It was really amazing that such a small occurrence like that - not to diminish the significance of the fact Devonne snuck into my tent to see me - could completely change my outlook on everything. Before I was feeling kind of hopeless, but now I was full of hope. It didn't even make sense either. Nothing had actually changed. I was still graduating next week, I would still be leaving her.
But right now... it didn't matter. I wondered how long this spell would last before it wore off. They all did eventually. Sooner or later the cold hard truth was gonna rear it's head at me: I was leaving whether I wanted to or not.
But the more I tried to force myself out of this positive mood to be realistic, the more I found myself analyzing what had just happened. SHE was the one that told me we couldn't talk at all these last few days, and now twice she'd made an effort on her own to see me.
Well, maybe not exactly SEE me, but sending me notes was a way to talk without talking directly. I was pretty sure I couldn't respond to them, but still. Speaking of which, I realized I hadn't even retrieved the note she brought this time.
I looked around at everyone else in the tent still sleeping. I'd probably regret not sleeping during this time when we had this training later tonight, but oh well. I fished through my pack until I felt the folded up piece of paper, and pulled it out.
' The only reason I'm telling you this is so you do not have your mind on anything else tonight besides training because you will need all of your focus. All of H's electronic property will be seized by CID so if she has something she won't much longer. '
That was all the note said. No lip imprint on this one, not even a 'D'. I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I honestly hadn't even been thinking about Heather the she-devil. I was just hoping for a cutesy note or something. But I guess the lip imprint one was the closest I'd get. I mean really, it wasn't probably very smart for her to write a personal note. Ugh, these rules were starting to piss me off. The only reason I looked FORWARD to leaving was we wouldn't have to be all secretive anymore at least. But we also wouldn't be seeing each other in person much either...
Anyway, I guess it was good that that bitch Heather would have all her property seized. But CID was military too, if she DID have the picture like she claimed wouldn't they see it?
No, Devonne had probably thought of some way around that. She really didn't explain many details in the letter, but I was sure she had. Even if they did see it... I remember when we'd taken the picture Devonne had cropped out everything but our faces together, so it would really just look like any old picture of 2 two girls kissing. Those were a dime a dozen on the internet, weren't they? The only people that would recognize us would be people in our company.
I felt a bit calmer after I worked all this out in my head. Don't worry, I told myself, Devonne is a smart woman, she would have worked out all these details. Stop worrying. Get some sleep.
It'd be easier to sleep if she was laying here with me, though.
UGH! Focus, Selena!
Count sheep or something. Okay. Close your eyes. Try to think about nothing.
Why did everyone always say that: Think about nothing? If you TRY to think about nothing, you're thinking of SOMETHING. What a bust.
I rolled over on my other side. I was so not even tired right now, that much was obvious. I mean, we'd just woken up like 3 hours ago before we ate breakfast and then were sent to the tent to rest up. How were all of these other people sleeping so easily?
If I weren't in the Army now, I'd have easily been able to take a little tiger snooze ANY time of day. But now, I was so accustomed to being up all day and not being allowed to sleep... it was like mentally impossible for me to be okay with sleeping.
I pictured Devonne telling me to sleep, that it was okay. God, I'm so pathetic.
But miracle of all miracles, it worked. Of course it worked... if Devonne told me to do anything, I'd do it.
-
"I can't believe you told her about us!" Devonne shouted through tears. "There's no way I can win this court martial, Sel. I'm fucked."
We were both in dress uniform, by a pillar outside of a courthouse. It was raining. Her uniform was way more decorated than mine, but that wasn't surprising.
"She told me I could trust her! I'm sorry, Dev. I'm so...so sorry. I don't even know what to say right now..."
"You told me you didn't tell anyone! You LIED to me!"
I couldn't do anything but cry in response. I wanted to say something, but no words would come out.
She wiped her tear stricken face. "I can't blame you, I'm sorry. I should have stopped it a long time ago, and I didn't. Now I pay the price..."
Flash. Flash.
Cameras.
The news would eat this up.
We hurried inside.
Next thing I knew I was sitting down and she was standing at attention in front of a board of officers. One of them was our commander.
"Staff Sergeant Lovato, do you understand why you are here today? Are you aware of your violations of the uniform code of military justice?" One of them asked, the voice was booming.
"Yes...yes sir." She responded, clearly shaken up.
"You are being found guilty of illegal fraternization with a lower enlisted soldier, a basic trainee who is in your platoon, a private...Russo, Selena."
I felt a stabbing pain at the mention of my name.
"Yes sir... I... I understand the charges placed against me." She affirmed.
"Sir, if I may address the sergeant?"Our commander interjected.
"Very well." The other officer granted him permission.
The commander stood up. "Lovato, I for one am appalled at this behavior. You are my senior drill sergeant whom all other drill sergeants look to for guidance. I would never have expected this type of...scandal to occur in my company at all, but much less from an esteemed NCO such as yourself!"
She said nothing.
"You're not even going to say anything?! So you are admitting it's true?!"
"Captain, stand down." The other officer reprimanded him. "It is not your jurisdiction to make a ruling on this case."
"My apologies, sir." The commander sat back down, but he was eying DS Lovato.
"Staff Sergeant Lovato, how do you plead in this case? Is there anything you'd like to say?"
She looked back at me, her face was full of worry.
I wanted to stand up and say something. But I couldn't move. I couldn't even open my mouth.
"Staff Sergeant-"
She shook her head. "Nothing, sir. I cannot lie and break the values the Army has brought me up with. I plead...guilty."
The commander shook his head. He looked disgusted.
"Very well. It is admirable for you to not attempt to evade the charges placed against you, however it will not make the punishment any less severe. You understand this?" The other officer's voice rang with finality.
"I understand, sir."
She was still standing at attention, although her posture had visibly weakened. I'd never seen her look like this. So defeated.
"Attention to orders!" The officer called out.
Everyone in the room stood. I still couldn't move. But the officer continued to speak, despite this.
"Staff Sergeant Lovato, you are hereby demoted to the rank of E-4 and will be processed for separation from the United States Army. If there is nothing further, you may go."
Her knees bent as the officer read these terms. I was numb.
-
I woke up, sweating, and darted my head around the tent. Everyone was still sleeping. I looked at my watch. It had only been 30 minutes since I fell asleep. Damn nightmares...
Even though I was now processing it was only a dream, it still felt very real to me. Against all logic, I didn't expect to see DS Lovato still here now. It was just a dream, but it could easily become reality.
I wondered how I knew what a formal hearing would be like. I guess it might not have been entirely accurate, after all, it WAS just a bad dream...
I looked at Sanders. She would be the one to blame if something happened. Had she already told someone? I couldn't risk it. I was hyped off of that nightmare, the way we sometimes are right after waking up.
I got up quickly and kicked her cot. Maybe a little extreme, but I was in that mode where it was of prime importance I ensure my nightmare was not reality. Like when you're a kid and you wake up screaming and have to run to your parents to make sure everything is okay and nothing else matters.
She looked annoyed as she slowly stretched and eyed me.
"What?"
"We need to talk. Now." I said. "Outside of the tent."
She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "What? What happened? Did something bad happen?"
"Let's GO, Sanders..." I pressed, gesturing towards the tent door.
"Alright, alright, geez, Russo..."
I heard her yawn as she followed me outside. I went across the way behind the tents that were opposite to us, where I knew no one was staying. This seemed like a safe enough place.
When I stopped, she started talking almost immediately.
"Ok, can you tell me what this is all about now? You're kinda scaring me. Did something happen with DS Lovato or something?"
"I don't know, you tell me." I quipped back. I realized it was both kind of premature AND immature, but I was still in that mode upon waking up from the dream.
She looked at me strangely. "What are you even talking about?"
"Did you or did you not tell anyone about DS Lovato and I?" I pointed at her sternly.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "What?! Why the hell would I do that, Russo?"
I just stared at her.
"You... you really think I did." She threw her hands up. "Wow."
So far, it just seemed to me like she was beating around the bush.
"First of all, what would I have to gain by doing that to my best friend, Russo? Second of all, since you seem to think I did so badly, when could I have done it? I've literally been with you the whole time out here in the field since you told me." Sanders explained herself. "Why are you even asking this right now? Did something happen?"
I exhaled loudly. "No. Nothing happened. I had a bad dream."
She started chuckling. "So wait, let me get this straight..." She started pacing. "You had a dream that I told someone about you, so you wake up from it and drag me out here to ask me if your dream was real?" She full out laughed now. "I'm not even mad. That's kind of hilarious, girl..."
I was awake now long enough to be past that initial paranoid stage, and I began to see things like she was saying. What she said made sense. She really hadn't done anything without me since we got out here.
It was just a stupid nightmare, Selena... I told myself. It wasn't real. Everything is fine, stop freaking out.
"I'm sorry, Sanders. I shouldn't have woken you up for this..." I covered my face, embarrassed.
She put a hand on my shoulder. "It's fine, girl. It must have been a really bad dream for you to do all this, so I don't blame you, and I'm sorry you had it. Just know, I'm not going to tell anyone. It means a lot that you confided it in me, and I consider you my best friend here."
I smiled weakly. That made me feel a whole lot better.
"Besides," She laughed, "it's just too much fun paying attention to the both of ya'll when you're talking, trying to find evidence of it. If everyone knew, that wouldn't be any fun, would it?"
I scoffed.
"Kidding, girl!" She shook her head. "Now, can we go back to the tent and sleep again?" She looked at her watch. "We've only got like three more hours till wake up for this night infiltration course and the ruck march."
Wait a minute...
"What the hell is the night infiltration course?" I asked as we started back.
She shook her head at me again. "Girl, you've GOT to start paying attention to what DS Lovato tells us, and not just paying attention to her lips when she's talking..."
I punched her in the side of her arm playfully. "I don't do that, what are you even talking about..."
She just turned her head and stared at me as we walked. "You ain't foolin' no one..."
Okay, so maybe she was right. It was always better to first deny something like that, though, wasn't it?
"Whatever, whatever. But what is this course?"
"You've got to have seen one of those movies that had boot camp in it sometime when you were a kid, right? Where they crawl under the barb wire while they are being shot at and stuff?"
I tried to recall what she was saying. It did sound familiar. Yeah, now that I thought about it, I did remember those scenes in movies.
"Ohh yeah. I know what you're talking about."
She just nodded.
"Wait. WE are doing that?" Suddenly what she was saying dawned on me.
She laughed. "Seriously, Russo. You've turned into a great soldier over this cycle, but I don't know how you manage to remain so oblivious all the time. Yes, it's like the very last training event we do in basic. Then after we do that, we do a 10 mile ruck march back to the barracks."
"10 miles?!" I nearly shouted.
"10 miles." She repeated. "16 kilometers. 16K for short. Seriously, why do you think we're allowed to sleep this whole day? It's to rest up to do that tonight."
It made sense. I tried to think back to what DS Lovato had told us before releasing us. Well, she'd told us SOMETHING, but I hadn't really been paying attention, just like Sanders accused me of doing. Seriously, I'd be so much more in the loop with all that was going on if my drill sergeant wasn't so damn hot...
"10 miles..." I repeated again. "That's a long way..."
"Nothing gets past you, Russo." Sanders said, sarcastically.
-
Three hours later on the dot, in typical military fashion, we were woken up loudly by DS Lovato.
"Alright, privates, naptime is over! Get the fuck up, pack up your shit and change into ACUs! Don't forget to have your elbow and knee pads in an accessible place for when we get to the training site!"
I had been wondering why we were told to pack those, since we hadn't used them at all in the last few days. I guess I was finally about to find out why, very soon.
Surprisingly, once we were all packed up, a bus arrived that we got on. This pissed me off for two reasons. One, why couldn't we have taken a bus OUT here to begin with? And two, if we had a bus, why didn't we just take it back once we finished the training instead of doing a ruck march?
Put me in charge of the Army and it would be so much simpler, I promise...
"You ready for this, Russo?" Sanders asked me once the bus started rolling out.
I looked out the window at the small camp we'd stayed at the past few nights. Would I miss it? Hell no. But I'd probably always remember it. The place Devonne gave me two notes, the place I told Sanders about us, the place I'd miserably failed at getting special attention that one night...
A lot of these places we'd done training at during the cycle were like that. I couldn't really say with confidence I'd MISS any of them, but I'd undoubtedly never forget them.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess..." I replied, halfheartedly.
I was really NOT looking forward to this. But I did take a little solace in knowing that this was the last actual training event we'd have to do.
"I'm not worried about the course, just the march back." Sanders admitted.
Whoa whoa whoa. Sanders? Worried about something? That wasn't a good sign. Sanders wasn't ever worried about ANYTHING.
"You can't possibly be serious. You'll be fine, you're a star at everything you do." I reassured her, hoping she'd agree and ease my own nerves.
"I dunno... 10 miles with this ruck is gonna be rough..."
She wasn't calming me down at all.
"Listen up, privates!" DS Lovato stood up at the front seat of the bus and turned around to face all of us. Everyone immediately stopped talking. I loved the authority she had.
"We are on the way to the Night Infiltration Course, or as we in the Army have referred to it for decades: Nick at night. You will be low crawling approximately 100 meters with your weapon held close to you. You will be keeping the lowest profile possible, which means no sticking your ass in the air because it's easier to move that way. Can anyone tell me why you will want to keep a low profile?"
Sanders raised her hand.
"Sanders."
"Because we will be getting fired on, drill sergeant."
DS Lovato smirked. "Yes, that's correct, Sanders." She looked away from her to everyone else. "But only partially correct. Can anyone tell me the second half of the answer?"
Low profile, low profile... I thought back to my field manual. Low visibility.
My hand shot up.
"Yes, Russo?"
"We want to be as low to the ground as possible so that the enemy will not see us, drill sergeant."
She didn't respond to my answer for the slightest second, I could see she might have wanted to smile, but she refrained. "Correct. As a result of this, if I or any of the other drill sergeants see you NOT keeping a low profile, you will be pronounced dead and have to restart the course. Questions so far?"
"Are we really gonna be getting shot at?" A voice I didn't recognize asked.
DS Lovato chuckled. "No, private. You will not be getting shot AT. There will be live rounds being fired twenty meters above you, it's to simulate being shot at. You could stand up completely and not get hit, so it will be completely safe. But that does not mean you treat it any differently. I expect all of you to take this seriously, and even if you don't... I'm sure you will after I make you repeat the course 10 times."
This caused a few chuckles on the bus.
"This WILL tire you out, so I suggest getting a first time go and just moving slowly so you can pass on your first attempt. I forgot to mention, at several intervals there will be barbed wire you will have to pass under. This is REAL barbed wire, privates. It WILL cut you if you come in contact with it. So again, move slowly and ensure you are low to the ground at all times." She started to walk down the center aisle of the bus as she continued.
"There are two authorized positions for a low crawl, on your back, and on your stomach. On your stomach is the easiest way, however this will make your elbows and knees dig into the gravel on the course. So that's why we all brought knee and elbow pads, correct?"
No one said anything.
"Wellll, if you didn't, it sucks to suck. You're still doing the course, so let's hope you did."
More laughter.
"Finally, after everyone has gone through the course, roughly 10 of you at a time, we will all form up and begin the 16K ruck march back to the barracks. This will likely be the furthest any of you have ever walked period, let alone with a 50 pound pack on your back while wearing gear and carrying a weapon. Embrace the suck, privates. It's going to take us about 4 hours to make it back. Know that now and mentally prepare yourself for it. We will take a 15 minute break each hour, so you are not expected to make the whole thing in one continuous trip."
Embrace the suck. Right. What a fitting phrase for all of basic training so far. Except of course, for MY basic training experience. Nothing sucked about Devonne. Except the times she was mad at me. I was definitely having difficulty embracing the suck back then.
"If you need ONE thing to hold onto, guys... Just remember, this is the LAST training event of the cycle. If you make it through this final gauntlet, you will no longer be the scum you came here as. You will be soldiers in the United States Army. I will say right now, a lot of you that are still here, I did not think would make it this far. But you've proved me wrong. And if there's one thing I love about this position, it's being proven wrong."
Her little speech pumped me up. I know when she first laid eyes on me back at reception when we first started the cycle, she probably didn't think I'd make it. Hell, I didn't think I was gonna make it either. My parents and friends back home didn't think I'd make it from the start.
But here I was, damn near at the end of basic training. Me. Selena Russo. The girly girl who was far from anyone's definition of someone that would make it through basic training in the Army.
I smiled at this thought. As I looked around, I could tell everyone was motivated after DS Lovato's speech. She had a way with words, that's for sure.
She also had a way with her lips, but no one else knew that but me.
Soon we were all standing in front of the course, rows of 10 people each. Sanders was next to me, she insisted, although she said just because she wanted to do this side by side because we were friends, not because she didn't think I could do it.
I surveyed it. I saw 3 sections of barbed wire. It was dark out now, definitely night time, but the gravel path of the course laid out in front of the towers where the weapons would be fired from was bathed in light. Of course these lights would go out once we started, but for now I got a nice idea of what we'd be up against.
It really didn't look that bad. 100 meters wasn't very far.
Until you started crawling in it.
Progression was slow, and even though I was wearing my pads on my elbows and knees, the parts the pads didn't cover quickly became irritated. Holding my weapon out in front of me and slowly inching forward was quite the workout. Suddenly 100 meters might as well have been 1000 miles.
"C'mon Russo, we got this! Look at us! We're doing it!" Sanders called encouragement from my side. I didn't even see her though, my eyes were trained ahead.
You may have thought when DS Lovato explained how 'safe' this was, that the gunfire wouldn't be a big deal. But it was terrifying. She might have informed us that the rounds being fired were far above us, but I couldn't tell. It felt like they were going right over my head. I didn't dare raise my body in the slightest way possible.
I think I cut my back on some of the barbed wire at one point too. I could barely see it once they'd turned off the lights. The only way you could see anything was the illumination from the gunfire, like watching someone move when a strobe light was on. As a result of this, depth perception was thrown off. This was a nightmare. I'd completely underestimated how hard it would be.
But I kept pressing forward. I heard drill sergeants yelling at people to stay low, or saying 'You're dead! Go back to the start!' and I thought to myself, no way can I do this whole thing again. I was already exhausted and the towers -and the finish line as it were - seemed so far away still, like I'd made no progress at all.
Even though she really wasn't, I pictured DS Lovato waiting at the end for me. It was my main motivation to keep moving. I was sweating, which made no sense to me because it wasn't hot outside. But then again, wearing this helmet and full uniform carrying the weapon would probably make anyone sweat in these conditions.
At one point, I just closed my eyes and kept moving forward, trying to drown out everything around me. Sanders called something to me, but she seemed really far off. Everyone seemed far off. It was just me on the course, it seemed like.
When I heard the words "Good job, Russo, stand up and exit the course" I could scarcely believe it. Especially since I saw who they were coming from.
DS Jones? The guy that hated my guts the whole cycle? Was he high? I mean, I wasn't deluded into thinking he only said it to me or anything, but still... He always made a point to make me feel worthless.
Was it possible he didn't really hate me then, after all? That - just like DS Lovato had told me at the beginning of the cycle - he really just wanted to see me succeed and was pushing me towards that goal?
Maybe I was dehydrated and hearing things. I WAS really thirsty. I couldn't wait to get back to my pack and grab my canteen.
There was a great sense of esprit de corps among the people that had finished back where we had put all of our packs down. People were congratulating each other, just abuzz with pride it seemed. I smiled realizing what I'd just done. I was sweaty, my body was sore, and I may have been bleeding, but I was proud of myself and almost none of that mattered.
I felt someone slap my back.
"Yeah, girl, yeah!" It was Sanders. "We did it! Man, that was harder than I thought it was gonna be..."
I snorted a laugh. "You're tellin' me..."
-
The ruck march back went surprisingly well for the first hour or two. About the time we took our second break, I started to think I'd placed my worry on the wrong part of tonight's training.
Then it started raining. Now, I'm not talking a hollywood thunderstorm with torrential rain for dramatic effect or something. Just a light drizzle. Enough to soak my body gradually over time.
You know what happens when your clothes get wet? They get HEAVIER. God, did they feel heavier. My pack was no exception, it felt like it gained twenty pounds in the rain. The rain dripped off the brim of my helmet onto my nose and down my face, and it soaked my hands which made carrying my weapon more of a chore.
DS Lovato was... well, less than helpful.
"That's what I'm talking about, this is some good training, privates! Not every cycle gets to march back in the rain!"
As if this was some sort of... privilege.
A collective groan was heard when she said things like this, which she said often on the trip back.
When we passed by the infamous gas chamber, I knew we were getting close. It gave me a sort of second wind, which seemed logically impossible the way my muscles were feeling at this point.
My feet were soaked through my boots, and so were my socks. I couldn't WAIT to take these things off and put on dry socks. Well hell, put on a whole new dry uniform in general.
My back was hurting for sure from the weight of my pack, and at this point it seemed like everyone - myself included - was just moving forward simply because of the weight they were carrying.
The ran finally stopped - fittingly - on the final stretch where we could see all the different barracks buildings for all the different companies that were going through training. Ours was somewhere in there.
It wasn't 'home' but it sure seemed like it now after spending 3 days sleeping in tents. And it almost seemed like we were finally 'earning' being able to stay there with this long march back. I could not WAIT to lay in my bunk inside an air conditioned building. Thinking about all of this was what made me forget the pain I felt everywhere, and the chill from the rain soaking everything on me.
When we finally reached the drill pad at the company, we were surprised to see a very different setting before us than what we'd seen before.
There was a lone torch in the center of the pad. On either side of it facing out was an American flag on one side, and the Army flag on the other.
We were fallen out into our respective platoons, in the same sort of formation we had assumed when we moved through the different phases of training, or when we got streamers for events on our guidon flags.
"Bravo Company." The commander stood in front of the torch, addressing us all. "First of all I'd like to say you all did an outstanding job on this final field exercise. Every single one of you succeeded in the training that was set forth, and did it admirably.
As I'm sure your drill sergeants have told you, we did not think some of you would make it this far. But you have proved us wrong, and you have beat the odds stacked against you. You have successfully qualified with an M16 semi-automatic weapon at the range, you have endured the horrors of CS gas in the gas chamber, you have rappelled down a fifty foot tower - some of you having done so with a great fear of heights -, you have completed each obstacle course as a team, and you have all passed the Army physical fitness test.
Tonight, this final night of the field exercise, you low crawled 100 meters with your weapon while under fire from live weapons, and after that marched 10 miles back here with all your gear." He looked around and lifted his arms from his sides to address everyone.
"Now how many of you would have thought you'd have been able to do this when you first arrived here, wearing your civilian clothes and scared shitless of what was before you? I'll bet not many of you believed you could. But you did!
I say this with complete confidence: Truly, you all are worthy of becoming soldiers, members of the most elite fighting force in the world."
I felt a smile creep on my lips as the commander addressed us. I'd never felt this sort of pride for anything I'd ever done in my entire life, that was for sure. To hear him summarize everything we'd done... everything I'D done... was incredible. And it was all true. I HAD done it.
He went to the position of attention. "Drill sergeants! Command your platoons to don their berets!"
DS Lovato spun around to face us. She was smiling.
I'm sure everyone else was shocked to see her smiling. I had seen it before, obviously, but it was something else to see her doing it so publicly now. She was proud of us, that much was clear.
"Platoon!" She called out. "Retrieve your berets!"
I reached into my pocket and got mine out. We'd been told to have these prior to starting the march back. It was a black beret with a blue shield with white stars on it. This part was supposed to go over your left eye, and the 'flap' of the beret was supposed to drape over the right side of your forehead and your ear.
"Don your berets!"
We all pulled them on and adjusted them accordingly. It was a little hard to tell if the shield was over your left eye since the material wasn't much different from the rest of the beret.
Once everyone in each formation had, the commander continued.
"This is your rite of passage, Bravo Company. The donning of the black beret signifies you have completed basic combat training, and you have successfully completed the transition from civilian to United States soldier! Be proud, soldiers, because I and all of your drill sergeants and certainly proud of you, and honored to say we are all on the same team now. One team, one fight, hooah?"
"HOOAH!" We all shouted. I couldn't help but continue smiling when I did, too. I felt all tingly inside.
It was hard to imagine we'd just done what we'd did tonight. My uniform was soaked, my feet were itching, and my whole body was tired... but in this moment I couldn't be happier.
I, Selena Russo, was finally a soldier.
-
Once we were all back in the barracks and changed back out into our PT uniforms -dry, clean uniforms after having taking nice long showers I might add - Sanders and I were preparing to go to sleep. Everyone was of course buzzing about the beret ceremony, and exchanging stories of basically how much the march back had sucked, but we were all tired and ready to sleep. It was nearly 4 in the morning.
"Sanders." DS Lovato's voice. "Is the fire guard roster complete for tonight?"
Talk about a buzzkill. C'mon man! We just got back from a 10 mile march and 3 days in the field and we STILL had to do fireguard at the end of it all? Talk about unfair...
"I, umm..." Sanders started.
No. Clearly the fireguard roster was NOT complete...
"I'm just fucking with you. There will be no fireguard tonight, but only tonight, so don't get too excited yet." DS Lovato smirked. "You do however, have to make sure the latrines are in good order before everyone can bed down, roger?"
Sanders nodded. "Roger, drill sergeant."
She left towards the back of the barracks.
"You." DS Lovato looked at me. "Come with me."
"Roger, drill sergeant." I tried to keep from smiling.
I followed her to her office. No one even seemed to notice she was taking me and only me with her. But even if they did, I'm sure she had a backup plan. She always did.
She seemed to have a spring in her step at the moment too, it was adorable.
Once I closed the door behind me, she was standing a few feet away just looking at me, head to toe. I bobbed side to side, folding my hands, unsure of what to do with myself. It had only been three days, but it seemed like so long since we'd have time alone.
"First of all," She grinned, "Sanders didn't have to check the latrine, but I didn't want her to question why I was taking you. That's number one." She walked towards me slowly. "Two, I'm incredibly fucking proud of you, Sel. I really can't even describe it. Part of me wants to run into the streets with you and tell everyone that you're my soldier and you made it, and the other half wants to do the same thing and tell them you're my girlfriend."
She gently grabbed both of my hands with hers, and locked eyes with me.
"And three..." She bit her lip and once again surveyed me head to toe.
"For the love of god, after three fuckin' days..." She let go of my hands and cupped hers around my face.
"Kiss me."