Drill Sergeant Lovato

Part 5

"So you... like... pretty much made her kiss you by turning your head at the last second? God, Russo. You're a genius..." 

I chuckled. "You make it sound like I was totally calm for all of this... I wasn't, I assure you." 

She shook her head a little, wide eyed. "Yeah I get that but still... I dunno, for some reason I thought that she would have been the one to kiss you first." She shrugged, "I mean... I dunno, just when I was thinking about the whole situation today, and seeing how she looks at you..." 

I furrowed my eyebrows. "She was looking at me today? I mean... like that? I didn't notice if she was..?" I trailed off. 

"Yes, she totally was. Trust me, I was paying extra attention after you dropped the bomb on me last night." 

I snorted a laugh. "Hey, you're the one who made me tell you, basically." 

She looked off to the side nonchalantly. "Yeah well, you know..." 

Just then I heard the indistinguishable sound of a tent door unzipping nearby. It happened pretty often, actually. It was mostly people coming and going to the latrines, which were quite a walk from our little camp area. 

Sanders looked disheartened, knowing we'd have to wait for whoever it was to disappear before I could continue detailing my forbidden romance with our drill sergeant. 

But the person didn't walk in the direction of the latrines, they walked to the next tent over and went inside, only to reappear a few moments later. It was then I realized it was her.  

I looked at my watch. It was almost 2 in the morning. Why was she up? 

Sanders noticed it too, especially when she got to the tent right next to us and went inside. 

"Oh look, it's your boo." She elbowed me and chuckled. 

I slapped her arm. "Military bearing when she's around." 

"Oh, I'm sure you are very military bearing with..." 

"Not. Now." I whispered through gritted teeth. 

DS Lovato exited the tent next to us and when she was a few feet away we stood up and went to parade rest. She dragged a hand down her face and covered her mouth in a futile attempt to hide a yawn. 

"Report." She said simply. 

"All present, ma'am." I said, then wanted to kick myself immediately. 

Really Selena? What an amateur mistake...  

Sanders was fighting a smile. 

The corners of DS Lovato's lips curled slightly, and she looked at me, amused. "Are we in week eight or day one, Russo?" 

"I apologize, drill sergeant. I'm just tired I guess. My mistake." 

"If you're that tired, perhaps you shouldn't be sitting down on the ground, am I right?"  

"Roger, drill sergeant."  

"And when was the last time you did a check of the personnel in your tent, exactly?" 

My eyes darted to the side in an attempt to signal Sanders to cover for me, as I hadn't actually done a count. I just knew no one had left our tent since our shift started almost forty minutes ago. 

"I didn't ask Sanders, I asked you." Damn she was quick for it being almost 2am. 

"No one has left our tent since our shift started, drill sergeant." I responded, hoping that would suffice.