Almost There

Chapter 3

The sound of voices disturbed my slumber, and I stirred awake slightly at their muttering around me.

"She's waking up," one of them said.

I slowly opened my eyes and allowed the daylight to enter my vision, blinking a few times to adjust to the change in light intensity.

"What are we gonna do with her?" another voice said.

Her. He said her.

My eyes shot open immediately upon hearing this. Now I was fully awake and alert, and I was able to see three heads peering over me, staring at me with both curiosity and vehemence.

"Morning," Alex spoke, sarcasm evident in his voice, as well as a certain level of contempt, "Sleep well?"

I sat up slowly, the three boys moving back slightly as I did so. I put my hand to my head which was throbbing gently from sleeping on the uneven sand. There was no helmet.

Damn.

Although my hair was quite short, I hadn't cut it before I'd left, so it was definitely longer than it ought to be; for a man that is.

"I can't believe it," Alex scoffed, clearly shocked at what he was seeing.

"I-I can explain," I stuttered slightly, also shocked at the situation that was beginning to unfold.

"A girl. We're going out to war and they send a freaking girl to fight alongside us? What were you expecting to happen?" he spat.

"Look, I didn't have a choice, okay? I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit at home knowing that innocent people were going off to fight and die in the war for me. My dad died in this war. I had to finish what he started; I had to help! What was I supposed to do? This was the only way. Women aren't allowed to fight in the war," I explained.

"Yeah and for good reason," Alex said, venom in his tone.

"Well I made it this far didn't I? Same as you!" I yelled back, getting tired of his sexist attitude.

"This isn't right," he shook his head, "We have to do something about this." He directed this proposition at Tommy, hitting him on the arm lightly as he did so.

"Like what? It's already done. Look, the way I see it, she's still a soldier; one of us. Plus, she's right, she has made it this far, just like us," Tommy spoke, glancing at me after he was finished.

I looked at him intently, grateful for his support, even if it wasn't much. He gave me a small smile, then looked down at the ground, breaking eye contact with me.

"I don't believe this," Alex chuckled in disbelief, standing up and turning away from us.

He walked a little way down the beach before plopping himself down onto the wet sand, drawing his knees up to rest his chin on top of them. I watched him for a little while as he stared blankly out at the waves, coming in, and out, then rushing back up the shore once more to kiss the tips of his boots. I cast my gaze back towards Tommy, who by this time had assumed a similar position, except he hadn't moved away as Alex had; he had stayed next to me as he had been before. I looked at Gibson, who was simply lying back in the sand, legs splayed out, with one hand behind his head and the other lying loosely across his stomach. He was clearly uninterested by the whole situation.

"So, why'd you do it?"

I snapped my attention back to Tommy, surprised by his question, and the fact that he was speaking to me.

"Well," I gulped, clearing my throat, "After my dad died during the first week of the war, my mother was a mess, so was my younger brother. I wanted to do something, I wanted to fight for my country and make my father proud. I wanted to help; even if I didn't help much, I just wanted to know that I'd done my part and that I hadn't just sat back and watched my family fall to pieces, along with the world around us. I know I'm a girl, but I'm still the eldest child, and it's my job to take care of the family when my parents aren't able to."

Tommy looked at me intently, the same way I had looked at him earlier. He appeared to show some signs of sympathy in his look, but showed also a look of understanding; he wasn't pitying me, he was simply accepting what I had told him.

"Well, not cutting the hair was a rookie mistake," he smirked, lips curving up into a cheeky grin. I giggled and looked down at my lap before returning my attention to him.

"I figured I'd be wearing my helmet the whole time, so I didn't think there was any need," I said sheepishly, only now realising my foolish error.

"I knew there was something about you," he said, "Something...different."

I raised an eyebrow at this remark before returning a reply.

"Oh really what gave it away? The height? The fact that I'm about half the size of every other soldier here?" I laughed softly.

He did the same, looking down at the sand as he chuckled to himself. Eventually he looked back up and our eyes met once more.

"You're way too pretty to be a boy," he spoke softly.

I felt my cheeks heat up suddenly, blushing at this comment. He seemed to realise what he'd said all of a sudden, and he too blushed before looking away, embarrassed.

After a little while of silence, the embarrassment passed and we were back to chatting as before.

"So, what's your name?" he inquired, "Your real name, I mean."

"Y/n, y/n y/l/n," I answered plainly.

He smiled, a genuine, warm smile. We continued talking and getting to know one another; what our lives were like back home, prior to the war and everything else that had happened. As we talked, I found myself feeling something I hadn't felt in a long time. Happiness. Not fleeting contentment, no, genuine happiness; in that moment with Tommy, it felt as if everything would be okay.