His Girl

5. Basic Training

After that night with Wes, Lauren went back home. It was closer to school and her mother had tried reporting her missing. She vowed not to have anything to do with them and just survive until her eighteenth birthday. She'd kept half her promise and told Kelly everything that happened. She gave Kelly Wes's address so anything he sent her, she would get.

She didn't tell Jay. She didn't want him worrying about her instead of being focused. His first email had detailed how intense training was and she wanted him to stay focused.

She emailed him almost every day telling him good things from her day. She told him about how much she missed him and how she couldn't wait to see him again.

Her favorite days were the days he was able to Skype. They were few and far between, but when he could, it made her day.

It was Friday of the fourth week and Jay was able to Skype once she was out of school. Lauren practically floated through the day knowing he would be waiting on her.

Once school let out, she headed over to her grandmother's. They were more lenient with her and just loved her. They didn't mind that she had a boyfriend, and loved seeing her happy.

"Hey Memaw, hey papaw," she called out on her way to the office.

Once in there, she plugged in the headphones and mic and booted up Skype. She logged in and waited for him to be on. She only had to wait about thirty minutes and he was calling.

She lit up seeing him. They talked about their days. She told him about school and how she couldn't wait to see him. He told her what he could about training and that he wanted to see her once it was done. Lauren agreed and they promised to work out the details once it was closer.

They were halfway there though and that seemed promising. Once Jay had to go, Lauren visited with her grandparents before going home.

The rest of basic training continued on much of the same. Jay emailed and skyped when he could. The day before basic was over, Jay was able to Skype her. Lauren just told him she couldn't wait to see him. She didn't tell him things were slowly getting worse with her mom and she was at Wes's more than she was home.

They agreed to make plans tomorrow once he was free. That night Lauren packed up to get away from her mother so she didn't have to lie about her plans for tomorrow. She went to Wes's knowing she would see Jay tomorrow.
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The next morning, Jay was released from basic earlier than he'd expected. He had three days of leave before he had to be back on base to finish his training. He was beyond excited to see his girl.

He called Kelly as soon as he landed at Chattanooga airport. "Hello," Kelly answered.

"Kelly it's Jay. What's Lauren's address? I just got leave and I'm gonna surprise her?"

Kelly rattled off the address and before he could tell Jay to call her or anything about that address, Jay said "thanks," and hung up. Kelly tried calling Lauren but of course she didn't answer. He text multiple times to warn her Jay was on the way but those weren't going through either.

Jay rented a car and headed out. He had an hour drive and he couldn't wait to see her. An hour later, he pulled into the driveway and the sight before him stole his breath. On the front porch was Lauren and some guy in a swing. She was laughing and appeared happy.

Jay was confused and conflicted. She was his; her emails and calls were always so promising. He couldn't believe she'd been cheating on him.

He slowly backed out as if he was lost and headed out. He couldn't stand to see anymore. That was his girl with someone else. The pain was just too much. He headed to Knoxville to catch his next flight. He hoped he could change it to today.