Been Here All Along

07| army man

   "Where are the girls?"

   "Over there," I nodded over my shoulder in the direction I spotted my friends. "They were in the middle of an intense round of Jell-O shots, so I decided not to bother them."

   A little white lie never hurt anyone.

   Ian didn't say anything, even though he knew I didn't even go near Kaila and my other friends, but went to talk to him instead.

   "I saved Ian instead from being bombarded with questions." Two little lies.

   Besides, it would've been true eventually. There was definitely a whole beach full of people waiting to ask Ian what war was like, and he didn't need that.

   "Cool," Joel nodded, taking a seat next to me — closer than he usually sits, might I add. "Steven's completely crossfaded, but I think those girls have distracted him from the fire." I followed Joel's gaze to his crossfaded friend who was sitting in between two girls that were definitely in Steven's realm of interest.

   "Looks like it," I chuckled. Steven is an interesting character; it appalled me to find out he's Joel's best friend since they are polar opposites. Joel is rather put together while Steven lives by the saying 'I'm here for a good time, not a long time.'

   "So, Ian," Joel started, sitting up straighter. Ian snapped out of his daze and looked at Joel with raised eyebrows.

   I held back my giggle. He has always dazed off so easily. The teachers at school hated him for it.

   "What's your plan now that you're back home?"

   Ian looked a little taken aback by his question, like no one has asked him that. Everyone has been so caught up on the fact he's home and healthy that everyone forgot about his plan for when he's not stationed. Even I was guilty of that one.

   "Honestly?" He sighed. "No idea yet. I need to get a job, probably full time." The mere thought of having to job search with no college education whatsoever under his belt looked to terrify him. I couldn't blame him either.

   "I bet Westchester can find you a full time job here," Joel suggested. Wow, he really is taking everyone by surprise tonight, isn't he? I wanted them to get along, but I was not expecting Joel to suggest Ian work with us. "I mean, you did work here before you left right?"

   Ian nodded slowly, looking at me. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll talk to him."

   Why is it I wasn't overjoyed by the possibility of working with Ian again? Probably because I didn't want to have to be around my ex-boyfriend all the damn time.

   "You play football right?" Ian asked Joel, making conversation this time.

   "I do."

   "Going pro?"

   "That's the plan. I've got a semi-pro tryout that I leave for after the Fourth of July."

   Right, that's next week. While Joel is gone for the week for tryouts, it'll be just me, Kaila, Mason, and Ian. This should be interesting.

   Desperate to get a breath of fresh air away from the boys, I looked around for the girls only to find Jocey and Cara, Kaila no where in sight. Good enough.

   "I'm going to talk to Jocey and Cara," I told them as I stood up. I think Ian can handle himself around Joel perfectly fine. He's always been able to handle himself.

   On my way over to my friends, I heaved out a quiet sigh as I ran my hand through my messy blonde hair. Ian being home is going to be harder than I thought, and that's saying something.