc was using a rather large rock as a table to finish the work on lunch. He finished before I did and started to collect more rocks for our fire pit. When we had enough he helped with placing them around the pit, we were trying to create as high of a wall as possible.

"So little bird," he began as we played Tetris with the rocks, "tell me about yourself."

"There isn't much to tell. I lived in Illinois until two days ago and spent my time there getting through school as quickly as possible so that I could get out."

"Hm....You don't have fond memories of the place?"

I huffed, "No. Yes. Well, some. I don't have many, but everything after getting to medical school wasn't bad."

"I know what you mean." I made a noise that indicated I wanted him to continue, but I was like a moth to a flame when it came to information on others.

"I had a rough youth; spent some time in juvie and while those records are supposed to be sealed, information has a way of getting out. I learned at an early age that you cannot truly out run your past. School was my outlet though. I found out that I was good at something other than getting into trouble and ran with it."

"You don't have to answer, but what were you in jail for?"

"You're sweet, but I don't mind answering. I was there for assault. I had been kicked out of my most recent foster home and when the law caught back up with me, I retaliated. It's not something I'm proud of, but I was hurt and angry and the thought of going back into another foster home with people that didn't understand was too much for me to handle. So I fought back."

"So, little bird, want to explain to me what this morning was all about?" Uh, not really?

I sighed. "In the simplest terms, the boys were trying to teach her a lesson after what she said to me yesterday." He raised an eyebrow at me. "When we were supposed to be working on our partner questions I was brushed off. When I asked why I was told that I was competition for the attention from the male population."