Harper Williams has never been one to follow the rules, so it's no surprise she lands herself in a court-ordered delinquent bootcamp for two years trapped under Lieutenant Assholes ruling.
He's unapproachable, unattainable and fucking hot. Rumour h...
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I lay on my back looking at the concrete roof, Axel had managed to get a fire started and the atmosphere between us wasn't the easiest. For the past half an hour we barely spoke to one another.
"So you know everything about me evidently. Tell me something about yourself." I finally mustered up enough courage to make conversation. He looked over from previously being mesmerised by the dancing flames and I rolled onto my side, propping myself up with my elbow.
"I can't discuss my private life." He said with a straight tone. I let out an audible, frustrated grumble. I sat up, crossing my legs and bringing myself closer to the fire.
"What was it like growing up with the commander as a father?" A rare flash of emotion appeared on his face but then the soldier in him came back out, his posture straightened, his shoulders tensed and he avoided eye contact.
"Harper." He warned with his Lieutenant voice.
"Is it so bad to let me in? Nobody is here, we're literally stranded in a cave in the middle of nowhere. Who is going to know what we talk about?"
I stood up and walked to the cave entrance, checking up and down the river for a rescue boat. There wasn't one in sight so I just felt my clothes in the hopes that they were dry. I grabbed my T-shirt and slipped it on, returning to my position in front of the fire.
"It was...hard." He said, pausing for dramatic effect or to pluck up the courage to continue. "I was born here, into this. My mom was a medic and my dad was a private. He worked his way up the ranks over the years and by the time I was born he was the Lieutenant."
I nodded along, listening with great interest to his story. I watched the passion in his eyes whenever he mentioned his mother, clearly he thought very dearly of her.
"My mom didn't agree with the way he treated me. She wanted me enrolled in school, mixing with kids my own age. She didn't want me to train. But she got sick and died when I was five, leaving my father to make all of the decisions alone.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly.
"I never went to school. I lived on the camp, I didn't leave the camp. I was treated like one of the soldiers here, like a criminal. I trained from five years old twelve hours a day on the assault course.
I struggled as a child because there were no toys here, no games, nobody my own age. I was strictly military born and bred and my father, I think somewhere along the way he forgot I didn't actually commit any crimes.
I ate slop, like everyone else. I wasn't allowed to leave, I wasn't allowed to live in the staff quarters or use the hot showers. I did punishments, he went hard on me. Maybe even harder than he went on anyone else."
"That's terrible." I exclaimed. He shrugged.
"It's all I knew." He replied. "When I turned sixteen I was a major and it was the first time we started getting recruits around my own age. Except now I had a rank, I couldn't socialise with them or form bonds and friendships. Not that they even wanted too.
