"The sound of the impact echoed through the air. I stand frozen in place, staring at the boy's broken body lying just feet from me. Others in the square rush to his side, but I could tell from the amount of blood pooling around him and the way his b...
My overworked muscles were so sore the next morning, I could barely move. I knew that I was in for a rough day when I couldn't even bend over to tie my shoelaces. I internally cursed Sage as I painfully made my way down to the cafeteria with Micah.
Though I truly had tried to study the night before, I didn't make much headway. What few pages I had read had already left my mind. A last ditch effort, I brought my books to the Mess Hall and scanned the pages between bites of scrambled eggs and toast, trying to absorb the information as quickly as possible.
I found myself looking up from the pages every few minutes. I was unsure why at first, but soon realized that my eyes were scanning the room for Dennis. This was something that surprised me, as I had never put much emphasis on men before now. I had always been too focused on school to make much of it. The few relationships I'd had were cut short by my inability to be close to someone. I found it odd that, me of all people, would be trying to catch a glimpse of some guy I had just met.
Micah attempted to make idle small talk for a few minutes, but I wasn't paying attention. At least, not until the slamming of a tray brought me out of my daydream. Normally I would have been annoyed by Sage's dramatic appearance, but not this time because today, she had Dennis with her. I felt my mood lift as Dennis pulled out the chair next to mine.
Dennis made eye contact with me and smiled, before turning back to Sage and Micah. At first I was worried that he was ignoring me, but I soon let out a soft gasp of surprise when I felt his hand graze mine under the table. I looked at our breakfast companions, but they were both so entranced in a conversation about combat schematics that they didn't notice.
Trying to act casual, I began eating my breakfast with my left hand, my right intertwined with Dennis's. Any hope of studying went out the window.
The remainder of breakfast went by in a blur. Dennis continued to caress my hand as Micah and Sage sat across the table, completely unaware. We didn't say a word to each other. From the outside it would look like we were complete strangers which, in a sense, I suppose we were. Regardless, I felt comfort in having Dennis by my side.
When we finished eating and Micah motioned for us to leave, I begrudgingly untangled my hand from Dennis's. I was disappointed, but my spirits lifted as Dennis mouthed the word "later" and gave me a wink. I left the Mess Hall with a grin plastered to my face, looking forward to my secret tryst with Dennis the coming afternoon. Micah eyed me suspiciously from his peripherals, but said nothing.
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It took all of my strength to make it through the workout that morning. Sage seemed to have kicked it up a notch today, if that were even possible. Not only were we still doing cardio, but she had decided to incorporate some weight lifting as well. By the end of our lesson, I could barely stand.
A few hours later, Sage left the field, giving me an obscene farewell, and Patrick sat down across from me without so much as a greeting. He immediately gathered his books and handed me a packet of papers.
