"What do you mean you are leaving?" I hear my sister ask her boyfriend as I walked passed her bedroom door.
"Tess, I mean I am leaving, I'm being deployed." He says defeated and sad. After this my interest was very much peaked and I decided to try and listen the best I could.
"We just graduated and summer just started! It's not fair." She answers as her her voice cracks.
"Tess, we are going to be on the exact same base." He answers back calmly.
"I know." She said taking a deep breath, "Just why didn't they call me in?" She asked, I hear her footsteps walking back in forth.
"Tess, maybe they haven't gotten around to it." He said trying to ease her mind the best he could.
"I'm not ready I don't want to go out there yet. We aren't due for another four months, what's so important."
"Tessa, I-" Ashton begins but quickly gets interrupted my sister's phone ringing.
"Hello." She says as calm as she could, but I could sense the slight worry in her voice. "I'm sorry sir?" She says confused. "Yes sir." The room is quiet before another, "Yes sir."
"Who was that?" Ashton asks as soon as the phone call ended.
Her breath gets shaky. "General Wilks." She says and I could almost feel the tension in her room from beyond her door. "I'm leaving tomorrow."
I just stood there in total shock as I ran the words back over and over in my head. "You can't leave!" I yell from outside of her room, soon pushing the door wide open and storming in. "Whatever they need they can call someone else!" I say as I walked up to her.
"If it's this important they are definitely going to need her." Ashton said, I knew he was right, I just didn't want to believe it.
Looking at Ashton, I shake my head, "You can't let her go." I said defeatedly.
"You know I don't have a say, otherwise she would stay here." He said looking down at his feet with a sorry look on his face.
"We can write each other everyday." Tess says sitting on the corner of the bed trying to calm me down.
"It's not the same as you being here." I say my throat beginning to burn from choking back tears.
"Do you want me to wait outside?" Ashton says looking over to Tessa.
"Please." She said quietly. Once he was out the door she turned towards me. "Daudge, I have to go."
"Why did you even sign up for this?" I ask her rubbing my eyes harshly.
"I want to be a Virologist and one of the cheapest ways to do that is to go through the military." She said looking at me, when I don't answer she stands up and begins pacing again. "I wish they would have given us a two week notice, to say bye." She said pulling at her hair slightly.
"When do you have to leave?" I ask not really wanting an answer.
"Tomorrow," she says taking a deep breath. I feel my whole body begin to shake as the realization hits me. "Come here." She said stopping and looking at me.
I stand up and almost fall into her arms. "Are you afraid?" I asked breaking the hug after a couple of seconds.
"I shouldn't be, it's probably just advanced training or something but I really am." She says looking at me and smiling. "I just wanted to have a little fun this summer.
"Is Ashton going to the same place?" I ask her.
"Fort Benning, yeah." She says looking sorrowfully at me. "So much for that movie day we were gonna have." She says chuckling and squeezing my shoulder.
"We can do it when you get back, right?" I ask her hopeful.
"It's a date." She says jokingly and walking towards the door.
"Dad would be proud, you know." I say following her.
"Yeah, thanks Audge." She says using my nickname. "I guess I have to tell Mom." She opens the door and walks out.
__
Tessa tries to tell Mom, but of course she is so built up in work to even notice much. When Tess tells her, she looks up at her and smiles. "Well, that's good dear."
After having to deal with that whole situation we all go to sit on the couch. Ashton walking in after both of us and basically sitting on Tess, making us both laugh.
After they get done messing around Ashton stands up, "You girls wanna go out? It's on me." Ashton says with his usual charming smile.
"Sounds good to me." Tess says looking at me and smiling.
"Pizza?" I ask looking at him.
"I could go for some Pizza." Ashton says smiling and wrapping his arm around Tessa.
"I'm in." I say as I slip my red converse on and follow them out the door.
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Okay. So. I'm rewriting this book to add more I don't know to it. It's already better I think. It's the same plot same thing, just better details and everything else. And hopefully this time around the Runners actually keep you up at night. Not really. But. You get the point. Anyway. Trying not to make this super long. The only thing that is going to be a game changer is the epilogue. I'm twisted. Just leaving it at that. 907 words. Bye.
