The Jarhead

Chapter 1

I peel off my military uniform and shower. The cold water runs over me and rinses all the sweat from my skin. I then pull on a pair of sport shorts and a red shirt. I creak open the door to my bedroom and peer out into the hallway. Nobody. I get downstairs in complete silence and see Zayn in the kitchen handing the curly haired boy a pack of ice. I smile a little as I swiftly get into the kitchen. 

Everyone is sitting at the bench on the bar stools while Zayn leans on the countertop and runs his hand through his black hair. 

"Do you want to be introduced to everyone?" He asks me.

"Well they are staying in my house so I might at as well." I scoff loudly. I really need to get my hostility under control. Zayn points to a boy with a buzz cut. 

"That's Liam." And then to a blonde boy with blue eyes. "Niall." His hand goes to the brown haired boy with the blue eyes. "That's Louis and Naomi." She girl lifts her hand as if waving to me shyly. Zayn presses his lips together as he points to the last boy. The one I punched in the nose. "And . . . you met Harry." He trails off. 

"Yeah, I met him." I mumble under my breath but he seems to hear it. 

"More like blinded me." He scoffs loudly, not looking up from his ice pack as he presses it into the bridge of his nose. 

"You can still see you moron. Get over yourself." I snap at him. His ego really needs to drop back down to earth because right now, he's pissing me off. I scrunch my hands into fists and crack the knuckles. 

"Oh please, you're wild and hostile." He shakes his head. At that, I grab him by the scruff of his collar and jerk him from his seat into the wall. His face is red from where the ice was on it and his eye is a little bloodshot. But worst of all he is smirking. I go to throw another punch but I get pulled off him by two strong arms. 

'LET GO!" I scream at them but they don't. I step into their feet and flip the first one over onto his back. I see it is Zayn. Harry becomes flushed with rage and begins stepping up to me, raising his fist before Naomi rushes over and stands inbetween him and I. 

"HARRY STOP IT!" She yells at him. I can't help but notice the sound in her voice as though she were on the verge of tears. I can see Harry's face soften and lose it's rage as he steps away from me, walking into the living room. As Naomi turns around I see that her nose has gone all red and her eyes have watered up like she is about to cry. She then walks out of the room followed by other footsteps which I guess must be Louis'. 

I help Zayn off the floor. "Sorry." I mutter to him and he shakes his head sadly. 

"It's fine." But I know it isn't. I look to see that Liam and Niall are simply sharing sad looks as they hoist themselves up onto the benchstools. I feel guilty now. I stride out to the foyer and pick up the loaded up. I turn the safety clip off and walk out into the woods using shallow tread. I climb up into the fork of a tree and lay belly down on a wide branch, aiming down the barrell of the gun. 

I wait and wait for what seems like ages but I don't mind that much. After being in the Marines for a few years, not having anything to shoot at is kind of a relief. A white hare scutters across the underbrush and I shoot it. My aim is pretty good and the animal is dead before I have time to relax my fingers. I jump down from the tree and take the pest by it's legs as I carry it through the woods back out to my house. 

The whole house is completely silent as I take the kill into the kitchen. I skin and gut the rabbit. I can see Niall looking curiously from the benchtop where he seems to be reading a small book. I dump the innards in the bag and turn to him. He flinches and drops the book on the bench accidently. I give him a small smile. 

"Can you feed that to the pigs?" I ask and he nods before walking out of the kitchen quickly. I slice up the rabbit and throw it into the large pot. Ok, so I'm not much of a cook, but being stuck in a unit with all males who couldn't boil water without messing something up definately made me skilled. I brown off the rabbit and once I'm satisfyed, I pour a kettle of boiling water over the top and begin chopping up vegetables. 

When Niall returns he sits back down on the bench. "Creepy pigs." He mutters and I laugh. 

"You should see it when you feed them bacon." I try to make a joke with him seeing as he doesn't seem to be annoying or rude. His Irish accent is interesting. 

"Cannibals." He mutters. I continue chopping the vegetables and throwing them in the pot. Even Niall leaves me to my devices as I cook the dinner. I dump a packet of spaghetti into the mix and put the lid on it, letting it all stew. It will be a while before the flavors set in and I have time to kill. 

I jog upstairs to the room that was always kept for Zayn when he slept over. I open the door to see him placing his clothes in the draw in a quick repetitive motion. I walk in and put my hand on his shoulder. He turns his head. 

"Hey Kadence." He says, returning to the drawers. 

"Hey, um, I'm sorry about just then. I didn't know what I was thinking." I mumbled guiltily. 

"Harry can be difficult sometimes and you did punch him in the face first so he might resent your presence for a little while." Zayn shakes his head, smiling weakly. 

"I honestly don't care whether he likes me or not. I was talking to you." I tell him. He laughs a little and dusts off his hands when he finishes the drawers. 

"I hope you don't mind, I gave everyone their rooms. Liam and Niall are sharing the large bedroom, I have this one, Naomi and Louis have the other large one and Harry is in the single bedroom." He explains. I smile because he left the master bedroom empty. It doesn't feel right sleeping in there, knowing it was my father's bedroom and it will always be his. 

"Sounds fair." I press my lips together. I jog out of the room on the hard wood floors just before the silence started getting awkward. I see Niall standing over the pot inspecting the rabbit stew. He places the lid down and jumps away from it, when he sees me. "Don't trust me?" I smile. He is the only polite one I have met. 

"Just looking." He admits before walking off to find something to do. Despite the fact that this house is quite isolated and peaceful, it can get boring around here. I take a peek in the stew and dish my bowl up. I pang a metal spoon against a pan until they all appear to see what the noise is about. 

"Dinner?" Zayn asks. 

"Are you sure she didn't poison it?' Harry mutters lowly. I smile. 

"Thank you for the very brilliant idea, I shall remember to do it next time though." I say in an unsually upbeat cheery voice that makes me want to puke. Naomi giggles a little as she serves up her bowl and pulls up a chair at the dining room table. Louis sits next to her as usual and Harry sits the furthest away from me, glaring at me. 

Niall's bowl is quite full and I am surprised when he finishes it. He can eat bigger than some of the men in my unit. Naomi volunteers for the washing up and I don't object. I am feeling extremely lazy right now. She hums a tune I don't know as she washes all the dishes. So maybe she might be alright. She looks about twenty and seems pretty mature. 

I run my fingers through my short black hair and stride into my living room. I see pictures of me. I see so different. Innocent even. With my creamy skin and long black hair. And Chace. I think as I look at the dark haired boy next to me in most of the photos. My fists clench up as I swipe them off the shelves, one by one. I open the bin and slam them in. I hear shattering glass and feel eyes boring into the back of my head as I walk out.