Fraternizing f-1
Page 21
Why did I care?
“This week’s test is covering signal jamming as well as information from the two previous tests. This one will be much more in depth, so you’ll want to make sure that you study everything you have received thus far. Work in groups if you have to. A seventy-two depends on it.”
Jensen’s voice came blaring into my ears like a megaphone. And as I sat focusing on him, I noticed that he, too, had a shiner on his face. I was beginning to put two and two together. This was not Castillo’s doing. Jensen had found out about us, and it appeared to have not gone over too well. Their house was divided. Riley on Alex’s side, Jensen against.
My stomach knotted. The guys all seemed so close. And for me to come in and destroy that dynamic, made me feel like the Yoko Ono to their brotherhood. I had no desire to rip friendships apart. But for some reason, the idea that Alex had gone to bat for me was exciting. My mind was grappling with his stupidity at that bat and his defense of me. I wanted to let go of my hurt, but then I didn’t.
“See you all in the morning. Class dismissed.”
I stood, my eyes lingering on Alex just a tad bit too long. Newsome walked over and caught me staring, his eyebrows scrunching as he followed my line of sight. I quickly gathered my things and walked out of the room, still feeling the heat of Alex’s eyes boring into me.
“So how did you do?” Dalton asked just as I stepped out of the building. He caught me off guard, making me jump and hold my hand to my chest.
“Give me a little space next time, will ya?”
“I’m sorry. Just anxious to see how you did.” He smiled that charismatic smile, a sparkle going off in his eyes.
“Ninety-seven percent. I guess my break from Alex really did the trick.”
We both laughed, but I felt the truth in those words. Since I had turned my focus away from him, I was doing better, yet I found myself slowly being lured back in. The magnetism he possessed washed away the hurt, even if it was being done with slow, deliberate measure.
“So hey, I have to run something by you because I need your advice.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Not here. It’s Alex related,” I whispered, not wanting to bring any undue attention to us.
The doors shot open and out walked the three instructors, looking like a well put together and very cohesive unit. If there was friction between the crew, no traces of it could be found by the naked eye.
Alex shifted his eyes to me as they walked by and lowered them while slightly sucking on his bottom lip. A slight throb could be felt between my legs. The looks he gave me only made me want him even more. My immunity to him was being weakened, and he knew it.
“Let’s find somewhere to talk because if you two continue to eye fuck one another, I’m going to need to get off.”
My eyes swerved to Dalton who had lust written all over his face. I laughed at him as I hit his shoulder. We walked through the students and made our way to the path that led back to our barracks rooms. We chatted and made small talk until we reached the barracks building.
“Want to come to my room? Angelica might be in yours, and she’s an angry one right now.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that works. What about Pete?”
“He’s at the gym. He says he needs some muscle.”
We both erupted with laughter. Pete was small and nerdy looking. Poor guy.
“I’ll see you in a few.”
I jogged up the stairs and quickly made my way to my room, unlocking the door and falling down on my bed. As I sat up and unlaced my boots, my phone buzzed. I looked down to find a message from Alex.
Alex: 97%. Not bad. I think this weekend should be your reward for performing so well. And you always PERFORM well.
He was back to his old tricks. Using innuendo to get me to pay attention to him. It wasn’t fair. I was so powerless to it, and he knew it.
Me: Thank you! *rolls eyes*
I had to try and remain composed. He didn’t need to know that his charm, his sex appeal, and his words has such salacious effects on me and my body. As far as he knew, I was still pissed and wanted to avoid him. That was half true, but he didn’t need to know it.
Angelica walked through the door, threw her things down on her bed and briskly walked past me to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror, her face mired with emptiness, and undid her bun, brushing away at her ultra-long locks. I walked over to the area and stood in the frame, looking at her and wondering what to say.
“What the fuck do you want, Cassie?”
Her aggressiveness put me on defense.
“I’m just coming to see what’s got you so down. Don’t jump down my fucking throat.”
She turned and glared at me. Her mouth shrinking with the tight scowl she rigidly held.
“I wouldn’t go anywhere near your Cruz-cum filled throat,” she hissed.
I was taken aback. I knew she could get down and dirty, but this was shocking, even for her.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“Really? You want to know what my problem is? My problem is you… and your fucking NCO of the Quarter boyfriend. Because he can’t keep his dick out of you, my life is being turned upside down.”
“First of all, you don’t know shit—“
She cut me off.
“Oh cut that bullshit. He pulled me in this morning and all but admitted to you two having something, so the charade is over.”
She sat her brush back down on the counter and turned around to face me, her arms folded over her chest and a sinister grin spreading across her lips. If her words hadn’t already backed me into a corner, it would have put me on high alert.
“You two are so dumb. You’re fucking… for what? These few weeks. Then what? You get orders somewhere, and he finds the next student to prey on? Damn, Cassie, wake up. You’re falling for his game, and yes, he is a fucking player.”
“You don’t know half of what you think you know, so I suggest you do what you were told and shut your fucking trap before I let him know that you’ve had more to say. Somehow, I think your career is important to you.”
“Whatever. The sooner I’m away from you the better. I thought for sure after you found out who he was, you’d use some common sense and stay away from him. But I see common sense isn’t so common, and desperate bitches will do whatever they can to get ahead.”
“Fuck you!” I growled, my heart thumping like it was about to break free from my chest. She had struck a chord, and there was no way I was about to let her get away with it.
“No, fuck you, Cassie. Now get the hell out of my way.”
She pushed me as she walked by, and on instinct I lunged for her, grabbed her hair in my hand and yanked her back to me. She turned around and punched me in the chin, a swift upper cut that knocked my teeth together. I let loose, my hands balled up into tightly wad fists, and started punching her anywhere I could. She countered, punching me until we both fell to the floor, rolling over one another while screaming obscenities.
My rage escalated, not only because she had said some awful things to me but because she had been nothing but bitchy to me since our very first night out and everything that had built up was now ready to explode. In my wild arm swings, while she sat on top of me, I swiped at her face, connecting and leaving three long lines on the side of her cheek. She stopped and held her face, her eyes bulging as she took heavy, anger filled breaths. The pause was just enough for me to buck her off of me, knocking her to the floor and going after her again.
“You’re a fucking bitch!” I yelled, my fists landing on her breasts… her arms… her face.
She held her arms up, trying desperately to shield herself from my blows. She brought her knee up, sending her bone into my ass and knocking me over.
“I can’t stand bitches like you!” she yelled out.
Her hand grabbed onto my hair, tugging fiercely as she pulled hair from my still well put together bun. It hurt like hell coming from the tight confines of my ponytai
l holder, and as she was yanking my head down, I grabbed her hair once again, jerking and tugging just as hard as she had done to mine, if not harder.
Just as I was tightening my grip on her, a strong set of hands wrapped around my midsection, pulling me off of her. She still had my hair in her hands, and the ache from the pull made me cry out in pain.
“Fuuucccckkkk!”
She finally let go.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Dalton’s familiar voice mixed with heavy breathing finally brought me back.
I stood glaring at Angelica, hard breaths shooting from my nose as my chest heaved in a laborious manner. She was breathing equally hard, throwing her hand into her hair and thrusting it back and out of her face.
“Ask your dick-whipped friend over there,” she said, running her tongue over her lip that now had blood coming out of it.
“You want another busted lip? Keep running your mouth.”
Dalton stepped in between us, looking like he had no clue what he would do should we decide to charge one another again. The thought crossed my mind. I had been wanting to let loose on her ever since the initial PFT when she tried to screw me. Everything from there had only escalated, and I was done sitting by, taking her shit as she gave it.
“You two had better knock this off before the duty comes up here. You’ll be in trouble for sure.”
“Trouble seems to follow this girl,” she said. “And his last name is Cruz.”
“Angelica, that’s enough,” Dalton scolded.
Her eyes fixed him, lowering into a wickedly low stare, hooded by her dark eyelashes. “Oh, you already knew? I should have known.”
“You say one more thing and he won’t be able to hold me off,” I warned. She had me so full of rage, I could take her on another round.
“Bring it bitch.”
“No one else is throwing another punch, pulling anymore hair, or bitch slapping anyone.” Dalton took a firm stand, asserting himself between both of us.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve left my mark. Her fucking boyfriend is going to wonder how she got that fucking scratch on her forehead. I’m sure I’ll be done then. And so will the two of you.”
She grabbed some clothes and stormed out of the room. I was still breathing hard, adrenaline gripping me as Dalton pulled me closer to him, taking my chin in his hand and lifting my face to meet his gaze.
“What the hell got into you two?” he asked, worry laced throughout his words.
I shook my head and stepped away from him, walking to the bathroom to run some water over my face. I took notice of the scratch on my forehead. I’d been in a couple of fights in my life, but I was never the aggressor, and I usually never retaliated the way I had done just now. I wasn’t sure where that overly aggressive me came from, but I liked her.
I only wished that she had been around a few years prior.
Looking into the mirror, Dalton caught my eye. He leaned on the frame as he looked me over, probably wondering where this rabid beast had come from since he had never seen even a glimpse of me in this state.
“I told you I was sick of her. Today was just the final straw.”
“You can’t go around getting into fights. You’ll get kicked out of school. What the hell, Cassie?”
“I don’t need your fucking lectures right now, Dalton. You have no idea what she said to me. And anyway, it was self-defense. She made first contact, and I finished her ass off.”
I walked past him, throwing myself down on my bed. He followed behind, lifting my legs and sitting down, placing them back down on his lap.
“And anyway,” I continued, “what are you doing here?”
“You didn’t answer my text. Pete has a few people in the room. Guess his gym plans got cancelled.”
He studied me for a bit before muttering, “So I guess she knows about you and Cruz?”
“She’s known. Or at least knew something was up.”
“So what happened today?”
“This morning some Pfc. on duty came up here and told her to go and see Sgt. Cruz in the secondary room. She went and came back a living mess. I can only imagine what he must have said to her. Then, when she got back in here this afternoon, she was full of all kinds of venom. She said some horrible shit that I was going to let slide until she pushed me. I had to attack.”
Dalton laughed, shutting his eyes and throwing his head back. Laughter in this situation seemed completely out of place.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
He paused for a second, wiping his eyes.
“Um, you. And what I saw when I walked in here. That was seriously one of the best catfights I have ever seen, and in my circle, I’ve seen quite a few.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” I joked.
“It was hot. If you two would have lost the shirts, it would have been even hotter. Even for me.”
I playfully kicked him. He knew how to bring me out of my funk and lighten the mood whenever I got down.
“So anyway, enough about that crazy ass chick. You need to tell me about this info that’s burning holes into my thought process. What’s going on with Sgt. Cruz?”
I swallowed and sat up in the bed.
“Hold on one second,” Dalton said, retrieving my hairbrush and handing it to me. “I can’t look at you like this any longer. I can’t take you seriously.”
I had forgotten that my hair must have been a serious mess after Angelica ripped it from my bun. I quickly took it down, using the brush to smooth it out while also massaging my scalp.
“Well, I can only assume, based on her outburst in here, that he said some shit to her. When he called me down this morning, he apologized for cutting me off and ignoring me, and also for fucking up on Friday.”
“Fucking up?”
“Yep! He fucked up. I guess he was trying to drown me out. His NCO of the Quarter award made him think twice about what he was doing so he went out, got shitfaced, kissed some random chick, then let Castillo blow him.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yes, precisely.”
“And he told you all of this?”
“Angelica initially told me about Castillo, and I questioned him. He was honest about it and told me about the random too.”
Dalton rubbed his hands over his face, then blew out a deep breath.
“So now what?”
“Now, he wants me to go off with him for the weekend.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. He says he was wrong, he admits that. He wants me to leave with him this weekend and make things right.”
“Are you gonna go?”
“I don’t know. I was so pissed off at him. I don’t know if I want to just take off with him.”
“Can I throw my two cents in?”
“Don’t you always?” I replied, grinning at him.
“True. But anyway, I think you should go. He fucked up, but the fact that he admitted to it, even the shit you didn’t know about, says something. I don’t know him well, but I see what kind of hold he has on you, and apparently you have the same hold on him.”
I laughed a bit. He was on to something.
“You two crazy asses stand to lose so much if this gets out, and yet you can’t stay away from each other. I think you already know what your answer is to his request, but you want to play tough ass. I say suck it up and go. If he’s to burn for you, with everything he has on the line, are you willing to do it too?”
“I get what you’re saying, but the Castillo thing—“
“It sucks. And you probably need to scrub his dick before you get anywhere near it, but people make mistakes, and thankfully he didn’t fuck her. So you have to ask yourself if you want to overlook it or not. It’s simple. Yes, or no.”
“I really hate you sometimes.”
“I know. But what would do without me?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Get dressed. Let’s go get something to eat, Rocky Balboa.”
When I was finally dressed, we walked down the stairs and past a group of guys, Allen being one of them. He looked at both of us and sneered, getting an eye full of malice in return from me.
I could hear his caveman like laugh as we walked by. “Bennett, I’m still here when you’re ready for a real man!”
“Just keep walking,” Dalton whispered. I did because I just couldn’t deal with anymore bullshit in one day.
Unfortunately, Allen kept running his mouth. I was already highly pissed and fed up with the constant annoyances, so I turned around when he said, “Yeah, she’s in my class. If she knew what was good for her, she’d climb on my dick where she belongs.”
That was enough. I wasn’t going to take anymore derogatory comments from him, thus allowing him to grow even bolder with the next one. I marched back over to where he stood. The adrenaline from earlier came crashing back, making me feel like I could go toe to toe with him as well.
“Do you ever think about the shit you say before it comes spilling out of your mouth?”
“Nope,” he quickly responded, looking down on me.
“Well you better shut your mouth before I shut it for you. We don’t have anything to say to each other. Let’s keep it that way.”
“For such a small girl, you have a big fucking mouth. You need to know your place. My dick is readily available to plug it up.”
My head exploded, and I lunged for him, but before I could hit him the way I really wanted to, Dalton grabbed and pulled me away.
“Yeah, take her ass before I do it.”
“You’re a piece of shit, Allen. A giant piece of shit!” I yelled back.
“I’ll fix you, Bennett,” he called through laughter with the abundance of idiots standing next to him.
“You need to chill the hell out,” Dalton said.
“Shut up, Dalton. You heard the shit he said to me.”