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Chapter Thirteen

By the time Veda came back out, her damp hair wetting her back and the smell of the lavender lotion she borrowed from Raya calming her nerves, she found Raya victorious as she sat on the edge of the bed closest to the window.

Raya grinned at her as Veda came to sit beside her, setting her backpack between her legs as she leaned back against her hands on the bed. "How'd you do it?" Veda asked softly and Raya simply winked at her before snatching her bag up and taking off to beat Jasper to the bathroom.

Jasper let out a sigh as she locked the door and turned to give Veda an accusing look. "Can't you control your maniac of a friend?" He muttered as he began to pace back and forth across the room. Veda frowned at the description of maniac and felt her eyes narrow at him.

"Don't call her that." Veda whispered to herself mostly but Jasper still heard and looked at her, his expression softening slightly before hardening again as he slumped to the ground against the bed, letting his head lean back.

"Jasper, there's no reason to get cranky just because you have to pee." Jax muttered as he flipped through a magazine from the stack sitting beside the bed. Veda saw the magazines and felt the pull. Before she could even stop herself she crawled to the top of the bed and snatched one of the magazines from the nightstand.

She didn't even glance at the cover as she pulled it open and let her eyes scour the pages, reading every word as quickly as she could before Kai whispered, "This is a garbage gossip column." Veda had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at him until she realized he was right.

Veda's urge to read something completely blinded her from the fact that what she was reading was just a bunch of people who had nothing better to do than spread lies about others. Veda flung it down in disgust, earning some confused glances from the guys before Jasper crawled over from his spot on the floor to look at the magazine she had just flung.

Veda watched as he glanced over the cover, let out a small laugh before dropping it himself and laying flat on his stomach, setting his head on his arms to stare ahead at him. Veda looked to Jax questioningly and he just shook his head with a shrug before turning back to his magazine.

Veda glanced at the front page, seeing a prim and proper couple staring straight ahead with their backs straight and blank stares. The title, THE PARKS OPEN A MEDICAL CENTER FOR WOUNDED SOLDIERS IN SUPPORT OF THEIR MISSING SON, spread across the page and Veda looked down at Jasper.

Everything clicked in her head at once. With Jax and Ryker's prim posture, all of their strength, and Jax's medical training and eye for runners. They were soldiers, and not just any soldiers, but soldiers under The Permanent Star.

Veda felt her joints stiffen as she slowly leaned away from the nightstand and against the backboard where she stared at the bathroom door, willing Raya to come out soon. Her heart was beating fast and she gripped the sheets beside her as Kai grinned down at her mockingly.

"Just figuring out the obvious are we? It's about time; it'd stink if you were dumb and crazy." Kai laughed and Veda bit her bottom lip and stared straight ahead to keep from responding.

Raya opened the door and Veda nearly jumped from where she sat, but managed to maintain herself as Raya came humming into the room, setting her backpack down beside Veda's before plopping down on the bed, lifting Veda a little.

It took her a minute but Raya quickly noticed Veda's tensed position and raised a questioning eyebrow to which Veda quickly shook her head, letting her know it was a bad time. Raya nodded slightly and Veda turned back to slump down into the bed with a soft yawn escaping her mouth.

Jax looked up at her and Veda felt herself redden despite how nervous she was as he grinned down at her. "Okay, bed time boys. We've got a yawner." Jax joked and Veda quickly retreated beneath the covers in order to hide her face from view.

Raya let out a soft laugh at her as she crawled under the covers as well. Veda hated sharing a bed and turned away from her to pretend she was alone. Sadly she was forced to meet eyes with Ryker who had taken Jax's spot on the bed along with Walter while Jax took a spot on the ground and Jasper darted to the bathroom.

Ryker rolled away quickly, much to Veda's relief; as she settled down to close her eyes. Just as she was about to close her eyes she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head over to see Raya nod her head downwards. Veda glanced beneath the covers, sighed, and took the pill she offered before swallowing it dry and rolling back over to go to sleep.

She could feel herself drifting once more when all of the sudden a sensation of someone staring at her forced her to open her eyes and look around. Her eyes stopped on the ground between the two beds to see Jax staring up at her with a grin.

"What?" Veda whispered down at him nervously, earning her an amused laugh. "I was just trying to see if you were tense in your sleep too." He joked and Veda rolled her eyes before forcing them closed in order to ignore him.

After a minute of ignoring him she felt his gaze leave her and she was finally able to relax a little so that she could begin to fall asleep.

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This is a bit of a shorter chapter but I'm still proud of it!!! I hope you guys are having a good day too. By the way I also have a twitter and Instagram account now so go follow me there if you want. I share a few ideas on there that might interest you!!!

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