Electric

chapter eighteen

"Get up, Freak!" Josh's voice rings in my ear and I sit straight up in bed.

    "Piss off, Josh." I yawn back and Josh laughs.

"Well don't you just look so cute tangled in the General's sheets." He teases and I chuck a pillow at him. Why is he in here anyway? Doesn't he have better things to do than wake up sleeping girls? "I have come to summon you to breakfast. General Parker is apparently too lazy to get up and do it himself." Or, is Parker still mad from our fight yesterday and doesn't want to talk to me?

I crawl out of bed, the sheets crumpling under my hands and knees, and scavenge for a pair of pants. Josh stays silent and pointedly looks the other direction. I find a pair of jeans that look my size neatly folded on the desk chair Parker was sitting in last night. My hairbrush, a hair tie, and my toothbrush are on top of the jeans and my combat boots are next to the chair on the floor.

There's no shirt.

I guess I'll just have to wear one of his. I tug on the jeans, brush through my hair, put it up in a ponytail, and savagely brush my teeth without toothpaste or water while searching through his dresser for a shirt close to my size. There's a black one that is about one size too big but works well enough. I toss that on and slip into my boots, tie them up, and then stand before Josh finally ready for breakfast. His eyes do a quick glance down my body. He shrugs. I can feel Parker's scent starting to cling to my body and for some reason it makes me shiver. Stupid, rebellious body.

"It took way longer than necessary to end up looking like that." He comments and I glare. The door opens at the will of his hand and he gestures me through. We're walking towards the cafeteria in no time and once we're in there, I can hear the French toast and syrup calling my name. I didn't even realize I was that hungry but when I notice all of the eyes on me, I almost lose my appetite. Almost.

Do they know what happened? Josh probably does and obviously Parker does, but what about everyone else. My eyes land on Ty sitting all by himself at the end of a table and he looks rough. His eyes are blood shot, his hair is a mess, his shirt looks like it's on backwards, and he's picking at his food like it's the plague.

Yeah, they know.

The line could not move slower. I stand there holding my blue tray for what seems like ages, and when I finally reach the front they're out of French toast. I stare at the empty plate until one of the soldiers behind me nudges me forward. The only thing left is waffles. It's not that I don't like waffles but even pancakes go before waffles on my breakfast list.

At least it isn't an egg sandwich or something like that. Eggs and Bacon are not my favorite. I used to like them but now when I look at eggs or bacon all I can see is Mitch dead on the ground. Eggs and Bacon were his favorite things to eat. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it didn't matter. I wrinkle my nose at the smell of the bacon as I pass a plate of it. I actually feel nauseated.

My legs move me to the spot next to Parker which I become familiar with. He sits in the same spot everyday therefor, so do I. He glances over at my plate when I sit down and I notice the edge of his mouth tilt down just a little. He is still pissed about our fight. I notice he has French toast on his plate. He shouldn't be complaining. I sit there staring at the waffles for a second before Parker takes my fork from me, stabs his French toast with it, and puts it on top of my waffle. He picks up the syrup from the middle of the table and pours just enough on the toast.

It's funny how such a small act of kindness can bring tears to my eyes.

The fact that I don't have French toast isn't even that big of a deal. It really doesn't matter that much, but the Parker noticed and even though he was mad, he gave me his food anyway. I don't know why but this makes me want to hug him.