The Marine I Know

Chapter 2

This chapter starts with the promotion, so a bit of a time-lapse.

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"Belle, are you ready for this?" Lilly asks. We are sitting in my room, our blue gowns hanging on the back of the door.

"I guess so," I say. "You did not think it was weird that I talk to my dads' tombstone?"

"No, of course not. Remember, you say you love your dad and what better way to express love by talking. You also have his tags, so he is always close to you." I give her a hug, which she returns.

"Thank you, Lilly," I say, tearing up. She understands me. "Speaking of dads, how is yours doing?"

"He is well; he is packing up for his deployment next week. You know, he sees you practically as a daughter, so if you need fatherly advice, you can ask him." She replies, and I nod in agreement.

"Girls, are you ready?" Mom says from the living room. We grab our gowns and meet mom at the car when I realize I do not have my tags.

"Mom, I forgot my tags." She quickly unlocks the door, and I rush to my room to my nightstand and I grab them, sprinting back to the car after locking the door. I put my tags on, and we leave for school. I see my mom, sitting next to Lilly's parents. "Thank you, Dad, for being here," I whisper

"Look what she's doing. She is talking to herself, kinda like a freak."Brittney says, making her minions laugh.

"Hey look, Brittney, you do not know her. If you did, then you would not laugh at what she is doing, so I suggest you leave her alone." Lilly stood up for me, wrapping her hand in mine.

"You do not scare me, you brat." Brittney gets into Lilly's face, and they both stare at each other.

"Hey, um, guys. it is about to start," I say shyly, which earns me a shove from Brittney.

"Do not let her get to you. Let's go get in line." We get in our spots, and pretty soon we made it through the ceremony. We got together during summer, and I even got to hang out with her dad, just father-daughter time. Mom and I go to school shopping, new outfits, backpack, and just other things.

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I meet Lilly at the corner of her street and mine on the first day of school.

"You ready?" Lilly asks, excited. She looks cute in a baby blue dress with a denim jacket over it and her famous cowboy boots. Her brown hair is put up in a cute updo with a flower.

"Yeah. Let's do this." I'm wearing a blue plaid shirt with bootleg pants, my favorite blue converse, and of course, my dads' dog tags. We walk to school, and there is going to be an orientation for all freshman. I see all different people doing different things. Lilly and I walk to the assembly room, and holy cow was it huge, there was probably a total of over 100 students. Lilly and I find a spot towards the middle and wait for the thing to start. Someone sits next to me, and I'm suddenly too scared to say anything, but I overcome it.

"H-hi, I'm Belle, and this is Lilly," I say shyly. She waves to him.

"Parker." He says. Oh lord, here I go. I look straight ahead and listen, but I keep sneaking glances at him. He has short black hair that is somewhat spiked, black glasses making him look cute. He looks over, and his blue eyes shine brightly with the smile on his face. I smile back, then back to paying attention to the speaker. Afterward, Lilly and I walk in the hallway, and she's smiling like crazy.

"Girl, he is fricking cute. Did you see the looks he gave you?" She says.

"I guess he is kinda cute," I tell her. I turn around, and I see him staring my way before turning around and walking the other way.

Parker's P.O.V

I'm new to Fairfax, and I didn't feel like going to school, but mom made me go. I sigh and get in my Chevy Silverado and drive to school. I find a parking spot, lock the doors, and enter the assembly room. There weren't very many seats left, so I grabbed the one next to this girl who had shoulder-length curly hair. She looks my way and immediately glances down, then back up.

"H-hi, I'm Belle, and this is Lilly." She points to the girl next to her who waves. Belle smiles and her hazel eyes twinkle with mischief. She looks back to the speaker, and her cheeks turn a couple of shades pink. She's adorable. She gets up with Lilly and walks out the door, walking down the other end of the hallway, but she turns around to smile, which I return before walking down the other end of the hallway.

Belle's P.O.V

I couldn't get Parker off my mind the whole day. It's almost like he belonged there.

"Hey, Belle, penny for your thoughts?" Lilly asks, sitting down next to me at the lunch table with her pizza, apple, and her water bottle.

"It's Parker. I can't get him off my mind. Oh lord, what have I gotten myself into?" I lay my head down in front of my lunch tray, which had mac and cheese and a water bottle." Geez, why does he do this to me?" I mumble

"What did he do?" The voice of Parker knocked me out of my thoughts, bringing my head up with a shocked look on my face. Oh gosh, my face is as red as a tomato can get. He smiles and sits down.

"Hey, Parker..." I look at Lilly, who gives me a nod, saying that she will not tell a soul.

"Uh oh, what happened?" He looks serious now, which scares me.

"Parker, it's nothing ok. I promise you." I finish my lunch and stand up, walking to the trash bin. "I have things to do. See you later, Parker." I leave and walk to my locker, and of course, it's Brittney and her minions.

"Oh look, she has a crush on the new boy. Sorry, darling, he's mine. Stay away from him." She sneers at me before shoving me into the locker, making all my stuff fall out of my arms onto the ground. Well crap, so much for a peaceful, relaxing rest of lunch. I gather all my stuff and put them back in the locker, then grabbing my book to read under my favorite tree for a few minutes. I find my spot and sit down and read, but instead, I'm staring off into space, thinking about dad.

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Nine years ago

"Daddy!" I yell, running down the stairs when I heard when dad was home. I hold my arms up as he picks me up.

"How's my little pumpkin doing?" He tickles me, and I giggle, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Daddy, I missed you." He gives me a kiss on my cheek before putting me on his shoulders. Mom stands with a smile on her face.

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Present Time

"Hey, Belle. Belle?" I snap out of it to look at Lilly and Parker. I remember why I came out here.

"I'm here, but Parker, one of the cheerleader girls, told me I couldn't be near you." I grab my stuff and head into the school, only to be stopped by a hand on my wrist. " Let go, Parker." I head to the gym, which may turn out to be the crappiest day ever. I enter the locker room, go straight to the bathroom, and change in there. I decided to take my tags off and hide them in my pants pockets.

"What are you doing with dog tags?" Brittney asks. Oh, she did not just go there.

"Leave me alone. It's none of your business." I tell her before leaving the locker room. She dares mess with my tags, and I'm going to hurt her.

"Ok class, today we're are learning the volleyball basics. How many of you have ever played volleyball?" Coach asks. I raise my hand and look around and see Brittney also raise her hand, glaring at me. I love volleyball, the one sport I can play that I enjoy. I smile at her, mouthing, "Let the games begin, my friend."