Too optimistic to be pessimistic

Chapter 1 "Recruited?!"

On a chilly January night, I went to sleep lying next to the most beautiful woman any man has ever laid eyes on. Her name is Kassie Allen Montez (but to everyone in town she was known as Kassie Allen). Her features were carved into my head, even falling asleep. As my eyes closed, I could still see her perfect features as if my eyes were wide open. Her perfect light blue eyes gazed into mine with a small piece of her curly red hair falling on her face like always. Her cheeks and the ridge of her nose were covered with light red freckles.

The next morning that beautiful woman turned into a small girl covering her red watery eyes trying not to let me see her tears coming down her face like a waterfall. As I moved toward her I stopped because of my barefoot hitting something on the floor. I looked down and saw the paper on the ground and gasped.

I've been recruited.

At first, I didn't believe what the paper said. I thought my eyes were laying a trick on me. So, I rubbed them for a moment when I stopped. At first everything looked white and the letters were blurry; when everything began to focus there were the words just like the first time in the same big black bold letters.

"Justin Knight you've been recruited."

When I saw the paper for the fifth time, I saw that the words didn't change at all. I kept looking at it hoping the words would change because I was so shocked I got called into the army at such a young age. I just couldn't and didn't want to believe it. I put my hand on my forehead. I started to lose my balance as if I was going to faint. I fell backward on the recliner that was behind me. I had accidentally knocked over a picture of Kassie and I that was sitting on a small table on the right side of the chair on the floorboards and the glass broke into pieces.

Kassie was sitting down on the couch silently for the past twenty minutes. I guess she was thinking the same thing as me. It seemed like she was waiting for me to move or say something first. When I finally got up, she looked up at me fast. I walked over to her slowly and gently took my seat next to her. I put my hands in hers and held them. We sat in that position for what felt like an eternity.

I choose my words carefully before speaking to her. I looked deep into her light blue eyes and told her, "So I guess I should start packing."

Before I could finish my sentence, I saw her eyes grow huge and began to water. Whenever I finished my sentence, she held her hand up like she had wanted to slap me across my face. I held my breath and closed my eyes bracing myself for the impact. When I didn't feel her hit me, I opened my eyes as she started to make a fist and slowly put it down. With big watery eyes, she ran crying to the bedroom and closed the door.

It wasn't until later that evening she came back out. She looked at me with the saddest look on her face. Never in my life have I seen such sadness. She walked over to the couch and sat down. She then patted a seat next to her asking me to sit down.

I got up slowly and sat there next to her. We sat there in silence for a moment before she spoke to me. When she did her soft, gentle voice cracked at the beginning as if she was fighting not to cry again. "I'm sorry I just walked off like that."

I quickly moved closer to her while shaking my head. I wiped a few tears from her face, I then grabbed her hands and said, "Don't be a sweetie. I understand why you did. I would have done the same thing if I was in your position."

She looked down for a few seconds, then looked up at me with a smile along with a small chuckle. She told me gently, "I know you would have." She paused and her smile faded away when she said, "I also know you have to fight for our country. So, I want you to do one last thing for me before you leave."

I looked at her with a huge smile as I told her, "Yes of course my darling. I would do anything for you. Just name it."

She looked down again as if choosing her words carefully before she spoke again. She looked up at me with watery eyes (like she wanted to cry), but she had a huge smile on her face and I could tell that it was full of so much love as she asked me, "How about you marry me now instead of waiting until the summer as we planned?"

At first, I didn't know what to say so I stayed quiet and thought about it for a moment. That must have made her nervous because her beautiful smile started to fade away and I could feel her grip on my hands letting go. Right when I felt her fingers let go of mine, I tightened them around hers. She looked up at me with a puzzled look on her face. I couldn't help but chuckle at her cute confused look. I then asked, "What made you think of that?"

She looked at me with a smile. I could see her cheeks glow a light red like she had gotten embarrassed.
"Well..." she said softly.