The Marine I Know

Chapter 4

"Belle, what happened at school today?" Mom asks. I have no reason to hide it.

"We played volleyball in P.E, and it's my favorite sport ever. Well, one of the other girls has it out for me, so I leave and walk to lunch when the new kid, Parker, calls out. I stop, and we end up sitting together at lunch, and I tell him what happened in class. I rub my necklace, and he asks to see it. As soon as he sees it, I saw the gears turning, and I had to get away from him."

"Darling." We arrive, and she unbuckles to give me a hug. "Don't be scared to let him in. He sounds like a fine young man."I nod in agreement before I open the door, grab the blanket, and head out to the gravesite, but stop to ask mom.

"Do you want to say hi to dad?" She shakes her head.

"I have a feeling you're gonna need the time. I'll be here." I nod and walk. Seeing the familiar landmarks leads me to dad. I unwrap the blanket, lay it on the grass, and lay down on it.

"Hey, dad. I miss you. How are you handling being up there?" I giggle as I get a thought of him being with his buddies wasting time and having fun. "I met this boy named Parker. I'm worried about letting him in. What if he runs or avoids me?" I touch my necklace. "He asked why I was rubbing my necklace, so I show him, and I just got scared." Tears run down my face as I lay my head down on the blanket with my hand on the bottom part of the gravestone.

Parker's P.O.V

She looked like a deer in the headlights after I said that. What did I do? She takes off into the school trying to get away from me, and that's the only question running through my head. I sit next to her in class, and when she avoids my gaze, I slip her a note with my number if she wants to talk. She shoves it in her pocket and stands up to get out of the classroom. Everything from lunch is running through my head, so I drive down to the cemetery. I always wanted to be a Marine and be able to serve this country. I pull into the parking lot and see another car in the lot. I get out of my truck and look over the hills to see someone laying down on a blanket. My heart longs for that person, and I worry about something happening to me while I'm gone, to be able to cope with me being overseas.

"Hello. I'm Mrs. Mitchell." I turn around and see a woman with brown hair walking towards me.

"Hi, I'm Parker." I reach out my hand to her, which she shakes. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. Have any family here?" She asks.

"No, but I've always wanted to be a Marine, but I'm just having issues deciding."

"Parker, you still have a few years to go, to truly decide." She looks out towards the lady on the grass then back to me. "Are you the Parker that goes to school with Belle?"

"Yes, ma'am, that's me," I say

"I believe she told me about what happened at lunch today. She needs time to adjust, and she's not rude or anything."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask puzzled.

She turns to me, "I believe I should let her tell you. However, she had a rough childhood, give her a chance, and show her that she can trust you." I look back to the lady, and she gets up, folding her blanket, and putting her hand on the tomb and starts walking towards us. I look, and I recognize her.

"That can't be Belle," I say.

"Parker, please." Mrs. Mitchell says. I turn away and watch Belle walk up the stairs. Her eyes go wide when she sees me.

"Mom, please don't, just don't." Belle says to her mom, then to me, "What are you doing here? Following me? Watching me talk to my dad? Well, this isn't going to happen. I can't believe you.." She starts to cry, and I look up to her mom, which she nods. I wrap Belle in my arms, her tears soaking my shirt, but I don't care. Mrs. Mitchell comes up to me with a cell phone in her hand and gives it to me.

"This is Belle's phone. I'm gonna go home, so don't do anything to her." She tells me. I nod, and she gets into her car to leave. Belle sniffles and looks up at me, then realizes what she's doing.

Belle's P.O.V

I start crying, and I feel arms wrapping around me, holding me to a lovely chest. I put my head on his shoulder as I cry, his hands rubbing my back. I felt safe in his arms; all my worries falling away. Usually, I hate crying in public, but this must have been a pretty special occasion. I sniffle and look up to see beautiful blue eyes in black-rimmed glasses; then it dawned on me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I push him away from me then wrap my arms around myself while looking for mom. "Where did mom go?"

"Belle, listen to me." I look at him then I see something shiny in his hand, which is my phone.

"Give me my phone back," I demand. When Parker doesn't, I proceed to tackle him to the ground and wrestle it out of his hands. "You bastard, you try to take advantage of me when I'm in my weakest point." I slap him across the face, but he grabs my wrists. He stands up, pulling me with him

"Dangit Belle, listen to me!" I stop, "Your mom saw me and started talking to me. I was looking at whether or not I want to be a Marine." He finishes.

"Let go, Parker." He releases my wrists. No, this cannot happen again. I can't be crying again. I take a breathe and relax. "Parker?" I ask him

"Yes, Belle?"

"If I tell you, will you run?" He looks at me funny.

"If you mean that I will leave your side and laugh at you, then you're wrong, Belle, you're wrong." He tells me, and I feel a bit more at ease. "Before you say anything, how about you go around to the passenger side and hop in so you are not standing." I nod and walk around the back where he's holding the door open for me. He shuts it and gets in the driver side.