The Marine I Know

Chapter 5

"My dad was a pilot for the United States Navy and flew Tomcats for six years. He loved it, even told mom and me about it. His dad was a pilot but not for the military, just a normal pilot, and dad loved flying. He called me pumpkin and loved all of us. I was an only child. He was able to make it to my eighth birthday party, which was almost all pink, feathers, even gave dad a party hat. Too soon was he called to go back. I was sad, and as he was leaving, I watched him from the living room window, and he looked up to wave, which I returned." Tears threaten to fall, and he grabs my hand.

"Two months later, March 15, I look out the window to see what was going on when I see two people in dress whites walking towards our door. Mom opened it and could tell something was wrong. He was flying a mission and wasn't able to eject before the missile got him. The ceremony was hard; we got the trifold flag and did the typical missing man formation and the gun salute. Afterward, we were able to get his belongings and in them were dog tags which mom gave me for my 13th birthday." I pull them out of my shirt, "It makes me feel closer to him, knowing a part of him is still with me. Everyone laughs at school about it. I go to see him whenever I feel like I need my dad to talk to. I understand he's not here but, I don't know, I am just weird." I finish and look over at Parker to see his reaction. He leans over and gives me a hug, which I return.

"Belle." He says.

"Now, what is this about being a Marine?" I ask him

"I always wanted to serve my country. Both my father, my brother, and my grandfather were all Marines." He tells me, "But after seeing you down with your dad, it got me thinking, what happens if something happened to me? However, hearing your story, I don't want my wife to find that out."

"Parker, that was my story, you can make your own, and whatever you need, I'll be there." I lean over to kiss him on the cheek, which his face suddenly flushes. He starts the truck and takes me to my house.

"Is it ok if I helped you with your math?" He asks.

"Sure." He parks the truck on the street, and we get out. I walk to the door and open it. "Hey mom, I'm home." She pops her head out of the kitchen.

"Hey, kids."

"Parker's gonna help me with my math." She nods her head, "We will be fine, I promise." She laughs

"Ok, have fun, but not too much fun." We laugh and walk upstairs to my room.

"I like your room," Parker says.

"Thanks." I smile. "There is my math; I just don't understand it." I point to the textbook sitting on my desk. He explains it to me, and I slowly start to understand it. There's a knock on the doorjamb.

"Hey, want some lemonade and cake?" Mom brings in a small tray of two glasses of lemonade and two small pieces of cake.

"Thanks, mom." She puts the tray down and hugs me.

"Thanks, Mrs. Mitchell," Parker says.

"Parker, call me Helen." She tells him. She leaves us, and we start nibbling on the cake.

"Dang, this is delicious cake, Belle. Your mom is amazing." He says

"She is. When dad died, she lost all cooking abilities, but she must have been working on the cake from earlier." I take a drink of my lemonade and relax. He had to leave, but mom told him he's welcome back at any time. Once he leaves, mom looks at me with a smile on her face.

"What mom?" I laugh

"You told him, didn't you?" I nod my head, "I have not seen you this happy since before your father died. He would be very proud of you."

"I was hesitant at first, but I slowly warmed up to him." I smile and help with dinner. Even Lilly saw a change.

"Girl, what happened?" Lilly asks me. I was smiling and being myself.

"I yelled at him, started crying, and he wrapped his arms around me, which made me feel safe. Then I came to my senses and started shoving him, and then I have no idea what happened, but somehow I calmed down enough to tell him." I say.

"Awww," Lilly says. We're at the school, and I see a familiar truck in the parking lot, and I see Brittney and her minions talking. I walk past them, and they trip me.

"Damnit." I have a heel on my chest, holding me down.

"I told you to stay away from Parker, but you didn't obey." Brittney sneers at me.

"Maybe, I should talk to the coach about kicking you off the volleyball team," I smirk.

"I'm the queen here bitch."

"Hey, leave her alone." I see Parker walk up. Brittney purrs at him.

"Hi, baby, I missed you." She wraps her arms around him and kisses him, but he pushes her away.

"Don't." He looks down at me and offers me his hand to help me up. "Brittney, you need to stop messing with her. She didn't do anything to you."

"She hit me with a volleyball." She whines and stomps her feet. I roll my eyes, but Brittney saw it, "What's your problem?" Then she remembers something and smirks, "dork." That was it. I fly towards her knocking her to the ground

"You leave me the hell alone! You stay away from me, Lilly, and Parker." I pull back for a punch, but someone holds me back. They wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Belle, leave her," Parker tells me. He pulls me away from Brittney and wraps his arm around my waist. "Belle, you don't need this, ok?" I nod, and we walk away.

"Damnit." I say, "She's trying to bait me." I lean back and put my head on my locker, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "I'm sorry, Parker. I didn't mean to cause you any problems with Brit-" I stop as Parker kisses me. It was quite a shock myself seeing as we are not dating, but I shared my deepest secret, he saw me at my worst. I return the kiss, and he leans back with a smile.

"Well.." He laughs, and his eyes twinkle. "That was better than I thought."

"You mean you always wanted to kiss me?" I ask, shocked.

"Yes." His eyes suddenly stop smiling. "I'm sorry, Belle, I am." I grab his hand, but he removes it and walks down the hallway like the kiss never happened. Lilly walks up to me, and I resist the urge to cry.

"Bell, you've fallen for him, haven't you?"

"Yeah. I did, but Parker did say something about being sorry. What the hell? Does it regret the kiss? Oh god, what did I do?-" I ramble, "He said he always wanted to kiss me."

"Well, there ya go. There's your answer." The bell rings, and we go to class.